1st Ukraine Front - Insiders look at a Play Test

[The SNAFU]

Hi Strela,

I'm wondering why you chose not to order 34th ID forces near Roskoshevka to make an effort to thin out their line and try and set up at least a weak line on their right closer to Rubbany Most and Shubennyy Stav. Just curious.

Given the situation there doesnt appear to be any good options playing the German side.

I Looking forward to turn 14.

[Strela]

Hi The SNAFU,

A reasonable question that (like the AAR) is best illustrated with a picture...






As you can see the units on the right are all disrupted due to the recent fighting just south of Pavlovka. All are pretty beaten up after engaging 5th MC. You should recognise the Feld Ersatz Bn! The first unit of any worth is I/GR677 - a fair way away from the action.

I have started to thin the boundary between the 75th and 34th Infantry divisions, but it is very brittle as is. The fact is that the Russian player should not want to push further in this direction and should be trying to ultimately head south east towards Zvenigorodka, not south west.

For the German player, thinning this area further and pushing to the right will put the units in the path of the Russian forces and with their higher movement allowances ultimately result in isolation and destruction. The first aim is to start to build a solid shoulder, from which a counterattack can be launched later.

[The SNAFU]

Hi Strela,

Yes, when you see the condition of those units I can understand why it wouldnt be of any use to throw them at the advancing Soviet mechanized forces.

I look forward to the next turn!

[Strela]

FINALLY, I have time to post another turn up - real life unfortunately has been getting in the way....!

Soviet Turn

The Russian forces are through the German line in multiple locations. Now its time to press forward and mop up where possible.






27th Army with 233rd Tank Bde continue to try and clear the Medvin - Lisyanka highway. 167th & 180th Rifle Divisions continue to clear the villages around Krasnogorodka and are approaching the bridge at Povadovka. Not all of the assaults are successful. 337th Rifle Division is strung along the road from Luka to Medvin and essentially holding the flank of the forces pushing towards the south.

233rd Tank Bde brushes aside some German remnants and can see open ground beyond, but low fuel, streams and other supply difficulties limit the exploitation. The STuG unit that has been taking such a toll of Soviet armor is now isolated and hopefully can be weakened over the next turn or so







40th Army begins to reduce the Vinograd pocket in earnest. Most of the infantry are close enough to either shoot up the trapped forces or close assault disrupted Germans and begin to pin the defenders. Multiple assaults are successful and at least two hexes are separated from the other isolated units.

The pocket is being reduced but some of the units holding the Germans are weak.

5th GTC armor continues to probe towards Tichnovka and to try and secure the bridges over G'niloy Tikich.

5th MC is slowly replaced by Rifle infantry and beginning to move further through the breach in the German lines.




German Turn 14

Things are looking grim around Vinograd.






German air finds Russian units in travel mode behind the lines - Mr HE-111 pays a visit.






5 men(!) of I/FE 235 are all that are left in front of the Russian T-34's. STuG Abt 202 with its 12 vehicles is cut off by the Russians and is in a desperate way, disrupted and low ammo. There is no one to spring them from the trap this turn.

There is a tenuous defensive line between Medvin and Dolgaya Greblya but it is only temporary. Hopefully it will buy a little more time for 198th Infantry Division to cross the G'niloy Tikich at Povadovka. The artillery of the division continues to try and move away from the fighting and to find a way across the river further south. 198th Infantry division continues to withdraw.

88th Infantry is relatively quiet with the Russians content to sit astride Baran'ye Pole. Most off 88th Infantry's units are still fixed.






It is becoming obvious that it will be extremely difficult to extract any units from Vinograd. Isolation and low supply is making it easier for the Soviets to quickly reduce the hexes held.

One assault is successful and beats the Russians back across the stream, but it is not enough to rejoin the other forces at Vinograd.

Further Soviet Forces have been seen near Rubanny Most where there is an open flank and there are reports of T-34's firing at the forces besieging Tichnovka. The Russians seem to be everywhere.






The situation at the end of Turn 14. I should mention that this is the view from the German perspective - Russians where appropriate are hidden due to fog of war.






Turn 15 to follow.

[Strela]

Hi All,

Again, another tardy Turn. I am busy trying to get V3 of the Korsun scenarios completed so thay can go up on Volcano Mods. This is taking what little spare time I have at the moment and the AAR is suffering.

I am planning to probably do turns up to at least the end of the 2nd day, but it is obvious that the Russians are going to be ahead of the historical time line.

In our latest version we are testing further trenches converted to bunkers in front of 40th Army, so the Soviets are bogged down for just a little bit longer (till the end of day two, preferably). We will also probably push back 5th GTC's release by a turn or two. Why? Because 34th & 198th Infantry managed to survive the Soviet onslaught and it is obvious in the current AAR that probably will not be the case.

We are comfortable that we are close to having it right in front of 27th Army. Of interest it appears we have conflicting information on what tank type 233rd Tank Brigade is fitted out with (T-34 or Sherman) and have information that at least 1 battalion had Shermans. We will probably convert one battalion across to the american type.

Most of our research is from Glantz, Nash and Zetterling and there are some significant variations. We are tending to use Zetterling's work as the final word where necessary.

Finally, victory points look way off, unless the Russian forces wipe out the Germans. We will probably change it around so that the Soviets get points for exiting the board as an alternative to stopping and liquidating the German forces. This seems more appropriate because the Russian's primary aim should be to push through Zvenigorodka to meet the adavancing forces from 2nd Ukraine Front.


Will try and get Turn 15 up soon, but if anyone has any questions or comments in the meantime - please pass them on!

[Strela]

Soviet Turn

As the day turns to afternoon, Russian forces are intent on reducing the pocketed Germans and pushing their mechanized forces forward.







616th Sapper Bn from 337th Rifle Division manages to clear the bunkers north of Baran’ye Pole.







With German Engineers and AT guns cut off in northern Baran’ye Pole, the 337th Rifle Division launches fierce assaults against the ruined town. The Germans take heavy losses.







27th Army has now almost cleared the highway from Luka to beyond Medvin. Baran’ye Pole should hopefully be cleared by next turn. 167th & 180th Rifle Division continue to make slow progress towards the river crossing at Povadovka. 233rd Tank Bde pauses while it overruns the remaining STuG’s of 202nd Abt. The German armor facing 27th Army is no more. The Sherman’s of 3rd Bn push forward and are stopped just outside of Pisarevka.






The trapped Germans just south of Vinograd, are assaulted by wave after wave of Soviet troops and begin to surrender in significant numbers.






The Vinograd pocket is now clearly 3 groups of isolated forces. The southernmost is almost annihilated while the westernmost is pushed out of its entrenchments. 5th MC continues to push through the gap south of Vinograd and assist with the mopping up. 74th Rifle Division presses the German flanks and continues to push towards Roskoshevka.

5th GTC hands the Vinograd pocket off to the 40th Army infantry and pushes towards the G’niloy Tikich bridges. 1st Tank Bn, 21st Guard Tank Bde is handled roughly outside Redkodub, when it stumbles on a thick PAK front. The rest of 5th GTC has reached the Tichnovka pocket and the besiegers become the besieged.





German Turn 15

Many Axis units are now becoming isolated or pushed back from their entrenchments. The line has been definitively broken and there is little likelihood of it being recovered. The focus now is on rescuing all units that can be and the remainder to hold the Soviets for as long as possible.







In the 88th & 198th Infantry sector, the link between the two divisions is severed. Soviet tanks are outside Pisarevka and there is a danger that 198th Infantry Division will be pocketed. 88th Infantry starts to pull back from Medvin, there is no chance of holding the highway now. There is very little to prevent the Russians pushing to Lisyanka and its vital bridge.







The Luftwaffe is called in and manages to hit one target disrupting a number of Russian units in the process. Two other strikes scatter harmlessly.







There is little that can be done for the pocketed forces at Vinograd. They continue to be compressed into a smaller area and the two smaller pockets will be gone by next turn. The Russians continue to pressure Roskoshevka on the far left flank, but heavy defensive fire is slowing their advance to a crawl.

Ominously, Soviet tanks have been reported at Bushanka on the G’niloy Tikich and the AT company is still preparing its positions. There are very few crossing left across the river and they have to held long enough for 198th Infantry Division forces to cross.







Looking at the overall situation it is obvious how the German defenses have splintered with the bulk of 198th Infantry Division around Povadovka desperately trying to cross the river, while the trapped units at Vinograd will be lost soon.

The Russian armor appears to be spread out but is essentially invulnerable as there are no Germans to counterattack.

[The SNAFU]

Hi Strela

It appears the Germans are close to collapse on Turn 15. Just in the last turn they suffered 1000 losses vs only 300 for the much stronger Soviets. It will be interesting to see if you can extract much more of 198 ID before their escape paths are completed closed.

Very one sided affair at this point but nonetheless interesting.

Thanks

[Mr Grumpy]

Very one sided affair at this point but nonetheless interesting.

Thanks

Indeed, but by clever use of victory conditions you can produce a 'balanced' scenario forcing the Russians to exceed the historical advance to achieve a victory in points terms. ;)

It can be good fun to play a desperate defense, but it is not for everyone i find as some players get depressed and give up. :rolleyes:

[Strela]

And Foul is completely correct.

This scenario is all about a desperate defense. If the Soviets don't breakthrough then something is seriously awry.

That said - they are breaking through in the wrong place much too early. Its a difficult scenario to get to follow the historical precedent - and thats why we are playtesting it extensively. All our learnings here will then be replicated in the setup for the campaign scenario.

The main issue is in the 40th Army area - it needs to hold for two days, but is essentially lasting only one. We are playtesting a new version that puts another line of bunkers behind the front line and have also upped a few critical points to full 'BUNKER'. We have also delayed the release of 5th MC anf 5th GTC by 1 turn. I have played a fair bit of Smolensk '41 and this scenario has similar parrallels - a highly mobile, mechanised attacker vs ground pounding infantry. Very hard to keep the infantry from being isolated and destroyed.

ideally we want 40th army to bog down and the major progress to come from 27th Army. That way 198th Infantry is pushed south / south - east and can cross the river without Soviets behind them. As the Russians advance, more forces from 40th Army will cross the river and follow up 27th Army's success.

The latest playtest also has exit points for the Russians near Zvenigorodka so that they DON'T have to kill all the Germans to win, but rather push forward and close the pocket as was the historical aim.

Finally this AAR was intended to give the reader some idea of what a scenario designer is looking for when balancing up a game as well as show that the game can follow history and the Russians can effect a breakthrough and ultimately form the pocket.

Its been a very interesting project and you should hopefully all have these revised scenarios in your hands soon....

[Dog Soldier]

Thank you for the insights into scenario balancing. This is an interesting AAR. there are over 1,100 views now.

Dog Soldier