The Commander Series Forum

Last year afew of us at Portbury Knights gaming club started up a CWC camapign, but it kind of lapsed due ot other commitments. Recently there has been an upsurge of interest so i was digging the narrative intro i originally wrote (the web version got deleted by an over eager webmaster!) and thought people here might enjoy a little read.

It revolves around a ficticious soviet coup in 1989 whihc leads to enevitable tensions and a slow spiral to war over control of West Germany. It was set at this time period to best allow everyone to use their existing models.

I also have a list of scenarios that were event driven that we had gotten through so far, i will try and post this stuff too if people are interested?

Steve S

OPERATION KONIEV'S SPEAR - The Soviet attempt to break NATO control of West Germany

BREAKING NEWS
Mon Oct 19, 1989 8:03am CET

(Reuters) – A statement on behalf of elements of the soviet establishment has been broadcast repeatedly since 7am local time by soviet communist controlled media announcing a change of leadership within the communist ruling party, and calling for calm and a return to traditional soviet ideals. A state of emergency has been declared within the city of Moscow with military units of the Taman guards and other units moving into the city to take up key positions. The current whereabouts and status of Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev remains unknown.



Moscow: struggle for power continues
Tue Oct 20, 1989 11:45am CET

(Reuters) – Western governments continue to watch in consternation as the leaders of the now apparent soviet coup, instigated in the early hours of yesterday morning, made fresh moves to quell internal resistance and bring calm to the streets of Moscow.

With all non-government controlled newspapers and news outlets now under total blackout reliable information as to the de-facto control of the city remains unclear. Eyewitness reports indicate continued efforts to organize demonstrations are scattered and without a central figure head to rally them. The Russian parliament building, expected by many to be a rallying point for resistance remains firmly under military control surrounded by a cordon of elite, heavily armed paratroopers.

Rumours continue to circulate as to the whereabouts of high profile members of the Russian Presidium including Boris Yeltsin and former general Konstantin Kobets, both of whom were seen as modernizers and reformers who could have galvanised resistance to the recent actions. They may well have joined several other missing members of the Russian parliament who are believed to have been detained and since transferred to the infamous Lefortovo prison following arrest.

The US secretary of state called for restraint from the new soviet leadership and a return to power of Mikhail Gorbachev who remains at his black sea dacha, presumably under house arrest. The US administration has ruled out any likelihood of direct intervention in what appears to be an internal soviet dispute.

NATO has confirmed that it has placed forces on a higher state of readiness in response to the fragile situation in the Soviet republic, but insists these are purely precautionary measures.

German unification dream a reality?
Wed Nov 28, 1989 6:10pm CET

(Reuters) – The controversial but increasingly popular West German minister Herbert Grossman has again spoken of the desire of all Germans to see a unified Germany and his belief that quote “the Iron Curtain that has too long divided Europe should be broken down before the march of freedom and Democracy” unquote.

The German Chancellor this evening distanced himself from Herr Grossman’s comments and the White house categorized them as unhelpful.

The comments from Grossman are seen by many as a vocalisation of growing domestic support for unification since the fall of the Berlin wall and appear designed to foster action from European governments at a time when the new soviet leadership, still struggling with internal dissent, would be in a weak position to resist such a policy.

The Polish and Czech governments reacted angrily to the statement today. Despite recent political upheaval and a desire to distance themselves from Soviet control, there remains scepticism and suspicion throughout Eastern Europe of a unified Germany – especially in light of the wording used by Grossman – and this may serve as a rallying call to those segments of both political systems who wish to re-forge damaged relations with the Soviet Union . Many it seems are unwilling to forget history.

NATO has remained in a state of higher readiness throughout this time of heightened tension, which has now been matched by soviet activation of several “Category B” formations throughout the Kiev and Minsk military districts, and has also announced extensions to planned military exercises in East Germany in the coming spring. Soviet claims that the higher readiness is purely a measure to match NATO’s enhanced posture of recent weeks were not accepted by the NATO secretary General who in the past few minutes has called for “a united response” by NATO members.

In further news the Baltic republics of Latvia , Lithuania and Estonia suffered further demonstrations by pro-soviet sections of the community, some of which turned violent.


A Cold wind of change
Fri Feb 20, 1990 11:40pm CET

(Reuters) – East West relations sunk to an unprecedented low today as discussions ended with bitter exchanges between representatives of the new soviet leadership and their US and European counterparts.

The soviet foreign minister expressed anger at the US attempt to delay negotiations over the soviet purchase of US and Canadian grain desperately needed to avoid wide spread food shortages in the coming year, and claimed this amounted to meddling in soviet internal affairs and warned that continued attempts to undermine the “legitimate government of the soviet workers” would not be tolerated.

The US administration warned that continued human rights abuses reported in the soviet republics, and the recent outbreak of armed conflict in the breakaway Baltic republics of Lithuania and Latvia , instigated by pro-soviet forces, could not be ignored.

This latest failure of diplomatic negotiations follows a dramatic month of claim and counter claim with further accusations levelled at European ministers by the Soviet leadership of having a hidden agenda for the reunification of Germany to allow NATO the opportunity to control land further East. The German Chancellor rubbished such claims again today but this appears to have carried little weight with East European counterparts who re-iterated their opposition to such as move.

Western experts have observed that the “bogeyman” issue of German reunification continues to be used as a banner to unite fractured Soviet public support behind the new regime, which many believe has made significant progress in not only restoring calm within the Soviet republics but also in regaining support for hard line communist elements within the Polish and Czechoslovakian halls of power by stoking fears of Western expansionism.


UN intervention lacks conviction
Mon Feb 23, 1991 2:00pm CET

(Reuters) – The UN Secretary General again called for calm and rational action by all governments concerned, but appears to have been largely ignored as both UK and US Departments of Defence announced further activation of reserve formations and instigated plans for deployment of additional air units to West German bases to reinforce “Defensive measures” in the NATO sphere of influence. In response the Soviet Defence ministry announced activation of two more TVD (military zones) within the soviet border and a fresh wave of reservists were called to report for “patriotic defence of the motherland”.

Debate within the UN assembly once more reached no conclusive outcomes, although the establishment of shuttle diplomacy by UN representatives between the East and West was a solitary victory for the beleaguered UN Secretary General who still denies any wrongdoing in the corruption charges levelled against him since May of last year.

The crisis deepens
Thu Feb 26, 1990 1:40pm CET

(Reuters) – The socialist government of East Germany acted today to close all border crossings into West Berlin , with reserve police and border control units put on permanent standby.

The West German government criticized the move as unnecessarily provocative and has apparently ordered the activation of reservist units in response. NATO officials also declared a further heightened state of readiness with several military formations deploying from peacetime barracks to “undisclosed defensive locations.” Western governments stress the precautionary nature of these decisions, yet such action is sure to enflame soviet and East European fears of unilateral Military action from NATO.


Can war be averted?
Fri Feb 27, 1990 10:58am CET

(Reuters) – UN envoys continue frantic meetings in both Moscow , Washington and Bonn today as an increasingly concerned world looks on at the unprecedented military build up and increased readiness of forces in both German states.

US officials today denounced the movement of Soviet Category A and B divisions from Western military districts of Russia across the border into Poland as deliberately provocative, and evidence of an agenda to reinforce the GSFG already arrayed in East Germany with the means to prosecute extended military action.

The Soviet defence minister responded stating their movement was at the request of Polish government officials to reinforce the “security and sovereignty of Polish territory against potential NATO aggression”.

The NATO secretary once again refuted any suggestion that NATO was the aggressor and called again for the organisation to remain undivided. Unnamed sources claim that far from being a united force, the recent whirlwind political changes have put unprecedented stress on the coalition with several member states debating behind closed doors the validity of recent NATO military posturing.

The US administration continued efforts to step up the Reforger program with an ever increasing number of flights across the “air bridge” to Europe to marry personnel up with pre-positioned war stocks of equipment.

Refugees continue to flood westwards from border areas of the German republic along with both US and UK governments taking emergency measures to evacuate families of military personnel as rumours of further NATO deployments to wartime locations circulated.


Calm before the storm
Sat Feb 28, 1990 11:58pm CET

(Reuters) – UN diplomacy continued today, but with no evidence of any break though on either side of the Atlantic these efforts look increasingly hollow.

US officials reiterated once again that all NATO actions were defensive in nature and pointed to a catalogue of accusations regarding Soviet preparations covering the past four weeks that indicate a “continued and persistent preparation for war”.

The Soviet Foreign minister again recited the historical precedent of barbarity and invasion of Eastern lands in the name of expansion by Western powers, claiming all Soviet actions to date have been in response to “clear and definite intentions by NATO to reunify Germany and bring Warsaw pact countries under their influence by offensive military action.”

Rumours abound today that former Russian presidium deputy Boris Yeltsin was executed in the past few days along with other reformist members of the Russian parliament that had refused to stand behind the current Soviet leadership. Many Western experts point to Yeltsin’s strong reformist policies of recent years as evidence that he was part of a growing change within the Soviet State towards a more open society, something which may never be realised following the August coup.

One observer bitterly commented, “History may have been very different if only Yeltsin had not been arrested in the early hours of that fateful August day.”

I think it is worth posting the scenarios Steve, or even contacting Pete directly and seeing if he can put these in the scenarios section of the site.

Without wishing to embarass Steve, he has done a great job on coming up with really good background fluff (shame our webmaster and chairman deleted the original stuff) and then woven around some lovely scenarios that are great fun to play. Unless you are on the receiving end of thermobarics that is.

Steve J.

I'd like to see the scenarios too Steve - your background is great; I love this approach to gaming - it's what Dean really worked hard on when we did our "Chinese Dawn" stuff a couple years ago & adds a good deal to the tabletop battles.

Looking forward to seeing these

The scenarios are great. Hopefully playing the next saga next Friday. Watch this space.

Great background, really sets the scene.
Like the others I'm itching to see the scenarios and hear what happened next.

Okey dokey then... the story so far. In planning the campaign i'm starting from using the set scenarios in the book, with only minor alterations here and there until we have a firmer grasp of what works for us, and what we feel like changing. Basically results in a round of games determines the effect on the overall operational situation around Hannover (where the campaign is set). There is also a cool map which gets updated periodically but i'm not sure how to get it uploaded here. In addition to the game results for the direct campaign sector, i roll D6's to generate events and battle results for the sectors both north and south of the campaign area. This then helps feed into the overall strategic situation and helps generate ideas for further developing the situation.

War in Europe
Sun Mar 1, 1990 6:03am CET

(Reuters) – Hostilities opened this morning with widespread soviet air and artillery bombardments across the German border divide with reports of soviet and Warsaw Pact forces penetrating into West German territory along several axis of advance.

US and western European governments have condemned the military action in the strongest possible terms while Soviet sources continue to claim the action is a pre-emptive strike to disrupt NATO offensive plans and therefore quote “purely defensive” unquote.



SCENARIO – CROSSING THE WIRE
As a prelude to the main Soviet advance, formations of reconnaissance units follow close behind the rolling artillery barrage intent on securing key road networks and identifying weaknesses in the NATO forward positions ready for exploitation.

No limit on number of games played
Use scenario “breakthrough Attack” from the rule book
Soviet attacker - NATO defender
2,500 vs 1,250 points
Table should be 4” wide x 5-6” deep

Special rules:
Formations on both sides should ideally represent light units which are the NATO first line of defence confronting Soviet reconnaissance units probing forward ahead of the main forces. The task for these formations is to secure the local road network and to clear weak NATO resistance in preparation for the following main force, rather than holding specific locations. Double the restrictions on recce units for both sides, also, use the rules on p.52 for giving recce type units standard combat abilities.
Any three units can occupy the final third of the board (rather than just infantry).


ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO – ASSAULT ON WOLFSBURG
The small town of Wolfsburg sits within 5 miles of the West/East German divide and is a critical junction of both the road and rail network in this area. As such NATO has committed several units to a forward defence of this area. The Soviets make an early attempt to take control of this key position.

One game only can be the initial assault on Wolfsburg
Use scenario “Assault” from the rule book with the objective being a portion of the town, preferably near to a stretch of main road

Soviet attacker - NATO defender
3,500 vs 1,750 points
Table should be 5-6” wide (dependant on force size) x 4” deep

Result of first round of games was Wolfsburg held, and NATO generally held up well in delaying the soviets.

SCENARIO – THE FIRST BLOWS
Having penetrated the covering forces, Soviet divisions are now engaging the NATO Main Line of Resistance. The vital hours gained by the delaying forces mean NATO has a firm defence in place covering key sectors of the frontline.

SCENARIO A
No limit on number of games played.
Use Scenario “Assault” from the book to capture objectives that control the local road network (i.e. placed near, or directly on a road).
Soviet attacker - NATO defender

Recommendations:
Minimum 3,500 vs 1,750 points
Battles should represent soviet motor rifle regiments probing the NATO positions to find a weakness before the waiting tank regiments are committed to battle.
Table should be 5-6” wide (dependant on force size) x 4” deep
An option for 2 vs 2 multiplayer game is 2 battle groups each side, with 2 objectives on a 10-12” wide table]

Special Rules:
Due to the success of the NATO covering forces, the NATO commanders have a good idea of the main soviet lines of attack and have arranged forces to suit. Therefore, when rolling on the random point’s modifier NATO player should count -10% results as no change.

SCENARIO B
Up to two games can be scenario B
Use Scenario “Breakthrough” from the book to represent the weigh of Soviet numbers reinforcing the initial attack where success has been achieved, in an attempt to force a decisive breach in NATO lines.

Recommendations:
Minimum 4,000 vs 2,000 points or see below
Table should be 4” wide x 5-6” deep (dependant on force size) to give defence in depth

Special Rules:
Scenario A & B can be played as linked scenarios. If the Soviet player wins scenario A, they can elect to play a linked scenario B with the following effect on forces available. To represent the immediate continuation of the battle, losses sustained in scenario A effect the forces available to both sides in scenario B. i.e. Scenario B will contain 3,000 vs 1,500 points plus survivors from scenarios A (these can be re-organised for more complete units), or, Scenario B will use relevant army points less the number of points lost as casualties in scenario A.


ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO – CONFUSION AT EHMEN
With the strike at Wolfsburg halted, the Soviets attempt a flanking attack to envelope the town. NATO launches a brigade sized spoiling attack designed to disrupt the soviet assault, leading to both formations becoming embroiled in a whirlwind combat in which victory is determined simply by survival.

One game only can represent the NATO counterattack, just south of Wolfsburg
Use Scenario “Counterattack” from the rulebook
NATO attacker - Soviet Defender
4,500 vs 3,000 points

Results of the second round of games were decisively in the Soviet favour - a major breakthrough occurred in the south of the BAOR sector.

Leading to...

OPERATION CAVALIER
The Soviet 20th Red Banner Guards Army has broken through the British line at Salzgitter and continues to push westwards against splintering resistance. Lead elements of the 25th and 32nd Tank Divisions are pushing North West up Autobahn 7 towards Hildesheim and from there, presumably, Hannover. British 4th Division has moved forward from reserve with 19th Brigade setting up blocking positions on the road outside Hildesheim while 11th Brigade has joined the 22nd Brigade/1st Div to launch a counter-attack into the flank of the Soviet advance, Operation Cavalier.

11th Brigade prepares a two pronged strike to secure Salzgitter and then set up blocking positions to protect the flank of the main British thrust southwards by 22nd Brigade aimed at Holle to cut Autobahn 7 behind the soviet spearhead.


SCENARIO A - SALZGITTER
Two games can represent the British attempt to re-take Salzgitter from Soviet motor rifle troops who have quickly dug in around the town after securing it.

Use Scenario “Assault” from the book to capture the objective of Saltzgitter, a built up area lying on Autobahn 39 South west of Braunchweig. This is an important objective required to secure the flank of the main British attack.

British attacker
Soviet defender

Recommendations:
4,000 vs 2,000 or 4,500 vs 2,250 points
Table should be 5-6” wide x 4” deep

SCENARIO B – THE MAIN THRUST
One game only can represent the main British assault south towards the junction of Autobahn 7 and Autobahn 39.

Use Scenario “Exploitation” * from the book to represent the hasty assault aimed at cutting the main road behind the Soviet spearhead. The initial objective is Phase line Bravo, running just North of Autobahn 7. Securing this area will allow the British to exert a zone of control over the Autobahn junction. The subsequent objective is Holle, South of Autobahn 7, designated Objective Leicester. The taking of Holle will firmly cut the Autobahn route and provide a jumping off point for further counter offensive action.

*(While “Exploitation” does not well describe the operation in question, the constraints on British scheduled artillery represent the improvised nature of the attack, planned at short notice. Similarly the lack of availability of soviet off table arty and prepared defences represents the mobile stance and general lack of preparation of the soviet flank forces at the time the attack hits).

British attacker
Soviet defender

Recommendations:
5-6,000 vs 2,500-3,000 points
Table should be 4” wide x 6” deep to give depth of penetration required to achieve the objective.

Table should have a main road running East-West in the final 3rd of the board representing Autobahn 7, with a spur coming off in a North East direction for autobahn 39, a built up area can be placed near the south/south west edge of the board to show Holle.

Other scenarios will be decided following the results from these games.

I actually had a full table drawn up that pre-determined the next round of games according to who won which scenarios, or which were drawn.

The result of this set of games was that the main British thrust worked spectacularly, unfortunately the britsh action to recover salzgitter and protect the flank was a disaster. As a result the main british force is now dangerously exposed and the Soviets feel confident enough to continue their attack on Hildersheim safe in the knowledge that follow on forces can open the supply route again, leading to..

"With the flanking force’s failure to secure Salzgitter 11th Brigade, which has secured Holle on schedule, finds itself dangerously exposed. Forward elements of 3rd Shock tank army, following up the success of 20th Guards, are pushing through the still Soviet controlled town of Salzgitter with the intention of re-opening the Autobahn route. With the situation heavily confused the lead soviet tank regiment rushes headlong into the flank of the British battle group who find themselves with no time to prepare suitable defences and no choice but to engage the soviet formation in a battle of manoeuvre.

Meanwhile forward units of 20th Guards army, with support of airmobile units continue to push at Hildersheim and towards the Leine with the intention of either clearing the route to Hannover, or securing bridgeheads over the Leine to the West that would allow the city to be outflanked."


SCENARIO – BULLDOG VS THE BEAR
This scenario represents the clash of 11th Brigade armour and the approaching soviet tank regiment.

Recommendations:
Large meeting engagement minimum 6,000 vs 6,000 so a chance for lots of toys on the table!
Both sides use mobile deployment.
Minimum infantry restrictions lifted to allow armour heavy nature of the combatants.
Table should be 6-8” wide x 4” deep

Special rules:
Use hidden deployment rules for both sides to represent lack of good intelligence.


SCENARIO – HILDERSHEIM
Up to 3 games can represent the Struggle for Hildersheim where combined elements of 25th Tank and 35th Motor Rifle divisions attempt to bludgeon through 19 Brigade that has dug in around the town with heavy engineer support and the advanced guard of French formations moving to block both the road to Hannover and the shortest route to the Leine River.

Use scenario 4 “Deliberate attack” for the defence of Hildersheim
British/French defender
Soviet attacker

Recommendations:
4-5,000 vs 2-2,500
Table should be 4” wide x 6” deep to give defence in depth
Players should use paper or other suitable markers to represent the various defences available for fixed defence if relevant models are not available

One game only can be substituted for a counter attack (scenario 3) with NATO playing attacker and soviet defender (4,500 vs 3,000pts).

Europe at war
Thu Mar 5, 1990 2:50pm CET

(Reuters) – Conflict continues in earnest across Europe with the armies of the Warsaw Pact hammering NATO forces in multiple sectors of the front in Germany.

Elsewhere in Europe Norway once again experienced savage air bombardments in the Northern most part of the country as part of the ongoing attempts by the Soviet Union to contest control of the North Atlantic and bring pressure to bear on the supply link to America. With Bulgaria and Romania both refusing to take part in aggressive action in Southern Europe Soviet air and naval forces in the Black sea and Crimea seem content to patrol aggressively while releasing ground troops to reinforce the German front. Despite protestations to the contrary by the NATO secretary it appears that with no threat of direct attack against them Greece and Turkey still refuse to co-operate in military action leaving the US 6th fleet to harass the Soviets but without the strength to make good on any achievements.

In the pacific US and Japanese Defence forces remain on high alert but as yet no serious engagements have been reported. Instead naval units continue a deadly game of cat and mouse in the vast ocean, neither side willing to commit to a high risk engagement. China and North Korea both seem content to avoid any part of the current hostilities, perhaps waiting to see who will gain the upper hand.

In further world news, there is concern among Arab leaders following Saddam Hussein’s deployment of two divisions of the Republican Guard to the Kuwaiti border. Following the eight year long Iran-Iraq war, Saddam has struggled to rebuild the shattered Iraqi economy and has repeatedly pressured OPEC to raise oil prices during the international crisis in an effort to gain more revenue. The continued refusal of the OPEC countries to heed his demands has lead to more direct threats from the totalitarian Iraqi leader.

Iraqi dissidents speaking from Syria claim Saddam has long coveted control of the rich Kuwaiti sheikdom and had plans in place for an invasion in the coming summer, but may have brought the timetable forward to capitalise on the world situation. The US state department brushed aside concerns that this could spread international conflict to the Middle East stating that the Iraqi action was of no immediate concern and would be contained by diplomatic means.

Iraq currently maintains the worlds 4th largest army with approximately 1,000,000 men under arms.

Thats all the info uptodate.

The last news bulletin just a nice little info blitz regarding the world situation. Sneaking in the possibility of an early Iraqi invasion of Kuwait gives opportunities to bleed US power away from Europe and thus affect air superiority etc in the campaign proper. Also opened the possibility for a side mini-campaign with small detachments of NATO forces rapidly shipped to Saudi Arabia to fight Iraqi units to probing the border area.

Will update again when it moves on!

Cracking set of scenarios Steve!

Tempted to try some of these out myself. Me and Julesav have had some huge Central Front battles, a narrative like this would be good to follow.

More to come? Anything happening in Centag with US 7th Corps or Canadian 4th Mech? (Only 'cos I've just finished painting 4CMBG)

Glad you likey! definitely more to come, just a case of finding the time to play the games.

Campaign wise, the actual scenarios are set in the BAOR sector around Hannover. This was due to our NATO players consisting of Brits, Brits, more Brits and one dirty Hun!

The Operational map i have concocted for extra campaign events and development covers from Hamburg in the north to just south of Kassel, so US V & VII corps don't feature directly i'm afraid.

However...

With the addition of a French player i've shoehorned in the transfer of FR II corp to Northag to help plug the leaky defence. No reason the Canadian brigade couldn't follow and be attached to BAOR. Logistically and realistically not too far fetched...

If you wanted to take part i'm sure we can work something out. I post scenarios here, you play 'em and post the results. I can then feed them into the campaign results accordingly.

steve

"No reason the Canadian brigade couldn't follow and be attached to BAOR."

Follow? Dude the Canucks were already there.

Nice scenarios Steve - v coolio

Played out Hildersheim against Steve last night and with the random points bit ended up 6750 v's 2250! Overkill! I broke but had just killed enough to gain a vitory point as well, so a draw was gained! Need more guys to fight these so we can feed em into the campaign generator!

Turns out it was a minor soviet victory: It did feel like a damned steamroller!

I'd love to get the Canadians in on this, Steve!

Next game will *probably* be Friday; it will be the first time on the table though.....(you know what that means!)

Post or PM a scenario and Julesav and I can give it a go.

Cheers

Cueball

The Brits could do with the help I must say: The Soviets seem to have so much stuff most of the time!

"Quantity has a quality all of it's own". Works for me

Paul

Go away Paul! you've stopped going to club for some reason; get your arse back at once!

atCueball

I'm helping mum move house this week so its unlikely i will get anything specific done before next week, but feel free to have a go at the latest scenario up - deliberate attack on hildersheim. We've only played one so far, so plenty of scope for a couple more, or you guys could play the NATO counterattack as the Sov's won the first game.

atStefan

Maybe it has nothing to do with the quantity, just the players...

steve