Berlin: German

Hauptmann Weber threw himself behind the sandbag wall adjacent to the Bierhalle, bitterly wishing he was inside the welcoming building, rather than running the gauntlet of withering gunfire in the avenue out here. The Soviets were advancing again through the gloom, toward their position, from both sides of the street for the fourth time that day, and the ramshackle collection of ‘soldiers’, he had scraped together were barely holding the line.

Another rush of submachine-gun wielding soldiers stormed his left, and a flurry of rounds exploded the top of the sandbags, scattering debris and grit across the platoon. A steady stream of bullets answered the attack and the MG42 covering his blind side cut swathes through the Soviets, forcing them back as quickly as they had appeared.

The entrenched Luftwaffe 8.8cm anti-aircraft gun was still in action. Young JoJo Martin from the district’s Local Hitler-Jugend troop, was calling for more rounds. ‘Schnell! Schnell!’ he yelled as a high-pitched screeching of engine gears and metal bearings, signalled another Soviet tank advance across the Moltke Bridge toward the Reichstag, SMG wielding infantry surely in their wake.

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In January 1945 the German Ardennes offensive in the west failed to force the Allies to the negotiating table. The British and Americans are ready to cross into Germany. The newly-raised Panzerdivision ‘Clauswitz’ and troops from the schools and training battalions are thrown into the fight.

Every fighting man is utilised in the defence of the Reich. In the east, the Germans traded ground for time, falling back into western Poland and east Prussia and establishing Festerplatz, or fortress cities. An eerie calm settled in for the first few weeks of the new year as both sides prepare.

Every German soldier remains steadfast, despite being forced back. The fight is now to protect Germany from the Red Army and its terrible vengeance. New divisions like Panzerdivision ‘Müncheburg’ and 9. Fallschirmjagerdivision assemble between the Oder and the Seelow Heights to defend the approaches to Berlin. They will make sure that the enemy pays for every step west in blood. Inside Berlin the Germany’s levy, the Volkssturm and Hitlerjugend, have been assembled to defend the Reich’s capital. Forces are poised on the brink of a great battle.

INSIDE YOU WILL FIND:

• Background on German forces on the Western and Eastern Front from January 1945 to May 1945.
• Instructions on how to build a Panzer Battle Group, Clausewitz Panther (IR) Tank Company, Clausewitz StuG Assault Gun Company, Clausewitz Panzersturm Company, Heavy Tank Trainng Company, Tank Training Company, Berlin Fallschirmjäger Company, and Berlin Battle Group.
• A Painting and Basing guide.
• Two new Missions.
• Expanded Night Fighting rules.