As I did not consider that I could take responsibility, during the years of struggle, of contracting a marriage, I have now decided, before the closing of my earthly career, to take as my wife that girl who, after many years of faithful friendship, entered, of her own free will, the practically besieged town in order to share her destiny with me. At her own desire she goes as my wife with me into death. It will compensate us for what we both lost through my work in the service of my people.What I possess belongs - in so far as it has any value - to the Party. Should this no longer exist, to the State; should the State also be destroyed, no further decision of mine is necessary.
My paintings, in the collections which I have bought in the course of years, have never been collected for private purposes, but only for the extension of a gallery in my home town of Linz on Donau. It is my most sincere wish that this bequest may be duly executed.
I nominate as my Executor my most faithful Party comrade, Martin Bormann. He is given full legal authority to make all decisions.
He is permitted to take out everything that has a sentimental value or is necessary for the maintenance of a modest simple life, for my brothers and sisters, also above all for the mother of my wife and my faithful co-workers who are well known to him, principally my old Secretaries Frau Winter etc. who have for many years aided me by their work.
I myself and my wife - in order to escape the disgrace of deposition or capitulation - choose death. It is our wish to be burnt immediately on the spot where I have carried out the greatest part of my daily work in the course of a twelve years' service to my people.
Given in Berlin, 29th April 1945, 4:00 A.M.
[Signed] A. Hitler
[Witnesses]
Dr. Joseph Goebbels
Martin Bormann
Colonel Nicholaus von Below
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be on the receiving end of a lost cause? Well Blitzkrieg 2: Fall of the Reich will give you that experience in spades. This is probably hands down the best Blitzkrieg they have made in the series and blows all the rest of them away. If you need a challenge in your strategic gaming career then look no further.Blitzkrieg 2: Fall of the Reich will take you through the last days of the war and put you up against the allies invasion of Germany running a defensive battle against both time and overwhelming odds. The first mission for Germany will set the stage for what to expect from the rest of the game. It is a ball buster and will probably have you wondering if you’re up to what will come next.
As far as I can tell there are not any new weapons or equipment being introduced in Fall of the Reich. So if you have played any of the previous Blitzkrieg 2 games you will already have a good idea of what to expect in terms of the units performance. If you have not played any of the previous Blitzkrieg 2 games, I would highly recommend that you do so before playing Fall of the Reich. This game starts you out in some of the most difficult tactical situations that have been presented so far and there is no time to really “learn” the game or what to expect for unit performance.
There are two sets of missions to play in Fall of the Reich, German and Russian. The German Missions deal with their general retreat and consolidation of forces as the Russians make their final push towards Berlin. In these missions the Germans are typically facing superior numbers as they attempt to defend the Fatherland. The Russian missions are similarly difficult though their objective is conquest. The Russians are facing a foe that is nearly suicidally desperate to defend what they have. The first major mission for the Russians is to retake Minsk with the missions leading up to it being the road to Minsk. Considering the point of the war that this game covers you can see that both sides have a lot to lose from failure and a lot to gain from victory.
As in all the Blitzkrieg 2 game's the graphics are amazing. The particle effects and attention to detail are part of what make the game a pleasure to experience. When you play the game, pay attention to what happens when trees and buildings are destroyed and the debris they generate. Also, watch the windows of occupied buildings, you will see the soldiers' muzzle blasts as they fire at the enemy in their field of view.
The AI is working double time in Fall of the Reich managing both sides of the conflict. Troops advance and retreat as the tide of battle turns. Or they run around in circles like headless chickens… The pathing for units is good, though I discovered, as usual, you need to be careful where you send your units since they don’t always try to go around enemy units but will take the shortest possible path to get to where you send them.
Artillery seems to be more accurate in Fall of the Reich than in previous versions – which is good when its your artillery, and very bad when it’s the enemies. Armor also seems to be more capable of dealing with infantry and less susceptible to being destroyed, the more typical result of armor encountering infantry has been to be disabled and turned into stationary pillboxes.
Overall it looks like CDV has outdone themselves this time round and created a fantastic game. Definitely not for beginners, unless you want to get spanked really badly. I would expect that Fall of the Reich will be a challenge for even the most experienced RTS gamers. If you’re a WWII buff here’s your chance to be in on the fall of the Third Reich in the comfort of your own home.
I've been gaming since the days of the original TSR D&D and have grown up playing just about every PnP RPG created. Eventually with the age of computers, I started getting into RTS and military strategy games. And then came the MMORPG Asherons Call which changed my computer gaming forever. These days when i'm not gaming I'm working with the Los Padre's Council BSA and my son's Cub Pack - when not conquering the virtual world.
