WEGO World War II: Stalingrad - Scenario AAR

[bcgames]

WEGO World War II: Stalingrad - Scenario AAR

To help illustrate some of the game play in WEGO WW2: Stalingrad, Saint Ruth and I have squared off to play the Fatal Bridgehead scenario. Saint Ruth will play the Allies (Soviets) and I will play the Axis. I'll start off.

Historical Background: As the Soviet 62nd Army and 4th Tank Army attempted to stop German Sixth Army’s advance on Stalingrad, General Kuznetsov’s 63rd and General Danilov’s 21st Armies launched a counter-offensive against the Italian and German forces defending along the southern bank of the Don River west of Serafimovich. This offensive would gain the Soviets a vital bridgehead that would play a decisive role during Operation Uranus.

Axis Mission: Defend to retain the Don River defensive line.



Enemy Forces: We are facing two Soviet armies currently deployed North of the Don River. However, they have four single-hex bridgeheads South of the Don in the Italian 2.ID sector. This area is the main threat. The ratio of enemy to friendly forces is as follows (Allies vs Axis):

Men: 1.87 to 1 (favors Allies)
Vehicles: 1 to 1.12 (favors Axis)
Guns: 1.04 to 1 (favors Allies)
Planes: 1 to 1.25 (favors Axis)

Obstacles: The Don River cannot be crossed by ground units. This will restrict initial Soviet offensive launch points to their four bridgeheads and/or across the bridge at Serafimovich. The enemy has bridge engineer assets that could be employed to create additional bridgeheads over the Don.

Avenues of Approach: AA1 starts at the four bridgeheads over the Don and passes south through the open terrain between Yagodnyy and Devyatkin to Bol'shoy (VP location). Between Bol'shoy and Perelazovskii it is wide open tank country. At Perelazovskii, the North-South stream provides a potential defensive line forward of Manoylin. AA2 crosses the Don River at the bridge in Serafimovich. Rolling steppe south of Serafimovich provides a potential defense line across the avenue to halt an advance to the South and a link-up with AA1.

Time: This scenario covers four days of operations (19 turns).

Troops Available: Six Axis divisions are available at the start; three Italian and three German. Five are infantry divisions and one is a panzer division. In addition, Italian 8th Army and XXXV Corps artillery is available. Air assets are limited given other operations in German 6th Army's area of operation.

Assumptions about Enemy intentions:
- Soviets will try and take all three immediate objectives (VP locations Rubezhinskii, Bol'shoy, and Serafimovich).
- Soviet main attack will be in the center against the Italian 2.ID using armor and Guards infantry.
- Soviets will attempt to bridge the Don River in a fifth or sixth location to fix Axis forces located to the West and East of 2.ID.

Priority Intelligence Requirements.
- Identify location(s) of bridging assets.
- Identify location of armor units.
- Identify location of Guards units.

[bcgames]

Set-up.

Axis Concept of operation. Hold the flanks at all cost. Give way slowly in the center. Counterattack the neck of the Soviet advance from the East and West. Primary mission for air assets will be interdiction in order to destroy enemy supplies and reduce/prevent non-Move+ enemy units from moving through Axis zones of control.

[Saint Ruth]

Allies Mission. Attack to establish a bridgehead south of the Don River with crossing sites outside the range of enemy artillery. To accomplish this, capture the towns of Rubezhinskii (4,20), Kotovskiy (16,29), and Serafimovich (28,21).



The Allies start with several small bridgeheads on the Don. So plan is simple, expand the bridgeheads and strike south. while 21st army (which has no bridgeheads) will wait until day 2 and then create pontoons and try to cross (hoping forces opposite have thinned after 63rd Army's attack).

[bcgames]

AXIS PLANNING PHASE: GAME TURN 1

In the image below you can see the moves I plotted for the Axis. The green arrows indicate Move to Defend orders. The yellow arrows indicate Move to Attack orders. Move to Defend means the units will stop and defend if they encounter enemy units on their planned movement path. Move to Attack will--Attack--enemy units they encounter along their planned movement path. You can turn these planned movement arrows on/off by pressing Hotkey Shift+M.



SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES. The white circled numbers in the image above indicate the following friendly unit activities:

1. Elements of the Italian 9.ID are plotted to move into positions to hold the West flank of 2.ID.

2. Elements of the German 79.ID are plotted to move into positions to hold the East flank of 2.ID.

3. Italian 8th Army bridging engineer battalion is ordered to proceed to Serafimovich in order to blow the bridge crossing the Don River.

4. The motorized Panzerjaeger battalion of German 113.ID is ordered to move to Bol'shoy (VP hex at bottom of screen). Upon arrival they will dig in and defend the town until infantry can march to join them.

5. Reconnaissance battalion of 79.ID is ordered to patrol along the south bank of the Don River to detect any Soviet bridging operations.

6 & 7. In the air, 0 Axis aircraft are allocated to Counter-air but 2 are allocated to interdiction. If unopposed by enemy counter-air, the Axis air assets flying Interdiction will destroy up to 8 fuel points, 5.5 ammo points, 3 personnel points, and 5 equipment points. In addition, Lines of Communication and ground unit movement points of the enemy are reduced by 10%. If opposed by a like number of enemy counter-air? --they achieve nothin'.

8 & 9. Intelligence assets (indicated with green binocular icons on the map) are assigned to detect the presence and/or movement of enemy forces in these areas.

Finally, defensive artillery support missions have been assigned to units across the front of the 2.ID.

Now we wait for the enemy to attack...

[Saint Ruth]

ALLIES PLANNING PHASE: GAME TURN 1

Intel assets (air and in this case, the Ground Asset "Intel Estimate") can be assigned during the Setup Phase, so it is possible to have intel on enemy units during the first turn.


For the first turn, there's not many options other than to attack!

[governato]

Which formations got extra ammos for the offensive? (In game terms: were set on Combat+)

[bcgames]

EXECUTION PHASE: GAME TURN 1

SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES.

1. The Soviets concentrated their attacks in the center against the Italian 2.ID.



My main concern is holding the VP location at Rubezhinskii (Item #1 above). The defenders manage to hold their positions against the Soviet attack. Things might get tougher as the Soviets get more combat power South of the Don in this area.

To see the details of any attack or bombardment, right click on the battle icon and you will see a pop-up similar to the one below:



In the example above, we see the in-hex defenders at Rubezhinskii (Item #1 above) and two artillery units that provided defensive support from two hexes away. Final odds after modifications is 4.5 to 1.

2. The Soviet stars with blue background are Fog of War icons that indicate the presence of Soviet ground units--and that's all we know.

3. The two attack icons in this vicinity of Item #3 indicate Axis and Allies bombardment attacks by artillery.

The last item of interest is the Execution Phase Film Controls. These are similar to video controls for a reason--the Execution Phase is displayed as a film. You can play it, rewind it, fast forward it or step through it--over and over again to your hearts content. This allows you to examine in detail every action that occurs in the game--if you like. Else hit the X button and get on to planning the next turn. It's your choice what to do.

[bcgames]

AXIS PLANNING PHASE: GAME TURN 2

SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES.

1. Italian 9.ID continues its deployment to shore up the left flank of 2.ID.

2. Italian 2.ID begins its delay to the South.

3. A regiment from the German 79.ID is ordered to move to occupy and dig in along the rolling steppes located behind 2.ID. In addition, XXXV Corps troops move north to backstop the 2.ID delay.

4. Panzerjaeger battalion continues its deployment to Bol'shoy.



5. A possible bridging site in 79.ID sector was located by air reconnaissance. The 79.ID reconnaissance battalion is ordered to the location to confirm or deny this report.

6. A battalion from the German 113.ID is sent North to Serafimovich in case the Soviets try and launch an attack across the bridge. 8th Army bridging battalion continues its move to Serafimovich to blow the bridge.

7. 113.ID continues its move to the West to reinforce the right flank of 2.ID.

8. For the war in the air, three air assets are committed to Interdiction.

9. We have accumulated two VPs for maintaining control of Rubezhinskii and Serafimovich. Note: You can access the Victory Point panel by pressing the skull and crossbones button.

[Saint Ruth]

ALLIES PLANNING PHASE: GAME TURN 2

63. Army is bottled up on a few bridge heads on the Don, so the first thing is to expand these bridgeheads as quickly as possible and push forces across the River.

197. RD will push forward around the Italian 9.ID Pasubio. The 203. RD and 14 Grds RD will attack adjacent units and Move To Attack those furthur away (yellow arrows).

[Saint Ruth]

ALLIES FILM PHASE: GAME TURN 3

Allied forces pushed across the river, and attacked nearby Italian units. Plan remain simple. Get the Red Army over the river. The 32nd Cavalry Division also moved south and will exploit any breakthrough.



Planning Phase

The Yellow Arrows show units ordered to Move and Attack - these will attack any enemy in their path during their move. The Green arrows are Move and Defend - these units will stop on encountering enemy units.

Cavalry Divisions are ordered south using Road Movement (the blue move arrows).
Road Movement allows units to move quickly allow along roads using the lower road cost (tracks cost 0.5 move points to enter, and highways cost 0.25 move points). Note that the roads still have a benefit other move types - if moving along a road with Move and Attack, the terrain cost of entering that hex does not apply, and it's as if the unit is entering clear terrain.

To use Road Movement, a unit must:
- be in Move+ supply
- the Move Type must be set as Road Movement (Press M to change Move Type).

Note that units in Move+ have double move points, so should be used even if you are not planning any Road Movement, Move+.



Interdiction

This brings us to supply and interdiction. To put units in Move+, you need fuel, and for Combat+, you need ammo. Fuel and ammo are delivered each turn, but the enemy can 'interdict' this supply.

Air and certain Ground assets can be assigned to Interdiction and Counter Air missions. Your currently assigned missions are displayed on screen (see pic above). Here, the Allies have assigned no Interdiction missions and 1 Counter Air mission (this unit below - note that the C on the unit button indicates "Counter-Air").



- Counter Air missions counter enemy missions, reducing enemy interdiction and increasing units' air defense value.

- Interdiction missions reduce supply, HQ range, and unit movement points

In the Turn information, you can view the previous Counter Air / Interdiction results.



This shows the Counter Air results.

Air Superiority - this is the base Counter Air value to reflect one sides control of the air. If you have Air Superiority, you will have a Counter Air value here even when you have not assigned any units to counter air. If the value is negative, that means the enemy controls the skies.

The next values are the counter air missions assigned by the Allied and Axis sides. The Allies have assigned 2 counter air missions, and the Axis none. Therefore the Allies have Air Superiority this turn - Axis interdiction will be reduced by 2 and all Allied Anti-Aircraft attacks will be increased by 2.



This shows the Interdiction Results.

The Axis has assigned 3 interdiction missions.
The Allies have an excess of 2 Counter Air missions (from the previous Counter Air Results, after subtracting any Axis Counter Air missions).

So therefore 1 interdiction mission remains after the Allied Counter Air is taken into account.

This as you can see has severely reduced Allied Supply, as well as reducing HQ range and units' movement.

[Saint Ruth]

There'll be a little delay with the AAR. My opponent John is in a Cabin in the Woods so it'll be a few days before he returns to the world of the internet.

[bcgames]

EXECUTION PHASE: GAME TURN 3

SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES.

1. The Soviet attack against the town of Rubezhinskii is repulsed by the Italian 9.ID.

2 & 3. Soviet attacks in the center are successful in expanding their bridgehead South of the Don River.

[bcgames]

AXIS PLANNING PHASE: GAME TURN 4

SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES.

1. To maintain Organizational Integrity in the defense of Rubezhinski, Italian 2.ID units are moved out of the hex. 9.ID assumes complete control of the defense of the town.

2. Italian 2.ID continues its delay to the South.

3. German 79.ID digs in to the South and on the right flank of the Soviet bridgehead.

4. Elements of the 79.ID begin to establish a defensive line along the Don in the vicinity of a potential Soviet bridging operation.



5. Italian 8th Army bridging battalion is ordered to destroy the bridge across the Don at Serafimovich.

6. German 113.ID uses Move+ supply to move quickly to establish a defensive line North of Bol'shoy.

7. Two air assets are available this turn. They are allocated to Interdiction.

[Saint Ruth]

ALLIED EXECUTION PHASE: GAME TURN 3

The Attacks on the 9th Italian Infantry division (on the axis left) didn't make any headway, but the center attacks pushed the Italians back.



ALLIED PLANNING PHASE: GAME TURN 4

What now? Push forward! And move the Allied Cavalry by Road Transport south and try to get them over the river.

As the Attacks on the 9th Italian Inf Division are not working, will move south and try and outflank them.

(My screen shot was accidentally cropped!)

[bcgames]

AXIS EXECUTION PHASE: GAME TURN 4

SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES. The Italian 2.ID's delay/withdrawal further to the south was executed successfully.



AXIS PLANNING PHASE: GAME TURN 5

SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES. This is the first Night Turn so the bulk of my units will hold their positions and rest.

1. The last moves of the relief in place at Rubezhinskii are ordered. By the end of game turn 5 the defense of the town will be completely in the hands of the Italian 9.ID.

2. The last units of the Italian 2.ID are ordered to break contact with the Soviets and proceed South to the main defense line.

3. Screening elements of the German 113.ID continue to patrol along the Don River to detect any bridging efforts of the Soviets.

4. Soviet build-up South of the Don River continues to increase significantly.

5. There are no night-capable air assets available so no Interdiction missions this turn.

[Saint Ruth]

ALLIED PLANNING PHASE: GAME TURN 5

Night turn so leaving most units to rest.

Cavalry units to push south however (green arrows Move To Defend). They will move south as far as possible
but not engage enemy.

Night engagement is risky, intensity (and therefore casualties) is increased, and quality makes a larger impact.

[Zahar00]

Very cool explanation rules of the game.

[bcgames]

AXIS PLANNING PHASE: GAME TURN 6



Withdrawals of Italian 2.ID during the night were uneventful. Dawn reveals a gap in our intel of the Soviet bridgehead just South of the Don River. So...



...I assign the Intelligence Estimate asset to see what we can see--especially any activity in the vicinity of the crossing sites at locations A and B. This asset has a range of six.



SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES

1. Elements of German 113.ID move to backstop the Italian 2.ID and German 79.ID defensive line North of the town of Bol'shoy (VP location).

2. Elements of Italian 3.Celere move to backstop German 79.ID defensive line on the East flank of the Soviet bridgehead.

3. 22.PzD is the reserve of Army Group B. It was released to my control early this morning. 22.PzD will move to and occupy an assembly area in the vicinity of Fomikhin-Karagichev. From this position it will be prepared to conduct one of three potential counterattacks. The purpose of Axis FLASH is to block any penetration of 79.ID-2.ID defensive line and to hold the town of Bol'shoy. The purpose of Axis LIGHTNING is to attack to seize the Soviet river crossing sites located at A and B. The purpose of Axis THUNDER is to destroy any Soviet forces attempting to create an additional bridgehead west of Serafimovich.

[bcgames]

My opponent is off the net due to Family. Best Wishes.

[Saint Ruth]

ALLIED PLANNING PHASE: GAME TURN 6

Still push forward, cavalry moving forward (green arrows 'Move To Defend').
Italians seem to have withdrawn south. Will spread out to find their positions.