Gaming Barbarossa: July 1941
Note: This is the second in a series of posts on my replay of the Barbarossa scenario in GMT Games' The Dark Valley.
Even though the “action” of The Dark Valley Deluxe Edition is driven by a chit-pull mechanic, there is still a sequence of play with multiple “phases” for each game turn. Game Turn Two (July 1941) begins with the Reinforcement/Replacement Phase. The Germans (which I will now also refer to as the Axis since German allied countries now start come into play) receive 5 fresh infantry corps, a bunch of infantry divisions and a motorized division. The Soviets, still reeling from the initial onslaught of Barbarossa, receive 5 infantry armies (roughly equivalent to a German infantry corps) and a mechanized corps. The Axis also receives 4 infantry steps as replacements; these will be used to help offset the 7 steps they lost in Turn One.
After these units are placed by each side, Axis first, then the Soviets, comes the Air Base Phase. The Soviets have no air power at this stage of the game (it was almost completely destroyed by the German Luftwaffe, abstractly represented in Turn One). The German air units positioned in Greater Germany are already either at the limit of their range or out of range to support operations. So they will change base this turn, which means they cannot offer air support at all. Air bases must be placed in controlled towns or cities.
The Strategic Movement Phase is next. This is for rail and naval movement by each side and Soviet have some Air Drop capability. Most of this is only allowed later in the game so we will skip it for this turn.
Then we come to the Action Phase, where we start drawing chits randomly. The number and nature of the available chits change as the game continues. For this turn the Soviets are still hampered and only have one Move and one Counterattack chit to draw. The Germans, however, are at their peak in terms of their capabilities for the next three turns (months); they have 2 Move/Combat chits to go along with one for each of their 4 Panzer Armies (technically, they were called “Groups” at this stage of the war). Plus, the 1st and 2nd Panzer Armies receive an extra chit, which means they get to operate twice per turn in addition to moving and/or fighting when a general Move/Combat chit is drawn. This makes for a lot of action on the German side.
One side or the other possesses "initiative" at the beginning of each turn of The Dark Valley. The player with the initiative gets to hand pick which action chit is played first on any given turn, a simple mechanic that reflects strategic momentum. The Axis control the initiative at the beginning of the game, but the Soviets will seize it during the winter turns and also on most turns later in the game.
In this case, the Axis has initiative and chooses a Move/Combat chit. The player has a choice to either move all units or conduct combat. The Axis will move this time. You can only have general movement or combat once per turn, so even though the Axis has 2 such chits in the random draw cup the next time Move/Combat is drawn combat is the only option. This move allows for the panzers to setup future attacks and for the infantry to shorten their distance from the panzers.
Now we return to random chit draws. The next chit is the 4th Panzer Army. A Panzer Army HQ can activate all units within 3 hexes. The way this works is the units may either attack (including infantry) and then move or they may move but then only attack with the armored/mechanized units. Since this group has outrun its infantry for now, it chooses to move and then attack. By running around the Soviet units (which do not have any units projecting zones of control on this part of the map, otherwise the panzers would have to stop) and attacking the Soviets in their rear, they basically cut off their retreat options and increase the probability of eliminating units forced to retreat.
After this the Move chit for the Soviets is drawn. This allows the player to consolidate the large but scattered interior forces. Formidable lines of defense in depth are established in the south before Kiev and, even more so, in the center before Smolensk. In the north, I chose to send fewer reinforcements in Turn Two so the line is less defined. My sense is that the road to Moscow and Kiev should take priority at this point in the game. Since infantry units may add +2 movement points when they move as long as they never enter an enemy zone of control, the more distant infantry gets to move 6 hexes instead of the usual 4. Like everything else the patient Soviet player does early on, these few extra hexes will add up over time.
This is followed by draws of the 2nd and then the 3rd Panzer Army chits. The Axis attacks and then moves in the first sequence, while choosing to move and then attack in the second sequence. This causes a few casualties including the first panzer step loss as the Axis bashes into the large ‘blob’ of Soviet defenders amassed on the Moscow Road to the west of Smolensk. Mostly, this is positioning for future operations and there are no major breakthroughs anywhere. The Axis awaits air support which will come in the August turn before attempting to deal with the situation on that part of the map.
Next the Axis’ other Move/Combat chit is drawn. Since this can trigger only have one Move or one Combat per turn and since earlier this turn Move was chosen, this time it means Combat. The German infantry along the Baltic coast attempt to capture the ports of Liepaja and Ventspils, succeeding only in taking the first one. A lone Soviet infantry division still defends the other. Clean-up operations in the north and center lead to the elimination of a number of isolated Soviet units. The main attack in the center achieves only modest results.
In the south, the isolated Soviet forces are still too strong for the available infantry to clean-up. So the Germans choose to let them die on the vine whenever the Logistics chit is drawn rather than risk incurring casualties. Vinnitsa is captured, increasing the Axis VP total to 19. Otherwise there is little other action in the Kiev area. Further south, the Romanians get into the fight and cause some minor Soviet losses on the approach to the large port of Odessa.
Now the Soviet Counterattack chit is pulled. Two dice are rolled, yielding a 6. Stalin mandates 6 counterattacks this turn. The Soviets are free to move forces around for these attacks. Everything that moves has to attack, however. These inflict a couple of step losses on the Axis. Having fallen earlier in the turn, Vitebsk is retaken by the Soviets.
Neither of the two 1st Panzer chits has been drawn yet, but one of them is put into play next. The attacks are negligible, the panzers choosing to play it safe and remain within range of their closest supply depot.
Which turns out to be a good thing because the next chit drawn is Logistics. Both sides check to see if they have Lines of Supply and Lines of Communications. If they are within communication but not supply then they are marked Out Of Supply (OOS). If they cannot trace a Line of Communications, like so many Soviets in Turn One, they are marked Isolated. These designations reduce the unit’s range of movement and also negatively affects them in combat. They become much easier to kill.
But, of major consequence, the 2nd and 3rd Panzer Armies go Out of Supply, being too far advanced for the supply line. This will likely curtail their capabilities significantly in Turn Three. Normally, some of them could be resupplied by German air units but all those units are “Done” for this turn due to changing bases earlier. This is an ominous development, favoring the Soviets.
The second 1st Panzer chit is then drawn. Since the Logistics chit is out of the way, now these units can afford to be bolder, they will remain in supply for the rest of this turn regardless of how they move. But, with no way to isolate any significant number of Soviet forces, they chose to play it conservatively in their approach on Kiev from the south.
Finally, the second 2nd Panzer chit come into play. Since these units are all OOS they merely adjust their position to make it easier to defend. Attacking can still succeed but there is a much greater risk of attacker casualties. Also, if attacked, they are more likely to lose steps. They are in a precarious situation.
That concludes the Action Phase of Turn Two. We move on to the Attrition Phase. In this case, several previously Isolated Soviet units adjacent German infantry are eliminated, the various pockets being effectively cleaned up. The Axis rolls on the Axis Depot Advance Table and gets a movement allowance of 6 hexes. The various Supply Depots advance along their respective rail lines.
In the End Phase, victory points are checked. The Axis stands at 18; respectable but not enough to win the game yet. The Soviet player receives two “City Defense” markers at the end of this turn. Throughout 1941 all Cities are considered Towns for defense purposes. Whereas a Town increases the total defense factor of units in it by +1, a City cuts mechanized attack factors in half and also gives a column shift in favor of the defender. 6-1 attacks become 5-1 in cities. So the difference between the two terrain types is significant.
With these City Defense markers, the Soviet player makes any city in which they are placed count as a City not as a Town in 1941. Once placed, the marker remains there until the city is captured. The only caveat in this turn is that one of the markers must be placed in Kiev as long as it has not fallen. This helps reflect Stalin’s historic paranoia about the Ukraine possibly rebelling during the Axis invasion. I chose to put the other marker in Vitebsk, as the Soviets try to make a stand there.
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| Army Group North at the beginning of Turn Two - July 1941. |
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| At the end of the turn. The Supply Depots have moved up and most of the Baltic coast is cleared. The advance toward Leningrad is ready to continue. |
After these units are placed by each side, Axis first, then the Soviets, comes the Air Base Phase. The Soviets have no air power at this stage of the game (it was almost completely destroyed by the German Luftwaffe, abstractly represented in Turn One). The German air units positioned in Greater Germany are already either at the limit of their range or out of range to support operations. So they will change base this turn, which means they cannot offer air support at all. Air bases must be placed in controlled towns or cities.
The Strategic Movement Phase is next. This is for rail and naval movement by each side and Soviet have some Air Drop capability. Most of this is only allowed later in the game so we will skip it for this turn.
Then we come to the Action Phase, where we start drawing chits randomly. The number and nature of the available chits change as the game continues. For this turn the Soviets are still hampered and only have one Move and one Counterattack chit to draw. The Germans, however, are at their peak in terms of their capabilities for the next three turns (months); they have 2 Move/Combat chits to go along with one for each of their 4 Panzer Armies (technically, they were called “Groups” at this stage of the war). Plus, the 1st and 2nd Panzer Armies receive an extra chit, which means they get to operate twice per turn in addition to moving and/or fighting when a general Move/Combat chit is drawn. This makes for a lot of action on the German side.
One side or the other possesses "initiative" at the beginning of each turn of The Dark Valley. The player with the initiative gets to hand pick which action chit is played first on any given turn, a simple mechanic that reflects strategic momentum. The Axis control the initiative at the beginning of the game, but the Soviets will seize it during the winter turns and also on most turns later in the game.
In this case, the Axis has initiative and chooses a Move/Combat chit. The player has a choice to either move all units or conduct combat. The Axis will move this time. You can only have general movement or combat once per turn, so even though the Axis has 2 such chits in the random draw cup the next time Move/Combat is drawn combat is the only option. This move allows for the panzers to setup future attacks and for the infantry to shorten their distance from the panzers.
Now we return to random chit draws. The next chit is the 4th Panzer Army. A Panzer Army HQ can activate all units within 3 hexes. The way this works is the units may either attack (including infantry) and then move or they may move but then only attack with the armored/mechanized units. Since this group has outrun its infantry for now, it chooses to move and then attack. By running around the Soviet units (which do not have any units projecting zones of control on this part of the map, otherwise the panzers would have to stop) and attacking the Soviets in their rear, they basically cut off their retreat options and increase the probability of eliminating units forced to retreat.
After this the Move chit for the Soviets is drawn. This allows the player to consolidate the large but scattered interior forces. Formidable lines of defense in depth are established in the south before Kiev and, even more so, in the center before Smolensk. In the north, I chose to send fewer reinforcements in Turn Two so the line is less defined. My sense is that the road to Moscow and Kiev should take priority at this point in the game. Since infantry units may add +2 movement points when they move as long as they never enter an enemy zone of control, the more distant infantry gets to move 6 hexes instead of the usual 4. Like everything else the patient Soviet player does early on, these few extra hexes will add up over time.
This is followed by draws of the 2nd and then the 3rd Panzer Army chits. The Axis attacks and then moves in the first sequence, while choosing to move and then attack in the second sequence. This causes a few casualties including the first panzer step loss as the Axis bashes into the large ‘blob’ of Soviet defenders amassed on the Moscow Road to the west of Smolensk. Mostly, this is positioning for future operations and there are no major breakthroughs anywhere. The Axis awaits air support which will come in the August turn before attempting to deal with the situation on that part of the map.
Next the Axis’ other Move/Combat chit is drawn. Since this can trigger only have one Move or one Combat per turn and since earlier this turn Move was chosen, this time it means Combat. The German infantry along the Baltic coast attempt to capture the ports of Liepaja and Ventspils, succeeding only in taking the first one. A lone Soviet infantry division still defends the other. Clean-up operations in the north and center lead to the elimination of a number of isolated Soviet units. The main attack in the center achieves only modest results.
In the south, the isolated Soviet forces are still too strong for the available infantry to clean-up. So the Germans choose to let them die on the vine whenever the Logistics chit is drawn rather than risk incurring casualties. Vinnitsa is captured, increasing the Axis VP total to 19. Otherwise there is little other action in the Kiev area. Further south, the Romanians get into the fight and cause some minor Soviet losses on the approach to the large port of Odessa.
Now the Soviet Counterattack chit is pulled. Two dice are rolled, yielding a 6. Stalin mandates 6 counterattacks this turn. The Soviets are free to move forces around for these attacks. Everything that moves has to attack, however. These inflict a couple of step losses on the Axis. Having fallen earlier in the turn, Vitebsk is retaken by the Soviets.
Neither of the two 1st Panzer chits has been drawn yet, but one of them is put into play next. The attacks are negligible, the panzers choosing to play it safe and remain within range of their closest supply depot.
Which turns out to be a good thing because the next chit drawn is Logistics. Both sides check to see if they have Lines of Supply and Lines of Communications. If they are within communication but not supply then they are marked Out Of Supply (OOS). If they cannot trace a Line of Communications, like so many Soviets in Turn One, they are marked Isolated. These designations reduce the unit’s range of movement and also negatively affects them in combat. They become much easier to kill.
But, of major consequence, the 2nd and 3rd Panzer Armies go Out of Supply, being too far advanced for the supply line. This will likely curtail their capabilities significantly in Turn Three. Normally, some of them could be resupplied by German air units but all those units are “Done” for this turn due to changing bases earlier. This is an ominous development, favoring the Soviets.
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| Army Group Center faces a mass of Soviet defenders before Smolensk at the start of the turn. Minsk is isolated but not cleared, this will bode ill for the Axis later in the turn as the advanced panzers are beyond supply range. |
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| It was a mistake on my part to opt to move both of the German air units from Warsaw to Minsk this turn. One air unit should have been held back, this would have allowed some of the now OOS units to have been supplied via air. This could be very costly in how the rest of the game plays out. |
Finally, the second 2nd Panzer chit come into play. Since these units are all OOS they merely adjust their position to make it easier to defend. Attacking can still succeed but there is a much greater risk of attacker casualties. Also, if attacked, they are more likely to lose steps. They are in a precarious situation.
That concludes the Action Phase of Turn Two. We move on to the Attrition Phase. In this case, several previously Isolated Soviet units adjacent German infantry are eliminated, the various pockets being effectively cleaned up. The Axis rolls on the Axis Depot Advance Table and gets a movement allowance of 6 hexes. The various Supply Depots advance along their respective rail lines.
In the End Phase, victory points are checked. The Axis stands at 18; respectable but not enough to win the game yet. The Soviet player receives two “City Defense” markers at the end of this turn. Throughout 1941 all Cities are considered Towns for defense purposes. Whereas a Town increases the total defense factor of units in it by +1, a City cuts mechanized attack factors in half and also gives a column shift in favor of the defender. 6-1 attacks become 5-1 in cities. So the difference between the two terrain types is significant.
With these City Defense markers, the Soviet player makes any city in which they are placed count as a City not as a Town in 1941. Once placed, the marker remains there until the city is captured. The only caveat in this turn is that one of the markers must be placed in Kiev as long as it has not fallen. This helps reflect Stalin’s historic paranoia about the Ukraine possibly rebelling during the Axis invasion. I chose to put the other marker in Vitebsk, as the Soviets try to make a stand there.
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| Army Group South at the beginning of the turn, trying to get around the Soviet defensive line and isolate more units. |
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| The way the chits were pulled, things didn't work out for any encirclements. But the stage is set for a potential Battle of Kiev next turn. |
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