After asking around here, I found Victory Point Games' "Battle for Moscow". It is a small, simple board game of the October-December 1941 German attack on Moscow. It plays in 50-60 minutes or so. I played three games last Thursday with a friend and we had a blast. I look forward to playing it again.
The Germans have 7 turns to take Moscow. Turns 3 and 4 the mud slows down the attack and gives the Russians some breathing room. The German army is fierce but the Russians replace losses at 4 to 5 times the rate of the Germans.
First game I defended and won, holding Moscow and several other cities.
Second game I was the Nazis and attacked. I got next to Moscow but couldn't mount an attack on the city itself. Since I held all the other cities on the map, it was a tie.
The third game I blew a hole in the Russian line on the first turn and surrounded an army group in the south. In the ensuing confusion of the second turn, I got a panzer corps through a small hole in the Russian line and took Moscow while the Russians weren't looking. But I wasn't able to get anyone else to Moscow and in three turns the Russian massed replacements around the city and took it back in two attacks. I managed a low odds attack on Moscow on the last turn – from the east – which failed. The Russians managed to recapture another city in a low odds attack and they won the game. It was a hoot.
You want fast, flavorful and furious? Get this one.
