OKH plans for the campaign are to capture 16 objectives in USSR and easily finish the campaign in one summer.
A large effort will be delivered in Ukrainia.
In this objective, 2 PanzerGruppen will fight in Ukrainia.
Baltic states and Leningrad will be left appart.
Here are the objectives to conquer :
- AGN will capture 2 in the Baltic states :Ventspils and Riga. Hoepner will follow Dvina to join Guderian in AGC.
- AGC will go to Smolensk : 4 objectives : Vilnius, Minsk, Vitebsk and Smolensk
- AGS reinforced with 3rd Panrgruppe ( Hoth ) will take Kiev, the whole Dniepr curve and most ok Ukrainia for 8 objectives : Lvov , Kiev, Odessa, KrivoiRog ,Vinnitsa ,Dniepropetrovsk, Kharkov.
Final campaign will aim Orel and Stalino
Setup :
Set up of the troops . Campaign is about to begin
Situation after the initial Attack/movement chits :
Hoth has moved south to join AGS. Also note the surviving 1-4 divisions that , by retreating in 3631 prevents Von Kleist from a large breakthrough . This single combat result is a key point in Kiev front resistance.
the chits pulled :
After Attrition, western front pockets were not very well reduced, due to large stocks made by russian commanders ( 1 on dice ) ...
In Ukrainia , Motorized corps form good defensive positions
End of turn 2 ( End of July) :
AGN has taken Riga and PzGr4 has launched a big encirclement north of Dvina.
On the road to Smolensk, Guderian crosses the Dniepr but the panzers of its lonely PzGrp are poised into heavy resistance.
In Ukrainia, masses of panzers trap large parts of opponents troops .
Due to early logistic chit, not a lot of Russian troops are isolated ..
4 objectives are conquered : Minsk, Vilna, Ventsipils and Riga.
3rd turn ( August 41 ) :
OKH decides to launch an all-out blitzkrieg attack to achieve a large victory and trap the entire Russian Army :
1PzGruppe will cross Dniepr south of Cherkassy and make a blitz attack in Northern direction , while Guderian will leave Smolensk appart and meet Von Kleist.
Preparatory movements are made in this objective : Guderian reinforces it's bridgehead over Dniepr while Von Kleist crosses the same river far in the south without opposition ( 1st chit = movement )
Guderian opens the movement with a highly succesfull Blitz through Soviet lines ( 2 chits pulled in a row ) that throw its leading panzers as far as East of Gomel .
Stalin reacts in ordering massive counterattacks against leading 2PzGruppe units . They crush the panzers but lines are not broken .
In Ukrainia , motorized corps are launched against German Dniepr bridgehead, but with no result.
After these failures , Stalins sends all the leading Soviet staff in Siberia . It leads to general lack of reactivity of soviet armies ... which is exploited by Axis ...
Stavka chit proved to be useless because only one Infantry unit is available in Stavka reserve .. An error not to reproduce ..
note the Soviet "move" only played by the end of the month . It was at least usefull to allow Gomel armies to escape isolation .
4th turn ( September 1941 ) :
Situation by the beginning of the turn :
Vitebsk is nearly surrounded and 3 panzer divisions have been sent to AGC to produce an effort against Vitebsk/Smolensk area.
Gomel pocket will have to be closed by 2nd level troops of 2PzGruppe.
Odessa is garrisoned by 2 full strenght armies, trapped there by the panzer advance. this nut will also have to be cracked !
In Ukrainia , a large scope of risked possibilities exist.
Too many objectives are still to be taken , Axis must continue an all out offensive, taking care of potential counter offensives and mud arrival .
so orders for September are as follow :
Hoepner and Guderian will successfully launch a pincer attack against Smolensk/Vitebsk , trapping there another large amount of prisonniers.
With the rest of its forces, Guderian will trap Gomel OOS troops and encircle Briansk .
In Ukrainia , AGS will shut the trap around surviving Russians around Kiev and Hoth/Von Kleist will make all out moves against Kharkov and Dniepropetrovsk to surround and starve their garrisons .
Happily Luftwaffe has gained very good air bases , able to support defensive combats against expected counteroffensives.
By the end of September , Wermacht situation seems desperate .
Russian armies have made large anticipation and stock piled supply was fully available ( logistic chit pulled 3rd , before any surrounding movement.
German advance was nice, but very risky and the situation is nearly lost for axis side .
In Ukrainia , Stalino has fallen , Dnepopetrovsk and Kharkov are surrounded , but their garrisons are fully supplied and no attack is possible due to the lack of infantry support. even worse all panzer armies will for sure fall out of supply in a couple of days .
Kiev pocket is still not reduced and Odessa resists.
Vitebsk is also surrounded , but supplied while Guderian efforts both against Smolensk and Gomel are repulsed , leaving troops in very very dangerous situation !!
5th turn ( October 1941 ) MUD :
Campaign is nearly lost for Axis . With as little as 23 objectives in hands , Germany is about to sue for peace and a proposal to send all the headquarters generals in siberia as part of the peace treaty will soon be made.
But one last effort will be asked, to at least capture 5 more positions .
An effort against Tallin will bel aunched , together with last hope assaults against Smolensk , Vitebsk, Kharkov and Dniepropetrovsk.
Odessa and Kiev MUST fall while Stalino will be held at all cost !
During this muddy turn , Axis operations are driven under renewed pressure and prove to be of excellent efficiency (chits are highly favourable to Axis , forgot to take a picture )
Kiev and Odessa are cleared ( happy 6 on die on a 1:1 assault against Odessa )
Vitebesk is surrounded after heavy hand to hand fightings while Roslav is evacuated by green 22Pz
Soviet Stavka counterattacks are repulsed while last attempts combats also fails.
Luftwaffe is still dominating skies and make a huge protection on panzer troops !
soviet troops are actually too weak to obtain success
Even in Ukrainia , Soviet attacks to break Kharkow and Dnepopetrovsk encirclements are repulsed .
Logistic chit is pullet last !!
Nearly all panzer troops in Ukrainia are OOS while besieged armies are in full supply .
6th turn ( November 1941 ) MIX :
Axis now have 25 . Tallin and Vitebsk will fall . A last effort is needed against Smolensk , Kharkov, Dneprxxx to have a little chance to survive the incoming russian winter.
If Chits are favourables ( IE an early logistics ) Kharkov would be OOS and could maybe fall in Axis hands .
Smolensk is possible... depending on chits ..
From Soviet point of view , Stavka cannot reinforce Kharkov ( not in supply ) . Dneproxxx is possible but should resist by it self .
1st shock army will immediatly be sent in Smolensk and will repulse last Axis hopes .
But in the north , things are not going well for Stavska : supported by a succesfull air attack, Hoepner launches a strike with its panzer that smashes surprise soviet defenses and... surround Stavak HQ in a large Smolensk pocket ( 4thPz chit played as initiative )
Stavka immediatly redirect its counteroffensive troops in Dnepropetrovsk . 1st shock army repulses the besieging troops but at a terrible cost. Even worse , Axis reacts in sending last remants of OOS troops to shut a pocket arount Dnepr....
situation is more and more confuse all around the front with Smolensk and Dnepro. about to fall in Axis hands while Kharkov still in balance, still possibly isolated if ever a logistic chit was pulled ...
Smolensk seems to be definitely in Axis hands :
But at last , Russians react ( pulling Combat and move )
In Ukrainia, after logistic phase, Kharkov is saved but Dnepopetrovsk is not
7th turn ( December 1941 ) Blizzard :
Objectives : 27 in Axis hands , including Talinin and Stalino , but not including Smolensk and Dnepropetrovsk.
Note that Dnepropetrovsk is not supplied because railway to the East is cut in Stalino , and railway going to Sebastopol is too far ....
Consequence : this town cannot be used as regular or Stavka reinforcement base ...
( Additional note : in application of rule 2.4, control of Dnepoperovsk should have reverted to Axis ... )
The next phase of campaign will now be focused on the count of Axis objectives during this terrible first winter : if they lose 2 of them , campaign will be lost .
Stalino seems already lost .
Talinin looks as a valid target for Russian troops : reinforced by railway and very far from Axis main troops, will it be held ???
December Russian offensives easily kill 2 panzer divs and 2 infantry corps . But from a strategic point of view, Stalino and Talinin are not so easy to attack because of the long distance from logistics bases : reinforcements take a long time to arrive and to be ready to attack.
In reverse, despite lack of supply, Axis reinforcements arrive more rapidly to front lines .
When possible German troops regroup around cities and towns to find logistic facilities.
Turn 8 ( January 42 ) Blizzard :
In Ukrainia , battles around Kharkov are favourable to Soviet , but vital city of Stalino is still not attacked, and worse , it is reinforced .
Tallinn , fully supplied and now heavily garrisoned , will not be attacked .
Turn 10 ( March/April 42 ) Mud :
Russian winter is now finished , and Stalin has once sent a full train of generals to Siberia : None of the objectives for the Winter Campaing were reached .
Tallin was even not attacked , due to slow Soviet advance and fast German reinforcements
Stalino attack was defeated for the same reason ( 1:2 +2 attack only was possible )
Kharkov suburbs wer cleared but Wermacht is still present not far from this crucial city .
In central front, combats were favourable to Soviet , but no real operational success was obtained.
This is the end of the first part of this campaign .
Some lessons learned :
- Axis effort is still not rapid enough to win decision ! Large pockets are often too long to reduce only by isolation . Kiev pocket was the best illustration of this
- Russian rail transport is 4 combat steps per turn , not 4 combat factors . which means 2 full armies and not only 1 Guard Inf corps . A difference that can be devastating .
- Conquest of cities are vital for German before winter. they are logistic bases to launch stavka attacks . The farther they are , the better the defense is.
- Town are also of great value to serve as supply depot and cover during first russian winter
- Don't forget rule 2.4 about cities/towns controls with ZOC or Isolation
