White Star Rising (1st Edition)

White Star Rising introduces Lock ‘n Load Publishing’s Nations at War (NAW) game system. Based on the popular World at War, NAW depicts platoon level combat in World War II. Here you’ll find everything you're looking for in a platoon-level game -armor, artillery, infantry that serves as more than cannon fodder, command and control, air support, amphibious landings, and desperate close assaults that leave the victor in possession of the ground and the defeated in headlong retreat, all in eight pages of rules. That’s two less than the World at War system.

White Star Rising, which focuses on the fighting between the Americans and Germans, includes two counter sheets replete with the vehicles, men, and weapons of both the American and German armies that fought in France, Belgium, and Germany in 1944-45. You’ll fight battles at Omaha Beach, in the Lorraine, on the outskirts of Belgium, and in Germany itself. There are 16 scenarios, played out on four 11” x 17” geomorphic maps with ¾” (.75”) counters. That’s right, no more squinting to make out that tank platoon’s range; these counters are BIG. It’s all included in an attractive, bookcase-sized box. See About the Game , below, for more details. The game ships in a box with the following components:

• Two sheets (approximate 200 total) .75" counters.
  
• Four professionally-drawn, printed, and MOUNTED 11" x 17" geomorphic maps.
  
• 16 scenarios
  
• 2 players' aid cards
  
• 4 dice
  
• A 20-page rule, scenario, and chart book.

Scenarios Include:

Desobry's Last Stand

December 1944, Noville Belgium. Major Desobry had been ordered to hold the Germans at Noville, a small village several miles outside of Bastogne. The major, 500 men, and assorted remnants of a tank destroyer platoon, Combat Command A, and a battalion of Screaming Eagles face an entire German division.

Bloody Omaha

June, 1944, Normandy. The Americans storm ashore at Omaha Beach. In what would be the fiercest battle of the Normandy landings, the Americans struggle for hours against determined German defenders firing well-sighted machine guns and heavy ordnance firing from heavily-protected bunkers.,

The Bridge at Remagen

The Ludendorf Bridge was captured on March 7, 1945 by elements of the American 9th Armored Division. This scenario depicts the battle for control of the bridge.

The Battle for Strass

Located south of the larger town of Gey, and hugging the edge of the Hurtgen Forest, Strass was suppoed to be lightly defended. The men of the 330th Infantry Regiment would find out otherwise. Through assault and counter assault over a ten day period their regiment suffered 50% casualties. This scenario focuses on 11 December, 1944. The second day of the battle.

Vierville

June, 1944, Vierville, France. The men of the 101st Airborne Division failed to secure Vierville on D-Day. On June 7th it would be their turn to try again. By now they had some support in te form of a platoon of Stuart light tanks. The Germas, however, had some support of their own. It would be a long day for both armies.

The Battle of Mairy

On the night of September 7th, 1944, Panzer Brigade 106 attacked the flank of the 90th Infantry Division. The ensuing battles were fought in several towns including Avril, Landres, and Mercy. In the end the men, Shermans, M-10s, and 57mm AT guns of the 90th had all but destroyed the Panthers and Grenediers on Panzer Brigade 106.

About the Game

Units represent platoons of vehicles, such as M-10 Wolverines, M4A3E8 Easy Eight Shermans, and German Panthers, Tigers, and Mark IVs. Of course White Star Rising isn’t all about tanks. There’s plenty of infantry; paratroopers, line doggies, Fallschirmjager, and Volksgrenadiers. In the same vein as the World at War system, the infantry are capable of moving fast and hitting hard. White Star Rising also includes support weapons, such as heavy machine guns,