In the introduction to Operational Combat Series rules, Dean wrote, "OCS games simulate campaign-level combat from 1900 to the mid-1950s. The series goal is to allow a sophisticated study of historical events while maintaining mechanical simplicity."

It occurred to me that it might be interesting to compare an OCS simulation to "historical events." The following narrative compares the first ten days (3 game turns) of a play-through of Gudenan's Blitzkrieg with historical events from 30 September 1941 to 9 October 1941.

This narrative summarizes events from Guderian's Blitzkrieg played using the version 2.0i rules (plus all optional rules) and the 1994 Gamers' Christmas Mailing upgrade notes. Initial unit placement was the historical setup given in the original GB rules as amended by the upgrade notes. At various points in this narrative comparisons are made to the progress of historical events.

I do not claim to be an OCS expert and this article does not present perfect (or maybe even good) game play. In game terms, the choice of using the historical setup handicaps the Soviet player. However, I was curious what course the game would take starting from historical positions but letting the simulation run under version 2.0i rules.

Historical events used for comparison were taken from books on a wargamer's reading list, not an historian's bibliography or primary sources. Others may disagree with the timing of certain events. However, my goal was to make a comparison of game play with available summaries of historical events.

More Guderian

Guderian's Blitzrieg (Game): Introduction
Guderian's Blitzrieg (Game): Turn 1
Guderian's Blitzrieg (Game): Turn 2

Guderian's Blitzrieg Part 2: (Game): Turn 3