Paths to Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June – December 1941

Paths to Hell (PTH) (Volume III) is a stand-alone game in the War Storms series (WSS). Recreates the events of those days and allows the players to reproduce the most famous battles of the Blitzkrieg on the East Front at a tactical level. Players take command of either the Allied or Axis forces (or can play solitaire) in the tactical battles of each scenario.

PTH while utilizing "La Bataille de France, 1940" base rules, incorporates new and adapted rules and additions for this new front. The WSS promises many hours of fierce fighting between the infantry, tanks, artillery and aircraft belonging to the armies enveloped in this conflict. Just a few of the additions include:

Human wave attacks
Battalion officers
Communist Commissars
Recon rules
Flamethrower tanks
Motorcycle recon
Waffen SS
Rumnanian
Gully
Rail Roads
One 8'5 x 11" chart with many overlays

PTH has a moderate complexity with good solitaire suitability. The system emphasizes the role of officers. Officers can activate units, coordinate with other officers and their units, call for artillery support, air support, smoke screens, influence moral checks, coordinate assaults, and much more. Rules for special actions.

Based on the principle of simultaneous execution, or simply "WE GO", a hybrid system of turns and "real time". The players must activate unit leaders to perform many actions (fire, assault, move, coordinate, etc). A turn ends when both players have completed all their activations. The scale is platoon level with units representing groups of between 30 and 40 soldiers, weapons units represents groups of 3-4 weapons and their accompanying crews (20-25 soldiers), and the AFVs/Transports representing groups of 3 to 5 vehicles and their corresponding crews. Scenarios are divided into turns representing about 12-15 minutes of action.

Turns are divided into the following phases: Command Phase, Initiative Phase, Activation Phase and Marker Removal Phase

The game uses isomorphic mapboards, each of which can align to any edge of equal length on any other mapboard. This allows for an almost unlimited number of combinations to create any terrain situation, including player designed scenarios. Each map hex represents a distance of approximately 150 to 200 metres.

Components

4 Isomorphic Maps
8 Overlays
5 sheets of Counters (3 of 5/8” and 2 of 3/4”)
1 Standard Rulebook
1 Exclusive Rulebook
7 Scenario Cards featuring 13 scenarios 
3 Charts and Table Cards
2 Battalion Charts Cards
2 six-side dice