Silent Dead Series

BELYY — Operation Mars, 25 November to 4 December 1942

Pictorial After Action Report ·

BigBoard Gaming · @wargamer · October 2026

GAME DETAILS

Belyy — box art

Volume I of a projected three-volume treatment of Operation Mars.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

In late November 1942, while the world watched Stalingrad, the Soviet Union launched a second and larger offensive five hundred miles to the north. Operation Mars was aimed at the Rzhev salient — the German bulge pointing at Moscow, held by Model’s Ninth Army. Zhukov committed more men and more armour to Mars than Vasilevsky had at Uranus. The difference is that Uranus is famous and Mars is not.

The Belyy sector sat at the south-western shoulder of the salient. Here the Soviet 41st Army was to break through, swing north-east, and link with the other arms of the pincer to cut the Ninth Army off. The ground is forest, frozen marsh and a handful of roads, with the town of Belyy itself sitting across the main axis. In winter, off the roads, movement is measured in hundreds of yards.

The offensive failed. The breakthrough came, went deep, and was then cut off and destroyed in the forests by German mobile reserves that arrived in time and in the right place. Soviet casualties were catastrophic and the operation was not publicly acknowledged for decades. The question this game asks the Axis player is narrower than “can you win” — the Soviets will break through, because the scenario begins with the hammer already falling. The question is whether the German player can keep the breakthrough from reaching anything that matters, and whether he can do it with the forces available before the clock runs out on 4 December.

THE INSTRUMENT

This report is written from the German side. The forces are Ninth Army’s local garrison — infantry divisions holding too much frontage, Luftwaffe field troops, a ski battalion, fortification lines — reinforced over the course of the game by the mobile formations that historically saved the position: 1st Panzer, 9th Panzer, 12th Panzer, Grossdeutschland, and SS cavalry.

Counter set

The counter mix: German infantry and mobile formations against Soviet rifle brigades, tank brigades and mechanised corps. Strength chits are drawn rather than printed, so neither player knows the exact weight of an enemy stack until it fights.

VICTORY — AND WHY IT SHAPES EVERYTHING

The victory conditions are worth stating plainly because they drive every decision that follows.

 The Soviet player scores for occupying, or being the last to pass through, any of four hexes: W3947, W4138, W4331, and Belyy itself (W2735). One hex is a Tactical victory, two Marginal, three Substantial.

The Axis player scores on the same principle over three hexes: Belyy (W2735), W2840, and W2437 — one Tactical, two Marginal, three Substantial.

Two features matter. Belyy scores for both sides, so the town is worth taking even if it cannot be held. And if both players reach the same level, the Soviet player wins the tie. The German is therefore not playing for a draw; a draw is a loss.

There is also an edge-control rule — each side must maintain a friendly zone of control on at least one hex along the north and west map edges, representing the front line continuing off the map. Lose that for two consecutive turns and the final victory level shifts one step to the opponent. It is easy to forget and expensive to lose.

SETUP — THE TABLE

Scenario setup

The opening position. Soviet forces are concentrated for the assault on the western and southern approaches; German defences are a thin crust of infantry and fortifications with the mobile formations not yet on the map.

KEV NOTE: your words on the table at start — what you could see, what worried you, and whether you knew where the blow was coming. Two to three sentences in your voice is all this needs.

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TURN 1 · 25 November 1942 · The hammer falls

KEV NOTE: opening turn narrative. The log shows artillery groups flipping between Move and Fire mode from the first impulse, and Soviet rifle regiments with sapper battalions attached moving onto the German front. What was the German intent on turn 1 — hold and bleed, or give ground early?

Soviet opening moves

Turn 1, the Soviet attack develops.

Turn 1a

The first impulse.

Turn 1b

The second impulse.

End of turn 1

End of turn 1 — the Soviet penetration begins to take shape.

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TURN 2 · 26 November 1942 · Weather turns

The weather is the second opponent in this game, and turn 2 is where it first speaks. The log records the sequence plainly: Heavy Snow flipped to Clear, Clear to Overcast, Overcast to Light Snow. Clear weather lets the Luftwaffe fly; snow slows everything and favours the defender who is not trying to go anywhere.

Soviet heavy Katyusha groups spend the turn flipping between Move and Fire mode — the artillery is being repositioned and fired in the same breath, which is the signature of an offensive still finding its weight.

KEV NOTE: turn 2 has 494 logged events, the busiest turn in the record, but no board photographs. If you have any, they go here. Otherwise this stays short.

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TURN 3 · 27 November 1942 · The gap opens

Turn 3 — German positions

Turn 3, the German view.

Turn 3 — Soviet positions

The same turn from the Soviet side of the table.

The Soviet opening moves across the first 3 turns/days has been a smash and grab kill fest. My guys have been shoved, slapped and kicked back across the map. Every attack is at high odds and the results are nearly always step losses and retreats. But where is he going?
Belyy seems to be the highest priority. With almost Zero activity in the North [Note this game links to other modules and extends Northward!] Nor is he driving deeply to the wooded south. The terrain there does seem to be appealing to him. I suspect the next order of business will be securing Belyy and then Tarakanovo. He has nothing infront of him! IF I FUBAR he will also get – Lenino, in hex 4549.

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TURN 4 · 28 November 1942

Turn 4

Well. Um. That happened very quickly. I’m holding onto Belyy barely, by cinching my Northern formations Southward and filling in Belyy and environs. While reinforcements [1^st Panzer which are far to the East] come a distance to cover the river line, as he blows thru Tarakanovo and my line fades to the river and south into the woods. Turn6 or 30^th of Nov res tof 1^st Pzr arrives and later on some SS dudes. If those two formations can come together maybe we can counter unch somewhere. But I cant see holding Belyy.

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TURN 5 · 29 November 1942

Turn 5

Turn 5, second view

We hold Belyy one more turn but take heavy losses. They now have a deep pocket. Its looking horrible.

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TURN 6 · 30 November 1942

Top of turn 6

Belyy falls. But he pulls back? I’m a tad confused. I think he sees 1^st Pzr and the elements of SS attending to the South and is concerned…I dunno about what. I was hoping for him to stretch further.

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TURN 7 · 1 December 1942 · The plan — supply, not combat

This is the turn the report exists for, well for me anyway. I re read the supply rules and they can be hurtful is applied at scale.

At the top of the German 1 December, with three moves left before the game ends on the 4^th of December, the position was — in the German commander’s own written assessment — grim. The Soviets held enough to be ahead on points and needed one more town for a Marginal victory, a third for Substantial. The German had locations of his own to tap, “most of which they will not keep.”

The Soviet course of action as assessed

The Soviet course of action as read from the German side: widen and deepen the gap running south, and reach for one or both German-held locations.

What follows was written before the turn was played, and it is the reason this game is worth reporting. The German plan was not to counterattack.

The Germans will seek, not combat, but simply to cut supply at the two primary locations by end of turn 9. This would in effect isolate the entire army, dropping mech move to four movement points or six miles a day and combat strength to one per unit. Worst case it puts many out of supply and halves movement.

Not to destroy the Soviet 41st Army, but to switch it off. A mechanised corps reduced to four movement points in snow, with every unit fighting at a reduced combat strength, cannot cross the distance left to the victory hexes in three days. The clock does the work that the panzers could not.

The plan accepted a cost and said so: “This has risks, as it will reduce the defensive line in some locations.” Thinning a line that is already see through, to free the units needed to reach two supply hexes, with 12th Panzer arriving to take up the slack in the south. But I may well be a turn too late.

The turn 7 to 10 plan

The plan as drawn: the four remaining turns mapped out.

The scheme of manoeuvre

The written tasks, formation by formation:

With air interdiction against movement on top. And a line that tells you what the German was reduced to hoping for: “We can pray for snow, that always slows the Soviet beast a tad as well.”

German positions, turn 7

Belyy, turn 7

Turn 7 Soviet combat

The SS Cav push up, and take a few step losses, the Soviets back off.

12^th was slower than I hoped.

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TURN 8 · 2 December 1942 · Reaching for the supply line

Top of turn 8

Top of the 2 December turn.

The reserve unit in South did not go in, but we did cut the supply line. I keep the reserve unit on tap for 1 more turn. The North is a mixed bag, with modest results in attempting to force the Sovviets to allow me to cur the road in the rear. I bunny hop units up the line to get in place, but too little too late?

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TURN 9 · 3 December 1942 · The cut

Top of turn 9

Top of turn 9. One turn left after this one.

The weather on turn 9 ran Clear. Germans are stymied in North. Cutting supply south, but enemy units drive deeper in my soft center….I don’t think I can make it.

Planned attacks, turn 9

The attacks as planned for the penultimate turn.

The log shows 12th Panzer’s battalions working around the Soviet flank in the south-east — I/25/12P and I/5/12P panzergrenadiers and the PzKfw III and IV companies of 29th Panzer Regiment shuttling between W3542, W3543, W3443 and W3544, repeatedly moving out and back. That pattern is a unit testing a line for a gap rather than committing to one.

Turn 9-10

End state

In the North we run out of time. They put units in the way, and our drive in the North is in essence block. We do cut supply in the South, but the rules will allow a safe path via the north. So the plan fails. My elements in the Center begin to counter attack, and to slow down further progress south. They do so effectively.

Did the supply cut land? No. It failed we need one or two more turns!!
Now you may think that at this point we counted VP locations and added up dead guys. But we did not. We discussed the game system, our likes dislikes and both agreed that this is a very nice fast playing simpler version of Gregs earlier efforts involcing Fall Blau etc. It cuts to the chase on what matters.

It is not a CRUNCHY game. It’s a players game. We liked it. I think in the end the Soviets probably pull out a Tactical win [Belyy]. Of course the war goes on and in this case I in my own little mind think that the Germans would pocket the Russkies. 🙂

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REFERENCE

Belyy — Silent Dead Series: Operation Mars 1942, Volume I. New England Simulations. Rules version 4.9.1, 24 February 2026. Design, development, maps, counters and Vassal module by Greg Blanchett; box art by Randy Lein.

Played opposed by live chat via Vassal, 2 March to 9 June 2026. Turn record reconstructed from the Vassal session logs for turns 1, 2 and 9, from saved positions at turns 3, 6, 7 and 9, and from the German player’s written course-of-action assessment dated to the top of turn 7.