Amateur wargaming and random thoughts on military history.
The Liberation of Taganrog
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A new scenario under development.
The Sixth Army is withdrawing behind the Mius River line under pressure. I've been working on this scenario for some time. This is a screen of my first play through of it.
Hi Peter. I am about 80% done. I am playtesting it now and I am researching some post Stalingrad battles along the Donetz.
Michael said…
Any particular reason the fighting around Taganrog came to your attention? It is a little-remembered theater of the war even in Russia.
I came across your blog at random, while doing a nostalgic search for Taganrog. I lived there for three months and have visited plenty of these former battlefields.
Downloading CO2's free version now, in the hopes that it can load your scenarios.
Hi Michael. Wow, thanks for your comment. I have not been to Taganrog. In fact I didn't know it even existed until I read about Soviet defense along the Mius river and the German drive on Rostov in 1941. I looked at the map on Google Earth and thought it was interesting and started to build out my scenarios from there. I also created one for CO1 and for Combat Mission.
If you know of any book that covers the fighting there I would love to read it. Let me know if you have trouble loading up the scenario in CO2 and what you think of the scenario if you get to play it.
Michael said…
I did get your scenario to work, but I'll have to teach myself some CO2 before I play it. This doesn't look like a beginner-friendly wargame, haha!
You're probably done with the scenario for good, but let me know if you want any tips on how the populated areas of the map could be 're-painted' to be more accurate. A good portion of the 'urban' zones would be better described as 'town' or 'village,' which would perhaps make the approach to the city more gradual. There's also some very dramatic topography with impassable slopes and cliffs on the peninsula itself, but this may not be tactically relevant, given the Soviet's avenue of assault. Only thing I can think of is a few defilades and an area of wetland (which was my backyard).
I'm afraid I can't recommend any books; even finding sources in Russian isn't that straightforward. But there is a free John Tiller demo of the Soviets' breakthrough on the Mius Front, featuring a large stretch of terrain to the north of Taganrog.
Actually, you could do a CO2 and Combat Mission: Black Sea double feature at an amazing landmark that was a battlefield in 1943 and last summer. It's a burial mound called Saur-Mogila, basically like a Mamaev Kurgan (of Stalingrad fame) on the steppe. You had the separatists re-excavating old German trenches, and MH17 was shot down from a field within sight of the summit.
John Tiller's campaign series game for $9.99 at Matrix Games Ltd. is a steal. There are so many great scenarios. I have been playing a Fastov scenario this morning detailing the 25th Panzer Division probe into a Soviet armor formation in 1943. If my memory is correct, the division commander is killed and the reconnaissance battalion is wiped out. The Campaign Series game lays this meeting engagement out on a beautiful map with the full OOB (over 300 unit counters are present). I have considered setting up this battle before for Panzer Battles and Command Ops, so to find it in this title's scenario list this morning was very exciting! This is a zoomed out view of the northern portion of the Fastov map in the map editor. Each hex is 250 meters. In the image below, 25th Panzer is probing north towards Fastov along both sides of the Unava river. The scenario designer set a minor victory at 600 objective points and a major victory at 1200 points. You can technically achieve
Maxwell’s Marauders, 1st Platoon, C Company of the 7th Marine Regiment is a fictional unit, filled with characters that I have created to deepen my connection to my Squad Battles “ Proud and the Few ” gaming. The New York boys, Bullseye, Sgt. Rock and the rest are going to be persistent characters (unless they die on my digital battlefields) that take me through the War in the Pacific. From Guadalcanal to New Britain to Peleliu and finally Okinawa, the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment served with distinction and so too will Maxwell’s Marauders. Along the way, my hope is that by investing in the backstories of the soldiers on the map, I will play smarter and take fewer risks with them, enjoy my gaming and appreciate this great Squad Battles system in a deeper way. About these scenarios The scenarios are short (under 20 turns (100 minutes or less of combat). They are historical, even though the unit is fictional. Each battlefield map is an approximation of the terrain Frisbie’s
September 12, 1942, just before sunset: [Historical scenario] Japanese Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi has come to Guadalcanal to lead the attack against the Marine foothold on the island at Henderson Airfield. The I and III battalions of the 124th Infantry regiment are to attack from the south, along with the Kuma Battalion, II battalion of the 4th infantry regiment 19th engineer battalion. Kawaguchi will personally lead these battalions. A composite of Japanese engineers, special naval landing troops and the Oka Force, II Bn 124 Inf Rgt are to attack from the West. The Japanese objectives are the Marine bridge over the Lunga, the air traffic control tower on Pagoda Hill, the main runway hangars, and the Fighter One airstrip. Kawaguchi has grossly underestimated the strength of the Marine force facing him. The Marines have also disrupted his supply base along the coast at Tasimboko, dispersing a small reserve force, his artillery, and supplies. Special Terrain rules: The Lunga River
Comments
I came across your blog at random, while doing a nostalgic search for Taganrog. I lived there for three months and have visited plenty of these former battlefields.
Downloading CO2's free version now, in the hopes that it can load your scenarios.
If you know of any book that covers the fighting there I would love to read it. Let me know if you have trouble loading up the scenario in CO2 and what you think of the scenario if you get to play it.
You're probably done with the scenario for good, but let me know if you want any tips on how the populated areas of the map could be 're-painted' to be more accurate. A good portion of the 'urban' zones would be better described as 'town' or 'village,' which would perhaps make the approach to the city more gradual. There's also some very dramatic topography with impassable slopes and cliffs on the peninsula itself, but this may not be tactically relevant, given the Soviet's avenue of assault. Only thing I can think of is a few defilades and an area of wetland (which was my backyard).
I'm afraid I can't recommend any books; even finding sources in Russian isn't that straightforward. But there is a free John Tiller demo of the Soviets' breakthrough on the Mius Front, featuring a large stretch of terrain to the north of Taganrog.
Actually, you could do a CO2 and Combat Mission: Black Sea double feature at an amazing landmark that was a battlefield in 1943 and last summer. It's a burial mound called Saur-Mogila, basically like a Mamaev Kurgan (of Stalingrad fame) on the steppe. You had the separatists re-excavating old German trenches, and MH17 was shot down from a field within sight of the summit.