All,
I've been hard at work getting Kampgruppe Klink, fresh from their victory in Greece, prepared for Operation Barbarossa. On the one hand, I needed to pick up some additional vehicles, troops, and buildings, while on the other, I wanted to re-base my Germans and Soviets as I was tired of them looking shabby and not uniform.
Along the way I stumbled a bit while looking for a basing solution that would allow me to use the same vehicle models for both summer and winter (snowy) fights. I had based my vehicles and was looking for the best way to transition back and forth; I'd posted earlier asking for help, and I appreciate everyone that chimed in. Here's what I came up with.
Here's what they look like at 'normal' gaming distance.
A closeup of the German stands, consisting of an MG squad, a Pz IVG, and a Flak-36 88mm ATG. Astute observers will note that the infantry and guns are based differently than the vehicles; this is because I have separate infantry for summer and winter, but the vehicles will pull double duty. The only change I made from my previous pics of the vehicle basing was that I put a dark inkwash on the vehicle's base and I added some clump foliage. I think (hope?) this makes the vehicles blend well enough with the infantry and guns, but then for winter all I have to do is pop the clump foliage off and paint them white. We'll see...
The Soviets, consisting of a rifle squad and a T-34/76.
A closeup of the '88'.
And the panzer.
The MG squad. Yeah, not sure why I decided to go this route, putting two MGs on a base, but I did...
The T-34.
And the Red infantry.
The panzer taking fire from the T-34. I think the basing scheme blends well with the mat, road, and different types of stands. Tell me what ya think.
So let's take a look at the whole, big mess.
My forces for Barbarossa, with Germans on left and Soviets on right. I haven't finished the winter infantry and guns, but when I do these forces should be able to take me all the way through the 'gray' period, up to about summer of 1943.
The forces are a mix of Pendraken and Minifigs, with Minifigs making up about 90% of the infantry and Pendraken making up about 98% of the vehicles and guns.
A company of trucks for ze German Schutzen.
A couple '88s' with prime movers.
Four German rifle platoons, with Colonel Klink at top right.
PaK-38s, PaK-36s, and 7.5cm infantry guns.
Two platoons of engineers/pioneers, as well as platoon support weapons (bottom left): 5.0cm mortars, anti-tank rifles, and panzerschrecks.
Platoons each of Marder Is, Stug IIIBs, Marder IIs, and Stug IIIDs.
Recon, with a platoon of Panzer IIs, a platoon of armored cars, and two motorcycle platoons.
A couple platoons of halftracks.
An 8.0cm mortar platoon.
A machine gun platoon.
Some platoon command stands.
A Panzer Company of Panzer IIIs and IVs.
Which will be upgraded in the spring of '42 to long-barreled Panzer IVs.
On to the Soviets: for the real early war they've got two companies of tanks: one is entirely composed of T-26, while the other is a mish-mash of other types: some T-60s, some Ba-6 and -10 armored cars, some BT-5s, and then two KV-1s and a T-34.
Some Soviet cavalry.
Looking at the hodge-podge tank company.
Continuing with the BTs and KVs.
The company of T-26s.
Two platoons of combat engineers.
Four rifle platoons and an SMG platoon, with some ATRs and 50mm mortars at bottom right.
Another look at the ATRs and 50mm mortars, now adding the Soviet 82mm mortars and machine gun platoon, with the Soviet CO at top right.
A platoon of Ba-64 armored cars, and another of Su-76 assault guns.
An entire company of T-34s.
Some 10mm buildings from Pendraken. They'll not win me any awards, but they were a cinch to paint up and look nice (at least to me!).
Some closeups.
Again.
Another.
Keep going.
And one more.
So, there they are, all set for Barbarossa. Let me know what you think.
Regarding Panzergrenadier Brigade Klink's (AKA, "KG Klink") route, I'm looking at Minsk to Smolensk, then getting called back to Kiev, then back up through Smolensk to Vyazma, which should take me all the way to Zhukov's counteroffensive in December 1941. What I have to do now is make up campaign maps and counters, and that's proving a bit difficult. I don't have detailed maps or unit data, so everything I draw up is way out of scale; hell, it's proving hard to get anywhere near to scale! How do you follow a brigade-sized element on a front that swallows up whole divisions every day!!!???
So I need help; if anyone can help me with simplified maps that make sense to take KG Klink from their starting positions in Army Group Center to Minsk, then from Minsk to Smolensk, then from Smolensk to Kiev, then from Smolensk to Vyazma/Briansk, or can point me at something that helps me do that, I'd be greatly appreciative.
The sooner I get that squared away, the sooner I can get this party started. Personally, I'm shooting for 29 May to be my D-Day for Operation Barbarossa. Just gotta get this figured out first!
V/R,
Jack
Great basing and AWESOME collection!
ReplyDeleteFor your map request, there are many hex and counter wargames at many different ground scales. What ground scale does your table represent? One map hex equals one table? How many "hexes" from AGC to Minsk?
Jonathan,
DeleteThanks man, I'm glad you like it! Funny enough, I hadn't thought of hex games, I'll have to take a look. In terms of my own scale, well, I'm not that organized, hadn't really thought of that, but I will! ;)
V/R,
Jack
Good looking collection ready to go !
ReplyDeleteWe have played quite a bit of Barbarossa at both 6mm and 28 mm scale. Scale is a real challenge and I have found it isn’t realistic to try create anything too close to reality. I use the Osprey campaign books as a good start then focus in on the detail, I have two books Tanks Warfare on the eastern front by Robert Forczyk, but we then have to dive into detail. Using the Internet. For our on going 28 mm campaign which is based on the northern advance of army group north I use army group North the Wehrmacht in russia by Werner haupt this again gives the overview and we then dive into detail. But in reality we use the theatre as a start point and then build battles and games which feel right. Good luck......👍
Thanks, Matt, and 'seeing' you reminds me to be angry that I still haven't gotten back to my 6mm Caen project using BKC...
DeleteIn any case, thank you very much for the pointers, and I'm with you, I'm not looking to follow reality exactly, just sort of shuffle along in its shadow ;)
V/R,
Jack
A very nice collection you have there. In terms of maps there are a number of SPI games with maps on this site http://www.spigames.net/rules_downloads.htm which you might be able to repurpose to your needs. Panzergruppe Guderian could cover some of the area you want.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Peter, and thank you very much for the link, I'll spend some time there to see if it's got something I can use.
DeleteV/R,
Jack
Jack
ReplyDeleteVery nice. As I stated in a previous post (in Greece) I'm looking forward to this campaign. I am keen to assist in getting the show on the road and helping with the mapping issue. Not sure I really understand what you're looking for but I offer the following...
I think you're going to struggle (please prove me wrong) to put together a single, gridded map, similar to but bigger than, your previous Greek map which covers all those locations in the Soviet Union which unifies the thing into a single campaign. The timescales, distances and the nature of the action are too different.
For me this suggests three or four mini-campaigns covering Barbarossa proper, Typhoon and the Soviet Winter Counteroffensive (in an episodic fashion), each covering a 'culminating point' within part of the overall action. In such a fashion Smolensk (for example) would be represented by KG Klink having a mission over a six by six or eight by eight squared map covering a few days in July 1941. Other bits of the campaign would be covered similarly. In such a fashion there is no linking overarching map required, covering all the actions you mention in your post. At the end of the Minsk 'chapter' KG Klink relocates to Smolensk, at the end of which it moves to Kiev etc.
The style/mission of each 'sub-campaign' could vary in order to give the appropriate 'flavour'. Such as
1) Minsk - KG Klink at full strength piercing confused remnants of a Soviet line and dispersing them to effect an encirclement
2) Smolensk - Carry losses forward from Minsk. Pierce a more organised/'thicker'enemy line to effect encirclement but with considerably more likelihood of Soviet Counterattacks, including from the flanks.
3) Kiev - Refit after Smolensk. More open flat terrain. Effect a river crossing against light opposition with continual Soviet attacks from the east
4) Viazma - Carry losses from Kiev forward. Attack a proper Soviet defence line backed by artillery and ATG support
5) Winter - Carry losses forward and await a very large onslaught, whilst feeling the chill somewhat.
To make such a thing manageable might require some pruning. Perhaps merge Minsk and Smolensk. Perhaps make each mini campaign a total of three/four tabletop actions rather than the six or seven (?) of the Greek Campaign. So Barbarossa proper would be perhaps two mini campaigns of 6-8 battles total over a couple of your gridded campaign maps. Then there's a single map (3/4 tabletop battles)to cover Operation Typhoon and another to cover the Soviet Counterattack. Besides losses it might be possible to engineer some links between the chapters/episodes, with later ones tweaked slightly according to the success or otherwise of KG Klink in earlier encounters. Perhaps a greater/speedier victory allows for a mini refit before the next episode? Perhaps lost leaders are more readily replaced and at a higher quality following a successful episode.
Alternatively I have completely misunderstood what you were looking for and all this is useless. So do with it as you wish.
Finally, if you really do want a map which links the places in your post then I have one in my own Campaign book (available through Wargame Vault). The map is a point to point representation of the key locations during Barbarossa (A4 sized) and I am happy to send you a copy if you want it. Or, indeed, I could crop it to only include the places of interest from your post and then blow it back up to something like A4 size.
If you think that would be useful, please let me know and give me an email to send it to.
Cheers
Andrew
Andrew,
DeleteYou, Sir, have come almost exactly to the same conclusion I have. This:
"1) Minsk - KG Klink at full strength piercing confused remnants of a Soviet line and dispersing them to effect an encirclement
2) Smolensk - Carry losses forward from Minsk. Pierce a more organised/'thicker'enemy line to effect encirclement but with considerably more likelihood of Soviet Counterattacks, including from the flanks.
3) Kiev - Refit after Smolensk. More open flat terrain. Effect a river crossing against light opposition with continual Soviet attacks from the east
4) Viazma - Carry losses from Kiev forward. Attack a proper Soviet defence line backed by artillery and ATG support
5) Winter - Carry losses forward and await a very large onslaught, whilst feeling the chill somewhat."
Is what I'm looking at. So separate maps for each, with separate sets of battles. But I'm looking to go whole hog on this, want to get nice and settled in, so I'm looking at playing a good 7-10 fights on EACH leg of the campaign. We'll see if I can actually stick to it! ;)
And please forgive my ignorance, but what is your campaign book? I'm very interested, and thank you for your kind offer, but no need to send any freebie if it's on Wargame Vault.
V/R,
Jack
Jack
DeleteI wrote a Barbarossa campaign book a year or two ago. No need to excuse yourself, no reason you should know of it. The book itself is not free but the PDF copy is very cheap. I didn't want to post a link in my initial reply for fear of hijacking your blog for commercial purposes.
However, since you ask, here's the link https://www.wargamevault.com/product/241229/barbarossa--kicking-in-the-doorterm=barbarossa+ki
It is actually a perfectly viable engine (minor tweaks required) for running KG Klink through Barbarossa in around 10 or 12 battles (to the start date of Typhoon) but it doesn't do so in the fashion you're seeking. KG Klink would start on the border and progress to new locations across the Soviet Union at a speed dictated by its success or otherwise in the previous battle - leading to some locations being missed completely and others the site of repeated battles. So you couldn't guarantee battles in Minsk, Smolensk, Vyazma etc.
And my offer stands to let you have the map or a modified version of it if you want. I've no desire to force you to purchase the entire thing if it's the map only, which is interesting. Also I have half a dozen or more of the various boardgames people are mentioning it you want a copy of one of those maps.
Actually it occurs to me that I have scan of Columbia Games' Eastfront map which is particularly attractive (it was designed by Eric Hotz and is considerably more aesthetically pleasing than any other mapboard I've seen) and at a very large scale (without looking, I'd say ten hexagons from the border to Moscow). That would be an excellent visual reference to record the location of KG Klink's current chapter within the whole campaign.
Let me know if you want any of this.
Cheers
Andrew
PS Here's a link to boardgamegeek showing the Eastfront map.
Deletehttps://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/5275959/eastfront-war-russia-1941-45
Andrew
Andrew,
DeleteI rolled over to Wargame Vault, and what did I see? I actually had "Kicking in the Door" on my wishlist, so I went ahead and picked it up. It looks like a great supplement; as you mentioned, it's not perfect for my KG Klink concept as it's set for a higher echelon, but it looks like a great resource and something to come back to when I get around to doing higher-level gaming. I really like that it includes your own rules in the back!
V/R,
Jack
Well that's nice to hear - thanks. I hope you enjoy it.
DeleteAlthough you're correct that the campaign is set at a higher echelon than KG Klink, as far as I can see your battlegroup now has around ninety stands/elements in nine or ten units, which is pretty much the same set up as one of the Pz Divisions in the book. I suspect the campaign could be more of less run as written, simply substituting 'squad' for 'platoon'.
Anyway I continue to look forward to developments on this.
Cheers
Andrew