Moscow 1941: The Enemy at the Gates
Moscow 1941: The Enemy at the Gates Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
0.0 Preliminary Information
0.1 Introduction
0.1.1 Background
A. The MOSCOW '41 Game is an operational level simulation of the German campaign to conquer the city of Moscow during WWII, and the Soviet counterattack. Beginning in October of 1941, the battle raged through the fall and winter, marking the climactic close of the German Operation Barbarossa.
B. The game is played by two players. One player commands the German Army Group Center (ACG), controlling its Wehrmacht and SS forces. The other player controls the Soviet forces of the Western Front, STAVKA (the Soviet Supreme Command), and the partisans in the German rear. Although the primary unit scale is divisional, the players also command units of regimental, brigade, and battalion size.
C. Play proceeds in a series of turns, each representing four days of operations. The October Blitz scenario is a four-turn game recreating the opening phase of the battle. The longer Campaign Game allows players to refight the entire battle from the opening moves in October to the high tide of the Soviet counterattack in January 1942.
D. The rules are organized by major topics, arranged, where possible, in the order which they occur during the play of the game. These major topics are called parts. These include: Initiative, Weather, Movement, Combat, and Special Rules.
E. Parts are divided into one or more sections. A section deals with a specific group of related rules. Each section is numbered consecutively (1.0, 2.0, etc.), from the beginning to the end of the rules.
F. Within each section are numbered paragraphs, called Cases. Each case is a specific rule and its explanation. Each case is numbered as a decimal number of the section (1.1, 2.4, etc.). In some instances, a case may be further divided into sub-cases; identified by capital letters or asterisks.
G. When a rule is referred to elsewhere in the booklet, it will be identified by its case number (3.4B, for example).
H. Using the cross-references will allow you to easily find rules that effect other operations during the course of the game.
I. We hope you enjoy this game. If you have any questions about the rules, please write to us at TSR. Phrase your questions so that each can be answered by a word, number, or short sentence. Please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Write to: Rules Editor: MOSCOW '41 Game, TSR, Inc., POB 756, Lake Geneva, WI 53147.
0.1.2 Abbreviations
| Abbr | Meaning | Abbr | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| AGC | Army Group Center | MP | Movement Point |
| CRT | Combat Results Table | OOS | Out of Supply |
| DRM | Die Roll Modifier | RP | Replacement Point |
| EZOC | Enemy ZOC | TEC | Terrain Effects Chart |
| FP | Fortification Point | TT | Turn Track |
| HQ | Headquarters | VP | Victory Point |
| IP |
0.2 Game Parts
A complete copy of this game includes:
A. One 24-page rules booklet B. One 22" x 34" map C. 600 die-cut cardboard counters D. Two player aid cards E. Two 6-sided dice F. One plastic storage tray G. One box
0.2.1 The Rules
To learn the MOSCOW '41 rules, first read the Sequence of Play. After that, skim through the rulebook to gain a general feel for the rules. Then, set up and play the October Blitz scenario. Refer to the rulebook often, learning the exact rules as you go. (Alternatively, you can read the entire rulebook before setting up and playing the October Blitz scenario. You should still refer to the rulebook as needed. As you absorb the details of the game, the game turns will pass much more quickly and the playing time will be greatly reduced.)
0.2.2 The Map
A. A 22" x 34" map is included with the game. A hexagonal grid (hex grid) has been superimposed on the map to control the placement and movement of the pieces. Specific hexes mentioned in the rules are identified by a four-digit number. Each hex represents a distance of ten kilometers (km) from hexside to hexside.
B. Each hex contains a specific type of terrain, and some terrain features lie along hexsides. Certain terrain features, such as rivers, have been shifted slightly to conform to the pattern of the hex grid for ease of play; however, all general positional relationships have been retained.
C. To make the map lie flat, unfold it carefully and backfold it along the existing creases. Small pieces of drafting tape can be used to hold the corners taut.
D. The map contains the following charts and tables:
0.2.2.1 Terrain Key. This shows the meaning of each color and symbol used on the map.
0.2.2.2 Combat Results Table. This table lists the possible outcomes of attacks (11.0).
0.2.2.3 Turn Track. This track shows how many game turns have been played. It shows the game turn, date, weather modifiers, and the initiative points, replacements, and reinforcements available to each side.
0.2.2.4 Weather Chart and Ground Condition Matrix. These are used to find the temperature and ground conditions in effect during each turn (3.0).
0.2.2.5 Weather Display. This display shows the weather in effect for the current game turn (3.0).
0.2.2.6 Initiative Point Chart. This chart shows how many initiative points (IPs) must be spent to perform various actions.
0.2.2.7 Initiative Point Tracks. These are used to record the number of IPs the players have (1.0).
0.2.2.8 Replacement Tracks. These record the number of armor replacement points (RPs) and infantry RPs the players have accumulated (12.0).
0.2.2.9 Soviet Partisan Track. This track records the number of partisans the Soviets can place (16.0).
0.2.2.10 Map Errata. The IP Table is correct. The IP values listed next to towns are incorrect.
0.2.3 Player Aid Cards
Two Player Aid cards are provided with the game. These have charts and tables that are used by each player during the game. One card is for the Germans while the other is for the Soviets. There are differences in some of the charts and tables on the two cards; they cannot be used interchangeably!
0.2.3.1 Errata. The Arctic column of the ZOC Chart is incorrect on both player aid cards: No unit possesses a ZOC during winter turns.
0.2.3.2 Addition. German Reinforcements Schedule: The 4 Pz Division (three counters: 12/4, 33/4, and 35/4) enter on Turn 8, through Entry Area B. All units of the division are marked (1F).
0.2.3.3 Corrections.
A. The Soviet 252 RD (1) sets up in hex 3111.
B. Soviet Reinforcement Schedule: The 312 RD enters on Turn 4, not Turn 27 as indicated later on the track and on the counter. The 9 CD should be removed from the Reinforcement Schedule.
0.2.4 Counters
A. Two types of cardboard counters are provided with the game: units, representing the various military forces involved in the battle; and markers, used to display information for various game functions (Summary of Unit Types). Most of the counters are printed on both sides. When removing the counters for the first time, carefully cut them out, using a pair of sharp scissors or a sharp-bladed knife to trim the counters free of the stringers.
B. The unit counters have information printed on their fronts and backs. This information varies, according to the type of unit, according to the sample counters shown.
0.2.4.1 Unit Designation. This identifies the historical unit the counter represents. A German panzer division regiment that has a divisional integrity bonus in combat has its regimental number to the left of a slash and its divisional number to the right of the slash.
0.2.4.2 Unit Size. This indicates the size of the unit: XX = Division; X = Brigade; III = Regiment; II = Battalion.
0.2.4.3 Withdrawal Mark. A unit with a withdrawal mark (asterisk) in its upper left corner will be withdrawn from play as indicated on that player's Reinforcement Schedule.
0.2.4.4 Entry Turn. Units that enter play as reinforcements after the game starts are marked with their entry turn.
0.2.4.5 Combat Strength. This is the relative strength of the unit in combat.
0.2.4.6 Movement Allowance. This is the number of movement points (MPs) that the unit can spend in any step of the game turn in which it is eligible to move.
0.2.4.7 Command Limit. This is the maximum number of friendly units (or stacks) that a specific headquarters (HQ) can activate in one Action Phase.
0.2.4.8 Command Radius. This is the maximum distance in hexes from which an HQ can activate a friendly unit (or stack). The hex occupied by the unit is counted, the hex occupied by the HQ is not.
0.2.4.9 Counter Errata.
A. The German 39/17 and 63/17 arrive on Turn 13 (as per the German Reinforcement Chart), not Turn 11 as indicated on the counters.
B. The Soviet 40 RD should be labeled the 340 RD.
C. The Soviet 139 RD and 101 MRD were left off the counter mix. Any Soviet RD can be used to replace these.
D. The Soviet 55 R Bde was left off the counter mix. Any R Bde can be substituted for it.
E. The Soviet 5 CD was left off the counter mix. This should be a 5-8 cavalry division.
0.3 Turn Track Box
A. Each Turn Track (TT) box gives the turn number; the historical month and date; the die roll modifiers (DRMs) for temperature and ground condition; IPs, infantry RPs, and armor RPs for both sides.
B. If the German or Soviet line is also shaded, check the Reinforcement Schedule on the appropriate player card for reinforcements.
0.4 Sample Counters
0.4.1 Combat Unit. The counter front shows the Unit ID, Entry Turn (if any), Withdrawal Mark, Combat Strength, Unit Size, Unit Type, and Movement Allowance. The back is the fatigued side. There is a band across the middle to indicate that. The attributes are the same, but the Unit ID is centered over the unit type box.
0.4.2 Headquarters. The HQ counter front shows the Unit ID, Unit Type, Command Radius, Command Limit, and Movement Allowance. The back is the activated side and does not contain the unit ID. The other attributes are the same as the front.
0.5 Summary of Unit Types
0.5.1 Infantry
- Soviet: Infantry Division; Remnant; Guards Infantry Division; Rifle Brigade; Militia Division; Naval Rifle Brigade.
- German: Paratroop Brigade; Infantry Division; Ski Battalion; Infantry Regiment (breakdown only).
0.5.2 Cavalry
- Soviet: Cavalry Division; Guards Cavalry Division.
- German: Cavalry Brigade.
0.5.3 Armor
- Soviet: Tank Division; Guards Motorized Division; Tank Regiment; Tank Battalion; Motorized Division.
- German: Panzer Regiment; Motorized Regiment; Motorized Division.
0.5.4 Headquarters
- Soviet: Front HQ; Army HQ.
- German: Corps HQ; Panzer Corps HQ.
0.6 Summary of Marker Types
0.6.1 Unit Markers. Unit markers include: Loss; Partisan; Fort/Hedgehog; Guards/Fort Destroyed; Out of Supply; Activation/Reserve; and Paratroop Scatter.
0.6.2 Track Markers. Track markers are used on the Game-Turn track (Weather, Ground Conditions, and IP Track), the Base IP track, the Partisan Track, and the Replacement Track.
0.7 Sequence of Play
"Operations at the eastern front are running according to plan?" -- OKW, October 13, 1941
The Sequence of Play controls the order of events during each turn of the game. Each turn is divided into phases. The player who is active in a phase is called the phasing player. The other player is the non-phasing player. Some phases are further divided into steps. Some steps can be skipped if the active player chooses.
0.7.1 Weather Phase
0.7.1.1 Step 1: Temperature Check
A. Roll one die and consult the TT for any possible DRMs.
B. Find the modified die roll result on the Temperature column of the Weather Table.
C. Place the Temperature marker in the corresponding box on the Weather Display.
0.7.1.2 Step 2: Ground Condition Check
A. Roll one die and find the result on the Precipitation column of the Weather Table.
B. Cross-index this result with the temperature on the Ground Condition Matrix.
C. Place the Ground Condition marker in the corresponding box on the Weather Display.
0.7.1.3 Step 3: Initiative Determination
A. The side with the most IPs is the first player for the turn.
B. The Germans have the initiative on Turn 1 and any turn in which the two sides have the same number of IPs.
0.7.2 Initiative Phase
0.7.2.1 Step 1: IP Collection
A. The phasing player collects IPs for the turn. Count the number of IPs gained for towns and cities held. Add the number given on the TT.
B. Modify the result according to the current weather. Roll one die and add this to the total.
C. Add this to any previous total on the Initiative Track, placing the IP markers in the boxes of the Initiative Track to record the total IPs available for the turn.
0.7.2.2 Step 2: Replacement and Reinforcement
A. The phasing player assigns any available RPs to units in play, if desired.
B. Next, place that turn's available reinforcements on the map.
0.7.3 First Player Phase
0.7.3.1 Step 1: Command
A. The phasing player spends IPs to activate a friendly HQ on the map, flipping it to its active side.
B. The player indicates which stacks of combat units within the command radius of the activated HQ will in turn be activated by the HQ (2.0).
C. A player can also activate a single stack of friendly units, paying the appropriate IP cost, and marking the stack with a Reserve marker (9.4).
0.7.3.2 Step 2: Movement
A. The phasing player can move activated units one stack at a time, resolving any overrun combat during movement (9.6).
B. A unit making a forced march does so immediately after completing its regular move, before any other unit is moved. Forced marching units immediately check for forced march depletion at the end of their move (9.5).
0.7.3.3 Step 3: Combat
A. Declare and resolve any combats with activated units and any units marked as reserves, removing the Reserve marker when the attack is made.
B. Any activated units that do not attack during this step can be marked with Reserve markers at the end of the step.
0.7.3.4 Step 4: Reaction Movement
A. The non-phasing player can spend IPs to activate reaction units as desired. Subtract the IPs spent from the Initiative Track. The reacting units can then move. They cannot conduct overruns or force march.
B. Mark the reacting units as Activated.
0.7.3.5 Step 5: Reaction Attacks
A. The non-phasing player can spend IPs to activate units to attack. Subtract the IPs from the Initiative Track.
B. Conduct attacks according to the rules for Combat (10.0).
0.7.3.6 Step 6
Repeat Steps 1-5 until the phasing player passes or runs out of IPs.
0.7.3.7 Step 7: Unactivated Movement
The phasing player can now move none, some, or all units that have not yet been activated in the phase, according to the rules for unactivated movement (9.8).
0.7.3.8 Step 8: First Player Recovery
A. The phasing player now spends IPs to remove fatigue from units and stacks of units. Recovered units are flipped to their unfatigued side. IPs are subtracted from the Initiative Track as points are spent.
B. Activation markers are removed from all units of both players.
0.7.4 Second Player Phases
The non-phasing player now conducts the steps in the 0.7.2 and 0.7.3, with the roles of the phasing and non-phasing players reversed for this part of the turn.
0.7.5 End Phase
Advance the turn marker one space. This completes the turn.
PART 1: INITIATIVE
"Encouraged by their successes in the defensive fighting, our troops outside Moscow, immediately, without any pause, went over to the offensive." -- Marshal A. Vassilevsky
A. Initiative is a measure of each army's command, supply, strategic, and tactical abilities. It is measured by IPs. IPs are used to gain the initiative during a turn, activate commands, provide die modifiers to combat, react, and remove fatigue.
B. IPs are gained each turn for towns and cities held. This amount is modified by the date, the current weather conditions, and a die roll, and is marked on the Initiative Track.
C. As IPs are spent, subtract them from the Initiative Track. When the Track reaches 0, no more IPs can be spent to activate, modify die rolls, react, or remove fatigue.
1.0 Gaining IPs
A. At the start of each turn, each side collects IPs, totaling the IPs gained for controlling specific cities and towns (per the Initiative Chart), and adding the bonus IPs given for the current turn (from the TT).
B. This amount may then be reduced according to the current turn's weather.
C. After all modifications are made, roll one die, adding it to the modified amount. The current value on the Initiative Track is added or subtracted from this and marked on the Initiative Track. This is the number of IPs the player has available for the turn.
D. If both players have the same number of IPs, the Germans go first in the turn.
1.1 Controlling Cities and Towns
A. Only the cities and towns listed on the Initiative Chart earn IPs for the controlling player. Each is worth the IP value listed on the chart. Each side totals the number of IPs gained for each controlled town.
B. To control a town or city, the player must have a friendly unit occupying the hex or have had been the last player to have a unit occupying the hex. The presence of enemy zones of control (ZOCs, 7.0) has no effect on control.
C. For the earning of IPs, each hex of Moscow is controlled separately. Thus, it is possible for each player to control different hexes of Moscow at the same time.
D. Each player has a Base IP marker to place on the Initiative Track to record how many IPs received for towns and cities controlled.
1.2 Turn Track Initiative Bonus
Listed on the TT for each player is the amount of Initiative Bonus (if any) received that turn. This amount reflects the general supply situation for that turn.
1.3 Modifying Initiative
A. The ground condition for the current turn may affect each player's initiative. The Weather Display gives an initiative modifier for most ground conditions.
B. This is a multiplier to be applied to the player's new IPs. When modifying the initiative, all fractions are rounded down.
Example: The Germans hold 12 VPs of cities and towns on Turn 13. A 5 is rolled on one die. Assuming the weather is Snow, the increase in VPs is 26 [(12+17) x ⅔ + 5], or 19 VPs. If the Germans had 7 VPs left from the previous turn, the total VPs available for Turn 13 would be 26.
1.4 Maximum Initiative
The maximum number of IPs either side can accumulate is 99. Excess IPs are lost. If both players have accumulated 99 IPs, the Germans have the initiative for the turn.
2.0 Using Initiative Points
IPs are used to activate HQs and combat units, provide defensive and offensive combat support, and remove fatigue from units. As IPs are spent, they are subtracted from the player's current IP total.
Clarification: Each unit can only be activated once per friendly phase and once per enemy phase (for reaction combat). Once a unit is marked activated, it cannot be used again until the Activation marker is removed (in Step 8).
2.1 Activating Headquarters
A. During the Command Step, the player can spend IPs to activate a single HQ anywhere on the map. The number of IPs required to activate the HQ depends on its supply status.
- If the HQ is able to trace a line of supply to a supply source (5.1), the cost is 1 IP.
- Unsupplied German HQs cost 2 IPs to activate.
- Unsupplied Soviet HQs cost 3 IPs to activate.
B. Once the cost is paid, the HQ is turned to its Active (back) side.
2.2 Activating Stacks
A. During the Command Step, the player can choose to activate a single unit or stack of units. The unit activated must be in supply to be activated.
B. Activating a unit or stack costs 1 IP. After moving, the force is marked with an Activation marker.
C. German panzer divisions (and their component regiments) can only be activated by Mechanized HQs.
D. German panzer divisions can be defensively supported and supplied by any German HQ.
E. Any German HQ can activate German motorized divisions.
2.3 Combat Support
A. During any combat, players can spend IPs to provide combat support (10.4).
B. An attacking unit must be within the command radius of and able to trace a line of supply to an activated HQ.
C. A defender must be within the command radius of and be able to trace a line of supply to any friendly HQ.
2.4 Reaction
A. During the Reaction Step, the non-phasing player can activate single units or stacks of unit. The activated units must be within command radius of any friendly HQ and able to trace a line of supply to that HQ. Clarification: IPs must be spent separately to make a reaction move and a reaction attack. Paying for one does not allow a unit to perform the other.
B. On Turn 1, the Soviets cannot perform reaction movement or attacks.
2.5 Fatigue Removal
A. During the friendly Recovery Step, a player can spend IPs to remove fatigue from friendly combat units. One IP is spent per division or part that recovers. Regiments and brigades count as a single division.
B. The recovering unit must be within command radius of any friendly HQ and able to trace a supply line.
C. During the Movement and Combat Steps, a player can negate a fatigue result received as a result of combat by immediately spending IP. This decision must be made before any other actions are taken (11.1).
PART 2: WEATHER
"...it would not be expedient to mention the troops' winter equipment at this time." -- Reich Press Chief, Nov. 18
At the beginning of each turn, determine the general ground and weather conditions for the current turn. Once determined, these conditions remain in effect for the entire turn. The different weather conditions affect the movement, ZOCs, fatigue, and combat ability of each unit.
3.0 Determining Weather Conditions
A. Determining the weather for a turn is divided into two steps: the Temperature and Ground Condition Steps.
B. During the Temperature Step, one player rolls one die, applying the current turn's DRM (listed as Temp. Mod. on the TT). The result of the modified die roll is then found on the Temperature column of the Weather Table. The Temperature marker is placed on the appropriate box of the Weather Display.
C. Next, determine the current turn's ground condition. Roll one die, applying DRMs for the turn and the current temperature (as marked on the Turn Record under Ground Mod. and in the appropriate Temperature Box on the Weather Display). The result of the modified die roll is found on the Ground column of the Weather Table and indicates clear weather or precipitation.
D. The result is compared against the current turn's temperature on the Weather Table to determine the current ground condition. The appropriate marker is then placed in the current Ground Condition Box on the Weather Display.
3.1 Drying Turns
A. If the current turn is Warm, no precipitation, and the ground condition of the previous turn was Mud, flip the marker to its back side for this turn.
B. If the marker was already on its back side, the ground condition is Dry. The Drying ground condition has all the effects of Mud.
3.2 Snow
When a Snow ground condition occurs, it remains in effect until a Thaw or Deep Snow result replaces it. Other ground conditions have no effect.
3.3 Deep Snow
A. If the ground condition from the previous turn was Snow and the ground condition called for this turn is Snow, the ground condition for this turn is Deep Snow.
B. Deep Snow remains in effect until a Thaw occurs.
C. Additional Snow results have no effect once Deep Snow is in play.
3.4 Thaw
A. If the ground condition for the previous turn was Snow and the current turn's temperature is Warm, the ground condition for the current turn is automatically Mud, regardless of the die roll.
B. If the ground condition for the previous turn was Deep Snow and the current temperature is Warm, the ground condition for the current turn is automatically Snow. Again, ignore the turn's ground condition die roll.
3.5 Frozen
A. If the ground condition for the previous turn was Dry and the current turn's temperature is Cold or Arctic, the ground condition is Frozen if no precipitation occurs.
B. Frozen ground is much the same as Dry ground, except for the effect on ZOC and ski units.
C. If the temperature the turn after a Frozen ground condition is Warm, the ground condition automatically becomes Mud, regardless of the precipitation die roll.
4.0 Effects of Weather
Once the actual weather for a turn is determined and marked, its effects immediately come into play. These effects are divided to specific areas: collection of IPs, movement allowances (MAs) and movement costs, force march die rolls, ZOCs, and combat modifiers. The degree of effect depends on the exact type of weather.
4.1 Dry
A. Dry weather has no effect on initiative collection, MAs, force march die rolls, or combat.
B. The Dry column of the Terrain Effects Chart (TEC) is used to determine movement costs. The Dry column is used on the ZOC Chart to determine ZOC effects.
4.2 Frozen
A. Frozen weather has no effect on IP collection, force march die rolls, or combat.
B. The Frozen column of the TEC is used to determine movement costs. The Frozen column is used on the ZOC Chart to determine ZOC effects.
4.3 Mud
A. Mud weather has the following effects:
B. The Germans receive half the number IPs listed on the TT for the current turn (fractions rounded down).
C. The Soviets receive two-thirds the number of IPs listed on the TT for the current turn (fractions rounded down).
D. The MAs for all units are halved. Clarification: MAs halved by mud are rounded down, to a minimum of 1.
E. The Mud column on the TEC is used. Clarification: The Mud column is the Dry, Mud, and Frozen Conditions value on the TEC.
F. ZOCs are affected as shown on the ZOC Chart.
G. Apply a -3 DRM to all force march die rolls.
H. Apply a -2 DRM to all attacks.
4.4 Snow
Snow weather has the following effects:
A. The Germans receives two-thirds the IPs listed on the TT.
B. The Snow column of the TEC is used.
C. ZOCs are affected as shown on the ZOC Chart.
D. A -2 DRM is applied to all force march die rolls.
E. Soviet rail capacity is reduced to 2.
F. A -1 DRM is applied to all attacks. Exception: Attacks made solely by ski units.
4.5 Deep Snow
Deep snow has the following effects:
A. The Germans receive half the IPs listed on the TT.
B. The Soviets receive two-thirds the IPs listed on the TT.
C. All MAs are halved.
D. ZOCs are affected as per Snow conditions.
E. The Snow value of the TEC is used.
F. A -3 DRM is applied to all force march die rolls.
G. Soviet rail capacity is reduced to 1.
H. A -2 DRM is applied to all combats. Exception: Attacks made solely by ski units.
4.6 Arctic
A. Arctic weather can occur by itself or in addition to Snow and Deep Snow. When occurring by itself, only the following effects apply. When occurring in conjunction with Snow or Deep Snow, the effects from both conditions apply. These effects are not cumulative; only the most severe penalty applies.
- 1 MP is added to all terrain costs.
- No unit possesses a ZOC.
- A -4 DRM is applied to all force march die rolls.
- A -4 DRM is applied to all German attacks.
- A -3 DRM is applied to all Soviet attacks.
PART 3: MOVEMENT
"The frost has to come sometime...Then assaults can resume, and, at least, things will more forward once more." -- First Lieutenant Heysing, Oct. 25
A. During the Command Step of the turn, the phasing side can move none, some, or all of its units on the map.
B. Units move from hex to hex, expending MPs from their MAs as they go. The amount spent to enter a hex or cross certain hexsides varies according to the type of terrain in that hex and no hex can be skipped over. As a unit is moved, the number of MPs spent is subtracted from its MA until the owner decides to halt its movement, EZOCs prevent further movement, its MA is spent, or it has insufficient MPs to enter the next hex.
C. At the end of its movement, the unit must abide by stacking rules, which limit the number of units in a hex.
5.0 Supply
A. Integral to an army's capabilities is its ability to feed, arm, and clothe itself. Although the catastrophic losses of combat can be significant, the daily necessities of a division are as crucial and, on the whole, a greater concern for any army.
B. Supply is mirrored in the game in several ways. The IPs are a measure of each side's capabilities. The RPs and reinforcements that enter are another type of supply. However, the main task of the quartermaster-supplying food, ammunition, fuel, and clothing-is assumed to be a constant and never-ending task. Thus, the only concern each side need have is whether its units can receive the steady flow of material.
C. Therefore, supply is judged by whether a unit can trace a supply path. A supply path requires the unit be within range of a road or railhead that can then trace a path to a friendly supply source. The presence of friendly HQs and enemy units affects the supply path.
5.1 Supply Sources
A. The Germans trace supply to any hex along the west edge of the map.
B. German forces can also trace supply to Entry Areas A and B, but only after German units have entered the map through these areas.
C. The Soviets trace supply to any hex along the east map edge or to any friendly city hex. A hex that is occupied by an enemy unit cannot be used as a supply source. An unoccupied hex in an enemy ZOC (EZOC) cannot be used as a supply source. A friendly unit in a hex cancels the effect of EZOCs in that hex for supply purposes.
5.2 Supply Path
A. A supply path is a line of hexes, unbroken by enemy units or ZOCs, that connects a unit to a friendly supply source.
B. A German supply path can be:
- Up to 8 MPs to a supply source, or to any combination of road or trail hexes along which an unbroken path to a supply source can be traced; or
- Within the radius of a German HQ that is itself in supply.
C. A Soviet supply path can be:
- Up to 8 MPs to a supply source, or to any combination of road, trail, or rail line hexes along which an unbroken path to a supply source can be traced; or
- Within the radius of a Soviet HQ which is itself in supply.
D. When tracing a supply path by road or rail line, the path must follow the direction of the road or rail line, entering and leaving by the same hexsides used by the road or rail line.
5.3 HQs and Supply
A friendly HQ can be used to extend supply to all combat units within its radius. To do so, the HQ must meet all the normal rules for tracing a supply path, except that it cannot trace supply through another HQ. Thus, it is impossible to set up a chain of HQs, each supplying the next one in line.
5.4 Effect of Enemy Units
A. A supply path cannot be traced through an enemy-occupied hex.
B. A supply path cannot be traced through an EZOC unless the hex is also occupied by a friendly combat unit. The presence of friendly combat units in the hex negates the effect of the EZOC for purposes of tracing supply.
5.5 Out of Supply
A. A friendly unit that cannot trace supply at the end of the player's Recovery Step is marked OOS (OOS). If the unit is already out of supply, it suffers a fatigue result. If it is already fatigued, the appropriate loss marker is placed under the unit.
B. OOS remnants do not suffer fatigue. Instead, they are immediately eliminated.
C. The Soviets advance the Partisan Track marker by one point for each three unsupplied remnant eliminated; these can be combined with voluntary remnant disbandments (16.1).
D. If a unit marked OOS is able to trace a supply path during the friendly Recovery Step, supply has been restored to the unit. Remove the marker.
5.6 Supply During the Turn
A. If a unit is unable to trace a path of supply at the instant it begins its move, it is considered OOS for movement purposes. Likewise, if it is unable to trace a supply path at the instant it attacks, it is considered OOS for combat purposes.
B. OOS markers are not placed during the turn, however; they are placed only during the Recovery Step.
5.7 Effects of Being OOS
A. A combat unit that is OOS cannot receive IPs. Being OOS does not prevent HQs from receiving IPs.
B. Any unit that is OOS has its MA halved.
C. Apply a -2 DRM to force march die rolls.
D. When attacking with an OOS unit, apply a -2 DRM to the attack.
E. An OOS unit cannot receive RPs (12.2).
F. Lack of supply has no effect on defense.
6.0 Stacking
Throughout the game, more than one combat unit can pass through or occupy a hex at a time. The exact number of combat units allowed in a hex is the stacking limit.
A. Germans: the stacking limit is one division plus one regiment, or four regiments.
B. Soviets: the stacking limit is two divisions plus one other unit (brigade, regiment, or remnant). For stacking purposes, a Soviet division is equal to two smaller Soviet units. Thus, up to five Soviet units plus HQs could be stacked in a hex.
6.1 HQs and Stacking
Any number of HQs can be stacked in the same hex, in addition to combat units. One or more HQs add one strength point to the total combat strength in the hex, regardless of the number of HQs present.
6.2 Overstacking
A. Stacking limits apply at the end of each Command Step and at the end of the player's Movement Step. They do not apply during the course of a unit's movement. Thus, a German panzer division could enter a hex containing another division and attempt an overrun from that hex with no penalty.
B. A player can never voluntarily end a unit's movement overstacked. If a unit has insufficient MPs to leave a hex in which it would be overstacked, it cannot enter that hex.
C. A unit can overstack in a hex then attempt to overrun with its remaining MPs. If successful, the unit advances, ending the overstacking situation. If unsuccessful, the unit must end its movement and may be overstacked at the end of the turn. If the other units in hex have not been activated for the turn, they must move out of the hex during that Movement Step, if possible.
D. If there are units in an overstacked hex attack, only units up to the stacking limit can attack, of the attackers choice. Furthermore, the attacker suffers a -1 DRM to the combat die roll. If an overstacked hex is attacked, only units up to the stacking limit can participate in the defense of the hex. The defender chooses which unit or units will defend. However, the combat result of the attack applies to all defending units in the hex.
E. At the end of the player's Movement Step, all units in an overstacked hex suffer an automatic fatigue result.
F. In all cases, an overstacking situation must be corrected at the earliest possible instant, even at the expense of delaying other activations to correct the situation. If no other route is available, a unit can retreat into a friendly-occupied hex, resulting in an overstack situation.
7.0 Zones of Control
A. The six hexes surrounding a unit are affected by that unit's ZOC. While the unit occupies only one hex, those around it are part of its area of operation, territory it is assigned to cover. Thus, the ZOC of a unit affects the movement, supply, and communication of enemy units.
B. The effect of a ZOC depends upon the unit that enters it and the weather for the turn. There are two classes of ZOC: locking and fluid. Infantry and cavalry usually have locking ZOCs, while armor and mechanized units have fluid ZOCs.
C. To determine how a unit is affected by ZOC, cross-index the type of unit with the current weather condition on the ZOC Chart.
D. The ZOC of a unit, if it has one, extends into all adjacent hexes.
E. The presence of EZOCs has no effect on a friendly unit's ZOC.
F. Multiple ZOCs exerted on a unit have no additional effect.
7.1 Who Exerts ZOC
A. All units except HQs and Soviet remnants (11.3) exert a ZOC into the six adjacent hexes.
B. During Mud turns, the ZOC of armor and mechanized units extends only into adjacent town, city, road, and trail hexes, due to the impossibility of reacting quickly into areas off-road.
C. During Arctic turns, no unit possesses a ZOC, as most units were forced to take shelter during the extreme weather.
7.2 Locking ZOCs
A unit that treats ZOCs as locking must immediately stop movement upon entering an EZOC. The unit can leave an EZOC at the start of its movement, but cannot move directly from one EZOC to another.
7.3 Fluid ZOCs
A unit that treats ZOCs as fluid can move directly from one EZOC to another, whether the ZOC is from the same enemy unit or a different one, at the cost of one additional MP (+1 MP). If the unit starts in an EZOC, it can move into a hex that is not in an enemy without penalty.
7.4 Supply and Command Effects
Supply lines and command paths cannot be traced through a hex occupied by solely by EZOCs. The presence of a friendly non-remnant combat unit in the hex negates the ZOC for the purposes of tracing supply or command.
7.5 Retreat Effects
A. Units forced to retreat as a result of combat cannot enter an EZOC unless that hex is also occupied by a friendly combat unit other than a remnant.
B. If the unit is unable to retreat as a result of EZOCs, it must suffer losses instead (11.2).
8.0 Command
A. For a combat unit to be able to perform at its maximum ability, it must receive direction and guidance from higher levels-it must be in command. A unit is in command when it is able to trace a path of hexes, free of enemy units or EZOCs, to a friendly HQ.
B. An HQ can never trace command to another HQ. Furthermore, the path must be within the Command Radius of that HQ, according to the HQ's current strength. Units that are in command can then move and fight when the HQ is activated.
8.1 Command Path
A. The command path is traced from the HQ to the unit. The path does not use MPs but cannot be greater in hexes than the current Command Radius of the HQ.
B. The command path cannot be traced through an enemy unit or through a hex affected by EZOC unless a friendly unit is also present in the hex.
C. An HQ is always in command and need not itself trace a command path.
D. Supply and weather have no effect on a unit's command status.
8.2 Judging Command
A. The command status of any unit is judged at the beginning of the Command Step, when the HQ is activated. Those units in command can be moved normally, up to the HQ's Command Limit.
B. Units in command can freely leave the command radius of the activating HQ with no effect. Overruns can be conducted at any point during the move, whether within the command radius or not.
C. Attacks at the end of movement also take place whether or not the attacking units are within the command radius of the activated HQ.
8.3 Command Limits
8.3.1 German
A. German HQs (corps) are limited as to the number of stacks they can activate for movement and combat. The command limit on the HQ counter is the number of units or stacks that HQ can activate.
B. While there is no limit to the number of stacks that can take part in an attack (provided all have been activated during the current step or have been previously marked Reserve), the command limit restriction also restricts the number of attacks which can receive combat support during attacks.
8.3.2 Soviet
A. Soviet HQs have no command limit rating. A Soviet HQ can activate as many units as are within its radius for movement purposes.
B. During combat, any number of Soviet units can participate in an attack (provided all have been activated during this step or have been previously marked Reserve). The number of combats a Soviet HQ can support is limited to the HQ's current command radius.
8.4 Effects of Command
A. A unit that is in command can be activated for movement and combat by the commanding HQ, without having to spend separate IPs for each unit activated.
B. A unit in command can receive combat support (10.4), attacking or defending, and may be eligible for Fatigue Recovery (11.1), depending on its supply status (5.7).
C. A unit in both command and supply can receive RPs (12.2).
9.0 Ground Movement
A. A unit moves by following a path of contiguous hexes, expending MPs from its MA as it does so. Movement continues until the unit expends all its MPs, has insufficient MPs to enter a hex, or the player chooses to move the unit no further. A player can choose to move none, some, or all of their units within the restrictions of supply and command.
B. The amount of movement a unit is capable of is dependent on its type, the weather, activation, force marching, and supply.
9.1 Movement Allowance
A. Each unit has an MA printed on its counter. This is the number of MPs the unit can spend in a single activation. During an activation, no unit can spend more MPs than it possesses. Exceptions: 9.2, 9.6.
B. MPs cannot be saved from turn to turn nor exchanged between different units. Those not used are lost.
C. Units can be moved individually or in stacks.
D. All movement for a single unit or stack must be completed before another can be moved. Thus, a unit could not pick up others during the course of its movement, building a stack as it goes, nor could a stack move a short distance and then break into individual units, each moving in a different direction.
E. A stack can drop off units as it moves, but units separated from the stack immediately end their movement for the phase.
9.2 Terrain Effects on Movement
A. As a unit moves, it must pay an MP cost to enter each hex of its route. The MP cost of each terrain type on the map can be found on the TEC. To use this chart, cross-index the type of unit with the appropriate terrain type and weather condition to find the MP cost. Modify this for any further weather effects. This is the MP cost of the terrain.
B. In addition to the terrain in a hex, certain hexsides have terrain features, such as rivers. These features have a MP cost that must be paid in addition to the terrain in the hex if the moving unit is crossing that hexside. Thus, to cross a river and enter a clear terrain hex during dry weather would cost an infantry division 2 MPs instead of 1 MP. Again, the cost of crossing a hexside can be found on the TEC.
C. Units that lack sufficient MPs to enter a hex cannot enter that hex unless the unit spends all its MPs to do so. Thus, unless prevented by ZOC or stacking, a unit is always allowed to move at least one hex per turn. Units that expend all MPs to thus move cannot force march in the same turn. If a unit's total MPs are exactly equal to the amount needed to enter a hex, it is still eligible for force march.
9.3 Weather and Supply Effects
Weather conditions and supply sometimes reduce a unit's MA. Such effects are cumulative with fractions rounded down, although no unit's MA can be less than ¼ of its printed MA.
9.4 Activation and Reserves
A. For a unit to move normally (dependent upon supply and weather), it must be activated.
B. A unit can be activated if it is within radius an HQ that is itself activated during the Command Step or if it is activated individually during the Command or Reaction Steps.
C. Activating an HQ or stack of units requires 1 IP to be spent to, within the restrictions of supply.
D. An individually activated stack that is intended to participate in an attack by units moving later is marked with a Reserve marker when it completes its movement.
9.5 Overrun
A. Overrun is a type of combat resolved during the course of movement. Overrun attacks can only be made by moving armor and mechanized units. Since overrun is part of movement, only a single stack can participate in any one attack. To overrun, the moving units must first start or move adjacent the defender. The moving units must then pay the terrain cost that would be required to enter the defender's hex +1 MP for the overrun attempt. A normal combat is resolved, except that the attacking unit cannot receive any combat support.
B. If the hex occupied by the defending unit is vacated (by elimination or retreat), the overrunning stack must advance into the hex. This advance costs no MPs, these having already been paid to make the overrun. The overrunning stack can then continue its movement normally, making further overrun attacks if desired.
C. A unit can conduct as many overruns during an activation as it has MPs to pay for.
D. If the hex is still occupied by defenders, the overrunning unit must either stop its movement for the turn or, if it has sufficient MPs, make another overrun attempt on the same hex.
E. A unit can be overrun more than once, by the same or different units.
9.6 Force March
A. After completing a unit's normal movement and before moving any other unit, the owner can announce force marching of the unit. A unit that force marches receives a second allotment of MPs equal to the first (i.e., subject to all restrictions of weather and supply). MPs from the first allotment do not carry over. If a unit had 1 MP remaining, insufficient to enter a forest hex, it would forfeit that 1 MP upon declaring a force march.
B. A force marching unit is considered to have the same supply and command status with which it began its movement; thus, if it began its normal move in command, the unit remains in command throughout the force march. During the force march, the unit can perform all normal movement functions including overrun.
C. At the end of the force march and before conducting any combats, a force march Fatigue die roll is required. The die roll is modified by any weather and supply conditions that apply. The force marched unit fatigues on a die roll of 1 or less.
D. If a fatigue result occurs, it affects all of the force marching units in the stack. Thus, all three regiments of a panzer division force marching together would suffer fatigue if the force march die roll failed.
E. Soviet remnants do not fatigue; but are eliminated on a failed force march die roll.
F. Immediately apply the results of the fatigue die roll before taking any other action.
9.7 Reaction Movement
When a unit is activated for reaction movement, it has half its normal MA, before modifications for weather and supply. The reacting unit must follow all movement rules, but is not allowed to force march or overrun during the reaction.
Clarification: A unit that moved during a friendly player phase is still eligible for reaction movement during an enemy phase.
9.8 Unactivated Movement
A. During the Unactivated Movement Step of the Movement Step, the phasing player can move any previously unactivated units at no IP cost, even if there are IPs remaining.
B. Unactivated units can only move one hex and cannot force march. They are still affected by all rules concerning ZOC.
C. The opponent cannot make any reaction moves or attacks during this step.
9.9 Rail Movement
The area around Moscow was one of the central rail hubs of the Soviet nation, a factor that increased its strategic importance to both sides. Use of these rail lines allowed the Soviet forces to quickly bring up reserves and redeploy troops. Lack of control of the rail net, insufficient rolling stock, and change of rail gauges denied the German forces even the luxury of railing reinforcements to the front, let alone fast troop deployments.
A. During the Soviet Movement Step or Unactivated Movement Step, the Soviets can move up to three combat units by rail under Dry and Mud weather conditions.
B. During Snow turns, rail capacity is reduced to two units.
C. During Deep Snow turns, rail capacity is only one unit.
D. Arctic weather alone has no effect on rail capacity.
E. HQs are not counted against this limit, and any number of HQs can use rail movement in a turn.
F. When moving during the Movement Step, the units moved must have been activated in the Command Step, either by an HQ or individually. All rules regarding activations and reactions apply.
G. When an HQ uses rail movement, it can only activate other units to use rail movement during that Command Step.
H. During the Unactivated Movement Step, any previously unactivated unit can use full rail movement.
I. For a unit to use rail movement, the unit must begin its move on a railhead free of EZOCs. (A railhead is a city or town on a rail line.) The unit can then be moved to any other railhead on the map, even into EZOCs, tracing a path along rail lines. This path cannot be occupied by enemy units nor in EZOCs except for the destination hex. The presence of a friendly unit in the hex does not negate the EZOC for the purposes of rail movement.
J. When a unit moves by rail, it expends its entire MA to do so. It cannot move any further that turn nor is it allowed to force march.
K. A unit moving into an EZOC by rail can attack in the same phase, if the unit is in command at the destination hex.
PART 4: COMBAT
"...The assault is to be nevertheless resumed, at the risk of having the troops completely destroyed." -- von Bock, Dec. 1
A. Combat normally occurs after all units activated in a given Command Step have moved. At this point the Activating player can choose to conduct any desired attacks to make with the activated units and any reserve units.
B. Combats can also occur as by overrun or reaction attack.
C. The player initiating the attack is the attacker and the opponent is the defender, regardless of the overall strategic situation.
10.0 Combat Procedure
A. Attacks are made in whatever order the attacker desires. Combat is resolved by taking the total strength of all attacking units and comparing it to the total strength of all defending units. This comparison is expressed as a ratio of attacker strength to defender strength.
B. This ratio is used to find a results column on the Combat Results Table (CRT). The column can then be shifted to the right or left for if the units participating in the combat have suffered previous losses.
C. Next, each player announces any IPs spent to provide combat support, the attacker stating first. Once announced, this support is committed and cannot be withdrawn.
D. Two dice are then rolled and any DRMs are applied.
E. Cross-index the modified roll with the modified column to find the combat result.
F. All combat results list the attacker's result first and the defender's result second. Combat results include fatigue, retreats, losses, or combinations of these. Immediately apply the results of the combat, including any advance after combat, before any resolving other combat.
10.1 Combat Eligibility
A. A unit can take part in an attack if:
- It was activated during the phasing player's immediately preceding Command Step; or
- It was marked with a Reserve marker and is attacking in conjunction with a currently activated unit; or
- It is a non-phasing unit that has been activated for a Reaction attack.
B. In the last case, the unit must be adjacent to the defending unit and it must be able to trace a command path to an HQ if an HQ was used to activate any units involved in the attack. Thus, a unit activated by spending an IP directly on it is eligible to make an attack even though it may be unable to trace a command path to an HQ. This command path is calculated at the instant of combat.
C. Finally, no unit can attack or be attacked more than once during any given step. Exception: Overrun (9.5).
10.2 Combat and Supply
The supply status of attacking and defending units is judged at the instant the combat is resolved. Thus, a unit can be put OOS or restored to supply before it participates in its own combat.
10.3 Determining Odds
A. To determine the odds of any attack, the attacker announces all units attacking a single hex. Add the combat strength of all attackers for a single total. The defender does the same. These are compared to give a basic ratio as listed on the CRT.
B. Next, each player shifts the ratio according to the largest Loss marker on unit of its side. Attacker Loss markers shift the ratio to the left one column for each step. Defender Loss markers shift the ratio one column to the right for each step.
C. When more than one unit involved in the attack or defense has a Loss marker, only the largest Loss marker is used for each side.
Example: If two infantry divisions are involved in the attack, one with a 1-Loss marker and the other with a 2-Loss marker, there is a two-column shift to the left.
10.4 Die Roll Modifiers
A. Many factors can affect the outcome of a combat. These factors are expressed as DRMs. Those factors favorable to the attacker are a positive DRM. Those factors favorable to the defender are a negative DRM.
B. The Combat Modifiers Chart lists these DRMs.
- Terrain modifiers are applied when the defending unit occupies the terrain listed.
- Weather modifiers apply through the entire turn that weather condition is in effect.
- Other modifiers are explained below.
10.4.1 Armor DRMs
A. If the attacker's force includes one or more armor or mechanized infantry units, apply a +2 DRM.
B. If the defending force includes one or more armor or mechanized infantry units, the apply a -2 DRM.
10.4.2 Combat Support
A. Before rolling the dice, first the attacker and then the defender announce how much combat support, if any, they will give to their units. Combat support is bought by spending IPs. Each 2 IPs spent by the Germans and 3 IPs spent by the Soviets applies a DRM of 1 in that side's favor. The attacker purchases positive die roll DRMs. The defender purchases negative DRMs.
B. For a unit to receive combat support, it must be in supply and able to trace a command path. This path must be to the activating HQ for the attacker or to any HQ for the defender.
10.4.3 Attacker Overstacked
If the attacker is overstacked in any hex with attacking units, apply a -1 DRM.
10.4.4 Attacker Fatigued
If any attacking unit is fatigued, apply a -1 DRM.
10.4.5 Attacker Unsupplied
A. If any attacking unit is unsupplied at the instant of combat, apply a -2 DRM.
B. DRMs are cumulative. Positive and negative modifiers cancel each other out.
C. The total adjusted DRM can never be greater than +4 or less than -4. This limit applies after calculations have been completed.
Example: Attacker with a +7 DRM against a defender with a -3 DRM would have a final +4 DRM.
10.4.6 Panzer Division
If the Germans have all three regiments of the same panzer division involved in the attack, apply a +2 DRM.
10.4.7 Defender Fortified
If any unit attacks across a fortified hexside, apply a -1 DRM. This includes Soviet units attacking a German hedgehog (14.4).
10.4.8 River
If all units attack across a river hexside, apply a -1 DRM.
10.5 Reaction Combat
A. During Reaction, the defender can activate one or more stacks of units to attack. This activation does not provide the unit any MPs, only the ability to make an attack.
B. More than one stack can be activated to take part in the same attack.
C. All normal rules of combat apply to Reaction attacks.
10.6 HQs and Combat
A. Any stack with one or more HQs receives a combat strength bonus of 1. If not stacked with a combat unit, all HQs in a hex collectively defend with a nominal combat strength of 1. Any combat result is automatically a retreat. HQs that cannot retreat are eliminated.
B. When stacked with one or more combat units, an HQ ignores fatigue results, but must accompany the units if they retreat. The HQ will be the last unit in the stack eliminated by combat, and if combat losses exactly equal the units it is stacked with, the HQ will survive.
10.7 Soviet Guards Divisions
A. Each time the Soviets roll an unmodified 12 on an attack and every time the Germans roll an unmodified 2 on his attacks, the Soviets notes the designation of one of their participating combat units. During the next Reinforcement Step, the Soviets can spend 2 IPs to raise that unit to Guards status. The unit must be in supply during that step. Place A Guards +1 marker on the unit.
B. If the IPs are not spent, Guards status is not conferred on the unit.
C. Guards status provides a +1 on combat strength for the remainder of the game or until the unit is reduced to remnant strength or destroyed.
Clarification: Guards divisions placed during setup are not marked with a Guards +1 marker. This is already factored into the strength of the counter.
11.0 Combat Results
A. Each attack yields a combat result for the attacker and defender. The results before the slash apply to the attacker. The results after the slash apply to the defender.
B. The results are:
| Result | Effects |
|---|---|
| No effect. | |
| F | Fatigue: One unit of the attacking force is fatigued. All units of the defender are fatigued. |
| R | Retreat: The defending units must retreat 1 hex. |
| # | Loss or Retreat: The attacking force must suffer the listed number of combat losses. The defending force can retreat the listed number of hexes, suffer the listed number of combat losses, or combine these as desired. |
11.1 Fatigue
A. When a fatigue result occurs in combat, the side suffering fatigue can choose to negate the result by spending 1 IP, regardless of the number of units affected. The decision must be made immediately, before any other actions occur.
B. To negate the fatigue, the unit must be in supply and in command at the instant of combat. If these conditions are met, simply subtract 1 IP from the IP Track, and ignore the fatigue result. This reduction applies only to combat, not to fatigue resulting from force march or supply.
C. If the combat fatigue result is not negated, flip the affected units to their fatigued side.
D. If a unit is already fatigued, all subsequent fatigue results (whether from combat, force march, or supply) are treated as combat losses. The unit remains fatigued in such cases
11.2 Retreats
A. A unit can retreat in combat when an R result is rolled or if a number result is rolled and the player chooses to retreat.
B. When retreating, a unit must follow the retreat priorities below. If it is unable to meet these conditions, it must retreat as far as possible and then suffer one combat loss per hex it was unable to retreat.
- A unit cannot enter an enemy-occupied hex.
- A retreating unit cannot enter an EZOC unless that hex is occupied by a friendly unit.
C. In addition to the requirements above, a retreating unit must abide by the following restrictions whenever possible:
- The retreat must be toward a friendly supply source.
- The retreating units cannot end their retreat adjacent to any enemy unit that took part in the attack.
D. In no way should a retreat be used as an advance. Players should use common sense in uncertain situations.
11.3 Losses
A. All units except German breakdown regiments are able to withstand three combat losses before they are totally eliminated. Each time a combat loss is suffered, a marker is placed underneath the unit to show its current state.
B. The Germans use the 1-Loss and 2-Loss markers.
- On the first loss, the 1-Loss marker is placed underneath the unit.
- On the second loss, the 2-Loss marker is placed if the unit is an infantry division or armor regiment. If the unit is a breakdown regiment, it is eliminated.
- The third loss results in elimination for other units.
C. The Soviets use the 1-Loss markers and remnant counters.
- The 1-Loss marker is placed for the first loss.
- A Soviet unit with a 1-Loss marker that suffers another combat loss is removed from the board and replaced with a remnant counter.
D. A remnant does not count as a combat unit, having a combat strength of 1, an MA of 4, but possessing no ZOC. It treats all EZOCs as fluid. Remnants can suffer fatigue but cannot force march. All remnants are identical. An armor brigade reduced to remnant strength is the same as an infantry division reduced to remnant strength. A remnant that suffers a combat loss is eliminated.
Clarification: A remnant can retreat as a result of combat. Since a remnant has only one step, if forced to suffer a combat loss it is eliminated.
11.4 Advance After Combat
A. If the defending hex is cleared (by elimination or retreat), the attacking units can advance after combat. This decision must be made immediately, before any other combat is resolved. Advance is not normal movement and expends no MPs.
B. If all defending units have been eliminated, the attacking units can advance into the cleared hex within the stacking limits, ignoring all EZOCs when doing so.
C. If the defending units retreated, the attacking units can advance as many hexes as the defenders were required to retreat. The first hex of the advance must be into the hex originally occupied by the defender. This hex is treated as if it were not in EZOC during the advance. The remaining hexes of the advance can be taken in whatever direction the attacker desires. There is no requirement that advancing forces follow the path of retreating units.
D. Advancing units cannot enter an enemy-occupied hex and must stop upon entering an EZOC.
PART 5: SPECIAL RULES
"At the end of our conversation, Stalin asked if we were having a hard time of it and, upon receiving an affirmative answer said that he was aware of it, that he wanted us to hold out a little longer and that he would help us..." -- Marshal K. Rokossovsky
12.0 Reinforcements and Replacements
A. During the course of the game, each side receives a reinforcements and replacements. In addition, both sides are occasionally required to withdraw troops during the course of the game.
B. Reinforcements are new units enter according to the Reinforcement Schedules on the Player Aid Cards. A reinforcement is identified by its historical designation.
C. Replacements are given as strength points, divided between armor and infantry, and are used to remove loss markers from units already on the map. Replacements are listed on the TT.
D. Withdrawals are units that must be removed from play on the specified turn. They are listed by the type and strength of the unit to be withdrawn.
E. All reinforcements, replacements, and withdrawals occur during the Step 2 of the Initiative Phase.
12.1 Reinforcement Entry
A. Reinforcements enter the map in two ways. Those listed with an entry area letter must enter in the matching reinforcement area, located on the edges of the map. The area can be a single hex or several hexes. If there is a choice of hexes in the entry area, the reinforcement can enter in the hex of the player's choice.
B. If all entry hexes are blocked by enemy units, the reinforcement is delayed one turn. After the one-turn delay, the reinforcement can enter into its proper area if there is an opening or can enter into an adjacent entry area, provided that entry area is closer to the owner's map edge (west for the German, east for the Soviet). If neither condition is met, the reinforcement remains delayed.
C. Reinforcements for which no entry area is listed can be placed on any friendly railhead hex from which it can trace a supply line.
D. Reinforcements cannot be placed in an enemy-occupied hex, but can be placed in an EZOC.
E. Reinforcements can be voluntarily delayed if desired.
F. A reinforcement is considered to be in command the turn it arrives. However, a reinforcement does not gain a free move when it enters the map. IPs must be spent to move reinforcements once they are placed on the map. Exception: Soviet rail movement (9.9).
12.2 Replacement Points
A. Each turn, both sides receive the number of RPs listed on the TT. The RPs are divided between infantry and armor. Infantry RPs can only be applied to infantry units. Armor RPs can be applied to armor or mechanized units.
B. RPs cannot be spent for cavalry or ski troops.
C. RPs can be saved from turn to turn up to the limit allowed by the Replacement Tracks.
D. For a unit to receive an RP, it must be in supply and in command. If these conditions are met, RPs can be sent to the unit.
E. For each RP spent, remove one step of combat loss.
F. Replacements can be used to restore units to full strength.
G. The addition of replacements does not remove fatigue.
H. Remnants cannot receive replacements. However, they can be used as RPs. If a remnant is stacked with a regular combat unit during the Reinforcement Step, it can be combined with that combat unit. The remnant is removed from play and one combat loss is removed from the regular unit.
12.3 Rebuilding Units
A. The Soviets have the ability to rebuild destroyed infantry divisions around remnants. To do so, the remnant must be in supply, in command, and not in an EZOC.
B. If these conditions are met, the remnant is removed from the board. The Soviets then choose a normal rifle division (6 Combat Strength) from those that have been eliminated, immediately spending 3 RPs. Roll two dice and place the unit on the TT a number of turns ahead equal to the roll.
Example: If a 6 is rolled on Turn 10, the unit will be available on Turn 16.
C. When the unit becomes available, it can enter as a reinforcement at a friendly railhead.
12.4 Withdrawal
A. When the TT requires troops to be withdrawn, it lists the specific troops to withdraw. If no unit matches the required withdrawal, then a unit of the same type and strength must be withdrawn. If none of these is available, then units of the same type and greater strength must be withdrawn.
B. In all cases, a withdrawn unit must be in supply.
C. Withdrawing a unit does not cost IPs. The unit is simply picked up and removed from play.
D. Units that will eventually be withdrawn are marked with an asterisk. Some of these enter the game later as reinforcements; care should be taken to avoid rebuilding these units.
13.0 German Infantry Breakdown
A. German infantry are represented by division-sized units. However, the Germans can break these down into regiments and recombine the regiments into divisions.
B. German infantry can break down or recombine only during a Command or Movement Step when the unit is activated.
C. A unit can be broken down at any point during its movement. It costs no MPs to break down.
D. To break down a full-strength division, remove the unit and replace it by three regiments in the same hex.
- If the division has suffered one combat loss, set out, all three regiments, marking each with a 1-Loss marker.
- If the parent division has two combat losses, set out two regiments, marking each a 1-Loss marker.
E. Regiments stacked together can be recombined into divisions at the start of a Command Step in which the units are activated. They are taken off the board and replaced by a German infantry division.
- If any of the regiments was fatigued, the division is fatigued.
- If any regiment is marked with a combat loss, the division is marked with a corresponding loss.
F. It is not necessary for players to keep track of which regiment came from which division; any infantry regiments can recombine into a division.
14.0 Fortifications
Fortifications may begin the game on the map or can be built by the Soviets during the course of the game. These represent areas of planned defense zones with pillboxes, mines, wire, anti-tank ditches, and other obstacles. Fortifications are not huge concrete emplacements or underground forts! Units occupying fortifications gain bonuses on the defense if any part of the attack is directed through a fortification hexside.
14.1 Building Fortifications
A. During the Reinforcement Step, the Soviets can place Fortification markers. The number of markers is specified by the fortification points (FPs) listed on the Soviet Reinforcement Schedule.
B. The cost for building a fortification varies according to its placement.
- Those placed on any city or within two hexes of Moscow cost 1 FP.
- Those beyond this range but placed on a road, trail, or town cost 2 FPs.
- Those placed in any other location cost 3 FPs.
C. A fortification must be placed in a hex that is in supply.
D. If the fortification is not built in a city or town or within two hexes of Moscow, a combat unit must also be present in the hex. In this case, the combat unit cannot move or attack in the turn in which the fortification is placed.
E. A fortification cannot be placed in a German ZOC.
F. Normal (not Moscow) FPs can be accumulated from turn to turn. Accumulated FPs can be marked on the Soviet Replacement Track.
G. When FPs are presented as two numbers divided by a slash, the second number can only be used to build fortifications within two hexes of Moscow. These points represent the mobilization of the people to build the emergency defense ring around the city. The FPs cannot be used to build fortifications elsewhere. If no unfortified hexes are available, the FPs are lost.
H. The Soviets receive 3 FPs per turn from Turns 3-12, and 2 Moscow FPs per turn from Turns 5-7.
14.2 Effects of Fortifications
A. Fortifications printed on the map (such as the Mohzaik Line) have a specific facing. They provide the fortification bonus if at least part of the attack is made across a fortified hexside. If the attack is not made across a fortification hexside, the fortification has no effect.
B. Fortifications built with FPs and those indicated by Fortification markers protect the defending unit against attacks from any direction.
C. Fortifications add 1 to the combat strength of any stack occupying the hex. They also provide a -1 DRM to all attacks.
D. Fortifications have no effect on ZOCs.
E. Units attacking out of fortifications gain no combat bonuses for the fortifications.
14.3 Destroying Fortifications
A. Whenever a German unit advances onto an unoccupied fortification, the fortification is automatically destroyed.
B. If the fortification is a marker, it is removed from the board. If it is printed on the map, mark the hex with a Fortification Destroyed marker.
14.4 Hedgehogs
A. The Germans cannot build fortifications. Instead, they can place a stack of units into a hedgehog. To enter into hedgehog formation, the unit (or stack) must be activated and cannot have moved or attacked during that activation. Marke it with a Hedgehog marker. It remains in hedgehog formation until it is activated again and expends all its MPs to remove the marker.
B. A unit can force march in the same activation that it removes a Hedgehog marker.
C. A unit in hedgehog formation cannot move until the marker is removed. It defends at normal strength and has a -1 DRM when attacked. It can ignore all R results on the CRT.
D. If attacking while in hedgehog formation, a unit's combat strength is halved, since much of its force is defending other parts of its perimeter.
[Source note: the printed booklet letters two consecutive paragraphs "D." under 14.4; the paragraph below is the second one, transcribed as printed and placed here at the foot of the section.]
D. In addition, a scattered paratroop is automatically fatigued. This is not a combat result and thus cannot be immediately negated by spending IPs.
15.0 Paratroops
During the initial period of the Battle for Moscow, the German Luftwaffe was able to effectively dominate the skies over most of the battlefield. The Soviet Air Force was still recovering from the disastrous opening months of the war. As the campaign wore on the combined effects of dust, mud, continual sorties, freezing cold, snow, a collapsing supply situation, and the rapid rebuilding of the Soviet Air Force changed the situation. More and more, the Luftwaffe was limited to local, not strategic, superiority. With time, even that began to erode.
The Soviets possesses a limited paratroop capability that he can choose to use during the game. The Soviet player gains this ability late in the game when he receives paratroop units as reinforcements.
15.1 Paratroop Drop Restrictions
A. Although the Soviets had the ability to drop paratroops, their attempts were hampered by lack of transport, poor training, and supply. Thus, only those units on the Soviet Reinforcement Schedule marked with an asterisk are eligible to be dropped as paratroops.
B. Once a paratroop unit is placed on the map as a reinforcement, it is no longer eligible to be dropped. Thus, paratroop reinforcements can enter the map normally or wait off-map to be dropped.
C. Due to the limited transport of the Soviet Air Force, only one paratroop unit can be dropped per turn.
D. To drop a paratroop unit, the Soviets select a target hex. within 15 hexes of a Soviet unit in supply. This line can be traced through any terrain and is not affected by the presence of enemy units. The target hex cannot be a city or occupied by an enemy unit. However, it can be adjacent to an enemy unit.
15.2 Scatter
Once the target hex is chosen, the Soviets roll one die to see if the drop is on target. On a 6, the drop succeeds and the unit is placed in the hex. On any other die roll, the unit is scattered. The unit and a Scatter marker are placed on the target hex.
15.3 Effects of Scatter
A. A paratroop unit remains scattered for one turn. At the beginning of the next Soviet turn, remove the Scattered marker.
B. While the unit is scattered, it cannot move, attack, or react. It still projects a ZOC into the adjacent hexes, subject to the current weather. However, because its men are disorganized, the hex occupied by the unit is considered to be a ZOC, except that it cannot be occupied by enemy units.
C. A scattered paratroop unit cannot be immediately attacked. However, when the Scattered marker is removed, one step is automatically lost per enemy stack within the paratroop unit's ZOC.
15.4 Paratroops and Supply
A. On the turn a paratroop unit is dropped, it is automatically considered in supply, regardless of its supply status.
B. On all subsequent turns, the paratroop unit must abide by the normal supply rules.
16.0 Partisans
The Soviets have a limited partisan ability, reflecting the early efforts of the partisan fighters. Organized from remnants, partisans cannot attack units but can block lines of communication and supply.
16.1 Gaining Partisans
A. Partisan activity is represented by Partisan markers, which are not combat units. The Soviets create them in the friendly Recovery Step by disbanding remnants.
B. During the Recovery Step, the Soviets remove all remnants that are OOS and as many more as desired. For every three remnants removed, the Soviets receive one point on the Partisan Track. Fractional amounts are lost.
C. During any friendly Reinforcement Step, the Soviets can buy one Partisan marker per partisan point spent from the Partisan Track.
D. Partisan points can be held from turn to turn. The number of Partisan markers in play can at any time can never exceed that given in the counter mix. Thus, no more than five Partisan markers can be placed in a single turn.
16.2 Using Partisan Markers
During the Reinforcement Step, the Soviets can buy and place Partisan markers, if desired. A partisan marker cannot be placed within five hexes of an enemy unit. There is no other restriction on the placement of partisan markers.
16.3 Effect of Partisan Markers
A. Once placed, a Partisan marker creates a Soviet ZOC in the hex it occupies. Thus, it can block supply, command, or retreat.
B. A Partisan marker is automatically removed from the map if a German unit enters its hex during a German movement action.
C. It is automatically removed from the map at the end of the German half of any turn.
D. Once removed, the Partisan marker must be purchased before it can be used again.
17.0 Victory Conditions
Each side receives VPs for fulfilling certain conditions at the end of the game. The player with the most VPs at the end of the game wins.
17.1 Terrain
Each player receives VPs equal to twice the IP value of the towns and cities controlled at the end of the game. Control means the player was the last to enter the hex with a combat unit. In addition, the player must be able to trace a supply line to the hex at the end of the game.
17.2 Moscow
The Germans receive a 5 VP per hex bonus for taking Moscow city hexes, even if these are later lost.
Clarification: The award for capturing a Moscow hex can be earned only once.
17.3 Losses
A. The Germans receive 1 VP per eliminated Soviet Army HQ and 2 VPs per eliminated Soviet Front HQ.
B. The Soviets receive 1 VP per eliminated German division, and 2 VPs per eliminated German panzer division.
C. Units withdrawn according to the reinforcement schedule and units returned to play via replacements are not considered losses for this purpose.
17.4 Victory Levels
The degree of a victory can be found by comparing the difference in VP totals to the VP Table.
| Difference | Victory Level |
|---|---|
| 0-6 | Draw |
| 7-12 | Marginal |
| 13-18 | Decisive |
| 19+ | Strategic |
18.0 The Scenarios
This section contains special scenario information for the October Blitz and Campaign Games.
18.1 The October Blitz
This scenario covers German operations in October, in preparation for Operation Typhoon, the final drive on Moscow.
18.1.1 Setup. Use the Campaign Game setup given on the Player Aid Cards.
18.1.2 Length. 4 turns.
18.1.3 Victory Conditions
A. The Germans win by controlling three of these five locations: Kalinin (3733), Volokolamsk (2733), Mozhaisk (2032), Maloyaroslavets (1435), and Kaluga (0833).
B. In addition, the Germans win automatically the instant any German combat unit enters a Moscow hex.
C. The Soviets win if the Germans do not fulfill their victory conditions.
D. The Soviets win automatically the instant any Soviet combat unit enters Smolensk.
18.2 The Campaign Game
This scenario covers the entire German drive on Moscow and the Soviet counterstroke in late 1941. After fighting a desperate defensive action to save Moscow, the Soviet forces prepare to engage the overextended German thrusts.
18.2.1 Setup. Use the Campaign Game setup given on the Player Aid Cards.
18.2.2 Length. 31 turns.
18.2.3 Victory Conditions. As given in 17.0.
18.2.4 Special Rules
A. During Turn 1, the weather is Warm and Dry.
B. The Soviets cannot perform a Reaction Step on Turn 1.
19.0 Historical Commentary
A. After the Wehrmacht's immensely successful summer battles, its autumn attack, Operation Typhoon, was simple and direct. Bock's AGC would chop up the enemy, while its panzers would race eastward to execute a double envelopment of the Soviet capital. Panzer Gruppes 3 and 4 would form the northern prong of the envelopment, while Guderian's Panzer Gruppe 2 would form the southern prong. Panzer Gruppe 2 would begin operations on 28 September. The main attack would be launched on 2 October.
B. In the south, Kempf's 48th Panzer Corps opened Panzer Gruppe 2's attack with an unsuccessful frontal assault between the Bryansk Front and the Southwest Front on the extreme left flank of the Soviet forces defending Moscow. The attack was resumed on September 30, and Schweppenburg's 24th Panzer Corps and Lemelsen's 47th Panzer Corps (followed by Kempf) pushed 120 kilometers into the rear of Gorodnyansky's 13th Army.
C. By 1 October, Schweppenburg's corps was at Dmitrovsk, 135 kilometers behind the Soviet front line. By October 2nd, Schweppenburg and Kempf were at Kromy and driving on Orel, while Lemelsen was pushing north to join Wiche's 2nd Army in a convergent drive on Bryansk, the city of 80,000, where Eremenko had established the HQ of his Bryansk Front.
D. Shocked by the depth and speed of Panzer Gruppe 2's penetration, on 2 October, Stalin released Zakharkin's 49th Army HQ and 194th Rifle Division to Eremenko from the Reserve Front and ordered him to restore the situation around Bryansk. He also ordered Lelyushenko's new 1st Guards Rifle Corps to block the German drive toward Orel. This Soviet reaction was prompt and decisive-and wrong. The real danger came not from Guderian's operations against Eremenko, but from the new attacks, as the main part of Typhoon broke over the West and Reserve Fronts.
E. The main German attack on October 2nd was one of the operational masterpieces of the war. While Strauss's 9th Army pinned the enemy formations to its front, Hoth's Panzer Gruppe 3 shouldered its way between Lukin's 19th Army and Khomenko's 30th Army, opening a 50-km gap in the Soviet front and driving on the town of Vyazma from the north. Meanwhile, Klug's 4th Army and Hoepner's Panzer Gruppe 4 cracked the Soviet front south of the Smolensk-Vyazma highway and pushed northeast toward Vyazma.
F. The German advance cut the telephone lines between Konev's West Front and Moscow. Thus, Stalin and his generals in the Kremlin had no idea that eleven armies of the West and Reserve Fronts were in danger of encirclement. Only by October 5th were the confused tales of Reserve Front stragglers confirmed, and Soviet reconnaissance pilots reported that unopposed German tanks were advancing up the Smolensk highway from Spas-Demensk toward Yuknov, just 200 kilometers southwest of Moscow. By that time, the fates of the West and Reserve Fronts were sealed.
G. West Front's situation became serious on October 3rd, as the newly organized Operational Group Boldin failed to slow the German advance. By the 4th, Stumme's 40th Panzer Corps was fighting on the approaches to Vyazma, and the 7th Panzer Division was closing from the northwest. On the evening of 6th October, the 56th Panzer Corps cut the Vyazma-Moscow highway, and the next day, the 40th Panzer Corps linked up with the [printed text is incomplete here: "with the ... that unit" as printed], sealing a pocket of fifty-five divisions (of the Soviet 19th, 24th, 29th, 30th, 32nd, and 43rd Armies). By the time the pocket closed around West Front, elements of Panzer Gruppe 3 were at Mozhaisk, just 80 kilometers west of the capital.
H. Meanwhile, the Soviet left flank was also meeting disaster. Bryansk Front crumbled on October 3, as two large pockets formed in the Bryansk area, one north of the city around Petrov's 50th Army and the other south of the city around Kreizer's 3rd Army and Gorodnyansky's 13th Army. Three days later (October 6), Bryansk Front evacuated the city when its HQ was overrun by German tanks.
I. Even as these pockets were forming, however, a dramatic incident occurred far to the east. Here, the 4th Panzer Division of Panzer Gruppe 2 forced a crossing of the Oka River and captured the city of Orel, 320 kilometers southwest of Moscow and 220 kilometers behind the Soviet front line. The speed of the advance was so great that German tanks roared into Orel past trains full of commuters who were unaware that the city had fallen. The division then pushed on toward the fortress city of Tula, but was stopped short of Mtensk on October 6th by Katukov's newly-arrived 4th Tank Brigade.
J. At the end of the first week in October, Typhoon appeared to be a clear success. Nine Soviet armies were trapped in three pockets between Vyazma and Bryansk, and German troops were just 80 kilometers from Moscow's suburbs. The Mozhaisk Defense Line was practically unmanned. Soviet reserves were either committed or were far from Moscow. The only hints of trouble were the developing tank battle southwest of Tula and the weather. On 7 October there was snow at both Bryansk and Mozhaisk.
19.1 Rasputitsa
A. When the snowfall of October 7th melted, the roads became rivers of mud. From then until mid-November, the rasputitsa, the Russian season of rain and mud, slowed the pace of operations and degraded the Wehrmacht's badly strained supply system. The weakness of the Soviet Army after Vyazma and Bryansk allowed the front to move eastward during this period, but the advances were a mere fraction of those posted during the first week of Typhoon.
B. With the German offensive in difficulty, the Soviet Army built up its forces before Moscow, making brilliant use of the Moscow rail network. Zhukov, the new West Front commander, received 90,000 Soviet troops to occupy the Mozhaisk Line, forming a breakwater against the tide of the Axis advance. Behind this screen, new armies were assembled to replace those trapped by the German offensive.
C. While the main battle moved east, heavy fighting continued around Vyazma and Bryansk. On 8 October, Eremenko ordered his twenty-six isolated divisions to break up and filter out of the Bryansk Pocket. This saved many of his troops, but most of their heavy equipment was lost. Between the 9th and 17th of October, heavy fighting occurred on the perimeter of the Trubchevsk Pocket, where Petrov's 50th Army tried to break out to the east. During this same period, the isolated Soviet West Front around Vyazma kept the German 4th Army tied down in a vicious battle. By October 17th, when the last large Soviet forces in these pockets were eliminated, the total German bag for the Bryansk-Vyazma battles had risen to 663,000 prisoners, and 1242 tanks and 5412 guns captured or destroyed.
D. In the second and third week of October, the Soviet Union came as close to collapse as it would in the war. Between mid-September and mid-October, Kiev, Odessa, Vyazma, Bryansk, Orel, and Kaluga had fallen to the Axis. The Wehrmacht had destroyed four entire Soviet fronts in two of the most devastating defeats in military history. Yet, with a million square kilometers of its richest land in enemy hands, with 40% of its people in occupied territory, with half its army captured or killed during a campaign of less than four months, the Soviet Union managed to fight on.
E. During 8-10 October, the front before Moscow was a sea of mud. On October 11, a minor cold snap hardened the ground in some sectors, and the advance resumed. Such recurring cold snaps determined the pace of the battle before Moscow, and imparted to it a sort of lurching quality. As the ground would briefly harden in one sector, the front would surge east, only to halt again as the weather warmed and the ground softened.
F. During the first of the Wehrmacht's eastward lurches, the new commander of the 41st Panzer, General Walter Model, formed a battle group of one motorized battalion, one tank battalion and one artillery battery, and shoved it north in a headlong rush at Kalinin, a major Volga port and industrial center. Model's audacious drive resulted in the surprise capture of that city and its Volga bridges against almost no resistance on October 14th. This coup de main-one of the most dramatic German successes of the campaign-compromised the last good natural defense line covering the Moscow approaches. Elsewhere-at Maloyaroslavets, Mozhaisk and Mtsensk-the third week in October was marked by slow progress and heavy fighting against stiff opposition. The old Napoleonic battlefield of Borodino was the site of a bitter seesaw battle involving Soviet troops recently redeployed from the Far East, yet another portent of things to come.
G. The Mtensk-Tula situation was resolved during the fourth week of October. Unable to beat down the resistance of the 4th Tank Brigade, Schweppenburg sent a battle group scything northwest of the town, toward Tula, forcing the decimated but unbeaten Soviet unit to withdraw. In a three-day advance, the 24th Panzer Corps approached to within three kilometers of Tula before its exhausted troops halted on 30 October. Schweppenburg's drive was the last gasp for Typhoon. On the same day, the OKH formally suspended the operation until colder weather.
19.2 Stalemate
A. For a fortnight, the battle for Moscow continued in a desultory fashion. Aside from heavy fighting at Volokolamsk and around Tula, the front was reasonably quiet.
B. The Germans tried with only modest success to rest their troops and solve their supply problems. By this time, the 101 depleted German infantry divisions on the Eastern Front would have made just 65 full-strength divisions, and the 17 panzer divisions would have made just six. Many front-line infantry companies were down to 25% of establishment, and battalions were, all too often, commanded by first lieutenants. Due to the logistics nightmare, none of these losses could be made good.
C. Meanwhile, the Soviet forces were being built up before Moscow. From all over the Soviet Union, soldiers were streaming toward Moscow: the 10th, 26th, 28th, 39th, 57th, 58th, 59th, 60th, and 61st Armies were newly formed. From the Far East came seasoned units that had been guarding against a Japanese attack, as Stalin released his best Siberian and Asian troops for the defense of Moscow.
D. The growth in Soviet strength was accompanied by a change in the weather that favored the Soviets even more. During the night of 6-7 November, the temperature dropped all along the Moscow front. By morning, the ground was visibly firmer, and the Germans were able to drag their bogged vehicles from the all-enveloping mud. A second freeze the next night eliminated the worst of the mud, and set the OKH to thinking about a date for resumption of the offensive.
E. The Russian winter setting in hard on the heels of the autumn rains was uncommon, but its significance was not fully appreciated by the German High Command. By 12 November, after six days of cold weather, the temperature reached -12 degrees celsius. The German Army was again mobile, but encountering new problems. For example, the salve to prevent the icing up of the optical sights standard on almost every German gun had never arrived, and the sights would be useless until it did. Motor fuel was starting to freeze, and lubricants were becoming viscous, causing engines to seize and recoil mechanisms to fail. The Wehrmacht's unpreparedness for winter was already affecting operations-and the really severe weather had not yet arrived.
F. On 13 November, OKH Chief of Staff Franz Halder met at Orsha with the top staff officers of the three eastern army groups. Officers of the flank army groups and some of those from AGC opposed reopening Typhoon, but AGC commander Bock supported Halder's desire to reach Moscow in 1941. For months, Bock had chafed while men and material were diverted from his army group to support the drive on Leningrad and the battles in the Ukraine. He was not about to pass up the opportunity to capture Moscow, the greatest prize of all. With Bock, Halder set the 15th of November as the date for the renewal of Typhoon, with the individual armies on the 400-km front jumping off over a four-day period.
G. Halder planned to have the northern wing (9th Army and Panzer Gruppe 3) strike first, driving for the Volga Canal and then swinging south on Moscow. The southern wing (2nd Army and 2nd Panzer Army) would start two days later, the panzers pushing toward Kolomna while the infantry secured Guderian's open right flank. The German center (4th Army and Panzer Gruppe 4) would attack the Soviet center once enemy reserves were drawn off to the flanks. The three convergent drives would catch Moscow's defenders in a nutcracker.
19.3 Typhoon Round Two
A. The second round of Typhoon began auspiciously enough with the smashing of Knomenko's 30th Army and a strong drive on Klin by Reinhardt's Panzer Gruppe 3. On the second day, Hoepner's Panzer Gruppe 4 started pushing toward Istra, making good progress in the morning. But by November 17th, there was heavy snow and extreme cold all along the Moscow front.
B. Now the Russian winter began to make itself felt. The German locomotives using the converted rail lines between Poland and the front were disabled when their external steam pipes froze and burst.
C. The laboring Axis logistical system collapsed, leaving the troops without ammunition, food, or fuel. The Soviet forces, meanwhile, were amply equipped with winter gear, including quilted snow suits, warm felt boots and skis.
D. It would have been prudent for the OKH to call off the renewed offensive by the end of third day. But the German generals kept their eyes fixed on the mistakes of the past. In 1914, the German army had retreated from Paris when victory was still within its grasp and, in avoiding von Moltke's mistake on the Marne, the OKH repeated Napoleon's mistake on the Moskova-it pressed deeper into Russia. This was not, as has been sometimes alleged, Hitler's decision. It was the decision of Halder and Bock, who still dreamed of conquering Moscow.
E. For three weeks, the Germans ground away at the Soviet Army. In the south, around Tula, Panzer Gruppe 2 was locked in combat with the 50th Army from November 18th on. It came within a hair of isolating the city-only to fail in the first days of December due to sheer exhaustion. In the north, Panzer Gruppe 3 took Klin, Solnechnigorsk, and Istra, securing a bridgehead over the Volga Canal at Yakhroma on December 27th. But the Germans could not hold the bridgehead and retired to the west bank on the 29th. On the same day, Zhukov got three new armies and a directive from Stalin ordering an immediate offensive.
F. The last German attacks came from the 4th Army at the beginning of December. After weeks of inactivity during which Zhukov was able to temporarily strip his center to reinforce his flanks, two German corps attacked across the Nara River. This limited attack achieved almost nothing in a three-day battle fought in heavy snow. Since the German flank attacks had been brought to a halt, Zhukov had ample reserves to meet the attack. By December 4th, the German attack had ended.
19.4 Counterattack
"The Soviet winter offensive opened gaping holes in the German Line as AGC reeled back from Moscow."
A. When Stalin and his military staff met on the night of 34 December to finalize plans for a counterattack before Moscow, the temperature outside the Kremlin stood at -42 degrees celsius. (Printed as "34 December" in the source.) The German Wehrmacht was overextended, understrength and numbed into inactivity by the cold. Yet the Soviet position was unenviable. Operating with a bare manpower superiority combined with a material inferiority, the Soviet army was engaging in a risky gamble.
B. After two months of fighting on the Moscow axis, AGC still had some 800,000 troops, 14,000 guns and mortars, 1000 tanks, and 580 usable aircraft. Against this force, the Soviets had deployed 1,060,000 men, 7640 guns and mortars, 685 tanks (including 205 T-34 and KV models), and 859 aircraft. Also, behind the front, the Soviet reserve around Moscow contained nine armies (the 24th, 26th, 28th, 39th, 57th, 59th, 60th, and 61st) to guard against a German counterstroke. If they joined the attack, they would tip the scales heavily in the Soviet Army's favor while stripping bare Stalin's military cupboard. For the initial attack, they would remain in reserve.
C. The Moscow counterstroke opened on 5 December. In snow and fog, Konev's Kalinin Front (the 22nd, 29th, and 31st Armies, with 100,000 men, 980 guns and mortars, 67 tanks and 83 aircraft) attacked Strauss' 9th Army in the first great Soviet winter offensive of the war. The main weight of the attack fell on Wagner's 27th Corps, holding an arc behind the frozen Volga from just north of Kalinin to the Moscow Sea. Two Soviet armies overwhelmed Wagner, and by day's end Yushkevich's 31st Army was in Turginovo, 35 km behind the German lines. The news from the front shocked the OKH and prompted Hitler to call off the Moscow offensive.
D. On the second day, the right wing of Zhukov's West Front (30th, 16th, 20th and 1st Shock Armies, and part of the 5th Army, a force of 45½ divisions with a combined strength of 216,400 men, 1673 guns and mortars, 285 tanks, and 77 aircraft) swung into action against the 41st and 56th Panzer Corps. By day's end, this powerful force was 20 km into the German rear. Meanwhile, throughout 6 December, the neighboring 27th Corps' divisions were sucked westward by the pressure of the Soviet breakthrough in its sector. Effectively, the German left flank before Moscow was smashed.
E. Far to the south, Boldin's previously committed 50th Army and Belov's 1st Guards Cavalry Corps were joined on December 6th by Golikov's 10th Army of Zhukov's West Front and Kreizer's 3rd Army and Gorodnyansky's 13th Army of Timoshenko's Southwest Front in a convergent attack on the 2nd Panzer Army, which was withdrawing from a huge exposed salient east of Tula. The massive Soviet force (totaling 175,000 men, 1100 guns and mortars, 170 tanks, and 100 aircraft) hit the 53rd Corps and the 24th and 47th Panzer Corps from three sides. Major elements of Panzer Gruppe 2 were cut off and large quantities of equipment (including 70 tanks) were left behind in the waist-deep snow. By nightfall, 1st Guards Cavalry Corps and 9th Tank Brigade had broken through the 17th Panzer Division's lines south of Kashira and cut the Mordves-Venev road. The right wing of Bock's army was now in full retreat.
F. By the third day of the Soviet offensive, the German front was in a state of crisis. Cold, hungry, exhausted men who had never been trained to retreat learned in the heat of battle. Their westward scramble was hampered by deep snow and by Soviet cavalry and ski troops operating in their rear. At the OKH, the commander of the army, Field Marshal von Brauchitsch, submitted his resignation.
G. Over the next fortnight, the Soviet winter offensive opened gaping holes in the German line, as AGC reeled back from Moscow. On the German right, the seam between Panzer Gruppe 2 and the 2nd Army was sprung by the Soviet 3rd Army, which poured troops through a 50-km breach (known as the Livny Gap). A similar gap between Kaluga and Orel separated those two armies from the rest of AGC. In the north, Kalinin and the Klin bulge were abandoned, and 9th Army was forced to form a new line between Starytsa and the Ruza, with its left flank refused along the line of the Volga east of Rzhev. AGC was out of contact with Army Group North.
H. On 16 December, Hitler intervened to limit German retreats. A few days later, he accepted Brauchitsch's resignation, took personal control of the army, and extended his no retreat order to all units. In Hitler's view, if Axis forces continued to retreat to form new and shorter lines, the Soviets would simply hang on the flanks of the retreating units and break each line before it was established. There were too few men for the size of the battlefield. The line could not be made impermeable, so the enemy had to be stopped another way.
I. Hitler's solution was to drain Soviet strength by digging in and holding existing positions, thus forcing the Soviets to make costly frontal assaults. Once the few good units were gutted, the offensive would come to an end. It was a costly strategy-casualties sustained while fighting in severe weather conditions at the end of an inadequate supply line could not be replaced with men of the same quality, and much material was permanently lost. Perhaps its most devastating effect was to deprive the Wehrmacht of many officers (including 30 generals) who would not accept this interference with their right to maneuver their units.
J. During the last week of December and the first week of January, the Germans gradually brought the Soviet offensive to a halt. Kaluga and Belev (captured on the 30th and the 5th) were the last major objectives to fall into Soviet hands. The crisis was not yet over, though. At the end of December, the 9th Army's front around Rzhev eroded, a crack developed between 4th Army and Panzer Gruppe 4 at Maloyaroslavets, and the Soviets beset the thinly-held 4th Army front around Yuknov. The recoil from Moscow had been slowed, but not stopped-the most nerve-wracking phase of the campaign was about to begin.
19.5 The Crisis
A. On 5 January, Stalin presented his top generals with a plan for a new offensive, designed to smash the Wehrmacht and drive it from Russian soil as Napoleon's Grande Armée had been defeated in the winter of 1812. While the West Front fixed the center units of the German army group, Bryansk Front would drive southwest toward Orel and north toward Vyazma, separating 4th Army from 2nd Panzer Army. Meanwhile, Kalinin Front would make a convergent attack on 9th Army, while Northwest Front (located north of Kalinin Front) would push into the gap between AGC and Army Group North, driving Panzer Gruppe 3 before it.
B. Despite objections from his generals that his plan was too ambitious, Stalin had his way. The new offensive opened on January 7th, initiating Germany's worst crisis of the war. After the first week, 9th Army was isolated from the rest of AGC, and both Panzer Gruppe 3 and the bulk of AGC's 16th Army were in danger of isolation. Hitler was forced on January 15th to order the first large-scale German withdrawal of the war, pulling AGC back 130 km to the line Rzhev-Vyazma-Gzhatsk-Yuknov. The German retreat took much of the energy out of the Soviet offensive.
C. During the second half of January, the German crisis was gradually brought under control, thanks to the timely retreat. The situation in the AGC rear area was ghastly. On 16 January, Soviet paratroops landed at Myatlevo near the Medyn-Yuknov road south of Vyazma and began operating with local partisans and elements of the 33rd Army, which were driving on Vyazma from Yuknov. These forces aimed to link up with elements of the Soviet 29th Army driving south from the Rzhev area.
D. The planned double envelopment was not to be. On the day the paratroops landed at Myatlevo, Model took over the 9th Army and, in a spectacular ten-day battle, cut off the Soviet 29th and 39th Armies and restored 9th Army communications with the rest of AGC. The isolated Soviet troops in the rear of AGC had insufficient strength to capture Vyazma, but were still a worrisome problem. For some time after Model's victory, it was unclear just which side was really cut off, as both struggled to take undisputed control of the road network behind AGC. In the end, the Germans secured their communications and the Moscow campaign wound down to a few violent spasms as both sides tried to rescue isolated units and straighten their tangled lines.
E. By the beginning of February, the Moscow Campaign was over. Soviet losses for the battle are unknown, but almost certainly exceeded one and a quarter million men. Germany lost over half a million men (plus an additional 100,000 men from frostbite), 2500 guns, 1300 tanks, and over 15,000 other vehicles. By spring, the German Army was 625,000 men short of its establishment strength in the East. It never again had enough men and equipment to launch a general offensive.
20.0 Designer's Notes
A. The battle for Moscow in the fall of '41 has all the right elements for a game: perfectly executed blitzkrieg tactics, fluid front lines, desperate defensive operations, and dramatic changes of fortune. It has glamor-tanks, cavalry, paratroops, famous generals, partisans, and the now legendary weather. The battle presents a situation in which either side might win, is fought on a broad front, and has enough quirky fate to keep it unpredictable. Most of all, the battle for Moscow was the final battle of Operation Barbarossa. A German victory would have dealt a severe strategic and political blow to the Soviet state. The Soviet victory there finally broke the myth of German invincibility and changed the German invasion from a lightning campaign into a protracted war.
B. It was with these things in mind that I chose to design a game on the battle. There was another consideration.
C. It seemed that too many Eastern Front games unconsciously and unfairly recreated the German view of the situation without giving due consideration for the Soviet accounts; this treatment would view the situation and the battle from a more balanced point of view. At the same time, I wanted to avoid overcompensating in favor of the Soviet side. This approach let me take a closer look at some of the myths surrounding the campaign.
20.1 The Weather
A. Perhaps the greatest factor put forth by the German commanders to explain the loss of the campaign was the severity of the Russian muddy season-bogged down, they were simply unable to move. While there is no denying the mud had an effect on German operations, it affected Soviet operations, too-units that might have escaped the great pockets formed in the early stages of the campaign were trapped and destroyed.
B. The other extreme weather condition was the severe winter weather. Here, there is no denying the tremendous effect on the German Army. Unprepared for the sub-zero temperatures, forced indoors by the cold, and unable to entrench except with explosives, the Germans lost their ability to control the surrounding countryside. However, the Soviets were not universally ski-trained Siberians in warm winter clothing. Some divisions reported without enough rifles for all their men, winter gear was prized, there were no more tanks available, and, worst of all, ammunition, particularly for the artillery, had to be carefully rationed. Even so, late in the campaign, the Soviet forces were attacking-successfully-in spite of the harsh weather.
20.2 The Late Start
A. Together with the foul weather, the late starting date of the campaign is often cited as dooming the German plans. By starting in October, the German Army was forced to fight during the worst season. Apologists say that if Hitler had maintained the original objective of Moscow, instead of diverting forces south to Kiev, the battle could have been won. Yet by the end of the battle of Smolensk in July, having seen continuous action for six weeks, the German forces were exhausted. The mechanized panzer units had pushed far in advance of the slower infantry formations, and had outrun their logistical support entirely. The German Army needed time to regroup and refit.
B. Worse, the army's prediction of Soviet collapse had, to date, been far from correct. The great summer battles of encirclement had failed to destroy the Soviet Army, which was proving larger and more resilient than ever. Given this, a drive for Moscow would have been a dangerous gamble. To the north, the campaign against Leningrad was in trouble. To the south, progress was slow.
C. Strategically, driving on Moscow meant both ignoring Leningrad (and the possibility of linking up with Finland), and offering a long exposed flank to the numerically huge Soviet forces in the south. If the campaign went badly, the Soviet forces might cut off the majority of AGC-the main strength of the German Army.
20.3 Supply
A. Much has been made of the impact of the mud and severe cold on the German supply situation. That the German supply system collapsed is unquestionable, as is the critical effect this had on the battlefield, However, it is a mistake to blame this on the weather. Original planning for Barbarossa called for a short campaign along the lines of previous German victories. When the campaign lasted longer than planned, the strain on the German supply stores, production facilities, and manpower pool all reached a point of crisis. The logistical nightmare was compounded by an inadequate truck transport fleet that was unable to keep up with the advance and voraciously consumed the supplies it was supposed to deliver. The differences in the rail gauges between Germany and the Soviet Union made German rail supply dependent on captured locomotives and rolling stock, neither of which were ever taken in sufficient quantity. Even before the onset of bad weather, the German supply system had broken down. The mud and cold only increased the problem.
B. At the same time, the Soviet Army had its own problems. While seldom lacking manpower at this time, material and equipment shortages were widespread. Not only were basic supplies of food and ammunition needed for the fighting units at the front, new equipment had to be found to rebuild units shattered in the battles of July and September. New formations had to be raised and equipped in record time to replace those lost in the great encirclements. For the Soviet Army, delivering supplies was not nearly as difficult as finding the materials to be delivered.
20.4 The Orders of Battle
A. Of all the factors in a battle, the orders of battle and unit strengths are most difficult to confirm. For the chaotic situation through the winter of 1941, this is especially true. Assembling the German order of battle is not too difficult; there are many well-published sources. However, these tend to conflict about minor details, and the presence or arrival times of some units is open to question. Far more difficult is the determination of individual division strengths. German records tend to express strengths in terms of armies and careful evaluations were made only before and after the battle. German commanders generally did not find it expedient to provide accurate loss records during the battle-numbers were either raised or lowered by individual commanders according to the needs of the situation. Thus, while it is possible to estimate the overall German strength at the start of the campaign, assigning strengths to individual divisions is an iffy proposition.
B. The German panzer divisions had likewise suffered during the campaign, with estimates of their starting strengths ranging from 50% to 100% of their paper strengths. While no certainty is possible, it is unlikely that the panzer divisions were ever up to their paper strength at any time during the campaign. At the same time, battalion, regimental, and divisional commanders all had their own ways of reporting their strengths. Some habitually overstated their losses to gain supply priority and hidden reserves. Others minimized their own losses and emphasized their gains. While the corps staffs of the time might interpret such reports accurately, today one cannot know, except in a few isolated cases, which commanders tended to report loss figures high, accurately, or low. Thus, the approach has been to assign an nearly all panzer divisions equal strength ratings.
C. If the German order of battle was difficult, the Soviet order of battle was nearly impossible. Aside from official Soviet reluctance to publish much primary source material, the situation at the time defied careful documentation. Units listed as destroyed in one battle reappear for another a month later. Ad hoc units (some with identical numbers) were committed to battle continuously, while the remnants of others were assigned to other divisions. Destroyed units were recommissioned. Guards divisions were created in the midst of the battle by renaming units that had fought valiantly. Commands were restructured with almost casual frequency. New armies were created by combining experienced divisions with new formations. With all this confusion, discovering exactly who was where when is more an art than science. (One army, Vlasov's, virtually disappears from Soviet accounts because the commander later joined the German side.) In the end, the strengths of most Soviet units are well-informed guesses, based on sparse data.
20.5 The Fall of Moscow
Finally, what would have been the effect of the fall of Moscow upon the outcome of the war? Late in the campaign, few in the German command truly believed taking the city would force the surrender of the Soviet Union. Some held the hope that the oppressed masses, seeing the Stalinist government fall, would rise up. However, Moscow had been captured once before, even burned to the ground, in Napoleon's time. The nation did not surrender then, and there is little evidence that the Soviet Union would have collapsed in 1941. On the other hand, the capture of Moscow would have been a serious blow to the Soviet communication and transportation network. German control of Moscow's vital rail lines and roads would have made moving Soviet troops and supplies vastly more difficult. If Moscow had fallen, the entire War in the East might have ended quite differently.
21.0 Bibliography
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The printed Credits section (22.0) is attribution and is omitted from this transcription.