The Fall Of The Third Reich

About this board game

The Fall of the Third Reich is a strategic World War II game for 1–4 players, covering the final two years of the war in Europe in a campaign that typically takes 6–10 hours. Twelve two-month turns trace the conflict from July 1943, with the Axis facing the Western Allies and Soviet Union across two large hex maps.

The game spans the front from France to central Russia and from Leningrad to Sicily. Armies, Corps, and selected Divisions maneuver across a map where every movement segment matters. German players must plug gaps, launch selective counterattacks, and resist the pressure of advancing Allied forces, while the Allies seek opportunities to penetrate deeper into the Third Reich.

Strategic choices begin immediately. While German and Soviet forces remain locked in a struggle around Kursk, the Western Allies must decide where to open their invasion, with possible sites ranging from Holland to Greece. Players may focus on Italy or pursue a second front in Northwest Europe, while rules for Italian surrender, Yugoslav Partisans, Axis Minor Powers, forts, airborne drops, and strategic transit add further complications.

• Command friction: Soviet and German command rules reflect Stavka, OKW, OKH, and Hitler’s growing interference.
• Logistics: Streamlined supply rules emphasize the importance of ports, especially for Western Allied operations.
• Strategic air war: A compact subsystem gives Allied air priorities and Luftwaffe support a potentially dramatic influence.
• Changing strength: German troop strength varies and degrades as the campaign continues.

Designed by Ted S. Raicer, The Fall of the Third Reich combines historical scope with a playable system full of difficult, consequential decisions. It supports two-player Axis-versus-Allied/Soviet play, three-player games with separate Allied and Soviet commands, and solitaire play.