Panzerschreck15

Panzerschreck #15 contains FOUR complete games, on a variety of scales and topics (for more details on each of the following games, click here). Check out the bottom of this page for graphics of the different games, as they become available.

MORTAIN 1944 is a two-player game simulating the (limited) German panzer offensive versus the Americans in France, August, 1944. It uses a variation of the ASSAULT ON CHERBOURG system (from issue #13), and is a "conventional hex wargame" of the battle in the bocage, using daily turns. It contains 80 double-sided, die-cut counters, 8.5" x 11" full-color cardstock map, and full rules, including many options.

RAID ON SCHWEINFURT is a solitaire game depicting the USAAF raids in 1943 against the Schweinfurt ball-bearing factories in central Germany. The player controls the planning and execution of each massive B-17 raid, assigning target, fighter coverage, number of waves, any "diversionary" raid, and so on. It includes a "role play" option enabling you to play as though you are one of the crew members of a participating Flying Fortress, thus adding a layer of excitement to play. Fly over Germany with up to 400 bombers in a game that plays in much less than an hour! Contains 60 double-sided die-cut counters, 8.5" x 11" full-color cardstock map containing all game tables, and rules.

HIPPODROME is a multi-player (works best with 3 to 5 players) "Euro style" mini-sim card game of Roman chariot racing. The emphasis here is on strategy, not on becoming a demolition derby! Includes the biggest map ever published in Panzerschreck (11" x 25") in two parts, rules, with game markers and chariots on cardstock in full-color, which must be cut out prior to play, and you'll need to provide a standard deck of cards. (Yes, there are still whip attacks and ramming!)

NORTH SEA CAMPAIGN is a strategic level World War I naval mini-sim for two players, where Britain's Grand Fleet squares off versus Germany's High Seas Fleet for control of the North Sea. Includes 8.5" x 11" full-color cardstock map, rules (including solitaire options), dozens of individual rectangle ship counters (dreadnought, battlecruisers, and pre-dreadnoughts) printed in full-color on cardstock, which must be cut out prior to play. The entire campaign plays out in UNDER an hour... and includes optional tactical battle rules for those of you who like a little more detail.

AND THAT'S NOT ALL! Besides containing fun, playable games, Panzerschreck is a magazine which provides plenty of interesting gaming articles, variants, and reviews. Read on...

The feature article is an in-depth interview with Don Greenwood of Avalon Hill fame, and delves into such things as the history of the Hill, publishing insights, the WBC... it's a must-read for AH fans and wargamers alike. Also within the pages of #15 are variant articles on MUSTANGS, RACE TO THE VISTULA, a head-to-head comparison of RUSSIA BESIEGED vs. RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN, a Favorite Games poll of hobby designers, a design analysis on rules writing, reviews of several current wargames, Letters from readers, Short Takes (variants), an Interview with game designer (and former Avalon Hill staff member) Alan Moon, and all the departments that you have come to know within the pages of Panzerschreck. The issue looks great! (See TABLE OF CONTENTS of #15, below)

As much as we all like to play huge, monster-sized games, Panzerschreck has always catered to the other extreme... small (yet detailed), quick (yet historical), and fun games on a variety of topics and eras and scales. We've published over forty games in our first fifteen issues, won two Charles S Roberts Awards, and have grown from a small desktop publishing venture into a professional format. We must be doing something right! Our motto is "Games Meant to be Fun; Games Meant to be Played." Thirty-page rulebooks can be nice (sometimes), but what's wrong with wargames with four or five pages of nicely written and thought out rules? Play a Panzerschreck game over lunch hour... on the plane... on a business trip... in between turns of a monster game(!)... those are the kind of games we're trying to produce.

If you agree with us that there are indeed times when "small beats large, simple beats complex, and game beats simulation," then you're sure to appreciate what Panzerschreck has to offer!

If you're new to the magazine, why not try out a copy and see what you've been missing? (All back issues are still in print, too.) If you're a veteran Panzerschrecker, you're also sure to enjoy the newest issue as well!

Contents of Issue #15

Opening Rounds (editorial)

Interview with Don Greenwood (Art Lupinacci)

Zone Defense: Race to the Vistula Variant (Steven Newton)

I Want to Rule the World (Ellis Simpson)

Russian Jets for Mustangs (James Meldrum)

Comparing Russia Besieged and Russian Campaign (Art

Lupinacci)

Favorite Games Poll (Gary Graber)

Letters from the Front (readers)

Mortain 1944 (rules)

Raid on Schweinfurt (rules)

Hippodrome (rules)

North Sea Campaign (rules)

Short Takes: Shell Shock (James Meldrum), Dreadnoughts &

Battlecrusiers (Paul O'Connor)

Meeting Up with Alan Moon (Gary Graber)

Observation Post (thumbnail reviews)

Synopsis of Games Published in Panzerschreck (#1-15)