Kharkov '43, Krasnyy-Liman or Bust AAR

[MikeC]

Here are the Soviet initial positions from a recent PBEM game of Kharkov '43, 0131 Krasnyy Liman or Bust. You can see the German units visible to the Russian player at start, along with my planned operations for each division. Unit identification colors reflect the colors for the nationality on the jump map, except for a white script over a dark background.  

The Russian 35th Guard Rifle Division was tasked with driving across the Zherebets River, to capture objectives due west of their starting position.


The 195th Rifle Division was tasked with forcing a crossing of the Zherebets, and capturing the town of Torskaya. After the liberation of Torskaya, they would continue to drive west and assist in the assault on Krasnyy Liman, the most important objective on the map.


The 38th Guards Rifle Division was ordered to cross the Zherebets north of Torskaya, bypass that town, and drive directly for Krasnyy Liman.


In the south, the 41st Guards Rifle Division was to drive south and establish a bridgehead across the Severnyy Donets. This was the key operation in the mind of commanders of Southwest Front. 4th Tank Corps would take up positions in the forest just to the north of  41st Guards. Once the bridgehead was established, 4th Tank Corps would cross the Severnyy Donets, capture additional crossing points over the river, and exit the map to the south toward the Sea of Azov.

I should have reminded myself that no plan survives first contact with the enemy.