Eastern Front:
The New Scenarios, Part II

Tactical-level Word War II games are a fairly old genre, going back more than 30 years to the ancient Avalon Hill classic Panzerblitz. Panzerblitz still carried some conventions of the first generation of board wargames, like odds-based combat resolution, but while it is a curious relic it did lay down a few new conventions. A couple of them are fundamental to the Panzer Grenadier series: generic mapboards representing typical terrain rather than a specific locale, and multiple scenarios or game situations.

The old games usually contained a standard 12 scenarios, and players soon grew tired of them. Fans created their own, dozens of them. The public demands variety and lots of it.

The first edition of Panzer Grenadier: Eastern Front shattered that standard by providing 51 scenarios. This was Brian Knipple’s vision, to give lots of choices and keep the game fresh to its players for a long, long time. It would also, not coincidentally, be a lot more fun to design as it allowed us to explore many types of combat.

When we started working with SSI on computer games, veteran producers there like Rick Martinez confirmed this approach and encouraged us to maintain it. Computer game consumers demand variety; why should board game players be denied?

And so the new edition of Panzer Grenadier: Eastern Front will have 112 scenarios. There are small ones with a single mapboard and a handful of pieces on each side; there are huge tank battles like Ostrov and Alytus. Play can last an hour, or many hours.

Here’s a look at 21 more of the new scenarios. Too see the first batch we previewed, click here.

Mike Bennighof
May 2005

Backhanding Manstein

15 July 1941: The German LVI Panzer Corps, commanded by General Erich von Manstein, had the task of cutting communications between Leningrad and the rest of the Soviet Union. One of the key points to be seized was the road and rail junction of Sol’tsy, about 40 kilometers southwest of Novgorod. Flush with their seemingly easy success, the Germans became strung out and allowed gaps to open in their positions. Into one of these surged troops of the Soviet Luga Operations Group.

Conclusion: Seventieth Rifle Division had won the Order of the Red Banner a year earlier for spearheading the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line during the war with Finland. Still on the Finnish border when the Germans attacked, the division had time to fully mobilize and was at full strength in men and weapons when it barreled into Manstein’s lines. Achieving total surprise, the Soviet assault sparked panic at Manstein’s headquarters and halted the German offensive for a solid week. Eighth Panzer Division lost almost half its tanks, but 70th Rifle suffered serious losses as well. A year later it would become 45th Guards Rifle Division.

Pinning Attack

15 July 1941: While 8th Panzer Division fought for its life against “an enemy well-supplied with artillery and armor,” even heavier attacks fell on its neighbor. As the 237th Rifle Division, a Finnish-speaking unit from Karelia, filtered around the 3rd Motorized Division’s right flank, the badly-equipped 21st Tank Division held the Germans’ attention with what seemed another in a series of fruitless frontal assaults.

Conclusion: The Germans fought off the Soviet tankers. The 21st had only entered combat on 10 July, and by the end of its first week almost all of its outmoded tanks had been lost. But their sacrifice had done its part, and the 3rd Motorized had to fall back in a rapid retreat after finding its flank being rolled up.

Red Steel: Tank Battle at Chisinau

15 July 1941: While other forces tried to gain Soviet attention, the Royal Armored Division’s tank elements swung around and attacked Chisinau’s defenses from the north. Detecting the movement, the Soviet 9th Army command directed its own tankers to counter it.

Conclusion: The Romanian tankers watched in horror as their 37mm rounds bounced off the thick hide of the Soviet T-34’s. Yet they recovered quickly and out-manuevered the Soviets to gain shots at the armored monsters from their flanks and rear, and shot up the smaller Soviet tanks that tried to get in their way. By nightfall, the road to Chisinau was open.

Red Steel: Gates of Chisinau

15 July 1941: With the Soviet positions in front of Kishinev unhinged by the German LIV Corps’ flanking move, the corps command sent a fast battlegroup drawn from recon elements to try to force a quick capture of the Bessarabian capital. The drive stalled when Soviet recon elements anticipated the move.

Conclusion: The Axis attempt to speed past the Soviets failed, when prompt response blocked the road and the 47th Recon Battalion fought with great spirit. These particular Axis units had never operated together, though the Romanian officers probably had some knowledge of German military terminology from the pre-war training given the Royal Armored Division by German instructors. This did not prove a problem in this action; rather, the Red Army had something to do with the Axis failure.

Stalin Line

17 July 1941: While further south their comrades finished the battle for Kishinev, Romanian 3rd Army crossed the Dnestr River into Ukraine. There they faced the formidable Stalin Line pre-war defense system. Ordered to smash through, Romanian assault groups formed and began the arduous task.

Conclusion: The Soviets showed little initiative to counter-attack, but neither would they surrender their positions and they fought with tenacious courage. The Romanians had to take each position in savage hand-to-hand fighting before they could wheel to the north and resume their advance.

[insert sheet 1 right row 9 space 1: Romanian 75mm]

Steppe and Sky

17 July 1941: With the Dnestr successfully forced, the Romanian Mountain and Cavalry Corps moved forward into the alien lands of Ukraine. Hours after the crossing, the Soviet 18th Army responded with a badly-coordinated attempt to drive the Romanians back into the river, detaching tanks from one division to support infantry from another.

Conclusion: The Romanians beat back the first attack, but when reinforcements arrived the Soviets made a dent in the Romanian lines and threatened to collapse the bridgehead. The vanatori del munte stabilized the line and drove back the attackers, but at severe cost to themselves.

Hill 245

18 July 1941: The Romanian bridgehead over the Dnestr continued to draw Soviet counterattacks, and during the night of the 17th-18th Red Army recon units correctly identified the seam between the 1st and 4th Mountain Brigades. As the sun rose the next morning, the Soviet 18th Army launched a furious counter-attack aimed at restoring the Stalin Line and tossing the “mush eaters” back into the river. Fourth Mountain Brigade hurried one of its two-battalion “groups” into the breach.

Conclusion: In one of the fiercest close-quarters fights of the Armata Romana’s entire war, the Soviets poured into the Romanian positions and fought hand-to-hand for them. The Romanians rallied behind their officers , who paid the price: the group (regiment in the Romanian Mountain Corps’ parlance) commander, both battalion commanders and the commander of their supporting mountain artillery battalion were all killed in action on that bloody morning. But with the aid of heavy support from the only two modern, motorized artillery battalions in the Romanian inventory, the mountain troops repelled the attack and held the bridge.

Tighina Bridgehead

19 July 1941: Kishinev’s fall represented a great success for Romanian arms, and the Soviets withdrew from the rest of Bessarabia in fairly short order. The Romanian Royal Armored Division pursued them. At Tighina, the Red Army turned to defend the vital bridge over the Dnestr River. If the Romanian government chose to pursue the war into Soviet territory proper, they’d need to grab this crossing.

Conclusion: Romanian morale soared as the last Soviet troops fled Bessarabia. Royal Armored Division had swept the last of its enemies out of the lost province, and the Red Army pulled back desperately in an attempt to re-group.

East of Smolensk

26 July 1941: German spearheads had seized the old city of Smolensk, guardian of the highway to Moscow, yet could not cut off the three Soviet armies just north of the city. Day after day, the Gemans tried to break the narrow corridor at Solov’evo, but the Red Army fought just as frantically to keep it open. When the 20th Motorized Division finally broke the lines of 38th Rifle Division, its reconnaissance battalion shot into the gap.

Conclusion: The lightly-armed recon unit drove deep into the Soviet rear area, but the foot soldiers threw them back in an unusual contest of speed against firepower. More and more Soviet soldiers would continue to escape encirclement.

Those Who Can . . .

30 July 1941: With German panzers rolling up the “Smolensk pocket,” to the north of Smolensk the Soviet 30th Army launched a series of disjointed attacks in hops of relieving pressure on the forces trapped there. These surprised the Germans, who believed the war nearly won and discounted Soviet resources and morale.

Conclusion: The German Lehr, or “teaching,” units comprised the veteran demonstration units of the Wehrmacht’s advanced infantry and armor schools. Considered an elite force, the brigade’s status took a serious blow when decidedly second-line Soviet forces drove into their positions and a battle group from 20th Panzer Division had to ride to the rescue. The Soviet division took such heavy losses, it was withdrawn from the front two days later and added to a reserve army of People’s Militia divisions.

Crossing the Rubicon

3 August 1941: On 31 July, Romanian commander-in-chief Ion Antonescu accepted a desperate German plea for Romanian forces to push deeper into the Soviet Union and capture the important port of Odessa. To open the road to Odessa, first the bridge at Tighina had to be secured.

Conclusion: The Romanian horsemen stormed the bridge under heavy fire while the infantry crossed the river to the north. The Soviets pulled back hurriedly, opening the road to Odessa. Of the 340,223 Romanian troops who set off down that road, 92,545 would become casualties by the time Odessa fell in October.

Pocketed

4 August 1941: South of Smolensk, the Soviet “Group Kachalov” of 28th Army prepared for a strike northward intothe right flank of the German forces in front of Smolensk, hopefully surrounding the Germans then fighting in the Yelnia salient. Heinz Guderian turned the tables on Kachalov with an unexpected strike at 28th Army’s own left flank. Within days, it was 28th Army fighting to avoid encirclement. Near Roslavl’, the Red Army fought to keep a corridor open for Kachalov’s escape.

Conclusion: Taken by surprise, 28th Army found its own flanks collapsing on either side. Though 104th Tank Division fought hard, it was facing German assaults from two directions and eventually gave up the vital corridor. The division’s survivors made their way through the German lines anyway, and received a new name (145 Tank Brigade) and new vehicles (T-34’s) and fought well enough to earn Guards status.

Fade to Black

6 August 1941: In the aftermath of the Kishinev battles of July, Romanian units continued their pursuit of the Soviet forces retreating toward the Black Sea port of Odessa. Moving cautiously into alien territory, the Romanians did not press the Red Army very closely, but the cavalry hit stragglers when the opportunity arose.

Conclusion: The Romanians caught the Soviets emerging from a wooded area in column formation and fell upon them quickly before a battle line could be formed. The disorganized stragglers were routed before the tank unit could mount an effective rescue.

Odessa: The First Assault

9 August 1941: Three lines of fortifications ringed Odessa, the city could receive supplies and reinforcements by sea, and the Soviets usually had control of the air. Nevertheless, the Armata Romana pushed its regiments forward. The first attack wave went against the Soviet troops dug in around the Razdelnaya railway station.

Conclusion: After bloody fighting, at times hand-to-hand, the Romanians took the railway station and the built-up area around it. Already, lightweight Romanian artillery support and Soviet tenacity showed early signs that Odessa would not fall without a struggle.

Odessa: Romania’s Bravest Son

12 August 1941: Heavy fighting continued on the first line of the Odessa defenses, as the 7th Infantry Division forced its way down the rail line toward the city. At the Karpova railway station, the Soviets had built their positions in and around the big railbed embankments, and proved nearly impossible to dislodge. With their artillery support doing little damage, the Romanian infantry went forward to dig out the Red Army foot by foot.

Conclusion: Two months earlier, sublocotenent Marius Dumistrecu had graduated first in his class at the Romanian Military Academy in Cernauti. When his men wavered, Dumitrescu stood and waved them forward. Slowly, the dorobanti followed, picking up speed as he stormed up the embankment and into the station itself. Dumistrescu and every man of his platoon had been killed in action by the end of afternoon, but the Romanians took the station.

Odessa: Counterattack at Kagarlik

16 August 1941: After a brief pause to bring up fresh formations and assess the situation, Romania’s Conducator, Gen. Ion Antonescu, temporarily took over personal direction of the offensive. Though fighting had been going on for several days, the siege formally opened on the 14th when Romanian cavalry reached the Black Sea coast east of the city. Two days later, the first full-scale assault began. In the Kagarlik sector, both sides deployed tanks and their best infantry.

Conclusion: The Soviet move out of their entrenchments and onto the attack surprised the Romanians. But the Guard, an elite formation, recovered fairly quickly and began to press forward. Both sides suffered enormous casualties, but eventually the Red Army was forced back. Yard by yard, the Romanian infantry ground toward the city’s center.

Odessa: Red Dawn

18 August 1941: With fresh troops now in the line the Romanian III Corps resumed the assault on Odessa with a surprise attack. Infantry would go forward without artillery preparation to maintain the element of surprise, and then tanks would join them to exploit their success. For the first time, the long-promised German air support would actually be available as well. Unfortunately for the Armata Romana, neither the tankers nor the foot soldiers had ever practiced combined arms tactics.

Conclusion: The Romanians lost 32 tanks but managed to capture the key Karpova railway station and knock out the annoying armored train. German air support proved nearly useless, while the Romanian infantry shied away from its own side’s tanks and neither armor nor infantry officers seemed to grasp that the tanks needed infantry protection. The Romanians congratulated themselves on a tactical victory, but the cost was horrific. Again.

Odessa: Hill 110

18 August 1941: As part of the III Corps’ surprise attack, the 5th Infantry Division’s 9th Dorobanti (Rifle) Regiment went forward with fixed bayonets and no artillery preparation, hoping to catch the Soviets by surprise. They succeeded.

Conclusion: Neither side proved willing to back down, and a furious hand-to-hand fight raged around the hilltop. By morning neither side could claim the hill, and the close-quarter fighting would erupt again when darkness fell, and carry on into the next day.

First Guards

30 August 1941: The Red Army had halted the Germans at Yelnia, and at the end of August launched a counter-offensive designed to eliminate the German salient there. Properly prepared, with artillery support and a cohesive plan developed by Gen. Georgi Zhukov, 24th Army intended to throw the Germans back across the Desna River for good this time.

Conclusion: The 78th had a reputation as a hard-fighting, elite division and would later be re-named the 78th Assault Division. But the Ukrainians of 100th Rifle drove through them anyway, and the Yelnia position began to crumble. The operation bore all the hallmarks of Zhukov’s art of war, including near-crippling Soviet casualties. In recognition of their feat, on 18 September 100th Rifle Division would be the first Red Army formation given the honorific “Guards.”

Moscow Proletarian Advance

1 September 1941: With other sectors collapsing, the Stavka ordered Western Front to begin offensives all along its line. Reinforced with a tank regiment, the Red Army’s elite parade division went forward in an effort to re-capture the town of Yartsevo, northeast of Smolensk. This would be the most ambitious Soviet offensive to date, but by the time the 1st Moscow began its attack the Germans were well aware of other Soviet thrusts further north.

Conclusion: German arrogance led their leaders to believe the Soviets could not coordinate a multi-pronged offensive, and 1st Moscow’s attack caught 28th Infantry by surprise. The division’s long-service professionals took Yartsevo and inflicted a serious defeat on the veteran German division, which had fought well in Poland and France.

Smashing Guderian

2 September 1941: Bryansk Front, holding the line south of Moscow, now faced the advancing German panzer divisions and received orders to stop them. A counter-offensive by the front’s mobile group would crush the advancing Nazis. “Guderian and his entire group must be smashed to pieces,” Josef Stalin personally ordered. “We await your reports about the destruction of Group Guderian.”

Conclusion: The recently-raised 108th Tank Division had the benefit of modern equipment if not much training, and crashed into the panzer spearheads almost head-on. Promised air support did not materialize, but the Soviets stopped the German advance anyway and forced the Nazis to give ground. A tactical success, it would be thrown away when the army command failed to exploit it.