Lost Victory: Manstein at Kharkov, Winter 1943

Overview

Editor's Note: Pete Maidhof and I were considering which game to play next and Pete is partial to some of the WWII Eastern Front games. So I asked him to pick one or two of his favorites and tell me a bit about them. He did me one better by taking some snapshots and adding commentary to a solo game of Lost Victory that he already had in progress.

I found it interesting and thought that others might find it interesting too, so here goes.

Game Turn 1 - End of 1st Ops Segment

15th Tank Corps made the most significant advance of the segment. Totenkopf has taken it on the chin from Soviet 3rd Tank Army, losing both the Deutschland Infantry Regiment and 2nd SS Panzer Regiment in battle. Gross Deutschland Division is in quite a pickle in the upper left of the photo.

End of 1st German Operations Phase

From left to right, wIth effective air support the elements of Grossdeutschland division removed themselves from immediate danger. Elements of LAH move forward to assist Das Reich in extricating itself. 298th Div tactically withdraws from Kupyansk. Army Group Don reorganizes its forces, 7th Panzer and 3rd Panzer Korps HQ moves northward vicinity Barvenkovo. AG Don disrupts elements of 4th Guards Tank Corps.

GT1 Soviet 2nd Operations Segment SW Front

SW Front put forth a poor showing, essentially being repulsed in a penal battalion lead attack across a bridge vs a disrupted 585th Regiment of the 320th Infantry Division, and a colossal SNAFU in a multi unit attack on 586th Regiment of that same hard pressed 320th.

To the west, elements of 10th Tank Division was repulsed in a meeting engagement with the reconnaissance battalion of 7th Panzer Division.

Collateral movements included various units closing in on the German 298th Division in the north of the Front's zone and elements of the 52nd and 195th Rifle Divisions crossing more over the southern Donets River.

Soviet 2nd Ops Segment - Voronezh Front

From North to South, Soviet 305th Rifle Division fights two German Ersatz battalions to a draw. Soviet 207th Rifle Division fails in its attempt to pinch off the Grossdeutschland Fusilier Regiment ENE of Nezhgol (Hex 3109), all three regiments retreating Disrupted. 15th Tank Corps slowly advances on Belgorod. Independent Tank Brigades close on I SS Panzer Corps HQ along the Donets east of Kharkov. 6th Guards Cavalry Corps eliminated 2nd Das Reich Reconnaissance Battalion vic Dvurechnaya. And Voronezh's coup this segment is eliminating Das Reich's Sturmgeschutz battalion and heavy tank (Tiger) company in my largest battle yet at Bel Kholodes.

German 2nd Operations Segment

This operations segment saw the previously hard-pressed Germans gain some traction. The Grossdeutschland Panzer Regiment and Reconnaissance Battalion, and the 7th Panzer Division Recon battalion all recovered. LAH conducted two extremely successful overruns, eliminating 178 and 186 Tank Brigades of the 10th Tank Corps, while the remainder of the division and survivors of Das Reich withdrew over the Donets. 25th Panzer and 6th Motorized regiments of the 7th Panzer Disivion overran and destroyed 115th Independent Tank Brigade.

Soviet 3rd Operations Segment - SW Front

Not too much going on as I cannot seem to figure out how to deal with that mass of German artillery and rocket launcher units in the defensive line found in that south east quadrant of the map. On the inter-front boundary, attacks in the vicinity of Shevchenkovo, the German 298th Division lost a regiment, 526th and had the 527th pushed back beyond the town. Elsewhere, Soviet units maneuver into a stranglehold on elements of the 320th Division.

Soviet 3rd Operations Segment - Voronezh Front - Belgorod and Kholodes

This operations segment say the Soviet 6a and 3ta continue to tighten the noose around Grossdeutchland by threatening Belgorod from two sides with successful attacks from 305th Rifle Division and 15th Tank Corps.

Turn 2's Supply Segment will be interesting.

Summary

Editor's Note: Many thanks to Pete Maidhof for providing this brief but informative overview of game play in Lost Victory. I wanted to see what the game looked like and get some idea about how it played. His pictorial play-through gave me a feel for the basic flow of the game and told a story about the tactical situation.