THE GERMAN VIEW Due to the current umest along our eastern border, the Imperial Crarman Governrnent has been forced to issue the following proclamation. FOREIGN OFFICE: THE IMPERIAL GERMAN EMPIRE BERLIN Her Imperial Majesty's Government has been increasingly distressed by the recent events along our eastern border. The increased outbreaks of civil disorder, brought on by the actions of the occupying troops of the Union of Soviet Socialist Townships, has produced a situation which Her Majesty's Government can no longer accept. As a result, it has reluctantly decided to take action to deal with these crimes of the CCCT Armed Forces. As of 1200 hours, June II, elements of the Imperial Army have been ordered into the Soviet-occupied townships of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belorusk, and Ukraine. These units me under imperial orders to restore order and responsible government. The Imperial Army is not to use force unless those Soviet forces encountered offer resistance, at which point the local commander present is to take whatever steps he judges necessary to remove those Soviet troops from the area. In addition, Her Majesty's Government supports the actions of the governments of Romania and Finland in reclaiming those territories that the government of the CCCT seized from those countries by force in the past year. As a means of solving this problem without additional loss of life, Her Imperial Majesty's Government calls upon Marshal Wally, the leader of the CCCT, to order his troops to evacuate the areas already mentioned. In addition, as proof of his good faith and desire for peace, the Marshall is requested to withdraw his forces to a line 10 kilometers east of the borders of the above mentioned townships. If this is done, then Her Imperial Majesty's Government will in turn halt the Imperial Army along the already mentioned border. Acting under this order, Imperial German forces have commenced the liberation of these areas in question. As ofnow, halfway through the June II turn, German forces have liberated Liepaja, Siauliai, Kaunas, Grodno, Bialystok, Brzesc Nad Bugiem, Przernysl, and Tarnopol. We still have battles to fight at Kowel, Rowne, Shepetovka, Vinnitsa, Wilno, Daugaypils and Pinsk, as well as additional actions as the Germans press on. The 16th Mechanized Brigade has set the pace by pushing through occupied Poland, the Wally Line, and as of 1600 has driven the Soviets outof Proskurov. So far, none of the battles havebeen worth writing up for the CP, but that will change in the future. THE SOVIET VIEW Well, well, well. Here we are at daggers drawn with the Germans again and, as is their quaint native custom they start the war with a sneak attack and excuse it with a lie. Charming volks, aren't they? There's a lesson of some historic significance in all of this I suppose, but I'll 1eave that for others to puzzle out. As many of you know, my traditional persona in these games is Marshal Wally the Wonder Horse, First Secretary of the Union of Soviet Socialist Townships (CCCI) and Chairman of the County Board -- Comrade Wally for short. This may seem somewhat frivolous to many, but I like it because it helps remind everyone playing that this is, first and foremost, a game, or, as they used to say, an entertainment. Now as to the game itself, my suspicion is that we will have a much harder time defending Holy Mother Russia this time than when last the Panzers rolled east. For one thing, the Germans seem to have a PLAN this time (what an idea!), and von Novak, having been referee in the last Barbarossa 25 game, is wise to all of my tricks, which I consider an unfair advantage. The CCCT is therefore engaged in a life and death struggle for national survival, but is doing so under protest and expects a definitive ruling from the Board of Governors promptly upon conclusion of hostilities. Here is the problem the Soviets fare in the game in a nut shell -- inferior numbers coupled with inferior training and equipment. The Germans have a superiority in every critical category right off the bat, save only number of tanks, and in that case crew quality is so lopsided that the numbers don't do us much good. (For a real thrill sometime, try stopping veteran infantry with a couple of T-26s with green or trained crews.) What this means is that every time the Soviets attempt to make a firm stand, the Germans will destroy the force making the stand and then simply proceed. Now, as to advantages, the Soviets have two. A fair amount of space to retreat into and a long-term edge in reinforcements and new production. The question is how to minimize the German assets and maximize those of the Soviets. To do so, we deliberately deployed our forces echeloned in as much depth as we could manage. Every defensive position (with one exception (that I'll mention later) was intended to stand briefly, cause some long range attrition through mortar and artillery fire, and then fall back to the next line. Ideally, this would leave us at the end of the first day with a denser front line than we started with and with no units surrounded. The watchword for every front commander was for preservation. We need for units to engage the enemy and survive, and thus gain in experience. This should enable us to narrow the gap in troop quality and reverse the force ratio in time to make a stand in front of Moscow. The one exception to the delaying policy was in the Wilno area where we deployed our one veteranrifle brigade heavily reinforced. We had hoped to have one place where we could bloody the German nose The results were mixed. MOSCOW, June 1941, Novosti: In a recent interview in the Kremlin, Comrade Wally was heard to praise the achievements of the 10th Rifle Brigade in destroying an invading German infantry battalion, calling the action at Wilno "a great victory of Soviet arms over the imperialists and a sample of what their entire army will experience soon." When it was pointed out to the Marshal that the entire Soviet 10th Rifle Brigade had been itself wiped out in the action, he reportedly shrugged and said, "I've got plenty more rifle brigades, but where is von Novak going to come up with another infantry battalion?" BARBAROSSA 25 UPDATE: OTHER NEWS Due to the number of local gamers who have expressed an interest in playing in our current game, we are adding the Western Desert as a separate front. Frank is currently researching the OBs, and I hope to have a copy of the OBs and rules in the next issue of the CP. For the record, the following is the Barbarossa 25 TO&E for the Africa Korps in June, 1941. DAA - DEUTSCHES AFRIKA ABTEILUNG Headquarters Company: with: 1 Command Stand 1 Car 1 Staff Radio Thick 2 Support Stands 2 Medium Supply Trucks with Trailers 1 Light Truck 1 20L113 AA Gun 1 Gun Crew Stand 1st Company, with: 1 Command Pz III 1 Pz II 1 Recon SdKfz 222 2nd Company, with: 1 Command Infantry Stand 2 Infantry Stands 1 MMG Stand 2 Medium Trucks 3rd Company, with: Command Motorcycle Infantry Stand 2 Motorcycle Infantry Stands 1 Motorcycle MMG Stand 4th Company, with: 2 MMG Stands 1 8cm Mortar Stand (DS) 2 Medium Trucks 5th Company, with: 1 Engineer Stand 1 Gun Crew Stand (DS) 1 Gun Crew Stand 1 75/L12 Infantry Gun 1 50L60 AT Gun 2 Light Trucks 1 Medium Truck 6th Company, with: 1 Command Stand 1 FO Stand 2 Kubelwagons 1 Light Tractor 1 Gun Crew Stand (DS) 1 105L28 howitzer A LAST MINUTE NOTE OF APOLOGY I have badly fallen behind in my attempts to answer my mail due to demands from the "real world" upon my time. If I have failed to answer any mail from any reader, please accept this as my apology. I shall attempt to get caught up as soon as possible. Contacts Editor Greg Novak Assistance Frank Chadwick and Loren K. Wiseman Art Direction LaMont Fullerton Typesetting and Proofreading Ami Jontz Back to Table of Contents -- Command Post Newsletter #7 To Command Post Quarterly List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1992 by Greg Novak. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com