The Hero City: The Battle for the Baltics, September 1943-April 1944

Operational Combat Series (OCS) games simulate campaign-level combat from 1900 to the mid-1950s. The series goal is to allow a sophisticated study of historical events while maintaining mechanical simplicity. Every facet of modern combat is modeled. 

The Hero City depicts the desperate battles between late September 1943 and April 1944 in the Army Group North sector of the Russian front. Soviet priorities were to establish a rail connection into Leningrad, evict the Axis forces from the Leningrad Oblast, and force their way into the Baltic States. Well aware this hammer was about to fall, Army Group North prepared the Panther Line defensive belt along the borders of Estonia and Latvia. The Hero City covers the major engagements: the autumn attrition battles while the Soviets mass their forces, the fighting retreat as the Wehrmacht desperately tries to escape intact, and the crashing impact as Russian waves pound against the German Panther Line breakwater. In the north are the Finnish lines, which offer a completely different strategic opportunity, including a scenario for the Soviet Summer 1944 offensive into Karelia. The Axis forces managed—barely—to hold at the Panther line, but the situation could have spiraled into disaster. The campaign here laid the foundations for the drama during the summer of 1944, and many of the German units in The Hero City will end the war trapped in Courland.

The game area covers the Soviet Oblasts of Leningrad, Novgorod and Pskov, as well as Estonia, Latvia, and the northern part of Lithuania. The map extends north of Helsinki and Viipuri in Finland, south to Daugavpils and Tilsit, east to Valday and Volkhov and west to the Baltic Sea. The Hero City is fully playable with The Forgotten Battles, to create a combined massive gaming experience using campaign setups that start in September 1943 and January 1944.

The Soviet command and supply structure is modeled through Front HQ markers. Fronts are either in "Offensive" or "Regrouping" status, allowing for shifting axes of attack and the on/off nature of Soviet operational warfare during this time. Each Front has an assigned Air Force. The parallel fighting in Army Group Center is represented by a boundary marker that shifts as the war advances off map, and the Axis player must be careful to watch his off-map flanks.

The Hero City is a large-sized OCS game, with 1,400 combat units (five counter sheets) and a 44 x 66-inch map layout at a scale of 5-mile hex/3.5 days per turn. The full Campaign game is 63 turns long, and there are three campaign scenarios so players can start at different points in the action. Also included are several partial-map scenarios.

Special rules in this OCS series game are carefully researched to model key aspects of this critical campaign:
Forces include German Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe and SS formations, as well as Soviet Guards, regular and Partisan units, plus Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian units. The Prinz Eugen and German destroyers might put in an appearance.
Soviet Front HQ Markers which reflect their role in command and marshaling supply.
Soviet RVGK for coordinating strategic redeployment and rebuilding shattered mobile Corps.
Axis Army, Army Group and Kessel HQs, along with Kampfgruppe markers which portray Axis operational flexibility.
Random events similar to what are found in The Third Winter and The Forgotten Battles. The 26 possible events add historical flavor with minimal rules overhead, covering things like Guards Promotions, Fuel Shortages, Hitler’s intransigence, Soviet submarines Partisan Offensives, One-Turn Offensives, Battlefield Heroes, options for emergency reinforcements and unexpected Finnish offensives.

Scenarios List:
The Hero City Liberated (Campaign Game Start, 4 maps, 63 turns), 26 Sept 1943 to 26 April 1944.
The Fighting Retreat (Main Soviet Offensive Campaign Start, 4 maps, 30 turns), 15 Jan to 26 April 1944.
Red Baltic Storm, (January Campaign Start, 4 maps, 27 turns), 26 Jan to 26 April 1944.
Narva: Gateway to Estonia (partial map scenario, 10 turns), 15 Feb to 19 March 1944.
The Panther Bites: 16th Army’s Salvation (partial map scenario, 7 turns), 29 Mar to 19 Apr 1944.
The Karelian Offensive: The Continuation War in Finland (partial map, 8 turns), 12 June to 5 July 1944.

• Four Game Maps (22" x 34")
  
• Five Game Specific Countersheets and two Marker Countersheets
• Two Terrain Effects Charts
• One Turn Record Track and Weather Display
• One Soviet RVGK Logistics Display
• Two General Record Tracks – One Axis and One Soviet
• OCS Rulebook (version 4.3)
• Two OCS v4.3 Charts and Tables
  
• Game-Specific Rulebook with extensive Historical Commentary, Designer's Notes, Developer's Notes, Historical Commentary, and Players Notes
• Scenario Booklet 
• Axis Player Booklet, including an Order of Arrival with Counter Icons
• Soviet Player Booklet, including an Order of Arrival with Counter Icons
• Dice