Game of the Week, Mar 24 to 30
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: Kharkov ‘43. The third battle of Kharkov raged from February 2nd to March 18th, 1943, concluding 82 years ago, last week, so it is fitting to highlight this title.
Panzer Campaigns: Kharkov ‘43 covers one of the great turnarounds on the Eastern Front. Flushed with the success of the victory at Stalingrad, Stavka launched Operation Gallop/Star on the day the Paulus surrendered 6th Army in ignominy. The Soviet operation was hurriedly pulled together from the march to take advantage of the perceived disarray of the Axis forces. The Soviet operations were almost completely successful in capturing Kharkov and reaching the Dnepr River. Confronted with an unprecedented Soviet breakthrough, Manstein pulled off one of the greatest military reversals by launching a counter offensive that destroyed the bulk of South Western Front and then wrested both Kharkov & Belgorod off Voronezh Front. Even more amazing is the fact this was achieved with minimal new forces, but rather formations that had been engaged in combat for months.
Panzer Campaigns: Kharkov ‘43 is the latest 4.05.1 version, and our product description encapsulates this campaign well:
February 2nd, 1943, was a significant day. Field Marshall Paulus surrendered the German 6th Army in the ruins of Stalingrad and Stalin launched Operation Star and Gallop, 1,000 km's to the west. This latest Soviet operation had a much more ambitious goal than those that preceded it – the complete destruction of German forces in Southern Russia and the Ukraine.
Launched from the march, Voronezh & Southwestern Front's threw no less than 6 armies and 11 tank corps at a German line that was only just reforming after the constant retreats of the prior three months. Despite the arrival of the elite Gross Deutschland and three SS Divisions from the West, the German position was dire with a 40km gap in the line between Izyum and Slavyansk. Through this gap was pushed 1st Guards Army and the 4 tank corps of Lt General Popov's Mobile Group with orders to exploit into the rear of 1st & 4th Panzer Army's and ultimately cut their lines of communication.
With the capture of Kharkov by Voronezh Front and 25th Tank Corp approaching the critical Dnepr River crossings, the Soviet Stavka thought that finally the decisive moment had come. For German Field Marshall Manstein, it was all a calculated gamble - hold tough on the shoulders and allow the Soviets to punch into thin air and then as the Soviet forces over-extended, launch a counter offensive – the Backhand Blow.
So successful was Manstein's offensive that the Soviets were driven back beyond their starting lines and the front was in hiatus for three months till Kursk. Join the swirling battles in the Ukraine from the desperate defense at Kharkov to the open steppes in the Donbas as the two protagonists fought in deep snow and mud. Can you deliver the death blow to Germany, or will you celebrate the last victory in Russia?
There are 36 Scenarios included. All the historical forces that had been allocated to the campaign are included.
The longest campaign scenario is 449 turns, with most scenarios a very playable sub-30 turns. All three major phases in the operation are covered in mini-campaign games, Operations Gallop & Star, Manstein’s Backhand blow, and the German recapture of Kharkov. All are between 89 and 179 turns.
The master map (95,480 hexes) covers the entire area from Dnepropetrovsk in the west to Kharkov, Belgorod and Svatovo in the east.
Panzer Campaigns: Kharkov ‘43 includes the aforementioned playable scenarios, and campaigns, as well as a Getting Started scenario 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 3,000 units from the German, German SS, Luftwaffe, Hungarian, Italian, Russian, and Russian Guard 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 third battle of Kharkov. 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
“Last Victory in Russia: The SS-Panzerkorps and Manstein’s Kharkov Counteroffensive - February-March 1943” by George M. Nipe Jr.
A very detailed history of the operation from a primarily German perspective. It sets the scene of the desperate retreat after the Soviet attack at Stalingrad and the abandonment of the Caucasus, leaving both sides attempting just ‘one more’ push.
“The Battle of Kharkov, Winter 1942/1943” by Jean Restayn.
This is an excellent photo book that covers both the forces, landscape and climactic conditions that confronted both sides.
“Platz der Leibstandarte: A Photo Study of the SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" and the Battle for Kharkov January-March 1943” by George M. Nipe, Remy Spezzano
This is another picture book that was authored by Remy Spezzano. Remy, through his company RZM Publishing, publishes works with remastered photos. Many are taken direct from the negative sheet and adjusted for balance and clarity. More importantly they are put in the correct chronological order and the captions reflect the actual action and location. Many historical photos that have been miscaptioned are in the appropriate context in this title.
“After Stalingrad: The Red Army's Winter Offensive 1942-1943” by David M. Glantz
David Glantz is one of the leading historians on the Eastern Front, specifically from the Soviet perspective. This book is described as:
Exploiting newly released Russian archival materials, it reveals the unbounded ambitions that shaped the Stavka's winter offensive and the full scope and scale of the Red Army's many offensive operations. For example, it reflects on recently rediscovered Operation Mars, Marshal Zhukov's companion-piece to the more famous Operation Uranus at Stalingrad. It then reexamines the Red Army's dramatic offensive into the Donbas and Khar'kov region during February, clearly demonstrating that this offensive was indeed conducted by three rather than two Red Army fronts. Likewise, it describes how the Stavka expanded the scale of its offensive in mid-February 1943 by ordering major strategic efforts, hitherto ignored, by multiple Red Army fronts along the Western (Orel-Smolensk) axis and, in Zhukov's forgotten operation Polar Star, along the Northwestern (Demiansk-Leningrad) axis as well.
Finally, by restoring the full scope of these failed or partially failed Red Army offensives to history, this volume also reassesses the impact of Manstein's dramatic counterstrokes in the Donbas and Khar'kov regions, concluding that their impact was equivalent to that of a full-fledged strategic counteroffensive.
Now for video content:
The Mack has six episodes cover Panzer Campaigns: Kharkov ’43. The introduction episode is below:
Leigh58 also has a two-part play through of the “Death of Popov’s Mobile Group” scenario:
History at War has a great hour-long documentary, covering the campaign at Kharkov:
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 newest 4.05.1. A range of new features were included, 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.
Of course i own it already. Another masterpiece on the Eastern Front. As with most of my Eastern Front WDS games i use it to study the Campaigns. Excellent. Not the most famous parts of WW2, except maybe for Mansteins Backhand blow, but therefore so much more intressting. If you are a serious student of the War its a must have.
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