Brief Kursk Book Review: Demolishing the Myth

 "Demolishing the Myth" is a book that I've been waiting to get my hands on for a few months now.  As those who follow my blog know, I have been deeply involved in designing a Field of Battle: World War II (FOBWW2) scenario to simulate the LAH 1st SS Panzergrenadier Division's attempt during the Kursk battle to capture Prokhorovka Station.  FOBWW2 is a Piquet-family game that puts you in the seat of a division commander.  The smallest units are companies.

"Demolishing the Myth" was written by Valeriy Zamulin in 2005.  Zamulin was the Director of Research at the Prokhorovka Museum and only recently has this book become available in English.  Stuart Britton did an excellent job translating this book to English and the transition from Russian to English is flawless.  The book offers a Soviet perspective of the fighting around Prokhorovka and gives a fresh look at a battle that previously has been described mostly from the German point of view.

The book is 630 pages and each page has a nice, glossy feel to it.  The book is extremely heavy and I actually weighed my copy in at 4 pounds!  It contains 38 contemporary color photos taken by the author of viewpoints from the battlefield (BELOW).  Black and white photographs of action scenes and important leaders are present throughout the book.

 There is an excellent map section (9 maps) that clarified for me the different units involved in this very confusing battle (BELOW).

 And there are tons and tons of charts recording the strengths and casualties by vehicle type and troop rank of the German and especially the Soviet units involved (Example BELOW).  Everything you wanted to know to develop a wargaming scenario.

The author writes from a Soviet perspective and often refers to the Germans as "the enemy" and Soviet units as "our"  units, but I hardly cared.  I was too blown away by the insight he gives into the different brigades, the conflicts between the leaders, the mistakes made and heroes proven on the battlefield.  Zamulin combines tactical descriptions of the action during the battle with personal accounts of the men who fought there.

I was particularly moved by a passage where the book described  how the uniforms of the tank crews became soaked with fuel and grease while they worked on their tanks.  Then when they entered combat, direct fire and artillery would hit the T-34 and often puncture the oil and gas tanks.  Gas would drain into the interior of the tanks and soak the crews.  Only the slightest flame or spark would  ignite the uniforms of these brave crews.  Horrifying.

I recommend this book greatly, but I will warn buyers that it is very focused on the Prokhorovka portion of the Kursk battle.  If you're into Prokhorovka like I am, this book will become your bible.  When it arrives, you will thumb through it like a hungry wolf, trying to decide which chapter to devour first.

Demolishing the Myth Amazon Link

So using this new knowledge, I made some adjustments to my own "Drive on Prokhorovka" scenario.  I will post in a few days on this current play test of the scenario.

(BELOW) Germans prepare their initial assault on Hill 241.6.  Prokhorovka is on the horizon.   I added the small villages along the Psel valley to the left of the table.  The 99th Tank Brigade is now ensconced in those villages and the 26th Tank Brigade is on Hill 241.6.  The village of Storozhevoe is tucked into the woods now (defended by the 169th Tank Brigade) and the rail line is now curved.

(BELOW) Dead German markers ready for deployment, sir!

 (BELOW)  Only half of the Germans are deployed!  The rest show up on the next morning.

(BELOW) I've started using these neat Litko explosion markers for suppression and to mark when a unit was eliminated...I'm very happy with them.   I always try to avoid using beads and other markers to represent things on the table.  I'm now using smoke for unloaded, the explosions for suppression, and dead guys to represent stand losses on both sides.

 (BELOW) The German dismounted panzergrenadiers benefit from the Superior Firepower card.  Two Soviet infantry units are destroyed and another one is suppressed.

(BELOW) A normal Firepower card results in general fire from the tanks and infantry of 1st LAH Division.  More suppressions and casualties are the result.

(BELOW) This panzergrenadier group thought it might be able to clear out the 99th Tank Brigade units along the  Psel River, but just like their historical counterparts, the Soviets responded with a hail of effective fire, suppressing all of the infantry in the group.  Not so easy, eh, Hitlerites!?

(BELOW) A German Command and Control card drops a spotting round on the Soviets and the on the next card, in drops the Nebelwerfers!!!  Stalin's organs eat your heart out!!
 

Drive to Prokhorovka : Kursk Project Part 3

Above is the deployment map for Turn 1 of the Drive For Prokhorovka scenario.  The Guards Airborne regiments are frozen in place until they are attacked or 11 July 1943 AM (Turn 3).

I thought I would post the data I've gathered for this scenario.  Please feel free to evaluate my info and make comments in the Comments section of this post.

Here are the basic TO&E strengths I developed for the units involved during this period.  The most shocking thing is the weak tank strengths the Soviet tank brigades had.  Apparently, the Soviets didn't give their brigades the third tank battalion until after the Kursk campaign.  Bummer.

Soviet Tank Corps Kursk 1943

• 3 Tank Brigades (4 T34 companies, 3 Infantry companies each)
  • 1 Motor Rifle Battalion
    • 3 Infantry Companies (Trucks)
  • 2 Tank Battalions (4 T-34 each)
    • 2 T-34 Tank Companies
• 1 Motor Rifle Brigade (9 infantry companies, 9 trucks each)
  • 3 Motor Rifle Battalions (3 infantry companies each)
    • 3 Motor Rifle Companies (trucks)
• AT Battalion
  • 2 SU-76 Companies
• Recon Battalion
  • 2 AC Companies
• Motorcycle Battalion
  • 2 Motorcycle Companies
  • 1 Motor Rifle Company (trucks)

Mechanized Corps Kursk 1943

• 3 Mechanized Brigades
  • 3 Motor Rifle Battalions
    • 3 Motor Rifle Companies (trucks)
  • Tank Regiment
    • 3 T-34 Companies
    • 1 T-70 Company
• 1 Tank Brigade
  • 3 Tank Battalions
    • 2 T-34 Companies
  • 1 Motor Rifle Battalion
    • 3 Tank Rider Companies

• AT Battalion
  • 2 SU-76 Companies
• Recon Battalion
  • 2 AC Companies
• Motorcycle Battalion
  • 2 Motorcycle Companies
  • 1 Motor Rifle Company (trucks)

Heavy Tank Brigade

• 2 Tank Battalions
  • 2 KV-1 Companies
• 1 MTR Battalion
  • 2 Tank Rider Companies

AT Artillery Regiment

• 1 76mm AT Company

SP AT Artillery Regiment

• 2 SU-76 Companies
• 2 SU-122 Companies

1^st SS Panzer Grenadier Division

1^st SS Panzer Recon Bn

• 2 armored car companies (233 and 222)
• 1 recon infantry company (halftracks)

1^st SS Assault Gun Bn

• 3 Stug Companies

1st SS AT Bn

• 3 Marder III companies

1^st SS Panzer Regiment

• I/1^st SS Panzer Bn
  • 4 tank companies MK IV
• II/1^st SS Panzer Bn
  • 4 tank companies MK IV
  • Tiger company

1^st SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment (18 Infantry, 3 halftracks, 6 trucks)

• I/1^st SS Panzer Grenadier Bn
  • 3 PzGren companies (halftracks)
• 2 Panzer Grenadier Battalions
  • 3 PzGren companies (trucks)

2^nd SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment (18 Infantry, 9 trucks)

• 3 Panzer Grenadier Battalions

• 3 PzGren companies (trucks)
   

And here is the OOB for the campaign.  This is the first version.  

PROKHOROVKA OOB

Companies from underlined units are independent and can be commanded by any command stand.

10 JULY PM TURN 1 START

2^nd SS PGR REGIMENT (9 Infantry companies, 3+1 command stands, 6 trucks, 3 halftracks)

1^st SS PZR REGIMENT (8 Panzer IV companies, 2+1 command stands, 1 Tiger I company)

1^st SS RECON BN (1 233 company, 1 222 company, 1 infantry company, 1 halftrack)

HILL 241.6

99TH TB/ 2ND TC ( 4 T34 companies, 3 Infantry companies, 2 command stands)

• 1502ND AT REGT( 1 76mm AT bunker company)
• 48TH AT REGT ( 1 76mm AT bunker company)
• A BN FROM 11TH MRB/ 10TH TC (3 Infantry companies, 1 command stand, 3 trucks)

169TH TB / 2ND TC ( 4 T34 companies, 3 Infantry companies, 2 command stands)

26TH TB/ 2ND TC ( 4 T34 companies, 3 Infantry companies, 2 command stands)

11 JULY AM TURN 3

1^st SS PGR REGIMENT (9 Infantry companies, 3+1 command stands, 9 trucks)

1^st SS AG BN (3 Stug III companies)

1^st SS AT BN (3 Marder III companies)

9TH GRD ABN DIV DUG IN DEFENDING FROM OKTOBR FARM TO IAMSKI

(23^rd, 26^th, 28^th GAR 9 infantry companies, 1 command stand each)

26^th astride Prokhorovka road to Oktiabrski State Farm, 23^rd with 2 BN's south of 26^th and 1 BN in Prokhorovka suburbs, 28^th in reserve north of Prokhorovka.

• 57^th HEAVY TANK REGT (3-4 KV-1 tank companies, 2 infantry companies, 1 command stand)
• 301^st AT ARTY REGT (1 76mm AT bunker company)

11 JULY NIGHT TURN 5

29TH TANK CORPS (31ST TB, 32ND TB, 25TH TB, 1446TH (SU-85) AND 1520TH SP ARTY REGTS) IN PROKHOROVKA.

( 12 T34 companies, 9 Infantry companies, 6 command stands), 2 SU76 companies, 2 SU85 companies.

• 53RD GDS TANK REGT (3-4 KV-1 tank companies, 2 infantry companies, 1 command stand)

12 JULY AM TURN 6 SOVIET ARTY PREP

ENTER A5

• 1000TH AT REGT ( 1 76mm AT bunker company)

12 JULY PM TURN 7

53RD MR BN/29TH TC AT A6 ( 3 Infantry companies, 1 command stand, trucks)

ENDS 15 JULY

GERMANS	Combat	Defense	Speed	Notes
Panzer Grenadier	C12+1	D10	Slow 8”	When mounted = Fast 16”, D4 DD; halftrack-mounted can fire DOWN1. Superior Firepower when dismounted.
Panzer Grenadier	C12+1	D10	Slow 8”
Pz-IV tank	C12	D10
Tiger tank	C12+1	D12	Slow 8”
Stug III assault gun	C12	D10	Normal 12”
Marder III SP AT gun	C10	D8	Normal 12”
Sdkfz 222 AC	C8	D4	Fast 16”
Sdkfz 231 AC	C8	D4	Fast 16”
Stuka	C10	D8

SOVIETS	Combat	Defense	Speed	Notes
Infantry	C8	D4	Slow 8”
Guard Infantry	C8	D6	Slow 8”
T-34 tank	C10	D6	Fast 16”
KV-1 tank	C10	D8	Slow 8”
SU-76 assault gun	C10	D4	Normal 12”
SU-85 assault gun	C10	D6	Normal 12”
AT gun bunker	C10	D6	N/A
Minefield	C10	-	N/A	Minefields are either AT or AP. C4 vs wrong type.
Sturmovik	C10	D8

1st SS Recon Battalion at Kursk

 I've been steadily working at painting up all of the 10mm Pithead miniatures I need to field the 1st SS Panzer Grenadier Division for our Kursk "Drive to Prokhorovka" campaign.  Here are some photos of the 1st SS Recon Battalion or Aufklarungsabteilung.  Two armored car companies and a halftrack-mounted infantry company.  They are backed up by two Stug companies from the division's assault gun battalion.

All I have left to do for the Germans are 4 Pz IV's, 2 Stugs and the 6 Marder III's from the AT Battalion.  They are in the mail right now!  Then maybe a few halftracks and trucks to represent the grenadiers when they're mounted and travelling in style.

I hand-painted the German crosses on the armored cars, but I have 10mm decals that I plan to use on the Stugs.  I'm just waiting for my decal solvent to arrive in the mail before I apply them.  I'm also waiting form some brown, dirt-colored Vallejo pigment to arrive to weather the tanks a bit.

I also replaced the antennas with smaller thinner brush wire which I think really looks great for radio antennas. 

In a week or so, I'll probably be able to post a picture of the entire division.   I've also finished my first version of the OOB for the campaign which I'll post in a few days.

Drive to Prokhorovka : Kursk Project Part 2

(ABOVE) Guards Airborne Division positions around Prokhorovka.

This post will provide some progress pictures of the painting I've been doing to fill out the 1st SS LAH Panzergrenadier Division's OOB for our Kursk project.

We ordered 10mm tanks and infantry from Pithead Miniatures.  I drilled out holes with a hand drill and glued plastic broom strands into the tops of the hulls for radio antennas.  Below are pictures of the German infantry and Panzer IV's in progress.  I primed them black and then glued the dirt ballast onto the bases.  I've learned through hard experience to glue the dirt on before I paint any of the details onto the miniatures. 

 (BELOW) 15 poses of infantry in the German infantry pack!  Pretty impressive.

I then did a heavy drybrush on the tanks with Vallejo  German Cam Orange and on the infantry with Vallejo German WW2 Green.  It's always best to test these colors ahead of time, because colors that work well for 28mm might not look as good for 10mm figures.

 I then washed the figures with my standard ink wash, dark brown Wonder Wash, that I get from the Warstore.

 (BELOW) After the ink wash, another dry brush with the base color on the tanks.

 (BELOW) Here are the German infantry with some of the details painted.

 My next step after painting the faces and equipment was giving the infantry a good wash with my Wonder Wash.  This gives the infantry a bit of depth, but it does darken the first dry brush.  The wash also covered any areas that might have been missed by the primer.

I then went back and highlighted the uniforms with the Vallejo German WW2 Green again.  This draws out the sharp colors of the base paint that were dulled by the wash.  If it doesn't highlight the details enough, mix it with a little white to lighten the highlight color.  Once the painting is done, I brush watered -down white glue on all the base areas where the dirt ballast didn't stick perfectly and where the figures don't match smoothly with the bases.  Dip in static grass and basing is done.  Nice and easy.

(BELOW) Here are the Panzer IV's after their final basing. and a dull cote varnish.

(BELOW)  I gave them a bit of dusting with some dirt and smoke pigments on their engines and the lower part of the side-skirts.I thought it might give the side-skirts a muddy look.  Do you think it looks good?  I might have gone a little overboard with it.  The final stage will be when I place decals on the tanks.

(BELOW) 2nd SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment and the infantry from the division's recon battalion.  I'll give them one more spray of Testors' dull cote to take the gloss from the ink wash off before they're done.  I think the infantry really came out great!  Excellent miniatures.  I finished them up in about 4 hours of painting:

Vallejo German Camo Orange: German tank base color
Vallejo German WW2 Green:  German uniforms and tank camo stripes
Vallejo Saddle Brown: Alternate tank camo stripe
Ceramcoat Charcoal: German helmets
P3 Paints Khardic Flesh: skin
Equipment: Vallejo Russian Uniform (gas cannisters, ammo cans), P3 Gun Corps Brown (rifle butts), P3 Bootstrap Leather (canteens, ammo pouches)

Drive to Prokhorovka : Kursk Project Part 1

 Well, we've embarked on a project to recreate the 1st SS Panzer Grenadier Division Liebstandarte's(LAH) drive on Prokhorovka during the Kursk operation.  The scenario starts on the afternoon of 10 July 1943 and ends on the afternoon of 15 July 1943.  I'm going to document our progress through this project to give gamers an idea of how you can make a game from a idea or concept you get from that latest book you read.  Most of the operational details for this scenario come from the excellent Kursk book by David Glantz:

We're using the Field of Battle: WW2 rules to play out this large operational battle. The units in this scenario are 2 stand companies.  Companies are eliminated once they suffer 3 hits(stands).  Each day has 3 turns: AM, PM, and Night.  The map is shown below.

We're using 10mm miniatures.  The German infantry are Pendraken.  The Soviets will be Pithead Miniatures because they mix very well with the Can-Do pre-painted 1/144 plastic armor.  I purchased 48 Can-Do T-34's at Historicon so that did a lot to get this project going.  No one was looking forward to painting 48 T-34's.

This end of the table is the deployment zone for the Germans.  At the far end of the table is the city of Prokhorovka, 4 town sections.  If the German players have not captured all 4 town sections by the end of the game, they lose.  The starting German troops deployed on the table are the 1st SS PzGr Regiment, Recon Bn (not deployed) and the 1st SS Panzer Regiment.  On the morning turn of 11 July 1943 (Turn 3), the remaining troops of the 1st SS PzGR Division deploy:  2nd SS PzGr Regiment and the 1st SS Assault Gun Battalion.

 It might look hopeless for the Soviets, but the Soviets have more forces deployed across the middle of the board that are aren't placed on the table.  The 9th Guard Airborne Division is positioned in defensive belts in the middle of the table:  27 infantry companies, a tank brigade, another AT artillery regiment, and a KV-1 tank regiment.

On the Night turn of July 11 (Turn 5), the Soviets also bring on the 29th Tank Corps to counter-attack the Germans:  18 T-34 companies, 9 infantry companies, 4 assault gun companies, and a Guards Tank regiment.  Those reinforcements are sure to make the 12 July Day turns a lot of fun for the 1st SS PzGR commanders!

Basically, the Germans have to grind their way to Prokhorovka and attempt to get there without suffering devastating losses.  The LAH Division has a finite number of morale points and every time it loses a stand, it loses a morale point.  While stands can be rallied and tanks can be repaired, the effect of those losses on the Germans is permanent.  Once the Germans reach zero morale points, the division begins to check morale and once it fails, the operation is called off.

The Soviets, on the other hand, calculate morale points and check morale by brigade.  Once a brigade fails a morale check, it is removed from the table, but reinforcements enter the game fresh and eager for their chance to drive back the Germans.

Another rule we plan on using for the scenario reflects the fact that SS Totenkopf and Das Reich fought on either side of the LAH, but they had a terrible time making headway and the LAH Division was constantly worrying about its flanks.  We plan to use markers on each long board edge, Totenkopf for the north side and DR for the south side.  We'll roll a D6 at the end of each turn and if they roll a "6", the marker advances 1 foot reflecting the advance of the flanking forces (+1 next time if you fail, cumulative).  The Soviets can always spend 2 asset points on a Move card to bring on 1 reinforcing brigade on a flank on the next Move card, but it can never be behind the flanking markers.  The Soviet player has to announce he is doing this since the Germans usually saw the Soviets coming and get some advance warning.

This forces the Germans to keep some of their forces behind the main lines to foil these flanking attacks and the German player will curse the other divisions for not keeping up.  Historically the recon battalion and even the artillery park were diverted to drive off these flanking attacks.

 Below is a photograph of Hill 241.6 This is the first objective for the Germans.  It is defended by 2 Soviet AT artillery regiments (2 AT bunker companies each) and a Soviet Motorized Rifle Brigade (MRB) waiting patiently behind the hill.  The German armored companies start the game having suffered heavy casualties fighting though the Soviet defensive belts.  All 8 Pz IV companies have a 1 stand loss and the Tiger company has suffered 2 stands lost.  The Germans need to seize this high ground early to give them a sheltered area behind it where they can refit and repair their battered armor units.  The hill is a Turn 1 objective.  Take it before nightfall.  I scratch-built the bunkers out of Sculpey, wire, and toothpicks.

 Below are the starting German forces.  The tanks are a hodge-podge of armor only because I haven't finished painting the Pithead Panzer IV's that were delivered.  During the play-testing, I'll slowly replace them with the finished miniatures.

Below is  Prokhorovka, the ultimate objective.  As the project progresses, I'm going to paint and add more Russian buildings to fill out the town areas.  I use 6mm buildings for the terrain.  I think the 6mm terrain scales better than if we used larger 10mm terrain that matched the miniatures.

 Below is a close-up of some of the Germans.  Pendraken infantry with plastic Can-Do tanks.

Below is the Pithead infantry and Panzer IV's.  The tanks are equipped with antennas (plastic broom stands) and sideskirts.

 Below is a Panzer IV in progress.  Just testing out the paint scheme.  You know, it's always funny how the digital camera shots with flash bring out the flaws in my painting.  Looking at the pics, I notice small areas that need paint, but none of them are visible to the naked eye.  Interesting.  And annoying.  More to come!

Front Rank SYW Prussian Hussars

 I recently painted a unit of Front Rank 28mm Prussian SYW hussars for a friend.  I thought I'd share the results.  The figures are well-sculpted and they were fun to paint.  The request was that I would paint them as the famous "Death's Head" hussars.  Since the skulls aren't sculpted on, I had to paint those little suckers free-hand!

 (ABOVE) Two troopers