Scenario 2: Zhitomir 30 December 1943

[IV/JG7_4Shades]

This is the second of our scenarios in the KZBK Stations campaign series.

Background
Zhitomir is a major rail and logistical centre for the district, and is a priority for the First Ukrainian Front led by Nikolai Vatutin. It is defended by XIII Armee Korps, reporting to Erhard Raus at Panzer Armee Oberkommando 4.

SEOW Realization
We will use the Kiev_AP (winter) map in SEOW. Ground action in this scenario will be confined to the north-western part of the map, north of the 60000 m parallel. This corresponds to the Kodnya-Solodin area and points north to the top of the map. Grim weather continues, with snow, rain and gloomy overcast.
By 30th December 1943, to the north, Volodarsk-Volinsky has been unassailed, but Korosten has fallen after continuous bombardment and several threatening Soviet armoured incursions as far south and west as Ushomir. To the south, Berdichev and Kazatin are under extreme pressure and look like collapsing, which would isolate LIX.AK and XIII.AK from the rest of the front line centred around Belaya-Tserkov.


German Objectives
* Hold Zhitomir Train Station with at least 8 platoons until noon on 31 December 1943
* Hold Volodarsk-Volinskiy with at least 8 platoons until noon on 31 December 1943
* Maintain XIII.AK with at least 50% of its initial capital strength (measured in points) until 8 pm 31 December 1943
* Keep at least 2/3 of German generals alive until 8 pm 31 December 1943

Soviet Objectives
* Capture and hold Zhitomir Train Station before noon on 31 December 1943
* Capture and hold Volodarsk-Volinskiy before noon on 31 December 1943
* Reduce LIX.AK to less than 50% of its initial capital strength before 8 pm 31 December 1943, whilst maintaining 70% of initial FUF capital strength.
* Keep all Soviet generals alive until 8 pm 31 December 1943

Victory Conditions
If we run 24 engrossing missions, display good cooperative behaviours, and have fun, then we all win.

Realization in SEOW
* This scenario will be operated using the Kiev_AP map, hosted in HSFX v7.0.2 or higher. Ground operations will be confined to the rectangle defined by the north-west corner of the map stretching south-east to Radomyshl and then south-west to Kodnya-Solodin to AC-7.
* The scenario will start at 0500 hours on 30 December and finish after the 2000 hours mission on 31 December. Each mission will last for 60 minutes. Some night missions may be AI only.
* German forces may withdraw at two ground resupply points on the western edge of the map at any time.
* German air forces will be based at Kalinovka and at Vinnica North-West Airbase. A single off-map base west of Zhitomir' will be available for recon flights only.
* Soviet air forces will be based at Lipniki Field and Veprem.
* There will be no reinforcements available for either side, and no industrial production of units or fuel.

Comments and suggestions are welcome!

Cheers,
4Shades

PS: Here is an FMB file with the front line for the evening of 30 December 1943 near Zhitomir. I am proposing that we populate the front line from just south-west of Cherniahov in AC-10 around Zhitomir near Studenitsa as far south as Kodnya-Solodin in AC-7. The remaining Korosten OOB will be added in position.

Code: Select all

[MAIN]
  MAP AP_Ukraine/load_w.ini
  TIME 12.000002
  CloudType 0
  CloudHeight 1000.0
  army 1
  playerNum 0
[SEASON]
  Year 1940
  Month 6
  Day 15
[WEATHER]
  WindDirection 0.0
  WindSpeed 0.0
  Gust 0
  Turbulence 0
[MDS]
  MDS_Radar_SetRadarToAdvanceMode 0
  MDS_Radar_RefreshInterval 0
  MDS_Radar_DisableVectoring 0
  MDS_Radar_EnableTowerCommunications 1
  MDS_Radar_ShipsAsRadar 0
  MDS_Radar_ShipRadar_MaxRange 100
  MDS_Radar_ShipRadar_MinHeight 100
  MDS_Radar_ShipRadar_MaxHeight 5000
  MDS_Radar_ShipSmallRadar_MaxRange 25
  MDS_Radar_ShipSmallRadar_MinHeight 0
  MDS_Radar_ShipSmallRadar_MaxHeight 2000
  MDS_Radar_ScoutsAsRadar 0
  MDS_Radar_ScoutRadar_MaxRange 2
  MDS_Radar_ScoutRadar_DeltaHeight 1500
  MDS_Radar_HideUnpopulatedAirstripsFromMinimap 0
  MDS_Radar_ScoutGroundObjects_Alpha 5
  MDS_Radar_ScoutCompleteRecon 0
  MDS_Misc_DisableAIRadioChatter 0
  MDS_Misc_DespawnAIPlanesAfterLanding 1
  MDS_Misc_HidePlayersCountOnHomeBase 0
  MDS_Misc_BombsCat1_CratersVisibilityMultiplier 1.0
  MDS_Misc_BombsCat2_CratersVisibilityMultiplier 1.0
  MDS_Misc_BombsCat3_CratersVisibilityMultiplier 1.0
[RespawnTime]
  Bigship 1800
  Ship 1800
  Aeroanchored 1800
  Artillery 1800
  Searchlight 1800
[NStationary]
[Buildings]
[Bridge]
[House]
[FrontMarker]
  FrontMarker0 30636.78 97367.05 1
  FrontMarker1 39366.09 96219.39 1
  FrontMarker2 44068.87 88982.63 1
  FrontMarker3 43874.80 85638.36 1
  FrontMarker4 42916.12 83227.96 1
  FrontMarker5 40615.28 80927.12 1
  FrontMarker6 38615.75 79448.02 1
  FrontMarker7 30617.61 76078.94 1
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  FrontMarker9 27385.49 96539.93 1
  FrontMarker10 23495.98 98347.73 1
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  FrontMarker14 31566.38 67710.27 1
  FrontMarker15 33005.85 63507.45 1
  FrontMarker16 26874.96 53885.67 1
  FrontMarker17 26214.31 49464.44 1
  FrontMarker18 32083.88 46212.04 1
  FrontMarker19 39020.64 40266.24 1
  FrontMarker20 13789.13 96649.66 2
  FrontMarker21 18210.36 96827.52 2
  FrontMarker22 20268.52 98250.45 2
  FrontMarker23 23546.33 97970.95 2
  FrontMarker24 27332.33 96166.88 2
  FrontMarker25 30635.55 96852.93 2
  FrontMarker26 39122.28 95785.74 2
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  FrontMarker28 43467.28 85799.85 2
  FrontMarker29 42577.96 83335.14 2
  FrontMarker30 40291.11 81175.34 2
  FrontMarker31 38283.77 79701.60 2
  FrontMarker32 30254.41 76398.38 2
  FrontMarker33 34980.55 78177.04 2
  FrontMarker34 29492.12 71977.15 2
  FrontMarker35 31143.73 67733.78 2
  FrontMarker36 32515.84 63515.82 2
  FrontMarker37 26544.64 54012.72 2
  FrontMarker38 25841.34 49489.85 2
  FrontMarker39 31787.14 46084.99 2
  FrontMarker40 38546.03 40088.38 2
  FrontMarker41 28560.14 47660.37 2
  FrontMarker42 34912.49 43518.64 2
  FrontMarker43 35141.17 77872.13 1
  FrontMarker44 29017.51 48117.74 1
  FrontMarker45 35344.45 43747.33 1
  FrontMarker46 10107.73 97213.47 1
  FrontMarker47 10006.65 95697.31 2
  FrontMarker48 29621.07 70087.81 2
  FrontMarker49 30357.46 70621.06 1
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  FrontMarker52 33785.50 97740.66 2
  FrontMarker53 33709.32 98578.63 1

[IV/JG7_4Shades]

I found this statement in Barratt's book:

The new day dawned overcast, with freezing fog and temperatures a few degrees below zero.

I am proposing the following units be represented for the German side around Zhitomir:

213.Sicherungs-Division
Ost-Reiter Abteilung 403
208.Division
68.Division
SS Kampfgruppe 'Das Reich'
8.Panzer-Division
Kampfgruppe Källner
19.Panzer-Division
Flak-Division 17 (constituted on 31 Dec, so this could be a late-arriving reinforcement unit)
schwere Panzer-Abteilung 509

The following units are already deployed in Korosten:
1 SS Panzer Division 'LSSAH'
7 Panzer Division


I am still identifying Soviet units, but the provisional list is:

15 Rifle Corps
23 Rifle Corps
28 Rifle Corps
76 Rifle Corps
1 Guards Tank Corps

See the following maps:

[242Sqn_Chap]

Scenario 1 was really good, I very much enjoyed the time I spent playing in it.

Sure part 2 will be even better !.

My head is not really in il2 world at the moment so I would not be any kind of asset although I will keep an interested eye upon how this pans out.

[WTE_Ikey]

Charlie , I hope you're not playing Minecraft?

[242Sqn_Chap]

No not minecraft Ikey...
....a fair amount of mechwarrior online though over the last few months though because its quite social...lot of potential for a tactical shooter but its limited in scope currently...

Current obsession though really is checking out a lot of boardgames that have been released in the 20 or so years since I used to play them, using the Vassal engine's PC virtual tabletop.

There are some superb board and wargames out there with incredibly elegant mechanism's that have evolved in the last two decades.

Even more of a timesink recently has been discovering a set of Ancient tabletop wargame rules (Strategos II / Lost battles) that have been translated to vassal.
I have toolbox's full of painted lead 15mm ancient armies from about 2 decades ago (that still won't see the light of day, thats really too much these days but I would never sell them.), however interest in the topic and interest in the state of rule development continues

[Tanker]

Charlie , I hope you're not playing Minecraft?

"Not that there's anything wrong with that"-Seinfeld

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj3VphK9AMk

[IV/JG7_4Shades]

After a little diversion into Iron Front development and meta-SEOW, I am starting to think about Zhitomir again. My intention at this stage is to run the Zhitomir campaign as a joint IL-2 and Iron Front campaign, so that means the existing OOB from Korosten will need to be transformed into a set of ground combat objects that are supported in Iron Front. More on this later.

[greykitten]

It looks a lot like a 1st april post of Barda...
http://www.flibusteairline.com/forums/i ... topic=6426
Keep us informed, i will then get an eye on iron front

[II/JG54_Emil]

This sounds great!

I'd very much like to part as a player.
Do you have already a schedule in mind?

[IV/JG7_4Shades]

Hi greykitten,

I didn't even know about Barda's post, or maybe I did and then I forgot!

For you and Emil, I will post in this forum about campaign development, schedule etc. Probably start around Christmas, about 72 years late!

Cheers,
4S

[greykitten]

Hi 4Shades,
The post of Barda, was a joke on his part, as nearly all post found on this day of the year are (sometimes even in the press).
I'm not sure if the habit of making joke or scheme/fraud the 1 of april is present in your part of the world.

But as the legends often have a bit a truth inside, perhaps it was an idea which was in the air in 2012.

[IV/JG7_4Shades]

LOL!

OK, but what I am talking about is no joke. We will really be doing this.

Cheers,
4S

[II/JG54_Emil]

[...]
For you and Emil, I will post in this forum about campaign development, schedule etc. Probably start around Christmas, about 72 years late!

Cheers,
4S

Excellent!
Got Iron Front installed (incl. D-Day DLC). Got it finally running on my Laptop and am ready and anxiously excited to go.

[IV/JG7_4Shades]

Hi Emil,

You have done the first step Emil, but there is one more step to go. Iron Front is a locked game so it cannot use third-party content (like SEOW-generated maps) with it unless you unlock it. Unlocking Iron Front is a legal process, and it involves importing Iron Front into Arma 2 Combined Operations.

How to do this is explained at the SEOW Wiki under the "meta-SEOW" topic. Specific information is at the meta-SEOW Software Requirements page, which gives a link to the manual install/import procedure with Arma 2. Once you have completed that, you are good to go.

Cheers,
4S

[IV/JG7_4Shades]

In order to play Zhitomir campaign missions in Iron Front, we need to establish a correspondence between object types used in the IL2 missions, and their counterparts in the Iron Front missions. This correspondence is called an Order of Battle Mapping, or OOB Mapping.

By design, the Korosten campaign used a reasonably limited OOB suitable for late-1943 operations in the Ukraine. This is also a sweet spot for Iron Front so we should be able to develop a reasonable OOB mapping for Zhitomir. All surviving Korosten units will be carried forward into the Zhitomir scenario. Below is the mapping I have chosen, based on available Iron Front objects. Remember, there will be no air operations in the Iron Front-hosted missions. Air ops will be confined to IL2-hosted missions.

Zhitomir OOB Mapping



It is not perfect, but I think the flavour of the campaign will be preserved in the Iron Front missions.

Cheers,
4S