Panzer Battles - Komarovka 1944 - Available for Download

[Strela]

Hi All,

Chris M over at The Sharp End Gaming blog has posted his latest scenario for Panzer Battles - Kursk.

You can get this brand new scenario (with original map & OOB) from here;

http://thesharpendgaming.blogspot.com/20...lable.html


The scenario description etc is as follows;

This is a small fictional scenario for Panzer Battles.  The setting is 10km east of Narva, Estonia and the Soviet 2nd Shock Army is probing the German lines.

Scenario Description:

March 5, 1944 06:00hrs   Komarovka, Estonia:    The German army is retreating across Estonia to the strong point of Narva and it's medieval fortifications.  In early March, the III SS Panzer Corps is fighting a series of rearguard actions as the defensive line is fortified behind them.    At Komarovka, 10kms east of Narva. 6 Coy II Bn of the 47 SS Gren Regt is conducting a reconnaissance in strength with a platoon of Tiger I tanks from the 502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion.  The new II battalion commander Major Alfons Rebane is leading the probe when they run into the forward elements of a mixed force of Soviet rifle infantry and armor from the 2nd Shock Army.    Complicating matters, the lead Tiger has run out of gas just outside of the village.  Rebane, a native Estonian, decides to hold his ground against the Soviets until the Tiger tank can be removed to the rear.  His plan is to occupy the old German defensive positions here and hold them indefinitely.


Turn length: 20 turns


David

[nim8or]

Very nice, thank-you for the notification.

[ComradeP]

I appreciate the work put into this scenario and the Crimea scenarios.

The long visibility ranges are problematic because they allow most units to be spotted on turn 1, including many artillery units. This results in balance issues as neither side can move units around without being spotted. If you have low quality units, like the Soviets, it also leads to numerous disruptions from long range OP fire.

In the current game, the effect of small vehicle units is reduced by the way vehicle units are handled, so although the Tigers in Komarovka are more potent than the ones in Franz' Excellent Adventure for Kursk, they don't make much of an impression on the attacking force.

In the case of Komarovka, you have to hold back a regiment with 4 C quality Rifle company battalions supported by a Tank company with a single company of infantry and a platoon of tanks. This results in the Germans being killed quickly as soon as the Soviets arrive at their position.

The Tigers and AT guns seem to be able to take care of the T-34's, although I still lost some Tigers fairly randomly, but as soon as the mass of Soviet infantry arrived around turn 12, my infantry was quickly cut down.

I don't know how the historical engagement went, but this might be one of those case where the game can't replicate a small force stopping a much larger force.

At the moment, you can still get a draw if you knock out a few T-34's and retreat back into the woods in the west, let the Soviets capture the objective, and hide for the remaining turns, but that's not an interesting way to play the scenario.

[Hillrat]

I appreciate the work put into this scenario and the Crimea scenarios.

The long visibility ranges are problematic because they allow most units to be spotted on turn 1, including many artillery units. This results in balance issues as neither side can move units around without being spotted. If you have low quality units, like the Soviets, it also leads to numerous disruptions from long range OP fire.

In the current game, the effect of small vehicle units is reduced by the way vehicle units are handled, so although the Tigers in Komarovka are more potent than the ones in Franz' Excellent Adventure for Kursk, they don't make much of an impression on the attacking force.

In the case of Komarovka, you have to hold back a regiment with 4 C quality Rifle company battalions supported by a Tank company with a single company of infantry and a platoon of tanks. This results in the Germans being killed quickly as soon as the Soviets arrive at their position.

The Tigers and AT guns seem to be able to take care of the T-34's, although I still lost some Tigers fairly randomly, but as soon as the mass of Soviet infantry arrived around turn 12, my infantry was quickly cut down.

I don't know how the historical engagement went, but this might be one of those case where the game can't replicate a small force stopping a much larger force.

At the moment, you can still get a draw if you knock out a few T-34's and retreat back into the woods in the west, let the Soviets capture the objective, and hide for the remaining turns, but that's not an interesting way to play the scenario.

Hi Comrade. thanks for the feedback. I think you are right about the visibility and I will tweak that to reflect the wintry conditions and what would have been poor visibility.  I've had a little more success holding the Russians back by shooting and scooting with the Tigers.  I've played the scenario a number of times and held onto the objective once as the Germans.   The AI wasn't too great that time and fed the infantry into a meat grinder in the center of the village.  This is a fictional scenario though, based on some historical commanders and units.  Could this German unit have held back a Soviet force of this size in reality? I don't know.

[Hillrat]

I've tweaked the scenario and reduced the visibility to a max of 8. Thanks again for the feedback!

[ComradeP]

I played it against myself, to see what kind of moves would be possible.

I like the restrictions the weather/ground state impose on movement in these winter conditions.

A setup of, say, a German battalion with mortar support vs. the current Soviet force with 2 objectives on the map might work in terms of balance, I think. The Soviets are numerous, but slow, and their SA ratings are not great as usual. The main issue would be the numerous mortars, but those take time to move within range.