[RT] Konrad Operations (Konrad I, II, & III)

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hawkerace
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[RT] Konrad Operations (Konrad I, II, & III)

Unread postby hawkerace » Fri Dec 09, 2016 6:14 am

Hello,

This scenario is about the very difficult fighting around the Hungarian capital that occurred in January 1945. Although the game limits the real intensity and desperation of such a moment in the war, this is definitely a scenario of possibility and creativity.

=The Konrad operations were a series of operations developed by the OKH to drive into the Soviet armies west of Budapest. Using Festung Budapest as a breakwater, and the IV SS Panzer army as a spear to smash into the unprepared Soviet divisions, the expectation was to have blitzkrieg success such as that on the Western Front in 1940. The reality was that the fighting came desperate and heavy such as the battle of Stalingrad, with the SS soldiers and Heer alike desperate to meet their objectives. Divisions experienced and inexperienced were both expected to do impossible achievements.

Special thanks to T_Minus's 2014 January 1945 Scenario, I modelled some of the starting positions based off his scenario. It certainly saved me a few hours of reading/figuring it out on my own. I did however do some moving and changes based on maps of the Konrad missions as well as based on the book "Hungary 1944-1945: The Forgotten Tragedy" by Perry Pierik

The plan:

Catch the Soviets off guard with your Panzer divisions (you'll spot a few divisions unfortified, this is your breakthrough points). Be aware that there are Soviets quite entrenched and you WILL be forced to sacrifice steps to meet the objectives on time.
Provided the Soviet counter-attacks have not wiped out your first attempts, reinforcements will trickle in at the front. The key is speed, and so is an agressive posture.
Time is not on your side, supply drops are limited for Budapest, you can risk being agressive with the 13. PzD but the other units are far less capable of attacking from the Festung.
I would NOT recommend using Heeresgruppe E units until the Konrad objectives are met, unfortified advancing units are weak to Tank Corp counter-attacks that will evaporate your southern flank.
Pecs is a Spring Awakening objective, in this scenario, swinging south would be based off of the incredible success of the Konrad objectives. Focus on reaching Budapest first, before swinging south and across the river, you should have enough turns to worry about these objectives after.
Soviet reinforcements will be steady, but in steps and an occasional division. Your moves should rely on wearing the Soviets down while keeping your own losses to a minimum (best of luck!)
This Scenario is supposed to be relatively impossible, if not quite difficult and luck based. In reality, the Germans found themselves winning phyrric battles but eventually found themselves close enough to Budapest (20 miles) and could hear pleads from the radios of the Maria Theresia division (!!)
There are a hodge-podge of reinforcements for the Axis side, but if you waste the bulk panzer reinforcements, your ability to continue towards Budapest will be nulled.
There are a few prestige units to purchase, however if only you are quite desperate should you require them. Their quality are various but might just be enough.
Known issues - I played and played with the AI hints, and much to my disappointment I couldn't get the Soviets to really wanna throw their tank corps into the Konrad missions and keep their infantry around Pecs, there's a lot of randomness with their decisions, so if that's something you like, fantastic! If not, I am quite sorry. I will furthermore work on this scenario based on feedback.

I wish all of you luck and hope you have fun, this was really fun researching and figuring out balance and pacing.

-Hawkerace

Version 1.1

Changed AI Hints with different results.

Fixed placement of 8. PzD
Threw in more prestige units to change up gameplay.

Version 1.5

Fiddled with unit balance and turns to take objectives. The difficulty has dropped significantly but you can still find yourself in fierce Soviet counter-attacks that will eliminate your Panzer rush and therefore failing your chance. I suggest you throw divisions in front to wear down TCs!

Also changed some unit's dispositions and added even MORE units to order in with prestige for extra gameplay fun.
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hawkerace
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Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2016 3:25 am
Contact:

Re: [RT] Konrad Operations (Konrad I, II, & III)

Unread postby hawkerace » Mon Dec 12, 2016 7:31 pm

Version 1.1

Changed AI Hints with different results.

Fixed placement of 8. PzD
Threw in more prestige units to change up gameplay.

Version 1.5

--omitted--

Also changed some unit's dispositions and added even MORE units to order in with prestige for extra gameplay fun.

Version 1.7

Added more Soviet reinforcements and changed their AI hints to finally show some aggressiveness - watch your flanks!

Pecs must now be captured on Round 6 (either ram Panzer divisions south towards it or use Heeresgruppe E precariously to inch up to it).

This is pretty much the best I can get this scenario, it is now a great blend of difficulty, randomness and creativity in order to meet the objectives.

V. 1.75

I had to quickly fix a few things, sorry to those who downloaded 1.7!!

V. 1.8
Changed the Budapest garrison to make it have less offensive capability with FHH and 13. PzD being cut down but retaining defensive capabilities (Marder III represent Hetzer SPGs).

Added more prestige units for later turns (for players who want to have fun/creativity)

Added more Soviet reinforcements for later turns and mid turns
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