Just published my campaign Kampfgruppe Bauer. Here the Intro and the Designer Notes
11. August 1943 - This campaign covers 42 hours of fighting against a Soviet assault after the operation "Zitadelle".
You're in command of gepanzerte Kampfgruppe Bauer of the 9. Panzerdivision. This Kampfgruppe consists of the remnants of the Panzer-Regiment 33 and of the I./Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment (gepanzert) 10 with one single Panzer-Grenadier-Kompanie. You have fought in the battle of Kursk roughly one month ago. In between you retreated some 250 kms in face of the Soviet counter-offensive in the Orjol-Salient through Brjansk to the area of Rosslavl in firefighting mode. Yesterday you received orders to move another 100 kms to the East in the area of Kirow in the Kaluga Oblast to join LVI Panzer Armeekorps.
You're the mobile reserve of the 9. Panzerdivision or of the LVI. Pz.AK.
The enemy has broken through the front. Your are on the left (Western) flank of a small salient. You have been ordered to Annovka which is held by an Alarm-Einheit (alarm unit) of the Nachschubtruppen 60 (the 9.PD supply units). The next village some 2.5 km to the North-East, Singovo is held by the rear elements of an unknown friendly unit. The crossroads at point 272 are held by another alarm unit. The situation to the North-East at Lipovka is unclear. A large enemy infantry force with tank support has been reported to move in from the North-West, probably to to cut through your sector to the South-East.
Your mission is to hold Annovka at all cost and to deny the enemy the path across Singovo to the South-East. Detailed orders will follow.
Own Forces
During the whole campaign you will have most of the remaining armor of the Panzer-Regiment 33 - a mix of Panzer III and Panzer IV - available, although it may be required to do some firefighting in other areas of the 9. PD. Your infantry is all what remains of the I. (armored) battalion of the Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 10 with some 140 men. There are some alarm units around made up mostly from rear area troops of questionable value for support. There might be some stragglers arriving from the North and the East over time - you can integrate them into your defense.
There can be some artillery support. Even the Luftwaffe has been active with Stukas over the last days.
-------------------------------
The orginal information for this campaign was provided by then Colonel Dr. Johann Tretter (later Major-General of the post-war Austrian Army) in an article of the ASMZ - the Swiss General Military Journal in volume 4 of 1964.
At the time of the events Dr. Tretter served as a Leutnant (accordingly to the 9. Panzerdivisions war diary [KTB, Kriegstagebuch]). In the article he claims that he was in command of the 1./Pz.Gren.Rgt. 10 - the claim is confirmed in his CV (see below) - so it might be possible he was in command of 1./Pz.Gren.Rgt. 10. On the 2. October 43 the division passed a demand for promotion to Oberleutnant to higher HQs, so we can assume that he got some attention before he was wounded on 22. August 1943. On 1. October 1943 he was back in a hospital in Germany.
The I./Pz.Gren.Rgt. 10 was down to one company (although with 23 Sd.Kfz. 251) by beginning of August and operated for most of the time in gepanzerte Kampfgruppe Bauer formed of I./Panzerregiment 33 and I./Panzer-Grenadierregiment 10 (gepanzert) either as Corps reserve or as Division reserve.
The author gives a location northwest of Rosslaw which I couldn't confirm with the Kriegstagebuch (KTB) of the 9th Panzer Division.
I re-created the campaign with the map given in the article and with the OOBs as given in the KTB. The map given in Tretters article seems to be fictuous, I took the names of the area West of Kovel where the 9th PD was deployed from 10. to 15. August 1943. The events described could also have taken place between 4. and 6. August 1943, although the Kampfgruppe was not operating as a unit during this time (I./PR 33 and I/PGR 10 operated separately for most of the time).
9. Panzerdivision had started Operation Zitadelle with 62 operational tanks (18 Panzer III, 39 Panzer IV lang, 2 Panzer IV kurz and 3 Befehlswagen). Between 11. and 15. August it had between 8 and 16 tanks operation and some 18 to 22 in short term repair.
The tank mix and the weapons of the Panzer-Grenadiers for the campaign are taken from the Kriegstagebuch and the reports by 9. Panzerdivision.
Beginning of September 1943 the 9. Panzerdivision was transferred to the Ukraine where it fought until January 1944 when it was transferred to the West to be refitted.
The individual battles take between 2 and 4 hours which can seem to be long, but you will need the time, since your losses will need to be kept at a minimum since you don't get any reinforcements. Advance with care, fight from the vehicles or with the tanks against infantry whenever you can.
For more info see:
-------------------------------
Battles
11.August 1943 at 1100 - Recon in Force 2.5 Hours
12.August 1943 at 0100 - Counter-Attack 4 hours (night battle)
12.August 1943 at 0800 - Counter-Attack 3 hours
13.August 1943 - 0030 Night Counter-Attack 2 hours (night battle)
13.August 1943 - 0330 Hasty Defense 2 Hours (night battle)
-------------------------------
Looking forward to feedback.
11. August 1943 - This campaign covers 42 hours of fighting against a Soviet assault after the operation "Zitadelle".
You're in command of gepanzerte Kampfgruppe Bauer of the 9. Panzerdivision. This Kampfgruppe consists of the remnants of the Panzer-Regiment 33 and of the I./Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment (gepanzert) 10 with one single Panzer-Grenadier-Kompanie. You have fought in the battle of Kursk roughly one month ago. In between you retreated some 250 kms in face of the Soviet counter-offensive in the Orjol-Salient through Brjansk to the area of Rosslavl in firefighting mode. Yesterday you received orders to move another 100 kms to the East in the area of Kirow in the Kaluga Oblast to join LVI Panzer Armeekorps.
You're the mobile reserve of the 9. Panzerdivision or of the LVI. Pz.AK.
The enemy has broken through the front. Your are on the left (Western) flank of a small salient. You have been ordered to Annovka which is held by an Alarm-Einheit (alarm unit) of the Nachschubtruppen 60 (the 9.PD supply units). The next village some 2.5 km to the North-East, Singovo is held by the rear elements of an unknown friendly unit. The crossroads at point 272 are held by another alarm unit. The situation to the North-East at Lipovka is unclear. A large enemy infantry force with tank support has been reported to move in from the North-West, probably to to cut through your sector to the South-East.
Your mission is to hold Annovka at all cost and to deny the enemy the path across Singovo to the South-East. Detailed orders will follow.
Own Forces
During the whole campaign you will have most of the remaining armor of the Panzer-Regiment 33 - a mix of Panzer III and Panzer IV - available, although it may be required to do some firefighting in other areas of the 9. PD. Your infantry is all what remains of the I. (armored) battalion of the Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 10 with some 140 men. There are some alarm units around made up mostly from rear area troops of questionable value for support. There might be some stragglers arriving from the North and the East over time - you can integrate them into your defense.
There can be some artillery support. Even the Luftwaffe has been active with Stukas over the last days.
-------------------------------
The orginal information for this campaign was provided by then Colonel Dr. Johann Tretter (later Major-General of the post-war Austrian Army) in an article of the ASMZ - the Swiss General Military Journal in volume 4 of 1964.
At the time of the events Dr. Tretter served as a Leutnant (accordingly to the 9. Panzerdivisions war diary [KTB, Kriegstagebuch]). In the article he claims that he was in command of the 1./Pz.Gren.Rgt. 10 - the claim is confirmed in his CV (see below) - so it might be possible he was in command of 1./Pz.Gren.Rgt. 10. On the 2. October 43 the division passed a demand for promotion to Oberleutnant to higher HQs, so we can assume that he got some attention before he was wounded on 22. August 1943. On 1. October 1943 he was back in a hospital in Germany.
The I./Pz.Gren.Rgt. 10 was down to one company (although with 23 Sd.Kfz. 251) by beginning of August and operated for most of the time in gepanzerte Kampfgruppe Bauer formed of I./Panzerregiment 33 and I./Panzer-Grenadierregiment 10 (gepanzert) either as Corps reserve or as Division reserve.
The author gives a location northwest of Rosslaw which I couldn't confirm with the Kriegstagebuch (KTB) of the 9th Panzer Division.
I re-created the campaign with the map given in the article and with the OOBs as given in the KTB. The map given in Tretters article seems to be fictuous, I took the names of the area West of Kovel where the 9th PD was deployed from 10. to 15. August 1943. The events described could also have taken place between 4. and 6. August 1943, although the Kampfgruppe was not operating as a unit during this time (I./PR 33 and I/PGR 10 operated separately for most of the time).
9. Panzerdivision had started Operation Zitadelle with 62 operational tanks (18 Panzer III, 39 Panzer IV lang, 2 Panzer IV kurz and 3 Befehlswagen). Between 11. and 15. August it had between 8 and 16 tanks operation and some 18 to 22 in short term repair.
The tank mix and the weapons of the Panzer-Grenadiers for the campaign are taken from the Kriegstagebuch and the reports by 9. Panzerdivision.
Beginning of September 1943 the 9. Panzerdivision was transferred to the Ukraine where it fought until January 1944 when it was transferred to the West to be refitted.
The individual battles take between 2 and 4 hours which can seem to be long, but you will need the time, since your losses will need to be kept at a minimum since you don't get any reinforcements. Advance with care, fight from the vehicles or with the tanks against infantry whenever you can.
For more info see:
-------------------------------
Battles
11.August 1943 at 1100 - Recon in Force 2.5 Hours
12.August 1943 at 0100 - Counter-Attack 4 hours (night battle)
12.August 1943 at 0800 - Counter-Attack 3 hours
13.August 1943 - 0030 Night Counter-Attack 2 hours (night battle)
13.August 1943 - 0330 Hasty Defense 2 Hours (night battle)
-------------------------------
Looking forward to feedback.
-looking for feedback on the battles and if anyone needs sample solutions for individual battles you can PM me.