In Europa #14 Roy analyzed Axis operations in Finland and the Arctic. This issue he examines the exploits of Army Group North and its execution of the campaign for Leningrad.

ARMY GROUP NORTH

The Main Strategic Objective (MSO) of Army Group North is Leningrad, the second largest city in the USSR. I'm not saying that you, as the German player, MUST take Leningrad, but if the opportunity presents itself you should be able to take advantage.

To accomplish the tasks outlined for AGN, the Axis must take advantage of the limited number of new troops the Leningrad MD is able to create during the early part of the summer campaign. Although the district is studded with excellent defensive terrain, possesses formidable air base capacity, and houses the Red Banner Fleet, the area can be choked off from the rest of Russia. Cutting off Leningrad has the added potential benefit of starving Murmansk. The more pressure brought to bear early in the game against Leningrad, the more the Russian will have to react to the Axis threat. While the Russian is massing units along the Luga river line, using considerable rail capacity to do so, the rest of Russia will go hungry for troops.

AGN's area of operations should be limited to the frontage running from the Baltic coast south to the western shore of Lake Ilmen. If AGN moves past Lake llmen to the south, the Army Group will become too dispersed to breach the Leningrad defensive lines. AGN shouldn't need substantial reinforcement if its operational area is limited as above. Remember, the objective of the Army Group is to put pressure on Leningrad quickly.

Dramatically reinforcing the Army Group will not tip the balance in your favor; only speed will do that. Taking the time to bring overwhelming force to bear on Leningrad is the surest way of losing the momentum needed to overcome the city.

The German usually can't take Leningrad against a determined Russian resistance; however, the cost of defending the city is expensive in terms of troops, air units, resource points, rail capacity, and construction units. If the Russian knows from past play, or from your lackluster move toward Leningrad, that you harbor no desires to take the city, he will have little reason to commit troops to the area. Allowing the Russian such latitude to concentration troops elsewhere is dangerous - if the Russian isn't kept stretched everywhere he will be able to pursue limited objectives of his own, such as crippling the Finns.

As explained in TEM #14, successful Axis prosecution of the war in the Arctic and the Finnish theater is one way to stretch the Soviet formations available for the defense of Leningrad. However, this effort will be wasted unless Army Group North moves quickly toward its goal. Therefore, bring pressure to bear against the Luga line quickly!

To gain the speed necessary, the Germans need to limit access to Leningrad by Soviet forces. A successful strategic bombing of Russian rail marshalling yards can bring rail traffic into the city to a standstill. Enough rail marshalling yards can be reached on both the surprise turn and regular Jun II turn to almost entirely eliminate the 45 RE rail capacity available to the Soviets on the first turn the turn they need it most.

Only the die-hard German player out there who refuses to play the Russian side won't understand how effective the loss of any rail capacity is to early Soviet deployment plans. Zero rail capacity will make it very difficult to decide between sending troops to the Arctic or defending the Luga and Volkhov rivers on the first turn.

Bombing the Russian rail net in decisive sectors on the first two turns is also effective because of the limited engineering assets available to the Russian. He will need rail to get his few available engineers into critical sectors of the VaIdai Hills and Luga river lines in order to get fort construction going. Look carefully at the rail junctions on the map from the Soviet side of the table and you will quickly see there are a number of choke points where a single hit can create lots of aggravation for the Soviet player.

Many German players can't see the problems caused by harassment of enemy logistics because it doesn't result in direct causalities for the Russian. Bombing enemy air units will at least put IL-2's or Pe-3's in the dead pile. However, the worst mission for the Luftwaffe after the surprise turn is bombing the Red air force on the ground. Interdict rail lines instead! In the early part of the game at least 40% of the Luftwaffe should be used to interdict rail lines in the north.

Although it's hard to see the tangible results of harassment and the bombing of critical sectors of the enemy rail net, try looking at it this way: Listen to your opponent brag about a sector he plans to hold for dear life, say the clear terrain and woods hexes directly behind Velikie Luki. These hexes are a natural avenue toward the Valdai Hills and can be defended with double fort lines between the forest hexes at 1B:2501 and 2A:3030.

However, there aren't any cities in the area to support the construction of forts or airfields, or to provide the large number of troops necessary to hold the sector. Therefore, building up the area requires extensive preplanning due to time restrictions. The Russian player will have to screen the first fort line while it is under construction and sufficient troops are being brought up to hold it.

The losses will be heavy, yet the payoff will be pretty good if the German is deflected around this avenue or forced to slug his way through two well- defended fort lines. Yet the entire operation is dependent on the two rail lines running from Kalinin and Moscow for success. Using the Luftwaffe to interdict these two rail lines can disrupt troop movements and make it impossible for the Russian player to achieve his objective.

This approach can work to undermine the defense of Leningrad as well. Bombing (and follow-up bombing) of the only two rail lines into Leningrad will force the Russian to commit construction assets, as well as fighter cover, to keep these lines open. A myth many panzer jocks believe is that the Russian has plenty of construction troops available for repair work, so bombing his lines of communication isn't worth the mission. The 5 movement-factor construction troops move slowly, and once committed to building a fort, are stuck for one turn at least. And once the fort is completed, the unit may be too far away to get to a blown rail hex.

Another method to get to Leningrad quickly is to move trucks with the panzers, expending them for supply as needed. By Jul I, the panzers should be feeling around for weak spots. Use some 1-10 ants to race up rail lines and roads (especially the road through Dno southeast of Lake limen) to prevent Red Army troops from administrative and rail movement toward your lines. Since the Baltic rail net doesn't need converting, even destroyed rail hexes of this net can be used to replenish your trucks.

As early as mid-July both the Luga and the Volkhov rivers can be threatened or crossed with panzers using trucks for supply. If the German moves aggressively enough in crossing either river it may be impossible to guarantee overland supply, which is the reason for using trucks. But once across either river it will be impossible for the Russian to erect any type of credible defensive position strong enough to stop the large infantry and artillery formations moving up rapidly along the Baltic rail net and the administrative corridors opened by the panzers.

The panzers aren't going to hurt as bad as the German infantry, artillery and air support, so the sooner the panzers are joined by their slower comrades, the better. Be sure to move security troops to key administrative movement choke points to disrupt the enormous number of partisans available to the Russian in the first two turns of the game generated from all the isolated dead. These partisans are so numerous as to be able to completely blanket a sector, thereby denying maximum movement for your infantry.

German Play in 1941 Part Two Army Group North and the Leningrad Campaign

Army Group North
Clearing the Way
Dash to the Luga
The Parnu Parameter

German Play in 1941 Part One Hints on Playing Fire in the East

Introduction
Panzers and Breakthroughs
Complicating the Red Retreat
The Northern Campaign
The Finnish Theater

Germany Play in 1941 Part Three The Final Chapter

Army Group Center
Army Group South
The Rumanian Army