Road to Berlin (2006 Edition)

Gamers want the battles of 1944 and 1945 for a number of reasons. There’s the anti-fascist streak: In these battles, the Germans are on the run and the Soviets are smashing them. It’s always a good thing to make Nazis cry.

But mostly, there’s the gear. And Road to Berlin is loaded with heavy gear.

The Germans get Royal Tiger tanks for the first time in the Panzer Grenadier series, plus giant lumbering vehicles like the Hunting Tiger with its 128mm gun and the Hunting Panther. There are the fast Hetzer tank destroyers, too. Road to Berlin has both regular army and Waffen SS pieces, including SS cavalry. There are also pieces for the German home-defense militia called out in the last days of the Thousand-Year Reich.

The Red Army of Workers and Peasants is also loaded with powerful weapons: The JS-1 and JS-2 heavy tanks lead the way, but there are also all sorts of vehicles not seen before by Panzer Grenadier fans: T-34/85, T-70 and KV-85 tanks; SU-76, SU-85, SU-100, SU-122, SU-152 and JSU-152 assault guns. There’s also 122mm artillery for the first time, and Ba64 armored cars.

Returning to the Panzer Grenadier system are the Soviet Guards, the elite of the Soviet armed forces. They bring the modern weapons of 1944 and 1945 plus rocket launchers and a full array of ground forces.

As for playing surface, Road to Berlin features six of the semi-rigid mapboards of the type found in Airborne and Eastern Front. These are new to players of the series, with art by Terry Moore Strickland.

And as will all games in the series, there is plentiful replay opportunity: 75 scenarios drawn from the battles of 1944 and 1945 on the Eastern Front. 825 playing pieces.