Background
Operation Bagration (/bʌɡrʌtiˈɒn/; Russian: Oперация Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the Soviet 1944 Belorussian Strategic Offensive Operation, (Russian: Белорусская наступательная операция «Багратион», Belorusskaya nastupatelnaya Operatsiya Bagration) a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern Front of World War II. The Soviet Union achieved a major victory by destroying the German Army Group Centre and completely rupturing the German front line.
On 23 June 1944, the Red Army attacked Army Group Centre in Byelorussia, with the objective of encircling and destroying its main component armies. By 28 June, the German Fourth Army had been destroyed, along with most of the Third Panzer and Ninth Armies. The Red Army exploited the collapse of the German front line to encircle German formations in the vicinity of Minsk and destroy them, with Minsk liberated on 4 July. With the end of effective German resistance in Byelorussia, the Soviet offensive continued further to Lithuania, Poland and Romania over the course of July and August.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bagration)
The Minsk Offensive (Russian: Минская наступательная операция) was part of the second phase of the Belorussian Strategic Offensive of the Red Army in summer 1944, commonly known as Operation Bagration.
The Red Army encircled the German Fourth Army in the city of Minsk. Hitler ordered the Fourth Army to hold fast, declaring the city to be fortified place (“fester platz”) and defended even if encircled. The Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army attacked from the north-east, while the 2nd Guards Tank Corps moved in from the east, and the 65th Army advanced from the south. About 100,000 Axis soldiers from the Fourth and Ninth Armies were encircled, of whom some 40,000 were killed and most of the rest captured. Partisans played an important role in locating and mopping up the encircled forces. The result was a complete victory for the Red Army, the liberation of Minsk, and the rapid destruction of much of the German Army Group Centre.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minsk_Offensive)
The Game
Terrain:
The 5×12 foot battlefield was played lengthwise, with typical Byelorussian terrain of woods, swamps and unpaved roads. A small village lies along the main Minsk-Warsaw Road.
Forces:
Russians used two lists as their core force. The core was three Battle worn Udarny Strelk Companies (3 Platoons of four stands) with attached HMGs. Russians received additional Partisan units during the game. The Strelk units entered the northern (left side) edge of the table. First company on turn one, second company as reserves starting on turn two and third company as reserves starting on turn three. The Partisans could be placed anywhere using the Ambush rule.
Germans consisted of three companies of two platoons (four stand with attached HMGs). Three platoons had ambulance wagons attached. The companies had to march lengthwise across the table in order to escape the encirclement.
Special Scenario Rules:
- Dawn — The scenario starts at night. Roll for sunrise starting on Turn 3. Germans move first.
- Escorting Wagons — The Germans have commandeered all the local wagons to evacuate their wounded. Each German player will have a number of wagons that must be attached to one of their infantry units. The wagons do not count for the escorting unit’s last stand calculations, but the escorting unit’s morale is raised to Fearless while escorting the wagons. When shooting at the unit, the Soviet player may assign hits to infantry teams or to wagons as they wish. The German player may not reassign hits from infantry teams to wagon teams. If the escorting unit is broken or destroyed by fire, any surviving wagons will continue in play as an unarmed unit, and may be attached to another friendly unit in contact. Wagons will not fight in assaults, and if their escorting unit is driven off or destroyed in an assault, the wagons will surrender. Unescorted wagons will surrender immediately if assaulted. Escorted wagons may not be voluntarily abandoned by their escorting unit.
- Prisoners — Wagons will surrender as described above, and will be attached to the Soviet unit that captures them. German infantry units, that fail their last man standing test within 8 inches and in line of sight of a Soviet unit, will surrender to the nearest Soviet unit. Surrendering German infantry teams will move to the capturing Soviet unit during the German movement phase and thereafter will be attached to that Soviet unit. That Soviet unit must then escort their captured wagons/prisoners off the Soviet baseline, taking as many movement turns as required, then turn them over to off-table security elements, and then may return to the table on the following turn. Alternately, the capturing Soviet unit can spare themselves the bother by executing their prisoners during any fire phase of their turn, firing one Soviet team for each German team executed. However, if any German unit witnesses an execution, then the morale of all German units rises to Fearless for the remainder of the game.
- Partisans — Some Soviets units will arrive as reserves. On any turn that a Soviet player fails to receive a unit from reserve, the Soviet player will generate a partisan unit. The size of the partisan unit will be the result of an average-die roll. Partisan teams are Fearless Trained rifle teams. The partisan unit will then be placed anywhere the table using the Ambush rules, on the turn it is generated or on any subsequent Soviet turn. Additional partisan units may be generated in a similar manner, and may be combined into a larger unit with any previously generated partisan units that have not yet been deployed.
- Soviet Morale — While some Soviet units are still burning with a desire for revenge, many other units have been worn down by the constant fighting and are not interested in dying for what is essentially a mop-up operation. To reflect this, each Soviet formation will receive a battalion commissar only (no company commissars are available). The battalion commissar must be attached to a Soviet unit at the start of play, and that unit’s morale will be rated as Fearless for as long as the commissar is alive. If the commissar is destroyed, then that unit’s morale will drop to Confident. The other Soviet units in the formation will be rated as Confident. If a Confident Soviet unit is reduced to below 50% in size, its morale will drop to Reluctant. If a Soviet formation loses a unit, then all Confident units remaining in the formation will drop to Reluctant. Fearless Soviet units are not subject to this rule.
Victory Conditions:
- Each German player must keep track of how many of their own teams are killed or captured, how many are dispersed due to failing last man standing tests and not being captured, and how many are successfully evacuated off the table at the exit road.
- Each Soviet player must keep track of how many German teams they kill or captured, and how many of their own teams are killed or dispersed.
- These statistics will affect how the teams and individual players are assessed at the end of the game.
Narrative:
Opening Phase: The Germans elected to shield the wagons by marching the combat units closer to the northern edge. The first Russians formation arrived on the battlefield and tried to intercept the tail of the convoy near the village. The Germans detached a platoon with HMGs to stop them and prevent them closing on the convoy. Initial Russian attempts at reserves failed, resulting in the first Partisans arrival and immediate placement in the way of the head of the German convoy. As Russian reserves started to arrive, the Germans had to peel off several of the precious infantry to form a shield to hold them off. Meanwhile, The lead element of the third Russian force entered the table raced to get ahead of the German column as a blocking force.
Mid-Game: The Germans managed to hold off the Russian troops, but found themselves having to redeploy and attack the pesky Partisans. This loss of time lead to additional Partisans and Russian forces forming a blockade across the escape route. The first two Russian forces suffered heavy casualties while engaging the Germans in an effort to prevent them from being able to get away.
End-Game: By Turn 8, it was all over. The Russian blocking position was firmly in place and additional Russians were falling mercilessly on the German column. One of the German commands was destroyed, leaving the ambulance convoy to the mercy of the Russian Hordes. The game was called a major victory for the Russians. The first two Russian commands received special mention in dispatches for their aggressiveness (they took very high casualties), while the final formation commander was criticized for not being aggressive enough (suffering sufficient casualties) while inflicting the majority of the German losses. The perils of command in the Soviet army!
– Manteuffel