Background
The Soviet Summer Counter-offensive Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev began in the early hours of 3 August 1943, with the objective of following up the successful Soviet defensive effort against the German Operation Citadel. The offensive was directed against the German Army Group South’s northern flank. By 23 August, the troops of the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts had successfully seized Kharkov from German forces. It was the last time that Kharkov changed hands during the Soviet-German War. The operation led to the retreat of the German forces in Ukraine behind the Dnepr River, and it set the stage for the Battle of Kiev in autumn 1943.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgorod-Kharkov_Offensive_Operation)
The Game
Terrain and set up:
- Table is 9×5 feet. White areas are covered in fields offering concealment. Yellow represents a flat hilltop. Woods are normal. The East-West Road is paved, the others are dirt. Weather is clear.
- Germans deploy anywhere on the table, are dug in and may have two units in ambush.
- Russians enter the table anywhere along the east edge.
- Scenario is 12 turns long. There are no reserves.
Victory Conditions:
Russians:
- Marginal = destroy 10 German stands/vehicles.
- Tactical = destroy 20 German stands/vehicles.
- Major = destroy 25 German stands/vehicles.
- All remaining Russian units must leave through the west edge by Turn 12 or else they are considered lost.
Germans:
- Marginal = destroy 10 Russian stands/vehicles.
- Tactical = destroy 20 Russian stands/vehicles.
- Major = destroy 40 Russian stands/vehicles.
- It’s possible that both sides can declare some level of victory
Forces:
German Infantry Company with:
- Full HQ plus observer and preplanned ranged marker.
- 3 x Infantry Platoons (4 stands)
- Pioneer Platoon (3 stands)
- 75mm ATG Platoon (3 guns)
- 105mm Artillery Battery (2 guns)
- 81mm Mortar Platoon (3 guns)
- 120mm Mortar Platoon (2 stands)
- 3 x Trucks
- 3 x Minefield
- 3 x Road Blocks
Soviet Motor Strelk Infantry Battalion with:
- 1 x Full HQ plus observer, scout cars
- 1 x Infantry Company, (3 Platoons), one platoon as tank riders, one platoon in halftracks, one platoon in trucks
- 1 x Recce Scout Platoon (3 stands), scout cars
- ½ Sapper Platoon (3 stands), trucks
- 1 x 45mm ATG Platoon (3 Guns), trucks
- 1 x 76.2mm AT Section (3 guns), trucks
- 1 x 82mm Mortar Platoon (4 guns), trucks
- 1 x 120mm Mortar Platoon (4 guns), trucks
- 1 x Dhska AAA section (3 guns), trucks
- Attached Tank Support Company with: 4 x T-34/76, 2 x SU-76i, 2 x SU-152
*Since the scenario was originally for two players, we doubled the forces to allow everyone to play.
Game Recap:
The Germans deployed in the two woods and the town using the mine fields and barricades to form a straight line in the center of the hilltop. Both Germans held their pioneers and PAK40 units in ambush. The Russian strategy was to use the mobility advantage to envelop the German positions.
The first two turns involved the Russians attempting to begin the envelopment while pinning the troops in the center. The Germans were able to shell a number of Russians into the ground, but with little effect on their armor.
On Turn Three, the Germans unleashed the PAK40s in the woods across the river from the T-34s, destroying 2 and bailing 3 in one 5 tank company! The German 105mm battery managed to bail several SU-76s. The Russians had problems with Hens and Chicks hitting the dug in Germans, but the artillery managed to steadily attrite the German platoons in the woods.
By Turn 6, both woods had been cleared of Germans and the Russians drove into the German gun lines. The Russian luck held out as the Germans were only able to bail a couple of armored vehicles. The German platoon still held out in the center village. The PAK40s in the woods continued to have a field day with the Soviets, completely destroying a T-34 platoon, a 45mm AT gun platoon sent to engage the guns, and half of the SU-152s! This allowed the flank to remain in German hands.
By Turn 8, the German platoon in the village had been destroyed, but by now, there was insufficient time to move many of the Russian guns and troops off the west side of the table. All those Russians then had to counted as lost.
Counting up the points, both sides scored major victories (doubling the initial victory conditions), with the Russians just slightly ahead in points.
– Manteuffel