Dnepropetrovsk - part 1 scenario

[Fhil]

Gentlemen,

I´m happy to release this piece of my work here finally!   (soon to be uploaded)
It´s a medium sized scenario, 68 turns long. As you can see in the name, it´s the first part (out of three) that together cover the battle for Dnepropetrovsk that took place during August-September 1941. The scenario itself went trhough a few rounds of updates based on the playtests, I think that this version is now suitable for release.

The scenario is a result of a larger project I´m working on with Kharkov ´42 - the whole second battle of Kharkov campaign mod. The changes I´m implementing in this mod are many (complete list can be found within the file of this scenario) and are changing the gameplay very much. I was collecting all these ideas during the years of playing these great games, especially my favorite Eastern Front theatre. While working on the OOB of the Axis side, I´ve realized that I need some test ground for all these changes, otherwise I can find myself updating the whole OOB everytime something comes as not working properly. So, I´ve checked the map - what smaller battle can I test it on? What about something not covered in the main game, where I can build the OOB from the scratch? What about exploiting this interesting map, with something from 1941 battles. I´ve checked the front maps from 1941 and found out that the soonest fighting took place in the Dnepropetrovsk area already in August!

I was able to find some material about this battle, mostly in books mainly covering other aspects of the front (Kiev, Rostov, Italian expeditionary force, SS Wiking division etc.) that had also a chapter or parts regarding Dnepropetrovsk fighting. Collecting smaller and bigger pieces of the mosaic, I got a picture of a brutal campaign of it´s own, lasting one month, costing hundreds and thousands of lifes on both sides and accross many nations (Germans, Italians, Hungarians, then Waffen-SS Wiking division´s volunteers from northern nations of Norway, Sweden, Denmark etc, plus the soldiers of the Red Army´s divisions), as well as an incredible ammounts of resources. Germans had seized the city, even created a bridgehead on the other side, a fact that many regreted in the light of problems they´ve experienced while maintaining it. STAVKA used best and most of it´s resources in a desperate attempt to destroy this bridgehead...



This first part is the biggest of the three scenarios (the other two are for 75-80% completed, but not playtested yet), covering the beginning of this mostly unknown chapter. Both players have a chance here, what will decide will be the skill and tactics of players. As I´ve said, there are vast changes here, and it won´t be for everybody. You can´t play these scenarios as shooter games, but rather will be forced to more realistic tactics - Schwerpunkt on the german side for sure.

German player will have to break through some prepared defences and he has to due it smart, attacking blindly everywhere at once will cost too much in casualties (and there won´t be enough resources for doing this), what can result in the victory slipping away even before the tough city fighting begins. Soviet player has a very hard task as well - to try to defend the city, or evacuate it without loosing as few forces as possible while inflicting as many casualites to the enemy as possible and denying the bridgehead to the enemy. There are some nice pieces at his disposal - T-34s and KVs which are tough to knock out.

Once I will finish the other two scenarios, I will include some Designer´s notes with the last one, where all the interesting facts about this battle will be stated.




I highly recommend to read the changes document, in order to avoid any surprises. Also, this scenario probably won´t work well without the ALT fire resolution rules, as it´s the core of the mod, it was not even tested without these rules. Explicit Supply is highly recommended.



There is a lot that I would like to write here, both regarding the battle itself, the scenario´s design or the creation process, but let´s leave that for later. There are also some things (especially the Russian units´ names) that will need updates after receiving some feedback from the players.

Meanwhile, let me express many thanks to the gentlemen that are helping me by playtesting the scenario, especially Paul Krysztofiak and Jason Rice, they both were very patient and went through those rounds of scenarios updates and gave me much valuable feedback and suggestions, many thanks guys! :)

For those that would be interested in playtesting the other scenarios, here are some screenshot from some more scenarios

[Ricky B]

I have uploaded Fhil's scenario, thanks for the contribution Fhil! It is here: https://www.theblitz.club/scenarios/b-15.htm or through the scenario listings.

One word of caution, that Fhil and I are discussion. When I installed this and took a look, when I open the artillery dialog I can see the artillery units that can target enemy units, but the enemy hexes that can be targeted by an artillery unit are NOT highlighted in a red box for me any longer. That is for any Kharkov '42 scenario. That should be easily fixable but I have not figured out how to do that yet.

Rick

[Mr Grumpy]

Good job, nice to see there are still members out there creating Mod scenarios for our DB. 

[76mm]

Great work, looks interesting!