Race for Berlin: The Final Struggle

About this board game

Race for Berlin: The Final Struggle is a two-player operational wargame about the final drive to Berlin, with an approximate playing time of 180 minutes. Each turn represents one to two days of battle as the Soviet fronts press toward the German capital.

One player commands Marshal Zhukov’s 1st Byelorussian Front, while the other leads Marshal Koniev’s 1st Ukrainian Front. The contest is not fought with one side controlling only its own forces: each player also takes command of the German forces positioned in front of the opponent.

This unusual responsibility creates a race in which every player must advance their own Soviet units while delaying the opposing front. When playing Zhukov, you also control Army Group Center against Koniev. When playing Koniev, you command Army Group Vistula to hinder Zhukov’s progress.

• Designed for 2 players
• Approximately 180 minutes of play
• Operational scale, with each turn depicting one to two days
• 17×22 area map
• 140 die-cut counters and 8 pages of rules

The player who succeeds best in this struggle earns Stalin’s reward: command of the last assault on Berlin’s Reichstag. Race for Berlin presents the campaign as a focused confrontation between two Soviet advances, with German forces serving as the obstacle each opponent must direct against the other.

Released in June 2010 in Battles Magazine #4, Race for Berlin is a compact operational game centered on timing, front selection, and the challenge of balancing your own advance with the task of slowing your rival.