Origins 97 proved to be yet another enjoyable and interesting weekend of gaming. I was a participant in the only FitE/Se game at the fest. This FitE/SE game as Chris Lundvall; one of my esteemed opponents, pointed out in the Exchange from TEM 56, used Bradley Skeen's "Europa Reform: Reasoned and Revealed" from issue #43/44.

After the game was wrapped up, a long discussion ensued and we decided to make another attempt of the game using Skeen's rule modifications. There were some Further modifications made to these rules which we had hoped would iron out some wrinkles a bit. These modifications were made with the intent of having the second game closer resemble historic patterns,

The second game began with a few phone calls in late August and got under way by late September via email. (I recommend using a spread-sheet for this daunting task) I am CinC of German forces and also commander of Army Group North and all forces operating in Finland. I pushed for Leningrad to be our main objective. The primary reason for this was the king of clubs draw for the Finnish war effort, and the fact that Leningrad itself is reasonably close to the border and realistically attainable. Given the fact that AGC was to drive along the Daugavpils-Dno axis with the bulk of 3rd Panzer group to assist 4th panzer in cutting Leningrad off from the cast, we expected to isolate the city by August and wait for the infantry to move up.

Low odd overruns were used even on the surprise turn. This enabled the German onslaught to be more accurately resembled in the game. We are running very close to German advances along the front because of this. Improved Soviet fortifications were used. Logistical Points (LP's) were also included, but were spent the rum a HQ was to activate. We all felt that this would save some bookkeeping and make the use of HQ's easier. A reduced Russian rail capacity (30RE's) was implemented on the surprise turn based from a Flavio Carrillo Combined Arms article.

Second Front air rules were grafted on using the same TEM issue, but we kept with the FitE/SE counter m1x for simplicity sake. There have been some concerns with the latitude with which one can stage air units in the defensive role. I have had some reservations as to the ability of the defender to call air in from distant sectors of the front to assist in the defense. Did air operations in the east resemble those of the west three years later? Greg Sarneki and I discussed the possibility of negating the ability to stage air when you are the non-phasing player, any thoughts?

Skeen's rules needed more clarification, which we applied standard rules where possible. Required losses were used on all low odd overruns. HQ's needed some further detail on their retreat abilities. We expanded Skeen's limited exploitation ability to bicycle and jaeger unit types that he omitted, The rules compliment the use of HQ,.

After rereading Chris Lundvall's article in the last Exchange and the, comments which followed, I would like to say that the Germans have been about as aggressive as possible. This game is ongoing, and will be continued at Origins 98. I expect to see us somewhere in January of 42 by the time we get to the Europafest. So if your wanting to see a documented playtest using these rules drop by and we will give you all the answers and suggestions we possibly can.

Game summary:

Players:

Germany and Axis Allies:
CinC, AGNorth, Finland: John Madison (Illinois)
AGCenter: Scott Petersen California
AGSouth, Rumania, Hungary: Jeff Baldwin (Canada)

Soviet Union:
CinC, North/Central Front: Greg Sarneki (Michigan)
South/Trans Front: Troy Kenily (Ohio)
Central/Interior (Temp): Leslie Nielson (Minnesota)

Surprise Turn:

Special Operations:

Brandenburger units were air dropped on Dno, Veliki Luki, Tartu and Orsha.

AGN

18th army opened up a gap in the Soviet line near Memel with an infantry overrun, and 4th panzer group widened the hole and moved east, bypassing armor units at Siauliai and moved within miles of Riga. The remainder of AGN enveloped the entire Soviet Baltic defense line and destroyed it, leaving the 12th Mech Corps at Siauliai and the defenders of Riga barring the way to the Soviet 27th Army strung out south of Tartu.

AGC

3rd panzer group overran elements of Soviet I1th army and seized Kaunas. From the Soviet 10th armies northern flank, German 9th army attacked south east near Grodno pushing behind Bialystok while Kluge's 4h army assaulted Brzesc nad Bugieman and pushed east in an attempt to break free of I0th' army. Second panzer group drove a wedge through the Soviet line north of Brest and moved east deep behind the I0th army reaching Baranowicze in their drive towards Minsk. As 2nd panzer widened the shoulders of the break through areas German 9h and 4th armies were able destroy a good portion of IOth armies border forces. A large pocket of 10th army remnants began to take shape around the forests surrounding Bialystok just east of the border. The ring was loosely held initially but tightened on the latter turn of June.

AGS

Sixth army disintegrated the defenders cast of Chelm and skirted the Pripet marshes to the south in their drive towards Kowel.. In its advance 6th army managed to pocket 22 d Mech Corps near Kowel. First panzer group penetrated several hexes and engaged the bulk of 4th and 8th Mech corps east of Lvov. Meanwhile 17th army was able to maneuver around Soviet 26th army and followed the gap opened up by I' panzer group just to the north. Seventeenth army's vanguard reached the approaches to Lvov, while the bulk of the army turned west and collapsed the pocket formed around Soviet 26th army, thus destroying the last remnants of the Polish frontier defenses facing Group Sud.

Baltic & Leningrad Soviet Response:

My impregnable (that is, non-overrunnable) front line got demolished in short order, much to my surprise. I can only sit back and wait for where the Panzers will strike next...

Soviet Losses:
Baltic 66 (40 isolated)
Western 51 (31 isolated)
Kiev 36 (14 isolated)
Fortified areas 24
Airfields 2
Major Cities 0
Dot Cities Kaunas
Reference Cities Liepaja, Orsha, Pinsk, Kowel, Przemysl, Brzesc

GERMAN Losses:
AGN 0
AGC 8
AGS 7

June II

Special Operations:

Brandenburger battalions dropped earlier in the week were joined by infantry regiments in most cases. Rail lines were broken and airfields were made operational for the Luftwaffe.

AGN

Leading elements of German 18th Army moved into attack positions in front of Riga and assaulted the city in the last days of June. The remainder of 18th Army and a large portion of 16th army surrounded Siauliai and crushed Soviet 12th Mech Corps. Hoth's 4th Panzer Corps closed the retreat routes east of Riga and later moved east towards Pskov. Hoth's panzer corps engaged the scattered divisions of Soviet 27th Army on the approaches to the Soviet 1939 frontier and destroyed 27th Army during exploitation attacks. The 3rd and 36th Motorized Divisions bypassed Soviet 27th Army and seized Tartu and moved within miles of Narva and Tallin before fuel shortages halted further advances.

AGC

Third panzer group fought its way through Wilno and moved to Daugavpils overrunning the Soviet 1st ParaInfantry Brigade there. Ninth Army tightened its knot around the northern flank of Soviet 10th army and fought hard throughout the last week of June. Kluge ordered 4th Army to continue its pressure on 10th Army's southern flank, and made good progress towards Baranowicze and beyond Pinsk. Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group was assigned the task of taking Minsk and seizing bridgeheads across the Berezina river before July first. Under the leadership of (Field Marshal Scott Von Peterson: AGC commander) 2 d Panzer Group stormed into downtown Minsk and the leading vanguard crossed the Berezina along the Moscow-Smolensk highway and also captured Bobruysk.

While 2nd Panzer pushed east after a victory at Minsk, 3rd Panzer reached Daugavpils early the last week of June. There the corps split into two groups one headed south east capturing Polotsk and the bulk of 3rd crossed into the Soviet 1939 frontier just east of 4th Panzer Corps; which was fanned out just west of the Daugavpils-Pskov railway.

AGS

Sixth army entrenched itself around 22nd Mech Corps, cutting off any chance of escape. Sixth was is to hold the trapped corps in place until reinforcements could be brought up to the destroy the armor. While 6th Army was preparing to attack Soviet 22nd Mech Corps, 1st panzer group continued its engagement against Soviet 4th and 8th Mech Corps until 17th army moved up from the easterly approaches to Lvov and relieved Kleist's panzers to push beyond towards the Stalin line. Seventeenth army managed to hold 4th Mech in the pocket around Lvov and later in the week destroyed the resistant defenders of Lvov and 4th Mech. As the Nazi banner was raised in Lvov, elements of 17th Army disengaged and headed south towards Cernauti and Stanislawow. Fourth panzer pushed east, seizing Tarnopol, Proskurov, Shepetovka, Rowne, and Sarny. Many scattered soviet brigades and divisions were engulfed in the advance of 0 Panzer, including a number of undermaned Stalin line fortresses. By the end of June, AGS cleared the approaches to Kiev, destroyed a great number of fortifications, captured Lvov and pressed forward well within striking distance of the upper Dniepr and beyond.

Baltic, Leningrad, temporary Western, Moscow, Orel MD Soviet Response:

Army Group North's spearheads are moving incredibly fast and I have almost nothing to oppose then with! Specialized mountain troops are railed in, from their base in the Transcaucases MD, to defend Leningrad, in preparation for their use in the Arctic. Some armored reserves are mustered into a counterattack force that annihilates three regiments of Nazis that landed at the gangster-controlled airfield at Dno an encouraging early success that is augmented by a long range patrol cutting the supply line to German motorized elements outside of Narva.

Meanwhile, the order is sent for all front line units to seek refuge in the marshes and forests of Mother Russia. However, some heroic units are told to hold the railroad approaches to Minsk at all costs. An operation to send another motorcycle unit behind enemy lines north of the Pripet Marshes ends in farce when the officer in charge of railroad planning forgets to allow sufficient time for destroying the rail system in the Pripet. Inexplicably, orders for the somewhat battle-weary 6th Cavalry Division (cadre) to reoccupy an airbase in White Russia and capture the Stuka airwing based there is lost in the chaos. Marshal of the Soviet Union Gregorovich (Me) pays the price with a brief visit to Lubianka. His replacement, Marshal Jakubovski (Me) will not make the same mistake!

Soviet Losses:
Baltic 69 (55 isolated)
Western 60 (38 isolated)
Kiev 90 (54 isolated)
Odessa 15 (0 isolated)
Fortified areas 20
Airfields 8
Major Cities Riga, Minsk, Lvow
Dot Cities Wilno, Chisinau, Cernauti
Reference Cities Tartu, Parmi, Ventspils, Siauliai, Daugavpils, Polotsk, Bialystok, Baranowicze, Bobruysk, Rowno, Sarny, Shepetovka, Tarnopol, Stanislawow.

German Losses:
AGN 17
AGC 11
AGS 6

July I

Special Operations:

After Soviet counter attacks at Dno, elements of the 254th Infantry Division which were air landed the last week of June, were destroyed by 3rd Mech Corps. Another counter attack at Veliki Luki was stopped. The heroic defenders of Veliki Luki were destroyed in an overrun attack by 7th Mech Corps moving northeast from the Kaluga region. The other airborne operations were successful in holding forward airfields until advancing ground troops relieved the brandenburgers and infantry elements.

Finland:

Exploiting the war effort the Finnish government has showed Germany, Army Group North sea transported and air lifted three divisions from Danzig early in July and railed them to the Karelian front. Together with a strong German contingent, the Finns were able to push the attack west and northeast of Vipuri, gaining several miles of former Finnish territory back. Further east, along the northern shores of lake Ladoga, other German units from the arctic railed down in time to participate in an attack at hex 5027. A breakthrough followed this attack and armor elements exploited east as far as Petrozavodsk, thus cutting off the only rail line north to Murmansk. The arctic and Norwegian theatres saw little success due to the inhospitable terrain.

AGN:

With most of the Baltic cleared, l8th Army marched towards Narva unopposed. Sixteenth army pushed east towards Pskov and reached concentrated soviet infantry in the area. Fourth panzer formed up and swept around the eastside of Pskov and drove northeast towards Luga and the forests to the northwest. Elements of. 3 d Panzer Group assisted 8th Panzer Division, SS Totenkopf in exploitation attacks due east of Luga. An exchange against the Soviet 2nd Tank Division eliminated some ants and a strong crossing forced took up positions on the eastside of the Luga river giving AGN a second bridgehead. Leningrad is within reach now!

The 3rd and 36th Motorized Divisions pulled back to clean up a few ants bypassed near Tartu and exploited back to forward positions adjacent to Narva. Tallinn itself remained quiet but 18th Army is expected to take the city in the latter half of July. Sixteenth army attacked Pskov and hex 1906 from multiple directions and cleared the area. Three Soviet divisions remained west of the Luga, two of which were trapped in the swamp south of Pskov and the other at Tallinn.

AGC

The northern group of 3d Panzer swarmed around Dno and attacked 3rd Mech Corps and destroyed it. Seventh Panzer, weakened (cadred) from earlier fighting was ground down in the attack at Dno, and the remnants were disbanded. The 7th Panzer is scheduled for re-construction by mid August. Ninth and 4th Army continued to attack weak points in Soviet 10th Army's defenses. A good portion of 4th Army managed to disengage from the large pocket formed around Bialystok and destroyed remnants of the Minsk defenders held up due west of the city. Leading infantry divisions were able to march to the western bank of the Berenzina river. Guderian's 2 nd Panzer pushed onward to Orsha and assaulted Vitebsk. The southern flank of 2nd Panzer currently extends to the outskirts of Mogilev. Von Petersen has deployed motorized elements protecting the area.

Third panzer group having driven 100 miles north to Dno, headed back south during exploitation to screen off the strong Soviet mechanized forces of 7th Mech Corps situated in the Veliki Luki area. Further advances by AGC are expected to be modest until Kluge's 4th Army and 9th Army crosses the Berezina in greater strength.

AGS

Sixth and 17th Armies spent the first weeks of July cleaning up scattered elements of Soviet infantry some miles west of Kiev. The German 11th along with our Rumanian allies attacked east from Iasi and reached Chisinau. Cernauti was also taken with some loss however. A link was established with 17th Army, which extended the encirclement of Lvov to include some divisions that did not retreat from the Hungarian border. Kleist's first panzer fanned out and attacked Soviet defenders in front of Kiev. The panzer group is expected to cross en masse by July 15th Mozy was also seized by the 9th Panzer Division. The extreme scorched earth tactics implemented by the Soviet southern front has caused some great concern at OKH. Practically the entire road and rail network west of the Dnepr has been destroyed. In addition many airfields and bridges have been demolished. The advance of AGS will be hampered by this needless destruction!

German 11th Army crossed Bessarabia and into the old Soviet frontier, along several points. Odessa, heavily garrisoned is expected to be isolated in the next week and will fall under Rumanian hands by August. Good progress has been made by Rumania, and OKH expects that they will reach the lower Dnepr bend by mid to late August at the current rate of advance.

Comments on game progress as of July I, 1941 from CinC Soviet Armed Forces:

Overall, I have to say that so far, this is the most realistic FitE I've ever played. The panzer spearheads are pretty much where they were historically, which is something that never normally happens. Whether Leningrad can survive both near total Finnish involvement and the attention of two panzer gruppe, only time will tell.

Soviet Losses:
Arkhangelsk 7 (0 isolated)
Baltic/Leningrad 10 (8 isolated)
Western 40 (40 isolated)
Moscow 0
Kiev 88 (75 Isolated)
Odessa (Included w/ Kiev)
Forts 31

German Losses:
Norway/Finland 3
AGN 4
AGC 16
AGS 14
Rumania/Hungary