About Time of Fury: Time of Fury spans the whole of World War II in Europe and gives players the opportunity to control all types of units, ground, air and naval. Not only that, each player will be able to pick a single country or selection of countries and fight his way against either the AI or in multiplayer in hotseat or Play by E-Mail.

In World War II every single aspect of war was crucial: from troop movements to supply, from logistics to diplomacy, from innovation to careful use of terrain. Many games have tried to replicate the depth and complexity of this global conflict and only a few have managed to give an all around experience to players.

This is a game that truly replicates all these aspects. The developers of the highly successful Time of Wrath are back to the European theater of war with an ambitious project that allows players to truly experience what it was to be a decision maker of the period.

 

I always wanted to play the Barbarossa South scenario. It's a very plausible 'what if' that could have changed the course of World War II.

In this scenario, the entire armored force of the Reich (with the exception of the Afrika Korps) is poised to strike into the breadbasket of the USSR, the industrial heartland, and the oil fields of the south. A screening force of infantry is tasked with guarding the northern flank, and pushing forward to liberate the Baltics.

The following screenshots were taken on September 16, almost three months into the campaign, and just prior to the expected onset of the rainy season.

September 16

Army Group Caucasus was ordered to take the Crimea and Rostov, as gateways to the Caucasus. That has been accomplished (although the siege of Sevastopol is still underway). Maikop was taken, which meant a boost to the Reich's oil reserves. However, it is clear that if the weather closes in, it will be difficult to take the rest of the Caucasus.

Panzer Army Caucasus has a powerful punch, but is seriously over extended. I need to move infantry up, but the RRs have been taxed to the limit just keeping the panzer columns moving forward. We know that the Russians are going to establish a line eventually, but have been rushing forward against their weak strongpoints so far.

I'm just hoping that the weather in this region will not be so bad that I have to halt the advance as winter approaches.

Panzer Army Ukraine has succeeded in taking the Ukraine, and is now approaching Stalingrad from the SW and NW. The Soviets are of course rushing in everything they can scrape up to hold the city. I basically have two weeks of good weather left. Stalingrad may be out of reach until the summer of '42.

Panzer Army Don took Kiev and captured all crossings of the Don River as a defensive flank for the upcoming Winter. Its panzer forces have now been rushed towards the SE to help with the taking of Stalingrad. But again - perhaps too late.

Panzer Army Don has turned over responsibility for setting up a defensive position along the Don River to Army Group Don. That force is going to have to pull back from its forward positions and solidify its front from Gomel all the way across to Kursk. Infantry units are being shipped to the front from the homeland on a weekly basis.

As a harbinger of things to come on this front, the Russians have already started to hit back from the White Russian marshes, and from their position around Gomel. One German division was completely destroyed here.

Army Group North has freed Estonia and Latvia, but is still short of its goal of taking Lithuania. It is probable that it will have to halt its advance and solidify a line from Riga to Minsk to the Pripets.

The Soviets are still holding out at Minsk.

October 1

Two weeks more into the campaign and the weather is still holding. Unfortunately, the Soviet defense of the Caucasus is stiffening. Baku looks far away.

Panzer Army Ukraine has entered Stalingrad, but the Soviets are dug-in hard on both sides of the Volga. It's a slug-fest, but its clear now that the city will fall. Now the question is: can I take the last RR that connects the Caucasus to the rest of the USSR? So the goal for this winter is to make an all-out push towards Astrakhan. It sits at the mouth of the Volga, the key to the Caucasus.

No sooner did I reveal my plan of genius ... and the weather turns sour. Here comes the mud. Note that the cold is closing in also, with snow mixed in with the rain.

Perhaps I will have to settle for cutting that last RR south to Astrakhan. Oh, I can cut it, but can I hold it?

AAR written by: "gwgardener", Contributor