#47 w/Arctic Disaster

In the hardest fought Arctic convoy battle of the war, Convoy PQ-17 was largely destroyed by German air and naval forces in July 1942. Arctic Disaster, by designer Mark Stille, examines this pivotal battle and what went wrong (for both sides)!

The 33 merchant ships of the convoy were provided a large escort of anti-submarine ships to ward off U-boat attack, a close covering force of four heavy cruisers and three destroyers, and a distant covering force of battleships HMS Duke of York and USS Washington, carrier HMS Victorious, and another two cruisers and 14 destroyers. Nevertheless, in spite of this protection, only nine ships reached Russia.

On their side, the Germans had assembled a large force of U-boats, torpedo-carrying aircraft and a heavy surface task force including battleship Tirpitz and heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer, Lutzow, and Hipper to crush the convoy. It was in fear of such a force that the British convoy was ordered to scatter, only to be picked off one by one by enemy aircraft and U-boats.

Re-create the voyage of PQ-17 as it transits Arctic waters en route to northern Russia. The game system is built around the uncertainty of task force activation, replicating the weak command and control evident on both sides. The Allied player is challenged to use his assets wisely to run the convoy through and exact painful losses on the Germans. The German player has to carefully weigh the possible gains in, or losses from, using his most effective (but precious) capital ships versus unreliable air and undersea weapons.

Map - One full color 22" x 34" mapsheet.

Counters - 280 full color die-cut pieces

Rules length - 16 pages

Charts and tables - 2 pages

Complexity - Medium

Solitaire suitability - Low

Playing time - 12 to 15 hours