Buy Gary Grigsby's War in the East 2 PC key

Gary Grigsby's War in the East 2 is a turn-based strategy game about the Eastern Front of World War II, where the Third Reich and the Soviet Union each command millions of troops. It overhauls the original War in the East with revised maps, unit organization, movement, combat, logistics and air operations. You can play as either side across seven operational scenarios and three full-map campaigns, from short battles to the 1941–1945 campaign spanning Operation Barbarossa to the fall of Berlin.

Campaigns and scenarios

The three full-map campaigns cover these periods:

• 1941–45 Campaign: June 22, 1941–August 1, 1945.
• Stalingrad to Berlin: November 19, 1942–July 4, 1945.
• Vistula to Berlin: January 13–June 1, 1945.

The seven operational scenarios focus on specific offensives and battles:

• Velikie Luki ’42: November 17, 1942–January 25, 1943; the Soviet counterattack to recapture an important rail junction.
• Road to Minsk: June 22–July 2, 1941; Army Group Center’s advance to the Dnepr.
• Road to Leningrad: June 22–October 8, 1941; Army Group North’s advance on Leningrad.
• The Destruction of Southwest Front: June 22–October 15, 1941; Army Group South and Guderian bring about the war’s largest Soviet surrender.
• Operation Typhoon 41: September 30, 1941–January 5, 1942; the final offensive to take Moscow.
• Red Army Resurgent: November 19, 1942–March 17, 1943; the destruction of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad.
• Red God of War: November 24, 1942–February 8, 1943; the failed Soviet northern offensive.

Map and movement

The revised map uses a different projection and has 106 hexes across the main combat frontage from Rostov to Leningrad, compared with 87 in War in the East. Terrain and road quality in each hex affect movement, combat and supplies, while Administrative Movement accounts for faster travel through friendly territory, especially on better roads. Urban and port hexes can hold additional units.

The game also models off-map theaters such as North Africa and Italy through Theater Boxes, with events, garrison requirements and historical unit movements. The Soviet partisan war uses a garrison box, events and on-map partisan interdiction. An optional Theater Box control setting lets you move units between theaters more flexibly, with consequences for falling short of or exceeding garrison requirements.

Air and ground operations

You can manage the air war in Advanced Air Mode, which gives detailed control over air operations, or use Air Operational Group Mode to move air groups on the map and manage them more simply. AI Air Assist can run most operations based on a few orders to those groups. Airbases appear on the map, many air actions take place in a separate Air Phase, and ground support and transport occur during the movement phase. Air combat and support have revised resolution rules, and the game uses a more detailed, historically based weather model with weather changes by hex.

Ground combat includes Preparation Points that let units build up for offensives and penalize units that fight repeatedly without resting. Combat Delay Points slow movement through hexes where significant fighting took place that turn; attacks can also reduce defenders’ future movement points, and retreats can span multiple hexes.

Command and logistics

An advanced logistics system works alongside a more detailed order of battle and revised support-unit organization. Assault HQs provide command benefits to offensive armies at the cost of some defensive ability, while placing multiple nationalities under one command carries a higher command cost. Support units can be attached directly to certain Soviet and Axis Allied divisions, and multi-role units can operate on the map or serve as support. Soviet factory evacuation is automated.

Tools and reference

A redesigned AI opponent has improved defensive and offensive performance. Interface changes include reorganized screens, a Turn Summary and more unit and situation information at the top level. Revised Commander’s Report screens offer more flexibility and CSV export for analysis outside the game. In-game WitEpedia entries link detailed information about Eastern Front units and weapons, alongside TO&E and order-of-battle charts.