Toaw Scenario: Operation Blau

Russia,
May 17, 1942,

Axis army of 787 units opposed to USSR army of 1140 units
for a battle of complexity 1.98 at Division(XX) level
on a 25 Km/Hex map
for 32 turns of Full Week each.

by Brian Topp submited on 02-01-2003

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Briefing
--------------- - Cow Version - --------------- DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS OF "OPERATION BLAU 4.1" (With apologies to Jim Dunnigan) In no particular order, some things you might like to know about this scenario: VICTORY: Some historians believe (as I do) that the Axis faced a real moment of truth in this campaign. It was the last chance Germany had to knock the USSR out of the war - and if she failed to do so, a grinding defeat was almost inevitable, under the combined industrial and manpower might of the United States, the USSR, and the British Commonwealth. Victory conditions in this scenario reflect this view. To win, the Axis must do more than just take Stalingrad, or Baku. They must achieve a strategic defeat of the Soviet Union, on the scale of 1918 - sufficient to end the fighting on the eastern front, and to transfer a majority of the German army out of the theatre. The Soviets win by avoiding this outcome. There are two means to achieve this -- or to avoid it. First, the Axis can win an automatic victory by capturing Moscow and killing Stalin (you'll find a unit there, representing that murderous gentleman). My hypothesis (historically debatable, to be sure) if that if the capital falls, the surviving Soviet government will sue for terms - because the government will scatter and disintegrate; because the Russian transportation system will collapse due to the loss of its hub; and because (given the way the Soviet army is deployed and some other considerations outlined below) the capture of Moscow requires a decisive defeat of the Red Army. In the alternative, the Axis can win on points by successfully pursuing Hitler's on-again off-again "periphery" strategy. Moscow is rated at 99 victory points; Leningrad at 40; Baku and Tula at 20; Stalingrad at 15; Murmansk at 10; Rostov and Sevastopol at 5. Thus 99 for Moscow; all other objectives 115. Take them all and (again, debatably) the Soviets will ask for an armistrice. Furthermore, as outlined below, achieving these goals early enough in the game will undermine the Soviet war economy, perhaps creating better conditions for the capture of Moscow itself and the big win/loss. LOSS OF KEY CENTRES: The loss of Leningrad will reduce Soviet replacements by 10% and will reduce their supply stockpile by 5 (out of 30). The loss of Baku will reduce Soviet replacements by 5% and will reduce supply by 5. The loss of Tula will reduce Soviet replacements by 5%. The loss of Stalingrad will reduce Soviet replacements by 5%. PARTISANS: Axis rear areas are rotten with partisans - especially within 100 kilometers of the Pripyat. If you play the Axis player against the PO, you'll find them irritating. Against a human player, they'll pose a deadly threat to your supply lines. Hit them hard! And remember that (as in real life) the only way to be certain of killing a partisan unit is to surround it. Think about where a partisan unit will retreat if you attack it without surrounding it - they have an alarming tendency to retreat to rail hexes - destroying the line. Some "house rules" to make partisans work better: (1) A partisan can never move into the Baltics, Greater Germany, Hungary, or Rumania. (2) To makes things really interesting, turn off the "possession" feature (either borders or flags). That will make it much harder to see where the partisans are and what they control. (3) If playing the Soviet side against a PO-controlled Axis, consider not playing the partisans - the PO is not good at complex police actions. EQUIPMENT TRANSFERS: German panzer, SS-panzergrenadier, and infantry divisions all receive equipment upgrades over the course of the game. EFFECTS OF WEATHER: Weather conditions were less of a surprise to the Germans in 1942, but still had significant effects on operations. Watch the news, especially towards the end of the game - you'll be informed about weather and its consequences. Mud turns dramatically cut the span of the supply system for both sides, in turn dramatically reducing the effective supply stockpile. Frost re-opens the roads; winter slows things down again, less dramatically. SOVIET REINFORCEMENT BOTTLENECK: All Soviet reinforcements and rebuilds appear in Moscow - simulating some of the rigidities of the Soviet war economy. This has some interesting effects: (1) New Soviet armies appear in packets and need to be assembled away from their "reforger" site. Attend to this or your reinforcements will back up even worse than they will anyway. (2) Because Moscow is the fountainhead of a relatively vast number of new and rebuilt units, it is tougher to conquer. GERMAN REBUILDS: German rebuilds, on the other hand, appear at several locations on the map. Every once in awhile, the software does an anomalous rebuild (a Finnish unit in Germany; a German unit in Finland). When this occurs, use the Axis sealift capacity to return the division to where it should be. FINNISH STOP LINE: Indicated on the map as a line of "x"s. Finnish units cannot advance beyond this line. RAIL REPAIR: Germany will automatically repair 4 broken rail hexes each turn; the Soviets 5. This provides a little relief from "hunt the broken rail line", although you must (especially as the Axis) still keep a close eye on key supply lines or you will suffer potentially dramatic consequences. The Axis field a substantial railway engineer complement: six rail engineer regiments deployed to support the advance of army group south, and eight railway engineer battalions strung out along two key supply lines in the rear. The regiments have a 99% engineering rating; the battalions about 50%. The Soviets field one offensive-minded railway engineer regiment - attached to Zhukov's headquarters in the area of West Front. THEATRE RECONNAISSANCE: Axis 5%, Soviets 10%. As evidenced by the Stalingrad debacle and many fruitless search and destroy missions in the rear, Germany was well-informed about neither Soviet main force movements, nor partisan operations (in this, the ugly partisan war bears a passing resemblance to U.S. army operations in Vietnam). The Soviets had access to excellent intelligence, but failed to correctly interpret it at the highest levels. Stalin was convinced the Germans would try to refight "Typhoon" in this campaign, and expected German operations to focus on Army Group Centre. RAIL CAPACITY: Axis 30,000, Soviets 50,000. Be careful about strategic moves by rail that bring entrained forces close to the front. In one playtest, playing as the Axis, I was able to destroy an entire trans-Caucasian army while it was entrained, facilitating an early conquest of Baku. BRANDENBURGERS: Germany's special forces units are now represented in this scenario: you'll find the five "Brandenburgers" available to OKH on this front deployed in the south, in 1st panzer army's assembly area. The Axis also has a modest air transport capacity - sufficient to parachute them as you will. They seem most useful cutting supply lines and blocking lines of retreat. These are fragile units - use them judiciously, and protect them from air attacks. NOTE: Depending on your style of play these units may be more than a PO-controlled Soviet can handle. If you find this, don't use 'em. At a minimum, use common-sense self-restraint - don't drop them on Stalin, or on critical Soviet supply points that will produce strategic results. In PBEM, all is fair. Early Soviet "Spetznatz" units weren't in business at this point in the war and aren't represented. COLLABORATORS AND WAR CRIMINALS: A number of units manned by Axis collaborators are now in the OOB. The most formidable units (also present in earlier versions) are a tough Spanish infantry division and some SS units recruited in Holland, Norway and Belgium - these are all deployed with army group north. There are also now some security units represented drawn from Soviet minorities and POWs, from France and other occupied countries. This is just a game and all, but having recently read through a book based on a photo-exhibit on their "work" that was a huge draw in Munich and other cities, I feel bound to say that some of the units in this game represent notably despicable folks. The SS and military police units active in the partisan war were notably bestial - 'cept animals don't behave that way. Some were key players in the Holocaust, like the personnel who perpetrated the massacres at Babi Yar. There are also a number of NKVD divisions and police units in the game. These were recruited from among the triggermen behind the Ukrainian famine, the massacre of the Polish (and Russian!) officer corps; they fed millions into the Gulag (or directly into mass graves) before, during and after the war. WEIGH OF EFFORT: OKW/OKH and the Stavka placed some different bets regarding their weigh of effort during this campaign. This is represented in several ways, and there are some operational consequences you should think about. In 1942 Germany did not have enough replacements or supply to sustain a summer offensive along the whole front. In the result, men and supplies were concentrated in one army group - army group south. This is simulated in this scenario: AGN and AGC units are at about 66% (give or take 5%) of establishment when the game begins; AGS units are at around 80%. Furthermore, AGS, SS and panzer units have first call on replacements during the game: AGN and AGC infantry units have a low priority, and allied units (other than the Finns) have a VERY low priority. As the German player you therefore face some of the same limits Halder did in real life: AGS is a formidable force with some staying power in a fight. AGN and AGC have a more limited capacity to conduct offensives: not only are its infantry units weaker; they will recover more slowly from losses. Allied units (particularly Rumanian and Hungarian units) have significantly reduced staying power because of their very low priority for replacements. The Stavka made a different bet. Soviet units were uniformly exhausted in the spring of 1942 after a winter of increasingly-ineffective offensives (this is simulated by a 66% establishment across the front, +- 5%). Further, since the Soviets weren't sure where the German summer offensive would hit, priorities are diffused across the front, with priority assigned to Guard units everywhere. In the result, Soviet replacements are diffused - a problem for the Soviets in the south; a potential problem for the Axis if they get too ambitious in the centre and north. TANK PRODUCTION: Tank production figures are modeled on historical rates. DESIGN FOLKS: Fellow fans of the game will see right away that this scenario is modeled after Game Design workshop's great Fire In The East/Scorched Earth/The Urals boardgames. Buy all GR/D's "Europa" games - they're great (their site is http://www.grdgames.com/ ). Design and set up by Brian Topp. Original map by Benny Wahlberg . Original TO&Es by Tom Porto. Basic panzer division based on notes by Brad Hunter. German armour TO&E and production are drawn from Thomas Jentz's Panzer Truppen, volume 1 (with some necessary simplifications). The Soviet OOB is based on FITE/SE and maps contained in The West Point Military History Series: Atlas for the Second World War, Griess, editor. I have drawn on much feedback from players in on-going tuning of this scenario. I'm particularly grateful for recent detailed comments by After-action-reports and feedback welcome. Please send 'em to briantopp@home.com. SOME ADDITIONAL NOTES ON STRATEGY: The design notes included in versions 1 to 3 of this scenario had some comments on strategy that still seem to be pertinent. they are included in the appended word file. ------------------ - Toaw I Version - ------------------ Comments and suggestions are welcome: please direct them to Brian Topp at toppb@ibm.net. Operation Blau 1942 2.0 Germany's Last chance - The Summer 1942 German Offensive in Russia Scenario Topic: This scenario simulates Germany's summer 1942 offensive in Russia - the last chance Germany had to seize and maintain the initiative on the eastern front and then impose a strategic defeat on Russia -- thus winning the war. As with the previous scenario in this series, "Operation Barbarossa", enormous forces are represented. Germany fields some 3 million soldiers in this theatre as the scenario begins, facing perhaps 4 million Soviet troops. Victory: Historically, Germany was chasing ambitious objectives in its summer 1942 campaign. Hitler hoped to conquer the caucasus, and then to wheel north, enveloping and capturing Moscow. As a sidebar, after capturing Sevastopol, Manstein's 11th army was dispatched to Leningrad to attempt to capture that city. To win this scenario as the German player, you need to achieve the same goals -- in effect, conquer European Russia. As the Soviet player, prevent the Germany from reaching these goals. Fairly extensive design notes should be appended to this scenario -- check them out for some additional information on this scenario.

Briefing

---------------
- Cow Version -
---------------
DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS OF "OPERATION BLAU 4.1"
(With apologies to Jim Dunnigan)

In no particular order, some things you might like to know about this scenario:

VICTORY: Some historians believe (as I do) that the Axis faced a real moment of truth in this campaign. It was the last chance Germany had to knock the USSR out of the war - and if she failed to do so, a grinding defeat was almost inevitable, under the combined industrial and manpower might of the United States, the USSR, and the British Commonwealth.

Victory conditions in this scenario reflect this view. To win, the Axis must do more than just take Stalingrad, or Baku. They must achieve a strategic defeat of the Soviet Union, on the scale of 1918 - sufficient to end the fighting on the eastern front, and to transfer a majority of the German army out of the theatre. The Soviets win by avoiding this outcome.

There are two means to achieve this -- or to avoid it.

First, the Axis can win an automatic victory by capturing Moscow and killing Stalin (you'll find a unit there, representing that murderous gentleman). My hypothesis (historically debatable, to be sure) if that if the capital falls, the surviving Soviet government will sue for terms - because the government will scatter and disintegrate; because the Russian transportation system will collapse due to the loss of its hub; and because (given the way the Soviet army is deployed and some other considerations outlined below) the capture of Moscow requires a decisive defeat of the Red Army.

In the alternative, the Axis can win on points by successfully pursuing Hitler's on-again off-again "periphery" strategy. Moscow is rated at 99 victory points; Leningrad at 40; Baku and Tula at 20; Stalingrad at 15; Murmansk at 10; Rostov and Sevastopol at 5. Thus 99 for Moscow; all other objectives 115. Take them all and (again, debatably) the Soviets will ask for an armistrice. Furthermore, as outlined below, achieving these goals early enough in the game will undermine the Soviet war economy, perhaps creating better conditions for the capture of Moscow itself and the big win/loss.

LOSS OF KEY CENTRES: The loss of Leningrad will reduce Soviet replacements by 10% and will reduce their supply stockpile by 5 (out of 30). The loss of Baku will reduce Soviet replacements by 5% and will reduce supply by 5. The loss of Tula will reduce Soviet replacements by 5%. The loss of Stalingrad will reduce Soviet replacements by 5%.

PARTISANS: Axis rear areas are rotten with partisans - especially within 100 kilometers of the Pripyat. If you play the Axis player against the PO, you'll find them irritating. Against a human player, they'll pose a deadly threat to your supply lines. Hit them hard! And remember that (as in real life) the only way to be certain of killing a partisan unit is to surround it. Think about where a partisan unit will retreat if you attack it without surrounding it - they have an alarming tendency to retreat to rail hexes - destroying the line. Some "house rules" to make partisans work better: (1) A partisan can never move into the Baltics, Greater Germany, Hungary, or Rumania. (2) To makes things really interesting, turn off the "possession" feature (either borders or flags). That will make it much harder to see where the partisans are and what they control. (3) If playing the Soviet side against a PO-controlled Axis, consider not playing the partisans - the PO is not good at complex police actions.

EQUIPMENT TRANSFERS: German panzer, SS-panzergrenadier, and infantry divisions all receive equipment upgrades over the course of the game.

EFFECTS OF WEATHER: Weather conditions were less of a surprise to the Germans in 1942, but still had significant effects on operations. Watch the news, especially towards the end of the game - you'll be informed about weather and its consequences. Mud turns dramatically cut the span of the supply system for both sides, in turn dramatically reducing the effective supply stockpile. Frost re-opens the roads; winter slows things down again, less dramatically.

SOVIET REINFORCEMENT BOTTLENECK: All Soviet reinforcements and rebuilds appear in Moscow - simulating some of the rigidities of the Soviet war economy. This has some interesting effects: (1) New Soviet armies appear in packets and need to be assembled away from their "reforger" site. Attend to this or your reinforcements will back up even worse than they will anyway. (2) Because Moscow is the fountainhead of a relatively vast number of new and rebuilt units, it is tougher to conquer.

GERMAN REBUILDS: German rebuilds, on the other hand, appear at several locations on the map. Every once in awhile, the software does an anomalous rebuild (a Finnish unit in Germany; a German unit in Finland). When this occurs, use the Axis sealift capacity to return the division to where it should be.

FINNISH STOP LINE: Indicated on the map as a line of "x"s. Finnish units cannot advance beyond this line.

RAIL REPAIR: Germany will automatically repair 4 broken rail hexes each turn; the Soviets 5. This provides a little relief from "hunt the broken rail line", although you must (especially as the Axis) still keep a close eye on key supply lines or you will suffer potentially dramatic consequences.

The Axis field a substantial railway engineer complement: six rail engineer regiments deployed to support the advance of army group south, and eight railway engineer battalions strung out along two key supply lines in the rear. The regiments have a 99% engineering rating; the battalions about 50%.

The Soviets field one offensive-minded railway engineer regiment - attached to Zhukov's headquarters in the area of West Front.

THEATRE RECONNAISSANCE: Axis 5%, Soviets 10%. As evidenced by the Stalingrad debacle and many fruitless search and destroy missions in the rear, Germany was well-informed about neither Soviet main force movements, nor partisan operations (in this, the ugly partisan war bears a passing resemblance to U.S. army operations in Vietnam). The Soviets had access to excellent intelligence, but failed to correctly interpret it at the highest levels. Stalin was convinced the Germans would try to refight "Typhoon" in this campaign, and expected German operations to focus on Army Group Centre.

RAIL CAPACITY: Axis 30,000, Soviets 50,000. Be careful about strategic moves by rail that bring entrained forces close to the front. In one playtest, playing as the Axis, I was able to destroy an entire trans-Caucasian army while it was entrained, facilitating an early conquest of Baku.

BRANDENBURGERS: Germany's special forces units are now represented in this scenario: you'll find the five "Brandenburgers" available to OKH on this front deployed in the south, in 1st panzer army's assembly area. The Axis also has a modest air transport capacity - sufficient to parachute them as you will. They seem most useful cutting supply lines and blocking lines of retreat. These are fragile units - use them judiciously, and protect them from air attacks. NOTE: Depending on your style of play these units may be more than a PO-controlled Soviet can handle. If you find this, don't use 'em. At a minimum, use common-sense self-restraint - don't drop them on Stalin, or on critical Soviet supply points that will produce strategic results. In PBEM, all is fair.

Early Soviet "Spetznatz" units weren't in business at this point in the war and aren't represented.

COLLABORATORS AND WAR CRIMINALS: A number of units manned by Axis collaborators are now in the OOB. The most formidable units (also present in earlier versions) are a tough Spanish infantry division and some SS units recruited in Holland, Norway and Belgium - these are all deployed with army group north. There are also now some security units represented drawn from Soviet minorities and POWs, from France and other occupied countries.

This is just a game and all, but having recently read through a book based on a photo-exhibit on their "work" that was a huge draw in Munich and other cities, I feel bound to say that some of the units in this game represent notably despicable folks. The SS and military police units active in the partisan war were notably bestial - 'cept animals don't behave that way. Some were key players in the Holocaust, like the personnel who perpetrated the massacres at Babi Yar.

There are also a number of NKVD divisions and police units in the game. These were recruited from among the triggermen behind the Ukrainian famine, the massacre of the Polish (and Russian!) officer corps; they fed millions into the Gulag (or directly into mass graves) before, during and after the war.

WEIGH OF EFFORT: OKW/OKH and the Stavka placed some different bets regarding their weigh of effort during this campaign. This is represented in several ways, and there are some operational consequences you should think about.

In 1942 Germany did not have enough replacements or supply to sustain a summer offensive along the whole front. In the result, men and supplies were concentrated in one army group - army group south. This is simulated in this scenario: AGN and AGC units are at about 66% (give or take 5%) of establishment when the game begins; AGS units are at around 80%. Furthermore, AGS, SS and panzer units have first call on replacements during the game: AGN and AGC infantry units have a low priority, and allied units (other than the Finns) have a VERY low priority.

As the German player you therefore face some of the same limits Halder did in real life: AGS is a formidable force with some staying power in a fight. AGN and AGC have a more limited capacity to conduct offensives: not only are its infantry units weaker; they will recover more slowly from losses. Allied units (particularly Rumanian and Hungarian units) have significantly reduced staying power because of their very low priority for replacements.

The Stavka made a different bet. Soviet units were uniformly exhausted in the spring of 1942 after a winter of increasingly-ineffective offensives (this is simulated by a 66% establishment across the front, +- 5%). Further, since the Soviets weren't sure where the German summer offensive would hit, priorities are diffused across the front, with priority assigned to Guard units everywhere. In the result, Soviet replacements are diffused - a problem for the Soviets in the south; a potential problem for the Axis if they get too ambitious in the centre and north.

TANK PRODUCTION: Tank production figures are modeled on historical rates.

DESIGN FOLKS: Fellow fans of the game will see right away that this scenario is modeled after Game Design workshop's great Fire In The East/Scorched Earth/The Urals boardgames. Buy all GR/D's "Europa" games - they're great (their site is http://www.grdgames.com/ ).

Design and set up by Brian Topp. Original map by Benny Wahlberg . Original TO&Es by Tom Porto. Basic panzer division based on notes by Brad Hunter. German armour TO&E and production are drawn from Thomas Jentz's Panzer Truppen, volume 1 (with some necessary simplifications). The Soviet OOB is based on FITE/SE and maps contained in The West Point Military History Series: Atlas for the Second World War, Griess, editor.

I have drawn on much feedback from players in on-going tuning of this scenario. I'm particularly grateful for recent detailed comments by

After-action-reports and feedback welcome. Please send 'em to briantopp@home.com.

SOME ADDITIONAL NOTES ON STRATEGY: The design notes included in versions 1 to 3 of this scenario had some comments on strategy that still seem to be pertinent. they are included in the appended word file.

------------------
- Toaw I Version -
------------------
Comments and suggestions are welcome: please direct them to Brian Topp at toppb@ibm.net.

Operation Blau 1942 2.0
Germany's Last chance -
The Summer 1942 German Offensive in Russia

Scenario Topic:

This scenario simulates Germany's summer 1942 offensive in Russia - the last chance Germany had to seize and maintain the initiative on the eastern front and then impose a strategic defeat on Russia -- thus winning the war.

As with the previous scenario in this series, "Operation Barbarossa", enormous forces are represented. Germany fields some 3 million soldiers in this theatre as the scenario begins, facing perhaps 4 million Soviet troops.

Victory:

Historically, Germany was chasing ambitious objectives in its summer 1942 campaign. Hitler hoped to conquer the caucasus, and then to wheel north, enveloping and capturing Moscow. As a sidebar, after capturing Sevastopol, Manstein's 11th army was dispatched to Leningrad to attempt to capture that city.

To win this scenario as the German player, you need to achieve the same goals -- in effect, conquer European Russia.

As the Soviet player, prevent the Germany from reaching these goals.

Fairly extensive design notes should be appended to this scenario -- check them out for some additional information on this scenario.