Large Encirclements in PzC

[James Ward]

I have only played short/medium scenarios in various other PzC, so I am curious to know if the Minsk 44 campaign game really carves up AGC.

Unless the Germans start to retreat immediately they are lucky to be able to salvage more than a handful of their front line divisions in the GC. Even if they start to retreat from the start they will be severely hammered. I think somone posted an end game result once and there had been ~200,000 german casualties during the game.
Playing Minsk as the Germans reminds me of playing Russia at the start of Barbarossa, you just have to keep taking in on the chin turn after turn. It's a real challenge.

[Rev Rico]

Minsk fails in its VP levels for HTH play. No matter how careful the Germans are in withdrawing they will lose by giving up too many LVPs. I lost a game on turn 54 even though the Russians suffered very high combat losses and the Germans had retreated in order. Problem was I surrended too many locations.

[von Nev]

See the linked thread that has the results of our M44 campaign. It was brutal.

https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards...645&page=1

We did not play the stock campaign. The Germans can't win (and should not win based on history). We played the Sgt Fury adjusted campaign that dramatically increased German strength by about 10 divisions including three SS divisions. It was the only way to give the Germans a chance. In my campaign I slowly retreated in stages to the various river lines. Minsk was not threatened except for the southern breakthrough that eventually was pocketed. The center front started to collapse about 10 turns from the end.

Great campaign. Highly recommend it.

Marty

[Steel God]

It might be worth doing some reading up on encirclement battles of WWII. I believe you will discover that pockets were never very tight, and trapped troops escaping in drips and and drabs is the norm; on all fronts, through almost all phases of the war (more so early on when the Germans were the practitioners since their forces lacked the mobility of the late war allied forces).