From: Mike Rizzo Subject: Prelude to Disaster 3.0r Playtest Report Prelude to Disaster Play Test Report This playtest of the Timoshenko Strikes Scenario was conducted using the Winter Storm Standard Rules 3.01r and the Prelude to Disaster Exclusive Rules 3.0r. Prelude to Disaster Playtest Report - Day 4 After 4 days of fighting, Group Bobkin has blown a hole in the German frontline of 65 miles, taken Krasnodar, and cut the Kharkov/Novomoskovsk road. The noose around Kharkov has tightened with 6 Army pressing North to within 30 miles of Kharkov while 38 Army and 21 Army have pushed 14th Panzer Corps back to the bridges over the Donets and disrupted its HQ. Completing the circle northeast of Kharkov, 28 Army has moved within 25 miles but has become disrupted. In the South, not prepared for the Soviet Offensive, 3rd Panzer Corps and 11 Infantry Corps have been unable to punch a hole through Soviets holding the clear terrain south of Lozovaya, while the reinforcement 4th Infantry Corps takes up position to defend Dnepropetrovsk from the Soviet Tank Brigades. The Soviets have had 1 Infantry Division and 1 Cavalry Division knocked out of action while the Germans have lost 1 Rumanian Infantry Division. A significant number of German units defending Kharkov are Out of Command and/or Disrupted. Prelude to Disaster Playtest Report - Day 6 After another 2 days of fighting, the breach in the German front line remains a big as ever. A Soviet Independent Tank Brigade has surged north to the town of Volki, cutting the Poltava-Kharkov Road, and threatening the German 6 Army's rail supply line. Soviet 6 Army moving within 25 miles of Kharkov, has pushed 8 Corps out of the forests southeast of the town of Borki and almost back to the Mzha river. The 3 and 23 Panzer Corps continue to hold the bridgeheads over the Donets southeast of Kharkov while east of Kharkov, 51 Corps has fallen back another 5 miles to regroup as Soviet Independent Tank Brigades press hard. German hopes of holding Kharkov are buoyed by its successful barrages keeping Soviet 28 Army off-balance and the arrival of 62 Infantry Division to bolster the Kharkov defense. In the South, 4 Corps has moved north from Dnepropetrovsk to put pressure on the thin screen of Soviet units holding open the breach in the German line. 11 Corps has cleared the way to Lozovaya, while 3rd Panzer Corps presses slowly northward limited by supply shortages. Further east German 52 Corps and 44 Jaeger Corps regroup and start to worry about the strong 99 Infantry Division and the elite 14 Guard Infantry Division the Soviet 9 Army decide to go on the offensive backed by numerous Soviet Tank Brigades. The Soviets have lost another 2 Infantry Divisions while the Germans have lost 1 Mechanized Recon Battalion from 3rd Panzer Corps. Prelude to Disaster Playtest Report - Day 8 After 8 days of fighting, breakthroughs have been accomplished by both sides. In the North, Soviet Independent Tank Brigades have cut the rail lifeline to German 6 Army in Kharkov while Soviet 6 Army has forced German 8 Corps across the Mzha River and established a bridgehead across that river within 10 miles of Kharkov with a Soviet Infantry division. To the east of Kharkov, Soviet 28 Army regroups for the final push against Kharkov, while, opposite it, German 51 Corps pulls back slightly to strengthen its line in front of Kharkov. German Infantry division reinforcements from the North continue to bolster Kharkov's defenses. Counterattacks by German 14 Panzer Corps make scant progress in widening its bridgeheads across the Donets while pockets of German units isolated south of the bridgeheads continue to be whittled down by the Soviets. In the center, Group Bobkin, eyeing events to the South, stops moving North and maintains its screen of units forming the western side of the Soviet bulge. The South is in flux as both sides undertake offensives. German 11 Corps fails to take Losovaya as the Soviets reinforce with a strong Independent Tank Brigade. However, German 4th Corps makes its presence felt with German 22 Panzer Division breaking through to take Orelka back and pushes on to the outskirts of Krasnopavlovka north of Losovaya, thereby cutting the southern supply road to the Soviet 6 Army and Group Bobkin. Further East as the Germans feared, Soviet 9 Army makes a strong push to the South to threaten the Stalino-Novomoskovosk road. The German 52 Corps moves to contain them while the 3rd Panzer Division breaks through and pushes to the outskirts of Barvenkovo in the Soviet rear, forcing Soviet 9 Army HQ to retreat northward. Additional Soviet Independent Tank Brigades rush south to contain the German breakthroughs. The German supply situation continues to impede their progress. Losses: Soviets lose a Tank Brigade while the Germans loss an Infantry Division, an Infantry Regiment, and an Anti-tank Battalion. Prelude to Disaster Playtest Report - Day 10 After 10 days of fighting, the ring around Kharkov continues to draw tighter as Soviet 6 Army is now across the Rzha River in force and within 5 miles of Kharkov. 28 Army has resumed its push from the east bringing it to within 10 miles of Kharkov forcing German 51 Corps to continue to give ground but the Soviets are unable to break the German defensive line. German 14 Panzer Corps continues to hold the bridgeheads across the Donets southeast of Kharkov although the threat to its line of communications is growing. The Soviets finally eliminate the isolated pockets of German units caught in the Soviet initial offensive in the North. In the Center, Independent units released from Soviet Group Bobkin, move west to block the Poltava-Dnepropetrovsk Road threatening the Supply Route from Army Group South to its forces in the South of the Bulge already starved for supplies. In the South, German forces make scant progress with the key towns of Losovaya and Krasnopavlovka still holding out while Soviet Independent Tank Brigades plug the holes in the Soviet line preventing any further progress in German attempts to force their way closer to the bridges over the Donets. Soviet 9 Army continues its threat to break out to the South hitting the seam between German 52 and 3 Panzer Corps and stretching the German line still further. Losses: Soviets lose 2 Tank Brigades while the Germans lose 2 Infantry divisions, 1 Infantry Regiment, and an Armor Regiment. Soviet losses cause the release of half its Cavalry Reserve. Prelude to Disaster Playtest Report - Day 12 With the Soviets cutting the Kharkov-Poltava Railroad, German 6 Army is cutoff and only able to maintain a defensive posture by consuming all available supply reserves. Soviet efforts to reach Kharkov from the East and West are repulsed, although one of the German bridgeheads over the Donets is eliminated. In the Center, in an effort to take the pressure off the line defending the Donets crossings, Group Bobkin makes a move to the south taking the town of Pereshchepino and posing a threat to Dnepropetrovsk. In the South the Soviet line defending the bridges over the Donets is pushed back but is not broken with units from German 14 Panzer Corps coming within 20 miles of the Donets crossing south of Volvenkovo. German units infiltrate the line to cutoff as many Soviet units as possible. Losses: Germans lose 1 Infantry division, 1 Hungarian Infantry Division, and 1 Rumanian Infantry Division. No Soviet losses. Victory: Soviet Per Turn (No German Front, Roads cut) Turn 2 +2 Turn 3 +3 Turn 4 +4 Turn 5 +4 Turn 6 +5 Total = +18 End of Game (Towns controlled west of startline) Towns +10 Total +28 German Per Turn (Soviet Operation HQ east of Donets) None End of Game German Divisions over the Donets (3) +6 Soviet Infantry eliminated (4) +8 Soviet Tank Brigades eliminated (3) +3 Cutoff Soviet units (3) +3 Total +20 Level of Victory 28-20 = 8 => Draw Neither side was able to achieve its main objective - the Germans to cutoff and defeat the Soviet Army, the Soviets to liberate their Cities. Prelude to Disaster Playtest Analysis Interesting situation with each side pursuing different objectives (presumably both sides could achieve their objectives at the game's end instead of neither as in this playtest.) Both sides get to attack and defend. One aspect that I found interesting was the small dislocations encountered now and then, discovering that units were moved Out of Command unintentionally and had to re-enter their HQ's command radius instead of plunging ahead independent of their HQ as they would in most other games since they would be unable to assume the supply status of their HQ. Or the Supply Column that didn't quite make it into range of the Operational HQ that needed it to go on the Offensive. The friction of war is reflected well here. The Standard Rules may have affected the German chances adversely with no ER Attrition, Limited Assault, Infantry Expertise, Air Operations, or Rail Operations rules available. Perhaps these should be included in the Standard Rules? It seems too difficult for the Germans in the South to push to the Donets crossings against such strong Soviet forces. In the real event, once the Germans launched Fridericus in the South, 44 Corps was at Izyum in 4 days (2 turns). I don't think this can be reproduced in the game against strong forces and rough terrain. Also, the German forces that have to move South to re-establish the German front have a hard time even holding the Donets bridgeheads against strong Soviet forces. Preventing the Soviets from cutting the western roads and the railroad to Kharkov seems to be impossible since all German forces are needed to hold Kharkov in the face of Soviet 6 Army attack from the west. Part of this may be due to the non-historical Standard setup. I think the Soviets had more of their strong units stuck out west and Stalin refused to retreat until it was too late. Things to try next time Soviets 1. Have Group Bobkin make a move to the South threatening Dnepropetrovsk/Zaporozhye earlier. 2. Have 9th Army move south threatening the road to Stalino earlier. 3. Ensure that the Independent Tank Brigades sent north to help take Kharkov from the east have enough supply to sustain the assault or use them to help eliminate the Donets River crossings. German 1. Focus the limited supply in the south more on keeping the Panzers moving toward the Donets crossings. 2. Send more AGS supply south. 3. More reliance on maneuver to isolate Soviet forces before attacking and destroying them. 4. Place more units in fortifications, e.g. the units holding the Donets River bridgeheads and key towns. One other interesting idea might be to extend the scenario one turn or have a variable game length since the last German turn is spent artificially trying to surround as many Soviets as possible instead of continuing the attack toward the Donets Crossings.