Below you will find the final article in a three part after action report from Francisco Ronco covering a playtest session of Dubno 41. Enjoy!

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Game Turn 5. June 26^th.

This turn, two elite German Motorized Infantry Divisions arrived, one per Motorized Corps, and their mobility allowed them to reach the front in a single move.

I was desperate for the endurance of Lutsk defenders so I withdrew the two panzer regiments and asked two infantry divisions from 6^th Army to take the city. The artillery assets belonging to 6^th Army would tell. The other units of that Army remained in their positions around the blocked Soviet 6^th Army units.

Focused on Lutsk, I launched my main attacks this turn not against the city’s flanks, aiming to isolate the city and its garrison. If the garrison could continue using assets from the 5^th Army pool, I would never take the city within the time frame of the game… Both assaults went smoothly: from the Ostrozhetz bridgehead, Pz Regiment 2 from the 16^th Pz Division and the 298^th infantry division crushed both Soviet divisions in front of them, although the Pz Regiment and the Recon element from the same division—who joined the pursuit from Reserve in the Breakthrough Phase—suffered a setback against the Soviet 43^rd Tank Division, from the 19^th Mech Corps, who came in defense of the remnants of the 135^th Rifle Division into area number 73. This advance opened the way for the resupply of the 44^th infantry division and the 16^th recon group. This unit avoided an attack by the recently arrived 41^st Tank Division (belonging to the 22^nd Mech Corps) and miraculously survived.

Anyway, this day the offensive spirit was with Pedrote and his huge armored reserves that finally arrived on the field. The 15^th Mech Corps and the 8^th Mech Corps formed a heavy attack group that smashed the two Motorized Infantry brigades from the 11^th and 16^th Pz Divisions in area 77, northwest of Kremenets, killing the brigade from the 11^th Pz Division and wrecking the other to just 1 remaining step. The crisis of the battle was at the gates. If Pedrote could break the center of my line, I would lose inevitably. My slugfest at Lutsk had given him ample time to prepare the attack and kill my units around Brody, or at least pocket them. If I lost Brody, I would lose the game next turn, by Soviet Automatic Victory (set at 4 VP). I had to rely on the Luftwaffe and my AT assets to stem the armored tide that stroke me. I had moved the 75^th Infantry Division to the south, foreseeing the potential catastrophe that could develop. All along the front, Pedrote launched attacks to pin my troops and menace my positions, including the Ostrozhetz bridgehead, but my troops stood firm.

Game Turn 6. June 27^th.

This day, I managed to sever Lutsk communications and isolate the garrison, so I hoped the city would fall at last. Panzer regiments withdrawn from the fight in the city now moved east and destroyed the Soviet 41^st Tank Division northeast of Lutsk.

Along the rest of the front my activity was minimal. I reinforced my troops between the rivers Styr and Ivkra and around Brody, where an “elastic defense”—another use of the “Special Actions” events: to withdraw before a battle—and the massive use of AT and Luftwaffe stopped cold the massive assaults made by the Soviet 15^th and 8^th Mech Corps. On the quiet sector of the Soviet 6^th Army, the 4^th Mech Corps received his 8^th Tank Division, and Pedrote launched a powerful assault on the 262^nd Infantry Division across the Kamerika River, aiming to envelop the defenders of Brody. More Soviet reinforcements arrived… fortunately, Soviet attacks along the northern half of the front were contained.  

Game Turn 7. June 28^th.

My pressure over the Soviet northern flank destroyed the last formation from the 22^nd Mech Corps—19^th Tank Division—yielding me another VP. Vladimir-Volinskiy garrison was freed to march south to aid his fellow 6^th Army units. On this turn, a whole Soviet Army Corps entered play through the western reinforcement areas, so the weak cordon of German units belonging to the 6^th Army were in need of help. Since there were no more “remnants” markers left, the garrison could march to the sound of the guns!

Luftwaffe interdiction missions hindered the movement of Soviet reserves, and the Lutsk garrison lived to fight another day, surviving one more assault…

This turn, Soviet efforts on Brody were hampered by command confusion on the part of the 8^th Mech Corps. I have added an event to the Soviet cup that forces all divisions from a single Mech Corps to un-stack and not re-stack with any other Soviet block for the duration of the turn. Therefore 8^th Mech blocks could not stack with any other blocks, and Soviet attacks were weaker this turn.

I withdrew the mauled Motorized unit from the 16th Pz Division from Brody to avoid giving Pedrote a free VP… At the moment, Pedrote was still winning with 0 VP on his side… I had managed to kill a lot of Soviet units but only conquered TWO VP cities, and I was late exiting the map…

Game Turn 8. June 29^th.

At last, the northern attack broke out through the Soviet lines… I have been trying since game turn 3… The front become more fluid, and I was able to advance within 3 areas of my objective: Soviet reinforcement area C, the place to exit my blocks from the map—in this game the German side obtains 1 VP per each block he exits from the map through soviet reinforcement areas C & D. His mission was to advance towards Kiev.

Pedrote withdrew accordingly, refusing his northern flank and trying to avoid being outflanked. In Brody, Soviet attacks were stalled, and the 4^th Mech Corps was unable to breakthrough to join the 8^th Mech Corps on the southern edge of the map. Both German motorized divisions showed their value in those defensive combats against masses of enemy armor.

This turn, my 9th Pz Division arrived in pursuit of the Soviet 6th Army units, but I retained it in Reserve as I had no assets left to use them in combat. I expended them on the northern part of the front. The weak 16th motorized brigade moved into the center of the line in case mobile units were need there.

Lutsk resisted the 5th assault…

The image incorrectly shows the VP marker on the 1 VP for the German side. I had killed 5 Soviet divisions for a total of 5 VP, but the Soviets own 4 VP cities—I have conquered 2—and killed one motorized infantry brigade for another 1 VP, so the total was 0 VP (and the Soviets that began the game with 6 VP).

Game Turn 9 and last… June 30^th.

Lutsk fell and with it any hopes of a Soviet victory!

Also, in my turn, I drew the event “Poor Coordination” and moved a Soviet block out of the way, so I was able to move my armored recon units through Rovno to Ostrog, sealing the fate of the Soviet side.

On the southern side, the 9^th Pz Division attacked Kamerina Strumilova in the rear area of Soviet 6^th Army without much success, and as the Soviet counterattacked, it slipped through the lines towards the rear of my own 6^th Army, by the use of another Special Action to avoid combat.

At this point, we finish off play as the Soviet would be unable to close the gap around Rovno and avoid losing. Also we decide to change the effect of “Poor Coordination,” so no “put out of the way” moves were allowed. Several plays before made me think that event was a powerful “wonder weapon” the Germans didn’t need to win.

After more than a hundred plays, I have observed the Germans have to make their best attempt not to lose on turns 4-5 by Soviet automatic victory, and the Soviet counterattack on turns 5-6 is usually devastating. In the end, the overextension of German lines during his advance creates good opportunities for the Soviet armor to exploit and cut the armored spear point, as historically…

This was a very tense play that gives us lessons about German and Soviet gameplay and the use of the different tools both sides had at their disposal to win the game. For the Germans, it isn’t going to be an easy task… They have 780 AFV against 3,000 Soviet AFV, so a historical result is more likely than a clear breakthrough in case of a German victory…

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Previous Articles:

Dubno ’41 Playtest After Action Report (Part 1)

Dubno ’41 Playtest After Action Report (Part 2)