Description:
This is an alternative history scenario, when you lead the reinforced remnants of Army Group "Center" against overextended elements of the Red Army near river Vistula. In a way this is what hypothetically could have happened if Germans decided to launch their autumn-1944 counteroffensive in the east rather than in the west. "Wacht am Weichsel" is fictional and hypothetical mix of historical operations "Zitadel" and "Wacht am Rhein".
The situation on the frontline is somewhat resembling the one from August 1944. The Soviets crossed river Vistula in force north of Kraków, but their supply lines are overextended. This is the most important factor that makes this scenario winnable, as you will have to strike at the Red Army while being heavily outnumbered. Not many resources are left for you to use. You will be able to call a limited number of airstrikes and run a few air-supply missions. You will recieve some reinforcements in later turns, but nothing comparable to what the enemy will be given (an illustration of Soviet industrial advantage late in the war). You will also have to create proper logistics of your own, as your lines are cut and some of your units are in dissaray because of the russian offensive.
Speed is of the essence. Soviet reinforcements will be coming from all sides, so you will have to leave some reserves to protect your flanks east of Vistula. After approximately 2 months (14 turns) Moscow will not only realize your operational plans, but will also gather enough forces to launch a counter-offensive of their own and at that point the operation will be over. Enemy divisions will start arriving at turn 4. But if you succeed, you will inflict massive casualties upon the enemy and move the frontline some 500 kilometers east.
Hard challenge is awaiting you, good luck!
Initial disposition of forces:
Axis: 540 tanks and assault guns, 468 000 men.
Soviets: 1 980 tanks and assault guns, 825 000 men.
Comments:
Congratulations on your BV sourdust! One has to manage his limited forces very carefully to capture all the objective on time in this scenario. Thanks for the points you made as well.
As to making up some names for the units - I will probably do it later, right now I am working on another scenario as I mentioned below.
But as to the Soviet units in the pocket - they are meant to be dealt with easily if the player correctly assumes that there is no point in engaging them on the first turn, but rather concentrating on pushing other Soviet divisions back to river Vistula in order to cut their divisions off for good. This is a situation that the German HQ dreamed about in 1944 - the Soviets exposing considerable amount of their forces to present an opportunity for Wehrmacht to cut them off and destroy them in a fashion similar to 1941 victories. The trick of this scenario is to correctly exploit this initial success in order to make a decisive change on the front. Besides, if those Russian armored corps had a fighting chance - then I don't think a BV would be possible. They might inflict too much damage and the player has just about enough troops to carry out his objectives. Soviet reinforcements start to come in larger numbers after turn 10 or 11.
But what I can do is perhaps give the Red Army another air-supply drop. This would fit in the general idea of this scenario while also make those units less miserable once cut off from their supply lines :)
A fun battle indeed - I thought it was too easy after smooshing the Russian southern forces by the end of turn 3, but getting the rest of the objectives was unexpectedly tricky. Managed the BV with not a turn to spare. Around turn 3, the player is faced with an interesting set of decisions around how many mobile divisions to send north, vs those that continue through Lvov etc.
Aside from unit names (just make some up), my only other suggestion is to maybe give a few more of the Russians in the pocket a turn of supply to allow them a fighting chance!
Yep, as I was aware that the lack of units names was making this scenario somewhat incomplete, I decided not to make up names as all of these units were created without any historical basis. I was only placing them on the map according to the technical needs of the scenario and only their numbers and equipment more or less reflects the historical condition of Axis and Soviets. The initial disposition of forces was taken not from historic numbers, but actual numbers of stacks in the scenario :)
I'm glad it turned out to be fun playing. It is indeed my first published scenario. There is another one coming which is also a hypothetical one, but involving actual armies and divisions that were involved in the theater or could be actually assigned to it.
While I can appreciate a hypothetical scenario, it would also be nice to have unit names and placements. Maybe something to keep in mind if you make more! But otherwise it was fun and a good effort for a first scenario attempt (as far as I know).
All the best,
Hawkerace