SCENARIO - 10 - CAUCASUS - AXIS - TURN 01

June 30, 1942: Axis strikes into Russia oil rich territory from a new southern front.

Turns: 30
Axis: Player
Allies: Advanced A.I.

Initial prestige: 800

SITUATION

There are six objectives to take: Kletskavka, Stalingrad, Rostov, Elista, Blagdernoe and Grozny. There are two fronts, north and south. The northern one is easier, after the initial enemy attack it’s just a matter of how to advance and conquer the objectives. The southern front is hard, there’s no room for movement, there are mountains and the Russian units, especially tanks, are very strong. Too strong. Then in the Black Sea there is a small Russian fleet that must be sunk as the german ships are useful to destroy enemy soft targets on land, especially air defenses and artillery.

Order Of Battle

Axis player has seventy units at his disposition, thirty six on the north front and thirty four on the south one. These are the units in the north:

34th BF109f

35th BF109f

29th FW190a

30th FW190a

33rd Me210c

31st JU87D

32nd JU87D

36th 39 Wehr Inf

40th 39 Wehr Inf

43rd 39 Wehr Inf

55th 39 Wehr Inf

46th 40 Wehr HW

50th 40 Wehr HW

53rd 40 Wehr HW

61st 40 Wehr HW

59th Hungarian Inf

60th Hungarian Inf

48th Rumanian Inf

51st Rumanian Inf

52nd Rumanian Inf

39th 8.8 FK18 ATG

57th 8.8 FK18 ATG

47th 10.5 leFH 18

49th 10.5 leFH 18

54th 15 sFH 18

45th PzIIIJ

56th PzIIIJ

58th PzIIIJ

63rd PzIIIJ

70th PzIIIJ

37th PzIVD

41st PzIVD

42nd PzIVD

38th sIG II

44th sIG II

62nd sIG II

There are plenty of units, but no level bomber, which is very useful attacking entrenched units and cities. On the other side, the roster in the south is more complete, as there is a level bomber and six ships:

20th FW190a

21st JU87D

22nd BF109g

23rd JU87R

24th BF109f

25th HE177a

9th Pioniere Inf

19th 40 Wehr HW

12th 39 Wehr Inf

13th 39 Wehr Inf

11th 39 Wehr Inf

10th 40 Wehr HW

14th 39 Wehr Inf

17th SdKfz 10/4

5th 8.8 FK18 ATG

18th SdKfz 7/1

8th PzIVD

26th Marder II

7th Marder IIIH

1st PzIVD

2nd Marder IIIH

3rd PzIIIJ

28th PzIIIJ

6th PSW 232/8r

27th PzIIIJ

4th PzIIIJ

15th sIG II

16th sIG II

64th T-Destroyer

65th Z-Destroyer

66th Light Cruiser

67th Heavy Cruiser

68th Battleship DI

69th Battleship Bk

 
PLAN

North: move the ME210c to (17.6), you’ll have a clear view of what to do. First column, north of Donets river, doesn’t attack Voronezh, to take it you have to face five enemy units with very high levels of entrenchment and plus a river, it would take time, resources and it would not be useful to reach the final goal. Concentrate instead on the first objective, Kletskavka, move all the units in the corridor between Don and Donets rivers, leave the Hungarian infantry in Stary Oskol and let the enemy advance losing his entrenchment levels.

TURN 01 - AXIS

Attack on Russian units on the road to Rossosh.

32nd JU87D	11	VS.	55th SMG Inf	10	(0-4)	=	0-3
31st JU87D	12	VS.	45th 12.2 cm Gun	10	(0-7)	=	0-7
54th 15 sFH 18	11	VS.	55th SMG Inf	7	(0-4)	=	0-4
55th 39 Wehr Inf	10	VS.	55th SMG Inf	3	(1-3)	=	2-2
35th BF109f	12	VS.	55th SMG Inf	1	(0-1)	=	0-1	Destroyed
52nd Rumanian Inf	10	VS.	45th 12.2 cm Gun	3	(0-3)	=	0-3	Destroyed
37th PzIVD	12	VS.	2nd Infantry	10	(0-7)	=	0-8

 
 The 56^th ST 57mm ATG is not attacked as it has a 5 entrenchment level which could easily trigger a rugged defense.

Attack on two Russian airplanes near Rossosh.

29th FW190a	12	VS.	70th ST La-3	11	(0-9)	=	0-8
34th BF109f	12	VS.	70th ST La-3	3	(0-3)	=	0-3	Destroyed
30th FW190a	11	VS.	71st ST II-2M3	10	(0-7)	=	0-6

Second column, south of Donets river, has Rostov as objective, but two Russian artillery units along the river to the north will cause losses, so they have to be dealt with.

45th PzIIIJ	12	VS.	40th 15.2 cm Gun	10	(0-5)	=	0-5
53rd 40 Wehr HW	11	VS.	40th 15.2 cm Gun	5	(0-5)	=	0-5	Destroyed
42nd PzIVD	12	VS.	44th 15.2 cm Gun	10	(0-8)	=	0-9	RD

Now artilleries are a danger no more.

Artilleries take position to hit Novocherkassk. Better to attack Rostov also from the rear, so 41^st PzIVD moves to Marjupol to embark.

North: situation at the end of Axis turn 1

South: retreat. Enemy has four big guns and high entrenchment levels so it would be suicide to make a stand. Russian airplanes are on their way so it’s gonna be a hard time. Just weaken an enemy artillery unit on the way.

16th sIG II

11

VS.

43th 15.2 cm Gun

10

(0-6)

=

0-8

German fleet heads toward Poti to hit soft targets, especially artillery and air defenses.

South: situation at the end of Axis turn 01

Casualties are 0-4. Prestige is 880.

TURN 01 – ALLIES

Enemy attacks at full force, german units take heavy losses but no casualty. In Stary Olskol Hungarian infantry is reduced to 5 points. The worst happens in Valuiki where three german units are beaten hard. Heavy losses also in the south, where a PzIIIJ is reduced to 2 points and an infantry to 6.