1941  PANZERBLITZ

by William A. Farone

	Although many situations have appeared for PanzerBlitz the early actions of 1941 have not been developed as fully as the time period from 1942 to the end of the war. This is somewhat unfortunate because it was in 1941 that the German Blitzkrieg achieved some of its greatest successes. This period deserves more attention because part of the lure of games of armored warfare is to recreate the situations where the speed and firepower of the tank allow for an intense, fast-paced struggle. 
	The situation presented here is based on a typical skirmish immediately after the crossing of the Russian border. Elements of a Russian Rifle Division face the onslaught of the lead elements of a Panzer Division. The situation in mind is the crossing of the Bug River by Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group on the way to Minsk.
	The objective for the Germans is to destroy as many Russian units as quickly as possible and to break through to the East keeping their route open for the units that follow. The Russians have to extract whatever toll they can in German units and block the roads thus slowing the blitz.
	Only Board 3 is used and it is oriented such that the gully squares between rows V and Z are to the West. This places Grabyosh on the East edge. All the units are contained in the standard game. At this time in the history of the war the attack and defense factors of the German Panzer units should be less than that printed on the counters because earlier versions of the tanks were in use. However, they are left as they are to simulate the advantage that the Germans had due to surprise and tactical air superiority. These factors can be included this way without the requirements for any extra rule which
may be helpful to future designers of 1941 scenarios.
	The gully squares on the Western half of the board represent the Bug River and 3Z9 is the only allowed crossing point. The Russian units set up first East of row T. The Germans set up West of the River and move first. The game length is 9 turns. It should be noted that game length in this situation is a good way of handicapping when players are not of equal experience or skill. A game of 12 turns makes the German job much easier. The only special rule that has been added for the sake of logic is that all German infantry and guns must be carried by trucks or halftracks. This is the lead element of the attack and the tanks are not to be slowed down picking up or carrying infantry or guns!
	The Germans get 1 victory point for each Russian unit destroyed plus I point for each armored vehicle or loaded transport unit off the East edge by the end of the game. Once exited, units may not return. The Russians get I point for each German unit destroyed and 3 points for each town or road hex occupied at the end of the game. In addition the Russians get a 5 point bonus if the Germans fail to exit 8 or more armored vehicles or 10 points if they fail to exit 5 or more. The side with 1-5 more points achieves a marginal victory, 6-10 points achieves a tactical victory and more than 10 points is a decisive victory.
	For the German player time is of the essence. If he tries to play a "safe" game he can run into time trouble and have to give up valuable road and town squares. He must find and destroy the Russian mobile units lest they block roads on the last turn! An all out attack will result in some losses which must be made up either with exited units or Russian losses. The Russian player will find that there is just enough hiding space in the two towns and 4 woods areas but any one of them can be easily attacked so
that unit placement is critical. The situation is designed to allow several tactical options. The basic German decision is one of concentration while the Russians can play to delay at Opustoschenia with artillery to the rear or opt for doing major damage to the German as soon as possible.
	The situation is balanced in the sense that either side can win but any individual playing can end up being highly unbalanced due to the difference in tactics selected.
	The difference between various tactical doctrines will become apparent. The German can learn about the doctrine of committing armor in mass as opposed to piecemeal and the Russian can learn the value of using armor-piercing weapons at close range.