Situation and Game Turn one, March 18th.
This title reflects Operation Citadel which was focused upon the Kursk bulge, as well as the three Soviet counter offensives.
The failure of these offensives saw Germans not falling back beyond Dnepr just yet.
We are placed in the role of STAVKA or OKH for the AGS. Visualizing this shows just how forlorn the Nazi regimes ideas and plans were.
As you can see from the three images below the terrain covered is quiet large heading North to South:
North
Central
South
If the Germans’ play the long game here can they “win” with 3 -5 VP? The track grants a marginal win at around that level. The Germans start with control of all the VP locations bar one and of course you auto victory if you capture Moscow in this game. Id say that unless someone played very poorly that is nigh on impossible. If the Germans can keep 5 locations they eek out a win. The Dniepr river line being held wont be enough.
Could they let a series of cities go, and try to keep:
Gomel, Kiev, Dnepr, Zaphorozhye and Odessa. In essence playing out Ukraine 43 from GMT games but at the corp level.
March 18th.
Historically both sides paused for 2 turns at the opening of this scenario. This presents choices on the posture sides will take. Will either side go ahistorical and press their perceived advantage? Or will they refit?
What fun is that.
Well Germans do indeed pause and add 1 reply to inf. 2nd Inf /13th.
The Vitebsk-Orel defensive line goes live for them also [applying a Shift Left on the CRT]
Soviets select engage. This means they lose RP’s but since they receive none its no drama, so they launch an offensive and spend their one offensive chit. The selection of posture matters. Because you cannot just ‘jump from Pause to Engage….So planning and some foresight with an eye to when replacements arrive matters.
[ Is it unrealistic that no one gets to move during pause? Where only one unit refits? Abstraction, abstraction. ok.]
Soviets conduct an offensive.
Their Attacks after armor and rail movement:
Luki 1:1 Dr converts to EX The Shock army eats it:
The defenders of Belgorod are beset by a tank army supported by several units of both armour and infantry. They fight to a DR, but cannot retreat due to the other units blocking retreat. In this game the attacker retreats the enemy.
The losses are quiet substantial for the Soviets. With little to show for it. While the Germans chose step losses to retreat for now, that is not a viable long term plan given the meager REPL rate.
For a simple game, there are some fairly robust decisions to be made as well as the need to be thinking well beyond turn your current turn.
Next few turns coming soon.
I played out first 7 odd turns – Germans went for Tula as the objective – eventually they got a low odds attack on the City (which they then failed to capture.) but in getting into position at Tula they had to expose a long flank to the south and thin out the rest of the lines to north and south – which meant that the Russians eventually kicked them in the butt – end of the German summer offensive! Without a strategic reserve can’t see how the Germans can take let alone hold an objective city – guess thats fairly realistic for 43! This game looks great, (nice use of the old Destruction of Army Group center and Panzerkreig (guess) artwork – good rules set etc. M
good for u. No idea how u had balls to even try that LOL!