Guderian's Blitzkrieg is the most exciting WWII game to come out in a long time. My fast experiences with the Operational Combat Series system were both thrilling and appalling. It demands a style of play that is intense, fluid, and freewheeling. Now after many defeats and a few victories, I want to share some of what I've learned.

This article will look at several areas. For the Germans, we will explore various ways of supplying the troops, airbase placement and construction, and some ideas on rail repair and destruction. At the Soviet end of the spectrum, we will deal with the setup for the historical scenario, and Soviet philosophy as to game processes.

Most of the ideas I will talk about assume the players are using the standard historical scenario. Soviets and Germans have freedom to setup within their respective Army and Corps zones. When I play, I use all the optional rules except German truck breakdown, secret interceptor stationing, and penal unit return. These gaming insights assume that the Guderian's Blitzkrieg variants and aforementioned optional rules are not in use. Since the countermix is the limit for Hedgehog and reserve markers, I usually divide them evenly between the Germans and the Soviets at the start of the game.

German Airbase Placement

The Germans have a small but powerful airforce. They can hold their own quite well, except when the Soviets gang up on them. Even then, they will take many Reds down with them. Early in the game, the weather is good, and most of the Soviet ground forces are within German fighter cover range. The Germans often enjoy exclusive air superiority. Most Soviet Players are too timid to use their airforce in contested areas. The Germans can pretty much cover everything important in the first few turns of the game.

The German airforce has three basic functions:

1. Bombing ground targets,
2. Providing protection from Soviet aircraft,
3. Transporting additional supplies in from off-map.

Use your Ju-52s every turn to fly supply. The He-111hs are also capable of bringing in supplies. However, they are also the most powerful bombers in the German arsenal. You must make aj udgment call on a turn-by-turn basis. Do I use them for flying in supply or offensive operations. The Me-109ss of course provide your defense against the Soviets doing dastardly things to you with their aircraft. Last but not least (well, maybe least), the Germans have an assortment of other bombers to use in offensive operations. My philosophy is to place the supply transport capable aircraft in an airbase near the western map-edge to maximize the number of round trips you can fly. Smolensk provides the ideal location for this. Not only is it next to the map-edge, it is also on a railroad and a primary road that facilitates the next leg of supply transport. Besides that, you need an airbase near Konotop to provide fighter cover for reinforcements entering there. You also need a base to provide the best jump-off point for bombers to hit targets anywhere on the board. Therefore, I usually place my four initial airbases; as follows: A1.26, A 1.27, Al 4.01, and B6.11. Istock my airbases with aircraft as follows:

A1.26: 4 x Ju52 2 x BE 109f

A 1.27:5 X He-111h, 2 x BE 109f A 14.01: 5 x Ju-87b, 4 x BE 109f B6.11: 2 x Ju88a, 1 x Dol 7z, 1 x BE 109e I make sure to stack HQs with A 14.01 and A1.26. I place one HQ from the turn one reinforcements in A 1.27 so that in the turn one reorganization phase I can build these airbases up to level 3. That way, we can maximize the aircraft that will be able to refit each turn. This is vital early in the game.

Later on the weather turns bad and you will find yourself not even needing to supply the airbases.

Let's look for a moment at the prospect of transporting supplies by air. To fly a supply sortie, an aircraft must fly off the map and spend 12 movement points for a round trip to Gomel (in the case of the Germans). It must then fly backon to the map and to its destination airbase. German transport aircraft starting in an airbase on the map-edge would pay one movement point to exit the map. It then pays 12 for the round trip, and one to reenter the map and land. a total of fourteen. The Ju52s have a movement allowance of 43. If based in Smolensk, each one can make three round trips per player turn. Each such round trip brings in 2T of supply. Each Ju52 can fly 1.5 SP per player-turn. With four Ju52s doing this, you can fly in an additional six SP per player-turn a tow of 12 SP in the game turn. This assumes all of your transports refit, and they probably will. Now let's look at the He-111h's. The movement allowance is 90, which means six round trips. The capacity is 1T, and you have five of these big boys. Thus, you could fly in an additional 7.5 SP per playerturn, or 15 SP per game turn. Using all these aircraft, and assuming you don't roll poorly for refit, you can boost your per-tum supply intake by 27 SP when the weather allows. This can be extremely significant and I recommend it as the usual course of action.

Should you use your He-111h's for supply or for bombing? Some people strongly disagree with my inclination to fly supply with the He-111h's. They are the most powerful bombers in the German arsenal. It is a matter of judgment. You must make that decision based on the facts and circumstances that exist for you. I look at it this way: if all He-111h's are operational on a given player-turn, you have a choice. Fly in 7.5 SPs or have 60 bombardment factors to use (or some combination thereof). You will simply need to consider your situation at the time. How much supply do you need? What attacks do you have coming up, etc.? Make a decision. You will always want to fly supply with your Ju52s, and in my opinion most of the time with your He-111h's Even if you roll well on the supply table, I still recommend taking full advantage of the aircraft to fly supply. As the German player you cannot build up too much supply. Good die rolls early, have a nasty way of evening out to bad die rolls late in the game. That can really hurt! It can mean the difference between holding an objective you fought hard to capture and losing it to the Russian hordes.

Rail Repair and Destruction

As the German player, you should cut as many Soviet rail lines as possible when you get deep into Soviet territory, particularly from Tula, to Yelets, to Voronezh. Do this only with rail lines you do not intend to convert to your own use. The Germans will need to pull back when the weather turns bad. The Soviets will be in the position of outrunning their supply lines. They will have to repair those rail lines to get sizable forces to the front quickly. In games I've played where no one made an effort to break these lines, the Soviets shipped supplies and units to the front as quickly as the Germans could withdraw. The Germans were unable even temporarily to escape the Soviet steamroller. Similarly, the Soviets should cut rail lines near the front early in the game. Cutting Bryansk will prevent the Bryansk train from coming into play. Remember, it will cost the Germans 1T for each hex he must repair, so make him spend it! For this purpose, use any units that cannot get away, or spend less than 75% of their movement allowance getting to their destination. Also, keep in mind that while a German rail repair engineer can convert five hexes per turn, it can only repair three hexes per turn! A long line of consecutive damaged rail hexes can significantly slow down the German repair effort.

The Soviets can use aircraft to bomb converted German rail hexes just out of range of the German rail repair engineers. This will force the engineers to spend time moving without repairing or converting. It can severely slow the rate at which the Germans are able to advance their rail net. This makes the Germans dependent upon moving supplies to the front by truck and unable to take advantage of the 20 SP shipable to the front by rail net. It hurts especially during mud turns until the Germans get those rail lines repaired.

Soviet Strategy & Overall Objectives

Unlike in many other East Front games, the Soviets can do a lot more than just take a beating. This really makes GB a fun game. In the first few turns, the Soviets are almost exclusively on the defensive. However, as the game develops, the Soviets become increasingly capable of making the Germans pay for their sins.

The Soviet objectives for the game should be as follows:

During setup and the first few turns, secure Orel, Tula, Yelets, Voronezh, and the Mozhaysk/Kaluga fortified line. Evacuate as many units to the East as possible, especially tank brigades and tank divisions. Hold Bryansk as long as you can. A determined German will be able to take it, but make him pay to get it. Set up a defense at Serpukov, Obninsk, Kashira, and every Moscow river crossing. The Germans can be like water if there is a hole, you will not find it until they have already leaked through, possibly for a sudden death victory. I have learned this the hard way several times! Early in the game, the Soviets can convert their clumsy, lumbering tank divisions into swift, lean tank brigades. My philosophy on this is that you will get plenty of tank brigades throughout the game, but you will not get any more tank divisions. The divisions may be slow and may have a low action rating, but stack them with a tank brigade and you have a mean attack force in open terrain. If you can save them to fight another day, do so.

In turns three through five, Orel will probably fall. Hold out as long as you can. The Germans can probably take the Mozhaysk/Kaluga fortified line. If that threat becomes imminent, pull your defenses back to the second line of Moscow fortifications and Obninsk. The North map terrain is good for defense, but it can become a deathtrap if you allow the Germans to get behind you in force. Do not let the Germans cut off the cream of your army and destroy it piecemeal. Somewhere on the south map. start to assemble forces you can use for offensive operations. These should be your most mobThe units (i.e., your tank brigades and motorized infantry). Do not forget to include plenty of trucks. It is best to keep cavalry brigades in the north since they move through the wooded and forested terrain better than any other units.

By the time bad weather hits you should have enough forces built-up to begin attacking the Germans. Keep your forces massed together and move them up as a unit. Move up supplies along with the group so you do not get caught without them if the freeze hits and the Germans attempt to cut you off. If you are sitting in Voronezh and the closest Germans are in Kursk, you have a long distance to go before you can attack. Your rail capacity comes in handy here if the Germans have not torn up all the rail fines. If they have, begin your rail repair operations as you advance the steamroller forward. This is a very dangerous time. The Soviets can easily become overconfident. On turn six, in a recent game, I felt that the Germans were vulnerable in the area between Tula and Orel. I had built up an attack force in Voronezh. This turn I decided to enter my reinforcements on the map edge road at A63.12. I combined them with the considerable forces garrisoning Tula to launch an attack along the road to Orel. My forces consisted of all the turn six reinforcements, plus a tank division, two tank brigades, and a couple of infantry divisions that had been garrisoning Tula. Initially, the Germans had elements of three panzer divisions and two motorized infantry divisions positioned in the forest southwest of Tula and just beyond. When he saw me coming, he moved away and took up new positions along the river at Mtsensk (B39.34). I foolishly pressed on.

Along the way I did manage to destroy a few Infantry Regiments unable to disengage quickly enough. When I got to the river, I had some initial success in my attacks. However, the Germans had considerable additional forces around Orel that they were able to throw into the action. Soon, I found my opponent cutting me off with his Panzer Divisions (even though we still had mud weather). He held the front with infantry divisions, and blasted me with artillery. My strongest elements were DG'ed by his artillery. I could no longer counterattack and found myself helpless, taken apart piece by piece. Not a single Soviet unit involved in this action survived. I learned a great lesson that day. The advance with the Soviets must be patient and cautious. It would have been better to combine the turn six reinforcements with the forces I had gathered in the far South and launch my attack from there. The Germans can be just as capable of offensive operations in the mud as they are at any other time if they have managed their supply well.

When heavy snow hits, the Soviets should have plenty of forces to work with. Major offensives should be well under way and the German will only be able to hold onto strong points. You should be concentrating on clearing the Germans out of victory point cities such as Orel. Kaluga, etc, If the Germans did not play well in the first half of the game, you may be able to clear the map entirely of German units.

Soviet Initial Deployment

On game turn one the Germans are ready to attack and destroy much of what the Soviets have available to fight with. However, with a good setup, you can minimize first turn losses and many good quality Soviet units can get away. Exhibit I shows the setup with which we hem in Charlotte have had the most success. Starting with the south, I like to set up the 40th Army in the woods at the B 18.00 & B 19.00 hex rows. This has the advantage of concentrating your forces together. You are more effective on both the attack and defense. Stack your supplies with you in the woods, and take advantage of the good terrain. If the Soviets try to form a solid line out in the open, the Germans will simply blast through a weak point and destroy the Soviets piecemeal. It is better to forms strong point. Position all units in the woods except for the penal battalion. Place it in the swamp hex B 17.09. This unit cannot be overrun. It prevents German use of strategic move mode in the first player-turn along the double rail line connecting Konotop to Kursk and beyond.

You can do several things with the 40th Army. You can try to get away, attack the Germans, or sit in the woods to provide a potential threat. The Germans should be concentrating their efforts on destroying the l3th Army. However, if this setup causes them to commit additional forces to destroy the 40th, it is even better. The supply level you choose for the 40th army on game turn one depends upon your assessment of your opponent's capabilities and style of play. You may want to put it in full supply if you think you will have attacking opportunities. I usually put it in low supply because my opponents expect me to be aggressive with the 40th.

The Soviets have six trucks that freely deploy with any Units in the initial setup. One thing you can do is put two of these with the 135th Inf Div in hex B 19.02. Motorize it during the Overphase. and move it away to the east during the first Russian player-turn. It is unlikely that the Germans will commit the troops to surround these woods completely. If they do, greatl They cannot use those units elsewhere. Another possible use for your trucks in this area would be to carry some of the supplies dud deploy with the 40th to launch an offensive against the Germans. Do this with extreme caution. Otherwise, you will only end up losing the trucks and supplies to the Germans and making it easier to destroy the 40th army. I would launch an attack only if it became obvious that the Germans were ignoring the area, and you have a real chance to overrun Konotop, or destroy a significant number of Gem= troops in the area Use your own judgment as the situation develops.

The area covered by the l3th army is also tough to defend because it is so open and widespread. The temptation here is to defend in those nice wooded and forested hexes running from B 13.24 to B 15.17. 1 think here you are too close to the Germans. I prefer a defense in the eastern part of the zone so that the Germans cannot hit you with everything in combat mode. You can strongly cover every hex of the river running from B 14.24 to B19.21. Your most vulnerable point is the road junction at B20.19 and the surrounding hexes. This calls for a defense two hexes deep with hedgehogs on the leading edge, anchored on the rivers from B 19.21 to B21.18. I also set up infantry divisions in hedgehogs at B 14.17 and B 15.17. This probably delays the Germans as much as is possible. With this setup, the Germans will most likely overrun B 15.17, make their main thrust at the road junction on B20.19, not attack the river north of Sevsk right away. This defense will slow down a good German player for about one player-turn. He will likely cut around the southern flank to get behind the main concentration of Soviet troops in the open terrain and take most of them out in the first player-turn. I see no way to prevent this. If we further spread out the troops, it will be that much easier to blast through the middle. So, this setup seems to me to be the lesser of a number of evils.

Bryansk is the one area where the Soviets have more good combat units than they need. As you can see from the setup in Exhibit 1, I deployed the 50th Army HQ, all 32 points of supply, and the four strongest Infantry Divisions in Bryansk. Even if you do not bring in more supply, you have enough to keep four Infantry Divisions in low supply for almost the entire game This forces the German player to attack Bryansk. He will not starve it out. The two 14-3-3 Infantry Divisions of the 3rd Army stack in hexes B 18.28 and B 17.28. They are in reserve and move mode with three trucks each. Guess what I do with the trucks? Right, I motorize the Infantry Divisions during the Overphase and move them towards Orel during the reaction phase.

The whole area covered by the 43rd and 33rd Armies is weak because of the fairly open terrain in which you must deploy and the low quality of units available to defend it. You win be doing well if any of these escape. I generally get the 33rd HQ away and write the rest off to a delaying action.

In the 24th Army, a few units are along theroad around Yel'nya (A10.21) just to slow the Germans down. The remainder are north of the Dnepr River in a sort of combined defense with the 16th Army. The Tank Brigade and Tank Division will escape to fight another day.

The 16th and 30th Armies form a good defensive line north of the Dnepr river. This is about the only place and time in the game when you can form a defensive line with the Soviets close to the Germans outside the fortifications and live to tell about it. Since most German players will send their Panzer Div to attack along the Yel'nya (A10.21) road or the Roslavl (A6.13) road, you can probably evacuate most of the 16th and 30th Armies. I have yet to play against a German player who decided to aim his attack straight from Smolensk to Vyaz'ma However, if his objective were simply to destroy as many Soviet combat units as possible, that might be the thing to do against this defense, I will leave that for you to try.

This game offers a wealth of depth for a wargamer to immerse himself in. There is much more to say about both German and Soviet strategy and tactics, and even more left to explore. I hope these tips give you something powerful to add to your own arsenal.

Guderian's Blitzkrieg Soviet Deployment

Notes:

1. Limit the Soviets to twenty reserve markers for their entire setup.
2. (-1) indicates a unit that has lost a step in order to create a breakdown regiment.
3. (m) indicates a unit in move mode, otherwise, every unit is in combat mode.
4. (smot) indicates a unit that has been semi-motorized with the accompanying trucks. For example, the listing 14-3-3 +3 trucks (m, smot) represents a 14-3-3 infantry division that is in move mode and has been semimotorized by three trucks.
5. Nx indicates a multiple of N of the listed counter.
6. Counters are in their stacking order the first counter in the list is on top of the stack.

1. Armies

30th Army A13.35: Penal, 12-3-2, A13.34: RR, 12-3-2,30th Army HQ, A13.33: 8-1 -1

16th Army A13-32: RR, A13.31: Tank Bde, A13-30: 20-1-3, A13.29: Reserve marker, 16th Army HQ, Artillery Bde, A13.28: Reserve marker, Artillery Bde, A12.31:10-2-1, A12.30:10-2-1. A12.29: Level-] Hedgehog, 12-3-2,8-1-1, A12.28: Level-I Hedgehog, 12-3-2,8-1-1. A12.27: Level-I Hedgehog, 12-3-3, A09.29: Penal

32nd Army A24.29: 8-0-1, A24.28: 32nd Army HQ, A23.29: 8-0-1, A23.27: Level-I Airfield, Penal, A22.28: RR, 14-3-3, A22.27: Reserve marker, 8-0-1 (m), A20.28: 8-0-1, A20.27: Reserve marker, 8-0-1 (m)

24th Army A16.26: 12-3-2, A16.25: Artillery Bde, A16.24: 10-2-1, A16.22: 8-0-1, A15.27; Reserve marker, 24th Army HQ (in), 20-1-3 (m), A15.26 Tank Bde, A15.25: 10-2-1, A14.27: RR. 12-3-2, A14.26: Artillery Bde, A14.25: 12-3-3, A13.27: 12-3-3, A13.26: 12-3-3, A12.20: Penal

33rd Army A21.18: Reserve marker, RR, 8-0-1 (in), 33rd Army HQ, A20.18: 8-0-1, A19.17: 8-0-1, A17.18: Penal, A15.19: 8-0-1

43rd Army A17.16: Reserve marker, 43rd Army HQ (in). 2x Artillery Bde, A17.15:12-3-2, A16.16: 20-1-3, A16.16: RR, A16.15: 8-1-1 (-1),, A15.16: 8-1-1 (-1), A15.17:8-1-1 (-l),Al4.l9: BreakdownRgt, A13.20: Penal, A13.16: Breakdown Rgt, A13.15: Breakdown Rgt

50th Army A20.01: Reserve marker, Artillery Bde, A19.05: Penal, A19.04: RR, A19.03: 8-3-3. A18.02: 8- 1-1, Al8.0l: Level-I Hedgehog, 2x 14-3-3,2x 10-2-1, 5Oth Army HQ, B18.34: 8-1 -1

Front Reserve B19.23: Reserve marker, Tank Bde (m), B18.22: Reserve marker, Katyusha Rgt B17.24: Reserve marker, Tank Bde (m), B17.23: Reserve marker, Tank Bde (m), B16.23: 20-1-3, B16.22: 8-3-3

3rd Army B19.33: 8-1-1, B17.28: Reserve marker, Artillery Bde. 14-3-3 + 3 trucks (m. smot), B18.28: Reserve marker, RR, 14-3-3 + 3 trucks (m, smot), B18.29: Penal, 8-1-1, B14.30:3rd Army HQ

13th Army B21.18: Level-I Hedgehog, 10-2-1, B20.21: RR, B20.20: l3th Army HQ, B20.19: Reserve marker, Artillery Bde, B20.19: Level-I Hedgehog, 12-3-2, B20.14: Penal, B19.22: Reserve marker, Tank Bde (m), B19.21: 8-3-3. B19.20: Level-I Hedgehog, 12-3-2, B19.19: Level-I Hedgehog, 8-4-3,B19.17: 10-2-1 (-1), B18.21: 20-1-3, B17.22: Breakdown Rgt, B15.24: 8-1-1 (-1), B15.17: Level-1 Hedgehog, 8-1-1, B14.24: Breakdown Rgt, B14.17: LevelI Hedgehog, 8-1-1

40th Army B19.04:40th Army HQ, 8-1-1, B19.03: Reserve marker, Artillery Bde, 12-3-2 + 2 trucks (m, smot), B19.02: 8-1-1, B18.04: RR, 20-1-3, B18.03: 8-1-1, Tank Bde, B18.02: 20-1-3, B17.09: Penal

49th Army A40.18: RR, A39.17: Penal, 49th Army HQ, A38.18: 2x Artillery Bde, A38.17: Tank Bde, A38.14: 8-0-1, A37.18:12-3-3, A36.21: 7-3-3

5th Cav A52.12: 14-3-3, 5th Cav HQ, A52.11: 14-3-3, A51.11: 14-3-3. A47.04: Reserve marker, 8-3-3 (m), A46.04: Reserve marker, Katyusha Rgt (m), A46.03: Reserve marker, 8-3-3 (m)

II. Trucks

The eight freely deployed trucks motorize combat units as indicated in the armies' deployments. The rules dictate the placement of the fourtruck counters.

III. Aircraft

A57.32: 6x Li2, 3x G2
A56.33: 4x IL4, 3x IaGG3,3x Yak1
A51.34: 4x IL4, 2x SB2
A52.12: 3x Pe2, 2x Po2,4x MiG3
A40.18: 4x IL2, 2x Po2,2x LaGG3, 2x Yak1
A23.27: None
A21.16: Il5, MiG1
B35.29: None
B23.33: None