Panzerwaffe: Death Rattle at Debrecen – Oct.1944, Hungary

Panzerwaffe: Death Rattle at Debrecen, 1944 covers one of most forgotten major battles in October,1944, in Hungary. The designer, Perry Moore, was the first to do the battle in 1984 for West End Games. Since then, very few other publishers have done it. Using a totally new, innovative, game system not seen before, the battle captures the see-saw nature of this month long battle on the Hungarian plains! The Russian offensive attempted to two objectives: clear the largely flat plains to demolish the German 6th with its elite 3rd Panzer Corps of three panzer divisions defending the area south of the major city, Debrecen. Once the city was taken, Russian forces would strike even farther northwards to trap the retreating German 8th Army! It was a bold and daring plan. Over 300 tanks would fight over the area all month. The German 6th Army was weak, yet, a very deadly rattlesnake that managed to pocket the lead Russian forces until they broke out! After Debrecen fell, the already chaotic battle turned into a melee of armor with the German 6th Army trying to stall a Russian juggnernaut as the 8th Army entered the battle area from the east trying to escape annilation. They were in no condition to fight long and they crossed as the 6th Army tried to provide safe passage, which proved to be difficult. The game literally comes down to the wire hinging on how well or bad the escape is! The Game: Three 11x17" maps, 280 counters, rules. Scale is company, battalion, brigade, 1.5 mile\hex. game is 10 turns. Unique rules use a system that truly reflects the see-saw battle with Action phases and unit activations. Rules cover air use, armor ratings, HQ communication that impacts unit movement, troop quality, and more. —description from the publisher