From the Front - Bunker Assault!

[Dog Soldier]

The 5th and 6th of July II SS Panzerkorps scenarios are quite different in their setup. On the 5th, it takes the SS longer to get to the Soviet line in strength and they don't have a lot of armor.

No, I disagree that the July 5th & 6th scenarios in the II SS PzK sector are fundamentally different. There is just more bunkers in the July 5th scenario as this was the first line of defense and more dense than the secondary line of defense encountered the next day on the 6th.

They also need to breach 5-6 bunker/pillbox lines. III Panzerkorps also needs to break through about 6 bunker lines, with staggered activation of its units on the 5th. XXXXVIII Panzerkorps has armour from fairly early on, but it needs to cross terrain that can only be crossed in T mode through 2 bunker lines, followed by another bunker line behind it, though you could also concentrate on a certain point there are you decide how to approach the objectives.

That makes the 5th of July scenarios fundamentally different, as on the 6th the SS is in place to make a good breakthrough in a handful of turns due to starting more or less next to the Soviet bunker Soviet line at the start of the scenario.

I would like to point out that in the July 5th scenario in the II SS PzK sector the game begins at night just before dawn. The Germans have a battalion available to clear the initial Russian positions that can see the approach of the rest of the the LAH division when it moves out at dawn.

The Russians are fixed in their bunker lines until they spot German units the majority of the game. That reflects the orders of the higher Soviet command to the front line Soviet formations to hold in place. Such orders were not disregarded.
The German LAH division player has a lot of flexibility due to this to approach the bunker lines of the first MLD at Kursk on the Southern Front.

30 StuG assault guns backed up by 14 Tigers appear at 07:00 (turn 9 or 38). A little less than 25% of the game has elapsed since then allowing the Axis player to recon and clear the initial first line of bunkers. This powerful armor group will support clearing the rest of the first line and the penetration of the second belt of defenses which took months to prepare and only one day for LAH and Das Reich to penetrate.

Along with all the ATG batteries attached to the PzGr battalions of the LAH division and with elements of the Das Riech PzGr division that start on the right of the LAH division make for a powerful force for a single Guards Rifle division (52nd) to contend with.

I just thought people should know...

Dog Soldier