LOST VICTORY

                              MANSTEIN AT KHARKOV, WINTER 1943

                                                                         GMT

Review 
By    LODOVICO BADALI

INTRODUCTION

In this review, we desire to give a general and in-depth analysis of the game “ Lost Victory “, starting with a punctual summary of the rules. Then we will add our comment on the game itself, proposing same reflections about the single rules and the interactions among them and, finally, giving a general consideration about “ Lost Victory “.

THE GAME: A GENERAL VIEW

Lost Victory is a regimental/divisional scale wargame simulating the battles for the Ukraine in February and March 1943, between the Red Army and the Wehrmacht ( plus other units of the Germany’s Allies ). The map of Lost Victory shows the area where the campaign was fought. The area comprehends the two major rivers of Donets ( in the east ) and of Dniepr ( in the southwestern corner of the map ), the terrain between them plus a little portion of the territories eastern of the Donets. The map shows also the major cities of Kharkov, Poltava, Dniepropetrovsk, Zaporozhe and Stalino. The northern section of the map comprehends the terrain north of Kharkov for about one hundred and twelve kilometres in depth. This is the important industrial and mining centre of Donbas. In addition, the map is divided in two sections by the Weather Line, which runs from the eastern map-edge to the western one. The Weather Line is important not only to show the current ground conditions, but also to determine if the game ends before the sixteenth turn ( the last possible turn ). On the map, there are several tracks. The Turn Record Track shows the passing of time ( there are sixteen turns; each turn represent three days of real time ) and in addition the Soviet and Axis reinforcements scheduled to arrive and their Entry Area with the Personnel and Material Replacements available each turn for the Soviets and the Axis. The Terrain Key explains the terrains’ features on the map. In the two Air Displays Boxes ( one for the Axis and one for the Soviet ), the players put their respective air strikes. Each box has four sections: Ready, Flown, Grounded and Repair. The Axis player puts his reinforcements without a scheduled turn of entry and his eliminated units in the OKH Display ( there are two sections: Reinforcements Box and Dead Box ). The Soviet player makes the same in his STAVKA Display. There is a Weather Display to indicate the current sky condition and ground condition. Finally, the units that exit the southern map-edge go into the Mariupol Box ( this box represents the city of Mariupol and its territory ) and they cannot re-enter the game. 
Lost Victory has several playing aids in addition to those on the map. Procedure Summary, showing in outlines how to set up and play the game. Weather Table, used to find the weather for the current turn. The Weather Summary lists the effects of weather type. Movement Chart, showing the number of Movement Points it costs to enter each map hex. Combat table, used to find the outcome of combat between opposing units. Combat Summary, listing combat-related column shifts, strength multipliers and die roll modifiers. Soviet SNAFU Table, used to determine what special command foul-ups affect the Soviet player. Axis SNAFU Table, used to determine what special command foul-ups affect the Axis player. SNAFU Summary details how SNAFU’s work. Bombardment Table, used to find the outcome of bombardments. Die Roll Summary, listing the various die rolls and modifiers used in play. Soviet Reinforcement Chart, showing when the Soviet player receives scheduled reinforcements. Axis Reinforcement Chart, showing when the Axis player receives scheduled reinforcements. Victory Chart, used to find who wins the game and the level of victory. 
Lost Victory has three types of playing pieces: Units, Air Strikes and Markers. Units are divided in three types: Combat Units, HQs and Ersatz Units. There are several types of Combat Units: Infantry/Rifle, Motorized Infantry/Rifle, Panzergranadier, Cavalry, Motorcycle, Bicycle, Recon, Tank (Panzer), Heavy Tank/Tiger, Flammpanzer, Assault Gun, Commando, Security, Partisan, Penal, Engineer, Ski, Antitank, Artillery, Rocket/Katyusha and Armoured Train. Each Combat Unit has a size: from company to division. Each combat unit shows various information: here we illustrate all of them, but not each unit uses all of them. Attack Strength is the value the unit uses when attacking. Defence Strength is the value the unit uses when defending. Movement Allowance is the maximum number of Movement Points ( MPs ) a unit can spend to move in each friendly Operations Phase. Stacking Value is the unit’s relative size measured in Stacking Points: unit’s SV ( stacking value ) determines how many units can be in a hex at the same time. Some units have special information. Guards Band is a gold band over the unit name to identify a Guards unit. Motorized Band is a white or yellow band across the bottom of the counter. Units with a yellow Motorized Band are Combat Motorized units.  Combat Bonus is a bonus that the unit applies to combat. There are seven types of Combat Bonuses. Gun Bonus: most rifle, infantry, panzergranadier and motorized infantry units have a GB, representing the unit’s internal artillery complement. Artillery, rocket and armoured train units also have a GB. A GB is a number to the left of the unit box; if it is unboxed, the range is one hex, if it is in a black or yellow box ( this last one only on the SS units ), the range is two hexes. Eligible supplied units can use their GB to bombard enemy units or to affect combat in hexes within range. Tank Bonus: panzer, tank and assault gun units and Soviet heavy tanks have a TB representing their complements of armoured fighting vehicles. The TB is a red number in a yellow box. The TB is used in combats to modify the die roll. Antitank Bonus: Soviet antitank brigades and German Tiger tanks have a special effectiveness against tanks, represented by their ATB ( antitank bonus ). The ATB is a red number in a yellow box with a red triangle above the box ( or a red T for the Tigers ). The ATB can be used in combats involving enemy tanks. Engineer Bonus: German combat engineer units and the Grossdeutschland division’s flammpanzer unit have special assault capabilities in built-up areas. This bonus is a number inside a red circle. When supplied units with this bonus attacking a city or town automatically shift the combat ratio right a number of columns equal to their EB. Ski Bonus: Soviet Ski brigades have an SB, representing their combat capabilities in deep snow. The SB is a number followed by a degree symbol ( ° ). Undisrupted ski units operating outside towns and cities automatically shift the combat ratio in their favour a number of columns equal to their SB when the ground is Drifted. Assault Bonus: each Soviet Penal battalion has an AB, which appears as a “ 1 “ followed by an asterisk (* ). At the attacker’s option, attacking penal units shift the combat ratio right one column. Diversionary Bonus: the German Brandendurger II and all undisrupted Soviet partisans have a DB, which is subtracted from the Command Value of any enemy HQ within two hexes of the unit. This bonus is a number followed by a tilde. 
Lost Victory includes two unit types with special capabilities for operating behind the enemy lines: Partisans ( for the Soviet ) and Commandos ( for the German ). Partisans and commandos interfere with HQ functioning. In addition, partisans units inhibit the use of railroads in adjacent hexes that does not contain friendly units. Each partisan and commando has a DB bonus; this bonus is subtracted from the CV of each enemy HQ within two hexes of the unit. Partisans and commandos are always in supply. These units have several special rules for movement, combat and bombardment.   
The HQ units represent the centres of command and control of the operations. There are two Soviet Front HQs: Voronezh Front and Southwest front, under which, in the command’s chain, there are the other Soviet HQs. For the Axis, there are two Army Group HQs: Army Group Don and Army Group South. Then, in the chain of command, there are the other subordinate HQs ( Army/Corps/Group HQs ). Each HQ has its Defence Strength, its Stacking Value, its Movement Allowance and the Motorized Band. Each HQ has its Command Radius and its Command Value. Command Radius is the range in hexes over which an HQ can supply and coordinate the activities of friendly units. Command Value measures an HQ’s ability to process intelligence and coordinate operations. The second one is used to resolve command checks before combat and/or overruns. HQs give several bonuses. Combat units that can trace an LOC to an eligible supplied HQ in the Supply Segment are supplied. Combat units that can trace an LOC to an eligible undisrupted HQ during overrun or combat have some benefits from the HQ’s CV in command checks. Front and Army HQs can serve as formation sites for ersatz units arriving as reinforcements ( Soviet HQs can also serve for penal battalions ). HQs are part of a hierarchy: corps HQs are the lowest level of HQs; then there are army and mobile group HQs and, finally, army group and front HQs. An HQ can trace an LOC only to a superior HQ.  
Ersatz Units are a subclass of combat unit representing training and alert battalions, small battle groups and ragtag collections of personnel replacements. Each Ersatz Unit has an unknown side and a known side. The first one shows Stacking Value, Movement Allowance and the Unknown Strength. The second one shows the same values as the first one, but in place of the Unknown Strength, there are the Attack Strength and the Defence Strength.
Lost Victory has not air units; instead, Air Strikes abstractly represent packets of multiple combat aircraft types supporting friendly units or attacking enemy units. All air strikes have a Bombing Bonus ( BB ) on their known side: they use it to bombard enemy hexes and support friendly units. An air strike has one unknown and one known side. Each player starts the game with fixed number of air strikes. The players may have fewer air strikes available due to bad weather or due to damage. The two Air Displays on the map ( one for the Axis and the other for the Soviet ) have four boxes. The Ready Box is for the available air strikes. The Flown Box is for used air strikes. The Grounded Box is used to put the air strikes when the skies are cloudy or stormy. The Repair Box is for the air strikes damaged during combat or bombardment; when a damaged air strike is repaired, it is moved to the Grounded box. Each air strike may do one of two actions per Operations Phase. One air strike per hex can bombard enemy-occupied hex; one air strike per side can support each combat in an Operations Phase. At the end of each of Player Operations Phase, the used air strikes are moved from their Flown boxes to their Ready boxes.  
Lost Victory has several types of markers: No Ops markers, No Supply markers, Turn marker, Railhead markers, Disruption markers, Weather markers ( one for Skies conditions and two for Ground conditions: one for the part of the map southern of the Weather line, the other for the northern part of the map ): Ops Done markers and Truck markers. The use of each marker will be explained in the Sequence of Play section of this review.     

THE SEQUENCE OF PLAY

WEATHER SEGMENT
Weather Phase. In Lost Victory, weather has two distinct components. Atmospheric Conditions represent the conditions in the skies over the battlefield; it affects the number of air strikes that can fly weather units can bombard and the ability of each player to control the operations. Ground Conditions represent the condition of the ground ( hard, drifted or muddy ) and determine how difficult it is for units to move across the battlefield. Starting turn 2, either player rolls a die on the Weather Table and finds the result. The Skies column shows the predominant atmospheric conditions for the entire turn; skies can be fair, cloudy or stormy. The three Ground columns show the predominant ground conditions for the entire turn for each of the three spans of turns ( 1-6, 7-12, 13-16 ); the ground can be hard ( frozen ), muddy or drifted (e.g., covered by deep snow ). There are four possible results for the Atmospheric Conditions ( Skies ). Same as last turn: conditions are the same as last turn. Fair Skies: each player can use all of his undamaged air markers.  Players can inspect enemy stacks in non-hidden terrains. Cloudy Skies: in this case, each player can use only half of his undamaged air strikes. Stormy Skies: all air strikes are grounded, there is not air recon, neither player can bombard or rally. There is not Repair Phase and no 3rd Operations Phase for either player. There are five possible Ground Conditions ( Ground ). Same as last turn: the conditions are the same as last turn. Hard Ground: units pay the MP cost in the Movement Chart’s Hard or Drifted columns to enter or to cross the terrains. Marsh is treated as clear and major rivers as minor rivers. Drifted Ground: the MP costs are the same as with Hard Ground. Non-ski units pay one additional MP to enter a hex where the ground is drifted. Marsh and major rivers are treated as with Hard Ground. Ski units can use their SB. Muddy Ground: units pay the MP costs in the Muddy column. GB ( Gun Bonus ) is halved for all purposes. Thaw: the first time a player roll a Thaw, the ground southern of the Weather Line is muddy for the rest of the game; the ground northern of the Weather Line is muddy during the current turn. The second Thaw makes the ground northern of the Weather Line muddy for the rest of the game. The third Thaw ends the game after the current turn. 
Grounding Phase. When the skies are cloudy, each player moves half of the air strikes from the enemy Air Display’s Ready box into the display’s Grounded box. When the skies are stormy, the players move all air strikes from the enemy Air Display’s Ready box into the display’s Grounded box.
SUPPLY SEGMENT
Soviet Supply Phase. Starting Turn 2, the Soviet player determines which of his HQs are supplied. He then determines which of his combat units are supplied. Units that are unsupplied during a supply check or that become unsupplied during an Operations Phase are unsupplied for the rest of the turn ( or until they undergo a new supply check because of rallying from disruption ). Units that are supplied during a supply check are supplied for the rest of the turn unless they become unsupplied or disrupted due to a combat, bombardment or command check. An HQ is supplied if it can trace a Line of Communications to a friendly supply source or to a superior HQ; the LOC cannot be longer than the HQ’s Command Radius. A combat unit is supplied if it can trace an LOC to a friendly supply source or to a supplied HQ; a LOC traced from a unit directly to a supply source cannot be longer than ten hexes ( if the LOC is traced to an HQ its length depends from the CR of the HQ ). The Soviet units can trace a LOC only to a controlled Soviet or Dual supply sources. The Axis supply sources cannot supply Soviet units even if they are Soviet controlled. The unsupplied HQs are turned over so that its back ( unsupplied ) side is showing ( all the values are reduced ). Unsupplied units have several restrictions: they cannot get replacement or be rail transported; they can conduct overrun or react; they cannot use their GB, TB, ATB, or EB; motorized units can only move up to half their printed MA; attacking/defending CM ( Combat Motorized ) units are not doubled in clear hexes. Each Soviet front HQ has one railhead that it can use to represent the furthest advance of the RR portion of the Soviet logistical system. Starting the turn after the railhead is placed on the map ( the first turn is turn eight ), the Soviet player can move it one RR station per turn along a path of connected friendly RR hexes in each even-numbered turn. Soviet units can trace an LOC to their front’s railhead just as it was a Soviet supply source. 
Axis Supply Phase. The procedure is the same as for the Soviet, with one difference and two rules in addition. The difference is: any Axis-held RR station that is linked to an Axis ( not dual ) supply source by an unbroken chain of RR hexes that meet the LOC criteria is itself an Axis supply source. The two rules ( we write about them here, but they are used in the Operations Segment ) are: Fuel Depletion and Soviet General Supply Shortage. Fuel Depletion: in each enemy Operations Phase of turn one through eight, the Axis can choose one moving Soviet stack and force it to halt. Three times during turn one through eight; the Soviet can announce an emergency fuel delivery immediately after the Axis has halted a Soviet stack. This announcement negates the effect of Fuel Depletion for the turn. Soviet General Supply Shortage: four times per game, the Axis can declare a Soviet General Supply Shortage. Whenever the Axis player declares it, he reduces the number of the Operations Phases by one ( for that turn and for both players ). Once during the game, the Soviet player can announce a rear area reorganization immediately after the Axis announcement; in this case, the number of Operations Phases in that turn is not reduced by one. 
STRATEGIC SEGMENT
Soviet Replacement Phase. The Soviet player removes all No Ops/Ops Done markers from his units and moves or places Soviet truck markers. He then determines how many replacements he gets this turn. He uses replacements and any or all available ersatz units to strengthen his reduced strength units and/or rebuilt eliminated units. Material replacements are lost if not used; personnel replacements not used to strengthen or rebuilt units can be turned into ersatz units. He places a No Ops/Ops Done marker on each new ersatz unit and each unit that gets replacements. The number and kind of replacement ( personnel or material ) available each turn are printed on the Turn Record Track on the map. It is not possible to save not used replacements ( personnel or material ) for use in latter turns. For each personnel replacement the Soviet spends, he can raise one reduced strength leg, motorized, infantry/rifle unit to full strength. For each material replacement, the Soviet can raise to full strength one reduce strength unit of any type. The Soviet player can rebuild eligible combat units in his Dead box by spending: leg units, two personnel and one material replacement, motorized units, one personnel and two material replacements. It is impossible to rebuild heavy tank, flammpanzer, commando, ersatz, partisan, penal, engineer, ski, antitank, artillery or rocket/katyusha units or armoured train and HQs. If a unit is OOS or in EZOC, it cannot receive replacements. The Guard units ( for the Axis the SS units ) get the first call on their replacements. The player can freely convert any number of personnel replacements into ersatz units at the rate of one unit per replacement. The ersatz units are randomly drawn from an opaque cup where they are put at the start of the game. It is possible to place the new ersatz units in the Stavka Display’s Reinforcement Box or directly on the map. The ersatz units can be used as normal combat units or if a reduced strength leg, motorized/rifle unit is in the same hex with an ersatz during the Replacement Phase, the unit can absorb the ersatz thereby regains its lost step. It is also possible to strengthen reduced units by combining two of them. Both units must either be independent units or must be from the same formation; both must have the same unit type and AS, DS and MA. The units must be in the same hex during the Replacement Phase. In addition, there is a special rule for the Soviet: Soviet Recruitment. The Soviet player gets ersatz units when he liberates Soviet towns or cities. Whenever a Soviet unit enters a town or city hex that has never before entered by a Soviet unit, the Soviet player places one ersatz in or next to the hex.
Axis Replacement Phase. The rules are identical to those for the Soviet, with the exception of the Soviet Recruitment.
Axis RR Phase. The Axis puts in play any reinforcements entering via RR and uses RR transport to move units already on the map. Units moved by RR cannot perform any operation in the Operations Phases of the turn. Units marked as RR reinforcements can appear during this phase at any town, city or RR station. The Axis can move them during any Operations Phase as other reinforcements instead to move them by RR.
Repair Phase. When the skies are stormy, this phase is skipped. Otherwise, each player moves his air strikes from the Damaged Box to the Grounded Box of own Air Display. Then the Axis turns up the front side of all broken down Tiger tank units to show they are repaired.
OPERATIONS SEGMENT
Bind Phase. Starting with the player who last had the initiative, the players alternately bid for initiative by committing themselves to conduct a minimum number of overruns/attacks during each friendly Operations Phase. The player with the initiative is “ Player One “ for the entire Operations Segment; the other player is “ Player Two “. The player who gains the initiative in the Bid Phase keeps it throughout the turn or until the end of any Player One Operations Phase in which he fails to make a number of overruns/attacks equal to or greater than his final bid. At the end of any Player One Operations Phase in which he fails to make the bided number of overruns/attacks, the Player Two disrupts a number of Player One’s units equal to the difference between the number of overruns/attacks made and the number bid. Then the Player Two gains the initiative for the rest of the turn; he has not any obligation to conduct any minimum number of overruns/attacks. Each active combat unit can perform only one operation per Operations Phase. There are five types of operations: Movement, Bombardment, Combat, Support and Rally. In addition to moving during their Operations Phase, active undisrupted HQ’ can provide command control for any number of units involved in any number of combats. The active player can use each of his available air strikes to either bombard or support; the inactive player can use each of his available air strikes to support his defending units in combat. Inactive units cannot move, bombard, initiate combat or rally during the active player Operations Phase; inactive HQs can provide command control. Only units without a No Ops/Ops Done marker can perform operations. The number of Operations Phases in a turn varies with the weather: a Fair or Cloudy sky, each player has three Operations Phases; Stormy skies, only two Operations Phases. 
Player One’s First Operations ( Ops ) Phase. Before to describe the rules concerning the various operations that a unit can conduct in this phase, we write about three sections of rules that are correlated to the operations even if they are not operations per themselves: Stacking, Zone of Control ( ZOC ) and Disruption.
 In Lost Victory, each unit has a stacking value and it is possible to have up to six SPs per hex. This limit is applied only at the end of movement and at the end of advances/retreats after combat. It is possible to inspect enemy stack in three situations: the enemy stack is directly involved in combat; the enemy stack is in a friendly ZOC; the enemy stack is not hidden during a friendly Ops Phase when there is air recon ( only with fair skies ). Units are hidden when they are in a hex that gives cover: woods, mixed terrain, city, town and fort. 
Some ( but not all ) combat units have a ZOC. Units that have their SV ( Stacking Value ) in a black box exert a ZOC. Units that are disrupted or have a No Ops marker lose their ZOC. Inactive units temporarily lose their ZOC when the active player announces an overrun. ZOCs extend into all adjacent hexes into which the unit could move. It cost one MP to enter and two MPs to leave an EZOC. Moving units can both enter and leave any number of ZOCs in an Ops Phase ( there are not rigid ZOCs ). Whenever an enemy unit or stack of units enter a supplied inactive unit’s ZOC, that unit, all supplied units in its formation and all friendly supplied HQs that have the unit in their CR can tray to react by shifting position. The inactive player announces which eligible units are trying to react and makes a reaction check by rolling the die once for the entire reacting force. If the die roll is 1-3 for the Soviet or 1-2 for the Axis, the active player disrupts a number of reacting units equal to the die roll. If the die roll result is 10 for the Axis or 9-10 for the Soviet, the reaction attempt fails. On any other result, the attempt is successfully. Each reacting leg unit can move one hex; each reacting motorized unit may move up to two hexes. Reacting is always voluntary.
In Lost Victory, units become disrupted in six cases: as an effect of bombardment; as an effect of reaction check; as an effect of SNAFU check; the units sustain a “ D “ result in combat; the units retreat during an overrun; the units fails a survival check during a retreat. If a unit becomes disrupted it receives a Disruption marker. Disrupted units suffer the following restrictions: disrupted HQs have no CV or CR and they do not provide command or supply; disrupted units can only move, they cannot perform other operations; disrupted units have no ZOC; disrupted units are automatically OOS. If a disrupted unit suffers a new disruption, it gets a No Ops marker. Units recover from disruption when they rally during their Ops Phase. Units can rally only when the skies are fair or cloudy and they are not in an EZOC; they must not move. If a unit rally, it supply status is immediately determined. This is one of the five actions that a unit can perform in a friendly Ops Phase ( remember only one action per unit per Ops Phase ). 
Active units that do not bombard, rally, support or initiate combat can move; they may conduct overruns while moving. Each Ops Phase, the active player can move his units up to their MA. Moving units can conduct overruns. All units have a mobility class. There are three classes: leg, motorized and RR. The leg units have fewer MPs, but they spend fewer MPs to enter some types of terrains. The motorized units have more MPs, but they spend more MPs to enter some terrains and, in addition, they cannot enter in some types of terrains where the leg unit can. The RR units can move only along connected rail hexes; their MA is unlimited. Soviet ski units are a special type of leg units, indicated by a degree ( ° ). When they start a phase in a drifted hex, they have an MA of eight for that phase instead of six. A unit can move only during friendly Ops Phases; the reaction is not considered movement. Only units without No Ops on them can move. Moving stack can try to overrun enemy units; there is no limits to the number of overruns a stack can perform ( it must have enough MPs ). Each overrun is resolved as combat, with some exceptions. Neither side can get support from other combat units, each side can use one air strike; the active player cannot cancel the overrun due to a SNAFU; both attacking and defending units that retreat to satisfy a step loss or as part of an R result are automatically disrupted at the start of their retreat. All supplied combat units except partisans, commandos, and armoured trains can participate in an overrun. The Axis has two special forms of movement: RR movement and RR transport ( made in the Axis RR Phase ). Only units bearing an RR MA can/must use the RR movement. The Soviet has two truck markers, one for each front. During the Soviet Strategic Phase, he can use them to motorize up to three SPs of rifle units. For the rest of the turn, they are motorized units with a MA of ten MPs and they are motorized units for all purposes. 
In Lost Victory, there are two types of Reinforcements: Scheduled Reinforcements, they are new units that appear on specific turns per the Reinforcements Charts; Free Reinforcements, they consist of rebuilt units and ersatz units that can arrive at any time. The Soviet Scheduled Reinforcements are placed in the Reinforcement Box on the Turn Record Truck ( the same is true for the Axis ); the Soviet rebuilt units and ersatz units are placed in the Stavka Display’s Reinforcements Box ( or in the OKH Display’s Reinforcements Box  for the Axis ). During each friendly Ops Phase ( and each Axis RR Phase for the Axis ), scheduled reinforcements arrive entering and moving on the map.
 Then, normally, the only action that the reinforcements can do is to move. The scheduled reinforcements have their own entry area from which they start moving on the map. Free reinforcements can appear in any friendly hexes free of enemy units and ZOCs that are within the CR of a friendly supplied HQ. The player does not have to enter reinforcements on the turn they become available; it is possible to keep them off map throughout the game when the player wants to bring them into play. 
In Lost Victory, air strikes and units with a Gun Bonus ( GB ) can bombard enemy units during their Ops Phase ( for the units with a GB the target hex must be in range, one or two hexes ); this is one of the five actions that a unit with a GB can made in an Ops Phase. The air strikes can only bombard or support; they cannot make combat, movement or rally. All active supplied units that do not perform other actions in the friendly Ops Phase can use their GB to bombard. The same is true for the air strikes in Ready Box. Each unit/air strikes can bombard only once per Ops Phase. It is possible to bombard every hex occupied by at least one enemy unit; it is also possible to bombard the same hex several times in the same Ops Phase. The player has the Bombardment Table to resolve bombardments. The effect of bombardment depends from the bombardment strength and the terrain in the target hex. The Bombardment Table has three terrain lines: No Cover, this line is used when the hex has no terrain that gives cover; Cover, this line is used when the hex gives cover; Fort, this line is used when the target hex contains a fort. There are four possible results of bombardment. The single number or the number before a slash indicates the number of undisrupted enemy units that become disrupted. The bold number is the same as a single number or a number before a slash with the difference that HQs can be chosen for disruption along with combat units. The number result after slash is the number of steps lost by combat units in the target hex. The asterisk ( * ) indicates that the bombarding force suffers an adverse result; all bombarding units become unsupplied, in addition any bombarding air strike sustains damages; it returns in the Repair Box. If the units in the target hex are hidden, the inactive player decides which ones suffer the results of bombing. If the units are not hidden, the active player decides how to distribute the result among the enemy units.
Active undisrupted combat units that do not move, rally, bombard or support can attack adjacent enemy units. The active player is not compelled to attack and each attack is resolved at the instant it is announced. Each attack is resolved following five steps. 1 ) Attacker Commitment, the attacker specifies the hexes being attacked, which friendly HQ is controlling the attack ( it is possible, but not suggested, that no HQ controls the attack ), which units are attacking, which units are supporting ( only units with a GB can support ), and whether he is using an air strike. 2 ) Defender Commitment, the defender states which, if any, HQ is controlling the defence and he commits defensive support, including air strike. 3 ) Attacker C3I, the defender makes a command check to determine the effect of C3I on attacking units. This check may allow the defender to roll for an enemy SNAFU and may let the attacker cancel the attack. 4 ) Defender C3I, the attacker makes a command check to determine the effect of C3I on defending units; the check may give the attacker the option of rolling for an enemy SNAFU. 5 ) Combat Resolution, finally, the combat is resolved according to the rules. Undisrupted units with an AS greater than zero that do not move, rally, bombard or support other attacks during a friendly Ops Phase and that do not bear a No Ops/Ops Done marker can attack. Attacking is voluntary and not every unit that is next to an enemy unit must attack. Units stacked together need not to participate in the same attack; it is possible to use only some units in a stack for attacking. Units can attack into all terrain and across all hexsides that they could move into by spending MPs during their Ops Phase. No unit can attack more than one time per Ops Phase ( the attacking is one of the five actions a unit can perform in an Ops Phase ). After the attack, all attacking units receive a No Ops marker, or an Ops Done marker ( the use of the two markers are the same in most cases; both markers indicate that a unit cannot perform any action or any other action in that Ops Phase ). All units in a hex must defend together. It is not necessary to attack all adjacent hexes where there are enemy units.
 Supplied units that do not move, rally, bombard or attack can use their GB to support friendly units within range in one combat per Ops Phase. Each side involved in a combat can also use one air strike’s BB ( Bombing Bonus ) to support friendly units in that combat. Each unit can support only one combat per Ops Phase; this is one of the five operations that a combat unit can perform in an Ops Phase. The supporting units receive a No Ops or Ops done marker after the resolution of the combat in which they are involved ( this means that a unit can support only one time per Ops Phase, during an attack or in defence ). Units, that are part of a formation, can only support units of the same formation. Before a combat and overrun, each player must make a command check to determine the effectiveness of the opposing side C3I. The command check is resolved first by the defender on the attacker then by the attacker on the defender. A command check is resolved by rolling a die modified as follows. +2, If skies are fair and all defending hexes have hard ground. +2, If skies are stormy. +1, For each attacking and each supporting formation, when making a command check for the attacking units ( only the formations count, not the number of units belonging to the same formation ). +2, For a command check on overrunning units. +2, When making a command check for the defending units, if any of them have reacted during the phase. If the modified die roll is less than or equal to the HQ’s CV, shift the combat ratio one column in favour of the HQ’s side. If the modified die roll is greater than the HQ’s CV, shift the combat ratio one column in favour of the opposing side. The player making the command check can instead forgo the column shift and use the differential between the modified die roll and the HQ’s CV to roll for a SNAFU. If no units involved in a combat are within the CR of a friendly HQ, the units use their side’s nominal CV: three for the Axis, two for the Soviet. If the player making the command check decides for a SNAFU, he rolls a die on the enemy SNAFU Table ( the Soviet uses the Axis SNAFU Table, the Axis the Soviet one ). The SNAFU Summary details SNAFU results. These may include several adverse results. After the command checks are resolved, the attacker resolves the combat. The procedure is divided in seven steps. 1 ) Find Attack Strength. Total all the modified AS into a single AS. There are several reasons to modify the AS and all are cumulative. The AS of each CM unit attacking into a clear hex is doubled. The AS of each unit attacking across a river or bridge is halved. Each side has a minimum strength of one for combat ratio calculation. 2 ) Find Defence Strength. Total all modified DS into a single DS. The DS of each CM unit is double when defending in a clear hex. Units with a DS in brackets have a nominal DS; they use their DS only when they are the only units being attacked. The remaining modifiers are the same to those of the attacker and all are cumulative. 3 ) Find Combat Ratio. Attacker’s strength is divided by the defender’s one; any fraction is rounded down in the defender’s favour. 4 ) Find Combat Ratio Column. Find the line at the top of the Combat Table for the terrain in the defender’s hex and read across the row of entries in that line to the combat ratio from step three. If the ratio is smaller than that in the terrain line’s leftmost Combat Ratio column, the attack is cancelled. 5 ) Shift Combat Ratio. Each player totals his column shifts for combat bonuses. Subtract the lesser total from the greater. All column shifts are cumulative. The attacker gets favourable column shifts in six cases. A ) Air Strikes. Shift the combat ratio right a number of columns equal to the BB of any air strike supporting the attack when the ground is not muddy and the defending hex is not cover. Shift the combat ratio right one column for every two points of the BB of the supporting air strike when the ground is muddy or the defending hex is cover. B ) Gun Bonuses. Total the GBs of all supplied attacking units and all active units supporting the attack. Shift the combat ratio right a number of columns equal to this total when the ground is not muddy or the defending hex is not cover. Shift the combat ratio right one column for every two points of GBs’ total when the ground is muddy or the defending hex is cover. C ) Engineer Bonus. If any defending hexes are town or city, total the EBs of all supplied attacking units; then shift the combat ratio right a number of columns equal to the result. D ) Ski Bonuses. If any defending hexes are drifted, total the SBs of all attacking ski units; then shift the combat ratio right a number of columns equal to the result. E ) Assault Bonuses. If a Soviet penal battalion is using its AB in an attack, shift the combat ratio right one column. F ) Command Check Bonus. Shift the combat ratio right one column for each favourable command check result affecting the attacker. The defender gets favourable column shifts in six cases. A ) Air Strike. The procedure is the same as of the attacker. B ) Gun Bonuses. The procedure is the same as of the attacker. C ) Ski Bonuses. The procedure is the same as of the attacker, only undisrupted ski units give the bonuses. D ) Command Check Bonus. The procedure is the same as of the attacker. E ) Village Bonuses. If any or all defending hexes contain a village, shift the combat ratio left one column. F ) Fort Bonuses. If any or all defending hexes have a fort, shift the combat ratio left two columns. There are also several die roll modifiers for the attacker and the defender; all of them are cumulative. The total of TBs of the attacker is added to the die roll, the total of the defender TBs is subtracted. If the defending force contains at least one tank unit, total the ATBs of all supplied attacking units and add the result to the die roll. If the attacking force contains at least one tank unit, total the ATBs of all supplied defending units and subtract the result from the die roll. 
Combat results include step losses, retreats, eliminations, disruptions, tank breakdowns, supply exhaustion and damage to air strikes. Each Combat Table result consists of two parts; the part before the slash applies to the attacker, that after the slash to the defender. There are eight possible results. 1 ) No Effect. A “ – “ is a No Effect result. 2 ) Eliminated. An  “ E “ result indicates that all participating units are eliminated. 3 ) Retreat. An “ R “ result is a Retreat. After removing any step losses, the defender retreats all defending units one hex. 4 ) Step Loss. A number result is a Step Loss. The affected player must either remove that number of steps or retreat all units one hex per step loss. The player cannot satisfy the Step Loss of a combat result by combining retreats and losses; he must do one or the other. 5 ) Disruption. With a “ D “ result, all effected units are immediately disrupted before applying any other result. 6 ) Damage. An asterisk “ * “ result represents damage to the air unit ( if any ) that has supported the attacker or the defender. The player who has sustained the result, places the air strike in his Repair Box. 7 ) Heavy Casualties. A bold result is a Heavy Casualties. The player whose forces sustain this result must satisfy the result’s first step loss by removing a step from one involved unit. The player can satisfy the remaining step losses by retreating. 8 ) Breakdown/Depletion. An underlined result is a Breakdown or Depletion. After applying all other results, all Tiger tank units are broken down, flipping them onto their Broken Down side. In addition, when resolving combat all units participating in the combat, including supporting units are unsupplied. This is the only result that affects supporting combat units. The players must observe the following restrictions when applying results. Tank Bonus: when a side benefits from a TB and the player elects to satisfy his combat result by removing steps, the first step removed must be from a unit with a TB. Assault Bonus: if the Soviet uses a penal battalion’s AB, he cannot retreat to satisfy a Step Loss result and must satisfy the first step loss by eliminating the penal battalion. Air Strike: air strikes never sustain any loss or damage during combat except from a “ * “ result: the player cannot satisfy step loss by damaging air strikes. Place the units that are eliminated five turns ahead on the Turn Record Track. When the Turn marker is moved into the box containing the units, move them to the Dead Box, where they stay until rebuilt. Units may advance or retreat due to combat. Advances are always voluntary; so are retreats conducted in lieu of step losses. Except in the case of R result, a unit does not have to advance or retreat after combat. If the defending hex is vacant after the combat, the attacker can advance into the hex; the same is true for the defender. Units must observe these eight restrictions when advancing/retreating. 1 ) A unit can only retreat into a hex it could move into during its Ops Phase; a unit cannot advance into a hex containing prohibited terrain for it. 2 ) A unit cannot advance or retreat into an enemy –occupied hex. 3 ) A unit cannot advance or retreat off a mapedge. 4 ) A unit that retreats into an enemy ZOC that does not contain a friendly unit must make a survival check. 5 ) A unit must end its retreat a number of hexes distant from the hex it occupied at the start of the combat equal to the numbered combat result. 6 ) A unit cannot retreat into hexes friendly to the other side unless there are no hexes that are friendly to its own side into which it can retreat without causing elimination. 7 ) All units must observe stacking limits at the end of each advance/retreat. 8 ) If a unit cannot retreat, it is eliminated. If all units in a hex are eliminated, any opposing units directly involved in the combat can advance two hexes or a number of hexes equal to any unsatisfied step loss. Attacking is one of the five actions a unit can make in an Ops Phase; after resolving the combat, all attacking units are marked with an Ops Done/No Ops marker. Units that retreat into an EZOC not occupied by a friendly unit must make a survival check rolling a die with the following modifiers. -1, If the unit is a Soviet NKVD or Guards or German SS unit; -1, if the hex into which the unit retreats contains cover terrain; +1, if the unit is retreating across a river or bridge; +1, if the unit is a leg unit; +2, if the unit is disrupted. If the result is less than four, the unit survives with no adverse effects; if the result is 4-6, the unit survives, but it becomes disrupted; if the result is 7-13, the unit is eliminated. 
Support. Active supplied units that do not move, rally, bombard or initiate combat can use their GB to support other units’ attack against units in range. After resolving the combat, all the support units receive an Ops Done/No Ops marker.
Rally. Active undisrupted combat units and HQs that do not move and that ere not in an EZOC can rally from disruption. A unit that attempts to rally receives an Ops Done/No Ops marker after its attempt ( successfully or not ). 
Player Two’s First Ops Phase. The second player may perform the same actions as the first; all the rules above are the same. At the end of the phase, each player moves all his air strikes from his Air Display’s Flown box to the display’s Ready box. Then all Ops Done/No Ops markers are removed from the map. 
Player One’s Second Ops Phase. Same as Player One’s First Ops Phase.
Player Two’s Second Ops Phase. Same as Player Two’s First Ops Phase.
Player One’s Third Ops Phase. Skip this phase when the skies are stormy; otherwise, this phase is the same as the Player One’s First Ops Phase.
Player Two’s Third Ops Phase. Skip this phase when the skies are stormy; otherwise, this phase is the same as the Player Two’s First Ops Phase.
VICTORY SEGMENT
Determine whether the game is over and who has won. If the game is not over, advance the Turn marker one Turn Track box to indicate the start of the next turn. The game ends in one of three ways: 1 ) one player wins an automatic decisive victory; 2 ) it is the end of the last turn of the scenario being played; 3 ) it is the end of any turn in which the weather die roll resulted in the third thaw of the game. The game ends in an automatic victory whenever either of the following situations occurs. 1 ) One player has at least one unit ( other than partisans or commandos ) on the map and the other does not. The player with at least one unit wins. 2 ) One player controls all enemy supply sources and at least one of his own supply sources; the status of the dual supply sources is ignored. The player who meets these criteria wins a decisive victory. In the Campaign Game, whenever the game ends other than in an automatic victory, the Soviet wins if he controls at least one city hex in supply; otherwise, the German wins. 

SPECIAL RULES

PENAL BATTALIONS. Penal battalions have an AB that the Soviet player can use to shift the combat ratio right one column when attacking. The Soviet can choose to use or not the AB of the penal battalion. If he chooses to use the bonus, then the attacker cannot choose to retreat to satisfy a Step Loss result, and he must remove the penal battalion to satisfy the first loss. Penal battalions are automatically returned to play after five turns when eliminated. They re-enter into play in any hex not in EZOC and within the CR of the Soviet front HQ with the same name as penal battalion.
REVOLTS. Whenever a Soviet combat unit first moves within five hexes of any hex that is a part of a city, roll a die, modified by +2 if the city is Kharkov. On a modified result of 1-3, all hexes not occupied by Axis units with a combined SV of at least one become friendly to the Soviet. The Soviet player can roll only once per city per game.
SOVIET FRONTS. The Soviet has two fronts: the Voronezh Front and the Southwest Front. Units from different fronts cannot move together as a stack or participate in the same overrun. Units from different fronts cannot participate in the same combat during a friendly Ops Phase. Soviet units must trace an LOC to an HQ belonging to the same front. Soviet air strikes cannot support attacking or defending units from any front but their own. Soviet free reinforcements that do not enter via a mapedge must appear within the CR of their own front’s HQs. Soviet replacements go to specific fronts; they are not interchangeable. 
GERMAN ARMY GROUPS. The German HG Sud HQ replaces the HG Don HQ during the Axis Replacement Phase of turn five. The HG Don HQ re-enters the game only as reinforcement, if the HG Sud HQ has been eliminated. 

CHARTS AND TABLES

SOVIET CHARTS AND TABLES. The Soviet folder reports twelve charts and tables. 
The Weather Table is used to determine the current weather conditions for the turn. One column is used for the skies conditions, the other three ( turns 1-6, 7-12 and 13-16 ) are used for the ground conditions. The skies condition can be: Same as the previous turn; Fair; Cloudy; Stormy. The ground condition can be: Same as the previous turn; Hard; Drifted; Muddy; Thaw.
The Weather Summary specifies how the various ground and skies conditions influence the game. Ground Conditions. 1 ) Same as last turn. Conditions are the same as last turn. 2 ) Hard Ground. Use Movement Chart’s Hard or Drifted columns; overruns cost two MPs; treat marsh as clear, major rivers as minor rivers. 3 ) Drifted Ground. Use Movement Chart’s Hard or Drifted columns, but units pay one additional MP to enter each hex; overruns cost two MPs; treat marsh as clear, major river as minor rivers; ski units can use their SB. 4 ) Muddy Ground. Use Movement Chart’s Muddy columns; overruns cost four MPs; halve GB effectiveness. 5 ) Thaw. First instance: ground south of Weather Line thaws; second instance: ground north of Weather Line thaws; third instance: game over after this turn. Skies Conditions. 1 ) Same as last turn. Conditions are the same as last turn. 2 ) Fair Skies. All air strikes available; air recon. 3 ) Cloudy Skies. Half of air strikes available; no air recon. 3 ) Stormy Skies. No air strikes; no air recon or bombardment; no Repair Phase; skip each player’s third Ops Phase. 
The Movement Chart indicates the types of terrains in Lost Victory and the different cost of them in MPs; the chart is divided in two main columns: the first for the Hard or Drifted ground, the second for the Muddy ground. Each main column is divided in two sub-columns; the first one is used by the leg units, the second by the motorized units. There are several terrain types: clear, marsh, rough, woods, mixed, city or town, road or RR, track, major river/lake, minor river and bridge. 
There are two SNAFU Tables: one for the Soviet, the other for the Axis. The first is used when making a command check on Soviet units, the second is used when making a command check on Axis units. Both tables are divided in three sections: the first used with fair skies, the second with cloudy skies and the third with stormy skies. The Tables reports several results.
The SNAFU Summary explains the results of the SNAFU Tables. There are seven possible results, some of which can occur together. 1 ) - No Effect. Lack of coordination has no effect on the battle. 2 ) # General Confusion. The number result is the number of column shifts a player gets to represent his advantage against the enemy. 3 ) L Logistical Failure. One unit of the effected force is unsupplied; the opponent chooses the unit and places a No Supply marker on it. In this case, the effected player can cancel the attack ( if attacking ). It is obvious that the defender cannot cancel the defence. 4 ) B Logistical Breakdown. All the units in the force affected are unsupplied; in addition, even the units that use their GB as support are unsupplied. This result is present only in the Soviet SNAFU Table. In this case, the Soviet player can cancel the attack ( if attacking ). 5 ) N Crucial No Show. A key unit or air strike never shows up. The opponent pick one attacking, defending or supporting enemy unit or air strike whose strength and bonuses do not get applied to the combat; the unit/air strike still sustains combat result, if appropriate. If the player picks the only unit in a defending force, then the force has a nominal strength of one. When applying this result to the attacker, the attack is automatically cancelled if there is only one attacking unit. 6 ) D Unit Disruption. One attacking/defending unit is disrupted; the opponent player decides what. If the defending force that suffers the result has only one unit, then the force has a nominal strength of one. When applying this result to the attacker, the attack is automatically cancelled if there is only one unit attacking. 7 ) F Friendly Fire. A fire mission or air strike of the effected force goes awry. The opponent player chooses the air strike ( if any ) or one ground unit using its GB in the combat ( if any ); then he uses the air strike’s BB or the unit’s GB to immediately bombard all involved combat units of the effected force, before resolving the combat. If there are no eligible air strikes or units employing a GB involved in the combat, ignore the F result. 
The Combat Table is divided in four sections that are used depending from the ground in the defender hex. The most favourable to the attacker is Clear, Marsh, then Rough, then Woods, Town and finally Mixed, City. The odds are from 1-4 to 10-1 for the first section; from 1-3 to 10-1 for the second; from 1-2 to 10-1 for the third and from 1-1 to 10-1 for the fourth. Each odd has is proper column with the result of the combat depending from the die roll; the result before the slash is for the attacker, the result after the slash is for the defender. 
In the Combat Summary all die roll modifiers are explained. The Combat Summary is divided in two sections: the first for the attacker, the second for the defender. The Attacker’s Combat Bonuses are the following. Gun Bonus ( GB ): shift right a number of column equal to the GBs of all supplied active units attacking or supporting; shift one column for every two points worth of GBs when ground is muddy and/or target is hidden. Engineer Bonus ( EB ): shift right a number of columns equal to the EBs of all supplied units attacking a city or town. Ski Bonus ( SB ): shift right a number of columns equal to the SBs of all attacking units when the ground is drifted; ignore this bonus when attacking a city or town. Assault Bonus ( AB ): shift right one column per attacking penal battalion that is using its AB in the attack. Bombing Bonus (BB ): shift right a number of columns equal to the BB of any participating air strike; shift one column for every two points in the air strike’s BB when ground is muddy and/or target is hidden. Tank Bonus ( TB ): add to the combat resolution die roll a number equal to the TB of each supplied attacking unit. Antitank Bonus ( ATB ): add to the combat resolution die roll a number equal to the TB of each supplied attacking unit if and only if at least one defending unit is applying its TB to the combat. The Defender’s Combat Bonuses are the following. Gun Bonus: same as of the attacker with the difference that the shifting is made left. Ski Bonus: same as of the attacker with the difference that the shifting is made left. Fort Bonus ( FB ): shift left two columns if one or more defending hexes contain a fort. Village Bonus ( VB ): shift left one column if one or more defending hexes contain a village. Bombing Bonus: same as of the attacker with the difference that the shifting is made left. Tank Bonus: same as of the attacker with the difference that the number is subtracted from the die roll. Antitank Bonus: same as of the attacker with the difference that the number is subtracted from the die roll. Strength Modifications: in addition to the forgoing combat bonuses, halve the AS of units attacking across a river/bridge; double the AS of supplied CM units attacking into clear hexes and the DS of supplied CM units defending in a clear hex; also, add column shifts as a result of command checks, if appropriate. 
The Soviet Reinforcement Chart shows the units, their Entry Areas and the turn of entry for all the Soviet units that enter as Scheduled Reinforcements. 
The Axis Reinforcement Chart shows the same information for the Axis units.
The Die Roll Summary indicates the modifications to the die rolls and the die rolls’ results for four actions. Command Check: roll the die and modify as follows. -2 If skies are fair and all defending hexes have hard ground; +2 if skies are stormy. +1 For each attacking and supporting formation, when making a command check for the attacking ( active ) units; +2 when making a check for the attacking units during an overrun; +2 when making a check for the defending units if any of them have reacted this phase. If the modified die roll is less than or equal to HQs CV, the HQ’s side gets one combat ratio column shift. If the modified die roll is greater than HQ’s CV, the opposing side gets one combat ratio column shift; the player making the command check can instead use the differential between the modified die roll and the CV to roll for a SNAFU. There are two CV’s modifications: 1 ) reduce the HQ’s CV for lack of supply ( see supply rules ) and 2 ) for enemy DBs ( see Partisans and Commandos ). If no HQ, use the nominal CV: Axis=3, Soviet=2. Revolt. Roll the die when Soviet combat unit other than partisans first moves within five hexes of a city hex; +2 for Kharkov. The possible results are the following: 1-3=Revolt Fails; 4-12=Revolt Succeeds. All hexes not occupied by Axis units with a combined SV of at least one become friendly to the Soviet player. Reaction Check. Roll die when unit enters supplied unit’s EZOC. With a die roll of 1-3 for the Soviet or 1-2 for the Axis, active player disrupts number of units equal to result before remaining undisrupted units reacts. With a die roll of 9-10 for the Soviet or 10 for the Axis, there is no reaction. With other results, the selected inactive units react with no adverse effect. Survival Check. Roll die when unit tries to retreat into EZOC, with the following modifiers: -1 for cover; -1 if unit is NKVD, Guard or SS; +2 for disrupted unit; +1 for leg unit; +1 for retreating across a bridge. 
The Bombardment Table shows the effects of bombardment made either by units with GB, air strikes or both together. The table is divided in three sections, depending from the terrain feature in the target hex: Fort, Cover, and No Cover. All the three sections are divided in six columns, depending from the strength of the bombarding units. For Fort, the first column is for strength of 5-6, the second for strength of 7-8, the third for strength of 9-10, the fourth for strength of 11-12, the fifth for strength of 13-14, the sixth for strength of 15+. For Cover, the first column is for strength of 3-4, the second for strength of 5-6, the third for strength of 7-8, the fourth for strength of  9-10, the fifth for strength of 11-12, the sixth for strength of 13+. For No Cover, the first column is for strength of 2-3, the second for strength of 4-5, the third for strength of 6-7, the fourth for strength of 8-9, the fifth for strength of 10-11, the six for strength of 12+. There are several possible results. Single number and number result before a slash are the number of undisrupted units in the target hex that become disrupted as a result of bombardment. Number results after a slash are the number of steps lost by the unit in the target hex. An asterisk means that one bombarding air strike is damaged ad all bombarding units are unsupplied. Bold results can affect HQs along with combat units. 
AXIS CHARTS AND TABLES. The Axis Charts and Tables report the same information as the Soviet ones. In Lost Victory, there is no distinction between them ( one folder is for the Soviet player, without any specifics indication, the other for the Axis; the unique distinction is in the colour: one is kaki, the other is light yellow ). We have named one Soviet, the other Axis only for more clarity. 

THE MAP

See “ The Game: a general view “ section of this review for more information.

THE COUNTERS

See “ The Game: an overall view “ section of this review for more information.

LOST VICTORY: A LOST OPPORTUNITY

The wargame “ Lost Victory “ is an intermediate level game with only one full size map and 480 counters ( including markers ). An experienced wargamer ( the most part of hobbyists, today ) has no particular difficult to learn the rules and to master them; after some turns, he becomes familiar with the system and has no difficult to play a full campaign. In addition, the rules are written in a clear and very comprehensive manner; the Charts and Tables are numerous and well done; the map shows the various terrain features with clarity and there is no particular difficulties to understand what type of terrain is in a given hex. In other words, Lost Victory is a game that does not prospect particular difficulties to a player; its rules are easy to learn and a player has no problem to remember them during a game without to consult continuously the Rulebook.
Above these considerations, the designer has added an interesting Study Book, where he explains and discusses his choices using an extensive commentary. He starts with a chapter “ The Devil is in the details “ in which he gives a general view about Lost Victory and its system. Then, he reports the four major themes of the game: The commander as conductor, Managing Chaos, The illusion of the strength, Control is everything. He, then, continues with several chapters. In “ Time and Space “, the designer discusses about the problem of scale, in time and space terms; he thinks that the most wargames on the East Front has a too large scale per hex. Therefore, in Lost Victory, he has reduced the space per hex ( with a minor problem for the stacking ) and he has adapted the time represented by a turn in order to be adequate to the space scale. “ The new Order in the East “, in which the designer writes about the course of play and the differences between Lost Victory and the most part of the other wargames. The central item is the move-fight-move course of play, present in the most part of the other wargames.  We prefer to report the designer’s words to comment the section “ The Other Dragon “: “ There is another nasty dragon living out on the edge of the conceptual map where this course of play resides. Its name is “ Perceived Realty “, and one does not challenge it lightly. It is an almost universal wargamer conviction that everything in a game turn is always supposed to represent events happening simultaneously. Unit A may move before Unit B in the game, but we know that is just a way of making things easier on the players; they are really moving simultaneously. “. In “ For Every Action… “, he returns on the Sequence of Play and the idea of simultaneity. There is an interesting analysis about the Igo-Yugo structure of an Ops Segment, with a particular attention to the Reaction of the inactive forces; the unique way, in the designer’s words, to have a mobile defence. “ Timing is Everything “ shows the importance of having the initiative in order to conduct the military operations with the best efficiency and results. In the “ A Buzzword For All Seasons “, the centre of the designer’s analysis is the importance of C3I. In the “ Situation Normal… “ section, we read an extensive and comprehensive discuss about the SNAFU’s problems and its impact on the game. The designer gives his opinion about the importance of C3I in a game like Lost Victory and the central position of the HQs of both sides in order to conduct efficient operations; then he writes about the difficult to move and fight in an area as of Kharkov. He adds, then, the terrible effects of a lack of coordination on the battlefield ( the effect of the SNAFU’s tables ); the disruptions of the units as ultimate nightmare for the players. “ The Battlefield Environment “ is the section where the designer discusses the effects of weather conditions in conjunction with the difficulties of the terrain features. The designer, then, goes on with “ Aces High “, where the discussion is about the effect of air strikes, the BB of which is unknown even to the owing player; so it is impossible to predict the effect of own and the opponent’s air support. In “ Counting Beans and Bullets “, the focus is on logistics, a primary problem in a theatre as the East Front is. In “ King of Chaos “, the designer discusses the un-predictable effects of several factors like C3I, SNAFU, enemy reaction, air support and so on. With “ Building Blocks of Victory “, the discussion reaches the centre of the game, the units; the designer writes not only about them, but also about their bonuses and their distinction in different formations and the effects of their bonuses on the overall strength of a unit or an entire formation. In “ Bringing It All Together “, the designer writes that the Ops, especially combat ops, are where everything comes together. He discusses, more deeply, the overruns, the bombardment, the combat and C3I interaction and the effects of EZOC. In “ Strategic Victory “, the designer traces a personal judgment on what  “ victory “ means in a game like Lost Victory. The “ Right, Wrong and Missing “ section is the designer’s self analysis about what he thinks is right, wrong ( perhaps ) and missing in the game. Then, there is a good example of an Ops phase that gives the gamers a general view on the various possibilities that could arise in an Ops phase. The Study Book ends with a “ Suggested Reading “ section in which a player can find a good amount of interesting lectures about the subject covered by the game. 
At this point, we could write that Lost Victory is not a difficult game; what it is difficult is to play it well. Yes ok, every wargamer could tell us that even the easiest to learn game, is not so easy to play. And we agree with this consideration. But what we want to say is that Lost Victory has its own difficulties, often very different from the major part of the wargames. For example, the Sequence of Play in Lost Victory is truly uncommon and particular; we start from it. 
In wargames with the structure Igo-Yugo, normally the first player executes his actions in the sequence Move-Fight-Move; then the second player does the same. This kind of sequence has several modifications from game to game and during the steps, it is possible to do other actions ( more a game is complex, more the possible actions are ). In a game of low difficult, the first player moves his forces, then attacks the desired enemy forces and, at the end of his segment, can move again some kinds of his forces ( motorized, reserve, or other forces in various combinations ). It is also possible, in same wargames, to attack again after the second movement phase. Over this simple structure, games of medium or high difficulty level add a number of variants that depends from the complexity of the game. For example, a player may conduct overrun during the move-phase, bombard during the fight-phase, and execute exploitations during the second move-phase. Depending from the complexity and the scale ( tactical, operational, and strategic ) of a wargame, the player may have a great number of actions to do above the fundamental three; but these actions add nothing to the structure of a wargame. Their existence makes games more accurate, more historical and more adherent to the real life on a battlefield; but nothing changes in their deep structure. What changes are the number and the variety of possible actions that a player can do in his phase; not the phase itself. Naturally, it is also possible to add the air and naval warfare to the sequence of play ( in some modern era wargames, there are special rules governing the NBC weapons ). Much a wargame is complex and more are the possibilities given to the players to use air units and naval units in conjunction with the ground units. There are specialized wargames that puts the attention only to the naval or air warfare; but they are less numerous and, in most cases, a naval or air wargames have the presence of ground units and/or air or naval units respectively. Here the focus of our attention is on the “ ground “ wargames, so we write of air and naval units and rules as an addition and not the reverse. With the addition of air or naval units, it is obvious that the Sequence of Play must comprehend the new units and the interactions between them and between them and the ground units. This makes the Sequence of Play not only more extensive, but, above all, adds new sub-phases in which the players have the possibility to use their airpower and their naval-power. In other words, we could write that the flavour of a game increases with its complexity, accuracy and its adherence to the historical realty. Now we give at look to the Interactive Wargames; they can be divided in two main sections: the first using a voluntary activations of units or formations, the second using a random activations. In the first case, the players alternatively activate some of their units ( normally grouped in formations like brigades, corps or armies ) and execute all the desired actions; even in these games there is a first player ( who can change from turn to turn ) and a second player. After the first player has executed all the desired actions, then the second player does the same with one of his formation. Naturally, there are several modifications to this simple schema and all are present in the great number of published wargames. In the second case, the activations are random; a player can activate more than one formation before the second player ( everyone knows the famous “ opaque cup “ in which to put the activation chits  ). However, what is most important is that in both cases the sequence of play is similar ( almost identical ) to that one of the non-interactive wargames; players move, fight and eventually move again. It is obvious that the specific rules of a single wargame could add many variations to the simple sequence move-fight-move; what remains unchanged is the structure of the sequence of play. Finally, we spend some words for the card-driven and card wargames. These two types of games have effectively a deep structure completely different, but they are a specific branch in the wargames’ hobby. We think that it is impossible to make any comparison between them and the other types of wargames ( for this reason, here we do not write about them ). At this point, it is important to notice that every ( or at least the major part of ) wargames have a Strategic Segment before the move-fight-move segment and a Final-Victory-Recovery Segment after it. These two segments have little or great importance depending from game to game and they could modify the move-fight-move segment in several specific actions ( not in the deep structure ). Lost Victory has the two segments like other wargames and it is not deeply different in this fact from other wargames. What is unique is its move-fight-move segment.                 
Now, we give some example of wargames that could make easier to comprehend what we have written ( we hope the most part of the hobbyists know them, at least in their general course of play ).
We start with some tactical level wargames. NAPOLEON’S LAST BATTLES, by SPI/DG, has an ultra-standard sequence move-fight and we think that the game is so well known that it does not need more explanations. THE THIRTY YEARS WAR quadrigame, by Decision Games, continues the tradition of the move-fight sequence. THE CRIMEAN WAR BATTLES, by Decision Games, gives the player the possibility of two types of combats, fight combats and close combats, but this distinction only adds one more possibility to the players without changing the classical structure of move-fight sequence. Writing about interactive wargames, we find that the standard sequence move-fight-( move ) is very common; we give some examples: RISORGIMENTO 1859, by GMT, or THE GREAT BATTLES OF HISTORY series, by GMT, have the standard sequence, with less or more additions, but the move-fight- ( move ) remains unchanged. What we could find as a difference is that in a tactic-level wargame, the second movement often, even if not always, does not exist.     
Then we go on with some operational-level wargames ( as Lost Victory is ). In FRANCE, 1940, by Avalon Hill, a game of low complexity, the Sequence of Play is: moving all units, resolving combats, moving the motorized units a second time: a perfect example of move-fight-move segment. In DRIVE ON STALINGRAD, by SPI, a player moves all his units, conducts combats, move again his motorized units and can attack a second time ( an addition to the most common move-fight-move segment, without a fight again appendix ). In both games, there are some rules covering the use of airpower, which changes nothing to normal course of play. Returning to the western theatre of operations in Europe, during the WWII, a game like COBRA, by TSR, has the identical segment move-fight-move of the two games above. BARBAROSSA ( Typhoon!, Army Group South, Army Group Center, Army Group North ), the well-known east front series, by GMT, adds some flavour to the standard sequence of play. Here, after the common strategic segment, there is the Axis Player Segment: Movement Phase, Attack Declaration Phase, Air Interdiction Phase, Soviet Reaction Phase, Combat Phase, Motorized Movement Phase and Engineering Phase. The Soviet Player Segment is little different: Motorized Movement Phase, Attack Declaration Phase, Axis Reaction Phase, Combat Phase, Movement Phase, Engineering Phase and Surrender Phase. As it is clear, under the richer segment and some specific phases ( like Air Interdiction Phase, Engineering Phase, Surrender Phase ), the deep structure is always the same: move-fight-move. The specific phases and the enemy reaction do not modify the structure of the game, in which the enemy player knows before the actions that the counterpart may or may not do in a phase. The OPERATIONAL COMBAT SERIES, by The Gamers, uses a standard move-( enemy reaction )-fight- move- fight sequence to which it adds some specific rules, regarding supply, air power, etc., that does not change the deep structure of the sequence. Passing to interactive games, we find that the move-fight- ( move ) sequence has no great differences from the non-interactive wargames. Here we give only one title without writing more about the game ( that is surely well known by the players ): JUNE 6, by GMT. 
Finishing this excursus, we now exam some strategic-level wargames. The old WAR AND PEACE, by Avalon Hill, is a perfect example of the standard sequence move-fight applied to a strategic-level wargame. THE SUN NEVER SETS, by Decision Games, has a structure of this type, even if with several specific rules; but what is more important, about us, is the fact that the structure remains unchanged in its general aspect. A game like LA GRANDE GUERRE, by Azure Wish, uses interactive activations of the opposite armies, which perform their actions following the move-fight-move sequence. Naturally, this is a simplification, but if you abstract the game from its peculiar rules, you will find that its deep structure is not so different from other, less innovative, wargames. We can go on with ROSSYIA 1917, by Azure Wish, a game covering the civil war between Reds and White in Russia, after the Bolshevik Revolution. In this case, a player activates some units that move, conduct combats and then the units in reserve can move and conduct a second phase of combats. In other words, the sequence is move-fight-move-fight, as in other wargames, even if very different in many aspects. 
At this point, we think to have given a sufficient number of examples; we have privileged the operational-level wargames because Lost Victory is an operational-level wargame, but we think that to give several examples of wargames of other levels could be useful for the readers. 
After this kind of introduction, we want to give a deep look to the Operations Segment of Lost Victory ( this is the centre of our review ). Before, however, we desire to justify our decision to exam only this segment, living the other segments out of our work. 
The Weather Segment ( Weather Phase and Grounding Phase ) is so similar to other Weather Segments of other games that it is sufficient what we have written above; a weather segment is always, or at least very often, self-explanatory and is composed, in most cases, by some mechanical actions. The Supply Segment ( Soviet Supply Phase and Axis Supply Phase ) is necessary to indicate the supply status of the units, but it is mechanical as the Weather Segment. The Strategic Segment ( Soviet Replacement Phase, Axis Replacement Phase, Axis RR Phase and Repair Phase ) is common with the most part of the operational-level wargames ( we could say with the totality of the operational-level wargames ). Then, we have decided that what we have written above is more than sufficient to comprehend its role in Lost Victory. Our decision does not mean that we underestimate this segment and its importance in the game, but only that we do not discover great innovations in it. The Victory Segment is self-explanatory and we do not write more on it. The centre of Lost Victory is the Operations Segment and now we will write our opinion about it and its differences from other wargames. 
As the readers can remember, in Lost Victory, a unit can perform one and only one action per operations phase: movement, rally, bombardment, support or combat. In other words, if a unit moves, it cannot initiate combat, bombard, or make any other action. This means that a player is compelled to decide how to use his units, before to take any action. Then, a player has the difficult task not only to move his units in the best way in order to have the best positions for the attacks, but he has the problem that a moved unit is unable to attack until the next operations phase ( or to perform any other action ). The fact that a unit can make only one action per operation phase compels the players to be careful about any action and any unit. They must plan an operation phase with great attention and, at the same time, they must be conscious that even the best-planned phase could become disorganized by the actions made by the opponent. This makes an operations phase unpredictable and any plan ( even the best on the paper ) could result worse and unsuitable when it is used in the theatre of operations. Naturally, also the non-phasing player has his troubles. In Lost Victory, where there is not a standard sequence, it is difficult ( sometimes impossible ) to predict the enemy actions and how the opponent could conduct his operation phase. No rule compels the players to move before to attack, or rally after have made all other actions; a player may attack and then move his units across the hole in the enemy line. All the combinations of actions are possible and the variants are infinite. An operations phase has many aspects that could be considered as a chaos. The phasing player can take his actions in any order he desires; a considerable number of actions are not pre-determined and they are often not under players’ control. These things give Lost Victory a particular aspect that is very different from the more conventional operational-level wargames. In Lost Victory’s “ chaos “, a player is not sure that his opponent moves, then fights and finally moves again; even if in several situations the opponent’s moves could be imagined, there is never the security of this and the opponent’s actions are, in most cases, unpredictable. On the other front, the phasing player has never the control over all his actions, even when he had planed his phase with the greatest accuracy. It is almost impossible to predict the outcome of the most part of moves, then it is impossible to be sure of own plans and their results. This does not means that Lost Victory is a chaotic game without any existence of planned actions; this means only that the confusion of the real battlefield is well present on the map and that the players must be able to confront with it. What we have written is well described in the Study Book by the designer, we have only added some our considerations. We think that what we have written about the operations phase should be sufficient; now we will give a look at the argument of the game.
Lost Victory covers the military operations in the Kharkov’s zone in winter 1943: the Soviet massive offensive and the German counterattack. This battle for Kharkov is one of the most famous operations of the WWII and one of the topics more used by the designers. It is possible to find wargames on this battle published by the most part of companies and designed by the most famous designers. Lost Victory is only one of them, even if with a specific system that gives it its own particular aspect. Having in mind the history of this battle, we have find some reasons for which we think that it is difficult, even if not impossible, to recreate the realty in a simulation. 1 ) The battle sees the German forces to be overwhelmed by the Soviet ones; then if you recreate only the brute force, there is no hope for the German. In realty, the German troops were so superior in leaderships and in personal equipments and trainings, that few German soldiers were able to stand in front of overwhelming Soviet forces. The battle at Kharkov was a classical battle of quality ( above all, personal quality ) against quantity. 2 ) The presence as OC of von Manstein was determining for the defeat of the Soviets. The German counterattack was the pinnacle of von Manstein’s genius and the best battle of encirclement and destruction of the WWII. We could not imagine how the battle’s outcome could have been without the presence of von Manstein. In addition, if the OC was the greatest genius of the WWII, we cannot forget the presence of several subordinate commanders of the best military tradition every one of whom was a great leader and a great tactician; here we want to mention only one, the commander of the 1st SS Panzer Corps, general Hausser. Naturally, there were several commanders who demonstrated their leadership and their skill; we have only remembered these two for their decisive roles in the battle. 3 ) The lack of coordination between the two Soviet Front HQs ( Voronezh and Southwest ) was one of the major causes of the Soviet defeat. Sometimes, this lack of coordination became a real antagonism between the two commanders of the two fronts. In addition, the poor coordination among the various HQs, between HQs and the field commanders caused a real confusion when the Soviet LOC became longer. We can add that the rigid structure of the Red Army was another problem for the field commanders when they were compelled to give orders without the possibility of instructions from the higher levels of command. The Red Army was not yet able to conduct operations in German style and this was one of the causes of their defeat. 
Now, we describe how Lost Victory recreates the three points above giving our point of view. 1 ) It is never easy to put in a counter the “ cohesion “ of a unit or the “ leaderships “ of a commander. Lost Victory has no cohesion ratings for the combat units; instead, it gives major attack or defence strength to the German units even if they represent smaller units than the Soviet ones. Then a German regiment results often stronger than a Soviet brigade of the same type does. The things change when we analyze the German and Soviet HQs. The first ones have greater Command Values ( the differences between the German and Soviet Command Radius are less evident ); the second are quite always inferior, even if they represent a higher-ranking HQ. We notice that the personal training and leadership are recreated in two different manner; a kind of “ cohesion “ for the HQs and higher strength values for the combat units ( that, it is important to remember, represent also the HQ of lower level than Corps ). We think that this method gives the game two different modes of showing the better quality of the German Army; in various occasions, playing the game, these two modes shows several difficulties interacting between them. It is true that there is a nominal Command Value, used when the units are out of the Command Radius of any friendly HQ, but it is too abstract and the difference between Germans and Soviets is too narrow ( three against two ). The game gives great importance to the command values using the SNAFU system; it shows quite well the higher quality of the Germans until there is an HQ to command the operations, but it is inadequate when the combat units act alone. The training and skill of a German unit was far better than their counterpart was; only one point is, about us, inadequate. Our opinion is that giving the units a cohesion rating is far better than improving artificially the strength of the German units. 2 ) The German player represents the highest rating commander in the battle: for most of time, he is von Manstein. It is important to have this in mind before to go on. Now, a question arises how is it possible to act better? We think that it is impossible, even the best player can hope at least to be equal than his historical counterpart, but to be more capable is out of any possibility. In realty, the players are quite always not at the same level than their counterpart. This situation is fundamental when we want to recreate the Battle for Kharkov. Someone could say that the players have an historical counterpart in all wargames: this is true, but the Battle for Kharkov is really a von Manstein miracle and the German victory is in his hands. We cannot imagine other German high commanders capable of giving the battle its outcome. Then, we consider that the subject of Lost Victory is so particular in this aspect that it is difficult, about us impossible, to design a satisfactory game. Naturally, the problem is present in all the wargames about this subject: Lost Victory is only one among many others. 3 ) On the other hand, the Soviets have their own aspect that is, for other reasons, difficult to recreate in a game. In Lost Victory, the Soviet HQs have generally worse Command Values and this reflects the realty: the difficult is again in the combat units capabilities. We think the designer has maintained the real value of a Soviet unit unchanged ( perhaps he had reduced them ): honestly, it is not so important. What are clear are the two different modes to treat the leadership and cohesion, the same as for the Germans. But here we want to write deeply about the two Soviet Front HQs. In this case, the player represents the two commanders of the two fronts. Historically, they had great responsibility in the Red Army’s defeat. For this reason, Lost Victory gives several restrictions to the cooperation between them. We think this is the maximum effort that a designer could make; but their historical rivalry went beyond the non-cooperation. It is out of a wargame’s possibilities to compel the Soviet player to make actions that could damage the forces in his command. This is the bulk of the two correlated problems: von Manstein and the Soviet Front HQs. A German player is quite always under the level of his historical counterpart, a Soviet player has no difficult to be better and…wiser. To end this section, give us a look to the Victory Conditions. The Soviet wins ( a minor victory, but a victory ) if he controls at least one supplied hex of a major city: surely, this is not difficult to obtain ( in our experience, as wargamers, we find it not difficult, in most cases even easy ). In other words, we could write that two facts are decisive: the impossibility for the German player to act better than von Manstein and the contrary for the Soviet player. These two facts in conjunction with the victory conditions give a solid advantage to the Soviet. 
At this point, we think it is necessary to explain the reasons for which we have named this section of our review “ LOST VICTORY: A LOST OPPORTUNITY “. About us, Lost Victory has several good ideas; what lacks is their development. For example, the presence of the HQs and of the problems of command is very interesting and it compels the players to face the difficulties of commanding an army on a battlefield. Another example could be the idea to give the Operations Phase a sequence different from the standard move-fight-move. We could find other examples, but we think that these two are sufficient because they comprehend the two most important items of Lost Victory ( obviously about our opinion ). We will start from the last one and, then, we will pass to the first. 
In Lost Victory, a unit may perform only one action per Ops Phase; a unit can move, but then not fight. We want to concentrate our attention on these two actions because they are the most common and the most important for a combat unit. This could seem pretty at a first glance: it seems even obvious that a combat unit that have moved for a long distance is then incapable to sustain a combat. But, this is only the first superficial glance. The history of the WWII ( and not only ) teaches us that a combat unit, even after a forced march, is capable to fight and better is a unit better is its capacity to sustain marches and combats. And what we could say about the German mobile forces ( Panzer and Motorized/Mechanized divisions ), which had as their combat style fast movements in conjunction with heavy fights? In Lost Victory, these things are lost; a player is compelled to move his powerful Panzer Divisions and then to aspect the next Ops Phase to use them in combat. In this manner, there is no distinction between the German mobile forces and the Soviet armor or motorized/mechanized units: another advantage for the Soviet player and another bad recreation of the historical realty. Our opinion is that if a designer thinks that a force could have some difficulties in fighting after a march, there are many other possibilities to recreate these difficulties than to prohibit a unit to fight. 
Regarding the first item, we find that, as in other game’s rules, the starting idea is good, but its development is not at the same level. The Lost Victory’s system puts the players in front of the SNAFU tables and the command checks. For every overrun and/or combat, each player must make a command check against the opposing side and then, if the check fails, he has two opportunities: he may receive one column shift in his favour or he may use the SNAFU tables. If we consider the heavy effects of a SNAFU ( above all, against the Soviets ), it seems us clear that a player prefer to roll again, this time for the effects of the SNAFU. Then each player normally rolls two times the dice for each combat and/or overrun. We, as gamers and reviewers, find the continuously rolling of dice a heavy pound on the course of play. The use of these tables makes the game slow and sometimes boring. Then, the players ( about our experience, of course ) have the sensation of a “ heavy “ game, which needs a great number of dice rolls and the course of play of which is slowed by too many dice rolls. If we decide to play a so-called “ monster-game “, we aspect to use a great number of tables, to have rules of  high level and to spent a lot of time to play a game: it is natural. In the case of Lost Victory, we have a wargame of medium level with only one map and few counters: to have a game that flows without too many stops seems normal. And here we find another aspect that makes Lost Victory a “ heavy “ game: the course of play is too confused to become familiar like a second nature. In many wargames, after some moves, the players have the sensation that the game flows without difficulties and that their actions are so natural that the players’ attention can be all for their strategy: the rules and their interactions are only a background of their decisions. In Lost Victory, it is difficult to have the same fact ( about us even impossible ) because the game’s mechanisms are often confused and the excess of die roll modifiers and the die rolls themselves create several gaps in the sequence of play.
Finally, we think that Lost Victory should be played to comprehend its good starting ideas and the poor development of them. In the gap between the designer’s ideas and their concrete realization, there are all the problems of this wargame. We want to add that having good ideas is not sufficient to design a good game. Without a solid playtesting and a “ what the gamers think “, it is easy to create a wargame good and interesting on the paper, but not satisfactory when it is played. In this sense, Lost Victory is a “ Lost Opportunity “, even if many of its concepts could be valid and, with best development, could be useful to design a new game on the subject.