Breakthrough at Roganka
13/5/42
On the 12th of May Soviet forces launched a pincer attack to take the German held city of Kharkov. Progress was not as great as the Soviets had planned for but in the northern pincer the greatest penetration was achieved by the 266th Rifle division. This was pitted against elements of the newly arrived 71 Infanterie Division who has only been on the ground for a day or two. The breakthrough produced a a desperate scrabble on the German side to fill the breach and to counter attack the the encroaching Russians. First to arrive were the Kradschützen of the 23 Panzer division that formed a weak screen to cover the deployment of the rest of the division. In the mean time arriving units of the 71 Infanterie Division were fed into battle. The Soviets pushed the 36th Tank Brigade in to the breach to exploit westwards which then collided with III Abt 201 Panzer Regiment which was deploying from its barracks in Kharkov
Note every source consulted differs in its spelling of the the villages name, I've picked Roganka as fairly representative
Map and Order of Battle
German Deployment
The elements of 23 Kradschützen Abt are deployed in the area indicated on the map by the pink dashed lines. The "patrol" elements may not be deployed within 12" of each other
The 9 & 12 Batterie 171 Artillerie Regiment are deployed in the area indicated on the map by the pink dashed lines. The limbers start "trucks to the rear"
3 Kompanie 171 Panzerjäger Abt is a reinforcement it arrives down road F on turn 3
III Abt 201 Panzer Regiment arrives as a reinforcement: 10 Kompanie on turn 6, Stab & 12 Kompanie on turn 7 and the Stabs Kompanie on turn 8. All elements arrive between points E & C
Soviet Deployment
1st Battalion 36th Tank Brigade enters the table turn 1 within 12" of road B. 2nd Battalion and the Brigade HQ enters the table turn 3 within 12" of road B. The motorised rifle battalion enters the table turn 4 within 12" of road B
1st Battalion 985th Rifle Regiment enters the table within 12" of road A. Most of it enters turn 5, however the "stragglers" enter turn 7. The stragglers get a "free" order the turn they enter the battle, thereafter they must be commanded by the BHQ
HQ 3rd Artillery Battalion 875th Artillery Regiment enters turn 8 within 12" of road A
Terrain
The table is 8ft x 5ft if playing 1" = 50m
The open terrain is mostly large open fields, with grassland close to the villages
Green areas are dense forests, impenetrable to towed guns and vehicles. Foot stands within move at 1/2 speed
Grey squares are wooden BUA giving -2 cover to foot stands within. Vehicles and towed guns only get -1 cover (they are assumed to be in the wide spaces between buildings)
Red lines are roads. Where a tree line flanks the road all stands on the road are assumed to be adjacent to the tree line
The blue lines are boggy streams, Foot stands take a BMA to cross. Tracked and half tracked vehicles take 2xBMA to cross. Towed guns and wheeled vehicles can not cross the streams. Where the steams are tree lined the stream and line count as one obstacle, any stand touching the stream is assumed to be touching the tree line.
The green dotted lines are tree lines. They break LOS except to stands that are adjacent to the line. They five light cover
The brown dotted lines are ridgelines. They break LOS to any stand not adjacent to the line. AFVs touching the line get hull down vs. fire that crosses the line
Aircraft
The Soviet air force dominated the sky during the initial part of the offensive. Each turn roll d10, on a 9-10 the Soviet side will receive air support. Roll on d6. 1-2 P-39 fighter, 3-4 Il-2 Sturmovik, 5 Pe-2 Bomber, 6 P-39 and Il-2
Special Rules
The game is 10 turns long with a 50% chance of an 11th turn rolled at the end of turn 10
Victory Conditions
For a victory the Soviets must either
Get two tanks, in good morale, off the table between points G & E, whilst still having at least 5 stands remaining in good morale on the table at the end of the game
Or get one tank and two other stands (not trucks), in good morale, off the table between points G & E, whilst still having at least 5 stands remaining in good morale on the table at the end of the game
Or neutralise all the PzKfw-III & IV. Neutralise means that by the end of the game they must all be knocked out or not in good morale.
Any other result is a German victory
Good morale is not shaken and not demoralised
References
36th Tank Brigade: http://tankfront.ru/ussr/tbr/tbr036.html
23rd Panzer Division in WW2, De Ernst Rebentisch
266th Rifle Division: http://www.polk.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=2355
Kharkov 1942, David Glantz
Last Triumph of the Wehrmacht, the Kharkov "Pot", Konstantin Bykov: http://www.e-reading-lib.org/chapter.php/1003049/0/Bykov_Konstantin_-_Posledniy_triumf_Vermahta._Harkovskiy_kotel.html
Map M-37-062, 100K
Panzertruppen Volume 1, Tomas Jentz
WW2 Organisational Series Vol 4/I, Leo Neihorster