Highway to the Reich
Highway to the Reich was published in 1977 by SPI. The first set of rules included with the game were bad, but SPI released an updated 2nd edition rulebook. They also release a Highway to the Reich, 2nd edition game with some modified components. Below is a link to see what is different between the editions. Highway to the Reich is a Grand-Tactical game of Allied airborne operation break the stalemate when the Allied armies ran into the German Siegfried line. To do this they needed to seize a number of bridges all the way to the Rhine, there by opening a ‘Highway to the Reich’. By and large they succeeded except they couldn’t hold onto the very last and most important bridge in Arnhem over the Rhine river. Hence, they went a bridge to far… The units in Highway are companies for infantry, platoons for tanks, and batteries for artillery and AT guns. Like Wacht am Rhein it is one the best wargames produced, and draws very high prices on eBay. The copyright for this game is owned by Decision Games, and they have plans to release an update, but Decision hasn’t released a planed date. Highway’s game system was used in SPI’s Descent on Crete. Descent’s designer admitted the system did not really fit the Crete battle so a significant number of design fudges were used to make history fit the game. As such, Crete is a poor game compared to Highway.
Highway to Reich was released in 2 editions in flat tray. It was later released in the big SPI soap box. From looking at various Highway games, 1st edition components were used to make 2nd edition games, so the only way to verify you have a true 2nd edition is to check the document below. Probably, if you have a boxed 2nd edition, you probably got the real deal. These boxed versions are most prized on eBay.
Due to the amount of information on Highway counters, many copies suffered form die cutting problems. This mainly affected the morale symbols at the bottom of the counters. In fact, most reverse sides have these almost completely cut off.
2nd edition rules with all errata added, chart changes, and turn tracks in PDF format. By downloading these files, you agree that you own a copy of Highway to the Reich. If you don’t, buy one – then don’t download these files.