48th Panzer Korp: A Kurk 43 Dynasty

[Fritz]

Yet another HPS title. This massive one covers the colossal battles of Kursk.

This one is 20 turns long. All I know as I start this up is the following:

Vorohnezh Front on the south face of the Kursk Bulge, July 10th 1943: After five days of fighting, the hard-pressed the Soviet 1st Tank Army was re-organizing the defense line. Although the weakened force held the line, it was backed by a number of fresh rifle divisions. The Germans detected a weakness at the junction of the 6th Tank and 3rd Mechanized Corps and to exploit this decided on a "dual missions". The 11th Panzer Div would continue to drive northward for Oboyan, while the 3rd Panzer Div and Grossdeutschland were to turn west and destroy the Soviet force along its flank. The question was; "Did they have enough force to carry out both missions at the same time in their weakened state." [Size, small]

I set it up with the default rules, fog of war, and no advantage. I will take the Germans.

My forces:

11 Panzer Div
Grossdeutchland Div
3 Panzer Div

Panzer Rgt 39.

I do get some air. I do not get reinforcements.

Map is turn 00 (before I move for the first time)

[Fritz]

Quick overview

Ther German forces are of high quality, but not full strength. I can expect to see them wear down quickly.

The 11th and 3rd Pzr have 1 Tank Regiment, and one infantry regiment. The GD has a different organization that I still figuring out.

The Soviets are probably loaded with artillery, which will be the real threat. So the order fo the day is breakthrough, hit the artillery, and cut off supplies. Priority is Artillery, then Armor, then Infantry.

[Fritz]

11 Pzr sends part of the Inf rgt and the panzer rgt north along the west side of the road.

GD sends its panzer rgt to the west of 11 Pzr's thrust. III Fus. assaults and takes a Russian postion.

3 Pzr sends an infantry Battalion to assault and capture part of the Russian line.

39 Pzr Rgt moves up to support the northward thrust.

[Fritz]

oops. forgot the map

[Fritz]

um, trying to do this and listen to Stephen Lynch is not working...

[Fritz]

The 11th, 39th, and GD push a little further north.

GD troops charge into abandoned trenches taking most of the advanced postions from the Russians.

3 Pz smash through most of the positions in front of them.

--

More than half of my forces are inactive. No point in moving units just to move them. most of the panzer strength is pushing north. When I crack that one force will turn west, one east and another will push north.

[WSUCougar]

Originally posted by Fritz
The Soviets are probably loaded with artillery

Yeah, and they probably have lots of guys, too.

Interesting battle, eh? Simulations of this one that I have seen/played in the past always overwhelmed me a tad. It'll be interesting to follow your progress. Good luck!

[Fritz]

Originally posted by WSUCougar
Yeah, and they probably have lots of guys, too.

Interesting battle, eh? Simulations of this one that I have seen/played in the past always overwhelmed me a tad. It'll be interesting to follow your progress. Good luck!

Overwhelmed you how?

-------------


The quality of Russian troops is usually not that great. The Guard units (more orange ones in the south) are of higher quality.

In games of this series there are two things the Russians have that give them an edge. 1.) the T34 is a great tank with very high mobility. Crappy terrain does not bother them much so you must defend open spaces well or they can get behind you.

2.) The Russians often have plenty of artillery. So the troops you place in the open to deal with armored thrusts can get pounded. The best way to deal with the is to get into the rear and make them move. Russian guns can take a while to set up. Even if you don't destroy them you can knock them out of action for half a day. (The artillery setup rules are one of the better features of this series of games.)

[WSUCougar]

Originally posted by Fritz
Overwhelmed you how?

In terms of scope. As you stated in your opening post, this is a massive (colossal, heh) battle. It's like Gettysburg in terms of Civil War battles. They are great battles with a host of intriguing tactical decisions to make, but their scope is so vast it's more difficult to get a grip on everything. That's just my personal taste, though.

[Calis]

Sweet! Glad to see another one of the up and going. Will help motivate me for learning.

I like to see something involving the Gross Deutschland also, as I'm in the midst of reading The Forgotten Soldier right now, which although I haven't read much..I would place as my favorite WWII book so far..an excellent read.

[WSUCougar]

Originally posted by Calis
I like to see something involving the Gross Deutschland also, as I'm in the midst of reading The Forgotten Soldier right now, which although I haven't read much..I would place as my favorite WWII book so far..an excellent read.

Calis, are you a board wargamer at all? Are you familiar with company called The Gamers? They have a series of games based on the exploits of the Gross Deutschland.

Sorry for the threadjack, Fritz.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by Calis
Sweet! Glad to see another one of the up and going. Will help motivate me for learning.

I like to see something involving the Gross Deutschland also, as I'm in the midst of reading The Forgotten Soldier right now, which although I haven't read much..I would place as my favorite WWII book so far..an excellent read.

The forgotten Soldier is a very controversial book. Dive into the controversy when you are done reading it.

There are a few teaching points on a map I have posted. I may isolate an area and talk about a few.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by WSUCougar
In terms of scope. As you stated in your opening post, this is a massive (colossal, heh) battle. It's like Gettysburg in terms of Civil War battles. They are great battles with a host of intriguing tactical decisions to make, but their scope is so vast it's more difficult to get a grip on everything. That's just my personal taste, though.

That is one reason I picked a small part of the battle to play. This is only one Corp in a limited action over about 2 days.

[Calis]

Originally posted by WSUCougar
Calis, are you a board wargamer at all? Are you familiar with company called The Gamers? They have a series of games based on the exploits of the Gross Deutschland.

Nope. I've actually never played a boar wargame. Well I mean, aside form Risk and Axis & Allies, which don't really count.

Never really been around people that I know that are into wargames enough to start in on one, and to be honest, just now getting into them myself. I'll keep those in mind if I do though!

Originally posted by Fritz
The forgotten Soldier is a very controversial book. Dive into the controversy when you are done reading it.

Hmm, interesting..I'll have to check this out. I'm guessing that it's probably controversial as to the validity of it? At parts it does seem a bit too good to be a recollection, I'll have to read up on that. Now I'm curious.

Ok, I'll stop going off topic on ya. I will be following this one closely.

[Fritz]

10:00 (day) 10 July 1943 vp 116

11 Pz. A Kampfgruppe made up of infantry, engineers, and recon assault an infantry Battalion from the 31st Tank Corp. The unit is pushed back and hole begins to open in the right flank. The armored thrust leapfrogs panzer units in an attempt to find a weak spot in the Russian line.

39 Pz Rgt cracks a hole in the northern area and pushes through to find a secondary line of infantry. The push forms a nice shoulder to support the 11Pz thrust.

GD Tanks make use of the gap created by the 39th and roll behind dug in Soviet tanks. Elements of the Grenadier Rgt and Fusilier Rgt continue to push the Russians back in the center.

The 3rd Pz in the south continues to pressure the southern line. The intent here is to keep any reinforcements from leaving the sector.