Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Downfall of the Third Reich is a strategic game of World War II, in the European Theater, for two or three players. The objective of the game is to faithfully simulate World War II in the European Theater, with simple rules, in exciting games of short duration (3-5 hours).
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Movement
Move pieces between connected regions rather than along individual spaces.
Movement Points
Spend a movement allowance across spaces with different costs.
Dice Rolling
Roll dice to introduce uncertainty into actions, production, movement, or resolution.
Simulation
Model a real or imagined system through detailed cause-and-effect rules.
Read the full game description
Downfall of the Third Reich is a strategic game of World War II, in the European Theater, for two or three players. The objective of the game is to faithfully simulate World War II in the European Theater, with simple rules, in exciting games of short duration (3-5 hours). The warring factions and the countries that comprise them at the start of the game are: • Axis (Germany and Finland). • Allies (United Kingdom and France) • Soviet Union. Other major and minor countries will join the war later on in the game. Each player controls one side. With two players, one player leads the Allies and the Soviet Union. Twenty-two three-month turns are played, starting in winter 1940, when Germany is preparing to invade France (having started World War II by invading Poland) and the Soviet Union has already attacked Finland. Player can do several actions in each turn: 1. Supply 2. Reinforcements (Major Powers) 3. Armor Production 4. Air Missions 5. Submarine Missions (Axis only) 6. Development 7. Lend Lease (Allies only). Moving and attacking do not spend any action but players need to have enough supply (action 1) to do them. Players can also perform Submarine Warfare and Strategic Bombing if they have enough Air and Submarine Missions (actions 4 and 5)