Greyhound vs. Bear: The Raid on Astrakhan, 1942

The German raid on Astrakhan marks the eastern-most limit of the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union during WWII. What is remarkable is the small number of German units assigned to this sector, just the 16th Motorized Infantry (Greyhound) division, given the frontage and lack of substantial information regarding the Soviet’s forces. It was due to this lack of intelligence about the Soviet’s intentions and movements that the division’s reconnaissance battalion, along with some sympathetic Cossacks, was sent out from Elista on September 13th. The unit’s four day raid took them 90 miles beyond the Axis occupied village to the outskirts of Astrakhan during which they destroyed a fuel train, gathered intelligence about the nature of the Soviet’s forces, and set off alarms in the region that sent STAVKA scrambling to deal with the threat. Greyhound vs. Bear portrays the German raid and Soviet response in a quick playing and easy to learn mini-game. Players use a standard deck of playing cards to activate their units and resolve combats. The game is also easy to play solitaire.