The Third Winter: The Battle for the Ukraine September 1943-April 1944

About this board game

The Third Winter: The Battle for the Ukraine, September 1943-April 1944 is a 2021 operational campaign game for 2-6 players with a listed play time of 10,000 minutes. Using the Operational Combat Series, it recreates the campaign from the Race to the Dnepr through the fighting in Ukraine and the splitting of Army Group South.

The Soviet player commands four Fronts that must cooperate to overcome Axis forces, including two Panzer Armies. Fronts can adopt Offensive or Paused postures, allowing the Soviet player to shift pressure across the map. Worn-out formations withdraw into the RVGK for rebuilding and may reappear in a new area, creating opportunities for Maskirovka surprises.

The German player faces the challenge of active defense: holding the Dnepr barrier, conducting fighting retreats, and using wounded but dangerous panzer formations. Fortress HQs help cut-off units continue to function, while Kampfgruppe HQs allow ad hoc mechanized formations to combine. The game also includes Tiger Companies, German Remnants, Romanian Home Army units, notable aces, and Hans-Ulrich Rudel with tank-busting aircraft.

• Five-mile hexes and 3.5-day turns cover a large operational campaign.
• Dnepr bridges can be blown and repaired, while ferries enable crossings and lead to bridgehead battles.
• Forty-four possible random events add patrol boat raids, Lend-Lease, fuel shortages, heroes, artillery ammunition stockpiles, and partisan offensives.
• Anti-aircraft units make air barrages more difficult as both sides deploy increasing air defenses.

The Third Winter includes two monster-sized campaigns using a 44-by-66-inch map layout and more than 1,500 combat units. Seven scenarios range from the four-map Dnepr Battles and the January-start Die Götterdämmerung to focused engagements such as the Battle for Kiev, Hube’s Pocket, Ternopol, and the advance toward Rumania.