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No Retreat! Reference Booklet
4
his units as shown below, setting up his two
envisioned attacks:
5:1 Ratio
3:1 Ratio
But the Russian Player can read the map, too,
and sees where this might be headed. It doesn’t
look good for his units around Kiev, so he plays
his Maskirovka Event card to immediately bring
an entrained Russian unit onto the map. He
wants to place it in the hex southeast of Kiev
(adjacent to both the Central and Bryansk
Fronts) to keep his supply lines from becoming
tenuous and lending some counterblow firepower if opportunity permits.
The Axis Player is fortunate, however, as he is
holding his Inexperienced Soviet Officers
Event card, which, after a bit of reflection, he
decides to use to cancel the Soviet’s card. The
Soviet player grumbles and returns his unit to
the Rail Movement Box.
With that excitement over, the Axis Combat
Phase begins and the Axis player designates the
Soviet Bryansk Front and South Front (in
Odessa) as Target Hexes.
Seeing that Kiev is not an Axis Target Hex, the
Soviet Player realizes that the Axis player is
going to try to encircle both Kiev and Odessa,
leaving his Central Front unit in Kiev to die from
lack of supply. Since losing 1 VP and having to
pay two cards to bail out his best unit from the
Surrendered Units box in a future turn is not
desirable, the Soviet Player launches a counterblow, discarding a card to activate the Central
Front in Kiev as a Target Hex. He is trying to put
the German Player on the horns of a dilemma by
forcing an involuntary counterattack. He discards
his STAVKA Event card and places a
Counterblow marker on the Central Front.
Resigned to his fate, the Axis Player starts
recalculating the possibilities around Kiev and
takes another look at his own card hand. In it he
finds his Gott Mit Uns (“God is With Us”) card
and then sees the Erich von Manstein Event
atop the Discard Pile from Soviet’s recent
discard (that was the Axis Event on that same
STAVKA Event card). It’s an ideal card play
situation and the German Player makes it.
“Well, hoody-hoo!,” the Axis player exclaims.
“I think Erich needs to double the strength of one
German unit. Let me think about which...”
The German player decides that von Manstein
will be used in the north at his crucial attack on
Smolensk this turn and won’t be appearing at
our battles in the Ukraine.
According to
his plan in the
south, the
5:1 Odds
German Player
first proceeds
with his Grand
Attack (with the
yellow arrows)
in the center of the line against the Soviet
Bryansk Front, the success of which (and
Advance After Combat) will greatly influence the
other battles nearby. His strength ratio is 15:3
(5:1). Note that there is no shift to the right (1)
for the Armor Bonus (10.6.3) as the target hex
includes an Armor or Mechanized Infantry unit
type. The German Player rolls on the 5:1 Odds
column on the German Combat Results Table. A
die roll of 3 yields a DS result, and the
Bryansk Front is retreated two hexes and is
then placed in the Shattered Units box.
The German Player advances his units after
combat as shown (with his armor taking its
Advance Bonus to move an additional hex, as
per Rule 10.8.2) to isolate Kiev and maintain his
Supply Path to the western map edge (i.e., the
Mountain hex in Rumania). The two 4-4 Armies
can trace directly to it, and the Panzer Army can
trace to an Alternate Source (6.2) – the supplied
4-4 Army adjacent to its own hex as illustrated
below:
No Retreat! Reference Booklet v1.01
Axis Player would desperately use a Blitz!
marker at this battle; but no! He has one more
Event card up his sleeve and plays it now: Heinz
Guderian. ‘Swift Heinz’ turns an Axis attack into
an automatic DR result, and that is exactly what
the Axis Player wants. With nowhere to retreat,
the South Front is placed in the Destroyed Units
box, and the Axis units advance through
Odessa.
This leaves the German 4-4 6th Army to make
an involuntary counterattack vs. the counterblow
from the Soviet Central Front in Kiev (the green
arrow). The attacker’s 4:5 Ratio becomes a 1:2
Odds attack. Knowing that there are no shifts for
terrain in a Counterattack, the Axis Player could
commit his available Blitz! marker to bump the
Odds up to 1:1, but again he decides not to.
Why? Because he’s hoping for an indecisive
result to keep the Soviet unit in place so that it
will be Unsupplied (and, hopefully, removed from
the map in that state) during the upcoming
Soviet Player’s turn.
The Axis Player launches his 1:2 Odds attack
and the die roll is a 1, yielding a CA result. The
Soviet Player seizes the opportunity to launch a
5:4 Ratio (1:1 Odds) Counterattack of his own
(the pink arrow), as shown below:
1:1 Odds
1:2 Odds
?
3:2 Odds
This leaves the Axis Player two Target Hexes to
deal with. He has one Blitz! marker (circled in
red) that is not urgently required for battles in the
north, but he opts not to use it in his next attack,
which he decides will be against the South Front
in Odessa (the blue arrows). With a 9:3 (i.e., 3:1)
Ratio, and two shifts to the left (2), one each
for the River and City terrain, you’d think the
© 2008 Carl Paradis and
Victory Point Games
Hoping to roll a ‘6,’ the Soviet Player throws the
die and rolls a 4 for a No Effect. Desperate,
and despite his low chances for success (even a
roll of ‘5’ would help, as it would send his
Central Front to the Destroyed Units box instead
of the Surrendered Units box), the Soviet Player
commits his last Event card, Heroes of the
Soviet Union, and re-rolls the die. This time he
tosses a 2 for a CA result. The Axis Player
declines to make a Counterattack and the battle
ends there.
No Retreat!
The Russian Front: 1941-1944
Reference Booklet
Parts Inventory
● 1 11 x 17” map sheet
● 1 8.5” x 11” player aid sheet
● 1 sheet of 40, two-sided square units
● 1 sheet of 28, two-sided round markers
● 1 each: Rules, Reference & Scenarios
booklets
● 24 Event Cards
Not included is one 6-sided die that you will
need to provide for resolving battles.
[13.0] GAME TURN EVENTS
When conducting a Game Turn’s Housekeeping Phase, Turn Track Events (and
other features of interest, such as the
weather, Support marker availability, if it’s
a Sudden Death turn, etc.) are noted (where
they have a lasting effect) or applied (if its
effect is an immediate, 1-time occurrence).
[13.1] Weather: To review and summarize
the effects of weather:
During Clear Game Turns:
 There are no special effects.
During Mud Game Turns:
 All units have a maximum of three (3)
Movement Points.
 There are no Armor Bonus shifts (10.6.3)
in combat.
 Multi-hex Advance After Combat
(10.8.1) is not permitted (i.e., units can
only advance into the Defender’s vacated
hex).
During Snow Game Turns:
 All units have a maximum of four (4)
Movement Points.
 Rivers ‘freeze’ and have no effect (i.e.,
they provide no terrain combat shift).
 All Non-Finnish Axis attacks against
Russian units suffer one column shift to
the left (two on Game Turn 5).
 Multi-hex Advance After Combat is
permitted, but the Armor Advance Bonus
is not (i.e., there a two hex Advance
After Combat limit).
[13.2] Sudden Death (T): At the
beginning of this Game Turn, during the
Victory Phase, check for Sudden Death
Victory (12.2).
[13.3] Support Markers: The
Axis Player receives a number
of Blitz!, and the Soviet Player a
number of Shock! markers at the beginning
of that turn as indicated by their symbols on
the Game Turn Track.
For Example: At the beginning of Turn 5, the
Axis Player receives 0 Blitz! markers and the
Soviet Player receives 3 Shock! markers.
These markers represent superior period
training, doctrine, tactics and leadership,
plus elements of surprise, airpower, artillery
concentrations, logistical support, and so
forth.
[13.4] Game Turn Events: During these
turns, a major event takes place in another
theater of WW2 and the Russians score 1
Victory Point (VP) at the beginning of that
Game Turn during the Victory Phase (as
per 12.5).
[13.5] Game Turn Effects: The text in the
Game Turn boxes reflect these effects as
listed in chronological order (by Game Turn
number) below:
1, 2 – No Extra Rail Moves: During Game
Turns 1 and 2, no additional Rail
Movement capacity may be purchased
by either player (9.1.1). Note that
players are still allowed to make their
one free Rail Move.
This reflects the Axis difficulties converting the Russian rail gauge to European
standards (and being stuck on the poor
Russian roads). For the Russians, it reflects
that much of their rail capacity early on was
used to evacuate industries and workers to
Siberia, away from the fast-approaching
enemy.
1-4 – No Axis Replacements: During
Game Turns 1 through 4, the Axis
Player cannot discard cards in order to
Replace or Improve units (7.1). Only
certain Event Cards can be used by the
Axis for these purposes during the first
four Game Turns.
Hitler promised his Generals another
Blitzkrieg victory in Russia, and so
preparations and logistical support for a
long, protracted war took time to organize.
3 – Begin Soviet Fortifying: Starting on
this turn, and for the remainder of the
game, Soviet (one-step) Regional
infantry units (only) that can trace a
Supply Path (6.1) can be upgraded into
(two-step) Fortified infantry units (7.5).
Other Soviet units
can’t be upgraded
before Turn 6, nor
<
© 2008 Carl Paradis and
Victory Point Games
1
become two-step units before Turn 17.
(Optional: Ostatky Unit; see 15.3)
5 – Begin German Replacements: The
Axis Player can commence discarding
cards to Replace / Improve his units
during his Organization Phase (7.0).
5 – 2 v. Soviets: This Snow Weather
Turn, the Axis player loses two shifts to
the left when attacking Soviet units
instead of the usual one.
6 – Begin One Free Soviet Upgrade:
During his Organization Phase, the
Soviet Player receives one free (“Education”) unit upgrade per turn (7.2).
12 – Na Berlin!: During the Victory Phase,
the Initiative shifts to the Soviets (12.7).
(Optional: Kampfgruppe Units; see
15.3 for their use)
13 – Begin Two Free Soviet Upgrades:
During his Organization Phase, the
Soviet Player receives a second free
(“Experience”) unit upgrade per turn
(7.2.1).
15 – Remove the Italian 8th Army:
Regardless of its location, this unit is
immediately picked up and removed
from play (see 11.3).
Italy just surrendered to the Allies!
16 – Remove the 2nd Panzer Army:
Regardless of its location, this unit is
immediately picked up and removed
from play. If it is currently eliminated,
the Axis player draws one fewer (-1)
card that turn.
17 – Soviet Units Have Two Steps: All
Soviet units (exception: the optional
Ostatky “Remnants” unit) now have two
steps (7.3).
18 – Remove the SS Panzer Army:
Regardless of its location, this unit is
immediately picked up and removed
from play. If it is currently eliminated,
the Axis player draws one fewer (-1)
card that turn.
[14.0] SPECIAL UNITS
To review and summarize the effects of
some special units and unit types:
[14.1] Regional / Fortified Units: Regional
Infantry units can be upgraded
in the normal way (7.1) to twostep Fortified units starting on
Game Turn 3 (13.5). They can
revert back to their one-step
Regional Infantry side either
by taking a step loss in combat
or through voluntary reversion
during the Soviet Organization Phase (7.5).
2
 Fortified units cannot voluntarily Attack
(10.1.1), but they can use their Combat
Strength for a Counterblow (10.1.2).
 Fortified units do not suffer the effects of
any Retreat outcomes called for in
combat (even ones that suffered a step
loss in that battle and are now suddenly
Regional Infantry units).
 The Finnish unit has twosteps, remains Fortified at
both step levels, and can never
move or retreat out of Finland.
[14.2] Axis Allies: Except for the Finnish
unit, Axis Allied units have only one step.
When the Optional Cadre Rule (15.3) goes
into effect (when using it), Non-Finnish
Axis Allied units cannot return to play,
becoming Kampfgruppe units instead.
 Italy surrenders on Turn 15 (11.3).
 Rumania surrenders when a Russian unit
is in a hex in Rumania (11.3).
[14.3] Armor-Type Units:
These represent large tank
Panzer formations. They are
or Tank disadvantaged when moving
through difficult terrain (having
their own “Armor” Movement Costs on the
Terrain Effects Chart), but receive the
following advantages in battle:
 A one-column shift to the right when
attacking (or counterattacking) most
infantry-type units in a Clear hex during
a non-mud Game Turn (10.6.3).
 An additional hex of Advance After
Combat on Clear weather turns (10.8.2).
[14.4] Mechanized
Infantry: These are
better motorized
Panzergrenadier or
Mechanized Infantry formations with added
anti-armor capabilities.
They move as infantry-type units (i.e.,
paying the “Other” Movement Costs on the
Terrain Effects Chart).
When defending in combat, the Attacker
cannot receive the Armor Attack Bonus
(10.6.3) against them.
[15.0] OPTIONAL RULES
These Optional Rules add greater detail and
realism at the expense of some added
complexity. Players are free to use any or
all of them by mutual agreement.
Elite Units
[15.1] German SS Panzer
Army: This unit represents
better equipped and elite
German troops.
No Retreat! Reference Booklet
 This unit always receives the Armor
Attack Bonus (10.6.3; 1) under all
circumstances and at both of its step
levels. Exceptions for enemy unit types,
terrain or weather do not apply.
 Whenever this unit attacks (or even
counterattacks), it must always take any
required step loss in an EXchange.
[15.2] Russian Shock Unit: This unit
represents a concentration of assault troops
and artillery.
 While this side of the unit is
face-up, it always receives one
combat shift to the right (1)
when attacking (or counterattacking) against any type of enemy
unit, in any type of terrain or weather.
 Whenever this unit attacks (or even
counterattacks), it must always take any
required step loss in an EXchange.
Cadre Units
German Kampfgruppe (KG) units and the
Russian Ostatky unit are collectively called
“Cadre” units.
[15.3] Cadre Units: Cadre units
represent a hodge-podge mix of
stopgap units and Army
remnants, put together as
‘scratch’ formations to plug an
immediate hole in the line and as
a veteran core around which a
regular unit can be reformed.
Cadres have only one-step and cannot
initiate Voluntary Attacks (10.1.1), but they
can participate in counterattacks and against
counterblows (10.1.2).
[15.3.1] Arrival: The Russian Ostatky
unit arrives on Game Turn 3 and is
placed in the Cadre Units Available box.
German Kampfgruppe units are found on
the reverse side of non-Finnish Axis
Allied Armies. Starting on Game Turn
11, these allied units are can be removed
from play by the Axis Player when, for
any reason, they are not located in a hex
on the map or in the Rail Movement box.
This happens to them immediately if
found to be in any of the non-Rail
Movement off-map boxes at the start of
Game Turn 11. Those units then become
Kampfgruppe units for the remainder of
the game and are placed on the Game
Turn track as per 15.3.3.
[15.3.2] On-Map Placement: Cadre
units in the Cadre Units Available box
are voluntarily placed on the map by their
owner in a hex where a friendly (nonCadre) unit was just eliminated (10.7.1)
to fulfill the step loss requirement of a
© 2008 Carl Paradis and
Victory Point Games
No Retreat! Reference Booklet
DD or EX result. Removal of a non-cadre
unit from the map by any other means
(inability to retreat, lack of supply, etc.)
does not allow a Cadre unit to be placed
in that removed unit’s hex.
[15.3.3] Removal from the Map: When
removed from the map for any reason
(except to Entrain for Rail Movement;
9.1) – such as becoming Shattered, a
Cadre unit is placed on the Game Turn
Track to arrive on the next Game Turn as
a Reinforcement. If there is already a
friendly Cadre unit scheduled to arrive as
a Reinforcement on the next Game Turn
box, that Cadre unit is placed instead on
the next Game Turn box where there is
not already a Cadre unit scheduled to
arrive. That is, each player’s Cadre units
arrive at a rate of one per Game Turn,
maximum.
Note that this means a Cadre (or, starting
on Game Turn 11, an Axis Allied unit)
removed from the map while Unsupplied
does not go into the Surrendered Units
box, nor does it score the opponent 1 VP.
[15.3.4] Cadre Reinforcement Arrival:
When received as a Reinforcement,
Cadre units are not placed on the map,
but are instead added to the Cadre Units
Available box for later placement as per
Rule 15.3.2.
[15.3.5] Replacement Location: Eliminated and Surrendered units that are
Replaced as per 7.4 (only, not Reinforcement or Recovered Shattered units)
may, in addition to those locations
prescribed in Rule 7.1, also be placed in a
hex where there is a friendly Cadre unit
that can trace an overland Supply Path
(6.1) to a friendly map edge. When
placed in that hex, that Cadre unit is
removed from the map and placed on the
Game Turn track as per Rule 15.3.3.
In effect, that eliminated unit is “rebuilt”
on the front lines around a surviving
Cadre formation.
[15.4] Faster Reorganization: As an
exception to Rule 7.10, discarding a card
where your side’s Event shows the current
side’s Initiative symbol on it allows the
removal of up to two (2) Disorganized
markers.
For Example: During an early Game Turn, the
Russian player discards his “Rasputitsa” Event
card (with its Axis Initiative symbol on it) to
Reorganize units during his Organization Phase.
Thus he can remove up to two (2) Disorganized
markers.
[16.0] EXTENDED EXAMPLES
Supply Path Example
To
Riga
First he moves the 9th Army (blue) through the
Forest squares. The colored movement arrows
and circled numbers indicate how many
Movement Points were spent to move that far.
Remember, it costs one additional (+1) MP to
leave an EZOC (8.5.2).


The German 16th Army can trace a valid
Overland Supply Path 4 hexes back to Riga, an
Axis-friendly city (6.1); this Supply Path must be
traced across a Prohibited hexside at Lake
Peipus, which is permitted (6.3).
The (one-step) German 18th Army can trace its
Supply Path to the 16th Army (an adjacent
supplied unit is an Alternate Supply Source if it
can trace an Overland Supply Path, as per 6.2).
With Smolensk cut off from the Axis, the German
4th Panzer Army cannot trace a valid Supply
Path (as shown by the yellow arrows) and so is
tagged with an Unsupplied marker. It can’t trace
through the 18th Army in a ‘chain’ back to the
16th Army, as the 18th Army does not, itself,
have an Overland Supply Path.
The Soviet Kalinin Front can trace an Overland
Supply Path directly to the eastern map edge
(denoted by the red border). Note that the Axis
Finnish Army projects no Zone of Control to
hinder that Supply Path as it is a Fortress unit.
Even the Soviet Leningrad Fort unit is in supply
(being in a coastal hex on the Baltic Sea). For
the record, it could also trace an Overland
Supply Path: its first hex trace would be through
Lake Ladoga (again, a Supply Path can be
traced across and through Prohibited hexes,
including this large Lake hex), and its second
hex through the one occupied by the Kalinin
Front (since friendly units negate EZOCs for the
purposes of tracing a Supply Path; 6.3), and
from there along the same route as the Kalinin
Front traced its Supply Path.
Movement Example
It is the Axis Movement Phase of Game Turn 4
(a Snow turn). During the
preceding Supply Check Phase,
it was discovered that that all of
the units shown were in supply.
Despite the bad weather, the
Axis Player decides to conduct an attack against
the Kalinin Front unit and try to eliminate it while
it is surrounded (by Axis units and ZOCs).
Counting his units’ Combat Strengths, the Axis
player determines that if he can reposition the
16th, 9th, and 4th Panzer Armies, he’ll be able
to muster a potential 15 to 4 (i.e., a 3:1) attack.

 



This allows the 4th Panzer Army (purple) to
move into that same hex because now there is a
friendly unit in it; so the 4th Panzer Army deftly
moves directly from one EZOC to another
(8.5.3). It must stop immediately upon entering
that hex (because it entered an EZOC), and
expends 3 MPs to get there (1 to leave the
EZOC plus 2 to enter the adjacent Forest hex).
Notice that moving his units in the proper
sequence was important!
The Axis Player moves the 16th Army next and
has a couple of options. The white option would
push it forward onto the one-step 18th Army for
one Movement Point (the Fort has no ZOC
remember), but there its position could become
tenuous, because there’s always the danger that
the Soviet Player could flip the Fortified unit to its
Regional side – this would suddenly give it a
Zone of Control and would thus enable it to cut
off supply to that hex. So the Axis Player takes
the black path through the Marsh (for two
Movement Points) and into the Forest instead.
The one-step Axis 18th Army is just going to
have to fend for itself… Notice how most of the
Axis movement is made around EZOC hexes
and not through them.
Finally, the Axis Player moves the 2nd Panzergrenadier Army westward (green). Why? He did
this to maintain the integrity of his line (i.e., the
positioning of his units and their ZOCs) and
prevent the Soviet West Army from simply
walking into Smolensk during the following
Russian Player Turn.
Notice that he kept the 3rd Panzer Army in
place next to Moscow to hold that valuable
ground and threaten the Objective hex. Planning
© 2008 Carl Paradis and
Victory Point Games
3
ahead and thinking things through like this are
all game-puzzles you’ll discover.
Combat Example
The German 6th
Army in
Stalingrad is
being attacked
by the Russian
3rd Tank Army
and 2nd Ukraine
Front during a
Snow Game
Turn. The
Russians commit a Shock! marker to the battle,
and neither player commits any cards.
The Initial Ratio is 12:3, which reduces down to
exactly the 4:1 Odds Column on the Soviet
Combat Results Table. During the Final Odds
Step (#4), shifts occur as follows:
The Attacker committed a Combat Support
marker to the battle (1). The Defender’s force
is located in a City hex (1) and across
Objective hexsides (1).
Note, because all of the attacking units are also
attacking across River hexsides, this would
normally cause another (third) shift to the left.
But as it is a Snow Game Turn, for combat
purposes the rivers essentially ‘disappear,’ and
so do not provide a combat shift.
The Final Odds Step will see this 4:1 Odds battle
shifted a net of one column to the left, thus being
rolled as a 3:1 battle.
Combined Example
It is the start of the Turn 2 German Movement
Phase; here see the situation in the Ukraine:
The Axis Player plans to blast his way through
the center at high odds, and then use Advance
After Combat to firmly encircle Kiev (and, with
luck, to have the Soviet unit there whither and
die in an unsupplied state during the Soviet
Player’s turn) and to surround Odessa and
attack that unit so that it has no retreat route and
kill it before the Soviet Player can evacuate it on
his turn via Rail Movement (well, “Sea
Movement” in this case). The Axis player moves

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