Great Patriotic War is a turn-based boardgame-styled strategy wargame set on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. From Joni Nuutinen: by a wargamer for the wargamers since 2011

You are in command of the Soviet armed forces and factories on the Eastern Front. The Red Army is facing the German Operation Barbarossa: the biggest concentration of modern divisions the world has so far ever seen!

The factories producing the crucial mechanized units and war resources are unfortunately located fairly close to the front line; losing them would surely be a fatal blow to the war effort.

A factory can be moved towards the rear area, but this will only be possible with a loss of movement from combat units, so a skillful balancing act must be carried out between securing the production and not completely immobilizing the Red Army while it is fighting the mobile Wehrmacht.

Additionally, the strict Soviet doctrine for defense calls for going on the offensive if the USSR is attacked, so moving the combat units towards the rear area is not allowed during the first turns without a special “Allow Withdrawal” resource.

The object of the Great Patriotic War is to at first somehow stop the German offensive and then eventually turn the tide of the war and start retaking the Soviet areas. Ultimately, the goal is to retake the lost land and advance to Berlin as quickly as possible.

“The Eastern Front was a war of endurance. Both sides knew that victory would go to the one who could last the longest.”
– Soviet Marshal Alexander Vasilevsky

FEATURES:

+ Historical accuracy: Campaign mirrors the historical setup as much as possible within still being a challenging game worth replaying many times.

+ Long-lasting: Thanks to in-built variation and the game’s smart AI technology, each game provides a unique war gaming experience.

+ Settings: A huge list of options are available to alter the gaming experience: Change difficulty level, what resource types are in the play, hexagon size, Animation speed, choose icon set for units (NATO or REAL) and cities (Round, Shield, Square, block of houses), decide what is drawn on the map, and much more.

+ Weather modelling: Spring/autumn mud slows movement, while winter reduces line-of-sight and freezing cold hampers units, especially mechanized ones.

“Comrades, Red Army men and Red Fleet men, commanders and political workers, men and women guerillas, Stalin’s Falcons! I address you, my friends, at this grave hour when the fate of our country is being decided. The German troops have invaded our homeland, are ravaging and plundering our peaceful Soviet towns and villages. They are trying to enslave our people and destroy our great Soviet state… The treacherous attack of Germany on our Fatherland has aroused the unexampled wrath of our people. The whole nation, with a single will, has risen to defend the Motherland… The Red Army, faithful to its oath, heroically defending the freedom and independence of our Motherland, will cover its banner with glory and will win complete victory over the German invaders. Let the Germans know on our land that the Red Army is invincible. Long live our glorious Red Army! Long live our invincible Soviet nation!”
— Order No 270 of the State Defense Committee of the USSR, July 3, 1941