A Deep Western Front Wargame
Gary Grigsby's War in the West is a turn-based hex-grid simulation covering the Allied campaigns in Western Europe from the Summer 1943 invasions of Sicily and Italy through the invasions of France and the drive into Germany. You command the land war on a huge map of 36,000 hexes with detailed terrain including bocage, tundra, desert and escarpments, while also running the air war thousands of feet above. The game models logistics in depth, tracking rail usage per hex with congestion, railyard capacity, depots, trucks and ports, so moving supplies to the front is a real problem to solve. Weather is modeled through eight weather zones and moving weather fronts that set ground and air conditions per hex, affecting movement, combat and flying.
Playing Together
Steam lists Remote Play Together for this game, which lets friends join you over a stream of your session. Since War in the West is a turn-based game with a separate air resolution phase, a group can take turns deciding moves and air directives, or one person can drive while others weigh in on strategy. The East Front Control option gives German players a screen with front line info and Soviet offensive potential, plus the ability to move units between fronts, which gives a group plenty to argue over when deciding how to balance forces between the Western and Eastern Fronts.
Before You Start
Be ready for a heavy rules load. The order of battle runs down to each squad, vehicle and plane, and you issue Air Directives across six types including Ground Support, Strategic Bombing and Air Recon, with seven ground attack target types and 14 strategic bombing target types to prioritize. An Auto Air Direction Creation screen can generate directives from top level priorities if you want less micromanagement. Garrison requirements on regions and cities must be met or partisan attacks on rail increase and you lose victory points. Campaign length depends on the East Front Control option: with it, play runs until Berlin falls or into August 1945; without it, the game ends in early May 1945 or sooner if the Allies capture Berlin.