New Kiev November Campaign Variant loaded

[Ricky B]

Having played through the Kiev November Campaign once from each side, my opponent and I decided to try a version with strategy choices for both sides to open things up a bit and add the unexpected to the play. The new variation is here: https://www.theblitz.club/scenarios/pzc-...o&id=14575.

In our first play through, myself as Soviets, TET2 decided to throw the mass of German mobile forces into the Kiev area. The result was Kiev being held for more than 100 turns, but the German manpower being chewed up by artillery fire. Meanwhile, I as the Soviets slowly advanced in the other areas and eventually shifted most of the mobile out of the Kiev area and pushed west, drawing many of the German forces that way. It was definitely a grinding war of attrition, with no breakthroughs of significance, until finally the Germans gave up as manpower dwindled.

In the second game, for which I will do a more in depth AAR, I was German and TET2 played the Soviets. I immediately committed the German mobile forces to attacking, with one division destroying one of the small Soviet bridgeheads north of Kiev and then moving further north to stabilize the lines, while the 10 PzGr moved south to join a massed assault on the Bukrin bridgehead. I knew the Soviets would struggle to take Kiev quickly, and would aim to fight a delaying action there in order to destroy Soviet forces in other areas. However, TET2 didn't attack Kiev directly, instead sending the tank army and cavalry north. When they struck, they caused me some problems but the tank army was spread out and suffering from fuel issues. greatly limiting the impact. Meanwhile, once I had the reinforcing division deployed in the south, the 5 mobile divisions and supporting infantry divisions struck and crushed the bridgehead. We ended the game at that point as freeing up almost all of the southern German mobile forces to move north would have led to mass destruction of the Soviets.

So we talked about it and to avoid the pre-knowledge of each side that led to our prior play throughs, I created teh strategy choices. In summary, they are:

• The Soviets can deploy their tank army in the south, just outside of the Bukrin bridgehead, allowing them to re-enter the bridgehead, or throw up a new bridge and attach across the river northwest of the existing bridgehead. This deployment happens earlier than the historical release near Kiev as the forces aren't marching north as far.
  
• Or they can deploy historically in the center, appearing on the turn they historically released/entered action.
  
• Or they can deploy in the north, appear a day or so later than the historical release time near Kiev due to the time needed to deploy further north.
  

• The German player can choose to deploy the 8th Panzer Div historically, near Kiev - and thus able to support either the Kiev area or move south to support there if the player finds the tank army shows up in the south.
  
• Or in the north, a turn later than the historical release, to stiffen the defenses covering a much more open area than around Kiev.
  

We just finished playing that and found it definitely opened up the play. The Soviet tank army deployed in the north and so did the 8th Pz. The net result was the entire northern part of the German forces being destroyed, and then the reinforcing 25th Pz Div, but meanwhile the action around Kiev and the Bukrin bridgehead eventually turned in the German favor, although it took nerves of steel to focus on the plan, to contain the forces in Bukrin, while having the game reinforcements move northwest to stop the Soviets. A blast of a battle. If you give it a try, please share some feedback.