Europe Aflame Interactive Combat Story: Episode I

Brian King | September 30, 2004  | 0 comments  | Print  | E-mail

Introduction to the Europe Aflame Interactive Combat Story

One of the most-asked questions in recent history has to be whether the Axis forces could have ever won the Second World War. Was all the destruction merely a great misjudgment of the chances Germany actually had, or was there a course of action that could have changed the outcome to favor that war’s great loser? This question has no definitive answer, which is why so many books, articles, games, and discussions continue seeking it to this day.

Now, we continue that tradition by taking a new look at this old question and see if we can come up with fresh answers. We are going to do this by actively participating in a recreation of World War II in Europe using a game as our foundation, and reader-submitted survey data to guide the German and Allied war machines through the course of this 6-year campaign. Given the benefits of hindsight, can you steer the Axis towards victory over the USA, Great Britain, the USSR, and all of Europe? You will become part of the German high command, giving orders on where, when and how to conquer Europe. You can also help the Allied Supreme Commander make decisions to help counter the Axis conquests… You can participate on one side, or you can give suggestions to both!

This serial story will be a combination of hard history, alternate history, wargaming, role playing, public discourse, and good old fashioned friendly rivalry. The combination will yield what should be a dynamic story starting at the Polish border in 1939 and ending sometime in the future either at a fiery bunker in Berlin, or with a German victory parade in London or Moscow! Remember this is just a GAME, and attempts to make no political claims, endorsements, other statements about the conduct of the war by either side.

The People Behind the Curtain

This story is going to be written by myself and several other gentlemen, and is called the "Europe Aflame Interactive Combat Story" (EA-ICS). You will meet these people over the course of the "war." Each side will have several commanders; one who actually plays the game, and the others who will be the writers. From the outset, they will be soliciting YOUR opinion on various options they should take. For the Axis it might be a question on whether to go all out for Moscow in 1941 or instead go all out for the Caucasus region from the start. For the allies, you might be asked whether to send extra troops to France in preparation for obvious German aggression, or keep them at home to defend against Sealion (Invasion of Great Britain). Each story segment in the series will end with a major poll or survey, which will guide your command staff until the next chapter comes out.

The game we are using is The Operational Art of War, which is well tested and well suited to this exercise. In that game, we will be playing a scenario called "Europe Aflame" which was created by Mark Stevens and Ulver Neilsen (based on a previous scenario by Trey Marshall). Europe Aflame covers the war in Europe from Norway to North Africa and Spain to the Urals. It also has portions of the map devoted to Italian East Africa and South Africa as well. It will cover all the major theatres of this conflict.

Europe Aflame map.

You won’t need to know the rules of The Operational Art of War (which are lengthy), and in fact you won’t need to own this game or have any wargaming experience at all. The only weapons you need for this conflict are a love of history and a willingness to share your voice by voting to guide your commanders. You will control the strategic goals of each side, and your commanders will worry about the tactical movement, fighting, and supply of your armies.

How It All Works

Behind the scenes, this is a fairly complex endeavor. Yet, it should all come together fairly seamlessly in the story. At least, that is our hope!

Episode I (the one you are reading!) will contain this introduction to the story, a primer on the history leading up to the Second World War, and some initial decisions you will need to make before launching the Axis and Allies on their respective missions.

Episode II will witness the initial Blitzkriegs of the Germans and give the world a taste of what is to come. The Sitzkrieg will break the action in the Winter of 1939-40 as both sides begin planning in anticipation of big events of 1940. The Axis will be asked where to attack once the winter snows melt. The Allies will continue to plan defense, and maybe look to the forests of Finland for their own breathing room.

Episodes III-? have no set scripts or goals. They will all depend on how the story progresses, how well Germany does or doesn’t do, and how well the Allies can stall the Axis war machine before they eventually gain enough strength to take the fight back to German soil. The challenge for Germany and her friends is to end the war before the allies reach that point. Yet, as with any empire, finding the balance between fast expansion and smart expansion will be crucial. This is where your decisions become important! For now, that is all you need to know! Good luck.

And now we return to World War II to see how our own decisions affect this alternate history.

A Brief Summary of Events Leading Up To World War II

The story of the Second World War begins with the end of the First War. The Germans never really accepted the Treaty of Versailles and any German government who accepted the Treaty was pre-destined to fail in the long term. A small party denied the Treaty gained more and more power in the country, backed up by its paramilitary force the SA. That party’s leader was Adolph Hitler, and on the 30th of January 1933 - he was appointed as Chancellor of Germany. On the 2nd of August 1934, after the death of Hindenburg, Hitler gained full control of Germany and became the Fuhrer. The period of Nazism had started.

The military constraints of the Treaty had a positive effect on the German Heer (army). Only the best soldiers could remain in their positions, and (as the loser always looks for his mistakes while the winner sits in peace) they started to develop a new tactics and strategies based on new weapons to achive more efficiency with their limited resources. The Nazis in power brought more changes in the Heer. Nazism opened up the higher positions in the Army to the young, self-confident party members. Hitler, in an effort to strenghen his position in the party, killed his opponents (Night of the Long Knives, killing of the SA leaders, and party enemies). The SS (bodyguards of Hitler) replaced the SA in its position.

Recent data shows the population of Germany started to loose faith in Nazis from an economical point of view in 1935. So Hitler had to find something to keep up support. His winning strategy was a new powerful Germany, and thus he breached the Treaty of Versailles and began to build up the Wehrmacht. In 1935 Germany reoccupied the Rhineland which showed how powerless the ex-Entent countries had become. The new Army could try itself in the Spanish Civil War, and proved to those who looked how successful the new German tactics had become. Germany formed an alliance with Japan and Italy (the Axis) to continue to strengthen its position in the world. In the late 30’s Germany, with the compliance of British PM Chamberlain, gained more and more territory (Austria, Czechoslovakia). Germany was ready now to make one more claim against Poland…

[continued on nextpage]

Help Armchair General by bookmarking to

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.