blood & steel

Here are some replay notes from a game played using the L2 edition. The full L2 rules, including all optional rules are in play, with one exception - I have retained (from the 1st edition) the rule that the 15 Russian infantry divisions that start the game deployed face down, remain face down, until they move, attack or are attacked.

Note units on hills do not get a defensive modifier but their attacks from a hill are modified.

The German Plan.
TK - Totenkopf will take the shortest route to drive off the map.

LB - Leibstandarte set up in front of Imeni Vorishilov and on hill 252. They will capture and hold the local villages and hills.

DR - Das Reich will advance to capture Pavarot. The Marder and Recon battalions will cover the left

The Russian Setup.
The remnant infantry divisions set up on all hills and villages as directed. The remainder set up to block the path of Totenkopf and Leibstandarte. 9th Guard Airborne are the only formation at the start of play and they set up as a second line to defend in depth against Totenkopf. This area is the furthest point from potential soviet reinforcement (which can enter along the top of the map and partway down the sides - see the heavy zig-zag lines).

Explanatory notes.
At the start of each turn, both players roll for air support - the higher roll gets support, which is equal to the difference of the two dice. The soviets roll for artillery support, which is equal to the dice roll, except that a score of '6' results in NO artillery.
At the start of each turn, counters representing each formation currently in play or about to enter as a reinforcement, are placed into a cup. These counters are drawn blindly one at a time and the formation dawn is immediately activated.
The first time a unit is hit it is disrupted. Any disrupted unit hit again suffers a HIT (similar to a step loss) any unit that has a disruption marker and a HIT marker that is hit again is destroyed. At the end of each turn, disrupted markers are automatically removed, HIT markers are not - though under some tight circumstances, they can be.

Realising the threat posed by Totenkopf (bottom left of map), the soviet command release two tank corps from their reserve. Their formation markers are added to chit draw cup.
The first chit drawn is 2nd Guard Tank Corps. They are one of the reinforcement units and so must roll to see where they enter onto the map. Frustratingly, they roll a 5 and arrive at the top right side of the map - the furthest point from the crisis. Still, they will give Das Reich something to think about. The russians can always activate their remnant infantry divisions whenever a russian formation is activated. They decide to take the opportunity to use their artillery assests to make a pre-emptive strike against Leibstandarte, with devastating results on a panzer grenadier regiment which is disrupted and HIT - leaving it vulnerable to elimination.

When the soviet second reinforcement formation chit is drawn, it dices for point of arrival. A '6' is rolled, which means it can choose the point of entry. They choose Zone 1 and immediately start to move towards the Totenkopf Division.
Totenkopf draw next, they attack on a two hex front with artillery support, firing on the rifle divisions and then easily overruning them - they end their phase facing the soviet 9th Guards Airborne. Unlike the russians, german formations dice to see how much (if any) artillery they get whenever they activate.
With one of their pz. grenadier regiment HIT and disrupted by the opening soviet fire, Leibstandarte cancel their proposed attack on Imeni Vorishilov and instead mop up the local enemy remnant infantry divisions. By the end of the turn, the russians have lost 5 infantry divisions to Totenkopf and Leibstandarte.

The threat from Leibstandarte at the village of Imeni Vorishilov requires stabilising. The russians release another tank corps (18th TC) and place its formation marker in the formation chit cup. By chance, their chit is the first pulled. They roll for entry but score '5' - entring at top right of the map. While disappointed that the arrival zone was well away from Leibstandarte, it does mean that Das Reich now face two enemy tank corps.
Leibstandarte surround Imeni Vorishilov but without infantry support, they delay their assault on the village for the 2nd Panzer Grenadier Regiment to move from hill 252 for support.
Further west, Totenkopf cause heavy damage to 9th Guards Airborne, pushing them backwards, they are in desparate need of help.

With several formations now engaged, the order of activation becomes increasingly important - 2nd Guards Tank Corps (orange units) get the first activation. They score a HIT on the german Marder regiment but then disrupt themselves in an overrun attempt. The russians use their first activation to fire their artillery at Totenkopf, getting a disruption on the panzer grenadier regiment and effectively pinning it (disrupted units can't move or fire).

Das Reich (grey units) make an effective counter-strike. On their right, using long range fire, they disrupt 18th Tank Corps, while on their left, they attack 2nd Guards Tank Corps, inflicting heavy casualties. Despite this good fortune, against such odds, Das Reich is unlikely to fend of the soviets for much longer.
In the Totenkopf area, 2nd Tank Corps arrive and together with 9th Guard Airborne, put a greater squeeze on Tontenkopf, dishing out heavy casualties to the Thule infantry regiment who become HIT and disrupted.

The german player can only sigh on seeing the air and artillery assets available to the russians. These could cause havoc to either Totenkopf's attempts to exit the map or Das Reich's attempt to disengage (because disruptions will freeze their movement.
Das Reich draw the first chit but don't do anything of note. The next draw is .......... the soviet 18th Tank Corps. The russian player uses the phase to also activate the remnant infantry divisions near to Totenkopf and to unleash all of the air and artillery support on the german division. Amazingly (through high die rolls) Totenkopf escapes harm, other than the disrupting of the Marder battalion. The next chit activated is the 2nd Tank Corps (see right), this is the last chance that the russians will get at stopping Totenkopf from exiting the map but their die rolls

are all too high, not a single hit. Finally Totenkopf's chit is drawn and the entire division, except for the disrupted Marder battalion, exit the map. This has been a tense turn for the German player. Ideally, Totenkopf wanted to be activated first, so that it could simply exit the map. As it turned out, they were the last unit to be activated but were lucky enough to have not suffered from the soviet air, artillery and tank attacks throughout the turn.

Rudel (optional rule) is a tank busting air ace. He arrives whenever the germans roll a '6' for air support and he benefits the die roll when his counter attacks enemy armour. The turn opens with 18th Tank Corps attacking the right flank of Das Reich. The attack, preceded by artillery, destroys the panzer Regiment (Pz IV tanks) and both HIT and disrupts Der Furher Regiment. This is a devastating blow to Das Reich.
Elsewhere, Leibstandarte cross the River Psel and capture the village of Vishmaya Olshanko. At German Headquarters there are at least two demotions once it is realised that the german air units had been forgotten about.

Totenkopf have all exited the map, except for the Marder Battalion, which though stranded, has tied up an entire russian tank corps.

Leibstandarte control the geographic objectives south of the Psel River, with the exception of Prokhorovka Station. One of the panzer grendier regiments is marked with a HIT. Their immediate concern is that the russian units that had tried to block Totenkopf, will now move east and engage them.

Das Reich are involved in a swirling battle with two soviet tank corps and their prospects do not look good. They have suffered heavy casualties and the balance is tipping in the soviet favour. The russian player will get 2 VP's if they can push Das Reich back beyond the railtrack.

The russians are really torn as to whether they should release another tank corps from their reserve. Doing so would cost them victory points and it may well arrive at an undesirable location (random entry) - Although it might ensure victory - difficult decision.

The russians decide against releasing further reinforcements. 18th Tank Corps (yellow units) assault Das Reich, but they take casualties from counterfire and the german air units (though Rudel fails to meet the high expectations of the front commander). The situation on the left flank grows more serious as 2nd Guards Tank Corps expose that flank by pushing the recon battalion back towards Komsomolets village.

2nd Guards Tank Corps get the first activation. They take the opportunity to use the artillery assets to support their assault. Using a combination of firepower and overruns, the soviet tank corps destroys the Marder battalion and pushes the recon battalion into Komsomolets. The Der Furher Regiment manages to fend off the T34 tanks from the 25th Guards Brigade.
The situation for Das Reich is critical, they are struggling to disengage and are about to be completely overwhelmed - attacks from 18th Tank Corps are yet to come.
As the 18th press forward, Der Furher Regiment gives way and falls back. They are HIT and disrupted and the Tiger tank company is also disrupted. This means that when the Das Reich activation chit is drawn, their remaining units cannot move - due to disruption results.
The only sliver of good news for the german player during this turn has been that the panzer grenadier regiment carrying the HIT marker, has managed to fully recover from its damage (think of it as Command and Control and good order restored) and the HIT marker is removed.

iThere is panic at German Headquarters. The soviets have to be stopped. They order the nearby 167th Infantry Division to support the Das Reich sector. [a dice is rolled, if it is less than the current turn, then the 167th is considered to have become involved in off map fighting and will not show up - though the 2 VP cost of release will still have to be paid. Since it is turn 8, the roll is bound to be less than the current turn number - however the sting in the tail is that if a '6' is rolled this too counts as a failure - guess what ..... the germans roll a '6' - the 167th will not be comming to the rescue - lovely game tension].

Without any prospect of being reinforced, Das Reich expect to be utterly destroyed in the field. 18th Tank Corps are the first to activate and they take the opportunity to pour all of the artillery into the remaining positions held by Das Reich (the air units attack Leibstandarte). Following the barrage, 181st Tank Brigade attack and overrun Der Fuhrer Regiment, destroying it.
Unsurprisingly, the heavily battered german recon unit is pushed out of Komsomolets and a couple of miles further south, two tank brigades roll into Balenkhino - unopposed.
This means that the only two villages in the Das Reich sector are now under soviet control (2 VP's). Though some elements of Das Reich still cling to the far side of the railtrack.

In the Leibstandarte sector, russian units have started to concentrate in front of Imeni Vorshilov. It is clear that they are preparing for an assault on the village. To counter this, Leibstandarte push units across the Psel River and set up a defence in depth. The soviet air attacks have been directed at the panzer grenadier units but without any effect.

This is the last game turn and the soviets make a concerted effort to remove Das Reich from south of the rail track. Despite coming under intense attack, both the Deutchland Regiment (HIT) and the Tiger Company manage to hang on. They take up a position in the woods at hex 0621.
Over at Leibstandarte, the situation has stabilised into a stand-off.

With the game over - the victory points arre totalled.

German +6 VP's for exiting Totenkopf.
German held terrain +3 VP's
German attempt to bring in the 167th Inf Div -2 VP's
TOTAL GERMAN VP'S = 7

Soviet held terrain +6 VP's
Soviets still had 2 uncommitted tank corps in reserve +4 VP's
TOTAL SOVIET VP's = 10

A Russian victory.