wargamesinthedungeon

This scenario would see the German 2 SS Panzers of Das Reich division attempt to break through the II Guards Tank Corps to the south of Prokhorovka itself. Historically the Germans were fought to a standstill by the Russian Guards.

We played this as a slightly larger game than normal extending the battlefield to 8x4 feet with 5000 points with Blitzkrieg Commander rules. This gave each side five independent units under command, but the size of the battlefield gave the realistic option for manoeuvre rather than giving a static battle. (We also gave ourselves a bit more time knowing how frustrating it can be to not quite fight a battle to conclusion)

The overall battlefield, Prokhorovka is on the right (North from this viewpoint) the Germans have already made a very successful advance onto the field. The Russian guards unlike their historical counter parts were caught napping and are slow to get into position, they immediately come under fire as they come into range of the Tigers and PzIV's.
Although the majority of the battlefield is open ground we have broken it up with occasional small farms and trees, having looked at a lot of pictures of the real battlefield it wasn't just flat terrain but had a significant number of undulations.
On the German left flank grenadiers look to advance towards the town towing with them their own anti-tank guns. They are supported by an independent anti-tank unit as well but the Russians are not going to give up easily and have sited infantry and guns in the town and pushing forward with T70's supported by SU-76's.
As the battle develops both sides start to take casualties but the longer range German guns have the upper hand, and the Russians unlike previous battles are unable to close quickly enough to concentrate their fire adequately.
The Russian left flank is being hit really hard and ominously the German Panzers in the centre have taken out the large 85mm holding the Russian centre and they are starting to advance into the space which has opened in front of them.
A closer shot of the German right flank at this stage fairly intact ! Although two of the panzer IV's have been pinned down.

On the German left the grenadiers have made it to the cover provided by the field but further progress is likely to lead to serious casualties so they deploy waiting further orders.
Shot of the whole battlefield.......I have decided to make some more bases with out the dirt roads, but the nice thing with the 8 foot width means a greater element of movement so will try to play at this scale more in the future.
The Russians have finally woken up to the risks and started concentrating their fire more effectively, consequently the Germans are taking increasing losses. Even the usually invulnerable Tiger has been pinned down.

The Panzers in the German centre have now split looking for opportunities to out flank the Russians on both sides. Although not quite panicking the Russians are beginning to sweat !
Closer to the town, the Russian light tanks and mobile anti tank guns are effectively holding the Germans back but they are surprised when flanking fire starts to land amongst them as the German centre turns north to cross the railway
To the south things are getting desparate for the Russians as they are fighting on both flanks and are in danger of being completely over run.

Eventually the Russians just couldn't hold on any longer and reached breaking point and with such high losses they failed the required test, giving the field to the Germans.
A final shot of the devastated Russian left flank.....but they have made the Germans pay for their victory.
Another really great battle......the Russians really only lost due to some poor dice rolling early on. Particularly liked having a bit more space and we will play on the 8 foot table more often. The plan is now to finish basing up my British forces and try some battles in and around Caen and the attempted break out by the allies.

Russian Tanks advance down the flank through Veselyy

An overview of the battlefield.

A furious close range fire fight breaks out with tanks being knocked out on both sides.

In the centre the Russians push forward and again supported by effective Katusha rocket artillery fire make a serious dent in the German centre, the Germans counter by moving to closer range to hold the T34's back.

On the far side the Russians have broken through but it's only two tanks so is not decisive, some of the Russian armour has failed to bridge the gap from the town and resolutely refuses to support the attack, I feel the Russian command will be sending some of them to Siberia !

At this stage in the battle it remains close, the Russian Guards Rifles are attempting to advance on the Russian Right but they lack adequate armour support and the infantry is too vulnerable to the German Panzers.

German Panzers re-deploy to counter the Guards Rifles.

German Anti tank unit continues to hold their right flank.

At this stage both sides were again close to breaking point the Russian had pushed through on their right but this was with limited strength and not decisive overall. The Russian Guards had been held back and the Russians had run out f options in the centre. At this point the Russians failed a break test giving a minor victory to the Germans.

Another close run game with the Germans clinging on in the face of superior numbers. We are hoping to play a larger final battle...........

The three battles we are planning for our mini Prokhorovka campaign are shown (rather crudely) on the sketch I have marked up below again taken from the excellent Osprey Book by Mark Healy.

 

So our first battle sees the 1SS Panzer Leibstandarte Adolf Hilter Division supported by a small element of the 3SS Totenkopf Division pushing directly forward towards the town of Prokhorovka itself. Tiger tanks lead the way supported by Panzer IV's and Panzer III's. These are facing the 5th Russian Guards under Rotmistrov. Although the Russians have numerical superiority the German tanks at this time July 1943 are still superior, especially in effective range. As the history goes the Russians to counter this rushed forward on the back of a ferocious artillery bombardment effectively getting in close to negate the superior German fire power. We played this scenario with equal forces (about 4500 points) and played as a simple encounter battle which in effect it was. Using our usual Blitzkrieg rules we agreed victory would be decided by the simple breaking of the enemy. With all these 6mm games we have to have a compromise between numbers of troops/rumour and re desire to get the game completed in a reasonable evening.

The overall battlefield at the start with the railway and the edge of the town on the right hand side. German divisions are on the left.

German LAH division move forward, but are hit immediately by artillery bombardment, the Russians have Katusha rockets close to the town. We have found these slightly unreliable in the past but they knocked out a German command unit and effectively eliminated the German Anti-tank unit in the first turn ! These can be seen already burning below.

Whilst we play these historical games in our usual competitive way it is not about winning, so it felt absolutely right for the Germans to drive on in an appropriate formation with Tigers leading the way. I tend to paint different Panzers in different colour schemes so you can tell at a distance what is what. The unpronounceable village of Bogoroditskoye in the distance where elements of Totenkopf are advancing.

I can't resist some more artistic shots. The Russian Tanks have surged forward (good play to the Russian commander for getting into the spirit of the battle) they are taking casualties but the Katusha rocket launchers in the foreground are continuing to cause problems.

A couloir shot of the Russian advance, mainly T34's T70's and the occasionally Churchill lend lease.

From the behind the German lines....the Russian onslaught.

Keen to get forward the Russians have made a strong flanking advance , catching Totenkopf slightly unawares with their tanks out of position.

In the centre of the battlefield the fight is hotting up with brewed up tanks on both sides, nothing can touch the Tigers at this stage but numerical superiority now the T34's are in range is starting to tell.

The flank attack close to 'Bog'


Columns of smoke now rising above the battlefield 

By this stage both side were getting very close to break point. But in Blitzkrieg once you reach that break point the commanding unit can still hold things together depending on a dice roll.

The Germans reach the break point first but pass the test, morale still being high at this stage.

The Russians follow soon but also pass their test. Fightin for the Motherland clearly makes a difference. You can see in this shot the number of Russian tanks which have been taken out....but the Tigers are now looking isolated (not vulnerable though). However, with the next turn the Germans had to take a further test to stay in the game (a test is taken at the start of each turn when you have reached the breakpoint) and they duly failed cause them to withdraw from the field. We couldn't make it up but our game played as an almost accurate historical representation of the historical battle. The only difference being hte Russians just couldn't find a way to take out he Tiger Tanks....everything else but not the Tigers.

A couple more shots of the battlefield at the end as the Germans withdraw.

A really great game and fun to play. It has set up the next 2 battles really well.

1. The initial onslaught by 1SS Panzergrenadier Division 'Leibstandarte Adolf Hilter' , repulsed by the Russian 9th Guards.

2. The Counter attack by the 5th Guards on 'Totenkopf' Division.

3. The 'Das Reich' frontal assaults against the Russian 2nd Guards.

Roll on the armour.....