Game of the Week, August 4 to 10

Hi everyone,

It’s Monday again, and it’s time for Game of the Week!

Firstly an important note. We noticed after reading the recent Poland AAR here, that there was an issue with rail capacity and supply variations. Essentially the capacity changes were only being applied for the "first" side (as per the scenario). This is potentially an issue in Poland '39 non-campaign scenarios, and in the mentioned AAR, Pawel should not have been able to move as many units by rail. We have now updated the full builds and the patches for Panzer Campaigns: France '40 and Panzer Campaigns: Poland '39. You can get them from either your Store Account or the Panzer Campaigns Support Page. We have left the build identifier as 4.05.3h1 as only these two titles are impacted. To confirm you have the right version, all game exe files should be date stamped as August 4th, 2025.

Now, back to Monday! This week’s Game of the Week is Panzer Campaigns: Orel ‘43. The first Soviet counterstrike in the summer of 1943 began at Orel, even while the German attacks at Kursk continued.

Panzer Campaigns: Orel ‘43 covers the full Operation Kutusov: July 12 - August 18, 1943. In addition, the game includes the German attack by Army Group Center during the Kursk offensive, as well as the new 25-scenarios expansion pack covering the Bryansk offensives that was released recently here.

Panzer Campaigns: Orel ‘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 12 July to 18 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 Orel were the post Kursk, depleted Second Panzerarmee and the Ninth Armee. Crisis both to the north at Smolensk during Operation Suvorov and on the Mius River to the south on the Azov Sea, saw the Axis forces at their weakest as the Soviets had just captured Kharkov in the fourth and final battle for the largest city in Eastern Ukraine.

In Orel '43, as the commander of the three Russian Fronts - Western, Bryansk & Central, 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 northern flank of the Battle of Kursk, to the culmination of Operation Kutusov, approaching the critical city of Bryansk. 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 83 scenarios which include all the historical forces that were allocated to the campaign.

The longest campaign scenario is 381 turns, with most scenarios a very playable sub-30 turns.

The master map (76,360 hexes) covers Southern Russian and the Ukraine, centered on Orel and Bryansk. Other major centers include Msensk, Efremov & Lyudinovo.

In addition to the aforementioned scenarios and campaigns, Panzer Campaigns: Orel ‘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 5,000 units from the German, Luftwaffe, Russian and Russian Guards forces that participated in the campaign.

We have packed a lot of historical documentation and notes with this title. You can review each by clicking on the links below. 

Getting Started Guide

User Manual

Design Notes

Design Notes - Expansion Pack 

Planning Map

There are a range of books available covering The Orel 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 fifteen videos covering Orel ’43. You can access the playlist here.

The introduction video is below.

Following are some historical background videos, worth your time:

Youtube channel World War Two provides a comparison of what was happening globally during the weeks of July 16^th & 23^rd, at the time of Operation Kutuzov:

July 16^th, 1943

July 23^rd, 1943

Following are some in-game screen shots of what to expect. Each image can be clicked for a full-sized view.

As mentioned, the build we are making available today is a 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.