Kharkov '43 Grand Campaign AAR---from the Russian side

[larsonney]

Kharkov '43 Grand Campaign Intro Part I

KHARKOV ’43 GRAND CAMPAIGN---Opening Thoughts from the Russian side

Arkan & I have now switched sides, and we will be retaking the beloved earth of the motherland from the hated Hun in the Grand Campaign of Kharkov ‘43

The Russian side consists of two fronts…the Voroenzh Front, commanded by Arkan, and the Southwestern Front, commanded by Larsonney. We are commanding the same sectors as we did when we were Germans, so we are familiar with the force dispositions of the enemy.

Here are the initial dispositions and our strategies…

North Front
The Russian 40th Army begins the game along the northern map edge, fixed until February 5th, 3 days hence. This Army gets some massive help on February 7th, so the northern push here will be strong, but delayed. Obviously, this area is expected to be quiet for a few days.





Center Front
---69th Army---
In the north, or right flank of the initial offensive, sits the 69th Army. This Army is almost all “D” quality units, so they will try to keep the pressure on the Grossdeutschland PZG division that faces them.



The Army does have a tank brigade attached to it, which we plan on using to try and pocket German units, if they choose to stay & fight.



69th Army’s general axis of advance is towards Volchansk, protecting the right flank of the drive on Kharkov, eventually linking up with 40th Army to its right.



---3rd Tank Army---
Definitely the most powerful unit in the center thrust on Kharkov is General Rybalko’s 3rd Tank Army. With a Cavalry corps, 5+ Rifle Divisions, assorted tank & destroyer brigades, & a healthy dose of artillery brigades, this Army packs a punch.



The real power arrives in the first 3 days of battle…2 full strength Tank Corps to exploit any initial breakthroughs. The plan is to go full speed west with this army!The immediate goal is to push towards Veriliky Burlock, then head towards Volchansk, hopefully trapping Grossdeutschland before it can get across the Donets.



---6th Army---
South of 3rd Tank Army is the 6th Army, mostly consisting of infantry divisions. This Army will be tasked with destroying the German 298th infantry division, then marching west to Chuguev. This will not only protect the flank of 3rd Tank, but keep the Hun busy with a direct threat to Kharkov.





The extreme southern part of the Army boundary has Izyum, so 6th Army will coordinate with 1st Guards Tank Army to capture this strategic city.

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South Front

The Southwestern Front is in charge of the offensive in the south, and it is a curious mix of strength & weaknesses.

---1st Guards Army---
This Army is strung out across many kilometers, with Mobile Group Popov in the middle. As mentioned earlier, the 35th Guards Rifle will assist in the capture of Izyum. The rest of the Army will be tasked with capturing Slavyansk and protecting the southern flank of Mobile Group Popov.



---Mobile Group Popov---
This exciting Army is both steel & paper in strength. A lot of tank brigades, but very little holding power due to an extreme lack of infantry!
The 4th Guards Tank Corp will push west to Barvenkovo to capture the supply dump there. The rest of Popov is frozen for the first two days of the campaign, so we will wait and see what occurs in the south to determine where Popov goes. The Germans will have 5+ panzer divisions in this area by Day 5, so initiative is expected to pass to them. What will they do?





Below is the map of Strategic Plan, with phase one expected to last 2 weeks.

[Strela]

Looking forward to this one - keep in mind there is a new test version that nueters the German's a bit to prevent them counterattacking too early in the piece.

That said, you are both experienced players so you know the possibilities! :)

[larsonney]

We are in day 5 already...it is a completely different game, that's for sure! I hope to post the first two days in the next few weeks.

Jon

[Dog Soldier]

Strela,

It appears this game is using explicit supply instead of the VST supply rules used in the last game. That might change the German mobility as they will be "tethered" to the Axis supply dumps. Add that there are mostly horse drawn supply wagons for either side at start and I can not imagine the German Panzer / PzGr divisions having the kind of mobility they enjoyed in the last the game AAR posted here by Lars. Supply trucks appear later as reinforcements for both sides.

The Axis supply train units are an interesting design touch Strela. Kudos.

On the other hand Mobile Group Popov is likewise a misnomer being supplied by horse carts.

Maybe you can give some background for the explicit supply design? I can only assume it is a difficult thing to pull off a good supply model using explicit supply as this is such a long scenario with many more units involved than was the case of the desert game titles where explicit supply was introduced to the game series.

Dog Soldier

[Strela]

Dog Soldier,

Good question. We did all the larger game testing with explicit supply on. This was based on the fact that both sides (but particularly the Russians) had problems supplying their spearheads. This shows up in particular later in the game where supply is coming from the board edge and it takes a long time to get to the troops. In the main I have a personal preference for VST, but Kharkov needed explicit supply to work properly in a historical context.

The amount of supply delivered each day was tweaked a few times - but the major determinant was the amount of mechanized formations for a side. As supply represents both ammo and fuel, a tank/motorized based unit will chew up supply when in contact. This forces pauses at various times to replenish and in the 'Stemming the Flow' AAR that I posted here on the Blitz, the German counterattack was dictated by the supply situation. It was interesting to see how any form of interdiction of the highways / railways could have an outsized impact. One of the players in the AAR escorted all his supply trucks with recon type units to protect them!

In the campaign game, both sides are in range of forward dumps that should last at least three days. Truck bound supply (plus rail for the Germans) start arriving from day two on. This gives a chance for the supply to start flowing from the map edges but also forces both sides to worry about their transportation routes. Trucks are the predominate type - so there is not an artificial slowing due to all horse bound supply.

Trains were included for the Germans for two reasons - limit the amount of flexibility they had as well as make the towns on major rail nexus important. The Soviets drove to the south for the exact reason of cutting off the German east/west communication. They actually succeeded for a short time and the attack from the march(train) by 15th Infantry Division at Sinel'nikovo was to reopen the rail line.

So, explicit supply worked well to represent the difficulty of advancing a long way away from your supply source, while representing the importance of protecting your rear area transportation hubs - which in the very open nature of the Kharkov '43 battle harder than it sounds....


David

PS VST does work well in many (most?) situations, Kharkov was a special case, with a situation not dissimilar to the desert titles.

[Indragnir]

Bulge also. But players seem they don't like it. It gives the game a very historic feel.

Bests
César

[raizer]

I was in the wrong thread...day 5 in this one-which is the turn we sovs (keith and I) submitted and I think day 5 was also the turn indragnir submitted to keith and I when we were germans.
How are the soviets holding out in this one, on day 5?