Valley of Death

TOURNAMENT WINNERS

First Place is Tim (Axis).   Second Place is Tom (Allied).

AFTER ACTION REPORTS

• Game B is here and at the AAR Group here.

• Game C is here.

• Game D is here.

PLAYER OPINIONS OF THE SCENARIO

“Perfect size scenario for a tournament, enough tanks to be fun but not a huge number of units that take forever to move.“   

“A shooting gallery for the Germans, quite like Paw of the Tiger.”  

“The battle was a nail-biter that came down to the last turn with the Soviet crews making a last-ditch effort at taking out the Panther, but couldn't quite come through.”  

“Slightly tilted towards the German side, but the Russians can definitely win this scenario.”  

“In spite of the record, many of these games came down to the wire and were won with actions in the final turn.”

Map 1 link and Map 2 link. 

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Near Kharkov, 7 August 1943.

Operation Rumyantsev aka Rumiantsev.

The Germans were surprised by the ability of the Soviets to shift over to the offense in August, only two weeks after the German withdrawal from Kursk.  Von Manstein was so confident of the Soviet inability to mount an offensive, he dispatched most of his armored reserves southward to deal with Soviet offensives across the Dnepr and Mius Rivers into the Donbas region.  These offensives succeeded in their intention, which was to draw German reserves away from the most critical Kharkov axis, where the principal Soviet offensive effort was planned.

On 3 August, the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts launched the new offensive toward Kharkov, Rumyantsev.  The attack showed a more sophisticated Soviet army, with division artillery specialized in supporting attacking infantry and other attacking long-range German reserve positions.  All of this was needed to break the tenacious German defenses.  The Germans counterattacked with the SS Panzer divisions and fought the Soviets to draw over the next several days.  For the first time, a major German counterattack had failed to destroy a Soviet exploitation force.  On 28 August, Kharkov fell to the Soviets, marking an end to the Battle of Kursk and the beginning of the Soviet summer-fall campaign.  

The Russian 5th Guards Tank Army lost 420 tanks in three days of fighting to recapture Kharkov.

“Russian Combat Methods of World War II” has a narrative of the action, pages 47-51.

RESOURCES

Cebula, Jeff.  “Valley of Death.” ON ALL FRONTS, January, 1983. 

https://storage.googleapis.com/archivesqlt/BMA00301A.pdf

Department of the Army. “Russian Combat Methods of World War II.”  No 20-230.  1950. Pages 47-51.

https://storage.googleapis.com/archivesqlt/Publications/CMH_Pub/CMH%20Pub%2020-230%20Russian%20Combat%20Methods.pdf#page=47

https://archive.org/details/Dapam20-230/page/n113/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater

“Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive Operation”.  Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgorod-Kharkov_Offensive_Operation

Glantz, David M. “When Titans Clashed” University of Kansas.  1998.  pp168.

https://archive.org/details/whentitansclashe00glan_0/whentitansclashe00glan_0

Waddell, Steve R.  “Drive to the Dnieper:  The Soviet 1943 Summer Campaign”.  Kansas State University.  1985.  page 68-70.

https://krex.k-state.edu/bitstream/handle/2097/27570/LD2668T41985W32.pdf?sequence=1

Single Round Split Competition

This is a dual competition for the best allied player and the best axis player.  This provides a level playing field between opponents and reduces the effect of an unbalanced scenario.  

Pace

The tournament is paced for PBEM of a seven turn scenario.  Players have fourteen weeks to complete the match or one player turn a week for a seven turn scenario.  Scenarios of greater length have the same fourteen weeks and pace must be managed by players.  Matches that fall behind should meet face-to-face on VSQL to ensure timely completion.

Rules and Conventions

Generally, all rules are in play unless mutually agreed upon in advance.  The Tactical Training Series explicitly state rules in effect.  The twelve original scenarios use the rules through those introduced.

The Squad Leader Academy Conventions are in effect, they answer rule questions from prior SQLA tournaments and provide guidance to the Administrators in rule disputes.  Players are advised to read them beforehand.

Significant conventions

• 31B requires passengers to 'bail-out' when an AFV fires or is hit to prevent the 'panzergrenadier' hack.  They may not move to an adjacent hex nor fire that player turn.

• 36B crews may not attempt AFV immobilization.

• 48B an ATG crew is only effected by a hit on the gun.  This is a departure from the example but agrees with the rule.

• 57A Units may not advance 'up-and-over'.  This prevents a unit entering close combat from outside the defender's LOS during the dfph.

The Supplemental Rules of Combat compile rules by firing unit type and target types.  Use this to find the related rules in one paragraph and to resolve uncommon situations

Rule disagreements should be resolved in the following steps:

• Players should discuss between themselves.

• Roll the dice by mutual agreement.

• Ask the Administrator, he resolves the dispute to continue play.  Please post questions to BGG - Squad Leader forums for quickest response.

Medium

The official medium is VASSAL's SQUAD LEADER module.   Players may use another medium upon mutual agreement.

• VASSAL version 3.6.19

• VSQL version 4.3.7

• COD/GIA extension 9.4

• COI-SS extension 2.1

• Boards version 5 SK

ACTS is the official dice roller, it verifies rolls and it facilitates play-by-email.  You can create an account and log in here.  

• You should use the Squad Leader Series Module in ACTS, a template for our games.

• Quick and easy ACTS

  • Place fire and target counters on VSQL board and type Firepower, modifiers and terrain.

  • Copy and paste this into ACTS Dice Roll comments and roll dice.

  • Copy and paste dice roll results into VSQL and resolve shots.

• Players not desiring the additional record keeping may use VASSAL's internal dice roller, subject to agreement of both players.