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For the last month, I've devoted a significant chunk of my hobby time to preparing for the new release. Barbarossa is a little momentous for me. Fall of the Reich was a fine book with lots of flavourful rules and good offerings for everyone, but I've never really been interested in playing 1945 as there’s just not much fight left in the Germans at that point. As a result, my excitement was low. I was interested, but not thrilled to play it.

Barbarossa, however, is a different story. Like many others who have read into the war beyond a cursory glance, I share the conviction that the war was won or lost on the Eastern Front. For this reason, I think Piers and Warwick got it right by starting with Kursk and I’m glad they've continued to give this theatre the proper emphasis it deserves. Barbarossa is exciting to me because of the scale of the invasion. Upwards of 4,000,000 Axis troops attacked all along a frontline almost 3,000km long. It was the ultimate gamble, and I really can’t wait to bring it to life on my table.

The second reason why Barbarossa is such a big deal for me has to deal with chronology. When I first started playing historicals last year with Flames of War, the group went with late war fighting because it had the most army books available and it was the preferred period to fight in for most of the community. Sticking to late war has exerted a huge influence on what I've collected for the Germans. My 41 AFVs consist entirely of the Tiger, the Panther, the Panzer IV H, and the StuG III G. Although Kursk is an entire year earlier than what I was used to fighting, it was still late enough for me to use everything I had.

Barbarossa will require an entirely new arsenal, and will mark my very first foray into early war fighting. I’m excited for this not just because it means I’ll be building and painting up new tanks, but I’m also interested in the changes this will bring about in the current meta of our group. In Kursk and Overlord, as the German player I’m usually bringing the higher armour and the stronger weapons against my foes. Based on the many Barbarossa bat reps from Piers that we've been reading, I know this dynamic will be flipped on its head. The idea of harmlessly bouncing 50mm shells off Kv-1s and T-34s fills me with dread, but I’m feeling up to the challenge!
So, how have I been preparing? I've been sitting on a new Panzergrenadier platoon for a few weeks, and the impending new release has gotten me off my ass to assemble the men. I’m pretty happy with how they turned out!





For tanks, I looked to seek the advice of fellow history geeks. I had no idea what vehicles I would need for Barbarossa. A fresh new platoon of Panzer III Gs await their orders!



For those of you not already playing Battlegroup, give it a shot. It's an AWESOME game. For those that do, how have you guys been preparing for the release? Feel free to share your recent work!

Looks fantastic. I always forget about early war grey vehicles as most of my gaming is done late war western front. I've still yet to get my hands on a copy of BGO but I have had a decent look at the core rules and am foaming at the mouth to transition from bolt action to battlegroup.

I will use this thread however to inspire myself to start some soviets as I'm sure BGB will not be far behind.

Keep it up!

I hear good things about it. Is Kursk the main rules and the others add-ons or do you get everything you need in each book?

Kursk has the core rules in it, the other books dont, but we do a mini rulebook that is all the core rules and is only £5 when bought with one of the books.

I would thoroughly recommend battlegroup, having some fun games using the overlord book.

Just played my first game of Battlegroup a few nights ago. My friend and I who are both former infantry as well as legitimate nerds were VERY pleased. It is very much a by gamers for gamers kind of ruleset that effectivly captures combined arms combat and the "realism" of infantry warfare. Simple yet all inclusive. We ordered Overlord immediately.

Also a plus to playing Battlegroup is that Big P can answer FAQs in real time on Dakka!

We try our best!

You will love Overlord...