Wednesday 13 June 2012

Krisis at Kharkov - part 3 - Axis forces

A Romanian air raid.  A rare sight indeed!
Axis forces for the Kharkov operation amounted to seven infantry and two panzer divisions, together with Korps assets (flak, artillery, engineers etc).  I had allocated most of the experienced players to the Axis.
            6 Armee
            44 Infantry Division    (reserve)
Von Rapier briefs his generals.  The game afforded some opportinities for silly hat wearing...
                 
            III Armeekorps         
            1 Infantry Division      Romanian
            18 Infantry Division    Romanian
            19 Infantry Division    Romanian
            2 Mountain Division    Romanian
            11 Infantry Division    (link)
            72 Infantry Division   
            Corps artillery & Flak 
19ID was by far the strongest of the Romanian divisions.  As well as luxuries like tractor-drawn artillery and an AT battalion, it also had atached a (weak) battalion of (clapped out) R-35 tanks! 
            LI Armeekorps          
            19 Panzer Division      (both PDs similar to 2PD)
            23 Panzer Division     
            corps artillery & flak  
The gathering storm.  LI Korps massing near Kharkov

Elements of the Luftwaffe and Romanian air force were also present. 

Coming next - battle commences!

9 comments:

Paul said...

A good shot of Romanian power. These are not fancy boys!

Martin Rapier said...

Eagle eyed readers are invited to follow the course of the battle and see if it conforms to the path planned for it by von Rapier. Dotted line is planned maximum advance allowed the Russians, thick line is the southern 'firm shoulder' and the big arrow up the middle is the 'backhand blow'.

Whoever said no plan survives contact with the enemy....

Tim Gow said...

Paul
The words 'Romanian' and 'power' were seldom heard in the same sentence on Saturday...

Tim Gow said...

Martin Rapier
I now have a copy of the 6 Armee report on the battle. I'll post it once it's been security cleared...

SoA Shows North said...

What I love about playing at this level is the detail you get later.

As in ... the was a Romanian air raid? As in ... the was a Romanian Air Force :)

A nice surprise. Did they hit anything?

Tim Gow said...

SoA Shows North
I'm the last person to ask about detail! That said, I did witnedd the Forţele Aeriene Regale ale României (Royal Romanian Air Force) flying at least two missions. For more on their hi-tech kit see my earlier post: http://megablitzandmore.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/fortele-aeriene-regale-ale-romaniei.html

Martin Rapier said...

"A nice surprise. Did they hit anything?"

Oh yes, they bombed Soviet airfields but spent most of their time knocking seven bells out of the Soviet northern forward detachment as it assembled to cross the river.

Chris Kemp said...

Recent archives and regimental diaries have revealed the following : http://notquitemechanised.wordpress.com/2012/06/17/a-grand-afternoon-out/

Tim Gow said...

Martin Rapier
It was nice to see some of the aircraft living up to their painting!