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.

The Allied forces are led by Mikhail Kirponos (SW Kirponos) and Yakov Cherevichenko (Southern Front) and consist of 96 armor and 210 infantry steps. They hold all objectives at the start of the scenario: Lvov (100 Victory Points, -10 points if captured after Turn 2), Tarnopol (100/-15/4), Rovno (100/-10/2), Zhitomir (100/-20/5) and Mogilev Podolsky (100/-20/5).

The Germans and Romanians also have at their disposal throughout the scenario the following Theater Assets:  one Air Attacks and one Bridging capability per turn. I used the Air Attacks each turn but did not find a use for blowing any of the bridges during the game play.

The Campaign Map

The Scenario Briefing

The Opening Disposition of Forces

The end of Axis Turn 1 and the start of Allied Turn 1

The end of Allied Turn 1 and the start of Axis Turn 2 (note the mass of Soviet tanks outside of Lvov)

The end of Axis Turn 2 and the start of Allied Turn 2 (the OKH/Stavka reserve force pool was fully deployed during the turn)

The end of Allied Turn 2 and the start of Axis Turn 3

The end of Axis Turn 3 and the start of Allied Turn 3 (Lvov was achieved during the turn)

The end of Allied Turn 3 and the start of Axis Turn 4

The end of Axis Turn 4 and the start of Allied Turn 4

The end of Allied Turn 4 and the start of Axis Turn 5 (the units out of supply and surrounded near  Tarnopol are really not at risk as the Axis will push forward and rescue them)

The end of Axis Turn 5 and the start of Allied Turn 5 (Rovno was achieved during the turn)

The end of Allied Turn 5 and the start of Axis Turn 6

The end of Axis Turn 6 and the start of Allied Turn 6 (Tarnopol has been achieved and a significant amount of the Soviet forces around that area have been eliminated)

The end of Allied Turn 6 and the start of Axis Turn 7

The end of Axis Turn 7 and the start of Allied Turn 7 (Zhitomir was achieved during the turn)

The end of Allied Turn 7 and the start of Axis Turn 8

After-action Report

The scenario ends with an Axis Victory outcome with a score of 330 of a possible 500 Victory Points. This is the first scenario in the campaign where I have actually accumulated some prestige to carry forward.

Review Final Situation (History Mode)

The Allied side only had three units left on the map around Mogilev Podolsky.

Campaign Update

The victory of Army Group South increases the overall campaign completion to 23% (3 of 13 scenarios completed). With an “instakill” campaign progression where the loss of a single scenario ends the campaign automatically, it is good that the missions can be practiced outside of the campaign in single player scenario mode.

Post Mortem

I am still learning this game, and fumbled this scenario badly. I played it as a single player effort first and scored 15 points better, but still did not achieve a Decisive Victory outcome. Had I lost this scenario as part of the campaign proper, it would have ended the effort there and I would not have been able to advance.