Panzerschreck #5 (published Winter 2000). 48 pages. Contents: Feature articles on Wolfpack (SPI) and Operation Olympus (SPI), Berchtesgaden (Minden), with Short Takes on Hitler's War (AH), Assault on Tobruk (SimCan), Jewish War (Khyber). Issue games are First Day of the Somme (solitaire, operational WWI), and Dogger Bank (two-player, tactical WWI battlecruiser naval cmbat). Includes all rules, counters, maps, and all playing aids needed for play. As a bonus, issue #5 also includes a Mini-Sim game: Commando Raid on Rommel (solitaire WWII).
At 7:30am on July 1, 1916, the British 4th Army went "over the top" against the German line in the Somme sector of northern France. At the end of the day, nearly 60,000 of her soldiers had fallen, the most costly day of fighting in British history. The generals had hoped for a breakthrough during the Big Push; none materialized. When the offensive was finally called off in November, the front had shifted only a few miles to the east, at a tremendous cost in human life.
First Day of the Somme is a simple, solitaire game based on the pivotal first day of fighting that set the tone for the following months. The gamer plays the British while the Germans are handled by the game system. July 1st was filled with tragedy for the British... could you plan and execute better than the original commanders? Perhaps even achieve the big breakthrough?
The game includes 75 counters (division level), 8.5 x 11 point-to-point movement map (about one inch to the mile), rules, and five playing aids (casualty rosters, movement rosters, various combat and game tables), and optional rules.
