Although the Eastern Front in World War II is one of the most frequently addressed periods in history played across the wargaming community, I still selected it as a basis for this introductory game in that it provides a great context for the building of a general architecture supporting common pocket wargame features which can be leveraged in future development projects. Operational actions by forces on the Eastern Front requires the modeling of multiple unit characteristics, combat strengths, logistic considerations and is truly operational in scale. This still remains a topic of great interest – potentially attracting a new audience of players. For this game, the player will control the German forces; the computer controls the Soviet Defense/Counterattack actions.

Importantly, one of the great challenges in designing a wargame is finding the appropriate balance between playability and historical realism. For this introductory game, I’m attempting to lean toward playability, but I’m also working to ensure that the overall game mechanics roughly reflect the situation faced by the commanders at the time.

The following graphic is an actual screenshot of the game Red October: March to Moscow – taken immediately following the movement of German ground units to their initial setup locations along the western edge of the mapsheet. Key highlights include: (a) the Active GamePhase displayed in the upper left corner, with applicable player notes shown immediately under it, (b) a Control Button to change to the Next Phase in the upper right corner, (c) Area Defensive strengths are shown as Red Stars, (d) German Ground Units are shown at their current locations, with both Unit Type and Unit Strength reflected on the game Sprite, (e) German Air Units available for sorties are in the bottom left corner, (e) Soviet Ground Units are located at designated defensive positions, with attributes displayed for units near German forces, or hidden for those not yet engaged by the Axis, replacement units are shown on the upper screen near the ‘Next Phase’ button, and (f) a ‘Full Screen’ icon is located on the bottom of the screen near the WDC logo.

The planning and programming of Red October: March to Moscow was based on several key design principles — the key aim being the build of a solid framework and programming environment which can be used for future Pocket-Wargame projects. The major design goals included: