Post by armchair general on May 30, 2017 3:36:22 GMT
[NOTE: This is part of the continuing effort to migrate as many scenarios as possible from the original Forum to the new one. Any assistance or feedback is always welcome!]
[NOTE #2 by armchair general: Since this scenario was created a while ago and could be updated, if you have any ideas, please let me know!]
Originally posted by PatrickWR 11-06-2005 in the old AH forums
[note by Neural Dream: This is part of the forumini project of recovering the most popular scenarios and campaigns from the old forums to an active forum instead of letting them die in an archive. I haven't asked all authors' permission for re-posting their brilliant work, since many have now left the community and cannot be contacted.]
Battle of Kursk – Prokhorovka, July 1943
As the German army retreated from the Soviet Union following decisive defeats at Stalingrad and Moscow, they sought refuge behind their own defenses at the Panther-Wotan line. As they withdrew, Wermacht and SS units conducted rearguard actions to slow the inevitable Soviet counterattack.
By 1943 a Soviet-held bulge in the German defensive lines had developed around the city of Kursk. To maintain their integrity, German high command laid plans for a massive assault on Kursk. Knowing that theirs was a threatened position, Soviet engineers turned Kursk and the surrounding villages into a veritable fortress of earthworks, minefields and defensive emplacements.
On July 5 the German Wermacht and SS armored units advanced on the Soviet positions across the Kursk salient. Some divisions made initial progress, but almost all encountered stiff Soviet resistance. General Hoth’s 4th Panzer Division smashed into Soviet defenses around the town of Prokhorovka, which later developed into a pivotal battlefield. This scenario represents the initial contact between the German vanguard and Soviet defenders at Prokhorovka.
Victory conditions
Germans must push through the town and exit at least one vehicle from the Soviet end of the map. The Russian player wins if he or she prevents the Germans from overwhelming the town (ie exiting a vehicle off the map). The game lasts 8 turns; if the German player has not exited a vehicle off the map, the Soviet player claims the victory.
German Forces – 120 points – may consist of any pre-1944 German, Italian or Romanian units except the Sdkz 222 and the SS-Panther, which was conspicuously absent from the battle of Kursk.
Soviet Forces – 90 points – may consist of units from the following list:
Commissar
Cossack Captain
Mosin-Nagant
PTRD -41 AT Rifle
PPSh-41 SMG
ZIS-2 57mm AT Gun
T-34
KV-1
T-70
M5 Half-Track
M3 Stuart
Jeep
Vickers MG
Royal Engineers
Special Rules: Royal Engineers may use their Bridge Demolition ability to destroy road hexes. If successful, vehicles moving along destroyed roads no longer gain the movement bonus.
Map setup
Able 1/Baker 1
Charlie 2/Dog 1
Orienting the maps horizontally as described above, north is “up” for the viewer.
The German forces may deploy within 3 hexes of the westernmost edge of Able 1 and Charlie 2. Russian forces may deploy in the town hexes on Baker 1 and Dog 1 and up to one hex outside the town hexes.
Conclusion: Although German forces originally overran Prokhorovka, just a few days later it was the site of the largest armored engagement in the history of warfare – and a stunning defeat for the Germans at the cost of hundreds of tanks and thousands of soldiers.
[NOTE #2 by armchair general: Since this scenario was created a while ago and could be updated, if you have any ideas, please let me know!]
Originally posted by PatrickWR 11-06-2005 in the old AH forums
[note by Neural Dream: This is part of the forumini project of recovering the most popular scenarios and campaigns from the old forums to an active forum instead of letting them die in an archive. I haven't asked all authors' permission for re-posting their brilliant work, since many have now left the community and cannot be contacted.]
Battle of Kursk – Prokhorovka, July 1943
As the German army retreated from the Soviet Union following decisive defeats at Stalingrad and Moscow, they sought refuge behind their own defenses at the Panther-Wotan line. As they withdrew, Wermacht and SS units conducted rearguard actions to slow the inevitable Soviet counterattack.
By 1943 a Soviet-held bulge in the German defensive lines had developed around the city of Kursk. To maintain their integrity, German high command laid plans for a massive assault on Kursk. Knowing that theirs was a threatened position, Soviet engineers turned Kursk and the surrounding villages into a veritable fortress of earthworks, minefields and defensive emplacements.
On July 5 the German Wermacht and SS armored units advanced on the Soviet positions across the Kursk salient. Some divisions made initial progress, but almost all encountered stiff Soviet resistance. General Hoth’s 4th Panzer Division smashed into Soviet defenses around the town of Prokhorovka, which later developed into a pivotal battlefield. This scenario represents the initial contact between the German vanguard and Soviet defenders at Prokhorovka.
Victory conditions
Germans must push through the town and exit at least one vehicle from the Soviet end of the map. The Russian player wins if he or she prevents the Germans from overwhelming the town (ie exiting a vehicle off the map). The game lasts 8 turns; if the German player has not exited a vehicle off the map, the Soviet player claims the victory.
German Forces – 120 points – may consist of any pre-1944 German, Italian or Romanian units except the Sdkz 222 and the SS-Panther, which was conspicuously absent from the battle of Kursk.
Soviet Forces – 90 points – may consist of units from the following list:
Commissar
Cossack Captain
Mosin-Nagant
PTRD -41 AT Rifle
PPSh-41 SMG
ZIS-2 57mm AT Gun
T-34
KV-1
T-70
M5 Half-Track
M3 Stuart
Jeep
Vickers MG
Royal Engineers
Special Rules: Royal Engineers may use their Bridge Demolition ability to destroy road hexes. If successful, vehicles moving along destroyed roads no longer gain the movement bonus.
Map setup
Able 1/Baker 1
Charlie 2/Dog 1
Orienting the maps horizontally as described above, north is “up” for the viewer.
The German forces may deploy within 3 hexes of the westernmost edge of Able 1 and Charlie 2. Russian forces may deploy in the town hexes on Baker 1 and Dog 1 and up to one hex outside the town hexes.
Conclusion: Although German forces originally overran Prokhorovka, just a few days later it was the site of the largest armored engagement in the history of warfare – and a stunning defeat for the Germans at the cost of hundreds of tanks and thousands of soldiers.