Strategy & Tactics # 333 - Operation Unthinkable, Churchill´s Plan for WW III in 1945

From Decision Games:

The Magazine:

Operation Unthinkable: Churchill’s Plan for World War III in 1945: As World War II in Europe was ending, Winston Churchill had his staff draw up a plan for starting World War III against the Soviets. Here’s our analysis of that might-have-been war.

Other Articles

- Union Disaster: The Battle of the Crater, 30 July 1864: The only direct attack authorized by Gen. Ulysses Grant on the Confederate fortifications around Richmond occurred on 30 July 1864. It was a disaster for the Army of the Potomac.

- Italian Thermopylae: The First Battle of Monte Grappa: Late 1917 was not a good time for the Italians. A Central Powers offensive routed them along the Isonzo River, capturing tens of thousands of Italian soldiers and driving the rest back to the Piave River. There the Italians made a Thermopylae-like last stand that, unlike that namesake battle, actually succeeded.

- Subutai: Mongol Master of War: Subutai directed 20 major campaigns, conquered 35 polities of various sizes, and won 65 pitched battles. He routinely coordinated movements of armies operating hundreds of miles apart from each other, and he overran more territory than any other commander in history. His was a record of military accomplishment unsurpassed by any who lived before him or came after him.

The Game:

Operation Unthinkable is a two player alternative history wargame intended to investigate the strategic parameters that would have been in place during the first month of operations had the Anglo-Allies and Soviets gone to war against each other starting on or about July 1945. The map illustrates the militarily significant terrain found in and around this portion of Germany in 1945 when portrayed at this scale. Each hex on the map represents five miles (8 km) from side to opposite side. The Soviet units of maneuver are corps or corps equivalents (western division equivalents). Those on the Allied side are mostly divisions, along with a separate brigades and regiments. The rules abstractly represent air power with the presumption that the Allies would have unchallengeable air supremacy. Each full game turn represents half a week of real time.

Components: One 22" x 34" map & 228 counters.