Russia Besieged

About this board game

Russia Besieged is a 2004 two-player WWII East Front game for a 360-minute playing time, focusing on corps- and army-level operations. Its approximately 30-by-44-inch, one-piece map uses a hard board similar to those in The Russian Campaign 4th ed. and Deluxe Bitter Woods.

Designed as a more advanced progression from The Russian Campaign, Russia Besieged builds on familiar concepts while adding greater operational detail. Players manage unit breakdowns, rebuild formations by steps, and use headquarters to hold and release reserves.

• Move across rivers at a cost of one movement point.
• Deploy Stukas from airports, cities, and towns during both impulses, with weather limiting second-impulse flights.
• Use a d10 Combat Results Table featuring step losses.
• Choose Blitzkrieg combat that trades some unit kills for penetration, allowing armor to move through zones of control and create encirclements.
• Apply leader counters that can affect the die.

The game also features a larger, more historical Order of Battle, revised weather rules, and new impulse rail movement. Partisans develop in two stages: if the initial form remains unmolested, a more dangerous form can be built.

Lend-Lease is represented more accurately through three historical entry points, while open-turn special rules, optional rules, enhanced standard rules, and a revised play-aid chart add further ways to shape the campaign. With its combination of detailed forces, weather, reserves, air support, and breakthrough combat, Russia Besieged offers a substantial East Front experience for players seeking more depth than its related designs.