The Russian Campaign - Components

Components

The game map covers the portion of the western Soviet Union and the eastern European countries where the military campaign took place. It is overlaid by a hexgrid to standardize movement, and each hex is about 55 km across. Each turn of the game covers two months of the campaign, beginning with the German invasion on June 22, 1941. "The Russian Campaign" came in a color-printed cardboard box, with a fold-out, cardboard-backed game board (22" × 28"); Order of Battle cards giving the unit deployments for the German and Russian players; a sheet of 225 chits; a set of rules, and a six-sided die.

The terrain types represented on the map include mountains, woods, swamp, rivers, and the Black and Baltic sea coasts. Significant cities, both major and minor, are shown. There are also national boundaries, Russian military district boundaries, as well as the main rail networks. Scenario start lines are printed on the map in the Avalon Hill version and provided on a distinct set up card in the later version.

The die-cut cardboard counters were colored according to nationality, with field gray for German, light olive for German allies (Hungary, Romania, Italy and Finland with a letter indicating the nationality) and black for German SS units. Russian tank corps and Guard armies (both infantry and tank) are printed in a lighter yellow than the Russian cavalry and regular infantry (neither of which may move in the second impulse).

Each of the counters is printed with unit-specific information. This information includes the unit type, size, designation, combat factor, setup information and a movement factor. The unit type is indicated by a standard symbol, and the available types are Armor, Cavalry, Infantry, Mountain, Paratroop, and Panzer Grenadier (mechanized infantry). There are also markers for Russian partisans and worker units, and for German Luftwaffe (air force) troops.

Most Russian units, apart from those that set up in cities in the interior of the USSR, are set up in the Baltic, Western, Kiev (the strongest of the four) and Odessa Military Districts, within boundaries shown on the map. Several potential Russian setups were published in the Avalon Hill "General" magazine. Most German forces set up in Germany (including occupied Poland), although some German forces set up in Romania.

Up to three of a player's corps, or two armies (or a corps and an army) can be stacked together at the end of a turn. Each of these unit counters has a zone of control, consisting of the six hexes surrounding its current location. As the units are moved about the map during game play, they must cease movement for the turn when they enter a zone of control of one of their opponent's units.