Next War: Poland Second Edition

This second edition includes all known errata (including counters) as well as an updated Russian land order of battle, additional Russian air units, an 11 x 34 expansion map (and accompanying rules), and updates to the NATO orders of battle. The series rules and player aid cards will be updated and, of course, the game-specific rules will need to be modified to incorporate all of the above.

Much of Poland is represented by the operational map, while the Baltics are represented by a strategic map (similar to Next War: Taiwan). The Russians are no longer the monster of the Cold War, but they have good equipment and a much better trained army than before. The Baltics, using new rules and mechanisms, can quickly fall, although their forces can resist and present themselves as reinforcements, while the front quickly settles in eastern Poland.

The Russian 6th and 20th Armies are pushing forward to seal the Suwalki gap, while NATO is rushing its forces into the area under the impetus of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps and troops from the countries involved are responding to the Article 5 declaration. The question is: Can NATO stop the Russians or will Poland be invaded while Russia presents the world with a fait accompli?
Game System

A game turn usually consists of:

•     Weather Determination. Bad weather can severely hamper air and naval operations and significantly slow down ground operations.
•     Initiative Determination and Naval Air Phase, in which air superiority levels and air availability are determined and maritime control is established or modified.
•     Special operations phases in the advanced game, allowing players to use their special operators in a variety of reconnaissance and raid missions behind enemy lines.
•     Strike phases in the advanced game allowing players to launch air strikes, cruise missiles, artillery and SSMs.
•     One or more movement and combat phases that allow both sides to move, react and fight, with an advantage to the player with the initiative on uncontested turns.
•     Arrival of reinforcements and replacements.

Victory Determination

Combat resolution examines not only the strengths of the units but also their effectiveness (representing training, doctrine and morale), as well as the terrain where the combat is taking place. CRT tends to be very bloody in nature, reflecting what we believe is a degree of early attrition warfare due to the lethality of modern weapons. As in many games, casualties represent not only actual combat losses but also unit cohesion losses due to the speed with which modern armies are able to engage and exploit the battlefield.

Contents:

•     1 22 "x34" operational map
•     1 x 22 "x34" strategic map
•     four counter sheets
•     a rulebook for the series
•     one specific rule booklet
•     8 game aids
•     16 tactical cards
•     1 D10