Game of the Week, August 18 to 24
Hi everyone,
It’s Monday again, and it’s time for Game of the Week!
This week’s Game of the Week is Panzer Campaigns: Rumyantsev ‘43. Like its sister game, Panzer Campaigns: Orel ’43, Rumyantsev ’43 focuses on the aftermath of the German Kursk offensive, and the fourth battle of Kharkov and in Army Group South’s sector, in particular.
Panzer Campaigns: Rumyantsev ‘43 covers the full Operation Rumyantsev: August 3 - August 23, 1943. Also included is the German attack by Army Group South during the Kursk offensive, featuring the battles around Prokhorovka, the culmination of that operation.
Panzer Campaigns: Rumyantsev ‘43 is the new 4.05.3h1 version, and our product description encapsulates this campaign well:
For the Germans the Battle of Kursk was to be the premier summer operation in 1943, slowing the building Russian momentum. The battle was an Axis failure, and the Germans considered the operation finished by the middle of July.
For the Soviets, the early July battles were but the defensive phase of the Battle of Kursk, designed to wear out their German opponent. The Russian offensives that followed, first, Operation Kutuzov in the north, lasting from 14 July to 14 August, and Operation Rumyantsev from 3 August to 23 August were the culmination of the Soviet summer strategy.
Facing the Soviet Union's forces to defend Kharkov were the post Kursk, depleted 4th Panzerarmee and Army Detachment Kempf, soon renamed as 8th Army. Crisis both to the north at Bryansk during Operation Kutusov and on the Mius River to the south on the Azov Sea, saw the Axis forces at their weakest as the Soviets prepared to take back Kharkov in the fourth and final battle for the largest city in Eastern Ukraine.
In Rumyantsev '43, as the commander of the three Russian Fronts - Voronezh, Steppe & Southwestern, you have multiple armies at your disposal to defeat the vaunted but battered German Wehrmacht. As the German commander you will have at your disposal the still powerful panzer forces able to wreak havoc upon their Soviet foes. Included are scenarios that let you recreate all the major phases of the campaign from the initial German assault on the southern flank of the Battle of Kursk, to the culmination of Operation Rumyantsev, approaching the mighty Dnepr River. The stage is set! All that is lacking is for you to kick off one of the most significant campaigns of Summer 1943 on the Eastern Front!
The game features 49 scenarios which include all the forces that were historically allocated to the campaign.
The longest campaign scenario is 218 turns, with most scenarios a very playable sub-30 turns.
The master map (70,384 hexes) covers Southern Russian and the Ukraine, centered on Kharkov and Belgorod. Other major centers include Sumy, Poltava, Staryy & Novyy Oskol.
In addition to the aforementioned scenarios and campaigns, Panzer Campaigns: Rumyantsev ‘43 includes a Getting Started scenario designed to introduce new players to the game system. The included scenarios are a good mix of small (Division), medium (Corps) and large (Army/Army Group) engagements.
The Order of Battle has nearly 3,500 units from the German, German SS, Luftwaffe, Russian and Russian Guards forces that participated in the campaign.
We included a lot of historical documentation and notes with this title, you can review each by clicking on the links below.
There has been a range of books covering the Kharkov battles in 1943. Following are some representative books for anyone that would like some more background on the campaign. You can click on the book images below to be taken to the publisher or Amazon, if applicable.
Informational
“Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943”, by Prit Buttar. This is an excellent background book to understand the events that directly followed the German Kursk offensive and the Soviet offensives that were not to stop until the fall of Berlin.
“From the Don to the Dnepr: Soviet Offensive Operations, December 1942 - August 1943”, by David Glantz. Another important volume that explains the situation on the Eastern Front from Stalingrad till after the Kursk offensive.
“The Battle of Kursk: The Red Army’s Defensive Operations and Counter-Offensive, July-August 1943”, by Richard Harrison. This is the Soviet General Staff report on all operations related to the Kursk offensive and subsequent Soviet Orel and Rumyantsev response.
Now for video content:
The Mack has a series of five videos covering Rumyantsev ’43. You can access the playlist here.
The introduction video is below.
Channel Let’s Talk about Hex! has four videos on this title. The first video is below:
Following are some historical background videos, worth your time:
Channel World War Two provides a comparison of what was happening globally during the weeks of July 30th, August 6th, & 13th, at the time of Operation Rumyantsev:
July 30th, 1943
August 6th, 1943
August 13th, 1943
WW2TV has a great video on the Waffen SS Divisions at the Fourth Battle of Kharkov.
Following are some in-game screen shots of what to expect. Each image can be clicked for a full-sized view.
As mentioned above, the build we are making available today is the new 4.05.3h1. A range of new features were included in this, and you can read the Changelog here. All new purchases will be this latest version.
If you don’t already own this title, what are you waiting for? You can buy it directly from the dedicated product page.
We hope you enjoy this week’s Game of the Week. Like all WDS titles, there is a lot of game play included at a very attractive price.
One of the two I didn’t buy during the summer sale. Thanks guys!! Just waiting on Smolensk 43 now :-)
Great Game. The Soviet offensives in the late summer and autumn of 1943 is not that well known. They are not as highprofile as say Kursk, battle of Berlin, Moscow 41 or Stalingrad. But this series with Orel, Smolensk, Rumyantsev and Kiev has really sparked my interest. Get them all and get the books, it is a Gigantic struggle that deserves to better known.
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