''Crimea'' is a

board wargame A board wargame is a wargame with a set playing surface or board, as opposed to being played on a computer or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The modern, commercial wargaming hobby (as distinct from military exercises, o ...

published by Excalibre Games in 1977 that simulates the Crimean Campaign during World War II.

Background

In the summer of 1941, during Germany's surprise invasion of the Soviet Union, Axis forces attempted to invade the Crimean Peninsula and take Sevastopol, but were stopped by stiff Soviet resistance. The subsequent campaign would take eight months and result in thousands of casualties on both sides.

Description

''Crimea'' is a two-player board wargame where one player controls the Axis invaders and the other player controls the Soviet defenders. With only six pages of rules and 100 counters, the game has been characterized as "a short, simple treatment."

Gameplay

The game uses an alternating "I Go, You Go" system where one player moves and attacks, then the other player moves and attacks. This completes one game turn. Axis units are subject to step-reduction (each unit takes several "hits" before it is eliminated), but Soviet units are eliminated on the first "hit". Russian units can make amphibious assaults, but Axis units are solely land-based. Artillery has a range of two hexes. Armored units are stronger than infantry units, but otherwise operate identically in terms of movement. Units must stop when entering an enemy

zone of control In board wargames, a zone of control (ZOC) is the area directly adjacent to certain combat forces that affects the movement and actions of enemy combat units. In hexagonal tiled maps, a combat unit's zone of control is the six hexagons adjacent ...

, but combat is not mandatory.

Publication history

Excalibre Games published a number of relatively uncomplicated ziplock bag games in their World War II series "Panzer Battles and Sieges." One of these was ''Crimea'', designed by R. J. Hlavnicka and Dennis O'Leary, and published in 1977.

Reception

In Issue 50 of '' Moves'', Steve List noted "The rules seem adequately written, but are distressingly casual in places." In ''The Guide to Simulations/Games for Education and Training'', Martin Campion evaluated this game as an educational aid for students in Grade 8 and up, calling it "a good game for take-home assignments since it has few complexities to confuse beginning players and is at least suggestive of the actual campaign."

Other reviews and commentary

* ''

Campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed * Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * B ...

'' #82

References

{{reflist Board games introduced in 1977 Board wargames set in Modern history Excalibre Games games Wargames introduced in the 1970s World War II board wargames