Slitherine

DESCRIPTION AND DISCLAIMER (!!)

As someone who classes themselves as merely a "competent, but experienced" war and strategy gamer whilst being a WW2 nerd (Kampfgruppe on the C64 was my first computer wargame and I have seen Tiger 131 trundle around the ring at the Bovington Tank Museum's Tankfest), I am taking the opportunity to share my efforts to "learn on the job" with a reasonable understanding of the game mechanics and general tactical principles. This will not be the place to discover amazing new min/max wrinkles or how to wring the most efficiency out of every single prestige point turn.

It will be the diary of the XIX Panzer Corps' adventures on the Ostfront, for good or ill. Mistakes will be made, flashes of genius will (hopefully) happen and the bonds of comradeship will knit its fighting men together in the forge of battle against the red hordes.

I will attempt to role play it a bit and not every single turn and nuance will make it into the Corps reports. Bear with me

Loving the sound of this - good luck Herr General. Remember failure will not be tolerated!

Welcome reader to the reports and diaries of XIX Panzer Corps, as submitted to and compiled by myself Major Anthony (Tony) Collins - formerly of London, England and latterly a volunteer and graduate of officer training in the Wehrmacht. I served as commander of 2nd Company, Panzer-Regiment 3, 3 Panzer Division in the campaigns of 1940; I have since received the honour of a promotion and appointment as adjutant to Generalleutnant Baron Von Walrus, commander of XIX Corps. It will be both my duty and honour to submit Corps reports from the front as our crusade to rid the world of Bolshevism carries us to victory!

It is worth noting Herr General's personal qualities and connections in Germany. He is known as a logistical wizard and has carefully "acquired" a team of seasoned supply experts, meaning we are able to provide the "guns & butter" for perhaps 25 % more vehicles and personnel than many other formations; he has family contacts in MAN and participates fully in prototype evaluation programmes; lastly, he and his subordinate commanders know how to make envelopments watertight to enemy supply lines. On the other hand, the Reich finds ways to delay some of our requests for regimental refits (perhaps someone at the ministry is jealous of his connections?), our focus on essential supplies means we have to forego our share of proper "bunker busting" HE ammo and we operate a policy of sticking zealously to the proscribed battalion and regimental strengths.

Elements of XIX Corps saw action previously in Poland, Norway, Belgium and France. As of 20th June 1941, our Order of Battle was:

3 Panzer Division:
Panzer-Regiment 3 (Pz IIIH)
Panzer-Regiment 9 (Pz IVE)
Pioniere-Abt 93 (SdKfz 251)
Schwere-Panzerjager-Abt 300 (Sturer Emil prototype)
Aufklarung-Abt 3 (SdKfz 232)
Sturm-Abteilung 203 (StuG IIIB)
Bruckenpioniere-Abt 19 attached

10 Panzer Division:
Panzer-Regiment 10 (Pz IIIH)
Panzer-Regiment 13 (Pz IIIH)
Pioniere-Abt 100 (mot)
Panzerjager-Abt 10 (PzJg IB)


49 Infanterie Division (Mot):
Infanterie-Regiment 49 (mot)
Infanterie-Regiment 149 (mot)
Pioniere-Abt 49 (mot)
Artillerie-Regiment 49 (150mm, SdKfz 7)
Panzerjager-Abt 49 (PzJg IB)
Sturm-Abteilung 209 (StuG IIIB)

25 Infanterie Division:
Infanterie-Regiment 25
Infanterie-Regiment 125
Pioniere-Abt 25
Artillerie-Regiment 25(150mm, SdKfz 7)

JG26:
Gruppe I (Bf 109E)
Gruppe II (Bf 109E)
Gruppe III (Bf 109E)

ZG 99:
Gruppe I (Bf 110C)
Gruppe II (Bf 110D)
Gruppe III (Bf 110D)

StG 3:
Gruppe I (JG 87B)

KG 88 (in reserve):
Gruppe I (Ju 88A)
Gruppe II (He 111H2)
Gruppe III (Do 217E)

For a second, I thought you had the Condor Legion in reserve. But then I realized I mixed my Kampfgruppes and Kampfgeschwaders.

21st June 1941

As part of Army Group South, we are to be relied upon to thrust into the Ukraine from our jumping-off points near Lublin. The General's plan is to secure Kowel and maneuver 3 Panzer SE to act as a bulwark against Soviet reinforcements whilst 25 Infanterie and 49 Motorised Divisions will secure Przemsyl and Lvov. 10 Panzer has detrained in Iasi to secure our southern flank and it, along with our Romanian allies, will look for opportunities to make inroads where possible. The core of our air assets have been deployed to the Romanian airbase at Cernauti to guard against any attempt to bomb a way through the - to be fair - moderately armed Romanian units in the area. This may leave us somewhat light if the Red Air Force is present in strength near Lvov and Kowel, however.

22nd June 1941

I beg to report that initial progress to plan has been good. I have received the following images from the Army Group's air reconnaissance flight:

3 Panzer in action east of Lvov:



Romanians holding their own around Cernauti:



10 Panzer with Romanian support making a push from Iasi:



25 and elements of 49 Infanterie in action around Przemsyl:

Kerensky wrote: ↑Tue Apr 28, 2020 9:26 pm For a second, I thought you had the Condor Legion in reserve. But then I realized I mixed my Kampfgruppes and Kampfgeschwaders.

Think you might be right and I'm the one mixing it up. I blame the good monks at Sint-Sixtus Abdij in Flanders and my dwindling supply of Westvleteren 12. Lockdown = no resupply runs across the Channel!

26th June 1941

49 Infanterie and Assault elements of 3 Panzer advance to seal the fate of the Lvov garrison, whilst Herr General's doctrine of using Bf 110s actively in support of fighter groups continues to pay off. Consolidation at Lvov is the next step, to ensure that the leg and motorised infanterie divisions are not left behind. 3 and 10 Panzer cannot be expected to assault the urban centres of Zhitomir and Vinnytsa - even with Romanian and 3 Panzer's organic assault units - without considerable cost. We are still operating within the timetable handed down from Group at this stage and, barring the appearance of substantial unknown Soviet reserves, all objectives remain firmly in sight and on schedule.

I like a good narrative AAR - looking forward to more

30th June 1941

After eliminating the last resistance at Lvov and whilst waiting for 25 Infanterie Division to move back up into the main battle formation, I accompanied the General on a visit to 3 Panzer Division where he had asked for a briefing from the regimental commanders and a tour of the front line. The General was welcomed by the black-clad tankers, who joked that the most threatening situation they'd found themselves in was having to button down in the scorching midday sun! They reported that the Red Army tanks thrown against them were of mediocre quality and no match for the concentrated firepower of the division's Panzers.

Further east, 10 Panzer and the Romanians had encountered minimal resistance and were striking deep into the south eastern sector of our area of operation.

1st July 1941

After some minor re-organisation and traffic management issues, the divisional commanders in the main battle group were assigned new objectives - 25 Infanterie Division would link up with the Romanian contingent from Cernauti and advance towards Vinnytsa, 3 Panzer would pivot NE and advance towards Zhitomir whilst 49 (Mot) Infanterie would straddle the gap between them and provide support as needed at both objectives. 10 Panzer had reported total confidence in it's situation and had assured the Corps Command that the towns in the SE sector would be captured without issue over the next few days.

Due to 3 Panzer's slightly conservative doctrine of keeping its units in contact with the devastating guns of its heavy panzerjagers, its forward reconnaissance was limited and the Soviet tank corps' appearance on the field was quite unexpected.



A new model of tank was amongst this substantial force and, whilst they were not invincible, these beasts were not the annoying insects that had been so easily swatted away in previous actions. 3 Panzer allowed the counterattack to come onto them, where the Sturer Emils stood off well beyond the engagement ranges of the Red tanks and knocked out large numbers of them before they could close effectively on the division's other combat elements. Still, the Division requested that the General consider seeking the attachment of some aerial reconnaissance assets from Group. The Soviets briefly retook Kowel and its airfield before the last T34s fled and were soon tracked down and knocked out by planes from ZG 99.



6th July 1941

After defeating this substantial effort by the enemy, the remaining objectives were overcome in fairly predictable fashion and with more than acceptable casualty rates on our side. I was tasked with sending a report back to MAN in Augsburg on the performance of their prototype panzerjagers......that unit alone had claimed the equivalent of 6 Soviet tank regiments without any combat losses of its own! Some engineers and designers would be due a bonus, I was certain!

OUT OF CHARACTER FINDINGS

I love the multi-role flexibility those 3 110s provide. They might not scale up that well as the Reds get better and better units perhaps (who knows, this is going to be my first playthrough after doing Poland to France a few times to get the hang of things) but they helped me establish clear skies quite quickly, they can finish off 1 and 2 strength recon and light tanks, can make dents in static artillery and AT and elite replacements are cheap. Oh, and they have an enormous range!

I also love having more counters to play with! The trade of no overstrength for having both Panzer & Infantry General traits suits my playing style and allowed me to deploy an effective force at Iasi to work through the SE sector without weakening my main front.

The Sturer Emil is quite ridiculous. However, I made sure I had a 109 flying cover above it at all times whilst Red aircraft remained in play which increases its effective cost; I also adopted a "circle the wagons" approach with its parent formation at the expense of recon and fast advances which meant I had no idea that a full Tank Corps including a T34 unit was about to make an appearance! Without it's first, hard, punch, the number of Red tanks in play on the board would have worn down my Panzers heavily and cost me lots of prestige in elite replacements, so perhaps it's not unbalanced at all

It's Kiev next. Let's see how many more slots Army Group South assign to my command.

BaronVonWalrus wrote: ↑Wed Apr 29, 2020 10:22 pm OUT OF CHARACTER FINDINGS

I love the multi-role flexibility those 3 110s provide. They might not scale up that well as the Reds get better and better units perhaps (who knows, this is going to be my first playthrough after doing Poland to France a few times to get the hang of things) but they helped me establish clear skies quite quickly, they can finish off 1 and 2 strength recon and light tanks, can make dents in static artillery and AT and elite replacements are cheap. Oh, and they have an enormous range!

I also love having more counters to play with! The trade of no overstrength for having both Panzer & Infantry General traits suits my playing style and allowed me to deploy an effective force at Iasi to work through the SE sector without weakening my main front.

The Sturer Emil is quite ridiculous. However, I made sure I had a 109 flying cover above it at all times whilst Red aircraft remained in play which increases its effective cost; I also adopted a "circle the wagons" approach with its parent formation at the expense of recon and fast advances which meant I had no idea that a full Tank Corps including a T34 unit was about to make an appearance! Without it's first, hard, punch, the number of Red tanks in play on the board would have worn down my Panzers heavily and cost me lots of prestige in elite replacements, so perhaps it's not unbalanced at all

It's Kiev next. Let's see how many more slots Army Group South assign to my command.

I loved my 110s as well although I only had one unit of them. Good for finishing off damaged aircraft and damaged ground units.

Good first mission

20th August 1941

XIX Panzer Corps has been tasked with eliminating a substantial concentration of surrounded Soviet forces within the massive pocket formed in Northern Ukraine by the successful early weeks of Operation Barbarossa. Whilst the objectives set for us include Kiev itself and it's large, dug-in, defending force, this is perhaps a preferable assignment than slogging through the bogs and wetlands of the Pripyat Marshes further north!

VI Army command considers us well-enough equipped to complete the mission and no new divisions have been assigned to us. General Von Walrus ordered me to leave no stone unturned in getting reinforcements however and, prompted by the firmly-worded suggestions from Generalmajor Clossner, 25 Infanterie-Division, we have been able to replace some of that division's support elements that had been re-organised to other formations in the run-up to Barbarossa.

Order of Battle Changes:

Sturm-Abteilung 325 (StuG IIIB) added to 25 Infanterie Division
Aufklarung-Abt 25 (Pz IIF) added to 25 Infanterie Division

Pioniere-Abt 100 temporarily stood down from 10 Panzer Division and allocated to Corps reserve

III Gruppe, ZG99, loaned to VIII Fliegerkorps
I Gruppe, KG88, deployed from reserve
Flight of Fi-156 Storch attached from Army Group for aerial reconnaissance duties

Improving the combat power of 25 Infanterie Division has been essential, as they have been given the pivotal task of containing the enemy and preventing any breakout attempts from Kiev whilst Corps expects them to create and exploit opportunities to erode the capability of the city's defenders. Herr General's operational plan also calls for 3 & 10 Panzer to link up with blocking elements from Army Group Centre to the north, to cut off Kiev completely and form a pocket within the pocket. I am pleased to be able to share a visualisation of our planned deployment and outline plan with you:

21st August 1941

Of all the days for the NSDAP to send propaganda hunters to our HQ - the Kiev operation is due to start tomorrow! Apparently, these correspondents and their photographers have been touring the front gathering pictures of "Heroes Of The Reich" for consumption on the home front. Our General was having none of it and sent them packing - "Unless you are taking photographs of every single man under my command, you are taking no pictures at all; everyone in my Corps, from the bravest landser and sharpest gunner to the most junior private, mechanic and cook, is a Hero Of The Reich!"

26th August 1941

The bridges at Cherkassy and Kremenchug have been secured without rushing and undue losses, although resistance in 49 (Mot) Infanterie Division's sector is stiffening south of Mirgorod. The main panzer force has just completed its crossing of the Cherkassy bridge and the two divisions will be re-organised and ready to move NW tomorrow. 25 Infanterie, supported by its newly-arrived StuG battalion and the bombers of I Gruppe KG 88, is probing the enemy trench line south of Kiev and progressing with due care and a sensible level of agression as illustrated by this image from our newly-attached Storch flight:



However, of much greater concern was the alarming report the Storchs brought in the previous day - there is an entire Soviet tank army marshalled in the hinterland NE of Kiev, posing a massive threat to the planned advance of 3 & 10 Panzer!



28th August 1941

Soviet communications must be in disarray, or perhaps the commander of what we've learned from prisoners is the 5th Tank Army has orders to stay close to Kiev? Regardless, our orders to 3 & 10 Panzer to consolidate and subdue the Lubny area without advancing towards the Red tank force have not tempted fate yet. What fate awaits the Soviet general once our close air support has turned his tanks into scrap is another matter entirely......



30th August 1941

Well, the enemy seems to have either woken up or shot a general. Forces from 5th Tank Army are now engaged on the western flank of our main panzer force, with Panzer-Regiment 13 especially taking losses. 49 (Mot) Infanterie has bogged down around Mirgorod, thanks to the intervention of a Soviet heavy tank regiment. Our Panzerjager 1Bs and the erstwhile Italian light tank regiment supporting the division are sorely overmatched by these KV-1 monsters, which are also chewing up any infanterie they come across. Herr General ordered 3 Panzer to dispose itself in a manner that would allow a direct engagement of the KV-1 force by Schwere-Panzerjager-Abt 300, as their guns were likely the only ones we had capable of putting a stop to the rampage.



1st September 1941

Reports of something even more monstrous than the KV-1's came into Corps HQ from a panicked radioman in 87th Infanterie Division in Army Group Centre's patch to the North. When we saw the reconnaissance photographs, we understood the reason for his panic - nothing at all in that sector was going to stop those behemoths! We ordered our Stuka wing to rebase near Gomel and, as we had complete air superiority, we knew this move would eventually stablise the situation.....but the sacrifices of the men of the 87th needed to contain those things; well, I doubt the NSDAP propagandists will be dwelling much on those poor souls.





5th September 1941

As we say in England, "it's all over bar the shouting". The rampaging KVs have been knocked out, the Soviet 5th Tank Army lies smoking / abandoned / scrapped on the field, in-theatre replacements for our assaulting pioniere and infanterie regiments are moving up safely where needed and the kettle has been formed at Kiev. We have two more weeks in the planned timetable to boil that kettle and hunt down the remaining static guns and garrisons that our planes are locating around the operational area. We might need most of the time, but the matter has been decided today and the rest is just details.

OUT OF CHARACTER FINDINGS:

The in-game impact of aerial recon is a major plus. I would have unwittingly set up an enormous meeting engagement with my planned thrust NW to seal Kiev early. It's of course true that knowledge is power.

I'm no game designer, but once the bombs started falling on their parked-up tanks and with other units having LOS to my main force (so they can't be invisible to the game AI?), why did the Soviet tank army just sit there and take it for about 3 solid turns? Were they on some sort of location-based proximity trigger? If I was the Soviet player, I would have thrown that armour directly at the Cherkassy bridgehead and crushed it as soon as I was aware that the garrison there had been rolled over, as penetration in force over the river there spells the ultimate unravelling of the defence.

Still, I liked the sense of danger the game AI gave me when it drove that KV-2 over the bridge at Chernigov! If that had happened, with perhaps another tank in support, earlier on.......nasty but fun?

The AI defence at Mirgorod was challenging and a little attritional, which felt "right" to me. I had to give some ground to consolidate and rotate a mauled infantry unit out of the line when that KV-1 showed up - again, it's rewarding to have a tactical problem to solve as the battle develops.

Having looked at some other AARs though, I'm happy that I can have success (at this level anyway) with a fairly realistic corps composition.

All seems well currently for you. The soviet tanks had beaten back and Kiev is in sight.

[quote=best75 post_id=848361 time=1588340969 user_id=48231]
All seems well currently for you. The soviet tanks had beaten back and Kiev is in sight.
[/quote]

Thanks - the final two weeks of the operation were routine mop-up small town captures which I won't bore readers with.

1 Oct 1941

Now is the time to embark on the next stage of our traversal of the Ukraine - into the Don Basin to Rostov, via Kharkov and Belgorod. We have been able to refit our two standard panzerjager regiments with PaKs on half-tracked flatbed vehicles - the PaK 50mm is a good gun and, as long as we keep them shielded from direct or air attack, they should be more useful against the increasing numbers of the dangerous Soviet T34 and KV-1 types that the PzJgr 1Bs were. I apologise for failing to report the full refit of JG26 to the latest Bf 109 variant before our previous operation.

Our outline plan for the Kharkov-Rostov objectives is set out below. Intelligence on enemy concentrations is sparse; there is an obvious flanking route east of Kharkov for mobile forces supported by bruckenpionieres so 3 Panzer will be deployed alongside 25 Infanterie to support the city assaults and exploit the flat plains beyond, looking to sweep down on Rostov from the North. Corps has motorised the bruckenpionieres so they can keep pace.

1 Oct 1941

I have no idea what passed for reconnaissance ahead of our deployment to the jumping-off points, but whatever effort were made weren't good enough. The Soviets, far from being in headlong retreat from our advance, had consolidated and had drawn up a substantial armoured corps within a couple of hours of our deployment zones near Kharkov, prompting an immediate order for 3 Panzer and 25 Infanterie to adopt a robust, combined front and prepare for a measured advance that could easily pivot to a short-term defensive posture.



3 Oct 1941

Supported by air assets, 3 Panzer and 25 Infanterie have remained cohesive and suffered low casualties whilst blunting the Soviet armoured attack. Corps remains confident in the timetable.



Meanwhile, 10 Panzer has reported contact with another Soviet tank corps in its sector west of Stalino, including T34s. I am proud that my humble administrative and liaison work to ensure delivery of our new self-propelled PaK 50s has provided both 10 Panzer and 49 Motorised further south with the means to defend themselves against this threat more effectively.



4 Oct 1941

The Soviets continue to fight bravely to stop our advance before its really begun, but some room for manuever has opened up for 10 Panzer thanks to the seasoned gunners of its panzerjaeger abteilung and their improved PaKs. Who knows what their situation would be like if they were relying on their outclassed PzJgr 1Bs to stop the onslaught?



Nearer Kharvov, Soviet tanks have broken off from their engagement with 10 Panzer and have put the stoic landsers of 25 Infanterie under pressure.



5 Oct 1941

Both of the Corps' panzer divisons have reported success against the Soviets today and it appears that the red tank units are reaching the end of their endurance.



The remaining enemy armour in the 25 Inf / 3 Pz sector is falling back into Kharkov in poor order:



6 Oct 1941

25 Infanterie - that least glamorous but most reliable division - reports the successful capture of Kharkov.



10 Oct 1941

Following action to capture Belgorod, the plan to move mobile units across the steppe was put into action. However, the bruckenpionieres were not able to deploy their bridging equipment after having mobilised on their motorised transport; this was a major blow to operations and something we weren't prepared for. An assortment of unarmoured Red units had indeed been kept in reserve east of the river near Izyum.



15 Oct 1941

Following some routine tactical situations around Izyum, Stalino and Mariupol - all quite lightly defended, as the enemy now seems to have expended it's offensive strength, assault units are moving into position to start the final push into Rostov. The situation here is complicated by the fact that a sizeable, fortified emplacement in the SE of the city up against the bend of the river is going to make any attempt to encircle the city or capture the airfield too costly and too time consuming to attempt. The Stukas of StG 3 that have rebased at Stalino frustratingly report that this Soviet strongpoint is just beyond their operational range!



17 Oct 1941

4 days ahead of schedule, the coup de grace is about to be delivered in the heart of Rostov. Shelling the troublesome fortifications around the airfield into submission (or obliteration) will be the next order of business whilst the combat divisions recuperate and reorganise in readiness for the next orders from OKH.

OUT OF CHARACTER FINDINGS:

"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." I had a big armoured engagement first up rather than the expected infantry crawl through Kharkov - fun times and once again the power of the AT game mechanic (and my decision to use my limited upgrade slots on panzerjaegers) allowed me to defeat the Red armoured attacks at Kharkov and near Stalino handily and allow low-cost mopping up with air support. It was particularly gratifying to smash 5 strength off a T34 regiment with a basic infantry regiment after the T34s had retreated into Kharkov

I wasn't prepared for the inability of bruckenpionieres to lay their bridges on any moves beyond their non-motorised allotment of 2 hexes though. Fair enough, lesson learned!

Soviet reinforcement prestige enabled them to top up infantry defenders in Rostov. Again, fair enough and why wouldn't they try and hold on 'til the bitter end? The supply hex in the centre of Rostov and that powerful strongpoint in the rear area made this a slightly more thoughtful city assault than some previous ones

Nicely done Herr General.

I do enjoy your writing style