Marshal Tukhachevsky and the "Deep Battle"

An Analysis of Operational Level Soviet Tank and Mechanized Doctrine, 1935-1945, by Peter J. Vlakancic. "Gluboky boi (Глубокий бой). Those two words vividly describe the doctrinal concept of Marshal of the Soviet Union Mikhail N. Tukhachevsky. In English we would call it 'deep battle.' Although promulgated by the marshal and his students throughout the Red Army in the early 1930s, it was not to survive Stalin's purges. Nor was the marshal. The death of Tukhachevsky, along with hundreds of junior commanders who might have put the doctrine into practice, heralded a period of intellectual stagnation and the disastrous performance of the Red Army in the opening battles of the Great Patriotic War."   

Drive to the Dnieper | The Soviet 1943 summer campaign

This study, by Steve Robert Waddell, examines Soviet military operations in the latter half of 1943. The Battle of Kursk and the drive to the Dnieper are good examples of Soviet operational planning and practice. After halting the German assault forces at Kursk with a deliberately defensive posture the Soviet forces launched a series of counterattacks. The initial Soviet operations culminated in the liberation of Orel and Kharkov. The drive to the Dnieper commenced and the German forces were driven behind the river.

The Defence and Evacuation of the Kuban Bridgehead | Jan-Oct 1943

"The operations in the Kuban bridgehead, the subject of this thesis, can certainly be included in the ranks of the forgotten battles. Indeed the entire campaign in the Caucasus during 1942-3 is often viewed as merely a footnote to the Battle of Stalingrad, even though the oilfields were the primary objective of Operation Blue, the Wehrmacht’s 1942 summer offensive, and the forces sent to the Volga were initially intended to act as a screen for the advance to the south. The Kuban bridgehead, which was held by the German Seventeenth Army from January to October 1943, receives

even less attention." By David R. Galbraith

Tankers Holiday | Situation Turn 4

The situation and friendly losses(!!!) at the beginning of turn 3. Not really encouraging, but that was to be expected. My next moves will reorganise my actual tactical positions, trying to draw the superior T-34 a tad closer to the objectives and hit them from the flank and/or rear. Alas, no surprise, I've dug up yet another interesting thesis - Building Guderian's Duck: Germany's Response to the Eastern Front Antitank Crisis.

Tankers Holiday | Situation Turn 3

Here they are! During the replay phase some Soviet screening units were able to snatch one of the objectives. Our reece already made out at least two T-34 Tank companies of the enemy. If you want to read about the German Defence Doctrine on the Eastern Front prior to 1943, just follow this link.

Tankers Holiday | Situation Turn 2

Here's the situation at the beginning of turn two. Recon elements ahead, naturally, to prevent any potential surprises I cannot afford to happen. Compare the old 2D map (right) with the new one (left)... Can't actually wait for EF III!

Tankers Holiday AAR | The Plan

Here's the general plan. For this engagement I'll try to keep it as simple as possible. 5./II/201 will screen the northern approaches through the woods and along the railroad. 4./II/201 and 6./II/201 will act as southern hook. The marching orders for one of the companies in the south I might delay a bit, to make sure I won't be bushwhacked in the process.

Tankers Holiday | JTCS EF II AAR

During the last few days of April 1942 both the Germans and the Russians continued to probe the enemy lines in preparation for their planned summer offensives around Kharkov. Soviet Major Grinyov's 1st Battalion/36th Tank Brigade was given the task of securing the railway sidings outside of the small village of Gotha, north east of Liptsy.

JTCS West Front | Liberation of Marseille

Another creation from the lads of the Feldzugschmiede. Scenario description - "Under the Operational Code Name 'Dragoon', on August 15, 1944 at 8 o'clock in the morning, troops of the 7th US Army under General Patch started the liberation of Southern France. While US troops were to conquer St. Tropez, Cavalaire and Raphael, the target of the 9th Colonial and 1st Armored Division was the liberation of Marseilles. On 28 August 1944, the French troops then reached Marseille, where the German 244th Infantry Division was prepared for the defense of the city." - EDIT: Download link fixed now. Click here. Note: Some glitches with the map/localisation have been dealt with by Eagle-FZS. Big thanks to Jean (terminator) from the forum.

JTCS East Front II LCG | The defence of the Balkans

Thank to Eagle-FZS and the other volunteers who made this possible. Die Verteidigung des Balkans / The defence of the Balkans (14 Szenarios / Scenarios).

German Translation for JTCS 2.02 | East Front II Update

OK. here are some more snapshots of the translated and fully localised menus for JTCS East Front II. Great work! For those of you who weren't aware, the whole WW2 related JTCS exemplifies tactical war-gaming at its finest by bringing you the entire collection of TalonSoft's award-winning Campaign Series. Containing TalonSoft's West Front, East Front, and Rising Sun epic platoon-level combat series, as well as all of the official add-ons and expansion packs, JTCS WW2 allows players to dictate the events of World War II from the tumultuous beginning to its climatic conclusion. This edition also includes Fall of the Reich, the official expansion for East Front II and never before available!

German Translation for JTCS 2.02 | East Front II and others

Seeing is believing - In this case some fellow German hardcore tactical-wargaming enthusiasts localised and translated the John Tiller's Campaign Series | East Front II and other titles of the same series into German.  The guys also run a nice forum (in German though) with some real goodies for JTCS and other wargaming titles. 

Make sure to pay their forum a visit - Feldzugschmiede -  I'll keep all of you updated about when, where and how one can get hold of those masterpieces. Thanks to Eagle, who informed me about the availability of the various translated wargaming titles. Danke!