Background
The German summer offensive of 1942 had forced the Soviets back along a broad front. In the fall of 1942, the Soviets sprung a massive counterattack. One part of that offensive was an encirclement of the German-held city of Velikiye Luki by the Third Shock Army under General Maksim Purkayev. The Germans responded by trying to break the siege to rescue the defenders.Description
''White Death'' is a two-player wargame where one player controls the Soviet forces besieging Velikiye Luki, and the other player controls the German defenders and relief columns.Components
The original GDW edition game box contains: *22" x 28" paper hex grid map scaled at 1 mi (1.6 km) per hex *rulebook *480 double-sided die-cut counters *various player aids *6-sided die The version published by ''Command Japan'' has 550 counters and does not include a die.Gameplay
Each game turn represents five days and is divided into first a Soviet turn and then a German turn. Both players start each turn with ten movement points. Each turn is broken down into "impulses", which are further subdivided into five phases: * Movement Phase * Barrage Phase *Defensive Fire Phase *Assault Phase *Terminal Phase During each impulse, the active player can choose "action" or "pass". If choosing "pass", the player can only attack with barrage, and can only move by railway but must spemnd 1 movement point. If "action" is chosen, then the player spends between 1 and 10 movement points, from his 10 MP limit per turn, to move one or more units, and then can use both barrage fire and assault. The other player then becomes the active player. The players alternate spending movement points and conducting impulses until all ten movement points have been used by both players.Scenarios
The game has six scenarios: *"Purkayev’s Attack" (4 turns) *"Woehler’s Response" (3 turns) *"First Relief Attempt"(2 turns) *"Second Relief Attempt" 2 turns) *"Final Relief Attempt" (2 turns) *"Velikiye Luki Campaign": A compilation of all five of the shorter scenarios in a 13-turn gameVictory conditions
The victory conditions for each scenario are based on enemy units destroyed, as well as reaching geographical objectives.Publication history
Historian Shelby Stanton researched the Battle of Velikiye Luki and passed that on to friend and game designer Frank Chadwick, who turned Stanton's research into the wargame ''White Death'', published by GDW in as aReception
In Issue 26 of '' Phoenix'', Geoff Barnard called ''White Death'' "a superb example of a historically accurate wargame in which it is clear, almost from the very moment that you open the package, that the historicty of the simulation weas one of the prime considerations." Barnard liked the "clean system" of rules that resulted in a "cleanly flowing game." He concluded with a strong recommendation, saying, "''White Death'' is a game of small actions and much maneovre and even when the fronts do form later in the game it flows."Other reviews and commentary
*'' Fire & Movement'' No. 21 *''References
{{reflist Board wargames with artwork by Rodger B. MacGowan Frank Chadwick games Game Designers' Workshop games Wargames introduced in 1979 World War II board wargames