A Victory Complete: The Battle of Tannenberg, 1914

About this board game

A Victory Complete: The Battle of Tannenberg, 1914 is a two-player board game with an approximately 210-minute playing time, covering the battles of Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes in East Prussia during August and September 1914.

Two ill-prepared but numerically superior Imperial Russian armies attack East Prussia in support of the Franco-Russian Alliance. Germany must hold back the Russian advance with limited means, while Russia must press forward, exploit its superiority, and force German reinforcements away from the Western Front.

The game uses a chit-pull procedure and a low density of units to create a fast-paced battle in which every move matters. Players must seek local superiority, balance attack and defense, time their maneuvers and decisive blows, and manage command and control alongside their lines of supply.

• Scale: each turn represents two days, and each hex covers 6.2 miles / 10 kilometers.
• Units: formations range from brigades to armies.
• Components: a 22 × 34-inch full-color map, a dual-sided countersheet with 252 counters, and a 12-page rule booklet.
• Learning curve: the game is taught in about 30 minutes and is designed to be easy to digest while still challenging experienced players.

The historical battle is remembered as a striking example of modern military strategy, maneuver, and local superiority. Although the forces engaged were relatively small compared with other World War I battles, the Russian disaster had wider consequences when German reserves were drawn eastward from the Western Front.

In A Victory Complete: The Battle of Tannenberg, 1914, success depends on choosing when to maneuver, where to concentrate strength, and how to use time and supply. Published in 2011, it presents a focused contest between German defensive skill and Russian offensive pressure.