NATO's nightmare

NATO's nightmare

This is the map of Schleswig-Holstein, the most northern state of Germany. It is situated between the North Sea in the west and the Baltic Sea in the east. The 'Nord-Ostsee-Kanal' (canal between the Baltic Sea an the North Sea) divides the two parts 'Schleswig' and 'Holstein'. The river 'Elbe' limits the state to the south. There is a border to Denmark in the north. The 'Elbe-Lübeck-Kanal' (canal between Baltic Sea an the river 'Elbe') roughly marks the border to East Germany (today's new German state of 'Mecklenburg-Vorpommern').

During the cold war, there was an American naval base in Bremerhaven (above Bremen at the lower left side of the map). Hamburg (in the center south where the river Elbe has two branches) also has a deep water port, but it would have been unreachable in an attack. Access of big ships to the other North Sea ports is very limited due to tidal restrictions.

In the 1970s, a surprise attack of the Warsaw Pact was NATO's nightmare in Europe. In this case, some generals proposed to abandon the worst defendable state of West Germany: Schleswig-Holstein. Here, you will try to fight for it and see if the generals were reasonable.

GAME LENGTH: 10 turns (14 turns for long game)

INITIAL FORCES:

REINFORCEMENTS:

Attacker : Defender: Both:

NEUTRAL COUNTRY:

Denmark will join the battle with 60 points if the attacker decides to leave the landing area at Sønderborg. Defender must not enter Denmark until it joined NATO forces.

WEATHER:

There is a 30% possibility of rain starting from turn 4.

TERRAIN COMMENTS:

Herds of cows will provide cover for infantry. Even smallest villages limit LOS. Railway bridges to islands can be reconstructed if destroyed. Bridges over rivers can only be built at fords. Infrastructure between West and East Germany has been cut off long ago; some bridges have now been reconstructed by attacker's engineers.