Background
The Battle of Radzymin was one of a series of engagements between the Red Army’s 1st Byelorussian Front and the German Army’s XXXIXth Panzer Corps that occurred as part of the Lublin-Brest Offensive between 1 and 10 August 1944 at the conclusion of the Belorussian strategic offensive operation near the town of Radzymin in the vicinity of Warsaw, part of which entailed a large tank battle at Wołomin. It was the largest tank battle on the territories of Poland during World War II.
Approach of the Red Army forces into the proximity of Warsaw served to initiate the Warsaw Uprising by the Home Army with expectation of help from the Red Army. The battle ended with the Soviets’ defeat; it is unclear to what extent this defeat contributed to the Soviet decision not to aid the Warsaw Uprising.
After the Soviet reconnaissance units reached Warsaw in late July, on 1 August 1944 the Warsaw Uprising started. Starting from an area south of Mińsk Mazowiecki, Major General Nikolai Vedeneev’s 3rd Tank Corps (part of the Soviet 2nd Tank Army) thrust northwest through Okuniew and Wołomin to Radzymin, reaching an area only three miles (five kilometers) from the strategic bridge over the Narew River at Zegrze.
In response to Vedeneev’s thrust, the Germans started a tactical counter-attack near Radzymin on 31 July. The offensive, carried out by 4 understrength Panzer divisions, was to secure the eastern approaches to Warsaw and Vistula crossings, and aimed to destroy the three tank corps of the Second Tank Army in detail. Under the leadership of German Field Marshal Model, the 4th, 19th, Hermann Göring, and 5th SS Panzer Divisions were concentrated from different areas with their arrival in the area of Wołomin occurring between 31 July and 1 August 1944. Although the 3rd Tank Corps gamely defended the initial assaults of the Hermann Göring and 19th Panzer Divisions, the arrival of the 4th Panzer and 5th SS Panzer Divisions spelled doom for the isolated and outnumbered unit.
Already on 1 August, the leading elements of the 19th and 5th SS Panzer Divisions, closing from the west and east respectively, met at Okuniew, cutting the 3rd Tank Corps off from the other units of the Second Tank Army. Pressed into the area of Wołomin, the 3rd Tank Corps was pocketed and destroyed on 3 August 1944. Attempts to reach the doomed tank corps by the 8th Guards Tank Corps and the 16th Tank Corps failed, with the 8th Guards Tank Corps taking serious losses in the attempt. Although Model had planned to attack the 8th Guards Tank Corps next, the withdrawal of the 19th and Hermann Göring Panzer Divisions to shore up the German defenses around the Magnuszew bridgehead forced the remaining German forces around Okuniew to go on the defensive.
Further combat lasted until 10 August, when the Germans finally withdrew. Soviet losses were heavy, but not heavy enough to affect the overall course of their thrust to the vicinity of Warsaw. The 3rd Tank Corps was destroyed, the 8th Guards Tank Corps took heavy losses, and the 16th Tank Corps took significant losses as well. Overall, the Second Tank Army’s losses were significant enough that it was withdrawn from the front lines by 5 August 1944.
Altogether, between 1 and 10 August, the 2nd Tank Army lost 409 killed in action, 1,271 wounded and 589 missing. In addition, it lost 284 tanks and self-propelled guns (40% of these losses were non-recoverable, amounting to 113 armored vehicles lost permanently) out of 679 available to the army on 30 July.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Radzymin_(1944)
The Game
We were able to get together for a small socially distanced game at my house a few weeks ago and dust off some FOW minis! A buddy of mine has stated his Soviet army and wanted to try it out on the tabletop, so I set up a game at my house. I decided to base the game on a late Bagration fight, so we could use the new Soviet release from Battlefront.
The scenario was based on the breakthrough scenario in the rule book. The forces were based on the relief of the Soviet 3rd Tank Corps in July of 1944 against the 5th SS Panzer division holding the cordon. The terrain was set up to reflect the area in Poland and included a village in the center with surrounding fields and woods.
The Soviet force included one SMG company and two Shock Companies. There were supported by a battery of 82mm mortars, a battery of 120mm mortars, ISU-122 group and Sturmovick air support.
The Germans force was represented by three SS Panzer Grenadier platoons. These were supported by an 88 section, 80mm mortars and a 150mm SIG section on the table. Off board, the Germans had one Panther and Stug platoon. All Germans were upgraded to Fearless veteran (except the Panthers).
The Germans set up around the town and in blocking positions in front of the two objectives. The placed their mines on the left flank. The one infantry platoon was held in ambush to be positioned as needed in response to the Soviet attack. The Soviets set up heavy on the right flank.
The Soviets started their attack by moving forward with their infantry to advance on the Germans for the early turns. Unfortunately, the Soviets had terrible luck in getting their aircraft to arrive and for their artillery to range in. The Germans in contrast, had no such challenges and pounded the Soviet packed units relentlessly. With casualties mounting, the Soviets continued to close and occupied most of the town. They were able to position themselves for one all out attack, before the German reserves could intervene.
With the arrival of the tanks, the Soviets tried to intervene with their aircraft only to either to fail to arrive or to range in when they did! With time running out, the Soviet infantry launched a 50-50 gamble, but ended up on the wrong end in defensive fire. One last attack was tried with the few Soviet stands still available… The Soviet aircraft finally arrived and even took out a couple Panthers, but the Soviets could not get their unit to unsuppress, ending all hope and the game. The game ended in a historical German victory!
- Manteuffel