East Front Double Pack

• Hitler Turns East, by Ted Raicer

Ted Raicer is perhaps best known for Paths of Glory, but his experience of World War II is equally solid. His project examines this decisive campaign from the perspective of command.

On both sides, powerful dictators gave sometimes highly detailed instructions to commanders who were not always enthusiastic, and who in turn were often more interested in their own career advancement (or, in the case of the Soviets, their personal survival) than in the overall strategic situation. Initially, poor command decisions nearly cost Stalin the war, but in the end, a lack of strategic focus led to the first major defeat of the German army.

• Slaughterhouse, by Michael Rinella

Michael Rinella brought us Monty's Gamble, Shifting Sands, Not War but Murder, Birth of a Legend, and many more. His game models two of the most striking realities of the campaign: the limited roads available to the Germans to fight their way to Moscow using a point-by-point map, and the enormous and constant bloodletting suffered by both sides during this “war without mercy.”