NATO, on the other hand (and especially the French) would want to end the war before the Red Army rolled into France proper, and certainly before a full-blown nuclear war erupted (or escalated further, if a limited nuclear exchange had already occurred). Hitlers first action when he became Reichs Chancellor war to order. For the Soviets, they would be satisfied to end the war with their substantial gains, not to mention the distinction of being regarded by the world as having won the war, especially if a nuclear exchange had not yet occurred. To wit, if the Red Army cripples NATO and overruns West Germany, it is assumed that diplomatic negotiations will then suddenly become advantageous to both sides. In other words, regardless of what is happening in, say, Scandinavia, or the Balkans, or the Middle East, etc., the presumption here is that the war will be won or lost in central Europe. Hitler spoke there on the ninth anniversary of his coming to power (January 30, 1933), and Goebbels rallied the German Volk to Total War (totaler Krieg) on. Red Tide West also presumes a wider conflict beyond the scope of the game, but postulates West Germany to be the so-called “center of gravity” for the entire war.
Red Tide West is a wargame that simulates a hypothetical Warsaw Pact invasion of West Germany in the late-1980’s.
