Führer Directives

 Playing the Axis in Totaler Krieg!

While the Axis can call many a tune in Totaler Krieg!, there will usually come a time to pay the piper. The most important things that the Axis require for a good shot at victory, however, can not be found on the map, nor amongst their Option cards or their countermix. No, what the Axis need is what you, yourself, must bring to the table: a clear plan, focus, some skill, and a healthy dash of luck.

Pre-Game Options

Before the game even begins, the Axis are rife with potential. Prior to placing that first unit on the map, know how you want things to shake out for the next year or so (i.e., have a clear plan). Figure out when and where you want the shooting to start, when you'll reveal that precious Mobilization card, and how you plan to spend your Summer vacation in 1940.

Note that you don't have to lead with an Ultimatum card before playing your precious Mobilization card, but it's the safest bet. Although the French are right there, squat on your border, and ripe for a quick slap, you'll need to take Metz, which is no picnic, if you want to occupy a city (the condition for replacements) without declaring war on someone. Since you can't attack France on the first Game Turn and the second Game Turn features mud weather, France is not a good starting point for opening your war effort.

If you do lead with a Treaty card, you might luck into an ally who will let you occupy a city, but you can't count on that with the initial -1 political die roll modifier (owing to the Allied Crusade of 1), can you? Still, getting Poland on your side for an added army to use against the Russians isn't a bad deal (once the campaign against Russia moves east far enough, that is – otherwise, it's hard to get the German Army deployed in Poland so that it can effectively hit the Soviets without triggering Occupation of your Polish ally!). An ally in Denmark-Norway and then Sweden is cool (nay, cold), too. (When deployed against Russia, the winterized forces of Sweden and Finland, combined with a North African campaign against the Western Allies, makes playing blitz cards in the Winter an attractive proposition, even before the SS arrive.) But these are pipe dreams right now; what you need to decide first is where will you open up your war effort (going East or West first) and when are you going play that all-important Mobilization card? And don't forget the errata for German Mobilization: at some point, it's not enough to merely occupy a city outside of Greater Germany. You must end either The Pact or Appeasement before you can start enjoying the Mark II Germany Army with all of those juicy replacement steps. 

At the beginning of the game, that same political die roll modifier (-1) that makes success with Treaty cards so difficult makes success with Ultimatum cards easier. If you opt for conservative play, attacking a neutral neighbor to kick off the game, you'll have to consider your East/West options if eyeing Poland and/or the Baltic States for your initial target(s). Whatever you decide, just make sure during the first few turns, if you start issuing Ultimatums around Europe, that you don't leave Germany without a neutral neighbor other than Italy. Aggression rolls are just full of unexpected surprises, so be sure to leave a unit in Vienna watching your border with Hungary, Poland, and Yugoslavia, if any of these are neutral.

The lesson here is to have a plan and stick with it. Beware of the Summer of '40 Triple Mobilization Trap. Sure, an extra couple of panzer steps and half-dozen more infantry steps is a tempting treat, but you raise more forces with every Option card you play, and you'll never get such an advantageous Summer's worth of blitzing your enemies back again. Only Houdini could turn this clever trap into a neat trick. You're welcome to try, though, but we warned you – it isn't going to be easy!

Limited War: General Notes

Your courtship with Limited War is just that, limited. Before the end of 1942, you'll have Total War on your hands (ready or not). It is when you throw the switch from Limited War to Total War that Totaler Krieg! ceases to be a scenario-builder and metamorphs into The Main Event. Let's take a look at your Limited War Option cards. They consist of:

*Don't forget the errata for these cards: Germany needs a shooting war in addition to a foreign city to collect their huge Conditional Replacements.

This is a respectable arsenal of cards, and when you take into account how fettered the Allies are between Nazi-Soviet Pact/Appeasement restrictions, 2-step unit maximums, and so forth, you can make a very credible game out of positioning yourself for the best possible success when you flip the Bozo Bit and start Total War. A quick survey of the above cards indicates that some cards are natural East First cards (Lebensraum, Anti-Comintern Pact, and Siegfried Line) and some are more natural West First cards (regular Ultimatums and Case Yellow).

Throughout the period of Limited War, you've got the undisputed best force mix on the board – a true 500-pound gorilla (as in "Where does a 500-pound gorilla go?" Anywhere it wants to.). Your challenge comes from the necessity to keep your forces concentrated. When carefully aimed and fired like a rifle, your army can conquer almost any objective. When shot from the hip and blasted like a shot gun, you can inflict plenty of boo-boos here and there, but won't be bringing a lot of trophies home to the Führer. Therefore, never lose sight of your plan and maintain your focus on it. There will be plenty of distractions popping up to your left, right, and rear (that's about all the Allies can really do during Limited War, distract you, especially while either the Nazi-Soviet Pact or Appeasement restrictions remain in place). Neutrals will align the wrong way, sudden Aggression Table results will nip at your heels – but shrug off these nuisances and spend as little energy as possible in dealing with them. Keep your eyes on the prize and you can win some decisive campaigns before Total War removes the gloves from all sides and the big, bare-knuckle brawl begins in earnest.

Limited War: The Protracted Peace Opening

You don't have to start a shooting war on the first turn. Some Axis player prefer to open with a Treaty card in the Autumn of 1939. Even though the Political Die Roll Modifier is against them (-1 for the Allied Crusade), if you're using the optional Luck Markers, there's still a decent shot that the Axis can peacefully gain entry to a foreign city. This means that both the Nazi-Soviet Pact and Appeasement will be protecting you (Star Trek fans would call this "full shields") and, depending on what ally you've gained, the road to the east or west will probably be that much smoother. Usual ally selections for this gambit include Poland, Denmark-Norway, or Belgium Holland – although Italy can really give the map a spin early on, too.

However, this opening requires a certain trust in the Chaos Theory and that everything will come out right. After all, only a die roll of '6' (at -1) on your Treaty card nets you an ally outright. What you're really playing at is a die roll of '1,' '2,' or '3' (at -1) and a Diplomatic Incident. On the Diplomatic Incident Table, you're looking at about a 1/3 chance of making a friend (thus achieving your goal of being able to mobilize without starting a shooting war) and approximately a 1/4 chance of making an enemy somewhere (whom you can attack right away, at least – you won't have to declare war on it at the end of your turn). With any luck, that new enemy might be made as the result of a Coup D'etat and, at least, not get a mobilization die roll so they'll be easier to beat up. The Axis Protracted Peace Opening, therefore, is High Wire act with no safety net. (In a Random Campaign Game, the Axis Pre-War Diplomacy card offers a much better chance of success, a 50/50 with each roll, but it's still a gamble.)

Of course, even if you succeed in securing an ally as your opening gambit for World War 2, you're not out of the woods. To completely mobilize the German Army you need a war to rally the people around (on at least one front – which is probably all you can handle before German Mobilization anyway). This means the end of either The Pact or Appeasement by no later than the first turn of the Season you reveal your German Mobilization card. For example, if you played it to appear at its historical Winter 1939/40 Season, you'd have to have a hot war started before your Conditional Event Segment of November-December 1939 in order to cash in on those precious replacement steps.

The down side to the Protracted Peace Opening is that failure to gain an ally in the Autumn makes the pressure of your Mobilization card coming up next enormous. You'll lose a lot of precious Limited War German steps if you don't do something quickly! If your plan backfires in this manner (a distinct possibility for which you should be mentally prepared), you must declare war on a neighbor and do your damnedest to occupy at least one city there during the November-December 1939 Game Turn. Even if you must go this route and "do things the hard way," one positive thing is that you will have have kept both the Nazi-Soviet Pact and Appeasement in place for two Allied Seasonal turns (even though you declared war on a neutral Minor Country at the end of September-October 1939, the threatened Pact/Appeasement Truce Marker isn't removed until you actually start the shooting on the following Game Turn). So, you blew you shot at an ally and have to scramble for a quick foreign city in order to mobilize the German Army, but at least you will have slowed down British Mobilization and will prevented a couple of French replacement steps from popping up.

The final drawback to the Protracted Peace Opening should also be mentioned. That is, using up a precious Treaty card at a time when the Axis have a low probability for direct success (i.e., when there is a -1 Political DRM stalking the land). That same card during an Axis Tide would probably have snagged an easy Axis ally or two.

Limited War: Axis Go West First

The historical order of card play is a good one for a Limited War campaign against the Western Allies. Laying down an Ultimatum at Poland and/or the Baltic States during the first season (when you have the "von Ribbentrop" option to select their East/West alignment) gives you complete control over your Eastern border. Under the West First plan, doing what the Germans did historically makes a lot of sense: Ultimatum Poland on turn 1, declare it a Western Ally, crush it, leave two corps (and their ZOCs) in Poland to keep the Soviets out of your newly won real estate, and turn your energy westward. One thing to remember: Attacking Poland means never having to tell the Führer you're sorry when an Aggression or Soviet Initiative event suddenly turns a neutral Poland into a hot spot behind your back. Because you're going to have to deal with the Soviets eventually, getting your piece of Eastern Europe secured now is better than having to fight for it when the Nazi-Soviet Pact is no longer there to shield you and Russians are everywhere. Well, here... click on this link to go to a complete analysis of The Polish Question in Totaler Krieg!. This is all explained in more detail there.

If you do a West First plan, conservative play means Mobilizing during the Winter, then Ultimatum Belgium-Holland to get that Schleiffen Plan attack into France started. The goal here is to knock France (via Case Yellow) out while scooping up the Allied objectives in Belgium-Holland and Denmark-Norway, and moving from an Allied Crusade to a rising Axis Tide.

How do you take Norway? There are generally two options. The first option is to invade near Oslo, landing nearby during the Blitz Segment and then securing it during the Reserve Movement Phase while landing a second corps in Oslo after the first arrives there (making it a friendly port). On the next turn, the Convoy Marker goes into Supply mode, and the second corps uses both movement phases to reach Narvik. The other plan is to walk your paratroops into Denmark (assuming you had a good Delay die roll for them and received them during the Spring of '40) and jump them into Oslo. This requires your Convoy Marker to be in Supply Mode so that the paratroops will be in supply when they land on Oslo and, thus, will turn into a regular German infantry corps after they land.

Under both of these options, Narvik will be left open for a while during which time the Allies can counter-invade Norway and secure that Axis Strategic Hex. Employ your U-boats or Air Support units in the North Sea to keep it interdicted and the Western Allies out, otherwise, be prepared for a fight up at the Arctic Circle. You can't let the Allies camp out in Narvik forever. Hitler simply won't wear it.

It is after France falls when your plan should move into Phase II – whatever that is. Will you take Spain as a free ally (in hopes of securing Italy by a future Treaty attempt)? That keeps two Western Allied objectives in play (London and Lisbon) the same as bringing in Italy would (Cairo and Baghdad). The plus for taking Spain is that it's much harder to bring them in via Treaty cards (you must get Vichy France to see the light first) than it is Italy (which shares a border with Greater Germany). The down side is that Spanish forces are barely adequate to defend their own ports (you'll probably have to leave additional German forces in Spain for quite some time), much less add any punch to Axis operations in Iberia and North Africa. Operations in Spain to capture Lisbon and Gibraltar will draw westward Axis ground strength that could be amassing against the Soviets, so you'll probably be looking at a '42 Barbarossa while you run down the British in 1941.

Invading England looks deceptively simple, but don't be fooled. You can only pull it off safely when you enjoy at least a three Air Support unit advantage over the British, and a two-turn clear weather window where you can enjoy that air superiority. Marching armies across the channel requires a beachhead, and attacking London will require every shift you can muster (including an Air Support shift). The British will likely bleed themselves white trying to hold London (and then every single city in Great Britain), fearing your British Ultimatum card and a complete collapse. In summary, the Air Support units, like the stars, have to line up properly for you to succeed at Sealion (with yours in the Available boxes and the British far down the Turn Record Track – making a Battle of Britain exchange of German and British air support units over the North Sea a nerve wracking exercise). To be bogged down or even to triumph in England means keeping a considerable garrison there, so no gambit against the British is ever cheap. If you want cheap, forget about crossing the channel (while maintaining a threat there, if you can) and hit the British elsewhere where you won't need to leave such a large garrison behind. Otherwise, think in terms of all the steps you send into Great Britain as buying a one-way ticket to a destination far from the Russian Front.

If France falls quickly enough, there might be the two clear weather turns you need to grapple with England, but what about Russia? Racing the Wehrmacht back across Germany for some Limited War campaigning against the Soviets could jostle the pieces around on the Eastern Front enough to put the German Army in such an advantageous position that, by the time next Summer rolls around, your Barbarossa card can have a doubly devastating effect. Besides, distracting the Russians from their own mobilization and small wars of self aggrandizement at the expense of allies you can use (like Rumania and Turkey) is always an attractive idea. All you need to do is keep Limited War going and inflict disproportionate losses on the Soviets – a feat which is entirely possible to do!

Otherwise, use those turns between the fall of France and Soviet slapping time for running down the Western Allies as far as you can. This is your chance, with a rising Axis Tide, to play some Treaty cards and score a few minor allies that you can use as leverage against either the West or, more importantly, the Soviets (you'll need every step you can muster there). Just be sure to maintain your focus and stick to your plan!

Limited War: Axis Go East First

Here we have one of history's great "what ifs," and a heck of an interesting opening situation in Totaler Krieg!. Of course, the goal here is to reveal the Soviet Ultimatum card, either during the Summer or, more likely, the Autumn of 1941 and, with Moscow in hand, force a Soviet Collapse. A sound opening strategy for the East First option is to Ultimatum Poland on Game Turn 1, declare it a Soviet minor ally, liberate it, declare war on the Baltic States during your first turn's War and Peace Segment and then drang nacht osten ("drive to the east"), baby.

You'll quickly find the main front running from Lvov to Riga as the winter of 1939/40 sets in. If you Mobilize in the winter and Lebensraum in the Summer, that leaves the question of what card you want to reveal in the Spring of 1940. An Ultimatum will buy you an extra turn of blitzing the Soviets, but you'll probably end up declaring war on some minor country that will ally with the West. Your other three good options are Guns & Butter (for maximum troops), Siegfried Line (for defense in the West), and Anti-Comintern Pact (to start putting an indirect, long term hurt on the Soviets). Your first year (1940) of an East First campaign will probably look a lot like the historical Barbarossa, with the Axis approaching the Leningrad/Moscow/Rostov line and the Soviets able to pull a winter counteroffensive together (although everything will be "in miniature" as both sides will have fewer forces than they did in 1941/42).

Be sure to get Moscow and as many other Soviet Strategic Hexes as you can and reveal the Soviet Ultimatum card in either the Summer or Autumn of 1941. If you play that card for the Summer, you're taking a risk that you can bag all the Soviet Strategic Hexes you'll need very quickly during that season. If you wait until the Autumn, you'll probably have all the Soviet Strategic Hexes you need, but you will have played a regular Ultimatum to blitz during the previous Summer and that means widening the war to more neutral minor countries.

Plan B for an East First campaign would be to Ultimatum the Baltic States and just go north like a screaming banshee. You'll be running supply from Königsberg, so your Convoy Marker won't necessarily be tied up on supply duty, but you'll need it to shuffle over some of your starting forces one corps at a time. Obviously, Leningrad and Minsk are the prime targets, with Moscow as the vital next stop. You may or may not want to declare war on Poland, too, at the end of your turn. If the Russians do their Polish Border Dispute, that will open up a few hexes along the Baltic States/Eastern Poland border in the event you don't pop Poland yourself.

You should enjoy a successful Russian campaign as your 500-pound gorilla army swats away at the swarms of Soviet bees (best beware their sting, though!). Your success will likely expand the length of your front line considerably, and the Limited War German Army cannot be everywhere in strength. (Although it is not necessary, many Axis players will leave a garrison behind in Germany to cover France and deal with any unexpected Aggression Table results). This dilution of your Limited War army, combined with Soviet Emergency Mobilization, Allied Lend-Lease, and the knowledge that the Russians will undoubtedly play their Great Patriotic War card during the Summer of 1940 to prop them up for a while, is sobering.

Beware a Soviet Winter offensive! The Reds can go nuts with Blitz combat and armored shifts during Limited War just like they can during Total War. If your army is overextended in Russia (and it often is), you can be expected to take a few lumps and give back a bit of ground when the Soviet hammer and (ice)sickle are wielded against you. And with only the Limited War German army to play with, you really feel every single step loss. Just try to hang on to captured objectives at all costs! The count will be coming next year and you'll need them. You don't want to have to retake them and pay for them twice.

By the Autumn of 1941, with skill and a little luck, you should be able to pull off a Soviet collapse. When you do, you have some decisions to make. If the Soviets only hold three Soviet Strategic Hexes, you've blasted them back into the Stone Age and they'll be maybe two years recovering before their a major threat to you. If they still hold six Soviet Strategic Hexes when they collapse, they'll be up and at 'em in about a year. This tells you how soon you must renew your war in the East. You can trash your Truce with the Soviets much sooner than that and rekindle the fight with the Soviets if you think that's wise. At some point, however, you'll probably want to try to attack in the West, at least as far as Paris, and take down all those Western Allied steps with your Case Yellow card. That will relieve a lot of pressure.

So, you need a post-Soviet collapse plan. If you keep pushing east or want to open up the Middle East, take Turkey as your free minor ally. If you want to stab France in the back and threaten the other flank of the British, consider Spain for your free ally. If Italy is still neutral, that's always a good choice. Do you need territory, position, or some other decent fighting ally? Yugoslavia, Greece, or even Sweden (from Sweden you can Treaty Finland and extend that Soviet line another several hexes). Whatever your post-Soviet collapse plan, select a complimentary free ally. The West will probably have built up quite a bit while you were playing in Russia, and you'll have to leave huge forces in the east as garrisons even under the best of circumstances, so you'll need every friend to help you face Britain and France you can get. And if the Western Allies managed to light up the map with their Colonial Disputes card, you may have to go into rescue mode and do what you can to bail out Spain and/or Italy.

One last thing about an East First campaign. You'll have to start Total War without a Barbarossa card. Before you'll see your next Total War Blitz card you'll need to get Mobilization Limits and Speer Appointed out there. Now, a regular Ultimatum and Case Yellow can get you through the Spring and Summer of 1942 and into France, but you'd better arrange your destiny so that Case Blue is on the table in the Summer of '43 or life will get very difficult. Remember, you're at least after an Axis Tide 3 protected by the No Retreat Marker. You've probably got four or five Soviet Strategic Hexes in the bag and need as many more in the West. You'll need to get Antwerp and Paris for certain. Then you have to look at where you can score the last ones you need. Norway? Greece? Portugal? Can you open up the Middle East via Turkey and threaten Baghdad, Teheran, or Cairo? There are two simple parts to this aspect of your winning plan: 1) know where you want to go, and 2) do whatever it takes to go there.

As an alternative to slugging it out in Russia for years during Limited War, consider this plan: Lead with a Poland/Baltic States Ultimatum on the first two turns, Mobilize with your second card and press eastward. Be careful not, repeat not, to capture Minsk, Leningrad, or Kiev (that will screw up your Peace Offer die roll). Instead, roll your army up as close to them as possible and halt. In the Spring, spring your Peace Offer card (praying for an Axis Political Option so you can take an Armistice with Russia), followed by your French Ultimatum card in the Summer of 1940. It's a real tightrope act, but you can (with any luck) force a French collapse, leaving you to Barbarossa the Soviet Union in 1941 from a much better position than the Germans had historically. Preface your second Russian Campaign with some diplomacy to net a few allies in Eastern Europe, and it could be a very different war, indeed!

Escalating Events: Lebensraum or Barbarossa?

If you opt for the East First scenario, your Lebensraum/Barbarossa card will have been played early (as Lebensraum) to set up Kharkov and expand the war in the East, so this section won't apply to you. But if you still have this powerful either/or card combination in your hand prior to Total War, you've got a big decision and an interesting option in front of you. Consider these when formulating your Master Plan.

Historically, the Axis went West First and chose their Barbarossa card to bring the house down in Russia in a lightning campaign. They even threw in their Surprise Attack Option Supplement card to get the maximum effect. When revealed, Barbarossa will put directly into your Force Pool an HQ, two Panzer Armies, and your fifth Air Support unit (among other things). These, and the fact that it's a Total War Blitz card (and, thus, can be supplement by your Surprise Attack card), make it a beautiful thing. This is the Axis "big bang" card and it provides instant units and replacement steps necessary to build the German Mark III army (Mark I at start; Mark II after German Mobilization) and blitz it somewhere. Its conditional event will allow you to cash in on any enemies the Soviets have made in their Border Disputes, and that might mean another 10-30 steps and a longer front line to bedevil the Soviets with.

WARNING!: Make sure you've got those dozen infantry steps in your Force Pool! Nothing's worse than gypping yourself out of every sausage-swinging German you can muster. Many is the time we've seen people scraping their Volksgrenadier (VG) infantry corps because they have the German army spread too thin either on garrison duty or in transit. Watch that!

Although it is your single most powerful card and Barbarossa rocks, it's Limited War counterpart, Lebensraum, rolls. There are a couple interesting ways you might play this card. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that when Lebensraum is revealed, if Appeasement is no longer in effect, all of the Limited War Restrictions (13.1) are lifted for the rest of the game..

The "A Plan" for using Lebensraum instead of Barbarossa is to play things historically up to May-June 1941 and simply reveal your Lebensraum card in lieu of Barbarossa. This negates any chance you'll have for a successful lightning campaign because you'll be initially hitting the Soviets with one less HQ, Air Support unit, and two fewer panzer armies, plus all of the steps you'll receive from this card are conditional. The Barbarossa "sledge hammer" to break down the door to Russia simply won't be in your hands and you'll probably have little hope of taking more than Minsk and Kiev in 1941 and should expect to face a fortified Moscow and Leningrad when the time comes.

But what you do get with this approach is, ultimately, two panzer and six infantry steps more than you would have with Barbarossa, and you get to keep Limited War going, thus limiting the capabilities of the Soviets to respond. (One diabolical variation on this theme is to not break the Nazi-Soviet Pact until the June-July 1941 Game Turn, thus further limiting the Soviets' Autumn Option card selection that much further!) In other words, the Russo-German war opens with less ferocity on both sides.

You can even drag out Limited War until well into 1942 by following up Lebensraum with some combination of Operation Kondor, Guns & Butter, New World Order, Anti-Comintern Pact, and Soviet Ultimatum (for the Summer of '42). Of course, this will push VE-Day out to Spring of 1946, but presumably you've decided not to worry that far ahead. It's not like the Allies have that many strong Limited War cards to play in opposition, but even a lowly Western Allied Coalition card can, if it hits, bring on Aggression Tables results that you don't want and start a fire somewhere. So, know going in that this Lebensraum Long Limited War plan will probably have some negative impact on your Mediterranean Front. Of course, even if you collapse the Soviet Union in '42, you're probably not costing them too many lost steps (most of the Red Army will be dead by then anyway) and they'll still have all of their Total War cards left to regenerate the Red Army and plenty of time to pay you back (into 1946). Well, hey... it's your Master Plan. You figure out how to pull it off. Worst case, you can probably get to Axis Tide 3, so you can play Festung Europa, and make the Allies come get you if you don't see an Automatic Total Victory in sight.

One important down side to this Lebensraum generated lack of Russo-German war ferocity means that there are no avenging Soviet neighbors waiting to join your non-crusade (i.e., you don't get the Barbarossa Conditional Event of removing Soviet Ceded Borders and activating minor allies). Besides the obvious drawback of losing friends, there is the more subtle disadvantage of the Soviets keeping Ceded Border Markers. This will improve the Red's General Mobilization a bit, but also keeps their Comintern card in play, which is yet another joker in the deck at the very time you're trying to focus all your attention in Russia. If the Soviets make a Comintern ploy for Turkey or Finland and succeed, this could have a seriously detrimental impact on your Eastern Front plans, me bucko. After all, the war in the East will be expanded and the Soviets could gain upwards of 20 steps in newfound allies. Fortunately, the Comintern caper could also backfire, handing you that Soviet neighbor and, thus, really put you in the driver's seat. You just never know.

"Plan B" for the Lebensraum card might be to use it against France in 1940 while attacking the Soviet Union in 1941 with the Case Yellow card leading the way. In this manner, you'll have all those Lebensraum replacement steps and units available to put a little "shock" back into your initial lunge into Russia. Unfortunately, you'll still be fighting France (since it won't have collapsed and you're not likely to get French North Africa) and so you'll probably want to use the Case Yellow conditional event that Summer to finally close the books on France, set up Vichy, and score your free minor ally (either Spain or Italy). That will free up those German corps you had garrisoning Southern France, too. But perhaps the largest negative to this ploy is that the Soviet's ability to build 3-step HQs and fortresses (because Limited War Restrictions will be lifted) might cost you what you gained in "shock" when you initially attack them.

Total War: Who Cares What Direction?

Because you've had a plan since the beginning, it really doesn't matter whether your first (and probably main) Total War punch (either Barbarossa or, if you played Lebensraum, Case Blue) goes either East or West. Just be aware that after Total War kicks off, three of your four big replacement-yielding offensives (both Offensive cards and the Festung/SS Europa card) require that the Speer Appointed to Ministry card be revealed. This means that, in order to sustain your Total War momentum, there are at least two cards (Mobilization Limits and Speer Appointed to Ministry) between you and your post-Barbarossa, second Total War offensive.

So, if you went with the historical route playing Barbarossa on some May-June turn (which makes sense), there's only one free choice you have during the next three Seasons if you want to reveal another Total War Offensive for following Summer. While a nice War Production card is the safe (and historical) play here (in the Autumn of 1941), this small window of opportunity might be just the moment to play any of a myriad of other cards. For example:

There are no wrong choices here. Everyone one of these plays can be beneficial and the first three, in particular, are more beneficial the earlier they're played. The trick is to have a plan. When you select your post-Barbarossa Autumn card, it is arguably the most important one you'll choose. The Allied player(s) will have to be ready for anything and, during the Summer of Barbarossa, you should be making whatever preparations you need to in order to fully exploit your Autumn Option card. An important key to Axis victory is the full exploitation of this card choice above all.

If you took the Lebensraum road and Barbarossa is not an option for you, kicking off Total War will not be an explosive event. You must still get Mobilization Limits and Speer out there before the next Summer, though, if you want to keep hitting the Allies. (Which you should; when’s the best time to kick someone after all? When they’re down.)

The Turning Point

After one or two Axis Total War Summer Blitz campaigns, if you haven’t won an Automatic Total Victory, the Allies will probably start showing up in enough force so that you can feel your initiative waning. Don't be shy about reaching for your Festung Europa card when you detect your high water mark approaching. It provides enough defensive HQs to help you deal more effectively with partisans and other minor incursions, a bunch of fortresses, and the two SS panzer corps that will give you more options for a Winter offensive, complete with some Blitz combat. The same WARNING! for the Barbarossa card also applies here: have those infantry steps available in the Axis Force Pool!

The placement your fortress units after the "No Retreat" marker comes into play is a game unto itself. Naturally, they're darned useful for building an Atlantic Wall, replacing the German infantry corps that garrison the coast of France. However, don't sell short their strongpoint value. Placing them in key locations (such as Strategic Hexes and road junctions), can cause the Allies fits. Imagine an Axis fortress unit in Sevastopol, backed up by a couple more keeping the entryways to the Crimea peninsula closed. What a pain in the Russian rear as they advance westward! An Axis fortress in a bastion port in North Africa or a couple across Italy can bog down Allied armies rather neatly, too. Again, consider don't neglect their strongpoint value!

Of course, if you find yourself teetering on the brink of Automatic Victory, you might want to forgo your Festung Europa card and go for broke with the SS Europa card. Without a No Retreat Marker to protect your high water mark Victory Point level, though, you're going to have to preserve an Axis Tide right up to the last turn of the game in order to win. However, with the SS goodies you get, you're in with a fighting chance – "fighting" being the operative word. You’ll have to fight like a cornered wildcat to preserve your victory if the Allies ever start to make inroads against you.

But whether you go with SS or Festung Europa, when it's time to think defensively and husband your precious steps, remember that counterattack is the best way to keep the enemy off balance and retreating to defensible positions is the best way to keep your losses down. As the Allies learned while you were romping, you've got to shoot back wherever you can to slow an attacker down – so counterattack! Keep your eyes open for every opportunity to dish out more enemy losses. Make them play cautious and conservative for fear you'll slap any unit that they advance too far or too quickly.

If you received your replacement Axis Option cards, including the new one, "Nation, Rise Up!," then you have another option to Operation Citadel if you played Festung Europa instead of SS Europa. Instead of taking another major Blitz offensive, you can play the end-game more defensive and take a bunch of Conditional Replacements (meaning this is a likely Summer play for you), receive some defensive units, and best of all a War Production Marker – all of which will slow the Allies down, but probably not throw them off balance. In effect, you're surrendering the strategic imitative early in exchange for a little harder shell and a better Delay DRM to help you hang on against that rising US Commitment Level and all those Allied Support units.

When it’s time to pull back, you want this to be a more or less voluntary operation. Not because you kept attacking yourself into disasters and lost huge forces (like the Axis did at Stalingrad and Kursk), but because the time is right to exercise this prudent maneuver as part of your overall plan for Game Victory. If you can avoid such devastating campaign attrition you’ll be able to keep your armies and (more importantly) your HQs up to strength as part of a carefully planned withdrawal. Nothing slows down an attacker better than low odds, and full strength units in defensive terrain backed up by HQs not only force that but have staying power when you need to hold out in a key location. If you can preserve your strength for the years of Allied ascendancy, you should be able to keep a hold Central Europe at least – and that's usually enough to win you the game.

Closing The Ring

Once things begin to crumble, chances are that they'll really crumble. The Axis empire is a bubble, really. The bigger it gets, the more likely the whole thing is to blow up. It's not hard for the Allies to bleed you off the map if you just stand there in the open and take it (trying fanatically to hold every hex of ground). Watch your attrition rate! You can usually preserve steps by falling back (well, "running away," really) and you should have a lot of forces scattered thither and yon in the rear as garrisons that you can use to bolster your line as it contracts. Try to keep your HQs in fighting trim – they’re the key to any successful defense.

This is the time when you'll let those Axis Minor Ally steps be mopped up off the map as "expendable." You'll finally realize that those 2- and 3-step armies only improve their corps component's attack strength, and not their defense strength (exception: your 1F Army, the spoon full of sugar attached to the Material Shortages medicine on your "V" Weapons card). To this new defensive reality, a panzer corps loses its offensive luster and is reduced to a rapid deployment force that can quickly shift around and plug holes. Thus, panzer steps become more expendable for you during the end-game; stop worrying about preserving them. Infantry steps become far more precious because they’re what HQs are made of, and HQs will keep the roof from caving in too quickly.

Your War Production cards only last so long (as you'll discover all too quickly if you begin Total War in 1940), and after they're gone Hitler starts to get twitchy. War Directives and the National Redoubt card are stop gaps that can't forever hold back the Allied flood. About the only ace you'll find left up your sleeve is either a Führer Offensive or a planned ObK Conspiracy card which, if successful, can be followed later by the ObK Offensive card (that, at least, will get you a Season's worth of decent replacements). Besides this ace, you have one joker – the Separate Peace card. The question then becomes, can you really improve your position with another year of warfare and a Truce with the losing Allied Faction?