Kharkov '43, Krasnyy-Liman or Bust AAR

[MikeC]

The once proud 41st Guards Rifle Division had crossed the Severnyy Donets and seized their objective. It had appeared that all was going according to plan. But they made the mistake of fanning units out to the southeast of the bridge (the hex the survivors occupy in the screen shot above.) This made the "fan out" hex a possible retreat route. 27th Panzer assaulted the objective, taking it back from the guardsmen. The following turn, they assaulted the guardsmen south of the bridge and drove them away from the bridge, isolating them. These two assaults, in effect, sealed the destruction of the 41st Guards units on the south bank of the Donets.

This "fanning out" maneuver was (in my opinion) my major tactical mistake of the game (among many mistakes, I assure you). I welcome any questions or (especially) comments on this "fan out" maneuver.

My major operational mistake occurred just to the north of this sector. Two brigades of the 4th Guards Tank Corps spent the entire first day of the offensive waiting in the forest to the north of this area. When it became apparent that there would be no crossing in the 41st Guards sector, they pulled out and headed for crossing points south of Torskaya. But the Red Army had been deprived of their mobility and firepower for an entire day, for absolutely no gain.

(Note, the screen shot marks elements of the 12th Guards Tank Brigade. This was actually the 14th Guards Tank, as the 12th Tank was to the north, fixed in place),