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RUSSIA
The great war in the east 1941-1945
A Strata-Cracker release
Dox Typed By:
Disk Muncher
1. INTRODUCTION
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Russia is a simulation of the greatest military struggle in the history
of mankind. Almost 50 million fighting men participated in the four-
year conflict and more than 20 million of them were casualities.
You may take the role of supreme commander for either the Axis or Soviet
forces or you may choose to accpet a subordinate role and command a single
theatre of operations. Or again, you may choose to combine the roles and
command a number of positions. The choice is yours. Your computer will
control those forces not assigned to human hands.
2. WHATS IT ALL ABOUT?
Before asking you to go through the introductory tutorials, we recommend
you read the next two chapters.
The German war effort in Russia was directed by the OKH (Oberkommando
des Heeres) which, as the war progressed, and his distrust of generals
grew, increasingly came to mean Hitler himself. Its Soviet counterpart
was STAVKA (formally Stavka Glavnovo Komandovaniya or Headquarters
High Command), which was always run by Stalin, who trusted no one.
OKH and Stavka form the strategic level of play in Russia. The decisions
made at this level include allocation of reserves and reinforcements and
issuing directives to the subordinate Army Groups and Theatres. The strategic
turn occurs once per month.
Of course, neither Hitler or Stalin were abble to restrict themselves to
the lofty plane of strategic command, and interfered constantly in
operational matters. You will be able to do likewise.
Operational command in Russia is represented in weekly turns and consists
of decisions made at three levels of military hierarchy.
Directly controlled by the OKH are three Army Groups, known for most of
the war as Army Group North, Army Group Centre and Army Group South. Each
Army Group can command 1 to 6 Armees and each Armee can command from 1 to
6 Korps. The armies under each Army Group are written in the German Armee,
to avoid confusion with Russian formations of a different level. Thus a
partial chain of command for the Germans might run as follows: Army Group
North - 4th Panzer Armee - 41st Panzer Korps. For the Germans, the Korps is
the unit represented on the map and doing all the fighting.
For the Russians, the commands immediately below Stavka are called
Theatres A,B and C. Each theatre commands from 1 to 6 Fronts and each
Front commands 1 to 6 Armies. You will notice that for the Russians the
unit of combat and maneuver is the Army, which is equivalent to the
German Korps, while the German Armee is equivalent to the Russian Front.
For the Russians, a partial chain of command might run as follows:
Theatre A - Leningrad Front - 23rd Army.
While the Korps/Army is the basic formation for organizing and moving
troops, each Korps is actually composed of a number of divisions. These
divisions never appear on the map and are always either included in a
Korps/Army formation or held in a HQ reserve. There are three basic types
of divisions: Infantry , Motorised and Armoured.
In the campiaign game the player can choose to play OKH/Stavka and/or
any or all of the Army Group/Theatre commands. Playing an Army Group/
Theatre involves directing all of its subordinate formations.
In a scenario, there is no strategic command (I.E. No OKH/Stavka) and
only one Army Group/Theatre per side.
There are three scenarios included in the game. They cover the inital
drive of Army Group North to capture Leningrad in the summer of 1941,
the Axis attempt to capture Stalingrad and the subsequent Soviet counter-
attack in 1942 and the climactic armour clash, and its aftermath, at
Kursk in 1943. The Leningrad scenerio, being the smallest, is used as
an introductory tutorial to make you familiar with operational decision
making.
The campaign game covers the entire conflict from June 1941 until May
1945 or until a conclusion is reached whether it be in 1943 or 1947!
The opening months of the campaign game are used as an introductory
tutorial to give you some experience with the strategic decisions you
will have to make in the course of the war.
Futhermore, the powerful Game Design Kit we have developed will allow
you to customize any of the set scenarios or the campaign game. You may
even create entirely new scenerios of campaign games, beginning them
from any time between 1939 and 1945.
SPECIAL NOTE:
Russia actually involves four levels of military hierarchy. For the
Germans they are OKH/Army Group/Armee/Korps. For the Russians, they are
Stavka/Theatre/Front/Army. In order to avoid confusion we will use the
German terms throughout these rules. Unless otherwise stated, a rule
which describes a German formation will be applicable to the corresponding
Soviet force. For example, the statement that two corps can not occupy
the same hex at the end of movement should also be read as meaning that
two Armies may not do so either.
3. HOW A SCENARIO PLAYS
This chapter should be read before starting the scenerio tutorial.
A scenario (not a campaign game) of Russia goes something like this.
Choose the scenario you wish to play. Experienced players may wish to
vary an exsisting scenario or to create an entirely new one.
Choose a handicap level for the game. Handicap levels in Russia act as
a multiplier on the points accumulated by either player. They do not
affect the artificial intelligence or the combat performance of the
protagonists.
Choose whether the game will be played between two humans, one human
(either Axis or Soviet player) or no humans.
Each scenario lasts for a number of turns; up to 31. Each turn represents
about one week of real time so that the maximum scenario length is 8 months.
The military forces at your command are Korps size units for the Axis and
Army size units for the Soviet. These are your basic formations for
organizing and moving troops. Each Korps or Army, depending on the type,
will contain several infantry, motorized and/or armoured divisions.
In a scenario there will be only one Army Group and Theatre involved.
Each Korps/Army will contain a variable number of divisions, based on
availability, the type of Korps and its current order. A divisional
reserve is maintained at each Armee/Front as well as a variable number of
ground support assets (artillery, anti-tank etc.) and air support assets.
These assets are apportioned out of each turn to those Korps/Armies in need
of them. A further reserve of divisions and assets are maintained at Army/
Group/Theatre level. Finally, a replacement pool is available to both sides
to rebuild depleted divisions in the field provided they meet the eligility
criteria. Korps (Armies) are defined by type (E.G. SS Panzer, GDS Tank,
Siberian, etc.) and these ratings, together with their current order, largely
determine their exact divisional composition.
The battlefield on which you fight is a field of hexagons divided into
blocks of 9x9 hexes. The campaign map is composed of twelve of these blocks.
A scenario map will use some of these. The ground scale is approxamately
40 miles per hex. Different types of terrain are represented by different
terrain icons. Railways and cities are shown and victory points are awarded
for control of the latter.
It is your job as Army Group/Theatre commander to use this time, these
forces and these conditions to capture and hold as many cities as you can,
to destroy as many of the enemy formations as you can get your hands on and,
of course, to prevent your opponent from doing this to you. The player who
has scored the most number of points by the end of the scenario is the
winner.
Your interface with the game is a structured set of menus which become very
easy to use. These menus give you the power to maneuver and deploy your
formations, to send them into battle and to refit and reorganize them when
necessary. Each Armee, (Front) has its doctrine specified however, and
individual Korps (Armies) may be given orders relating to their tactical
situation. Ground and air assets are allocated to Korps (Armies) in contact
with the enemy.
Only one Korps/Army can occupy a single hex at the end of a turn. This
does not prevent them from moving through each other when executing your
orders.
Railways play an important part in supplying troops and the rail nets
in the game are differentiated into Axis and Soviet gauges (I.E. Narrow
and Wide gauge).
You have only limited control over the positioning of individual Korps/
Armies. The orders given to Armees/Fronts will determine the response of
their component Korps/Armies.
You can examine a variety of reports, including area weather conditions
, which will provide the information to base your decisions on.
All orders are issued before any action takes place. Combat between
opposing forces is resolved and described by a short report. Othr orders
are then executed.
This manual contains a short briefing for each scenario which will give
you some idea of what must be accomplished in order to win.
On average you can expect a scenario of four months length to take 60
minutes to finish in solitaire mode; a little longer if your opponent
is human.
Victory Points (VP's) are accumulated weekly in a scenario.
A scenario is won by the side with the greatest number of VP's on the
final turn. Note that an automatic victory is awarded in a scenario when
the city containing the enemy's Army Group HQ (Theatre) is captured.
4. PLAYING YOUR FIRST SCENARIO
As a warm up to your adventure in Russia, we invite you to spend the next
forty minutes reliving the first frantic months of the German drive to
capture the vital Baltic Prot of Leningrad. You will take the role of General
Von Leeb and command Army Group North in its dash to reach Leningrad before
the combination of Soviet reinforcements and bad weather can stall your
offensive. You have only twelve weeks (turns) to get the job done! You cant
afford to waste a moment!
STARTING UP
Start up your computer. Menu A (Start-Up menu) appears to the right of
the title page. As is the case with every menu in the game, you use the
arrow keys to locate your choice from the menu, and then type [RET] to
select it.
If you select the wrong menu, dont worry. Type [ESC] to go back to the
previous menu.
SELECTING THE LENINGRAD SCENARIO
Before we can start play, we have to select the Leningrad scenario,
tell the computer to control the Russian forces and decide whether
we wish to use a handicap.
Use either arrow key to locate the <GAME> line and type [RET] to go to
menu B (Location Select).
Use an arrow key to locate the <SCENARIO> line and type [RET] to go to
menu C (Scenario Menu). Apple owners will have to turn the disk to the
scenario side.
Use an arrow key and locate the <LENINGRAD> line and press [RET] to go to
Menu E (Edit Utility). The scenario briefing screen is displayed to the
left of the menu window.
Use an arrow key to locate the <EDIT> line and type [RET] to go to menu
F (Handicap Utility). We must now decide whether to use a handicap. Lets
give ourselves all the help we can get. The handicaps below the <NO EFFECT>
line benefit the Soviet Player; those above benefit the Axis Player.
Use the arrow keys to select the <MAJOR> Axis line and type [RET] to go
to Menu G (Player Select). You must assign human or computer control to
each player in the game. The panle above the menu window displays the name
of the command position. You will be asked to assign control for
<AG NORTH>. This is you, so use the arrow keys to locate the <HUMAN> line
and type [RET]. You will now be asked to assign control for Theatre A (The
Soviet Command). Use the arrow keys to locate the <COMPUTER> line and press
[RET].
Once all the command positions have been assigned, the cursor is thrown
into the briefing screen and you have the opportunity to change the
commanders names. Do this if you wish, otherwise type [RET] until you get
back to Menu E (Edit Utility).
Use an arrow key to locate the <START> line and type [RET] to go to menu
H (Game Master). Apple owners will have to turn the disk back to the
master side.
Thats the preliminaries over with. Were just about ready to play.
REVIEWING YOUR FORCES
The date and a current turn briefing appear above the menu window. It is
week 4 of June, 1941. This is the first of the twelve weeks for which the
game will run. Below the menu window is a small weather summary map. Each
of the twelve map sections is clear. Its the middle of summer. There is a
chance that the more northerly map sectors will have some mud remaining
from the previous winter. The map area displayed is the Riga Sector.
The Riga Sector is the second from the left of the top row.
The <SOVIET> and <RUN 5> lines in the menu have been overprinted with
a solid bar to show that you can not access them. The solid bar will
disappear from the <RUN 5> line after the <AXIS> line has been accessed.
This is to guard against accidentally selecting <RUN5> before issuing your
orders. The <SOVIET> line will always be overprinted in this game (due to
the fact it is a solo game) the computer does not want you to see what
it is doing.
Locate the <AXIS> line and type [RET] to bring up menu 2 (Operations
Master). This map is updated by the addition of the axis gauge rail net
(I.E. Narrow gauge). Date, turn number and current victory point total
are displayed below the menu window.
HISTORICAL NOTE: In case you are wondering why the Axis rail net extends
into Russia, here is the explanation. In 1939, in conjunction with the
Axis-Soviet dismemberment of Poland, the Soviet Union annexed the
Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia as well as a large hunk
of eastern Rumania. The rail systems of these countries were, by and large,
compatable with europe rather than Russia. By the time of the Axis invasion,
only a small part of these rail nets had been converted to the wider
Soviet gauge. Once Axis forces capture these narrow gauge rail hexes,
they can be used immediately for transportation.
Before issuing any orders to our men, we will review our forces and the
environment in which they will have to fight.
The four Axis units in the bottom left hand corner of the map are ours.
They are opposed by three units from the Soviet Baltic Front immediately
to the right.
Select the <REPORTS> line from menu 2 and type [RET] to bring up menu 4
(General Reports). This is just a branch menu. Select the <STATUS> line
to bring up menu 5 (Unit Status).
The map has been replaced with a full screen display showing the condition
of every unit under your command. There are two pages to this report. Type
[RET] to bring up the second page. The length of the report is determined
by the size of your force.
Look at the first page. The top line identifies Army Group North, displays
the date and the number of pages in this report.
There are 4 Armees attached to AG North; 4 Pz, 18th, 16th and 9th Armees.
Note that Armee was historically part of AG Centre. For the purposes of
this scenario, however, it has been detached to AG North.
Four Korps are attached to 4Pz Armee; 10 (Inf), 39 (Pz), 56 (Pz), and
41 (Pz). Only 41 Pz begins the game deployed on the map. The other three
arrive as reinforcements at specified times. Type [ESC] to exit this report.
Dont worry about memorizing all the information on this screen. As you
become familiar with the game, youll get more and more use from it.
Return to Menu 4 and select Menu 6 (Map Walk). This menu contains a
variety of information which we can have a brief look at. At the moment
the cursor will be flashing on the map. You may use the arrow keys,
the 1 - 6 keys or the I,J,K,M keys to move the cursor over the map. The
map will scroll when you reach the edge. You may type (0) to centre the
screen on the cursor. This works on any screen where the cursor is flashing.
Position the cursor over the Axis armour unit at the bottom of the screen.
An arrow flashes alternately with the unit symbol to indicate the targeted
enemy unit. A unit must be adjacent to an enemy unit to be targeted. The
right hand column of the screen displays the identity and condition of the
friendly unit.
Position the cursor over an enemy unit. You are told the units Front and
Army designation and its level of activity in the previous week.
Position the cursor over the city of Riga. Now move the cursor to Pskov.
Pskov is the trigger city for an off-board region. That region is named and
the bonus VP's awarded for its capture are displayed above the city data.
Its not necessary to worry about the details now; read chapter 8 when you
have finished the tutorial for a complete description of the Map Walk
routines.
Type [RET] to move on to the menu window.
To turn on a display, use the arrow keys to select which piece of
information you wish to examine. Type [RET] again and the cursor will return
to the map and the screen will display the information requested.
To turn off a display, type [RET] to move the cursor to the menu window,
select the display you wish to turn off and type [RET].
While more than one display can be on at any time, very often information
from one display will be concealed by another display. For this reason we
recommend you examine one display at a time; at least for your first few
games.
The <CITIES> options work slightly differently. They allow you to examine
any city on the map. Select <NAME> and a box containing a square cursor
will appear above the menu window. Type in the name of the city you wish
to go to. As soon as you have entered enough characters for the computer to
recognize the city, the screen will center on it and information concerning
its stauts will appear to the right of the screen. Type [RET] to go back
to the menu window. Select <CYCLE> and the cursor will return to the
nearest city on the map. Use the arrow keys to examine each city in turn.
Type [ESC] to exit the cycle routine.
Type [ESC] to exit the menu. All displays will automatically be turned off.
<CONTROL> allows you to examine which side controls each hex on the map.
<CLEAR MAP> allows you to examine the terrain uncluttered by units. For
example, to examine cities occupied by units, you must first switch on the
<CLEAR MAP> routine before positioning the cursor over the chosen city.
<RAIL NET> superimposes a full display of all rail lines, regardless of
gauge or control.
<COMMUNS> superimposes the communication value of each hex. Basically,
communications affect the performance of your logistic net. Have a look
at the communications map on the reverse of the terrain map. What this means
is that it is much harder to supply your forces in the wilderness.
<WEATHER> superimposes an icon representing the current sector weather
in each hex.
All of these reports and displays are fully explained in chapter 8
(The Game Menus Described).
Have a look through them for a few minutes, then type [ESC] until you get
back to Menu 2 (Operations Master).
THE WEATHER AND ARMY GROUP SUMMARY
The next item in the menu is the weather report. Return to Menu 2 and select
<WEATHER>. There are five seperate displays on this screen. Below the menu
window is an active map display. Map sectors in play are identified by a
square, others by a plus sign (+). The square containing your Army Group HQ
is solid, other squares are hollow.
Four seperate displays have replaced the sector map. The top two displays
repeat the turn and weather details described earlier. The bottom left display
describes Army Group North, its HQ location, the total VP value of all cities
on the map and the number of these currently controlled. The bottom right
display is a breakdown of the military forces attached to Army Group North.
Only those Korps and Armees in play are recorded; reinforcements are not.
KIA's are casualties currently absorbed by AG North.
An Air Support Point (ASP) is approximately equivalent to an Axis
Geschwader (30-40 aircraft) or two Soviet Air Regiments (40-50 aircraft).
A Ground Support Point (GSP) is approximately equivalent to a regiment-
sized artillary, anti-tank or equivalent HQ asset.
Divisions are your basic fighting units and come in three types; armour,
motorized and infantry. Further specialization of types is handled by the
Korps type to which the division is assigned; for example, the inf divisions
in a Soviet Cavalry Army are considered calvary divisions and are treated as
such for all game purposes. Historically, a division could contain from
9000 to 16000 men at full strength; much less when depleted. Soviet tank and
mechanized corps are treated as division-sized units.
Replacements are regiment-sized bodies of men, organized in the same
catagories as your divisions. They are never present on the map. They
provide on the spot reinforcement for divisions depleted by battle or
attrition. While you have no direct mechanism to assign them, their avail-
ability for use is determined by the logistic and administrative condition
of the units that need them. You can never have too many replacements.
For comparison, three replacements are the manpower equivalent of one
full strength division. Casualties (KIAs) are taken in regiment sized
steps.
THE REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULE
Go back to menu 2 and select Menu 7 (Reinforcement Schedule).
Each line shows the reinforcements to be expected on a specific turn.
Arrival dates for reinforcements are every fortnight. Reinforcements will
arrive at the Army Group North HQ (i.e. as reserves) and be distributed
from there as necessary. The combat value of each division type and the
size of the replacement pools are displayed above the schedule.
Note that reinforcing Korps and Armees are handled differently. They
arrive on their assigned hexes in the particular week specified in the
creation routines. Sooner or later we hope you will get around to having
a look at the design features of the game; this distinction will then become
obvious.
And now we can start operations against the pesky Russians in earnest.
CHOOSING ARMY DOCTRINE
Select Menu 8 (Army Group Operations). Friendly units have their general
symbol replaced with their specific symbol.
Above the menu window, we see that the AG North is at moderate activity.
It wont be after weve given our orders. Below the menu window, we are told
the AG HQ is at Konigsburg, where it will stay for the duration of the
scenario. (Army Group and Theatre HQs can only be moved in campaigns) Supply
and Admin are at 7 each (the maximum) , all GSPs have been allocated to
Armee HQs, 16 ASPs are present and three infantry divisions are being held
in reserve. There is a sma;; chance tht these numbers will be slightly
different from game to game. The mechanisms handling unit organization
within an Army Group are explained in more detail in Chapter 10 (Game
Mechanics and Tactics).
We will set the doctrine and objectives for each Armee in our command.
Locate the <DOCTRINE> line and type [RET] to select Menu 9 (Select Armee).
The 16 Armee display appears on the right of the screen and only those Korps
belonging to the 16 Armess are represented by their specific symbol. 16
Armee has 1 Korps attached (a second Korps will arrive on the next turn),
normal doctrine, its HQ is in Tilsit, a line of supply is open to the AG
HQ, supply and admin are 7,3 GSPs are available, 16 ASPs may be drawn upon and two infantry divisions are in reserve.
Note that since Axis ASPs are allocated from the Army Group HQ rather than
an Armee HQ, every Armee can call upon the Army Group pool of ASPs.
Use the arrow keys to cycle through the three Armees attached to AG North.
The 9 Armee will appear on turn four. Dont worry about the orders displayed
for Armees and Korps; they are default values and well soon sort them out.
Locate the 4 Pz Armee and type [RET] to go to Menu 10 (Select Doctrine).
In order to advance upon an enemy held objective, an Armee must have Main
Effort doctrine. Select <MN EFFORT>. The cursor has been thrown into the map
and we have been asked to select an objective. I prefer to send the tanks
to Dvinsk initially and leave Riga to be captured by the Infantry Armees.
Use the arrow keys to select Dvinsk and type [RET]. You have been thrown
back to Menu 9 (Select Armee). The doctrine for 4 Pz Armee now reads
<MN EFFORT> and its objective is Dvinsk.
Use the arrow keys to locate 18 Armee, tpye [RET] and set it to <MN EFFORT>
with Riga as its objective. Put 16 Armee on <MN EFFORT> with Vilna as its
objective. Type [ESC] to go back to menu 8. The Army Group activity is now
high.
CHOOSING KORPS ORDERS
Locate the <ORDERS> line and type [RET] to select Menu 13 (Select Korps).
The arrow keys will cycle you through every Korps. The top four lines of
text repeat the Armee doctrine; all other information refers to the Korps
currently identified by the cursor. Locate the 41 Pz Korps. You are told the
Korps designation, its type, its last order (a default value in this case)
its status (experience, fatigue and losses) a LOS is open to the 4 PzA HQ,
supply and admin are 7, GSPs and ASPs are not allocated as yet and the Korps
contains two armoured and one motorized division.
The cursor alternates between the specific Korps symbol and a directional
arrow showing the Korps' intended target. The computer determines which enemy
unit each Korps will target upon; the factors which influence its decision
are listed in Chapter 10 (Game Mechanics and Tactics).
The 41 Pz Korps will have either the enemy unit north or north-east of
itself as its target. Type [RET] to bring up Menu 16 (Allocate Ground and
Air Support). Were going to attack. Allocate all the GSPs and one-third of the
ASPs. Once this is done, Menu 17 (Contact Orders) will appear. Select
<ASSAULT>. You will be returned to Menu 13 and the updated Korps display will
confirm the orders you have just issued. A description on the type and
condition of the target appears in the top panel of information. Wherever
possible, confine your attacks to vunerable targets.
Give the 17 Korps half of the 18 Armees GSPs, half of the remaining ASPs
and an <ASSAULT> order. Give the 28 Korps the other half of the 18 Armees
GSPs, all the remaining ASPs and an <ASSAULT> order. Finally, give the 1
Korps an <ADVANCE> order. Korps not adjacent to enemy units cannot use
GSPs or ASPs and there isno mechanism for you to give them any.
Thats everything you need to do to complete the turn. The invasion surprise
flag is in effect so that you can confidently expect to hand out a thorough
thrashing to the enemy arrayed against you.
Go back to Menu H (Game Master) and select <RUN 5>. Each battle is
identified and described by a report. Press the <SPACE BAR> to examine the
outcome of the next battle. Once all battles have been resolved, the computer
will execute the movement orders of each unit.
Its a little hard to predict where each unit will end up; even which units
will still be around. Fight as hard as you can for Riga; the sooner you
control it the better. Once you have reached an objective, the Armees
doctrine will change to normal. You will not be allowed to go to main effort
again until the sum of the Armees supply and admin is at least eight, nor is
it a good idea to do so unless the objective is undefended. For an enemy
city to be a legitimate objective, it must be within 7 hexes of the Armee
HQ. This distance is reduced to 4 to 5 hexes in mud and snow weather
respectively. Armees with normal orders can transfer their HQs to friendly
controlled cities within 7 hexes. Armees may only go on rest in supplied
cities.
Play through the rest of the scenario and dont worry if certain orders
are denied you at times or if things happen you dont understand. What you
are attempting to do is capture Pskov as quickly as possible. An attack
on Leningrad itself is impractical from any oter jump-off point. When you
finish the scenario read through chapters 8 and 10 and then have another
go at the scenario.
You may also like to play a scenario a third time taking command of the
Russian forces.
Please dont start playing the campaign until you have played all the
scenarios; the wait will be worthwhile and youll enjoy it all the more.
End of Part I of Part I