Panzer Grenadier Logistics
By John Stafford and Mitch Reed
November 2008

Sit back in your chair and imagine the roar of Panzer III’s racing across the grasslands of Russia, a cold nip in the air presaging a bitter winter to come. Trailing behind are multiple SPW 251’s packed with grenadiers taking a welcome break from walking, and exchanging black bread, tobacco, and sweets from home as they recall their last firefight in some unknown village a few miles back. Sounds good so far, right?

Further to the rear slog the poor logisticians, “Loggies” in their own parlance. They struggle at the end of a long and tenuous supply chain trying to keep the fuel-greedy panzers and support vehicles fed with petrol, and maintain a supply of shells for the tank and artillery magazines plus bullets for the belt pouches of the Soldaten. And of course, a mountain of other supplies (food, spare clothing, spare parts, medals, sherry for Herr Oberst and on and on) must always be kept moving toward the ever-advancing front.

We hear you muttering “Yeah, so what? That’s not the cool stuff. Just let me fight my battle.” Well, we would, but as military logisticians who also enjoy Panzer Grenadier we couldn’t let this one go by. In real warfare, the constant requirement to keep troops in the field supplied can dramatically affect a unit’s combat power and mobility, and therefore the outcome of battles. History is full of examples where exploitation of a breakthrough was severely restricted or abandoned outright due to logistical breakdowns.

The most obvious example is the Battle of Bulge. The Germans stockpiled fuel and ammunition for weeks prior to launching the attack, and arguably could have created at least a temporary breakthrough had their supplies not run out. Battle accounts are replete with panzers running out of fuel and being abandoned by their crews.

Supply shortages can occur at the company, battalion, or brigade/regiment level even if the higher level is well supplied. This occurs because the unit supply officer/NCO forgets to place the order, the order gets lost, the radio won’t work, a higher priority precluded filling your order, the higher echelon logistics officer/NCO doesn’t like your officer/NCO, or the supplies get lost. Try driving a truck in bad weather through unfamiliar territory where most signs have been removed by the retreating enemy, using maps that are out of date or incomplete, and see how well you find a unit that is off the main road hiding in the woods. Or perhaps your unit just moved out before the supplies arrived and your commander didn’t anticipate combat, so he thought you could wait until later to get your fuel and ammo topped off.

So how do we apply this to Panzer Grenadier scenarios without overloading the game with “chrome” that slows down play? We use the variant Logistics Breakdown and Supply Depot rules below. These rules constitute an expansion of the optional Fog of War rule (17.4) and must be used in conjunction with it.

Logistics Breakdown (17.41)

If a player rolls a 3 or a 4 on his Fog of War dieroll at the end of any action segment, his side in the battle experiences a logistics breakdown. For the remainder of the scenario (not just the remainder of the turn), the following rules apply to the player experiencing the logistics breakdown:

• Initiative: The player’s Initiative is immediately reduced by one (subject to the standard minimum of zero per 3.0; see Multi-Player Games below for an exception).
   
• Movement: Each time a Mechanized or Motorized unit belonging to the player moves at least one hex, he or she must roll one die for that unit at the end of its action segment (after all movement and combat for the segment are done). Roll for each such unit separately. On a result of 1, place a Low Supply marker on the unit. If a Mechanized or Motorized unit that already has a Low Supply marker on it rolls a 1 after moving as above, replace the Low Supply marker with a Critical Supply marker. If a Mechanized or Motorized unit with a Critical Supply marker on it rolls another 1 after moving as above, it runs out of fuel and is removed from play (it counts as destroyed for VP purposes). Add a -1 modifier to each roll if the Introduction or Conclusion of the scenario mentions that the rolling player’s side was having supply problems (modified rolls of 0 count as a 1).
   
• Combat: Each time the player rolls a 2, 3 or 4 when conducting a Direct Fire or Bombardment Fire attack, he must place a Low Supply marker on one active combat unit participating in that attack that doesn’t have a Low Supply marker on it already (owning player’s choice). Each time the player rolls a 1 when firing on the Assault Table (as attacker or defender), he must place a Low Supply marker on one friendly combat unit of his choice that fired in the current assault and which doesn’t have a Low Supply marker on it already. If a player makes another roll of 2, 3 or 4 in Direct or Bombardment Fire combat or rolls a 1 in Assault combat, and if all his units participating in that combat have Low Supply markers on them already, he must replace the Low Supply marker on one of his participating units (his choice) with a Critical Supply marker. Units cannot run out of fuel due to firing in combat, so there is no further effect for low rolls involving firing units that are already marked with Critical Supply markers.

Low Supply Marker Effects

Each Mechanized and/or Motorized unit marked with a Low Supply marker has its movement allowance halved. Foot units keep their full movement allowance. Each combat unit marked with a Low Supply marker has its Direct Fire and/or Bombardment Fire strength halved (round fractions up per standard rules). Fire range stays the same. Low Supply markers have no effect on AT fire strength, but a tank with a Low Supply marker loses any Armor Efficiency it may have (11.2).

Critical Supply Marker Effects

Each Mechanized and/or Motorized unit marked with a Critical Supply marker has its movement allowance reduced to 1 (Foot units keep their full movement allowance). Each combat unit marked with a Critical Supply marker has its Direct Fire value halved and has its Bombardment Fire value reduced to zero. It cannot fire on the Direct Fire table but it can participate in Assault Combat (12.0). Units with AT fire values keep their full AT fire strength but have no Armor Efficiency.

Multi-Player Games

If using the multi-player rules (17.6), only individual players who roll a 3 or 4 on a Fog of War dieroll experience Logistics Breakdown. Units may only acquire Low Supply and Critical Supply markers while under the command of individual players who have experienced Logistics Breakdown. If using the Sector Command rule (17.61), units cannot acquire new Low Supply or Critical Supply markers after they move out of a sector commanded by a player who has experienced a logistics breakdown and into a sector commanded by a player who has not experienced a logistics breakdown. However, units that already have such markers must keep them until they replenish their supplies at a Supply Depot (17.42), no matter what sector they’re in. Note that a side with more than one player does not experience initiative reduction due to logistics breakdown unless ALL of its players have experienced logistics breakdown.

17.42 Supply Depots

Only a side whose units set up on-board per scenario instructions can have supply depots. If all units on a side enter the board during play, that side cannot have supply depots. In two-player or solitaire games, each side that is eligible to have a supply depot has one of them. In multi-player games, each player has his own supply depot if his side is eligible to have them, so each side will have a number of supply depots equal to the number of players on that side.

Depot Location

Each player who is eligible to have a supply depot secretly writes down the location of his supply depot once he is done setting up his units. A supply depot can be located in any of a side’s eligible setup hexes (per scenario instructions) that is four or more hexes away from all eligible enemy setup hexes, or four or more hexes away from any board edges where enemy units will enter. When using sector command in multiplayer games (17.61), each eligible player can have a supply depot in any eligible hex in his sector. When using formation command in multi-player games (17.62), each eligible player can have a supply depot in any eligible friendly setup hex on the board.

Supply depots cannot move. The owning player must reveal the location of a supply depot the first time any enemy unit or leader with LOS to the supply depot’s hex moves to within three hexes of it. Place a SUPPLY DEPOT marker on the board in the depot’s written location at that time. It must remain there for the rest of the game unless and until it is destroyed.

Depot Benefits

Each undemoralized unit that activates in a supply depot’s hex and performs no movement or fire action during its activation (3.13) may have any Low Supply marker on it removed, or may have any Critical Supply marker on it replaced with a Low Supply marker. Units may replenish their supplies in this way from friendly or enemy supply depots (stealing enemy supplies is encouraged). Place MOVED/FIRED markers on units that do this (it takes up their entire activation). Each supply depot has unlimited supplies and can replenish any number of units unless and until it is destroyed.

Depot Destruction

Units can destroy friendly or enemy supply depots if desired. To destroy a supply depot, at least one undemoralized personnel-type unit must activate in the same hex with the supply depot. Only undemoralized units that activate and remain in the supply depot’s hex for their entire activation and perform no movement or fire action during their activation can participate in a supply depot destruction attempt. The owning player rolls one die, adding a +1 modifier for each activated, undemoralized engineer-type unit (ENG, SAP, PIO, etc) participating in the destruction attempt. On a natural or modified result of 5 or more the supply depot is destroyed, and if the supply depot’s marker is on the board the player removes it permanently. No units may replenish their supplies in that hex for the rest of the game. On a result of 4 or less the attempt fails and the depot remains. Place MOVED/FIRED markers on all units that participate in a supply depot destruction attempt whether it is successful or not (it takes up their entire activation).

Conclusion

These rules encourage players to think more like real combat commanders. When looking at the grand tactical doctrine of WWII participants, the importance assigned to supply appears quite evident. The British Commonwealth forces were known as masters of the “set piece battle,” which relied upon massive sustained firepower to wear down their opponents and enable a breakthrough while minimizing friendly casualties. Such profligate use of ammunition required massive stockpiling prior to the attack, and plenty of brave lads running from depots to the front line and back again once the attack began.

Americans were known for having excellent logistics during the entire war and only suffered materiel shortages when the supply lines were overstretched. Good examples of this can be readily seen in some periods of the fight for Guadalcanal, and during the approach to the Westwall in late 1944. Many anecdotal references by Germans commented on the generous level of supplies enjoyed by G.I.s, and the difficulty in overcoming an enemy so well provisioned.

And the failure of Germany to conquer the Soviet Union is often laid at the feet of failed German logistics plus the success of the American Lend Lease to the Russians. In the end, few military leaders challenge the critical impact the sinews of war have on achieving victory.

Now all you armchair warriors who have given little thought to logistics and have always “assumed” that the bins were full can put a little more reality into your conflict simulation gaming. Remember, amateurs talk about tactics and professionals discuss logistics.

Bon chance!

Download the new supply markers here.

Supply certainly can make a difference in the Battle of the Bulge.
Get Panzer Grenadier: Elsenborn Ridge and see for yourself!