Background
Early on 3 August 1943, the Forces of the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts advancing on a wide front between Sumy and Volchansk (175 km), crossed the Vorskla river & quickly penetrated the defences of the 332nd Infantry Division & 167th Infantry Division to a depth of 100 km[4] between Tomarovka & Belgorod on the northern flank, and as far as Bogodukhov sweeping aside the weakened 19th Panzer Division. By 5 August Belgorod which was defended by XI Armeecorps (Raus) was also being surrounded and isolated, requiring attempts by the German Armeeabteilung Kempf and 4th Panzerarmee Armies to relieve the garrison which was ordered by Hitler to defend the city.
While the German intention was to “pinch off” the Red Army’s offensive thrust at the base of the penetration between Borisovka and Grayvoron south of Vorskla river, the rapid tempo of the Steppe and Voronezh Fronts offensive meant that by the time the counter-attacks were executed the city had been evacuated on 6 August, and German forces were now defending Kharkov. The Wehrmacht’s Mobile Forces were heading into an encounter with the main thrust of the Soviet Front tank armies. The German counter-attacks were carried out by the III Panzercorps of the Armeeabteilung “Kempf” in the Olshany area, and the XLVIII Panzercorps of the 4th Panzerarmee in the two-pincer manoeuvre of the Krasnokutsk and Akhtyrka areas.[6] In the fighting that took place on both sides of the Merla & Merchik rivers, the superiority of the German Panzer Divisions was clearly evident, in spite of being involved in combat operations continuously since the 5th of July. Whilst 5th SS Panzer Division ‘Wiking’ & 3rd Panzer Division conducted primarily defensive operations, 2nd SS Panzer Division ‘Das Reich’, 3rd SS Panzer Division ‘Totenkopf’ repeatedly blunted attacks of Soviet elements south of the rivers and Bogodukhov. As at Prokhorovka, the Russians enjoyed tremendous numerical superiority in tanks. Both 1st Tank Army & 5th Guards Tank Army began the operations with over 500 tanks each, while the SS Divisions never had more than about 30-50 tanks each at any time during August. In spite of this, all Soviet attempts to penetrate to the railroad line were repulsed with bloody losses in men and tremendous loss in tanks. Katukov’s 1st Tank Army thrusts south of the Merchik were repeatedly cut off & destroyed by III Panzercorps. The attempts by Rotmistrov’s 5th Guards Tank Army Army to penetrate to the rail line from east of Bogodukhov were frustrated by 3rd Panzer Division & ‘Wiking’, with key defensive fighting by elements of ‘Das Reich’. ‘Totenkopf’ executed a masterful attack that cut off elements of infantry and armour from the 27th Army & 6th Guards Army south of Krasnokutsk and then rolled down the line of supply toward Kolomak, south of Konstantinovka. Subsequent attacks encircled disorganized elements of several Russian Divisions and destroyed major portions of them after brief fighting. Subsequently ‘Totenkopf’ drove to the Merla & forced a crossing of that river and linked up with 4th Panzerarmee spearheads at Parchomovka. However Großdeutschland was forced to withdraw from that town by Soviet pressure on its Northern flank, & this success could not be followed up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgorod-Bogodukhov_Offensive_Operation
The Game
The German retreat from Tomarovka to Akhtyrsk from 5-9 August 1943. Twenty Panther tanks of Major Karl von Siver’s PanzerAbteilung 52 are protecting a column of 20 retreating trucks and two 37mm AA halftracks, forming a “floating pocket” around them. Germans are Confident Veteran.
The Soviets are pursuing with the forward detachment of the 5th Guards Tank Army, which is composed of three battalions of 21 T-34/76 tanks and a brigade command unit of two T-34s, for a total of 65 T-34/76s. The Soviets also have dedicated Sturmovik air support. Soviets are Confident Trained, and have first turn.
Terrain
Terrain is mostly open rolling steppe, with areas of low hills, high grass and scrub, streams, woods, and villages. A main road runs from one end of the table to the other.
Set-up
- German tanks in running condition are not subject to “last stand” tests. To represent the propensity of the Panthers breaking down, whenever a Panther makes a dash move, roll for breakdown, needing a D6 result of 7 (a roll of 6 followed by a roll of 5 or 6). A broken down tank may still fight. If out of command, a broken down tank will have to take last stand tests, and when the test is failed, the crew will destroy the broken down tank to prevent it from being captured.
- A destroyed vehicle (even a truck) on the road converts that part of the road to cross country terrain for movement. The road begins with some destroyed vehicles from previous columns.
- Play is lengthwise along the table, with the Germans starting along or within 12 inches of the central road, with the tail of the truck column 32 inches from the Russian base end. One Soviet tank battalion will enter the table from their base end on turn 1. The other two battalions enter as reserves at either side of the midpoint of the table or at either side of the far end of the table, as predesignated by the Soviet players. Units entering at the midpoint enter as immediate reserves. Units entering at the far end of the table enter as delayed reserves.
Victory Conditions
Each German vehicle is worth 5 victory points if it exits the far end of the table via the main road. Before the game starts, to determine who plays the Germans, each player (or team) makes a blind bid on how many victory points the Germans will achieve if that player (or team) plays the German side. The highest bidder plays the Germans, and to win, must score as many victory points as they bid. If the Soviets prevent the Germans from reaching their projected victory point total, the Soviets win.
Recap: The Germans deployed their truck column as required and equally spread their Panthers around the column along the suspected Soviet attack points. The German plan was to rush the trucks forward as quickly as possible, with the Panthers collapsing against each soviet threat. The Soviets had to enter with two companies chasing the column. There plan was to enter and move as fast as possible forward to try to put as much pressure on the Germans (taking the fire along the way). The reinforcements would all enter on the back most roads, in order to mass and take out the trucks and catch the Panthers in a vice.
Early Game: The Soviets entered the table and moved at full speed towards the Panther pickets, attempting to gain the flank of the forward units. The Germans began shifting their forces to engage the Soviet tanks, destroying the majority of the first company. However, the Soviets kept coming and the Germans fell back in bound, as the trucks slowly moved to escape.
Mid Game: The Soviet reinforcements came in early and began their pincer against the road, the German Panthers in position did their best to protect the road, killing many Soviet tanks in the process. However, the trucks took the brunt of the losses, as they tried to survive the Soviet gauntlet. To the column rear, the Soviets continued to push their tanks forward to keep pressure on the Germans, loosing the majority of their armor in the process. However, the Germans were not unscathed, as they lost a few forward tanks to flanking fire.
Late Game: With the rear of the column secure, the Germans shifted the remained of their tanks to deal with the Soviet pincers. Now with all their forces engaged, the Soviets fought to eliminate the remainder of the truck column. They had great success, but about a third of the German trucks managed to escape. Now it was just a case if the Panther could hold out until the rest of the force arrived. The Soviets tried to overwhelm the German panzers, but each move came with more causalities. It looked like the plan was going to work, but with the arrival of more German tanks to the rescue of their compatriots, the Soviets were finally manhandled and defeated.
Victory: The Germans managed to squeak out a victory by only five points! Truck losses were lighter than expected, but Panther losses were heavier. The failure of the Soviet air support to show up for most of the game was the difference! The Game Master declared it Historical German Minor Victory.
– Mantueffel