Ponyri Campaign in the Works

[KG_Jag]

Jason C over at Battlefront tells us this about his work in process:

"[It is a] series of linked scenarios to offer, which do something a little different. The basic idea is to follow a particular German force through stages of a campaign, with that force taking progressive losses (as in an operation, say) while their opponents do not, since they represent a whole series of different opponents that unit faced.

It is called the Ponyri Campaign, and it depicts part of the main German assault against the north face of the Kursk salient. This is the ride of the Elephants in a campaign form. I want to show how they were actually stopped, which requires cumulative wear and tear on their supporting cast over half a dozen battles.

The procedure is, the German side starts each game - after the first - by first opening the editor and removing any forces he lost in the previous fights. He then saves and exits and starts the game with his reduced force. Obviously he should not look at anything else (Russian forces or map etc). If you like, a campaign ref can do this for you, but that is not necessary if you can trust the German player. (And if you can't, get a new opponent lol).

The Germans are expected to win every fight in order to keep going, with the exception of the first small recon scenario. If they are stopped once after that, they have been stopped. (You may continue the campaign to see what would happen, of course). So, as the German commander you must win every tactical fight but also husband your force for all the later ones - the lower your losses in the early scenarios, the bigger your force will be for the critical later ones.

The first fight - a tiny one - gives overall briefings. There is also a readme in the zip for the campaign, and some designers notes (which should be read *after*, not before or during, the campaign, as they give some things away). Here is a list of the scenarios -

PC Recon - Dawn on 5 July, a German advance guard drives in outpost positions of the Russian 81st Rifle division.

PC Break In - Later in the morning of 5 July, the main assault begins. First full sized scenario.

PC Second Line - Dusk of the first day, the Germans have advanced as far as the reserve positions of the 81st Rifle division.

PC Into Ponyri - Second day of the offensive, the Germans cross the last fields to seize a foothold in the northern outskirts of the town of Ponyri, along the rail line south to Kursk. The opponents are now from the 307th Rifle division, the second line division in the 29th Rifle Corps.

PC Struggle for Ponyri - Over the next couple days, the Germans fought 307th Rifle division for the heart of the town. The focus of the struggle here is the railway station, which the Germans must take.

PC Little Stalingrad - With the 307th fought out, the Russians send elements of the 18th Guards Rifle corps to counterattack inside Ponyri, trying to retake the train station. Checked here, the German offensive in the north stalled. Germans dubbed Ponyri "little Stalingrad".

All are of a playable scale. You won't see 45 Elephants on a map, don't worry about that. Every unit will count. OK, maybe not every Russian ATR (lol).

I can send the zip to anyone interested. If there is a site that can host this sort of thing, great. I am reluctant to just upload the individual scenarios to the Proving Grounds, since the later ones are not meant to be played as is, without some reduction to the German forces for previous losses. But if people ask me to I will do that."

Here's the link to the Battlefront forum:

http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=003443

[KG_Cloghaun]

Ahh Ponyri,.... how much fun was that? To play an entire campaign multiplayer style would be a must!

[KG_Panzerschreck]

Sounds like it would be a blast to play.