6th Army Campaign

[ernieschwitz]

September 1st, 1941.

Soviet Resistance is gone. This is the 9th turn, and the first turn without any losses on my side. It has been costly. I would have shown a map, but my screen grabber (that makes panoramic shots) is not cooperating. Suffice to say I did divert my free Panzer Corps, and it did help out a bit, but I lost control of Radomsyl. Now all Corpses are moving forward, except in the south, where the city of Korostychev just fell, but troops are still blocking the bridge.

[ernieschwitz]

The 6th Army now stands in Kiev. It's the 5th September 1941. Several enemy units are still on the map, but I tried to eliminate as many as possible. Sometimes they will show up in the next scenario, and also killing them is free experience for my troops.

The plan that I showed, worked mostly as drawn up. Now and then the two mobile Corps had to be diverted to help out an Infantry Corps that had gotten too stuck in with the enemy and needed help. The two Corps that below have reached Kiev are both of my Panzer Corps,as can be seen on the map.

In general the northern forces suffered the least losses, while the infantry Corps in particular, took heavy losses. One I had to pull out entirely of combat (V Corps, Black stripe), to reorganize it. It ended up only fielding 4 regiments that had any combat ability.

[ernieschwitz]

The battle itself, like I said earlier, was a bloodbath. I have had to buy several regiments of infantry, reinforcements, and an infantry division to make up for the Infantry losses. I still haven't completed my purchases of replacement equipment for Panzer Corps. I expect I will buy more tanks for them, and more armored cars. I already bought some more SP Guns.

Here are the final losses, note that while I did get a very bloody nose, the Soviets lost at least 6 times as many infantry than I did. So there is something to brighten my day... A little.

[ernieschwitz]

Going into the 6th Scenario, the 1st Battle of Kharkov, my forces look like below. I tried upgrading as many infantry regiments and artillery regiments as possible. I didn't find all of them, I can see from the overview, but the upgrades I hope will help me against the upgraded Soviet forces.

I chose to merge experienced forces, rather than letting them be mixed with new replacements. So my OOB includes both very raw troops, and highly experienced formations, with high morale. I hope those in particular will be able to fight the main battles, while the others just hold the line, or mop up when needed.

[ernieschwitz]

This is how scenario 6 looks, with my plans drawn out on it.

The dotted lines are where I am planning that my Infantry Corps be deployed. The arrows mark out the only real approaches to Kharkov, and which Panzer Corps is taking that route.

Learning from last time, I think there will be some resistance, so I might keep the Panzer Corps behind the Infantry Corps, when I come into contact with the Soviets. Then when there is a hole, smash through it, and exploit. The 17th Army has our flank, and we'll keep out of their operational zone (we can't enter it anyway).

For history buffs, we are going to pass through Poltava.

[ernieschwitz]

The first stage of the Scenario has ended. Resistance is not over, but the 6th Army has pocketed a large force, that was making trouble during the initial stages of the offensive. Resistance on the flanks of the map was low, to non-existent, so I am showing a picture of the central part of the map, where most of the combat occurred.

My losses this time were not as great as before. I think this was because my line was less thinly manned where the Soviets attacked. Two regiments in each hex seems to do the trick. I held back my Panzer Corps just like planned, well one of them. I'll show a map of their routes in the next post. This one, is of the pocket, and main combat area.

If you don't know where this is, just look at the mini-map on the top left.

[ernieschwitz]

The II Panzer Corps started out heading for Lokhvista and Brisi, and then went eastwards. Not really meeting any resistance, and at the time the central forces looked like they needed help. The I Panzer Corps was waiting behind the lines in the center, trying to counter whatever Soviet breakthroughs happened. Two occurred, and were dealt with.

Meanwhile the II Panzer Corps continued east, after having turned southward. Some turned eastwards and made contact with the Soviets a bit west of Lebedin (1). Not wanting to be flanked, those forces were scouted, and turned out to be two Soviet Rifle Regiments. They were dealt with, and the forces here advanced on Lebedin.

The flanking move made by II Panzer corps of what turned into a pocket, found it could head east and let the infantry take care of the side of the pocket. They did so, and after a while, didn't encounter resistance. So they moved south to finish the encirclement (2).

At the same time the I Panzer Corps, seeing that the central Soviet forces were withdrawing, decided to sprint eastwards, toward Poltava, and the bridges near it.

[ernieschwitz]

Bad news and good news. Let us begin with the good news. The pocket that we captured, has been reduced to one hex now. They will surely be destroyed this turn, which is October 10th 1941. Unfortunately that also means bad news. The Russian fall has begun, and it's mud everywhere. Supply lines are somewhat affected, and I need to get my troops closer to roads, as only rail lines and those roads are unaffected.

Here is the message you get from the game:

[ernieschwitz]

This might be a good time to show off some of the graphics work I did. I quickly had to give up finding real pictures for some of the terrain types that I use. One of those that it was especially hard to find was fields in the winter, as well as during the fall/mud time.

So I came up with a solution, a black and white photo, with a colored symbol on it that signified what kind of weather it was. Here are the pictures I used for fields.

[ernieschwitz]

Akhtyrka is the name of the newest conquest of the German Reich. It is an important city on the Northern part of the map, with, most importantly, a rail line leading to Kharkov. The bridge had not been blown, but the engineers were just one hex away from it (in the center of Akhtyrka). They did not manage to flee the Panzers and Motorized Infantry.

Here is a snapshot of the situation.

[ernieschwitz]

The situation in the South was a bit more precarious. The Panzers and Motorized Infantry of the I Panzer Corps had to get their feet wet, because the bridges had been blown. Once the abandoned (for some reason) hex had been conquered, the engineers of the Panzer Corps, put up bridges and crossings could occur as normal.

Here is a snapshot of Poltava, and areas nearby.

[ernieschwitz]

October 17th, 1941: Kharkov has fallen, with 6 turns left. This gives me a nice PP boost, and I am able to research all the new technologies the are level III (those that would be used in 1942). I also have some 112 PPs to spare, so new formations would be nice, and of course replacements are needed. Now to figure out what to use those PPs for.

Here is a look at the map, kills and losses for the Scenario.

[ernieschwitz]

So the start of a new "real life campaign season" has begun. I need to replace my losses like I wrote about in the above. Mostly I have done that. I am musing buying a bit more troops for each formation, but I think I won't. I can also buy some new stuff, after all I have researched. The cards reflect that too.

Below are my new choices for formations and reinforcement types I simply did not have access to before.

First my Non-Formations, 3x Tiger tanks (or 15), those could come in handy.

Second row are my new Low Level Formation options: Panzer Grenadiers, and Panzer Grenadier SPGs Regiments are the most exciting of those. I included the other two formations Panzer Grenadiers Artillery and Panzer Regiments, so that the next row becomes more legible.

Third row! The new divisions (High Level Formations). The Panzer Divisions (which I cannot afford with my PPs) have changed. 2 Panzer Regiments, 1 Panzer Grenadiers Regiment and 1 Panzer Grenadiers Artillery Regiment. Then there is the whole new formation type the Panzer Grenadiers Division. I'll let you look at that, and find out what it consists of as an exercise for yourself (as the Math books taught me how to say).

[ernieschwitz]

Some of you might have noticed a slight hesitancy in me not progressing as fast with this campaign at the moment. This is because of two things. First thing is I am making scenario 8 and 9 ready for playtesting... the second thing is that I know this coming scenario (2nd Battle of Kharkov) is going to be hard. So I am trying to figure out what to buy, what to upgrade, and such.

Right now I am wondering, should I get 2 Cavalry divisions (22 PP in total, 4 regiments) or a Panzer Grenadiers Regiment (25 PPs, 1 regiment). The cavalry will be very useful in this next scenario, with its greater speed than the infantry, it will cover more ground quickly, and that is needed in this next scenario. On the other hand, I am not sure they are as useful, in the coming scenarios, beyond that. What would you guys do?

While I mull that, here is how my Panzer Regiments and Light Regiments look now. I have done away with the lighter stuff in the Panzer Regiments, and they do look more or less like the real thing. The Light divisions, not as much...

[ernieschwitz]

I thought it might be interesting to see the map, before I finished composing my force, and thus the conundrum that I face could better be envisaged.

My Deployment zone is Kharkov, and nothing else. The Soviets gain Victory if they can get their hands on Kharkov. They also have some minor objectives, basically taking the bigger cities at maps edges, which would present the Germans (me) with a problem. The supply lines could be broken. So I need speed to prevent breakthroughs at the edge of the map... Sounds like a job for my mobile forces, and I would agree with that, except that some of the combat will likely happen in the swamps between Krasnograd (the yellow city without a circle around it, to the southwest), and Kolomak (the Minor Victory Area above it).

Tanks don't go into swamps. Cavalry and Infantry do.

I have to take Izyum btw, which is at the Southeastern corner of the map.

(I hope the borders are visible, on this much reduced in size map)

[ernieschwitz]

I decided to go with the Cavalry. Two divisions, or 4 regiments, to a cost of 22 PPs in total. I still have 28 PPs left, but I will save them for a rainy day. I did decide to improve the cavalry formations a little. I added a mortar section to each. I hope that is going to make them a bit more offensive. At the moment they look very defensive in nature.

Here is a picture of a Cavalry regiment.

[ernieschwitz]

The mad scramble has begun. All my troops began in Kharkov, like I alluded to earlier. Some stacks were 6-7 units high, which may seem daunting.

My sprint towards the edges of the maps can be seen on the map as the arrows. The purple one is my I Panzer Corps. I upgraded everything I could in it, save a few infantry in Artillery units, and a all the Flak. The grey arrow is the II Panzer Corps, and I upgraded it the same way.

The Green Corps, which I've drawn a line to represent where I hope they will have a frontline, is the III Corps. It has my new Cavalry Regiments, as well as a Hungarian Light Division, that became available at the beginning of the turn. Not that I expect them to do great, but anything that can slow down the Soviet offensive will be welcome.

The Blue line, is where I expect to have my IV Corps deployed, it is still marching to that location. The Orange line is my II Corps, and it is very experienced. I hope they will be able to hold back the assault there, on Kharkov. They will be flanked by the I Corps (White Line), and rounding out the defence, is the forces to the north of Kharkov, the not so experienced V Corps. (Black Line).

Now I can only await the onslaught.

[ernieschwitz]

Much like anticipated this battle is a bloodbath. The Soviet Offensive is really strong on the first 5 turns. My losses are bigger than any battle before this. I am 5 turns in out of 20.

Here is the map, and positions of the different Corps that I have.

I Panzer Corps is split. Half of it holding back the Soviet troops trying to advance in the North, the other half is defending the flank of V Corps, that is barely holding the line, north of Kharkov. I Corps has all but shattered. It still has strong units, but some of the units are decimated, one has even lost all it's heavy equipment. The troops are fighting in the suburbs of Kharkov, and have been for the last 3 turns, hastily closing holes that have been punched in the line by Soviet forces.

II Corps is doing well. So well, that I've been able to syphon off units, to block advances into Kharkov. IV Corps has shifted slightly to the east, to cover the shortened line of the II Corps. III Corps is mainly supporting the II Panzer Corps, by moving into positions along with the tanks and mobile units, after they have attacked. On the far east flank, the 4 Cavalry Regiments, of the III Corps, have the assignment to hold back whatever the Soviets might be sending up the flank.

[ernieschwitz]

Here are the losses for each side.

Note that each German Infantry Regiment is 4000 men not including machineguns and so on. With that in mind, I've lost about 2 whole divisions. I've also lost what amounts to 2 Light Panzer Regiments, of the kind shown somewhere above, and 1 whole Panzer Regiment.

Those are losses I can ill afford, but I don't get to choose.

On the other hand, the Soviets have lost huge swaths of troops. That must be good, right? I mean how many more can they have?

[ernieschwitz]

Time flies, and so does time in this game. Meaning, now I stayed up all night to see if I could beat the AI in this scenario. Things were close there for a while. But now, 10 turns in, 21st of May 1942, things look under control.

The I Panzer Corps has taken and cleared resistance in the North East corner of the map, and will now travel southwards, hopefully making good speed. V Corps has now cleared most of their resistance too, and is moving steadily forwards, and helping out I Corps, that are fighting Soviet forces that are caught up in the area before Kharkov. A single unit, of infantry and a mortar section has slipped through the lines in the sector occupied by the II Corps. They will be dealt with this turn, and are no threat.

The supply situation of IV Corps is a bit strained, as there is no bridge over the river they just crossed, but they are making good time, and advancing. III Corps, the one with Cavalry and the Hungarians, is advancing too. The Cavalry is on the extreme left hand side of the map, holding off a Soviet Rifle Regiment, and a Mechanized Brigade. Brave guys, considering they only have "doorknockers" PAK 37mm, and Anti-Tank Rifles. The Mechanized corps has some real armor... T-34s. They must be considered very brave. Their strategy has been to deny the Soviet forces their supplies, slowly causing them readiness loss.

II Panzer Corps is still fighting a moving battle, but mostly they have won. Soon they will need to travel eastwards, to help to Capture Izyum, unless I want a draw... 10 turns left, not a lot of time.