View source for Software:Eastern Front (1941)

{{DISPLAYTITLE: ''Eastern Front (1941)''}}
{{short description|1981 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
|italic title = no
|title = Eastern Front (1941)
|image = Eastern Front (1941) cover.jpg
|caption = Box cover for the cartridge version
|developer = Chris Crawford
|publisher = Atari Program Exchange<br>[[Company:Atari, Inc.|Atari, Inc.]]
|designer = 
|released = '''August 1981''': APX<br>'''1982:''' Atari
|genre = [[Software:Turn-based strategy|Turn-based strategy]]
|modes = Single-player
|platforms = [[Engineering:Atari 8-bit family|Atari 8-bit]]
}}

'''''Eastern Front (1941)''''' is a [[Software:Computer wargame|computer wargame]] for the [[Engineering:Atari 8-bit family|Atari 8-bit family]] created by Chris Crawford and published through the Atari Program Exchange (APX) in 1981. A scenario editor and [[Assembly language|assembly language]] source code for the game were also sold by APX as separate products.

Recreating the Eastern Front during World War II, ''Eastern Front'' covers the historical area of operations during 1941–1942. The player commands German units at the corps level as they invade the Soviet Union in 1941 and fight the computer-controlled Russians. The game simulates terrain, weather, supplies, unit morale, and fatigue.

A killer app for Atari computers, ''Eastern Front'' was among APX's best selling games, selling over 60,000 copies. It was widely lauded in the press and was ''Creative Computing''{{'}}s Game of the Year in 1981. In 1982, it was licensed by Atari for distribution on game cartridge, then rereleased in 1988 in XEGS styled packaging.

==Gameplay==
[[Image:ef1941scr.png|thumb|Opening scene in the APX version, showing the region around Leningrad.]]

''Eastern Front'' is a corps-level simulation of the first 41 weeks of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.{{r|mcmahon198202}} The player controls the Germans, in white, while the computer plays the Russians, in red. Units are represented as boxes for armored corps or cavalry, and crosses for infantry, an attempt to replicate conventional military symbols given the low resolution.

The playfield is {{frac|2|1|3}} screens wide, {{frac|4|1|3}} screens tall,{{r|mcmahon198202}} and uses 18 colors.{{r|blank198201}} The screen shows only {{frac|9}} of the entire map at one time, smooth-scrolling around it when the [[Engineering:Joystick|joystick]]-controlled cursor reaches the edges of the screen.<ref name="White, pg. 22">White, pg. 22</ref> According to creator Chris Crawford, it is the first wargame with a smooth-scrolling map.<ref>Crawford, pg. 131</ref><ref>Chris Crawford, "Ga-Ga over Graphics", ''Works and Days'', Volume 22 Issue 43/44 (2004), pg. 113</ref> The map covers the area from just north of Leningrad at the top to Sevastopol at the bottom, and from [[Place:Warsaw|Warsaw]] on the left to just east of Stalingrad on the right. The terrain is varied, including flatland, forests, mountains, rivers and swamps, each with their own effects on movement. Cities are displayed in white, and are a major source of "victory points", the player's score.

The game is modal, switching between an order entry mode and a combat mode. During order entry the joystick is used to select units and enter movement in the four cardinal directions. Up to eight orders can be entered for any unit. Orders are remembered from turn to turn, and new orders can be added in future turns after watching an animation of any remaining ones. The orders for any given unit can be cancelled by pressing the {{keypress|space bar}}.

After entering orders, the combat phase begins with {{keypress|Start}}. Units attempt to follow their orders to the greatest extent possible, delayed by terrain, blocking friendly units, or combat with enemy units. The screen shows combat by flashing the "attacked" unit, which might be forced to retreat, or be destroyed outright. When all possible movement and combat is exhausted, the game returns to the order-entry phase. Each turn represents one week in-game time, and the game ends on 29 March 1942, after 41 turns.{{r|mcmahon198202}} The game engine includes a number of features that increases the depth of the simulation compared to contemporary wargames, such as zones of control,{{r|cervo2002}} which allows front lines to be constructed without requiring contiguous lines of units. This includes muster and combat strengths, which simulates losses due to combat, and reinforcements that slowly returns a unit to muster strength over time. Supply lines are also simulated, and surrounding the enemy to cut off their supplies is an important strategy for the human player, who faces an overwhelming enemy numerical superiority.

The game simulates the changing of the seasons: 14 turns of summer that begin in June 1941, four turns of autumn, and 22 turns of winter.{{r|proctor19820506}} When autumn begins on 5 October 1941 and the green land changes to purple-brown mud, the player is likely losing if they have not captured most objectives, destroyed most early Russian forces, and established a defensive position.{{r|mcmahon198202}}

Victory points are scored by moving German forces east, capturing Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Sevastopol, and destroying and pushing Russian forces east. The highest possible score is 255, and the documentation suggests that any score above 100 is good. ''Computer Gaming World'' estimated that the actual German army in 1941 scored 110 to 120.<ref name="proctor19820506">{{cite magazine | title=A Beginner's Guide to Strategy and Tactics in Eastern Front | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1982&pub=2&id=4 | magazine =Computer Gaming World | volume=2 | issue=3 | date=May–June 1982 | access-date=31 October 2013 | author=Proctor, Bob | pages=10}}</ref> A high score by early autumn is not difficult but keeping it high during winter is almost impossible, as mud and snow appears, rivers and land gradually freeze during winter,{{r|blank198201}} and Russians counterattack;{{r|proctor19820506}} until the spring thaw the German side is forced into a purely defensive role. If the player survives until spring the season offers a renewed offensive capability, but only for a short period before the game ends.

===Artificial intelligence===
In an example of pondering, the computer [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] calculates its moves during the period between [[Software:Vertical blank interrupt|vertical blank interrupt]]s (VBI).{{r|mcmahon198202}} The rest of the game, what the user sees, is run during the VBI period of a few hundred cycles. According to Crawford in ''Chris Crawford on Game Design'', the system starts with a basic "plan" and then applies any available cycles to trying variations on that plan, selecting higher-valued outcomes. A few thousand cycles are available between each VBI, so given a typical order-entry phase of a minute, the computer has millions of cycles to spend on refining its plan.

The AI is based on three basic measures of the game state: The strategic situation which attempts to take and hold cities, the tactical situation which attempts to block player movements, and the overall arrangement of the front line.<ref>Overview from examining the source code, available below.</ref> The AI first attempts to build a continuous front line in an attempt to prevent encirclements, it then sends additional units on intercept courses to block player movements, and finally any remaining units are sent to undefended cities.

As Germany, the player begins with more-mobile units, shorter supply lines, and concentrated forces.{{r|blank198201}} Although the AI is not strong—believing that the computer needed help against a human, Crawford [[Undocumented feature|intentionally did not fix a bug]] that benefits the Russian side<ref name="cgw199407">{{Cite magazine |last1=Wilson |first1=Johnny L. |last2=Brown |first2=Ken |last3=Lombardi |first3=Chris |last4=Weksler |first4=Mike |last5=Coleman |first5=Terry |date=July 1994 |title=The Designer's Dilemma: The Eighth Computer Game Developers Conference |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=120 |magazine=Computer Gaming World |pages=26–31}}</ref>—the computer has greater numbers, much more territory, and winter weather.{{r|blank198201}} Because of iterative pondering, the computer's moves become better the longer the player waits before issuing orders each turn, and a tactic that works well in one game might be less effective in another.{{r|mcmahon198202}} The computer's larger forces allow it to put up a credible defense; direct fights are hopeless for the player, as newly arriving Soviet units eventually overwhelm the German forces. Crawford spent much time tuning the arrival times of new units to balance the gameplay,<ref name="crawford198208">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/creativecomputing-1982-08/Creative_Computing_v08_n08_1982_August#page/n103/mode/2up | title=Eastern Front: A Narrative History | work=Creative Computing | date=August 1982 | access-date=18 November 2013 | author=Crawford, Chris | pages=100}}</ref> and warned that a player who attempted to overwhelm the Russians with tanks is "guaranteed to lose. What you are supposed to do is maneuver, encircle, demoralize, and defeat".{{r|mace}} The manual advises using [[Social:Blitzkrieg|blitzkrieg]]: Use mobile armored units to break through and encircle Russian units, and infantry units to eliminate enemy pockets.{{r|mcmahon198202}}

According to Crawford, ''Eastern Front'' is an example of a game with a sharp jump in the [[Learning curve|learning curve]]; "apparently there is just one trick in the game, mastery of which guarantees mastery of the game". While he did not specify the trick,<ref name="crawford198212">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1982-12/1982_12_BYTE_07-12_Game_Plan_1982#page/n97/mode/2up | title=Design Techniques and Ideas for Computer Games | work=BYTE | date=December 1982 | access-date=19 October 2013 |last=Crawford |first=Chris | pages=96}}</ref> there are ways to trick the AI. One is to break the German forces into two blocks, and then advance them on alternate turns. The tactical part of the AI attempts to intercept these movements, sending its mobile forces first one way, then the other, never actually making contact. Another strategy is to keep flanking forces behind a spearhead, which the AI would attempt to block. This results in the computer forces clumping up in front of the Germans, allowing the wings to move in once motion was difficult.

Players exploited another bug in the first version's game engine. Since the AI calculates its moves while the user enters orders, reducing the amount of time the user takes to plan their own moves reduces the quality of the computer response. Repeatedly pressing {{keypress|Start}} prevents the computer from pondering and neither the player nor computer does anything, avoiding combat during the winter and allowing the player to break out during spring with full-strength units.

==Development==
After writing ''Tanktics'', which simulated German and Soviet tank battles during World War II,<ref name="proctor198201">{{Cite magazine |last=Proctor |first=Bob |date=January 1982 |title=Tanktics: Review and Analysis |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1982&pub=2&id=2 |magazine=Computer Gaming World |pages=17–20}}</ref><ref name="crawford199107">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1991&pub=2&id=84 | title=Chris Crawford's First Computer Game | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=July 1991 | access-date=18 November 2013 | author=Crawford, Chris | pages=78}}</ref> Crawford wrote the first version of what he called ''Ourrah Pobieda'' (Russian for "Horray, Victory!") in May and June 1979 on a Commodore PET using [[Commodore BASIC]]. The game was at the time a division-level simulation of combat on the Eastern Front. He described the initial version as "dull, confusing, and slow", and did not return to the project for 15 months. After he began working for Atari, in September 1980 he saw a fellow employee demonstrate smooth scrolling in a text window on an Atari 8-bit and realized the technique's potential for a war game. By December he produced a smoothly scrolling map of Russia, in January 1981 produced a written description of the design for what he by now envisioned as a "48K disk-based game with fabulous graphics" written in [[Assembly language|assembly language]], and began working 20 hours a week during nights and weekends to produce a demonstrable game by the Origins Convention in July.{{r|crawford198208}}{{r|dewitt198306}}

Crawford first [[Playtest|playtest]]ed the game in May and again found it disappointing. To simplify the project, he reduced the game's scope from the entire 1941-1945 campaign to just the first year; introduced zones of control to reduce the number of units and the burden on the computer's artificial intelligence; and added logistics, which permitted [[Social:Encirclement|encirclement]]. Crawford also found that the game fit into 16K RAM instead of 48K, and maintained the size. He distributed the game to other playtesters in June, demonstrated a playable version at Origins, then further refined the game for six weeks by fixing bugs and adjusting [[Software:Game balance|game balance]].{{r|crawford198208}} Crawford estimated in 1987 that he had worked a total of 800 hours on ''Eastern Front'', and believed that the game had influenced the industry to simplify user interfaces and prove that there was a market for an "intelligent", non-action game.{{r|cgw19870102}}

Crawford approached Atari about selling the game, but the company believed that wargames for Atari computers would not be popular.<ref name=interview>Hague, see "''Why was "Eastern Front" released through the Atari Program Exchange?''"</ref>

[[Image:ef1941expert2.png|thumb|Starting position for the 1942 scenario. The Russians have contained the Germans southwest of Moscow. Smolensk is centered just above the pink square cursor, with Minsk on the left and Orel in the lower right. A Russian infantry unit covers Moscow near the upper edge of the map.]]

==Release==
Atari Program Exchange (APX), a separate Atari unit that distributed third-party applications, published it on disk and tape.{{r|proctor19820506}} Renamed ''Eastern Front'' shortly before release, APX began selling the game in August 1981. It was immediately successful, selling over 60,000 copies with {{USD|40000|1981}} in royalties to Crawford.<ref>Crawford, pg. 257</ref>{{r|crawford198208}} By June 1982 it was APX's best seller;<ref name="lombardy1982sepoct">{{cite magazine |title=Inside the Industry |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1982&pub=2&id=6 |format=PDF |magazine=Computer Gaming World |page=2 | date=September–October 1982 | access-date= 2016-03-28}}</ref><ref name="dewitt198306">{{cite news | url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n3/apx.html | title=APX / On top of the heap | work=Antic | date=June 1983 | access-date=30 October 2013 | author=DeWitt, Robert}}</ref> APX's manager later said that ''Eastern Front'' and ''De Re Atari'' "paid the bills, i.e. were our biggest sellers".<ref>Kevin Savetz, [http://www.atariarchives.org/APX/thorlininterview.php "Fred Thorlin: The Big Boss at Atari Program Exchange"], April 2000</ref> Crawford stated in 1987 that the game had been the most lucrative for him "by at least a factor of four",{{r|cgw19870102}} and in 1992 that it had sold "fabulously well — far better than anybody (myself included) expected", with most purchasers not traditional wargamers.<ref name="brooks199208">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=97 | magazine=Computer Gaming World | title=Wargaming Personalities Debate Hobby's Future | date=August 1992 | access-date=3 July 2014 | author=Brooks, M. Evan | pages=114–115}}</ref>

The game was so successful that Atari asked Crawford to convert it to [[ROM cartridge]] as an official Atari product. To improve the gameplay he revamped the AI code, and eliminated the ability to "fast forward" the game and avoid combat. Five difficulty levels are added, the "learner" mode with a single German unit in order to teach the user how to use the controls, and each level above that adding more units up to "advanced", which is identical to the original game. In the highest level, "expert", air force corps (''{{lang|de|Fliegercorp}}'') are added, and the units can be placed in one of several modes; normal, assault, or defend and move. In "expert" the user can also choose to start in either 1941 with the standard opening, or 1942, with fully developed lines deep within Russia. The new version also adds the ability to save and restore games, colored cities to indicate ownership, and added city names (previously visible only in the manual) to the in-game map.

==Reception==
{{Video game reviews
| CGW = {{rating|4|5}}{{r|brooks199309}}
| rev2 = ''ANALOG Computing''
| rev2Score = 9.3/10{{r|White, pg. 22}}
| rev3 = ''InfoWorld''
| rev3Score = Excellent{{r|cortesi19811207}}
| rev4 = Addison-Wesley
| rev4Score = A{{r|aw1984}}
| award1Pub = ''Creative Computing''
| award1 = Game of the Year, 1981{{r|DeWitt, pg. 56}}
| award2Pub = Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design
| award2 = Best Adventure Game for Home Computer, 1981{{r|lombardy1982sepoct}}
| award3Pub = Charles S. Roberts Award
| award3 = Best Adventure Game for Home Computer of 1981<ref name="originsawards">{{cite web| url = http://www.gama.org:80/OriginsAwards/OriginsAwardsWinnersThe1980s/The1981OriginsAwards/tabid/3224/Default.aspx| title = The 1981 Origins Awards| publisher = [[Organization:Game Manufacturers Association|The Game Manufacturers Association]]| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121216052400/http://www.gama.org/OriginsAwards/OriginsAwardsWinnersThe1980s/The1981OriginsAwards/tabid/3224/Default.aspx| url-status = dead| archive-date = December 16, 2012| access-date = August 1, 2019}}</ref>
}}

''Eastern Front'' received critical praise from contemporary magazines. ''Computer Gaming World'' in 1981 called it "to this date, the most impressive computer wargame on the market". The review praised the graphics and the artificial intelligence, noted its pondering, and suggested that the game was a killer app for Atari computers.<ref name="greenlaw19811112">{{cite magazine | title=Eastern Front | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=November–December 1981 | access-date=31 October 2013 | author=Greenlaw, Stanley | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1981&pub=2&id=1 | pages=29–30 | type=review}}</ref> Six years later the magazine still rated the game five out of five points, stating "obsolete by contemporary programming standards, it is still fun to play",<ref name="brooks198704">{{cite magazine | title=Kilobyte Was Here! | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=April 1987 | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1987&pub=2&id=36 | access-date=2 November 2013 | author=Brooks, M. Evan | pages=6}}</ref> and in 1993 rated the game four stars out of five.<ref name="brooks199309">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=110 | title=Brooks' Book of Wargames: 1900-1950, A-P | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=September 1993 | access-date=30 July 2014 | author=Brooks, M. Evan | pages=118}}</ref>

''Creative Computing'' called ''Eastern Front'' "one of the very best war games available for a personal computer ... nearly every aspect of the game is a technical masterpiece", praising its artificial intelligence and "magnificent" scrolling map. The magazine concluded that it was "also a virtuoso demonstration of the awesome built-in capabilities of the Atari computer. This game literally could not be done on any other computer in as satisfactory an execution".<ref name="blank198201">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/creativecomputing-1982-01/Creative_Computing_v08_n01_1982_January#page/n45/mode/2up | title=Eastern Front / The Atari Goes to War | work=Creative Computing | date=January 1982 | access-date=30 January 2015 | author=Blank, George | pages=44–47}}</ref> Atari magazine ''Antic'' called ''Eastern Front'' "a game master piece, a brilliant simulation of battle conditions on the eastern front in WW II."<ref>{{cite journal |first=Jordan |last=Powell |title=Ten Best from APX |url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/v1n6/tenbestfromapx.html |journal=Antic |date=February 1983}}</ref> ''ANALOG Computing'' rated the game 9.3 out of 10, calling it "truly magnificent".<ref name="White, pg. 22"/> Citing time pressure as a difference from board games, ''COMPUTE!'' called ''Eastern Front'' "a paradigm for computer war games" and praised its graphics and gameplay, with the only major criticism being the inability to save and restore a game.<ref name="mcmahon198202">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue21/Review_Eastern_Front.php | title=Review: Eastern Front (1941) | magazine=COMPUTE! | date=February 1982 | access-date=6 October 2013 | author=McMahon, Edward P. | pages=94}}</ref> ''InfoWorld'' rated it "Excellent" overall in December 1981,<ref name=cortesi19811207>David Cortesi, [https://books.google.com/books?id=gT0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34 "Eastern Front (1941), wargame from Atari Exchange"], ''InfoWorld'', December 7, 1981, pf. 34</ref> and later referred to it as one of "the deepest computer games around."<ref name=mace>Mace, pg. 34</ref> ''BYTE'' stated that ''Eastern Front'' "is possibly the first fun war game for people who hate war games".<ref name="byte198112">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1981-12/1981_12_BYTE_06-12_Computer_Games#page/n37/mode/2up | title=The Coinless Arcade | work=BYTE | date=December 1981 | access-date=19 October 2013 | pages=38–41}}</ref> ''The Addison-Wesley Book of Atari Software 1984'' gave the game an overall A rating, calling it "perhaps the best-designed computer war game to appear on any microcomputer to date" and praising the graphics and joystick-driven user interface. The book concluded that it "is the first war game that non-warriors might enjoy ... Highly recommended."<ref name="aw1984">{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/stream/Atari_Software_1984#page/n183/mode/2up | title=The Addison-Wesley Book of Atari Software | publisher=Addison-Wesley | year=1984 | pages=184 | isbn=0-201-16454-X |editor1=Stanton, Jeffrey |editor2=Wells, Robert P. |editor3=Rochowansky, Sandra |editor4=Mellid, Michael }}</ref>

''Creative Computing'' named ''Eastern Front'' Game of the Year in 1981.<ref name="DeWitt, pg. 56">DeWitt, pg. 56</ref> The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design named it Best Adventure Game for Home Computer, 1981.<ref name="lombardy1982sepoct"/> In 1987 Crawford stated that it was one of the three games he was proud of, with ''Legionnaire'' and ''Balance of Power''.<ref name="cgw19870102">{{cite magazine | title=Designer Profile: Chris Crawford (Part 2) | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1987&pub=2&id=34 | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=Jan–Feb 1987 | access-date=1 November 2013 | pages=56–59 }}</ref> In 2002 ''GameSpy'' wrote that ''Eastern Front'' was considered to be one of the first computer wargames that paper-and-pencil wargamers approved of.<ref name="cervo2002">{{cite web | url=http://gotcha.classicgaming.gamespy.com/1981.htm | title=1981 Winners | publisher=GameSpy | date=2002 | access-date=30 January 2015 | author=Cervo, Tony | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060505105517/http://gotcha.classicgaming.gamespy.com/1981.htm | archive-date=2006-05-05}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
While the game was still being sold, Crawford released its [[Source code|source code]] through APX as a separate, commercial product targeted at developers.{{r|apx1983fall}}<ref name="hague2002">{{cite web|url=https://dadgum.com/halcyon/BOOK/CRAWFORD.HTM|work=Halcyon Days: Interviews with Classic Computer and Video Game Programmers|title=Chris Crawford|date=2002|author=James Hague|access-date=2017-02-25}}</ref> He was surprised that while it sold well, no other game used it.<ref>Hague, see "''Was it your idea to sell the source code?''"</ref> He also released a scenario editor, but only one pre-packaged set of [[Software:Expansion pack|user-created scenarios]] is known.<ref name="apx1983fall">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/Atari_Program_Exchange_catalog_Fall_1983#page/n59/mode/2up | title=Eastern Front (1941) Scenario Editor / Eastern Front Scenarios 1942, 1943, 1944 / Source Code for Eastern Front (1941) |  work=APX Product Catalog | date=Fall 1983 | access-date=29 July 2014 | pages=61–62}}</ref>

Crawford used many of the ideas from ''Eastern Front'' in ''[[Software:Legionnaire (video game)|Legionnaire]]'' for [[Company:Avalon Hill|Avalon Hill]] in 1982. ''Legionnaire'' uses the same map engine to simulate the Roman legions fighting the [[Social:Barbarian|barbarian]]s, but modifies it to [[Software:Real-time strategy|move units in real time]].<ref>DeWitt, pg. 34</ref>

In 2013 Crawford publicly released the [[Source code|source code]] of several of his games, including ''Eastern Front''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.erasmatazz.com/library/source-code/index.html| title=Source Code|quote=30 months ago, at the 2011 Game Developers Conference, somebody asked me to release the source code for my old games. I said I would look into it. [...] I have begun the process of preparing my source code for general distribution. |access-date=2017-02-24 |year=2013 |first=Chris |last=Crawford}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
* Chris Crawford, [http://safari.oreilly.com/0131460994/ch18 "Chapter 18. Eastern Front (1941)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612110210/http://safari.oreilly.com/0131460994/ch18 |date=June 12, 2007 }}, Chris Crawford on Game Design, O'Reilly, 2003, pg. 131–137
* Scott Mace, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hi8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34 "Chris Crawford's Kingdom"], ''InfoWorld'', August 27, 1984, pg. 34
* Jerry White, [http://www.cyberroach.com/analog/an05/an05-022.htm "Eastern Front"], ''ANALOG Computing'', Number 5 (1982), pg. 22
* Robert DeWitt, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-C8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56 "With Legionnaire, fight Caeser's battles on Atari"], ''InfoWorld'', February 14, 1983, pg. 56
{{refend}}

==External links==
*{{Internet Archive game|id=a8b_cart_Eastern_Front_1941_1982_Atari_US}}
* [http://www.atariarchives.org/APX/showinfo.php?cat=20050 atariarchives.com]; ''Eastern Front'' by Chris Crawford – APX Cat. No. 20050
* [http://www.atariarchives.org/APX/showinfo.php?cat=20095 atariarchives.com]; source code for ''Eastern Front'' – APX Cat. No. 20095
* [http://www.atarimania.com/detail_soft.php?MENU=8&VERSION_ID=5986 atarimania.com]; Atari ''Eastern Front (1941)'' information and scans (APX package).
* [http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareID=3787 Atari Age]; ''Eastern Front (1941)'', Atari – RX8039.


[[Category:Computer wargames]]
[[Category:Turn-based strategy video games]]
[[Category:World War II video games]]

{{Sourceattribution|Eastern Front (1941)}}