More than thirteen years of design and development have gone into the making of Europe Engulfed (EE), which is GMT Games' first offering to the block-game enthusiast. It covers the entirety of World War II in Europe from September 1939 to the end of 1945.
Europe Engulfed is notable for its Special Action mechanism. Special Actions represent concentrated logistical effort, and as such are fairly costly, but also powerful. Special Actions may be spent to allow for large territorial gains in a single turn, such as the German conquest of France; or the British evacuation from Dunkirk. Neither of these require any "special" rules outside the basic game system. This is a feat which few World War II European Theater games have accomplished.
Now in its 2nd edition, the game features several scenarios: 1939-'45, 1941-'45, 1941-'43 tournament, European War (where Soviet Russia attacks Germany in 1939) and a Patton's Fantasy scenario, which pits the Western Allies against the Soviets after the fall of Germany during the remainder of 1945.
Europe Engulfed makes use of a blocks unit system, with each block representing a unit of either infantry, cavalry, airborne assault troops or armor. Each block can be 1, 2, 3 or 4 step, with 4 steps being the unit at maximum strength, whereas Germany and Soviet Russia can also deploy a number of elite and militia units. The actual nature of each block is hidden from the enemy until actual combat occurs.