WHITE DOG GAMES
The Adventure of Board Game Development
SEPTEMBER 1939
The Invasion of Poland
September 1939 is a computer-based simulation of the 1939 German invasion of Poland, known as the September Campaign or the 1939 Defensive War in Poland (Kampania wrześniowa or Wojna obronna 1939 roku) and the Poland Campaign in Germany, which signaled the beginning of World War II. The game covers the period from September first to the entry of the Soviet Union into the conflict.
The game can be played either side against the computer or between two players, each taking turns moving. The game can be saved after each turn and emailed to an opponent who has a copy of the game. The game can also be played solitaire by one person making moves for both sides.
Game Options
Unit movement speed can be set to slow, medium, or fast. Victory point (VP) messages can be turned on or off. Polish air unit strength can be variable but will never be less than 10.
The player can choose to play the German or Polish side against the computer, in which case the computer will move units and conduct combats for the opposing side.
Two options are available when the computer plays the German side: General Attack or Drive To Warsaw. The player can also opt to have hidden German units.
The Weather option introduces variable weather conditions: clear, rainy, muddy. Rain and mud reduce movement allowances. Rain makes all rivers uncrossable, except at roads, and air combat impossible. The default weather is clear.
How to Win
The German side collects Victory Points by capturing Polish cities (5 VPs each, 30 for Warsaw), supply depots (hexes with Polish flags, 5 VPs each) and industrial hexes (hexes with factory symbols, 1 VP each). The game ends after 15 turns or at the end of the turn where the three Warsaw hexes are in German control.
Historically, Warsaw did not fall into German hands until September 28, so capture of Warsaw before the end of the fifteenth turn represents a win for the German player. Denial of Warsaw to the German side at the end of the game represents a psychological victory for the Polish side.
For an "older" game (2011) September '39 is remarkably clean, played well, was fun, and never once hung up. The game never froze or did anything odd that I could see once. Maybe it was due to its simplistic architecture. Maybe it was given that extra touch of TLC that seems lacking in so many video and computer games in terms of play testing. All I know is how much I hate when a game freezes, never knowing if it is saving internally or not. Here the game never broke down through ten play complete games and that is truly value added. September '39 -it's right-priced and a ball of fun and can be played in a single evening.
- Smitty