The Last Panzer Victory: The Battle of Debrecen – Hungary, 1944 (1983)

The Last Panzer Victory: The Battle of Debrecen; Hungary, 1944 was the final great German tank offensive on the Eastern Front.

The autumn of 1944 found the troops of Marshal Malinowski’s Second Ukrainian Front sweeping through the Carpathian Mountains and onto the broad plains of Hungary. Behind them lay Romania and the wreckage of the German 6th and 8th Armies. Ahead of them lay Budapest and Vienna and the battered lines of German and Hungarian defenders. The men of the Red Army were confident of a quick and easy victory. Appearances were deceiving, however.

Near the city of Debrecen the Russian Advanced Guard encountered, not the remnants of an already defeated force, but four full-strength panzer divisions, eager for revenge. They would clash in one the great battles of the Second World War. The result would be the last real victory for the Germans in the East, the last time that the Wehrmacht could slug it out toe to toe with a full strength German force. The victory, however, was close and might well have gone the other way.

It is this situation that The Last Panzer Victory seeks to simulate with a fast paced, mobile, hard hitting game of operational warfare on the Eastern Front. The elegant game system realistically portrays armored combat in World War II. The effects of weather, supply, artillery, air power, and headquarters are represented through accurate yet playable rules, whose design features include: An interactive turn sequence - Special stacking and zones of control rules to reflect the unique conditions of the Eastern Front – Extensive unit specialization rules to simulate the unique unit capabilities and liabilities.

Game Scale:
Game Turn: 1 day
Hex: 1.2 miles / 2 kilometers
Units: Battalion to Brigade

Game Inventory:
One 22 x 34" 8-color mapsheet
Four dual-side printed countersheets (600 1/2" counters)
One 8-page The Last Panzer Victory rulebook
Two single-side printed Player Aid charts
One Plastic storage tray
One 6-sided dice

Solitaire Playability: High
Complexity Level: Medium
Players: 2 or more
Playing Time: 4-6 hours