Dukla Pass
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 6:44 am
I've just posted a new scenario called "Dukla Pass", which covers the Soviet Carpathian-Dukla Operation and the National Slovak Uprising. Historically, the Russian offensive was stalled with very heavy losses, and the Slovak insurgents were crushed. Can you do better?
Notes:
The Slovak National Uprising began on 29 August 1944, and quickly established a hold on much of central Slovakia. On 8 September, the Soviets launched a hasty attack on the Dukla Pass, seeking to cross the Carpathian mountains at that point and link up with the Slovak insurgents.
The Soviet offensive was poorly planned and executed. What was meant to be a 5-day sweep to the town of Presov turned into a 2-month long slog, with perhaps as many as 160,000 Russian and Czechoslovak casualties, against about half that for the Germans. It was a grinding operation, which never came close to the intended breakthrough.
As the Russians were bogged in the Dukla Pass, the Nazis had time to assemble a hodgepodge force of security, training and reserve units, later supplemented by several SS formations, to battle the Slovak insurgents.
Aside from a Czechoslovak parachute brigade and a fighter regiment flown into the insurgent enclave, the Slovaks received little support from Moscow or the Western Allies. Poor coordination and in-fighting among rebel factions hampered their efforts further. Organised resistance ended on 28 October, 2 months after the insurgency began. Most of Slovakia would not be finally be liberated until March-April 1945.
Scenario briefing.
In this scenario, you are in charge of the Slovak insurgents (represented by Bulgarian troops in the game, since there are no pro-Russian Slovak forces) as well as the Red Army storming the Dukla Pass. Look for opportunities to use the insurgents aggressively, by taking out disrupted or weak German formations. But take care, the Germans will counterattack and seek to take Banska Bytrica!
In real life, two veteran Slovak divisions were disarmed by the Germans at the outset of the uprising, due to poor communication and coordination by the insurgents. If you like, you can purchase these 2 divisions and deploy them on turn one near Kosice, which makes seizing the pass much easier. However, a brilliant victory is still possible without buying these 2 prestige units.
The Slovak, German and Red Army orders of battle are all approximate, as good clear info on the battle is hard to come by. This is very much on one of the “forgotten battles” of the Eastern Front, despite the ferocity of the fighting and high casualties involved. Like Narva, it’s a battle the post-war Soviet regime preferred to ignore.
A note on time scales: the UoC engine is set at 4 days/turn, but this scenario works better if you think of each turn as 6-7 days – which is also how I’ve pegged the reinforcement schedule.
This is version one, and some tweaking may still be necessary. Getting the AI to do what I want was particularly tricky, given the complexity of the front lines and the fact that the Germans are meant to be defending the pass at the same time as they should be attacking the Slovak insurgents.
I’d be grateful for any feedback!
Notes:
The Slovak National Uprising began on 29 August 1944, and quickly established a hold on much of central Slovakia. On 8 September, the Soviets launched a hasty attack on the Dukla Pass, seeking to cross the Carpathian mountains at that point and link up with the Slovak insurgents.
The Soviet offensive was poorly planned and executed. What was meant to be a 5-day sweep to the town of Presov turned into a 2-month long slog, with perhaps as many as 160,000 Russian and Czechoslovak casualties, against about half that for the Germans. It was a grinding operation, which never came close to the intended breakthrough.
As the Russians were bogged in the Dukla Pass, the Nazis had time to assemble a hodgepodge force of security, training and reserve units, later supplemented by several SS formations, to battle the Slovak insurgents.
Aside from a Czechoslovak parachute brigade and a fighter regiment flown into the insurgent enclave, the Slovaks received little support from Moscow or the Western Allies. Poor coordination and in-fighting among rebel factions hampered their efforts further. Organised resistance ended on 28 October, 2 months after the insurgency began. Most of Slovakia would not be finally be liberated until March-April 1945.
Scenario briefing.
In this scenario, you are in charge of the Slovak insurgents (represented by Bulgarian troops in the game, since there are no pro-Russian Slovak forces) as well as the Red Army storming the Dukla Pass. Look for opportunities to use the insurgents aggressively, by taking out disrupted or weak German formations. But take care, the Germans will counterattack and seek to take Banska Bytrica!
In real life, two veteran Slovak divisions were disarmed by the Germans at the outset of the uprising, due to poor communication and coordination by the insurgents. If you like, you can purchase these 2 divisions and deploy them on turn one near Kosice, which makes seizing the pass much easier. However, a brilliant victory is still possible without buying these 2 prestige units.
The Slovak, German and Red Army orders of battle are all approximate, as good clear info on the battle is hard to come by. This is very much on one of the “forgotten battles” of the Eastern Front, despite the ferocity of the fighting and high casualties involved. Like Narva, it’s a battle the post-war Soviet regime preferred to ignore.
A note on time scales: the UoC engine is set at 4 days/turn, but this scenario works better if you think of each turn as 6-7 days – which is also how I’ve pegged the reinforcement schedule.
This is version one, and some tweaking may still be necessary. Getting the AI to do what I want was particularly tricky, given the complexity of the front lines and the fact that the Germans are meant to be defending the pass at the same time as they should be attacking the Slovak insurgents.
I’d be grateful for any feedback!