Moments in History and game designer David Bolt (noted WW I scholar) bring you to Germany's threatened eastern frontier in LODZ 1914, our monster game of WW I combat. Welcome to LODZ 1914, a telling of the story of the clash between German and Russian armies in Poland during November and December of 1914... I wanted to refine a game design I had first come up with on the battle of Lodz in 1984 for the Wargamer magazine. I liked that game design but it was confined by the restrictions imposed by the parameters of magazine games. I approached Uli Blennemann at MiH to publish a game on the battle of Lodz with an expanded set of rules along with completely redone counters and map. Building on that foundation, I have added a number of systems to model different aspects of the battle. The optional rules add another layer of simulation for those interested in a working model of history. All in all, the playtesters have found it to be a relatively quick learn, and an easy system once you actually start tossing dice. The combat system can be resolved more easily if the USED IN COMBAT acronym is followed as a guide for combat resolution. My interest here was to produce a model with all the working parts, but pared down enough that a major bat-tle could be fought at the brigade/regiment level within a reasonable amount of time. The goal was to create a fast-paced model of history. I encourage players to add their own interpretations, if different than my own. I think this system fundamentally works at a very com-plex level with only twice the pages normally found with a magazine game. I have tried to combine and merge a number of historical factors for each rule, particularly with the combat system’s dozen different modifiers (i.e., the USED IN COMBAT modifiers). The initial playing time will be slower as players become familiar with the sequence of play and game dynamics. I recommend beginning with the smallest sce-nario (Battle of Kutno) in order to grasp the game system. Once players are familiar with the game system, playing time should be a couple of hours per turn for a full-map scenario with one player per side, or one hour per side if there are two players per side. If all players agree, you can try timed moves using this formula. If playing with timed moves, stop the clock whenever resolving combat (off march, regular etc.) or disputing rules interpretations. David Bolt, Designer of Lodz 1914 Product Information ... Part No. LODZ14-ZIP Retail Price: $39.95 Shipping Date: Selling fast and ready to ship today! Return to the main page		Following their victory at the Battle of Tannenberg, the German generals Mackensen, Hindenburg and Ludendorff devised a plan to rapidly shift 9th Army to northern Poland by railroad. This was Blitzkrieg by rail, and it was designed to take the Russian Northwest Front by surprise before it could launch another invasion of Germany... And thus begins the Battle of Lodz 1914. The situation is ideal for a wargame, being very mobile and giving both sides enough opportunities to attack and defend. Setting the stage for LODZ 1914... The German blow preempted the launching of the Russian offensive by two days. What resulted was a classic battle of maneuver. The locally superior German forces overwhelmed and drove back the isolated corps in front of them. Stavka, the Russian High Command, was reluctant to call off the invasion of Germany. Precious days went by while Stavka released the corps of the Northwest Front piecemeal. The 9th Army drove on either side of Kutno, forcing the Russians to abandon the city. On the extreme tip of the German penetration was the XXV Reserve Corps (with the 3rd Guard Division attached) and the I Cavalry Corps. This force penetrated deep into the Russian positions behind Lodz. However, the Russian forces slowly streaming into the area managed to throw up positions that encircled these encirclers. The German forces wheeled around and struck out the way that the Russians expected least: northeast. 6th Siberian Division was attacked off the march, and a breakout and link up with the XX Corps was managed. The Russian 1st Army counterattacked, driving back the I Reserve Corps north of Lowicz. Now the front line stabilized and the German drive slowed, but, by December 6th Stavka gave up on Lodz to concentrate on defending Warsaw. What You Get... LODZ 1914 is a Monster Game of the battles on the Eastern Front in WW I and features top quality components through-out. Contents: 22"x34" map already described as the BEST EVER, plus 3 sheets of backprinted die-cut counters, 8 FOUR COLOR GLOSS STOCK play-aids, 52-page rulebook includes Designer's Notes, Player's Notes, and Historical Notes to bring the gamer lacking even a single book on the subject up to speed in one supporting document. What about your game? No other company delivers this kind of detailed, widely-distributed presentation of your game idea in the industry today. Our professional design, distribution and production capabilities enable CH to bring your idea to fruition. If you have a game idea that is well-documented and designed we want to hear from you! Just send a note using the Contact link on our main page and and we'll begin a prompt dialogue about the details.