Withdrawal across the Dnieper [by PatrickWR]

NeuralDream · Withdrawal across the Dnieper [by PatrickWR]

Originally posted by PatrickWR 11-09-2005 in the old AH forums: http://boards.avalonhill.com/showthread.php?t=6806

[note by Neural Dream: This is part of the forumini project of recovering the most popular scenarios and campaigns from the old forums to an active forum instead of letting them die in an archive. I haven't asked all authors' permission for re-posting their brilliant work, since many have now left the community and cannot be contacted.]

Withdrawal Across The Dnieper - October 1943

Rallying around victories at Kursk and Kharkov, the Soviet juggernaut picked up steam as it pursued the German Army Group South through Ukraine. It was the hope of the German commanders that the retreating Wermacht and SS contingents could (yet again) attempt a defense at the Dnieper River and bleed the Soviets through the winter of 1943.

It was not to be. German units did indeed cross the Dnieper as part of their fighting withdrawal, but they found the opposite riverbank almost impossible to hold against teams of determined Soviet shock troops. Using rowboats and bridging equipment, the Soviets pressed the attack as winter swept through Eastern Europe. The vanguard of the Red Army had almost constant contact with the retreating Germans along the length of the Dnieper River. This scenario represents a clash between German rearguard units and advancing Soviet forces on the contested west bank of the Dnieper River.

Victory Conditions
There are 14 town hexes on the four maps. At the end of turn 8, the player who controls the most town hexes is the victor. In case of a tie, keep playing and check victory conditions again at the end of turn 10.

German Forces – 120 points of pre-1944 German, Italian and Romanian units
Important note: No SS units are allowed for the Axis player in this scenario.

Soviet Forces – 100 points – may consist of units from the following list:
Commissar
Cossack Captain
Mosin-Nagant
PPSh-41 SMG
T-34
T-70
M3 Stuart
Jeep
M5 Half-Track
Vickers MG

Optional for campaign play: The player who won the Battle of Kharkov http://aaminis.myfastforum.org/about602.html scenario may add +10 points to his or her army build allotment.

Map set-up
Charlie 1/Able 2
Baker 2/ Dog 1

Orienting the maps horizontally as described above, north is “up” for the viewer.

The German forces may deploy inside of and up to one hex around the town hexes on the westernmost edge of Charlie-1 and Baker-2. Soviet forces may deploy on the first 2 hexes on the easternmost edge of Able-2 and Dog-1.

Conclusion: The Germans found the Dnieper to be highly indefensible, due to the tenacity of the Russians in crossing the river and establishing beachheads under heavy fire. Many Germans divisions found themselves trapped between encroaching Soviet forces and the very rivers they had been tasked to defend, which in turn led to several heroic breakout attempts as the spring thaw began.