The 4 November 1942 entry of the War Diary of OKW (High Command Armed Forces) begins with the following words "Yesterday the Fiffirer had ordered that the 6th Panzer Division and two Infantry Divisions, including 306th ID, should be transfer-red from West to East and to Army Group B as reserve behind the 3rd Rumanian Army and 8th Italian Army."

The first train of troops from 6th Panzer Division left France 12 November on their journey to the Eastern Front. So, now we come to the what if. If these three divisions had arrived and taken positions before the Soviet offensive, would it have been a larger disaster for the Germans (more divisions destroyed in the initial stage with the effect of fewer forces available at later stages of the fighting)? Or would they have been able to save the day for the Germans?

Scenarios 1 & 2 Variant

Remove the indicated German units from the reinforcement schedule for Turns 2, 4, and 10 and add them to the Axis set-up forces.

8th Italian Army

(Add to 29th German Corps)
6th Pz Div within three hexes of C 14.10
306th Inf Div within three hexes of C 14.10

3rd Rumanian Army

(Add to 48th German Panzer Corps)
294th Inf Div within two hexes of C24.07