Leningrad '41

This is VentoNuovo's continuation of the system created for Moscow '41, now looking at the campaign of Army Group North in Barbarossa. The final chapter of the Trilogy is Kiev '41.

Players take either the German or Soviet Union forces and use colorful wooden blocks to simulate the forces they have involved.

Leningrad '41 uses the same basic game engine of Moscow '41, with a few tweaks and changes to suit the differing conditions in the north. The game brings new wrinkles in as well because the Germans have "allies" as part of their forces-- the small but powerful Finnish Army which sought to recover territory lost in the "Winter War" but did not fully match the ambitions of Germany at destroying the U.S.S.R.

Four weeks after the commencement of Barbarossa, Hitler visited the headquarters of Army Group North. The Führer’s words were dutifully noted in the army group’s war diary, and culminated in the following observation: “…the loss of Leningrad might result in a complete collapse.”

By the end of the third week in July the capture of Leningrad did indeed seem inevitable. The Germans had already covered more than half the distance to the city. And yet, as they advanced into the vastness of Russia, it appeared that everyone on the Axis side of things had a different plan; and as time went by, those plans had a habit of changing.

Hitler did not want his tanks entering the city; but then, he did not want his infantry engaged in prolonged street fighting either. So, after another think about things, the Führer decided the city should be simply cut off and starved, or relentlessly bombarded and starved… or the Finns would be welcome to breach Lake Lagoda and flood it. Whatever the means, the Führer purposed that the “Cradle of Bolshevism” was to be wiped off the face of the earth, and its population left to dwindle away to nothing.