Kharkov '43 Grand Campaign AAR

[larsonney]

KHARKOV ’43 GRAND CAMPAIGN---Day 3

Day three was both quiet and stressful. There were no heavy engagements, but many quick skirmishes as the Wermacht got into full retreat mode!
The Russian 3rd Tank Army is pushing ruthlessly forward and the situation is getting nerve-racking! Day 4 should be quite a headache…but we’re getting ahead of ourselves again…here is the recap of day 3….

Northeast Front

The Russian 40th Army has been moving a full day now, but still no sign of them…we had expected some type of contact by early evening since separation was less than 20 kms in certain areas. Lt. General Krais of the 168th Infantry division requested recon flights in front of Korochato help ascertain the location of 40th Army but Heerresgruppe Don/Sud politely but firmly reminded our nervous general that the limited air assets available in theater would not be spent counting trees…
The Grossdeutschland had another busy day, eliminating the ”Slonovka Pocket” by early afternoon. The division then wheeled northwest and began the strenuous forced march to close “the Gap” southeast of Korocha. This division has performed splendidy…however, they are tired! Most of the division is heavily fatigued so we hope to rest them on day 4 once they get into their assigned sector!



Because of the incessant pressure from 3rd Tank Army, the decision was made by mid-morning to abandon Budarka to the Red hordes…we could have made a stand here, but did not see the wisdom to sacrifice a large chunk of the Das Reich to buy a day or two. By dawn on day 4 we have been hounded 10 kms west of Budarka. We expect to continue to fall back west towards Volchansk on day 4.



Our wonderful counterattack of day 2 is long gone…the main elements of 12th Tank Corps are rolling west, replacing the losses we inflicted and then some! The counterattack did allow us to evacuate the majority of the 526th & 527th infantry regiments of the 298th infantry division to escape west. We toyed with the idea of having those regiments make a stand at Verilkiy Burlok, but we are holding true to the principle we decided on before we started…getting everyone out whenever possible! the Der Fuhrer regiment will continue to fall back west on day 4.



Center Front

If you have been with us for awhile, you will remember we had a quandary on day 2 regarding what to do with the recon battalion of the SS LAH PzG division. We chose option 1, sending it northeast to join the south flank of Der Fuhrer. This insured that Der Fuhrer’s flank was secure. Dawn found the LAH recon battalion, you guessed it, falling back west towards the Donets!



The main highway to Chuguev still lies open for the most part, with only a Schnelle company performing rear-guard duties against a pursuing rifle division. No strong push here, as the Russian forces are not aligned to take advantage of this hole in our lines…they could shift part of 3rd Tank Army south to take advantage of this, but we have seen no evidence of this yet. The 585th regiment of the 320th INF division ceased to exist by late evening of day 3, beginning their long trek into Siberia. Our kameraden will not be forgotten!



The Soviet offensive had been just a rumor for the 320th INF Division’s 586th regiment until early afternoon of day 3…the regiment was the recipient of a punch in the face in the form of the 106th Rifle Brigade , backed up by a tank regiment from 6th Army. Oops…remember when we thought they had turned south for Izyum? We appear to have been wrong! It appears the Russians only have the one mobile unit, so we hope to maneuver out of this trap…a bit of a cat and mouse game going on here…West of Izyum, the 587th regiment of the 320th infantry division made it across the Donets and started to dig-in by the end of day 3. Note the units from the 35th Guards Division in this area...more on that later.



South Front

Southwest of Izyum, the 681st regiment of the 333rd infantry spent day 3 digging in at Petroyskaya. Not a moment too soon, since elements of a rifle and Guards division showed up during the night. An interesting side note, the Guards division is the 35th, so it appears the division is split up, the first time we have observed this from the Russian Command Staff.



30 kms south of Petroyskaya, the 680th regiment of the 333rd infantry division dug-in at Barvenkovo was greeted by new elements of Mobile Group Popov, who appeared at dusk. It appears that the released elements of Popov are making a move we expected. However, expecting and being able to parry the move are two different worlds!



Southeast Front

At Slavyansk, the 7th Panzer spent the day withdrawing to the heights southwest of the city. All appeared well until late afternoon, when the skies cleared enough for Russian observers to see our lines…and the Russian Air Force made its first major appearance, raining steel down on the hapless defenders. The Russians also built two bridgeheads south of the city, but made no push across these bridgeheads. Because of the threat to 7th Panzer, 3rd Panzer marched through the night to be in position to push north to Cherkasskoye and possibly flank Slavyansk on day 4.



To the east, the 19th & 27th Panzer divisions saw no concerted effort to push south by the two Guards divisions, so they prepared to jump off at dawn on a local counterattack to remove these divisions’ bridgeheads over the Donets. We found that the Russian engineers had been busy building bunkers…so it appears that we waited too long to launch our mini-offensive! Time will tell…



Summary

The southeast is heating up and with more Russian hordes arriving/releasing on day 4, we are experiencing a slight tremor of apprehension at the prospect of more days of this hell!

The Russian steamroller does not stop, and our crack panzer & panzer grenadier divisions are growing weary from 3 days of continuous action. Day 4 should help us understand Russian operational motives more clearly and allow us to plan more effectively. By this point, the forest is lost among the trees at times!

[Strela]

Now you know why we had so much fun designing and playtesting Kharkov '43 :)

Great AAR and John Tiller appreciates the free marketing!!

[larsonney]

Now you know why we had so much fun designing and playtesting Kharkov '43 :)

Great AAR and John Tiller appreciates the free marketing!!

Yes, it's a masterpiece. This campaign is so different than the campaigns in the other titles...a true enjoyment to play...you guys did excellent!! :bow:

[The SNAFU]

This campaign has a unique combination of static battles in fortified positions in some areas and wide open mobile warfare in others. This AAR is tremendously enjoyable.

[enigma6584]

It is indeed a lot of fun to follow.

[larsonney]

Sorry for the delay in updating our struggle gents...

I almost have Day 4 ready to post...and we are drawing to a close on Day 5, so hopefully I can get two days worth of action posted in the near future...

Just a teaser...lots of action going on...it's getting very interesting as Day 5 draws to a close...:smoke:

[Witblitz]

Just a side Q - -what map and unit mods are you using? looks nice

[larsonney]

Just a side Q - -what map and unit mods are you using? looks nice

I use Volcano Man's unit mods & Jison's map mods...they really make game play great for me...yes, I'm visual!

Jon

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I guess I could post the links...

Volcano Man's...

http://www.volcanomods.com/

Jison's Map mods...

http://www.hist-sdc.com/MapMod/index.htm

Jon

[Witblitz]

Just a side Q - -what map and unit mods are you using? looks nice

I use Volcano Man's unit mods & Jison's map mods...they really make game play great for me...yes, I'm visual!

Jon

---

I guess I could post the links...

Volcano Man's...

http://www.volcanomods.com/

Jison's Map mods...

http://www.hist-sdc.com/MapMod/index.htm

Jon

Thx! --

[larsonney]

KHARKOV ’43 GRAND CAMPAIGN---Day 4

Day Four saw the big red bear really get going! The fluid front consisted of both heavy engagements, particularly in the south, and cat & mouse encirclement skirmishes elsewhere.

North Front
The Russian 40th Army finally appeared at mid-day, with 4 rifle divisions appearing in front of the 168th Infantry division & the 88th Infantry Kampfgruppen. Because of the situation to the south, in front of Kharkov, the decision was made to fall back on Belgorod to shorten our defense lines. The fighting withdrawal began by mid-afternoon and is expected to last through day 5.



The Grossdeutschland was originally tasked with defending southeast of Korocha, but the disintegration of the center (more on that later) forced the division to move just north of Belgorod. The division got there by late afternoon and is expected to rest all of day 5. The division is around 70% strength and heavily fatigued. We need to get this division rested and refitted since it will be the linchpin of the northern flank in the coming days.



Center Front

The 3rd Tank Army pushed west along the Budarka-Volchansk Highway over 20km on day 4, seriously threatening the majority of Das Reich to the southeast. The Recon battalion was assigned the overwhelming job of slowing down the assault, but they were only partially successful, with the armor reserves of Das Reich having to be committed by late afternoon to slow the 3rd Tank’s relentless drive. Having to commit the reserves here would cause problems for us farther south, but we saw no alternative. If 3rd Tank Army gets Volchansk before Das Reich is across the Donets, we risk losing the entire division.



The 12th Tank Corps used the night to shift slightly northwest of Verilkiy Burlok, and day 4 saw a vicious push by the Red Army to sever the highway to Volchansk. The Deutschland regiment had to launch numerous local counterattacks to keep the road open…if 12th Tank Army severs the road, Das Reich dies in the frozen tundra between it and the Donets. As the sun rises on day 5, Das Reich had done what they do best…get the job done and kill Russians! But the pyrrhic victory comes at a horrific cost…the regiment is decimated and tattering on the edge of breaking. What’s left of the regiment will attempt to move west to safety on day 5.



With the 12th Army’s push north of Verilkiy Burlok , the recon battalion of the SS LAH PzG division and most of the exhausted companies of the Der Fuhrer regiment turned southwest and used the slushy country roads to make their way towards the Donets.



Day 4 saw no Russian units spotted on the main highway to Chuguev, so once they released, the 2nd panzer grenadier regiment of Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was ordered to withdraw west of the Donets.



The final death rattle for the 525th infantry regiment of the 298th infantry division is occurring around Novonikolayevka…more brave soldiers of the Reich being lost in the meatgrinder…



The cat and mouse game for the 320th INF Division’s 586th regiment continued on day 4. 1 company became trapped around Dovgalevia, but the rest of the division continues to fall back west. The lack of multiple enemy armor units is the main reason we have been able to keep the 106th Rifle Brigade at arm’s length.



The south is up next...

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Here is the rest...

South Front

At Petroyskaya, the two Russian divisions fought throughout the day, finally flanking the northern flank of the 681st regiment of the 333rd infantry by late afternoon. This development caused the regiment to begin withdrawing west.



To the south, the 680th regiment of the 333rd infantry division at Barvenkovo was quickly encircled by the 3rd Tank Corps from Mobile Group Popov. The Russians did not launch a full assault, preferring to let the German boys run low on food and ammo. We expect a push to clear the city on day 5. Requests from the regiment for assistance were greeted by Herr Hitler’s standing order…No retreat!!



Southeast Front

With the encirclement of Barvenkovo, 3rd Panzer was placed in a quandary…force march west to help their infantry brethren or push north to Cherkasskoye to apply pressure on Slavyansk? As usual, the illusion of the Germans having a decision in this offensive was wrong…a Soviet push southeast from Slavyansk at first light decided the matter…3rd panzer could not help the infantry to the west, they must push north to prevent a collapse of III Panzer Korps. The open flank of 3rd Panzer is worrisome, but we must take the calculated risk…

The crack 11th Panzer is detraining at Druzhkovka, and another decision awaits us as day 5 unfolds…do we send the savvy veterans of one of the best divisions in the East northwest or northeast? Northwest creates a powerful 2-division thrust south of Slavyansk that the Russians would be hard-pressed to stop. Northeast keeps the punch-drunk 7th Panzer from collapsing and the entire southeast sector from being rolled up. Too bad the decisions are so easy in this campaign…



Southeast of Slavyansk, the Russians crossed their bridgeheads and pushed the 7th Panzer from the heights, threatening to rupture the III Panzer Korps front. By mid-afternoon, another tank corps appeared in the vicinity of Nikolayevka, right on the seam of 7th & 19th Panzer’s divisional lines. This caused another withdrawal order (and a bit of panic) for 7th Panzer to try to stabilize the threat.

The appearance of the new Russian Tank Corps also abruptly ended the limited counter-attack of the 19th & 27th Panzer divisions, but not before over 5 battalions of the 38th Guards Rifle Division were removed from the available force roster of the Russians. This small but effective counter-attack should facilitate the withdrawal of the extreme east flank of III Pz Korps and means that 2 of the 3 original infantry divisions in this sector should be below 50% effectiveness.



Summary

Overall, the campaign is becoming very interesting! After 4 complete days of fighting, some major points can be noted from the German perspective:
• The continuous action is reaching a critical point for the Germans…The Grossdeutschland, Das Reich, & 7th Panzer (particularly the latter 2) have been pushed to the point of exhaustion. Our opponents have steadily increased the pressure each day, to the point that we are unable to disengage and rest these crack units (Obviously, part of their plan).
• Our opponents, with the benefit of hindsight, have not made the historical mistake that Vatutin’s Southwestern Front did…instead concentrating on destroying 1st Panzerarmee to avoid any counterattacks on the southern push to Kharkov. With the lack of infantry divisions in this area, the panzer divisions get stuck in the meat grinder and lose their offensive punch.
• The Germans, particularly the Panzer Divisions, are still superior when toe-to-toe with the Russians…the key is to plan and wait for those key moments when a decisive meeting engagement can turn the tide in a particular area…easier said than done!
Day 5 should be a blast…