1918/1919: Storm in the West

About this board game

1918/1919: Storm in the West is a two-player World War I wargame with a playing time of about 240 minutes that also supports solo play. It presents two campaigns on the Western Front, where players make strategic and operational choices across a large-hex map.

In the 1918 Campaign, Germany begins with substantial numbers of Stosstruppen, giving its forces a powerful offensive capability after years of trench warfare. These shock troops are a wasting asset, however, and the balance can shift as growing numbers of American troops and Allied tanks enter the conflict. If the Allies survive the initial attacks, Germany may be forced into a desperate defense.

The alternative Plan 1919 Campaign imagines that Germany used the collapse of Russia to stabilize the Balkan and Italian fronts rather than launching the historical 1918 offensives in the West. The Allies receive a fully mobilized American army supported by masses of tanks and planes, while Germany seeks a stalemate that will preserve its dominance in Europe.

• Units are mainly corps, with oversized American divisions represented at a comparable scale.
• Forces include infantry, tanks, cavalry, and air support.
• The map covers the active Western Front from Epinal to Antwerp and the Channel Coast, at 8 miles per hex.
• Terrain includes forts, trenches, forests, marshes, flood plains, mountains, and the Devastated Zone.

The map is back-printed with separate versions for the 1918 and 1919 campaigns. With updated artwork by Mark Simonitch and Charlie Kibler, 1918/1919: Storm in the West offers a dynamic, bloody contest that can be completed in a single session.