The Germans set up first, so we will start with them. However, the German player should be sure to consider the possible Russian deployments. If the Soviets spot a weakness, they have the forces to exploit it ruthlessly. Remember Stalingrad!

Unfortunately, you are already in trouble, due to the Fuhrer's insistence on holding the Dnepr's west bank. Worse, you have no major reserve forces to deploy, and will have to wait until the game starts to pull units from one part of the line to reinforce another. Take full advantage of what initiative remains to you, though. In particular, identify which divisions you plan to use as your operational reserve and set them up on detrainable hexes so you can rail them out quickly to their new destinations without wasting fuel.

Set up the remaining units to do two things: first, prevent a Russian breakthrough if possible, and second, be in position to counterattack. Your line divides itself fairly naturally into four zones.

First, the area north of the Bug, in the triangle ZhitomirVinnitsa-Shepetova, offers considerable potential. You have an entire SS panzer corps, a number of backing forces, and a lot of open terrain to use your strength in. True, your forces are still battered and bruised by the pre-game Russian offensive that took Zhitomir and Berdichev, but so are the Russians troops here, and you're in better shape. You can go on the offensive right from the start, if you have enough supply.

Alas, you will probably not have enough supply, unless you're using the balance option that loads up your organic trucks at the start of the game. But it might be worth doing even so; this is the only zone where you have a realistic chance of forcing the Russians to react to your moves. This is extremely important: see the section on strategy (in part 2 of this article).

If you intend to go on the offensive, set up as far forward as possible, taking full advantage of the woods near Berdichev: you want your troops to shelter in the woods, while the Soviets are out on the plains exposed to your tanks. If you can reach Zhitomir and Fastov, you may cut off an entire Soviet Front; you even have a shot at Kiev and a sudden-death German victory if you can pull it off quickly enough (unlikely, against a competent Soviet opponent, but examine the possibility nevertheless). Also, the more space you have, the more of it you can trade for time later in the game.

A defensive setup farther back, anchored on the river lines, makes some sense: it avoids a starting Russian northern offensive that surrounds and extinguishes your entire force, which despite its quality is not large. Be especially wary of Russian air power, which can blast your reserves before they can attack or even react. Your force is powerful but fragile, and if the Russians can disorganize your major striking units (1 st SS, 2nd SS, and 1st Panzer), their numbers will overwhelm you. You can form a fairly solid defensive line from Vinnitsa to Shepetova if you choose this option; be aware that it will be difficult to shift from a defensive to an offensive posture unless the Soviets are kind enough to approach you.

Dangers to consider: The Soviet may make an immediate attack across the Bug and onto the main rail line. Potentially even worse is a Soviet offensive straight west toward Ternopol, cutting off your entire army, not just the northern wing. They will probably not be strong enough for this attack right off the bat, but you have to avoid it at almost any cost. The solution is the same for both cases: guard the bridges, hold Vinnitsa, and have panzer divisions in reserve ready to obliterate the attackers. (And have your trucks somewhere near the center of the board, in position to form an extender to link around any breaks in the rail lines in case you can't eliminate intruders.)

The second sector, the central zone between Uman and Vinnitsa, is wide-open and empty. Fortunately, it's less vulnerable than it looks. Both you and the Soviets are spread very thin, and while it looks like the Bear can drive straight for Uman, there are several subtle traps in his way. Near Uman, you are protected by a river and the lack of roads; south of Vinnitsa, by distance. I would recommend deploying your two panzer divisions (6th and 17th) at each end of this zone. One can move quickly to relieve Uman if there is a Soviet thrust in that direction; the other can protect Vinnitsa and perhaps join in a major counterattack against the northern Soviet wing. The infantry should be deployed to guard bridges.

Dangers to consider: A Soviet may execute an armored drive on Uman, or a deep drive to put forces astride the LvovOdessa rail line and cut off your southern flank. The troops to counter either move will have to come from here, but be sure to keep an armored reserve in the area, and keep the bridges guarded. A deep Soviet drive early in the game is not difficult to handle if you are properly prepared; you are still superior in a mobile battle, with your hip shots and better action ratings.

The third area, the Korsun Pocket, is a nerve-wracking danger. Your mighty and glorious High Commander has given you a lot of troops. Unfortunately, your obstinate blind short-sighted territory-fixated Leader has also given you the impossible assignment of holding the bank of the Dnepr. That sticks you in a nice big salient with empty flanks, and a lot of Russians on each side. Seems an awful lot like Stalingrad, doesn't it? Fortunately things aren't quite that bad.

You have two major options here: one is to pack the Dnepr bank with as many troops and as much supply as you can manage, and try to evacuate the rest as early as possible, hoping that the stay-behinds will hold out long enough. The other is to fight for the pocket, hoping that the Russians will break their heads butting into your firm defense. And here you will have to consider the Russian plan: will they try a short envelopment to just cut off the Dnepr hexes, or a long envelopment to trap the entire pocket? A long envelopment works better for them, since they don't have to butt heads with you in tough terrain, and may end up trapping more units. On the other hand, if you don't guard against a short envelopment, their infantry divisions will just stroll in and cut off the units on the Dnepr bank. Watch out for Russian HQs working as bridges over the Ross River on the south edge of the pocket.

You have one major weakness here: artillery. The SS artillery, while powerful, isn't enough; you need to get more into the pocket as quickly as possible, if you intend to fight. Some other reinforcements would be useful as well; you want the Soviets, when possible, to attack you in good defensive terrain, and there's plenty of it here.

Likewise, you need to consider supply. You will want to position your HQ to ensure that the Dnepr hexes are in trace supply. However, since the Russians may succeed in cutting the Shpola-Korsun rail line early on, you will need to put enough wagons in the pocket to form an extender tracing back to Zvenigorodka. (You need the trucks free, either to form a long extender in case of Soviet adventurism on the LvovOdessa rail line, or to truck supply from the south map edge to the pocket or other destinations.) You will want to position some supply in the Dnepr VP hexes (probably the swamp hex, which is ideal for a fortress), so you can hold out in case you are cut off.

Many players abandon Smela as indefensible. This is a grievous error. You must hold the territory south and west of the pocket (approximately the Smela-Shpola-Gorodische triangle) for as long as possible, to prevent the Soviets from threatening your supply lines. As long as you hold Smela, the Soviets will find it very difficult to move infantry past it to seal off the south edge of the pocket.

The 5th SS is your hammer inside the pocket, to keep the Russians from closing it too quickly. You need to keep it available for counterattacks-but it may not be enough on its own, if the Russians attack from both north and south. If you're planning to fight and hold the pocket, you will need reinforcements. You cannot hold out with just your starting forces against a combined Soviet offensive using armor from the southeast to cut the supply lines and infantry driving south and west along the pocket borders to seal it off.

Finally, set up an air base inside the pocket. You probably won't base many bombers there, but you can fly supply in during airbase-to-airbase-only weather, and you can put a fighter or two there from time to time should you feel the need. It's always nice when the Russians have to use artillery instead of air to DG your troops; they eat up so much more supply that way.

Some thought should be given to your hedgehog set-up as well. Smela, Gorodische, and the Dnepr VP hexes need hogs, and you will probably need to form a line along the Rossava River to the north as well - your troops need all the protection they can get against the waves of Soviet infantry likely to be unleashed on them. Consider where the Soviets are likely to attack, and hog up the key spots to slow them down. Mironokva in particular is a vital bottleneck.

The fourth sector, around Kirovograd, is the most likely to see an opening Soviet attack, but also has the largest and strongest defensive forces. You have a choice between setting up forward to try to deny the Russians the use of the doubletrack rail line as long as possible, and setting up behind the rivers in the best defensive terrain available. Historically, the German line was fairly far forward, and broke almost immediately under the weight of the Russian assault. It's probably better to set up behind the rivers. By the time the Russians need the rail line, they'll have driven you back to Kirovograd anyway.

South of Kirovograd you can set up along the river line in strength, with 13th Panzer helping to hold the line. This ties up several divisions, but the Russians are unlikely to attack across a river into a sturdy defense if they have an alternative; the line will likely hold until the Russians break through north of Kirovograd, or until the rivers freeze. A more daring alternative is a light defense along the river, tempting the Russians to attack there, with 13th Panzer held back in reserve. This is risky: if they attack, they might break through. In fact, they probably will. You are gambling on your counterattack, with the GD Division entering the south edge of the map in combat mode, giving the Bear a nose so bloody he'll run away. It can work-and if the Russians don't attack, then you've freed up 13th Panzer for service elsewhere.

Kirovograd itself should be held strongly (or the Russians may take it immediately), but not too strongly. Since it will be a fortress from the start of the game, anything committed to it will never leave. I find it useful to have at least an AR4 regiment plus one or two small artillery units (which can absorb step losses and fire from inside the city, leaving your combat units to man the line) in addition to the fortress brigades. Likewise, be sure to set up a supply dump in the city, since you will not be able to rail or truck supply in once the game starts (unless you're willing to tie up some of your all-too-few transport points in the fortress), and you want to have enough supply for the city to last a few turns after the Russians isolate it.

North of Kirovograd you have two options: set up forward, as close as possible to the rail line, or pull back and hold the river line, perhaps with a few sacrificial regiments out front as a screen to hold the Soviet setup back a few more hexes.

Several possibilities come to mind. At first glance, a single strong line is very attractive: a 5 AR unit and 2-3 REs (3-4 steps) in each hex may be able to blunt the Soviet offensive. The problem is that the Soviets have massive force available, enough to take out almost any single hex if they try hard enough, and if they break through your line and flood through, life will not be pleasant. On second thought, a "breakwater" defense looks more promising: a line of single 4-5 AR units forward, backed by a strong line of infantry and armor/AT guns in the hexes behind. The theory is that the breakwater will absorb the initial force of the Soviet attack, letting the main line of resistance (MLR) hold out for a while longer. Of course, the Soviets may decide to try some overruns if they can do it at huge odds (a Guards tank battalion leading a combat-mode tank corps can crush through a lot of stuff, and then they're adjacent to the MLR and can break through it in the combat phase). Multiple breakwater lines leave you the problem that the Soviets will just attack everything at high odds and leave you with a lot of dead units. A third possibility is to set up a moderately strong MLR (2-3 steps/hex) backed by a line of single units. This way, the MLR will probably be too strong to overrun, and it can fall back on the secondary line, which should suffice to prevent an immediate Soviet penetration.

You don't have any really good choices. Historically, Kirovograd fell on turn 2. Expect to do better-but don't let your army get destroyed fighting for it.

Finally, you will have to consider from what areas you can pull units to reinforce threatened sectors or form an operational reserve. You can probably pull one panzer division from the northern sector (16th Panzer, slightly stronger than most and in the quiet Shepetova sector, is a favorite), and one from the center (6th or 17th, leaving the other to guard against deep raids). If you pull much more than that, the inevitable Soviet northern offensive will face little resistance. Of course, losing the game in the south while holding intact forces up north isn't very appealing either. You do have a steady stream of reinforcements coming in; the GD division in particular must be thrown into the thick of the fight, and rebuilt as soon as possible when damaged. Infantry divisions can rail to threatened spots; make sure that your cities in the rear are defended by more than just fortress battalions should marauding Soviet armor appear outside them. (The difference between a Dol result and a DL1ol result is enormous: Soviet exploitation columns in move mode can probably do the first, but will find it difficult to achieve the second, when trying to take a city from the march. A second step may be the difference between holding a VP city, and not holding it.)

That's it. You will never have a large operational reserve until you can shorten your front line considerably. And that won't be easy to do.

A note on the Luftwaffe

It is difficult to find spots for airfields which are both near the front (so you have fighter cover over the front lines) and in a protected spot (so that the Soviets can't easily run over them, or get adjacent to them). You probably need to have your airfields in at least pairs or trios, so that fighters on one air base can cover another, and you need to decide if you are going to set up your fighters on the north wing or the south wing; they really need to be together, to make it difficult for the Soviets to overwhelm quality with quantity. Try to spare a couple of HQs to provide flak protection for your airbuses and keep rebuilding the important ones (if necessary-it may be better to use the supply for combat purposes).

More Setup and Strategy in Hube's Pocket Part 1

Introduction
The German Setup
Soviet Opening: North, South, or Deep?
The Soviet Setup

Part 2