Unity of Command Zitadelle PVP

This evening I faced off against Doug from the Cry Havoc! blog in my first PVP battle in UOC using the Zitadelle scenario, a six turn affair that features overwhelming Axis forces up against a wall of Soviet units fronted by entrenched infantry. The battle attempts to mimic the German offensive in the summer of 1943 in an effort to maintain a strategic offensive achieved after the third battle of Kharkov. The objective was to encircle the Soviets and destroy their mobile reserves.

The scenario consists of three objectives: Orel Outskirts (controlled by the Germans at the start, decaying by 10 points per turn after turn 3), Kursk (controlled by the Soviets at the start, decaying by 25 points per turn after turn 2) and Road to Voronezh (also controlled by the Red Army, decaying by 50 points per turn after turn 4). The margin required to win is 99 points and if there is no change from the start, the Soviets win outright.

Unity of Command Black Turn Campaign Episode III

June 22, 1941: Army Group South was one of three army groups which were organized for Operation Barbarossa, the largest invasion in the history of warfare that consisted of over four million soldiers along a 1,800 mile front. The primary objective of AGS was to capture the economically vital Ukraine and the capital city of Kiev.

The Axis forces are led by Gerd von Rundstedt (AG South) and Ion Antonescu (AG Antonescu) and consist of 35 armor and 263 infantry steps (each unit’s manpower and equipment is considered to be equally divided into a number of steps). There are additional units available from the OKH (Oberkommando des Heeres)/Stavka reserve force pool beginning on turn two.

Unity of Command Black Turn Campaign Episode 2

This is a continuation of the campaign I started back in December for the Black Turn expansion to Unity of Command: Stalingrad Campaign. Although that is the name of the base game, it expanded with Red Turn and now Black, growing into something much larger than the original focus on the horrific battles that took place in what is present day Волгогра́д (Volgograd).

The previous installment saw Fedor von Bock and Army Group Center smash the Soviets and open up the road to Smolensk. This effort focuses on Army Group North commanded by Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb with a contingent of armor, infantry and very light air support. This attack into Mother Russia begins on June 22, 1941 as did the other Army Group attacks.

Black Turn Operation Barbarossa 1941

I start this campaign with Army Group Center on June 22, 1941 with Der Sterber Fedor von Bock. Theater assets consist of one Bridge and one Air Attack per turn, although the bridges go away after the first few turns. The forces are arrayed with a cluster of infantry and light armor in the north, infantry and medium armor in the south and a lightly protected gap in my center.

There are five objectives that must be secured and as usual they all begin to bleed Prestige (the lifeblood of moving forward in this game) after specific turns. The two nearest objectives are Bialystok (-25 after turn 3) and Brest-Litovsk (-25/2). The two center objectives are Baranovichi (-25/3) and Pinsk (-50/5) and the most remote are Minsk (-50/4) and Road to Bobruisk (-50/4).

Unity of Command Red Turn Berlin Offensive

This scenario is a six turn slug fest with the Red Army pushing into Berlin for the final nail in the coffin. Theater assets for the Soviets consist of two Air Attacks per turn, and there are some hefty reinforcements available through the Stavka Reserve, but at the cost of the available prestige I have playing this as a solitary mission outside of the campaign it appears in.

There are three objectives to this scenario: Cottbus at 100 points (-25 after turn one), Torgau at 200 points (-50 after turn three) and finally Berlin (West) at 200 points (-50 after turn four). I have had some difficulty with the first objective Cottbus in the past, so smashing through there as quickly as possible is going to be vital to accumulating maximum points.

Unity of Command Black Turn Kiev Encirclement

Black Turn was released yesterday and the expansion pack is a prequel to the events that unfold in the Stalingrad Campaign DLC. This iteration covers the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union and consists of 13 scenarios covering Operation Barbarossa. The scenario that I am playing today is called “Kiev Encirclement” which consists of 10 turns to achieve two objectives.

This will be a hyper-condensed after-action report as my wife wants to eat dinner and then watch Netflix (go real life!) The scenario starts on September 1, 1941 with the German forces arrayed around Kiev (which has to be secured by turn seven or you start to bleed prestige), and far away from the link-up location approximately half the distance between Kiev and Kharkov.

Voronezh (2)

Kursk, Russia June 28, 1942: The Axis forces are amassed for a thunderous blow along the route from Kursk to Voronezh. Theater assets include four air attacks and 1 logistics (adds +1 to the range of a specific supply source). In reserve are the 23^rd Panzer Division and an LAH motorized division. Victory is achieved within six turns, with a decisive decision at four turns.

The primary objectives are the city of Voronezh in the north and Liski in the south. My plan of attack is to push a consistent wall against the Soviet forces to minimally exploit breakthroughs so as to not allow the Red Army an opportunity to encircle a particularly aggressive advance and cut it off from supply. The main road running west to east is vital for supply.

Voronezh (1)

This is one of the standalone scenarios in the game and it is set up to be an easy time, however I am having some failures on it. I can push the Axis forces towards the primary objective in the north; however I frequently run out of supply and have to backtrack for fresh stocks and refit. In a mission that only has six turns and four for a decisive victory, my Blitzkrieg is a bit of a limp biscuit.

In the screen shot above, the Soviets only have six units left on the map and are facing an onslaught of German armor and infantry that just come up short by a bridge too far in Voronezh. I did have my supply lines cut on the AI turn 2 which I promptly restored after eliminating the enemy from the rear, but it was not enough to push forward and on to victory.