Kharkov '43 Grand Campaign AAR

[larsonney]

KHARKOV ’43 GRAND CAMPAIGN---Opening Thoughts

Four Blitz gamers have embarked on a quest of unparalleled magnitude…the 445-turn grand campaign game for Kharkov ’43. This is the story from the German side…played by Pierre (Arkan) and Jon (Larsonney). Our opponents are Robert (Raizer) & Keith (Hoff)…who gave scouts honor to not read this until it’s over!!

This campaign is unique since it does not have the traditional victory hex format per se. Per the games notes…

Included in the first patch of Kharkov ‘43 is a Grand Campaign that includes all starting forces and reinforcements for the six weeks from February 2nd to March 18th. This scenario was not originally included as the victory point system for Panzer Campaigns did not represent well the capture and loss of locations over time. For this reason, three smaller campaigns were included representing each of the major phases of the campaign.

To allow the Grand Campaign to more closely follow history a new method for determining victory has been included. Instead of determining victory only at the end of the campaign, there is an interim victory determination at the end of each of the three major phases of the Kharkov ’43 campaign. Based upon the results of each of the phases a winner for the scenario can be determined.

I will leave you to read the rest from the grand campaign notes included in Kharkov ’43. Let’s get started!!

Overall, we plan on trying to withdraw all the forces of Army Detachment Kempf west across the Severnyy Donets River…a fighting withdrawal where the priority is to not lose units…better to get them out mangled than have them trapped. Obviously, this is easier said than done.
In the southeast, the existing (on-map) divisions of 1st Panzer Army will hold/push north, waiting for the rest of 1st Panzer Army’s divisions to arrive.
The unknown is what our opponents plan to do with Mobile Group Popov. Will they push south and threaten to encircle 1st Panzer Army? Or will they push west to Barvenkovo, then north-west to Kharkov?
The direction of the campaign lies in their hands…

German Strategy
Here are the initial force dispositions…if only we could see the Russians with this amount of clarity during the game!

A simple glance will tell you we (the Germans) have a problem…the Russians have a 35+ Kilometer hole to push through south-east of Kharkov. More on that headache later…let’s start in the North first…

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North Front
The 88th & 168th face 4 rifle divisions from the 40th Army that don’t get going for 3 days, on February 5th.
This area is expected to be fairly quiet the first day…with the right flank of the 168th being the question as the Russian 69th Army gets going to the east…

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Northeast Front-Part I
Ahh…the joys of being an elite division in the Wermacht…the Grossdeutschland PZG division has a 45+ hex front to hold. Directly opposite them is 69th Army…4 rifle divisions plus another rifle brigade, a destroyer (AT) brigade, and a tank brigade.
We expect to start pulling the GD division back slowly, shielding the 168th INF div south of Korocha.

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Northeast Front-Part II
Just south of the Grossdeutschland lies a 1/3rd of the 2nd SS Das Reich PZG Division…of course they are facing the northern arm of the Russian 3rd Guards Army…namely 4 rifle divisions plus a destroyer AT brigade.
As with the GD DIV, we expect to start the 2nd SS division back slowly west. The catch here is that the right flank of the Deutschland is open and the mobile forces of 3rd Tank Army are here…so we plan on a quick exit if needed....which…would force GD to accelerate their pullback as well.

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Center Front
Here is the critical spot in the German line (except, of course, for the gaping hole farther south ). The 6th SS Polizei RGT is just north of the 298th INF Division. The 6th SS is a sub-par unit standing in the way of the explosive part of 3rd Tank Army and the 6th Guards Calvary Corps. Historically, they collapsed and allowed the Russians to eventually surround and annihilate the 298th.
We plan on immediately pulling both the 6th SS & 298th back in a fighting withdrawal towards the Donets River. Our hope is to get the majority of these units across the Donets to help bolster the defense of Kharkov. However, as my dad used to tell me, “Hope in one hand & spit in the other, see which one fills up faster”! 

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