Corps Command: Dawn’s Early Light

About this board game

Corps Command: Dawn’s Early Light is a two-player tactical war game with an approximately 240-minute play time, depicting a massive Cold War tank battle in West Germany’s Eisenbach Gap.

The Soviet First Tank Army has crossed the border into Germany and is driving into the gap, seeking to break through NATO’s defenses and reach the Rhine. One player commands the hard-hitting Soviet forces, while the other directs American and German troops scrambling from their bases to delay the advance.

The Soviets have numbers and striking power, but their units become less capable as they wear down, losing initiative over time. NATO forces are highly capable but outnumbered, creating a desperate defensive battle in which every delay matters.

Asset chits let players bring in reinforcements and influence the battle space with gunships, chemical attacks, and electronic warfare. New defensive fire rules give attackers a reason to be cautious and reward matching units to the right terrain. The system remains lean, readable, and easy to learn, while retaining the foundations of Corps Command: Totensonntag.

• A 17 by 22 inch map depicting the lush West German landscape of the Eisenbach Gap
• 136 colorful 5/8 inch counters representing battalions and brigades
• A players’ aid card and Terrain Effects Chart
• Quick-to-read rules designed to get the game running swiftly

With more than two thousand tanks involved in the scenario, Corps Command: Dawn’s Early Light challenges both players to attempt the impossible: win the greatest tank battle of all time. The game has been discontinued; a later edition, Dawn’s Early Light Red Hammer, was announced as forthcoming.