game design by vance von borries table of contents

�Kiev to Rostov PLAYBOOK

© 2008 GMT Games, LLCGMT Games, LLC • P.O. Box 1308, Hanford, CA 93232-1308 • www.GMTGames.com

1.0 Introduction .................................................... 22.0 Game Basics ................................................... 23.0 Special Rules .................................................. 44.0 Special Movement Situations ......................... 65.0 Logistics ......................................................... 76.0 Air Units ......................................................... 97.0 Special Units and Situations ........................... 98.0 Naval Operations ............................................ 99.0 How to Set Up a Scenario .............................. 1010.0 Scenarios 10.1 Rostov Redemmed................................. 11 10.2 Kiev Pocket ........................................... 11

10.3 Battle on the Sea of Azov ...................... 14 10.4 Battle of Sumy ....................................... 15 Battle of Sumy Tutorial .................................. 16 10.5 To Kharkov ............................................ 20 10.6 To Rostov ............................................... 21 10.7 Kiev to Rostov ....................................... 2311.0 Examples of Play ............................................ 2312.0 Designer’s Section .......................................... 2613.0 Developer’s Notes .......................................... 2814.0 Play Notes ....................................................... 29Extended Sequence of Play ...................................... 30

Table of ContentsGame Design by Vance von Borries

� Kiev to Rostov PLAYBOOK

© 2008 GMT Games, LLC

�.0 Introduction�.� Historical SettingAxis plans for the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 called for dividing the invading armies into three parts, each generally representing one German Army Group against one Soviet Direc-tion (strategic grouping of armies). This game presents the southern sector of the Axis invasion. It was in the south that the Germans hoped to achieve their objective of capturing the economic resources necessary to continue the war indefinitely.

�.� General IntroductionBarbarossa: Kiev to Rostov recreates the World War II campaign in the Ukraine, the southwestern part of the Soviet Union, historically from mid-August through early December 1941. One player will control the Axis forces (Germans, Hungarians, Italians, Romanians and Slovakians), while his opponent controls the Soviet forces. The playing pieces represent the actual units that participated in the campaign and the map represents the terrain over which those units fought. The players maneuver their units across the map and conduct combat according to the standard rules of play and the additional rules and scenario instructions found in this Play Book. Here, the Axis player faces the challenge of forcing Soviet armies into the greatest encirclement battle of history and then continuing on to major war-winning objectives in a timely manner. The Soviet player must not only deny the Germans their objectives but also counterat-tack to drive away the hated fascist invaders from his homeland.

�.3 Combining GamesThis game is part of a series of games covering World War II in the Soviet Union. Players should feel free to combine play of this game with that of Barbarossa: Army Group South, (AGS), or Barbarossa: Army Group Center, (AGC), both also published by GMT Games. Kiev to Rostov, (KtR), continues the campaign depicted in AGS at identical scales and shares many of the same historical units. It is anticipated that players would want to explore more historical alternatives with combined play. To facilitate such play, some refer-ences to AGS are found in this Play Book with general guidelines on combining play.

�.0 Game Basics�.� Barbarossa: Kiev to Rostov contains:• Four maps (maps J, K, KK and R)• Separate Scenario Sheet for Scenarios 1 and 4• Three Soviet Set-Up Cards• Two Axis Set-Up Cards• One 11x17 inch folded Chart Card with Combat Results Table,

Terrain Effects Chart, movement charts, artillery and Non-Op HQ charts

• One 11x17 inch folded Chart Card with “How to Read Units” information, air combat, AA fire, interdiction effects, overrun and combat-related charts

• One light blue 11x17 inch folded Chart Card with Scenario Tables, Victory Conditions and a second Combat results Table

• One 8 and 1/2 x 11 Card with Turn Record track and Weather Table

• Two Air Unit Status/Unit Rebuilding Cards (one each for Soviet [tan] and Axis [gray])

• Cards 1120 die-cut counters in four counter sheets• One ten-sided die

�.� The Game Maps�.�� Maps are used in varying combinations:a. Scenario 1 uses the Separate Scenario Sheet.b. Scenario 2 uses Maps J, K, and KK.c. Scenario 3 uses Map J.d. Scenario 4 uses the Separate Scenario Sheet.e. Scenario 5 uses Maps J, K, KK, and R.f. Scenario 6 uses Map R.g. Scenario 7 uses Maps J, K, KK, and R.

�.�� Placement Sequence

• Place Map J first

• Map K overlaps Map J

• Map KK overlaps Maps K and J

• Map R overlaps Maps J and KK

• The Separate Scenario Sheet contains a map section from Map R to allow play of Scenario 1, and a map section from Map KK to allow play of Scenario 4.

�.�3 When using two or more maps, align them so that the hex row or columns on each common edge overlap onto the adjoining map.

�.�4 Unnumbered half hexes on any exposed map edge are not available for play.

�.�5 Only regional borders are shown. The Soviet Union border is not shown.

�.�6 The Map-V Holding BoxThis represents a large geographical region adjoining game map KK where no map currently exists. It is for use by Soviet game units only. The holding box is on the back of Soviet Set-Up Card One

Note: The actual Map V will be found in a later game in this se-ries.

a. Any Soviet ground unit can move to and from the Map-V Holding Box. Axis units cannot enter it or attack Soviet units there.

b. The Soviet player can place as many units as he desires in the Map-V Holding Box. There is no stacking limit. Units might be placed there At Start or as reinforcements. Units enter or leave only through the east edge of Map KK. Units enter the Box by moving to an east edge hex of Map KK and then spending one movement point to enter the Box. Units leave the Box by spending the terrain movement point cost for the edge hex they first enter on the east edge of Map KK. East edge hexes that are overlapped by Map R cannot be used for transfer to or from Map-V Holding Box. Soviet units can retreat off Map KK into the Holding Box.

DESIGN NOTE: Units in the Box cannot interact directly with Map R since that was a different command.

3Kiev to Rostov PLAYBOOK


c. The Map-V Holding Box provides General Supply during the supply determination phase to all units there.

d. A Soviet artillery unit in the Map-V Holding Box can conduct fire support combat on any hex on Map KK within its range from the east map edge. Count the edge hexrow as the first hex. Only one such artillery unit can support any one combat per combat phase; it does not require Attack Supply.

e. Axis units cannot enter the easternmost hexrow of Map KK at any time in any hex north of the intersection of maps KK and R.

DESIGN NOTE: Should the Axis player choose to pursue Soviet units off of Map KK east of Kharkov, this restriction prevents the Axis player from artificially creating an interlocking line of Axis units and ZOCs to prevent Soviet re-entry and allow an artificial transfer of Axis units south to Map R.

�.3 The Playing Pieces�.3� Carefully remove the cardboard playing pieces from the counter sheets and sort them into categories. Refer to the “How to Read Units” information on one of the 11x17 inch Chart Cards.

�.3� Unit counters are not coded for specific scenarios (as was done in previous games of this series).

�.4 Barbarossa Standard Rules (BSRs): Exceptions and Changes“No one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten.” —Red Army slogan

Some BSRs used in earlier games in this series have been changed for use with KtR. Some charts and tables have also been revised. Here are the significant changes to the BSRs, annotated with the sections in the rulebook where they are found in their entirety. These changes can all be retrofitted to all previous EFS games:

4.�A6—Axis Air Interdiction Phase now directly follows the Air Readiness Phase.

6.�5—Major Cities no longer serve as supply sources when sur-rounded and unable to trace supply (unless specified otherwise by scenario instructions).

6.86—The Axis player now has Base units to allow forward deploy-ment of MSUs and Dumps.

7.��b—Tried Militia units can now be removed from the map to provide Type I RPs if they are not in an Axis ZOC (they no longer must be in city or major city hexes).

7.��c and ��.7—Zap units are now more versatile sources of Type I Soviet RPs.

7.��h and 7.�4—There are no longer any NKVD RPs, but there is a revised NKVD replacement procedure.

7.43a—One Type I RP will now move any unit from the Eliminated Box to the Cadre Box on the Unit Rebuilding Charts.

8.4c—The Soviet player can now deploy Reservists (one-step infantry and cavalry divisions) as Garrisons to on-map towns able to trace supply.

8.5—Soviet Untried Militia are drawn randomly from an opaque cup and placed on set-up cards, with excess units set aside unused. ALL militia units go to the Cannot rebuild Box of the unit rebuilding chart if removed from the map for any reason.

8.6—Soviet UR/MG units are still drawn randomly from an opaque cup and placed on set-up cards, but they go to the unit rebuilding chart if removed from the map for any reason.

8.7�—Ground combat units to be withdrawn must withdraw at the strength printed on the scenario set-up card. If the unit is not at that strength, then the owner deducts the necessary steps from ac-cumulated replacements steps of the appropriate type, or he reduces units of the same type currently on the game map, step-for-step. If a withdrawing unit is currently in the Cadre or Eliminated box, the owning player must either withdraw another on-map unit with the same unit type symbol and at least equal attack and defense strengths, or he pays one VP.

�0.79 Exception—Armored, artillery and motorized MSUs cross a major river only at a bridge. When the major river is frozen they can cross at any location.

Overrun (next three entries):��.4� and ��.43m—Soviet cavalry can now participate in overruns, but must take the first step loss if required.

��.4�c—Overruns can be made into marsh hexes during dry and frost turns.

��.4�h—Italian, Hungarian, Romanian, and Slovak motorized units cannot conduct or participate in Overrun, and cannot move with other eligible Axis units that are conducting Overrun.

��.5—Most cavalry units of all nationalities now qualify for In-filtration Movement during their Movement Phases if they move from one non-clear hex in an E-ZOC to an adjacent non-clear hex in an E-ZOC.

��.76—No air transport is allowed into or out of a town hex during Mud weather unless a friendly engineer is present in the town hex. Engineers are not required for a city or major city or on the Air Unit Status Card.

��.4—The Soviet player now may fulfill each Mandated Attack by making an attack with at least six steps of combat units (excluding artillery) at any combat odds in addition to the traditional method of gaining at least 3:2 odds.

�4.�� Note: NKVD motorized units cannot utilize Reaction Move-ment.

�6.34 Exception �—Regardless of how an Armored Train unit is lost in combat, the eliminated Armored Train unit is always placed in the Cadre Box.

�7.�5—Many air units now have limited on-map ranges.

�7.�� Air Combat—Air Combat Table: This game uses a revised Table. The original Table was not generating appropriate air unit losses in certain combat differential columns. Note also the revised DRMs on the AA Fire Table.

�7.3 AA Fire—Changes to the AA Fire Table• Apply a (–1) DRM for a Soviet IL-2 air unit.

4 Kiev to Rostov PLAYBOOK


• No longer apply a DRM when the firing Soviet unit is more than four hexes from an operational HQ.

• The maximum net AA fire DRM is +2 or –2.

��.0 Soviet Surrender—The Surrender Table now includes a DRM showing the increased likelihood of militia unit surrender and the increased likelihood of Surrender during a specified period of the game.

�3.�—Bridge units now have an Under Construction side, and construction procedures have been altered, especially for Major Rivers.

�3.3—Revised rules for flotilla units in combat:• Flotillas cannot attack during storm turns• Flotillas defending alone cannot receive defensive artillery sup-

port

�4.0—There are three types of Axis RSC:• Regular• Strong (increased attack strength)• Romanian nationality

German �-�-5 RSCs can now be created by expending Axis Type I RPs

Countermix:The Kiev to Rostov counter sheet four contains a block of re-printed counters to replace counters originally used in Army Group South:• Two Italian units have revised combat strengths; the cavalry

division and the Bersagliari regiment are now both capable of Infiltration Movement.

• The four Slovak units have a different nationality color.• The five Hungarian units have a different nationality color, and

the cavalry unit is infiltration capable.• The Soviet 136 Reserve Regiment is now the 136 Zap Regiment.• Soviet cavalry divisions now show the yellow MA for infiltration

capable units, except for the two militia divisions. Additionally, the standard 3-2-6 cavalry divisions now have reduced side strength of 1-1-6.

• The eighteen Romanian units have either revised strengths or are infiltration capable.

3.0 Special RulesNot all BSRs can cover all scenario situations. Additions or modi-fications to BSRs that apply to two or more scenarios begin here. All rules changes have been noted in the Play Book Rules section with reference to the appropriate BSR. Take time to familiarize yourself with all additions and exceptions to Barbarossa Standard Rules (BSRs) contained in this Play Book and in the scenario you are playing.

3.� Weather3.�� Historical WeatherThe historical weather for each turn is printed on the Turn Record Track in the Turn boxes. It can be used in any scenario by prior mutual agreement.

3.�� Limited MudDuring Dry Climate condition no more than two turns in a row of Mud are allowed. If on the third turn Mud occurs, disregard that Mud result and use Dry (no Storm) instead.

3.� Replacements[Exceptions and additions to BSRs 7.1, 7.22, 7.31]

3.�� Applicable to Both Playersa. Both players can accumulate Type I RPs up to the limit shown on their Loss/Replacement Tracks.

Note: The limit has been increased for this game.

b. Each side may receive “use or lose” RPs. If this type of RP cannot be used in the turn received, it is lost.

3.�� Soviet Replacements Tablesa. This game uses three Tables: B, C, and D. Use these in the sce-narios specified in the headings on the Table.

EXAMPLE: Scenario 8 uses Table B for GTs 29-50 and Table C for GTs 51-85.

b. When combining this game with AGS, use the AGS Soviet Re-placements Table for GTs 6-11. This is Table A (not shown in this game). Beginning GT12 use Table B, as shown in this game.

c. The Tables may allow taking up to two Special Reinforcement Pool Groups per turn. Results of “2R” alternatively allow the Soviet player to release up to two Garrison hexes for the turn, if desired. As a final alternative the Soviet player could both release one Garrison hex and receive one qualifying Pool Group on a single “2R” result.

DESIGN NOTE: The campaign employs several tables because the Ukraine had become a secondary theater of operations by the fall of 1941. By then most Soviet effort, as well as German, shifted to the Army Group Center area for the Moscow campaign. Additionally, the Soviets had to find troops to support operations in the Crimea.

d. Starting GT30 Soviet division-size (XX) armor and motorized units cannot be rebuilt or strengthened with replacements.

DESIGN NOTE: Just as with Unit Conversions [PB 4.4], the Soviets could not maintain large mechanized formations. In a sweeping reorganization the remaining personnel and equipment from these divisions provided the cadres for the tank brigades appearing in this game. Tank divisions of the “50” series were maintained for a while longer, but these are not found in this game.



3.3 Map Exit[Exception to BSR 10.5.7, Exiting Maps]

3.3� Units of both sides can exit scenario specified map edges to fulfill victory conditions. Also, Soviet units can exit and re-enter the east edge of map KK [PB 2.26].

3.3� A unit spends one MP to exit from a map edge hex (or scenario area edge hex). Generally, a unit can exit only during a movement phase in which it is allowed to move [exception: PB3.34]. Exited units cannot return to the map unless allowed by PB2.26 or scenario instructions. Exited units do not require General Supply. Exited units are not eliminated and do not count in VP calculations.

3.33 Some scenarios list specific edge hexes (or range of hexes) through which Axis units exit in order for the Axis player to avoid VP penalties or to score VPs. If any number of Axis units exit through a Victory Point exit area, Soviet units cannot subsequently enter through that area but they can still exit through that area.

3.34 Units can retreat off the map edge through a scenario designated exit area. They are now exited and cannot return to play.

3.4 Reinforcements and Withdrawals3.4� Units on the Set-Up Cards marked as “Available” are part of various pools of such game pieces [such as MSUs] that are used in the scenario. No more than the listed number of each type can be used. Set aside the rest for use in a different scenario. More (or fewer) of certain types may become available later as shown in the Reinforcements section of the Set-Up Cards.

3.4� Withdraw - Cannot Cancel[Exception to BSR 8.71]

Not all withdrawals can be cancelled. Certain withdrawals are marked “Cannot Cancel” on the Set-Up Cards. These occur because of special historical circumstances. A player cannot pay VPs to cancel the withdrawal of “Cannot Cancel” units.

DESIGN NOTE: Neither historical participant cancelled any withdrawal.

3.43 Units withdraw at the strength shown on the Set-Up Card. If the withdrawing unit is at less than the strength shown, then the owner deducts the necessary steps from accumulated replacements steps of the appropriate type, or he reduces units of the same type currently in play on the game map, step-for-step.

Note: If a withdrawing unit is stronger than the strength shown, the extra step(s) remain with the unit, but can be used to offset shortages of identical type steps in other withdrawing units on a one-for-one basis.

3.44 Withdrawn air units can be from any air status box, even the Destroyed Box.

3.5 Combining GamesWhen combining series games, players can conduct as much or as little switching of units as they desire.

a. Some units are marked “to AGC” or “to Crimea.” When combin-ing this game with the AGC game (or the future Barbarossa: Crimea game), units the player chooses not to withdraw will therefore not appear in the AGC (or Crimea) play area.

b. For those units marked “from AGC” apply the opposite of the above [PB 3.43a]; they arrive from the AGC game and so should not be received unless withdrawn from that game’s play area.

c. Use only one counter to represent the same unit. It cannot appear at the same time in play areas of more than one game.

d. Transferred air units are subject to a time delay. Place transferred air units in the Flown Box with a “Do Not Move 2 GTs” marker on them. They can undergo Readiness die rolls while under the Do Not Move markers, but add the value of the marker (1 for a 1 GT marker, or 2 for 2 GTs) to the Readiness die roll.

DESIGN NOTE: The time delay as to when air units withdraw from one game and then appear in the next is necessary to provide the automatic Readiness status for those units when they reappear. This is, in part, because the ground servicing element also needs time to make the transfer. We regret any design inconsistencies from game to game.

e. When combining this campaign game with the AGS campaign game, use applicable Army Group South Set-Up Cards plus the specially designated lower section on Soviet Set-Up Card Three Front for KtR.

1) Some units shown there are used only when combining the two campaign games (due to extensive research, several new Soviet units have been identified that were present during the AGS cam-paign timeframe, but did not survive long enough to be included in KtR.

2) Several additional units are common to both games, but set up at different times and in different locations than specified in AGS. Use the set up locations specified on this card to insure that only one of each listed unit enters play.

3) Some KtR units replace AGS units for the linked campaign games and then return to KtR when the combined game ends. There is one set of units on KtR counter sheet 4 that permanently replace AGS units. With the exception of the Slovak Motorized Division, use these units for both AGS and the combined campaign.

f. Play begins with GT1 in AGS. From GT1 through GT 28, apply reinforcements from the AGS Set-Up cards and the Reinforcements section of KtR Soviet Set-Up Card Three Front. From GT1 through GT 28, use only Special Reinforcement Pool Groups found on the AGS Set-Up Cards.

Note: Once all fifteen untried Soviet Militia Divisions are placed on map as of GT 18, one division per turn may move away from its placement hex (Exception to BSR8.53 and 22.64).

g. From GT 29 through GT 85 use only Axis Set-Up Cards Two Front and One Back, and Soviet Set-Up Cards Two Front and Three Front. Ignore at start unit sections on both Set-Up Cards Two Front. Use the applicable Reinforcements and Special Reinforcement Pool Groups from these cards.

h. Map placement: set up the AGS maps E, F and G first. Place KtR Map J over AGS Map F. Place KtR Map K over KtR Map J and AGS Maps F and G. Place the remainder of KtR maps normally. AGS Map R is not used.

DESIGN NOTE: On AGS Map F, the following hexes are rail hexes: 6424, 6524, 6625, 6724, 6824, 6923 and 7024.



i. When combining this game with AGS: • Use the AGS Soviet Replacements Table for GTs 6-11. This is

Table A (not shown in this game). Beginning GT12 use Table B, as shown in this game.

• Axis Fuel Shortage [PB5.27] begins on GT10 and lasts through GT 83.

• The Soviet player cannot conduct Dnepr River Bridge Destruction prior to GT10 [PB4.31].

• The Axis Logistics Pause [PB5.1] can begin as early as GT 25 [PB5.15].

j. At Start Supply Sources. Use AGS for Axis; use KtR for Soviet.

k. Disregard KtR Scenario #2 Axis Supply Situation and Soviet Map K Restrictions.

l. See Scenario 7 rules for a discussion about how to score VPs when combining games.

4.0 Special Movement Situations4.� Railroads4.�� Axis Rail CapacityThis begins at seven (7) stacking points per turn, total over all maps (not per map as in AGS and AGC), and will decrease over the course of the game [see Axis Railroad and Supply Chart].

4.�� Soviet Railroad Capacitya. Total capacity is twelve (12) stacking points, total per turn for all maps (not per map). The total does not change over the course of the game.

b. Soviet Enhanced Railroad Capacity1. All Soviet reinforcements entering through a map edge, includ-ing units received by Special Reinforcement Pool Groups, and excluding units rebuilt by replacements, can enter play by railroad movement. This railroad movement does not count against normal railroad capacity.

2. A unit can use Enhanced Railroad Capacity only if it ends its railroad movement in a major city, city, or town.

4.�3 Axis Rail Conversiona. Maps J, K, KK, and R. The game begins with six (6) Rail Con-version Points (RCPs) per turn for all maps and will change over the course of the game [see Axis Railroad and Supply Chart].

b. The maximum is 4 RCPs of conversion on any one line. The maximum increases permanently to 6 RCPs on any one line begin-ning the turn after Logistics Pause [PB 5.1] concludes.

c. When a railhead is received as a reinforcement, treat its place-ment hex as already converted; it does not require RCPs. Railroad conversion can be conducted from that hex (beginning with the very next hex) starting the turn the Railhead is received.

4.�4 Axis Super Heavy Artillery Units. a. In Scenarios #2 and #7 on GT 35 remove the three Super Heavy Artillery units and place them on GT 40 of the Turn Record track. The removal is mandatory. On GT 40 all are placed on Map J on their Mobile

sides on or adjacent to any hex containing Axis combat units within 5 hexes (four hexes intervening) of hex J3633. Each placement hex must be eligible for Super Heavy Artillery movement, cannot be in an uncontested enemy ZOC and cannot exceed stacking limits.

DESIGN NOTE: Historically, the Germans did move their Super Heavies from Kiev to the Perekop. The intent here is to allow the Axis player to replicate history simply without becoming an Eisen-bahnhauptfuhrer.

b. In Scenario #7, when the Super-Heavy artillery leaves the scenario for the second time, they are withdrawn to follow von Manstein’s Eleventh Army into the Crimea.

4.� Unit ConversionsSome of the scenarios include groups of units marked “Remove - Receive.” During the reinforcements phase the owning player removes the indicated unit(s), from wherever located (including from the Cadre or Eliminated boxes). He removes that exact unit. He cannot cancel the removal. He then immediately receives the indicated unit(s) at the same location as the removed unit(s). If more than one unit is removed, the new unit can be placed at any of the locations occupied by the removed units. The new unit enters play at no more than the same step strength as the unit(s) removed; if the removed unit is reduced, the new unit enters reduced; if full strength, it enters at full strength. If more steps are removed than received, the excess is lost.

Note: One conversion involves the removal of three Soviet Airborne Brigades for a Rifle Division (historically, these brigades rebuilt the destroyed 87th Rifle Division). The division chosen can be a 4-4-4 or 5-5-4 division from the Eliminated Box. If any brigade to be re-moved is in the Cadre or Eliminated Boxes, receive the division in the Cadre Box. If all brigades to be removed are on map, place the division on map at any of the hexes occupied by the brigades.

DESIGN NOTE: A unit of lesser capabilities is received in all cases for Soviet units. In reality, that unit has already lost the men and equipment that made it special. The quickest method of bringing these game units back into a reasonable approximation of reality is to make a direct exchange.

4.3 Dnepr River Bridge Destruction and Repair4.3� Only the Soviet player can conduct Bridge Destruction. He is not forced to conduct Bridge Destruction. Only the Dnepr River bridges printed on the map are subject to Bridge Destruction (all but one of these cross the Dnepr River—the rail bridge near Dneprot-rovsk). Note: Bridge units are not subject to destruction or enemy capture, only temporary removal; BSR 23.25 still applies.

4.3� The Soviet player conducts Bridge Destruction during the So-viet engineering phase. Any Soviet combat unit can conduct Bridge Destruction. Its supply status has no effect on Bridge Destruction. The unit can conduct Bridge Destruction only when located in either of the two hexes that include the bridge hexside and an Axis unit is 7 hexes or less from the hex containing the unit conducting Bridge Destruction. All bridges on that hexside are destroyed automatically [exception: PB 4.33c], when Bridge Destruction is declared for that hexside. A destroyed bridge no longer allows road or railroad movement across it until it is repaired [PB 4.54]. A bridge can be destroyed an unlimited number of times.



4.33 Bridge Destruction Procedurea. During his engineering phase the Soviet player declares which bridges over the Dnepr River he will destroy. He can destroy as many or as few of those allowed as he desires.

b. Place a Bridge Destroyed marker on its two point side in either hex adjacent to the bridge. The marker remains until the bridge is fully repaired.

c. A bridge cannot be destroyed as long as it is within command radius (four hexes) of a Soviet Non-Op HQ.

4.34 Bridge Repaira. Both players can conduct Bridge Repair. A player conducts it during his engineering phase. A friendly combat unit must be in the hex that includes the bridge hexside and no enemy combat unit can be in the hex on the other side of the bridge.

b. The procedure for rebuilding a railroad bridge requires both of the following to be present in at least one of the two hexes that include the railroad bridge hexside:1. A friendly railhead marker, and2. A friendly engineer unit in General Supply.

DESIGN NOTE: A railroad bridge across a major river would be extremely difficult to repair. It is required to carry more weight than a road bridge and the surface must be perfectly level. To accomplish this, the Germans massed bridging assets into large organizations, each controlled by an engineer regiment. Interestingly, such assets included cable ferry functions. By March 1942 the Germans main-tained four groups of ferry and pontoon crossings to supplement repaired bridges.

c. Bridge Repair Procedure1. During his engineering phase a player declares those bridges he

will attempt to repair. He can attempt to repair each bridge only once per turn.

2. Roll one die and consult the Bridge Repair Table for each attempt. Apply DRMs and determine the result.

3. If successful the result will indicate “Remove one point of dam-age.” Now turn the Bridge Destroyed marker from its two-point side to its one-point side, or remove the marker if it begins with its one-point side face up. Removal of the Bridge Destroyed marker signifies the bridge is fully repaired and can be used.

4. If the result is “not repaired,” do not remove the damage point. A player can try again next turn to repair the bridge. Additional damage points might be inflicted during the time of repair, if a Soviet unit later becomes adjacent to the hexside.

5. Road or Railroad Bridges. Notice the differing DRMs for these on the Bridge Repair Table. When both cross the same hexside, treat them as separate bridges; both are repaired separately (two points for the road, and another two points for the railroad), despite any graphic showing them together.

6. A bridge may start the scenario destroyed. Check the scenario rules for a listing of these.

5.0 Logistics5.� Axis Logistics PauseOnly the Axis player conducts Logistics Pause.

5.�� On any turn of his choice, GTs 29 through 33 (five turns), the Axis player can declare Logistics Pause. He does this at the begin-ning of the supply determination phase (of the Strategic Segment). If he does not declare it by GT33, then it automatically begins on GT34. There is only one Logistics Pause during the game.

5.�� The Logistics Pause lasts five complete turns: the turn of declaration and the next four turns. When declared, place the Axis Logistics Pause marker on the Turn Record Track on the turn of the Logistics Pause declaration. Place the Logistics Pause Ends marker four turns ahead. Logistics Pause ends during the Axis Engineering Phase.

EXAMPLE: The Axis player declares Logistics Pause during GT31. He then places the Axis Logistics Pause marker on GT31 on the Turn Record Track and the Logistics Pause Ends marker on GT35—the last turn that Logistics Pause effects take place.

5.�3 Logistics Pause Effectsa. The Axis player receives Special Reinforcement Pool Group Four. This includes three Axis Base units [PB 5.14] and requires the replacement of two truck MSUs with two wagon MSUs [see also PB 5.52]. The Axis player does receive one Axis Type A RP (one bright spot in the logistical darkness—the pause allowed motorized units some time to regain strength).

b. During all turns of Logistics Pause reduce Axis ASPs received and railroad capacity as shown on the Axis Railroad and Supply Chart.

c. Once Logistics Pause is complete the Axis player no longer adds the (+1) DRM on the Axis Air Readiness Card.

Note: Axis railroad conversion points increase after completion of Logistics Pause; see PB 4.33.

5.�4 Axis Base Unitsa. During the reinforcement phase of the turn of decla-ration of the Logistics Pause the Axis player receives three “Base” units. He places these on their inactive side one each at any town, city, or major city that is

on a converted railroad hex that is part of a friendly railroad net [BSR 6.4], of any length, that leads to a friendly map edge supply source. He turns them over to their active side upon the completion of Logistics Pause.

b. After Logistics Pause is completed, up to four of the allowed ASPs available each turn can start play at each eligible Base unit, each turn, for the rest of the game. These can still, alternatively, start at the edge of the game map as done prior to Logistics Pause. A Base unit is eligible for MSU (or Dump) placement if it is on its active side and is on a railroad hex that is part of a railroad net to a friendly map edge supply source. A Base can temporarily become not eligible for MSU placement, if enemy units were to block the rail net to a friendly map edge source.

Note: Axis ASPs starting at Axis “Bases.” can use either railroad movement, or can move by regular road or non-road movement.



panying non-divisional units) into General Supply and thereby avoid Fuel Shortage effects (and Out of Supply effects) [BSR 6.53].

5.�7 When combining this game with AGS, do not test for Fuel Shortage until beginning GT10.

5.3 Soviet Supply Unit Entry5.3� Soviet MSUs and Dumps enter play through the following supply source hexes.

a. They enter through the eastern map edges of:

Map Scenarios

J 2

KK 2, 5, and 7

R 5, 6 and 7

b. A Soviet MSU can be placed in any major city that is also a supply source [BSR 6.84d]. A major city hex can operate as a supply source if it can trace a Line of Communications [BSR 6.51] to another major city hex (not another hex of the same city), or to a friendly east map edge supply source.

Note: If a major city is cut off from its Line of Communications, it no longer functions as a supply source [this section eliminates BSR 6.5.1 note].

5.4 Axis Supply Unit Entry5.4� Axis MSUs and Dumps enter play either at a “Base” [PB 5.14] or through supply source hexes on a map edge:

a. West edge of Maps K and J, and north edge of Map K (as detailed in scenario instructions) for Scenarios 2, 5, and 8.

b. For scenarios 2, 5, and 8 Map J entry is limited to two MSUs per turn.

c. West edge of Map R for Scenario 7.

5.5 Axis MSU Attrition5.5� Only the Axis player suffers MSU Attrition.

5.5� The Axis player exchanges any one truck MSU (0-0-8) with one wagon MSU (0-0-4) in each of the situations listed below. The truck MSU need not be currently in use on the game map at the time of loss. The truck MSU does not return to play; it is no longer available. The wagon MSU is not one already available but now becomes available for use (or replace the truck MSU currently in use on the game map).

• Two with the Logistics Pause for this game (shown in Pool Group Four).

• Two with the AGS game [this is the GT14 exchange in that game]

• One with the first Mud weather result during Mud Climate for this game

• One with the first Snow weather result (regardless of climate) for this game

c. If lost, a Base unit cannot be rebuilt. It cannot move (or retreat after combat). It defends normally and qualifies as a required Gar-rison for the hex it occupies.

5.�5 When combining this game with AGS the Axis player can choose an earlier turn to start Logistics Pause. He has the option beginning GT25, for a total of ten turns that end on GT34. [Histori-cally, German Army Group command delayed the Pause until late during this period.] Apply all Logistics Pause effects even if choosing to start it during the AGS game. There can be only one Logistics Pause during the combined game.

5.� Axis Fuel ShortageOnly the Axis player experiences Fuel Shortage.

5.�� During the supply determination phase of every turn the Axis player rolls one die for each panzer and motorized formation that has at least one of its units in Out of Supply status (the supply status of the remaining units in the formation does not matter). Roll each turn for each qualifying formation. Apply the DRMs listed beside the Table.

5.�� Compare the modified die roll result to the Axis Fuel Short-age Table.

a. If the result is “fails,” then all units of that formation have Fuel Shortage this turn.

b. If the result is “passes,” then Fuel Shortage effects do not apply to the units of that formation this turn. All other effects, including OoS effects, still apply.

5.�3 Fuel Shortage Effectsa. No units of the affected formation can move during their move-ment, or motorized movement, or reaction movement phases. They cannot conduct one-hex movement.

b. They can attack and defend normally and can retreat or advance as a result of combat. Combined Arms Bonus is allowed for affected formation. Panzer Division Integrity bonus is not allowed unless the division is provided Attack Supply [BSR 15.68.c.1].

c. Place a Fuel Shortage marker on all units of the formation (re-gardless of their actual supply status). Treat them as OoS for the rest of the turn.

d. Units of the formation that are off map in the Active Box are not affected by Fuel Shortage during the turn of entry.

5.�4 Certain Axis unit groups are each treated as a single formation. These are:• SS LAH (2 units)• Hungarian motorized (2 units)• Slovak motorized (2 units)

The Slovak brigade unit is treated as a non-divisional unit [PB 5.25] until it converts [PB 4.2] to two units.

5.�5 Non-divisional armored and motorized units are affected only if stacked with any unit of an affected formation at the time the division fails Fuel Shortage.

5.�6 The Axis player always has the option to spend one (1) ASP (before rolling the die) to put all the formation’s units (and accom-



6.0 Air Units“Wo bleibt die Luftwaffe?” (Where is the Luftwaffe?)

—Often repeated by the German soldier

6.� Air Combat6.�� Air Combat Table. This game uses a revised Table. The origi-nal Table was not generating appropriate air unit losses in certain combat differential columns. Note also the revised DRMs on the AA Fire Table.

6.�� Soviet Anti-aircraft Units. Many of these have no movement allowance. These are restricted to Railroad Movement only. They cannot otherwise move and cannot retreat or advance as a result of combat. They are also restricted to final positioning (upon concluding railroad movement) in a town, city, or major city.

DESIGN NOTE: These were area defense organizations deployed for protection of regional communications centers. The Soviets deployed very few mobile AA guns for tactical protection. These would be controlled by an army headquarters; fewer still by Front command.

6.�3 The number and frequency of allowed Axis and Soviet Air Transport missions is listed in each scenario.

7.0 Special Units and Situations7.� Axis Regiment Substitute Counters[Addition to BSR 24.0]

There are three types of Axis RSC:• Regular• Strong (increased attack strength)• Romanian nationality

7.� Axis Garrison Requirements7.�� Each city or major city hex the Axis captures requires a garrison of one step (of any combat type), or the VPs (at the then current rate) for that city are immediately lost. The required total garrison can be in any single hex or combination of hexes of that city.

7.�� Starting GT 59 the garrison requirement permanently increases by one step for Kiev and Kharkov (to 3 and 4 steps respectively). The increase is for the whole city, not each hex. The extra step can be placed in any friendly hex of the city and is required so long as any hex of the city is still friendly and VPs can be scored for the city.

DESIGN NOTE: From the very beginning the Germans imposed a policy of deliberate food shortage on the overall population. This meant eventual starvation for many and struck urban populations hardest. Unrest was expected.

7.3 Romanian ArtilleryUnless located in the Defender Hex Romanian artillery units provide defensive fire support at half strength (drop fractions). No more than two Romanian artillery units can combine to provide fire support in a single combat. German artillery units can combine (and are not reduced) with Romanian artillery up to the four-unit limit.

EXAMPLE: If two Romanian artillery units combine, no more than two German units can combine with them.

7.4 CombatThe Surrender Table now includes a DRM showing the increased likelihood of militia unit surrender and the increased likelihood of Surrender during a specified period of the game.

7.5 Minor Axis Limitations7.5� Hungarian units cannot stack with or end any movement phase adjacent to Romanian or Slovakian units.

7.5� Romanian and Slovakian units cannot stack with or end any movement phase adjacent to Hungarian units.

7.53 Hungarian, Romanian, and Slovakian units cannot participate in any attack with each other [exception: BSR 15.2.1].

7.54 Italian units cannot end a movement phase within six hexes of an all-sea Black Sea hex (or Sea of Azov hex). Immediately withdraw from the game any unit that does.

7.6 Soviet Crimea Garrison7.6� Units of this specially marked garrison group [see Set-Up Card] cannot be released unless attacked [PB 7.62] or given a special re-lease [PB 7.63]. The Soviet player can move additional units onto these hexes, but if still there at the end of the turn they become part of the Crimea Garrison.

7.6� Release the entire Garrison any time any unit of the Garrison is attacked.

7.63 The Soviet player has the option any time beginning GT40 to release all of the Crimea Garrison. If he does so, the Axis player scores two (2) VPs. An “R” result is required to be spent to make this release. Hexes J3733 and J4634 are Soviet Supply Sources and Soviet exit/entry points to the game map. Once the Crimea Garrison is released, Soviet rebuilt units and MSUs may enter through these hexes. No entry is allowed if German units have exited to Crimea [PB 7.65].

7.64 The Axis player uses only hex J3733 for exiting “to Crimea;” he cannot use J4634. He scores Victory Points for timely exit of his units to Crimea [see Victory Point Schedule].

8.0 Naval OperationsNo naval operations are available for this game. Disregard naval units, Naval Transport, Amphibious Operations, and all port rules [BSR 6.54] in this game. Such naval rules are found instead in other games in this series [for example: Barbarossa: Army Group North]. Naval operations are restored only when combining this game with Barbarossa: Crimea.

�0 Kiev to Rostov PLAYBOOK


9.0 How to Set Up a ScenarioFollow the sequence below:

9.� Go to the scenario selected9.�� Each scenario begins by designating:• Map (or Maps) to use• Which Soviet and Axis Set-Up Cards to select• Scenario units

Note: For newcomers, there is a tutorial provided with scenario #4, The Battle of Sumy.

9.�� Use the following charts and cards for all scenarios:• Soviet and Axis Air Unit Status/Unit Rebuilding Cards• The two 11 x 17 inch folded Chart Cards

Use the Turn Record Track and other player aid cards as required.

9.� MapsSet up and align the maps and charts so that they will lie flat.

9.3 Place markers on the charts9.3� VP Markers. Place both markers on the specified box of the Victory Point Track (located on the Axis Air Unit Status/Unit Rebuilding Card).

9.3� Soviet and Axis Armor/Artillery loss markers. Place these in the Zero boxes of their respective Loss/Replacement Tracks (located on the Soviet and Axis Air Unit Status/Unit Rebuilding Cards) unless specified otherwise in scenario instructions.

9.33 Designate any spare marker as the Soviet Mandated Attacks Not Yet Resolved Marker and place it on the Soviet Loss/Replace-ment Track. In most scenarios, this marker will start at zero, but sometimes the Soviets begin a scenario with mandated attacks not yet resolved.

9.34 Place Soviet and Axis Replacement markers on the boxes of the Soviet and Axis Loss/Replacement Tracks as specified by scenario instructions.

9.35 Place the optional Weather and Air Transport Mission markers on the Turn Record Track card.

a. Weather markers can be used to provide a visual reminder of the weather rolled for each turn (there is no Arctic weather marker).

b. As an Air Transport Mission is conducted, the Air Transport Mis-sion marker can be placed five game turns ahead to show when the next mission is available.

9.36 Place the Logistics Pause in Effect and Logistics Pause Ends markers on the Turn Record Track Card for later use [PB5.12].

9.37 If using the Turn Record Track, refer to the codes beside the track itself. Place the Game-Turn marker in the beginning Turn Box for the scenario being played.

9.4 Place Scenario units9.4� Place the ground and air units on the Set-Up Cards. Boxes for units setting up on their reverse sides are marked with a black triangle. A box with a black triangle indicates that a unit is placed on its reverse side because:a. It is at reduced strength.b. It is a Non-Op Soviet HQ.c. It is a strongpoint under construction.d. It is an MSU placed on its Dump side.e. It is an Untried unit.

9.4� For At Start placement in all scenarios the owning player has the option to place his Super-Heavy (S-H) artillery units in Mobile or Firing mode.

9.43 Place Step Loss, Garrison, Emergency Supply, Out of Supply, or Interdiction Level markers on those units that Set-Up Cards specify should receive them. Be sure to check the supply status of all units placed At Start, and then properly mark as Out of Supply those that cannot trace a supply line.

9.5 Transfer At-Start Designated Units9.5� Move air units to their appropriate boxes on the Air Unit Status charts.

9.5� Place ground units onto the map hexes indicated below the unit.

9.53 Place all Railhead, Railcut, Step Loss, and Strongpoint markers in the map hexes designated by the Set-Up cards.

9.6 Begin PlayGo to the expanded Sequence of Play in the back of this Play Book and begin play.

��Kiev to Rostov PLAYBOOK


�0.� Scenario #�: Rostov Redeemed (Learning Scenario)Historical SummaryThe Soviet attack was conducted simultaneously from nearly all di-rections in hopes of overwhelming the defenders. Generally, the plan worked, despite many casualties incurred in crossing the Don River. After vicious street fighting on the 28th, the Germans withdrew.

Required: Separate Scenario Sheet

Refer to Separate Scenario Sheet Rostov Redeemed side. This sheet contains the scenario map section, Axis and Soviet unit Set-Up sec-tions and scenario Turn Record Track.

�0.�� Scenario LengthThere are three turns. Start with the Soviet player segment of GT80 (no Axis player segment) and end at the end of GT82. The weather for GT80 is automatically Frost (no Lingering Snow). Resolve the Weather Table for both remaining turns.

�0.�� Scenario AreaAs shown on Separate Scenario Sheet.

�0.�3 Placementa. The Axis player sets up first.b. Resolve Air Readiness beginning GT81.

�0.�4 Scenario Special Rulesa. Supply. Supply Sources are not applicable for either side. Dis-regard effects of General Supply for Soviet units at all times. On GT80 all Axis units have only Emergency Supply. On GTs 81 and 82 all Axis units are Out of Supply. Attack Supply is not required for either side (do not apply BSR 15.3.2).

b. Railroad movement and conversion is not available. Do not use Railhead or Railcut markers.

c. There are no strongpoints, reinforcements, Special Reinforcement Pool Groups, or replacements for either side.

�0.�5 Victory Conditions.Use the Victory Conditions Chart and add the following locations (to apply to this scenario only):

Bolshiye Sally (R3827) 1VPSultan Sally (R3728) 1VP

Designer Note: There is an excellent on-line site hosted by Cisco Serrett that contains an animated tutorial covering this scenario. Links are available on the GMT website or the CSW website in the East Front Game Series folder.

�0.� Scenario �: Kiev Pocket“Once and for all, you have to stop looking for possibilities to re-treat. Instead you must concentrate on the possibilities of resisting and only resisting.”

—Stalin to Kiev defenders, September 1941

Historical Summary Having defeated Soviet Southwestern Front at the Uman Pocket on 8 August 1941, German High Command looked at many competing objectives to complete the conquest of the Ukraine. After much de-bate they chose, in a sense, to try for all. On 12 August Hitler codified this in an amendment to an earlier Directive. German armies would occupy the Dnepr Bend, capture the Crimea, and move towards the Kharkov and Donbas industrial areas. With these secured they would exploit even further to the east. This had the effect of spreading out the Axis effort with no clear single objective. But then geography and the flow of battle intervened. Between Army Group South and Army Group Center (then well to the north) a huge salient devel-oped centered on the Kiev fortified area. Here, the Soviets deployed virtually all that remained of their Southwestern Front as well as Central Front to the north, a total of five armies. The Soviets still actually held an advantage in manpower and in some armaments, and they held the central strategic position, much of it fortified or based along the formidable Dnepr River. The weakness was their 21 Army on the northern flank, an army already reduced and easily yielding ground. Only the Desna River provided a natural barrier and on 26 August Model’s 3rd Panzer Division, part of Guderian’s Panzer Group, broke through even there.

At the beginning of September the great Kiev salient was perhaps too obvious a target and the issue had become personal to Stalin. On the Soviet side Zhukov recommended a withdrawal, as early as late July, but was dismissed and sent to Leningrad. Then overall Soviet commander Budenny also appealed for a withdrawal only to be dismissed just before the German pincers creating the Kiev Pocket finally closed. Even his successor, Timoshenko, likewise requested withdrawal. Only Southwestern Front commander Kirponos prom-ised to hold Kiev. On the German side Halder and others in Berlin pressed for a renewal of the offensive toward Moscow but Guderian joined those who pressed for removal of any threat against Army Group Center from the south.

With Hitler deciding in favor of the objective being Kiev, Guderian’s troops renewed their drive south, moving in earnest from 2 Septem-ber. From the beginning of the war Soviet tactics emphasized attack-ing and on 6 September Soviet 21 Army was ordered to attack yet again, but this time it had no punch. It could not even get an attack going until the 9th but by then a 20 mile gap had developed in the front line. Here Guderian’s mobile forces were streaming through. On 10 September German 3rd Panzer Div. occupied Romny and the gap had widened to 40 miles. In another two days they had occupied Lokhvitsa and were already well past their supply tether. Where was Kleist’s 1st Panzer Group?

Army Group South had not been idle. The Dnepr Bend was oc-cupied quickly and some crossings over the Dnepr were made. Unfortunately, no bridges were captured save for a pontoon bridge at

�0.0 SCENARIOS

�� Kiev to Rostov PLAYBOOK


Dnepropetrovsk and a weak wooden bridge near Gornstaypol (soon destroyed by Soviet aircraft). These would not sustain any drive to the east or even to the north, so a major river assault would have to be made. The Soviet weak point was Kremenchug. A crossing point was found just downriver and the bridgehead there expanded gradually in the face of continual Soviet counterattacks. The efficient re-grouping of Army Group South and the concentration of Kleist’s Panzer Group into the area proved decisive.

On 10 September Kleist’s troops burst from the Kremenchug bridge-head. By the 14th they met 3rd Panzer Division at Lokhvitsa. The encirclement was complete but the battle was not. Many Soviet troops found holes for escape while others attempted to fight their way out. Front commander Kirponos died with an unlucky group. The front fully collapsed on about the 17th, a surprisingly quick time, revealing low overall morale and poor troop quality, but the last remnants did not surrender until the 26th. In all the Germans claimed a total prisoner bag of 665,212 men, 824 tanks, and 3018 guns. While the Soviets later disputed the claim, all agree the Kiev Pocket was the greatest mass encirclement of history.

Required:1. Maps J, K, and KK.

2. Set-Up Cards • Axis Two Front • Soviet Two Front

3. Units: Refer to the Scenario Set-Up Cards.

�0.�� Scenario LengthThere are twenty-two turns. Start with GT29 and end with GT50. The weather is automatically Dry (no Storm) for GTs 29 and 30. Resolve the Weather Table for all remaining turns.

�0.�� Scenario AreaUse all of maps J, K, and KK

�0.�3 Placementa. The Soviet player sets up first.

b. Resolve Air Readiness beginning GT30.

c. Marker Placement1. Set the VP markers at eight (8).2. Set the Soviet Replacement markers and the Mandated Attacks

Not Yet Made marker at zero (0).3. Place two Bridge destroyed markers on their 2 sides on hexes K

1421 and 1422 (both rail bridges are destroyed). PLAY NOTE: The Soviet player would be well advised to destroy the remaining Dnepr River bridges quickly.

d. The Soviet player resolves the Replacement Table starting GT29.

�0.�4 Scenario Special Rulesa. Soviet Supply Situation1. Supply Sources: Hex J3733 [for Crimea Garrison only until re-

lease] and any railroad hex at the east edge of maps J and KK.2. The Soviet player receives two ASPs per turn for the entire sce-

nario.

b. Axis Supply Situation. The Axis advance, especially into the Dnepr bend, had far outpaced the ability of the supply and railroad construction units to keep up.

1. Map K Railheads (all Supply Sources)• At Start—1026, 1028• GT31—place railheads at 1043 and 2152• GT36—place railheads at 1901 and 2401• Units using railroad movement begin counting RMPs with the

hex on the map edge

DESIGN NOTE: The map edge rail hex at 1044 does not receive a railhead. Axis logistics efforts advanced lines deemed critical at the expense of the rest. The rail line running through Vinnitsa (AGS Map G) to hex 1044 was not immediately repaired. The railheads at 1026 and 1028 are adjacent to Fastov (AGS Map G) on the main AGS east-west rail line. The lines running southeast from Berdichev (AGS Map G) to the railhead at 1043 and northeast from Iasi to Pervomaysk, the hex on AGS Map F adjacent to the railhead at 2151, were both also priority lines.

2. Map J Railhead—at start hex 1021. This railhead cannot be advanced until a Railhead has been advanced to K2752 and one (1) additional RCP is spent (regardless of weather) to move it off the south edge. Starting the following turn, the Railhead at 1021 becomes a normal Supply Source, and is eligible to be advanced. Until then, the railhead is a limited supply source—no more than one MSU per turn is allowed to enter there. Units and Supply Dumps (when allowed to enter) and MSUs utilizing rail transport spend 27 RMPs to enter hex J-1021.

3. Map K Supply Source roads—The following roads on Map K are supply roads, each with a 21 hex length on map [BSR 6.3]; start counting with the map edge hex.

• At Start—main road hexes 1022, 1027, 2053 and 2152 (hexes 2053 and 2152 may only be used for tracing General Supply until GT 31 when a Railhead reaches this hex—one of many “gray” logistics areas; the Germans did manage to move some supplies by captured rolling stock, but nowhere near enough to allow Attack Supply creation until the line into Pervomaysk was converted)

• GT 31—main road hexes 2053, 2152 and 2253 become fully functioning Supply Source hexes, and MSUs can enter (rec-ommended: place a Roadnet marker on GT 31 of the TRT as a reminder).

• GT 36—main and minor road hexes 1013, 1017, 1801 and 4201 become fully functioning Supply Source hexes, and MSUs can enter (recommended: place a Roadnet marker on GT 36 of the TRT as a reminder).

4. Map J Supply Source road—The following road on Map K is a supply source road with a 21 hex length on map [BSR 6.3]; start counting with the map edge hex.

• At Start—main road hex 1017 may only be used for tracing General Supply until GT 31 (also waiting for the rails to be converted into Pervomaysk).

• GT 31—main road hex 1017becomes a fully functioning Sup-ply Source hex, and MSUs can enter (recommended: place a Roadnet marker on GT 31 of the TRT as a reminder).

• Note: Main road hex 1025 is not usable—it leads back to Odessa, still under Soviet control.

�3Kiev to Rostov PLAYBOOK


5. Place OoS markers on all Axis units that cannot trace a Supply Line during the supply determination phase of GT29 (skip the Emergency Supply markers for GT29 only). Place 21 hex Roadnet markers in hexes K 1324 and 3547. All interconnected main road hexes between these two points are the Axis map K Roadnet. Trace a Line of Communications 7 hexes from any of the Roadnet hexes. Any Axis units outside of that 7 hex radius receive Out of Supply markers.

6. Exception: Axis (and Soviet) Special Placement At Start groups are exempt from supply considerations until GT 36 or both Kiev hexes become Axis controlled, whichever comes first.

DESIGN NOTE: As should be obvious from a look at the open-ing situation, the German supply lines are already over-stretched before this game begins. The Germans had assembled an im-mensely complex patchwork system to support their advance. We first examined the situation with a very detailed analysis of when certain roads and railroads opened and the movement costs required to enter each. Much of this has been heavily simplified in favor of moving play of the game forward. When combining this game with AGS you will have very different results depending on where the Axis player focuses his railroad conversion. The system presented here appears to be the best average result.

c. Axis and Soviet “Special Placement” units At Start

1. The Special Placement At Start groups of units are shown on Soviet Set-Up Card Two Front and Axis Set-Up Card Two Front. Treat each unit as an individual Garrison unit until GT36 or start-ing the turn after both Kiev hexes are Axis controlled, whichever comes first. They can be strengthened by regular replacements procedure while still a Garrison.

DESIGN NOTE: Those Soviet units on-map At Start are of 5 Army which is being pursued by German 6th Army. All are actually off-map on GT29 but will arrive at these locations by GT35, in time for regular play starting GT36. We do this to simplify game matters, reduce the required map space, and avoid odd events that could skew the game.

2. Those Soviet reinforcement units on Soviet Set-Up Card Two Front marked as GT35 “Special” represent the Soviet forces retreating before Guderian’s advancing forces. When placed on map on GT 35, place Do Not Move 1GT markers on each hex. Against competent play, the chances are slight, but if an Axis unit occupies the placement hex of any Soviet unit scheduled to appear on GT35, it cannot enter play.

3. Soviet Map K restrictions. • Until GT 37, except for the At Start and GT 35 Soviet unit

groups, no other Soviet unit can enter hexes north or west of the Desna River from hexes 1520 through 3306, and the Seym River from hexes 3306 to 4809.

DESIGN NOTE: While the Axis forces suffered from a collapsing logistical system, the Soviets had problems of their own. With most of their first-line combat units and headquarters destroyed, the Soviets had pieced together a new line manned by hastily mobilized reservists, or worse, led by inexperienced staffs. Though the Axis threat from the north was perceived, it was beyond the Soviets’ ability to effectively defend against it.

• All Soviet HQ units at start or placed on Map K west of hexrow 40xx may not move until GT 36 unless forced to retreat, and may not utilize Air Transport until GT 40

DESIGN NOTE: Stalin’s insistence on standing fast around Kiev forced the command and staff elements to remain in place long after they should have evacuated.

4. Beginning GT36 the Axis receives an additional 4 RCPs per turn to be used only on the rail-net from K1901 to K2713, or from K2401 to K3610. Once conversion of these hexes is complete, these 4 RCPs are lost. The RCPs cannot be used beyond these points. He also receives an additional 4 ASPs per turn to enter only through the north edge of Map K at any friendly shaded hex. The ASPs and RCPs are for use only with this group and are no longer allowed for use beginning GT49.

5. Axis Special Placement reinforcements (GT36) include RSCs. If not enough are currently available, then pick up those needed from elsewhere on the game maps.

Note. It would be a very good idea to plan ahead for this event to avoid the loss of infantry steps currently in play.

6. As of GT36, all Special Placement units (see Set-Up Cards) have the same General Supply requirements as all other units.

7. Special Placement units for both sides coming under a Declared Attack by opposing units currently free to move are immediately released for regular game play.

d. Starting GT43 and ending GT 49 (inclusive) the Axis player loses one (1) VP for each complete turn neither of the two Kiev hexes is Axis controlled and both can trace a Line of Communications to anywhere on the east edge of the scenario area.

e. Soviet Replacements. See Soviet Replacements Table.

�0.�5 Kiev City Special RulesThe rules below either summarize other rules or apply only because of a changed supply status of Kiev, a major city of two hexes.

a. Through GT 49, the Soviet player cannot have more than four (4) ASPs on or within 4 hexes of either Kiev city hex at the end of his engineering phase. Eliminate any excess. After GT 49, this restriction does not apply.

b. Through GT 49 for any turn the Soviet player receives a Mandated Attack by result of the Replacements Table, one Mandated Attack requirement is automatically satisfied if he controls both Kiev hexes. After GT 49 this no longer applies.

c. Soviet units in Kiev are subject to Surrender if an Axis unit (with ZOC) is adjacent, even though Axis ZOC does not extend into the major city hexes.

d. Kiev Surrounded [Exception to BSR �0.4]. Once neither Kiev hex can trace a Line of Communications [BSR 6.2] (i.e., surrounded), the city hexes no longer function as supply sources. Once this occurs apply the following within 4 hexes of either Kiev city hex:

• A unit rebuilt by replacements cannot be placed there.• Zap and militia units there cannot be converted to RPs.• MSUs and Dumps cannot be placed there.• Bridge units cannot be placed there (unless an MSU is expend-

ed).

Note: Strongpoints can still be placed at or in the area of Kiev, even though it may be surrounded.

e. Soviet Replacements Table B (not Tables C or D) results suffer



reduction by one (1) I-Type RP each turn both Kiev city hexes are surrounded [PB 10.25d] or are not Soviet controlled.

Note: Table B is not used beyond GT50, so there is no RP reduction on Tables C or D.

f. Release Soviet Special Placement units [PB 10.24.c].

g. Extra Axis VP loss applies [PB 10.24d].

h. The Victory Point Schedule awards the Axis player a variable number of VPs depending on the turn he captures each Kiev city hex.

�0.�6 Victory Conditions.See Victory Conditions Chart.

�0.3 Scenario 3: Battle on the Sea of AzovHistorical SummaryWhen Gen. von Manstein took command of the German 11th Army he found it lacking any real concentration. Somehow, the Army was expected to continue its advance eastward through Melitopol to Rostov and the Donbas industrial region, while simultaneously capturing the entire Crimean peninsula to the south. In both direc-tions the Soviets were numerous and entrenched in strong defensive positions. So Manstein altered the plan. He sent one German corps to support Romanian 3rd Army (of two corps) holding the Soviets in check in front of Melitopol, while he concentrated his remaining strength to break into the Crimea.

On 24 September Manstein began his attack on the Perekop Isth-mus, the gateway to the Crimea. Although given heavy artillery and air support, the narrowness of the isthmus and the lack of natural features meant the German assault teams had the hardest possible conditions in which to fight through the ten mile deep Soviet defense system. Fortunately for the Germans, the Soviet defenders were shaky and poorly coordinated. By the third day German infantry had crossed the Tatar Ditch and defeated a tank-led counterattack. Thereafter, the defense yielded ground more quickly. Three days later the Germans had broken the remaining defense works and advanced to the Ishun Lakes area, but were exhausted. The Soviets suffered losses that included 10,814 prisoners, 34 tanks, and 62 guns. With reinforcements their line still held (just to the south of the game area) so the final reckoning would not come until a few weeks later when the Germans broke through to the Sevastopol area.

To relieve their comrades trying to hold the Perekop, Soviet High Command ordered Southern Front (9 and 18 Armies) to attack the Axis line in front of Melitopol. On 26 September the attack began with their entire force, all 12 divisions. They withheld no reserves. In the center the German divisions held off successive waves of at-tackers, but on both flanks the Romanians wavered. To the south at Akimovka the 5th Cavalry Bde lost half its strength before sealing the breach with a counterattack. In the northern sector the situation became more anxious as Romanian 4th Mountain Bde collapsed and its artillery was overrun. Strangely, the Soviets failed to exploit this one success.

The situation remained serious until the arrival of the SS LAH Bde

from Perekop. They restored the front in the northern sector and then handed off to the German 49th Mountain Corps, now diverted from supporting operations into Crimea. The SS then shifted efforts to the center and south, restoring stability there as well.

The 11th Army’s difficulties got the attention of German High Com-mand. Gen. von Mackensen’s 3rd Motorized Corps was directed to attack south from the Dnepropetrovsk area east of the Dnepr River. This cut into a thinly defended sector covered by an overstretched Soviet 12 Army, the northern wing of Southern Front. With the weather holding clear, the panzers advanced quickly, cutting behind 9 and 18 Armies. The bulk of these armies was caught, surrounded, and surrendered by 11 October, the 18th Army commander, Lt. Gen. Smirnov, being killed in the fighting. This pocket yielded another 64,325 Soviet prisoners, 126 tanks, 519 guns, and much material. German forces had gained another great victory and the road to Rostov lay open. Soviet morale and fortunes were now at perhaps the lowest point of the entire Barbarossa campaign. And then the rains came.

Required:1. Map J2. Set-Up Cards • Axis One Front • Soviet One Front


�0.3� Scenario Length.There are six turns. Start with the Soviet player turn of GT48 and end with the end of GT53. The weather is automatically Dry (no Storm) for all turns of the scenario.

�0.3� Scenario Areaa. Use only Map J east of hexrow 3100.

b. Soviet units cannot enter, at any time, hexes along the north edge of the map.

�0.33 Placementa. The Axis player sets up first.

b. Resolve Air Readiness beginning GT49.

c. Set the Mandated Attacks Not Yet Made marker at zero (0).

�0.34 Scenario Special Rulesa. Both sides disregard Attack Supply (for this scenario) but do trace General Supply. Apply effects of OoS to units that cannot trace a Supply Line.

b. Supply Sources1. Axis—Hexes 3225, 3232, 4501, 50012. Soviet—Hexes 3733, 6201, 7011, 7015, 7016

c. No railroad movement or conversion is allowed for either side. Do not use Railhead or Railcut markers.

d. There are no replacements for either side.

e. Strongpoints in addition to those on map at start cannot be con-structed.



f. Armor and Artillery Step Losses do not count for VPs for either side.

�0.35 Victory Conditionsa. The Soviet player wins if all the following apply at the end of the scenario:1. He has no Mandated Attacks remaining, and2. all of the following locations are friendly:

Kuybyshevo 6512 Melitopol 5320 Orekhov 5611

3. and any three of the following locations are friendly:

Akimovka 5123 Mal. Belozerka 4716 Balki 4714 Veseloye 4819 Genichesk 4831 Nikopol 4112

b. Alternatively, the Soviet player wins, regardless of locations held [10.35a], if the Axis player has lost a total of 12 or more steps during the course of the scenario.

c. The Axis player wins if he avoids Soviet victory conditions.

�0.4 Scenario 4: Battle of Sumy (Learning Scenario)Historical SummaryIn late September German command was busy with preparations for the Typhoon offensive, due to begin in just a few days. As a preliminary operation, indeed as the opening move of Typhoon, German 48th Motorized Corps, formerly with Army Group South, received orders to move through Shtepovka to Sumy, using the Psel River to cover its right flank. Ultimately, it was to join with Guderian’s Panzer Group 2 in the drive on Orel (well to the north of the game area). German command was flush with the victory of the Kiev encirclement just days before and discounted reports of renewed Soviet strength, particularly since German battlefield intelligence discovered a gap in the Sumy sector. A gap indeed briefly existed here between Soviet 40 Army and 13 Army (to the north of the game area). Soviet command had been struggling to cover many holes in the front since the loss of so many units in the gigantic Kiev encirclement. It directed Gen. Belov’s 2 Cavalry Corps to cover this gap.

On 28 September German tanks and motorized infantry attacked in their usual manner, immediately forcing Belov’s cavalry out of the positions they had occupied only the day before. According to plan the German units pursued to the northeast. But as they spread out, gaps opened in their own lines. Promptly the next morning, Soviet 129 Tank Brigade attacked through these gaps and finished the day by claiming the destruction of many German tanks, vehicles, infantry, and equipment. The Germans, for their part, thought they had made good progress although against strengthening resistance.

The next day proved even tougher. German 16th Motorized Division encountered heavy resistance on a hill near Lebedin and 25th Motor-ized Division was heavily engaged by Soviet attacks at Shtepovka. The real fight occurred over the next two days. Joining the battle was Soviet 1 Guards Motorized Rifle Division (formerly 1 Moscow

Motorized RD), now restored to full strength. Along with renewed Soviet air activity it lent considerable weight to Soviet attacks. Soviet forces broke through to Shtepovka but stopped there as action to the north took on greater importance.

In battles from 27 September through 4 October the Soviets eliminated the threat of a penetration between their two armies, forcing the Germans away from the area. They claimed the capture or destruction of 40 tanks, 32 guns, more than 500 vehicles, over 2000 German soldiers, and much material. The Germans claimed the destruction of many enemy tanks and capture of 1100 men. The Germans were unperturbed about their losses and regarded the battle as simply a strongly defended area to be by-passed. To them, the real battle was the Typhoon offensive, now underway and yielding huge successes.

Required: Separate Scenario Sheet (Battle of Sumy side)

�0.4� Scenario LengthThere are four turns. Start with GT50 and end with GT53. The weather is automatically Dry (no Storm) for all turns.

�0.4� Scenario AreaUse only the Sumy Special Map.

�0.43 Placementa. The Soviet player sets up first.

b. Resolve Air Readiness each turn starting GT51.

�0.44 Scenario Special Rulesa. There are no Supply Sources. Disregard effects of General Supply, Attack Supply and Soviet Surrender.

b. Railroad movement and conversion is ignored. Do not use Rail-head or Railcut markers.

c. There are no replacements for either side.

d. Strongpoints cannot be constructed.

e. There are no Air transport Missions.

f. All map hexes are in range of all air units.

�0.45 Victory Conditionsa. The Axis player wins if five of the seven stars (printed on map) are friendly to him at the end of the scenario.

b. The Soviet player wins if either:1. The Axis player fails to achieve his victory conditions; or2. The Axis player has suffered at least 6 steps of losses during the

course of the scenario (regardless of the total of captured stars).Note: Sumy is marked with two stars.



Tutorial:This narrative does not provide a definitive “how to” plan for ei-ther side. In fact, less than optimal moves may have been made to highlight game mechanics.

The Sumy battle pits a mobile, but battered, Axis force against a larger Soviet force. After you set up both forces, note the follow-ing:

The only hope for Axis success rests squarely on the reduced 33rd Panzer Regiment of the 9th Panzer Division. So long as two of the other 9th Panzer units attack with the panzer regiment, the Axis player gets a –1 DRM for Panzer Division Integrity [BSR15.68], and possibly another –1 DRM for a combined arms attack [BSR15.67]. If the three units of the 16th Motorized Division attack with the 9th Panzer, that division also qualifies for a –1 Panzer Division Integrity DRM [BSR15.68]. The Soviets are more powerful, so the only real hope the Axis player has is to maximize his mobility advantage and continue to attack with the favorable DRM advantage. The single regiment of 10th Motorized and two regiments of 25th Motorized are good units, but neither of these formations qualifies for Panzer Division Integrity. They will serve most often as screening units for the two workhorse divisions. If the panzer regiment is eliminated, Axis chances for victory plummet to next to nothing.

The Soviet forces are more suited to attack than defense; unfortu-nately they have been positioned in a cordon defense, invitingly spread out, in order to screen 5 of the VP hexes from the Axis player. Their strongest formation, the 1st Guards Motorized Division enters play only after the Axis forces have moved and attacked first. The Soviets must wait to assess the results of the initial German attack before determining how to proceed.

Game Turn 50Strategic Segment: All of the actions in the Strategic Segment have either been deleted or completed in advance for the scenario, except for:• Reinforcements—the Soviet player sets aside the four units for

the 1st Guards Motorized Division for entry during his player Segment.

• Air Interdiction—the Axis player opts not to commit either of his air units to it.

Axis Player SegmentThe Axis player decides that he does not have enough units to punch through the Soviet line and threaten Sumy immediately. There are too many Soviet units are available to circle around the Axis flanks and cause serious damage.

Instead, the Axis player decides to launch attacks against isolated Soviet units to inflict unanswered losses and take the initiative away from the Soviet player. If he is able to weaken the Soviets for two or three turns while keeping his force relatively intact, he may have enough strength late in the scenario to capture and hold enough victory hexes to win.

Axis Movement: An overrun [BSR11.4] is out of the question be-cause none of the starting Axis stacks are strong enough to muster the minimum 5 to 1 odds needed for a German overrun attempt, so the Axis player concentrates his two effective divisions, the four units

of the 9th Panzer and the three units of 16th Motorized, into hexes 1408 and 1409 respectively, adjacent to the 131+160 Regiments of the 5th Soviet Cavalry Division. The 25th Motorized Division (two units to hex 1411) and 619th Artillery (to hex 1309) are positioned to attack the under-strength 11+96 Regiments of the 5th Cavalry Division. All movement is through Clear terrain, and all units have more than enough MPs to reach their attack hexes. The Axis player declares attacks against both Soviet occupied hexes and places Declared Attack markers on both.

The Axis player has chosen the weak point in the Soviet line. The Soviet 40 Army HQ is an Operational HQ with a Command Value of one [BSR22.12]. The HQ can issue either one No Retreat or Ad-ditional Retreat Order to an in-range Declared Combat, but both defender units are out of the four-hex Command Range [BSR22.11]. The HQ also has the ability to activate one in-range motorized unit for reaction movement [BSR22.12.b], and the 1Tank Brigade is within the HQ’s four-hex Command Range. It also must be within three hexes of a Defender Hex of a Declared Combat to use reac-tion Movement [BSR14.1], but instead it is four hexes away from the Declared Combat in hex 1508. Both defending Soviet cavalry units are on their own.

The Axis player now allocates both of his air units [BSR15.1]. The Dummy unit is placed face-down on the 131+160/5 cavalry defender hex. The He111 air unit is placed face-down on the 11+96/5 cavalry defender hex. The Axis player decides that the chance to gain a –1 DRM in the attack against 11+96/5 cavalry is more necessary than possibly offsetting a +1 DRM from the Soviet SB bomber unit if it is allocated to the 131+160/5 cavalry defender hex.

The Soviet player decides to allocate both his fighter and bomber air units to the 11+96/5 cavalry defender hex. Things look hopeless against the two division German attack, but if the Soviet bomber can add a +1 DRM to this combat die roll, the likelihood of an Axis step loss increases. All air units are revealed. The Axis Dummy air unit is removed and put back in the Ready Box. In the Declared Attack on hex 1510, there might be air combat [BSR17.3].

Air Combat: Because at least one Firing unit is present (a Soviet fighter), players must first determine Air Initiative. And because the only firing unit is a Soviet unit, the Soviet player automatically wins Air Initiative [BSR17.32.a], but he still rolls and finds the result on the Air Initiative Table. If he rolls a 6 or 7, no air combat would occur and the Firing unit would go to the Flown Box without firing. Instead, he rolls a 3 and this allows air combat to occur. The Soviet fighter is matched against the lone German He111bomber. The fighter has an Air Combat Rating of one, and the bomber has an Air Combat Rating of two, but only the fighter can fire. The de-fending bomber’s Air Combat rating is subtracted from the fighter’s yielding a total of –1. The Soviet player uses the –1 column of the Air Combat Table [BSR17.33]. He rolls poorly—a 9, meaning the German bombers get away unscathed. The Soviet fighter unit goes to its Flown Box.

AA Fire [BSR�7.4]: No Soviet cavalry unit is AA capable so the German bomber unit automatically contributes a –1 DRM to the combat and returns the Flown Box. Two of the three units of 25th Motorized are present, so that formation is AA capable. There are no Axis DRMs, so the Axis die roll of 9 yields an Aborted result. The Soviet bomber unit is cannot contribute a +1 DRM to the combat, and goes to its Flown Box.



Combat: The Axis player decides to resolve the combat against hex 1510 first. He has one in-range artillery unit, the 619th Regiment and allocates it to the combat. Note that in most scenarios, it is necessary to expend Attack Supply to add artillery support strength [BSR15.32.c].

The Axis player has six attack factors plus two artillery support fac-tors for a total of eight. The Soviet player has defense strength of two. At this point the attacker would normally expend Attack Sup-ply to allow artillery support and negate the +2 DRM for attacking without Attack Supply [BSR15.32].

The defender strength is divided into the attacker strength, yielding odds of 4 to 1 for this combat. The Axis player issues no orders, and there are no Soviet orders to reveal, so the net DRM for the attack is computed. In this case, there is only the Axis –1 DRM for CAS, so the Axis die roll will have a –1 DRM applied. The die roll is 6, and the –1 DRM modifies it to 5 (fortunately for the Axis player). The result is one defender step loss and no attacker step loss. Since the 11+96/5 Cavalry is a one step unit, the loss removes it from play. It is placed in the Soviet Cadre Box [BSR16.24]. The two victorious German motorized regiments advance into the now vacant Defender Hex 1510, but the artillery remains stationary (artillery units cannot advance after combat).

For the combat in hex 1508, there is no artillery to allocate. The total German attack strength is 18, and the total Soviet defense strength is 3, yielding odds of 6 to 1. Note that in most cases Attack Supply would need to be expended here for optimal attacker results. There are no orders to issue or reveal. The Axis player has a –3 DRM (–1 for 9th Pz Div Integrity; –1 for Pz Div Integrity for the attacking 16th Motorized; and –1 for Combined Arms Bonus since there are no Soviet tank, anti-tank or AA units to counter the combination of the German panzer regiment and accompanying motorized infantry [BSR15.67].

The Axis die roll is 5, modified by the –3 DRM to 2. The result is three steps lost and a retreat for the defender and no steps lost for the attacker. The defending cavalry unit has only two steps, so the 3-step loss removes it from the map and places it in the Soviet Cadre Box. The 9th Panzer Division advances into the now vacant Defender Hex. Both combats have been highly successful for the Axis player, and the Soviet player looks at the newly created gap in his lines and wonders where the Axis player will move his units.

Axis Motorized Unit Movement Phase [BSR�0.�]: The Axis player now moves his motorized units up to one half of their normal movement allowance, retaining fractions. Refer to the Terrain Effects Chart for the following movements:

1) 619th Artillery Regiment cannot move and remains in hex 1310.

2) 25th Motorized splits and moves in two directions to threaten the Soviet 295 Rifle Division in hex 1612. The 35th Regiment moves one hex to 1511 (cost 2MPs—one MP for entering the clear terrain hex through a non-road hexside, and one MP for entering an enemy Zone of Control). The 119th Regiment spends 2 MPs to cross the river and enter hex 1610, and one more MP to enter hex 1709.

3) The 9th Panzer spends 2 MPs to cross the river and enter hex 1609. Hex 1609 is a minor road hex, and 9th Panzer now spends 1/2 MP to enter hex 1708 through the minor road hexside. In

hex 1708, the 9th Panzer stack splits. The 9th Panzer Recon unit spends 1/2 MP to enter and move through hex 1809 on a minor road, and 1MP to enter and move through woods hex 1908 on the minor road. The 9th Panzer Recon has spent 4 MPs out of its 4 and 1/2 MPs available. It now spends its remaining 1/2 MP to enter hex 2009 through a minor road hexside and occupy Lebedin. The remainder of the 9th Panzer spends 1/2 MP to enter hex 1808 through the minor road hexside. Their final 1/2 MP remains unspent because it is insufficient to enter any adjacent hex.

4) The 16th Motorized also splits. The two motorized regiments spend 3 MPs to move to hex 1507, adjacent to the 5+136/9 Soviet cavalry. The 16th Motorized Recon unit remains in place as a reaction movement unit.

5) Finally, the 20th Motorized regiment moves back to hex 1306 to occupy Nedrigaylov, but more importantly, to escape the pos-sibility of being surrounded and destroyed by the Soviets.

There are no actions to perform in the Axis Engineering Segment. Play now shifts to the Soviet Player Segment.

The Soviet player wants to counterattack the exposed 16th Motor-ized Division, but his units are out of position. The Soviet Player Segment is not identical to the Axis Player Segment. The Motorized Movement Phase occurs first, followed by Combat, and then the Regular Movement Phase. Soviet cavalry can move in the Motor-ized Movement Phase, but with only half of their normal movement allowance. Motorized units (those with their movement allowances in a red box) move their full MA. The Soviet player cannot throw both cavalry units and tank brigades against the 16th motorized, because neither the 129 Tank Brigade nor the 72+108/9 Cavalry



unit have enough movement allowance to cross the unbridged river and enter the 16th Motorized Division’s ZOC. There is another pos-sibility—the 20/10M regiment in hex 1306.

During the Soviet Motorized Movement Phase, a Soviet HQ can activate a number of non-motorized units equal to their Command Rating that cannot normally move in this phase. Such units have to be within the HQ’s Command Range. The Soviet player uses the 40 Army HQ to activate the in-range 227 Rifle Division, and places an Activated marker on it. The 227th spends 2 and 1/2 MPs to enter hex 1305 (1.5 MPs to enter hexes 1404, 1304 and 1305 along the minor road, plus 1MP to enter 20/10M’s ZOC). The 129 Tank Brigade expends 3 and 1/2 MPs also to enter hex 1305. The 1 Tank Brigade spends 3 MPs to move to hex 1406.

Other movement: The 72+108/9 Cavalry unit spends its 3 MPs to move to hex 1806, and the 1st Guards Motorized Division enters the map as a stack at hex 2202, and expends 1 and 1/2 MPs to move along the main road to Sumy. At Sumy the 2/4 Guard Rocket expends 4 of its remaining 6 and 1/2 MPs to move through hexes 2304, 2205 and 2105 to hex 2107. The Soviet player has to block the approaches to Sumy, and this artillery regiment will be a part of that force—a good thing, for if left by itself, it cannot stop move-ment along the minor road to Sumy because it has no ZOC, and with a defense strength of one when by itself, it would be an easy target for elimination.

The remaining three units of the 1 Guards spend 2 and 1/2 more MPs to move to hex 2005 (moving on a minor road through non-clear terrain costs 1MP per hex). All three units have now spent 4MPs. The two motorized units have 1 MP left. The 12/1GdM and 175/1GdM both spend 1/2 more MP to end their movement in hex 1905. The 6/1GdM spends its last MP to move to hex 1904. The Soviet player elects not to move the 5+136/9 Cavalry unit this phase. If it remains adjacent to the two motorized regiments of 16th Motorized, the Ger-man units are not eligible for Reaction Movement [BSR14.11.a].

With movement ended, the Soviet player now declares an attack on hex 1306, and places a Declared Attack marker on the hex.

Reaction Movement: Axis forces are more flexible than Soviet forces. Any motorized unit within three hexes of a Defender Hex that is not in a Soviet ZOC can move up to half of its MA. The only ZOC a reacting unit can enter is the attacker ZOC into the defender hex, and it does not spend an MP for entering that ZOC [BSR14.13]. The only qualifying Axis unit is the 341/16M Recon unit (had the Soviets not remained adjacent to the remainder of 16th Motorized, the entire division could have reacted with dire results for the Soviet attackers). The 341/16M spends 3 of its 4 and 1/2 available MPs to move through hexes 1308 and 1307 and enter Defender Hex 1306.

Combat: There are no air units for either side in the Ready Boxes, so there will be no CAS. There is no supporting artillery for either side. The basic odds of 3 to 2 (9 Soviet attack factors against 6 Axis defense factors) are the final odds.

Orders: The Soviet attacking units are all out of the 40 Army HQ’s Command Range, so they can receive no attack orders. The German player elects to issue an Additional Retreat order to the Defender Hex, and places that marker face down on the hex (again, the Axis forces are more flexible than their Soviet counterparts). The 3 to 2 odds column on the Combat Results Table has the potential to pun-

ish both the attacker and defender severely. The Axis player could have chosen to issue a No Retreat order. The Axis player would have received a +1 DRM that could have potentially worsened the Soviet player combat result. The downside for this order is that one addi-tional step loss is applied to the printed combat result [BSR16.41]. The Axis player is trying to avoid step losses, so does not opt for this order. The Axis player now turns the Orders marker for the Soviet player to see the Additional Retreat option.

There are no DRMs. Though the Soviet player has committed two armor type units to the attack, the Soviet infantry division is not one of the qualifying other units to allow a Combined Arms attack [BSR15.67]. Even though the Soviet 227 Rifle and 129 Tank are attacking across a river hexside, the 1 Tank is not, so the Axis defend-ers do not receive the +1 DRM for defensive river terrain. The Axis player chose to issue Additional Retreat instead of No Retreat.

The Soviet player rolls the die and gets a 5. The result is Attacker one step loss plus asterisk, and Defender retreat.

The Soviet player turns the 227Rifle to its reduced side. The asterisk result does not apply because:

• This was not a Soviet Mandated Attack• The attack was not made against a strongpoint or fortified line• There were no Attack Supply considerations• Since there were no qualifying defending units, Armor Attrition

[BSR16.32.c] does not apply.

Retreat and Advance: Because the Axis player opted for Additional Retreat, the Soviet player now retreats each Axis unit three hexes instead of the Axis player retreating each unit two hexes. The So-viet player cannot intentionally retreat these units in a direction that would result in loss or destruction if a safe path is available [BSR16.41.b], but there are many safe paths available, and the Soviet player chooses hex 1007 for both units. The Axis player is now regretting his choice of Additional retreat.

The Soviet player opts not to advance. Leaving units in hex 1306, a clear hex in close proximity to strong Axis forces, does not seem prudent.

Soviet Movement Phase:• Since it was activated in the motorized Movement Phase, the 227

Rifle is not eligible to move in this phase when it would normally move.

• The Soviet player elects not to move the 295th Rifle. Though alone and far from the bulk of Soviet units, it remains a threat in being, and ties down Axis units to screen it.

• Both cavalry units move with their full MA this phase. 72+108/9 cavalry spends 4 and 1/2 MPs to move to hex 2107 (after entering hex 2007 through a hill hexside, the Soviets use the minor road to enter hex 2107) and reinforce the 2/4 Gd Rocket Battalion. The 5+136/9 cavalry spends 3 MPs to move to hex 1605.

• 6/1GdM spends 2 MPs to move to hex 1703, and now that it is on a minor road hex, spends its last 1/2 MP to move through a minor road hexside into hex 1603.

• 12 and 175/1GdM both spend 2 MPs to move to hex 1906.

• 1st Tank Brigade spends 1/2 MP to move to hex 1505 through a minor road hexside, and then spends its remaining 2 MPs to



cross the river hexside and enter hex 1605 and stack with 5+136/9 Cavalry.

• The 129 tank brigade remains with the reduced 227 Rifle in hex 1305, and 40 Army HQ also remains in hex 1904.

There are no actions to perform in the Soviet Engineering Segment. Play now shifts to the Game Turn Interphase.

The Activated marker is removed from the 227 Rifle, and the Turn Marker is advanced to GT 51.

Game Turn 5�Strategic Segment: All of the actions in the Strategic Segment have either been deleted or completed in advance for the scenario, except for:• Reinforcements—the Soviet player sets aside the 126+205AA unit

for entry during his player Segment. The Soviet player also places the MiG-3 and SB reinforcement air units in the Soviet Air Unit Ready Box. The Axis player also receives one air unit, a Bf109, as a reinforcement. It is placed in the Axis Air Unit Ready Box.

• Air Unit readiness. Both players must now roll for each unit in their Flown Boxes to determine if they move to the Ready Box, or remain in the Flown Box. The Soviet player moves each air unit on a roll of 1 through 8, and there are no DRMs. He rolls a 6 for the SB unit and a 3 for the I-16 unit. The Axis player rolls a 7 and his He111 unit also moves back to the Ready Box.

• Air Interdiction. The Axis player opts to commit his newly arrived Bf109 fighter and the He111 bomber units to an Air Interdiction Mission against hex 1904.

The intent is to degrade the capabilities of the 40 Army HQ by successfully interdicting it. The downside for the Axis player is that he will have no air units to counter Soviet air units during the upcoming player segments. Both air units are placed face down on the interdiction hex.

The Soviet player must choose whether or not to contest the Axis mission with his fighters. Though he has two units, both are greatly inferior in combat ability to the Bf109, and the odds are good that one or both fighters might be destroyed.

The Soviet player commits his two fighter units. The Axis player reveals his two air units. The He111 can only perform interdiction as a Mission unit. The Bf109 is dual capable. It can perform interdiction, or engage in air combat. The Axis player declares it will be a Firing unit [BSR17.31.b.2}.

Air Initiative: The die is rolled to determine if either side’s Firing units has the initiative [BSR17.32}. The die roll is 5, giving the Axis Bf109 the initiative.

The Axis player decides his Bf109 will engage the MiG-3 unit, and let the I-16 through to attack his He111 unit.

The Bf109 rolls on the +2 column, and gets a 2. The MiG-3 is destroyed, but firing is simultaneous between firing units. The MiG-3 die roll is a 10 on the –2 column, indicating no result. The MiG-3 goes to the Destroyed Box and the Bf109 returns to the Flown Box.

The I-16 rolls against the He111 on the –1 column, rolling a 2. The He111 is aborted and returned to the Flown Box (being a Mission unit, it cannot fire back). There will be no interdiction of hex 1904, and the 40 Army HQ will be able to issue one order, activate one non-motorized unit, and allow one motorized unit to react.

The tutorial ends at this point. The Soviet player has established a solid defensive line, and the Axis player will not be able to attack any hex at high odds as was done on GT 50. Additionally, the Soviet has a potential for two combat DRMs because his two SB bombers will not face any Axis air opposition—just Axis AA. Thus far the die rolls have generally been in favor of the Axis player, but this will probably change. It’s a virtual certainty that the Axis player will begin to take significant step losses, and that this scenario will probably remain in doubt down to the last die roll. Feel free to play out the rest of this scenario from this point, or re-set and try it from the beginning.



�0.5 Scenario 5: To KharkovHistorical SummaryWith the conclusion of the Kiev Pocket operations, the focus of action in Russia shifted to the north, to the final German offensive against Moscow, Operation Typhoon. Following new directives from Berlin, German 2nd Army and Guderian’s Panzer Group left the Ukraine, taking with them some units originally assigned to Army Group South, including a full motorized corps [see Scenario 4]. In a similar manner, starting in late September German 11th Army went south into Crimea. Army Group South may have faced much weakened opposition, but was itself much weakened by the transfers and still had to contend with the same size of front and changing priorities over distant objectives.

Despite the reduced means a general offensive was fully underway by 1 October, coinciding with Typhoon. As a result of confused operational planning, Axis armies went off in several directions at once. The 6th Army began its uninspired drive on Kharkov while 17th Army was directed to the Donets River and then into the Donbas industrial area with Voroshilovgrad as the objective. Only Kleist’s Panzer Group had real success. It easily sliced through Soviet 12 Army defenses just west of Pavlograd and cut south to get into the rear of Soviet Southern Front’s 9 and 18 Armies, meeting up with elements of 11th Army near Berdyansk [see Scenario 3]. The removal of the bulk of these two armies almost opened the door to Rostov. Practically the only thing left defending Russia in this sector was mud.

The 17th Army managed an early start but had to spend much effort just to support the flanks of 6th Army and 1st Panzer Army. This allowed fierce Soviet resistance to develop in front of Krasnograd in late September, so a panzer division was summoned to assist. But even with this addition, the Army’s strength continued to dissipate as it pursued divergent objectives: Kharkov to the north, the Donets River to the east, and Voroshilovgrad to the southeast. The 17th Army took Lozovaya on 10 October but was now nearly halted by cold, rain, and exhaustion.

The 6th Army experienced severe delays in concentrating for an offensive and yet even as its attack gained strength Soviet 38 Army counterattacked; one particularly nasty attack being with armor on 14 October. The Soviets in the area had recovered and manned a whole new front line with good troops, but were still so thinly spread they could only react to events. With practically no motorized units and poor logistical support (since bridges over the Dnepr River were not yet rebuilt), 6th Army seemed only to plod forward. It missed opportunities to take advantage of gaps in the line to encircle more Soviet units. Despite the difficulties, the Army managed after heavy fighting to capture Kharkov on 24 October and from there sent for-ward detachments to establish bridgeheads across the Donets River. By now the 6th Army was spent and would pass the winter there. The Soviets had pulled back all the way to the Oskol River and were amazed they were not pursued. They then quickly reoccupied the no-man’s land in between the front lines.

By the end of October Army Group South had halted operations except in the zone of 1st Panzer Army (now renamed from “Panzer Group”). Because of mud, severely constrained logistics, and a low level of motorization, only small detachments could maneuver. Fortunately for Army Group South, Berlin agreed they had gener-

ally reached their provisional objectives, save that of Rostov for 1st Panzer Army [see Scenario 7], and were no longer under pressure from the Soviets. The plan was that once supplies were accumulated and railheads advanced the Army Group could resume its advance to the Don and then the Volga Rivers. As things turned out, this would not happen until the following summer.

Required:1. Maps J, K, KK, and R

2. Set-Up Cards • Axis Two Back • Soviet One Back • Soviet Two Back


�0.5� Scenario LengthThere are twenty turns. Start with GT51 and end with GT70. The weather is automatically Dry (no Storm) for GT51. Resolve the Weather Table for all remaining turns.

�0.5� Scenario AreaUse all of maps J, K, KK, and R.


b. Resolve Air Readiness each turn starting GT 52.

c. Marker Placement1. Set the VP markers at fifty-eight (58).2. Set the Soviet Replacement markers and the Mandated Attacks

Not Yet Made marker at zero (0).3. The Soviet player resolves the Replacements Table starting

GT51.

�0.54 Scenario Special Rulesa. Axis Crimea Withdrawal1. The Axis player is required to withdraw to Crimea various units

over several turns, the first group withdrawing on GT53. For each withdrawal turn the Axis player withdraws the exact combat units shown on his Set-Up Card, at the strengths shown. These units are required to move across the game map and then exit the map [PB 3.3] at hex J3733 on or before their required exit turn. Obvi-ously, Soviet units blocking the exit hex must be driven away or destroyed in order to complete the exit by the end of the turn of each withdrawal.

2. The Axis player loses 1 VP for each turn, beginning the end of the required turn of withdrawal, if not all units of every group to that date have completed their withdrawal, regardless of the number of units or groups that have not completed their withdrawal.

EXAMPLE: The GT53 and GT64 units all complete their map exit on the turns required. The GT57and GT62 units do not exit until GT64. No VP penalty is incurred GTs 53 through 56 since the GT53 units exited on time. The Axis player is assessed 7 VPs since the GT57 unit did not exit until seven turns later. The GT62 units also exited GT64, but no extra VPs are assessed since the penalty is already in effect for the GT57 units.

Note: The Axis Crimea Withdrawal is the only one that requires

��Kiev to Rostov PLAYBOOK


units to move across the map and then exit the map. All other withdrawals allow units merely to be picked up and removed from play. We chose this design solution to present the Axis player with the same dilemma his historical counterpart faced about the allocation of his troops. He is ordered to capture the Crimea but the only viable entry to the Crimea is blocked by Soviet combat units (in and around hex J3632). Obviously, these must be removed to satisfy the withdrawal.

3. Units withdrawing at a strength level less than that required cause RPs to be subtracted from those available to make up the deficit to complete that required withdrawal. The complete regular re-placements procedure to restore them before they exit need not be followed. If not enough RPs are available immediately remove sufficient steps from other units of the same type already in play (and in General Supply).

4. If Soviet units later block the exit hex, withdrawn units do not return, the Withdrawal is not cancelled, and withdrawn units do not return.

b. Soviet Garrisons. Refer to the Soviet Replacements Table on Scenario Card Two for normal garrison release.

c. Soviet Supply Sources: Any railroad hex at the north edge of Map KK and north, south, and east edges of Map R, hex J3733, and any friendly major city.

d. Axis Supply Sources: Any railroad hex at the north and west edges of Map K and west edge of Map J. Base units are available for forward placement of MSUs and Supply Dumps if their rail nets to map edge supply source hexes remain uncut.

e. Soviet Replacements. See Soviet Replacements Table.

�0.55 Victory ConditionsSee Victory Conditions Chart.

�0.6 Scenario 6: To RostovHistorical SituationIn late fall of 1941 Army Group South made one final lunge for Rostov-on-the-Don. Often called the “gateway to the Caucasus,” Rostov would hold the key to the campaign to the south for the coming year. The German offensive began on 5 November and fought the mud perhaps as much as the Russians. German 14th Panzer Division and 49th Mountain Corps pushed eastwards in an enveloping move directed through Shakty and Novocherkassk. The Germans were stalled by continuing bad weather and what proved to be a strong defense by the Soviet Southern Front’s rebuilt 9 and 18 Armies. Sensing an opportunity, the Soviets directed their rebuilt 37 Army to the area, and with the other two armies launched a counteroffensive on 17 November.

After regrouping their motorized troops German command launched its final drive on Rostov on November 16th with 3rd Panzer Corps. Concentrated on a narrow front and with air and artillery support, it broke through the Soviet front in two days. On the 20th the first Germans entered Rostov and by the end of the day most of the city was occupied. Yet still, within the vicinity of the city and particularly on their northern flank, the Germans were noticeably outnumbered. Their situation was precarious.

A now superior Soviet Southern Front advanced successfully, if slowly, against the German northern flank, and then halted mo-mentarily at the Tuzlov River. The positions they occupied posed a considerable threat to German forces in Rostov now coming under attack from nearly all directions. On the 28th von Rundstedt ordered a withdrawal from Rostov but on the 30th Hitler countermanded the order. With that von Rundstedt resigned his command of Army Group South. Hitler then appointed Field Marshal Walther von Richenau to command. Richenau, however, could do nothing to change the overall situation and so 1st Panzer Army resumed its withdrawal, eventually stopping on the Mius River line on 2 December.

The cancellation of Hitler’s orders cost the Germans their command-er but it preserved their army and they still held positions valuable for a renewed offensive. The Soviets had suffered comparatively lightly, only 33,000 casualties and 42 tanks in the offensive phase. The Soviets record the Rostov Operation in their histories as the first offensive operation that created favorable conditions for the Soviet Red Army to go over to the offensive at Moscow.

Required:1. Map R

2. Set-Up Cards • Axis Three Back (printed on map R) • Soviet Three Back (printed on map R)


�0.6� Scenario LengthThere are fifteen turns. Start with GT69 and end with GT83. The weather is automatically Frost for GT69. Resolve the Weather Table for all remaining turns.

�0.6� Scenario AreaUse all of Map R.

�0.63 Placement a. The Soviet player sets up first.

b. Air Readiness 1. Resolve Air Readiness each turn starting GT70. Readiness has

already been pre-determined for GT69. 2. Apply a (+2) DRM to all Readiness die rolls for the Axis “Ju87”

unit. 3. Apply a (+1) DRM to all Soviet Air Readiness die rolls if an

Axis combat unit is on or adjacent to hex R4029 (Rostov).c. Marker Placement 1. Set the VP markers at zero. 2. Neither Axis Replacement marker is used; there are no Axis

replacements in this scenario. Strongpoint results on the So-viet Replacements Table that include “E” also include treating Voroshilovgrad (R3012) as a major city for this purpose [BSR 7.2a]. Begin the Soviet Replacements markers at zero (0).

3. Disregard Soviet Mandated Attacks results on the Soviet Re-placements Table until beginning with GT70.

�0.64 Scenario Special Rulesa. There are no Axis Garrison requirements.

�� Kiev to Rostov PLAYBOOK


b. Supply Sources1. Axis Supply Sources: Main road at hexes 1019, 1020, 1036, and

1037.2. Soviet Supply Sources: Main road and railroad hexes at 1001,

1003, 2001, 3601, 4039, 4138, 4814, 4834, and 4836, and both Rostov hexes.

c. Railroad Capacity1. Axis: None2. Soviet: 6 stacking points per turn.

d. The Non-Op 56 Army HQ1. It cannot start recovery procedure until GT72. It automatically

becomes Operational on GT74 if it has not already become so.2. It cannot move until it recovers to Operational status.3. It cannot disband.

e. Reinforcements Entry1. Soviet Reinforcements enter as shown on the Set-Up Card. MSUs

enter at any friendly Supply Source.2. Axis reinforcements enter as shown on the Set-Up Card. MSUs

enter at any friendly Supply Source.3. Subject to turn availability each player can bring in any or all of

his Special Reinforcement Pool Groups, at his discretion, at the rate of one Group per turn.

f. Rostov city hexes provide a (+1) DRM instead of a normal (+2) DRM for a major city. [The local Soviet authority failed to prepare the city for defense.]

�0.65 Axis Victory PlansOn 6 September Hitler issued Directive #35. It called for the re-sumption of the “advance on Moscow,” and for the simultaneous destruction of the Soviet Southern Front and the continuation of the advance toward Rostov. This plan was actually a compromise of di-vergent ideas that had developed through the summer and fall. With the great initial success of the advance on Moscow, the “Typhoon” offensive, Hitler pressed for still more divergent objectives. With his dream of a complete military solution in the East he renewed demands for impossible objectives far to the east of Moscow and Rostov, generally the line Vologda-Gorki-Stalingrad-Maikop (all far off the game map). In the end, Hitler’s plan became the official plan but it had become militarily impossible.

a. There are two possible Victory Plans that will be in effect dur-ing the course of the scenario. The Victory Plan currently in effect determines the column to use on the Victory Point Schedule, and thus the actual number of VPs to score. Ignore the other column. The Axis player starts with the Compromise Plan. During the game that Plan may change to the Hitler Plan through results obtained on the Victory Plan Table.

b. Compromise Plan. The scenario begins with this Plan. All rules are written assuming the Compromise Plan is in effect.

c. On GT77 the Axis player determines whether there will be a change in Victory Plan. He rolls one die and consults the Victory Plan Table for a result. Depending on the result, he either continues with the Compromise Plan or changes to the Hitler Plan.

d. Hitler Plan Effects1. The Axis player can build strongpoints. This continues even if

the Hitler Plan is later cancelled [PB 10.75e]. The Axis player can start the construction of as many strongpoints as he desires each turn [BSR 18.3.5] but only an engineer unit can construct a strongpoint.

2. No Retreat Orders. This automatically applies to all German units while defending in combat situations where initial combat odds (before reaction) are 5-1 or less. Use a No Retreat marker. This does not apply to other Axis nationalities unless stacked with a German unit. The Soviet player now announces initial combat odds for all combats before the Axis reaction phase.

3. Garrisons. Place a Garrison marker on all hexes where a German unit occupies a friendly strongpoint (except where an engineer type occupies the strongpoint without other German units present). Any German unit moving through that Garrison hex, or remaining in it, also joins that Garrison. One Garrison hex can be released per turn during the replacements phase.

4. The Axis player scores 2 VPs if at any time after the Hitler Plan is in effect he moves any SS unit into either Rostov hex for at least one complete game phase. These VPs are not scored if the Axis player scores VPs for either Rostov hex at the end of the scenario or if the conditions are fulfilled after the Hitler Plan is cancelled.

DESIGN NOTE: Essentially, this represents a propaganda victory and the correct political troops have to do it. For good game play, we want every encouragement to induce the Axis player to move forward while under the Hitler Plan.

e. Cancel the Hitler Plan. If the Hitler Plan comes into effect, the Axis player can cancel it and change back to the Compromise Plan. He can do this on any turn beginning GT78 by spending five (5) VPs. He cannot subsequently change back to the Hitler Plan. Once the Hitler Plan is cancelled, use the Compromise Plan VP Schedule. VPs scored under the Hitler Plan while the Hitler Plan was in effect are not lost or adjusted; they remain.

DESIGN NOTE: We do not want a player locked into impossible victory conditions even though his historical counterpart, Rundstedt, was indeed in such a situation. He chose to disobey Hitler’s orders and immediately paid the price by losing his position in command. The heavy VP cost reflects this choice.

�0.66 Victory Conditionsa. Should the Soviet player exit four combat units off the west edge of Map R, hexes R1024 through R1039, he automatically and im-mediately wins the game, regardless of VP total.

Design Note. We doubt this will ever happen but it prevents game-wise solutions to play. It also reflects that should so many Russians get into Axis rear areas, Axis forces in the Crimea would be threat-ened and the offensive against Rostov would likely be cancelled to deal with the threat.

b. Victory Levels. See Victory Conditions Chart.



�0.7 Scenario 7: Kiev to Rostov CampaignRequired:

1. Maps J, K, KK, and R

2. Set-Up Cards• Axis One Back• Axis Two Front• Soviet One Back• Soviet Two Front• Soviet Three Front


�0.7� Scenario Length.There are fifty-seven (57) turns. Start with GT29 and end with GT85. The weather is automatically Dry (no Storm) for GTs 29 and 30. Resolve the Weather Table for all remaining turns.

�0.7� Scenario Area.Use all of maps J, K, KK, and R.


b. Air Readiness. Resolve Air Readiness each turn starting with GT30.

c. Marker Placement1. Set the VP markers at eight (8).2. Set the Soviet Replacements markers and the Mandated Attacks

Not Yet Made marker at zero (0).3. Place two Bridge destroyed markers on their 2 sides on hexes K

1421 and 1422 (both rail bridges are destroyed).

PLAY NOTE: The Soviet player would be well advised to destroy the remaining Dnepr River bridges quickly.

d. At Start units1. For Axis use Scenario 2 Axis Set-Up Card Two Front 2. For Soviets use Scenario 2 Soviet Set-Up Card Two Front

e. Reinforcements and Replacements1. Soviet Reinforcements. Refer to Soviet Set-Up Cards Three Front.

Use all fifteen Special Reinforcement Pool Groups.2. Soviet Replacements. Use Soviet Replacements Table B dur-

ing its designated turns, then Table C for the remainder of the scenario.

3. Axis Reinforcements and Replacements. Refer to Axis Set-Up Card One Back. Use all nine Special Reinforcement Pool Groups.

4. Since Map R is included Soviet reinforcements shown by the Set-Up Card as arriving on the east edge of Maps J or KK arrive instead at the east edge of Map R.

�0.74 Scenario Special Rulesa. Use Scenario Special Rules PB 10.24 and 10.25, and use PB 10.54.

�0.75 Victory Conditionsa. See Victory Conditions Chart.

b. When combining this game with the AGS campaign scenario (AGS Scenario 5) total the VPs scored with the AGS game with those scored for this game and compare the total to the Victory Levels shown on the “with AGS” column on the Victory Condi-tions Chart.

c. For those VP locations common to both games use the VP scoring shown in Kiev to Rostov.

Note: Only for Kiev do VPs for locations vary between the two games.

��.0 Examples of Play��.� Air Mission ExamplesNote: The maximum number of air units either player can assign to any air mission (Interdiction or CAS) is three.

Example �: Interdiction

Any map hex can be a mission hex for an Interdiction mission. During the Axis Air Interdiction Phase the Axis player declares an Interdiction mission against a map hex containing a Soviet HQ. The Axis player takes one BF109 F (fighter) unit, one JU87 B (bomber) and one JU88 B (bomber) unit from the Ready Box of the Air Unit Display and places them face down in the mission hex.

The Soviet player decides to oppose the mission with two MIG-3 F (fight-ers) from the Ready Box on the Soviet Air Unit Display, and places them face up in the mission hex. Because both players have air units in the mission hex, they must now resolve Air Combat.

A point of clarification: In Air Combat, all air units are either mission units or firing units. Bombers (B type air units) are easy to classify. They are always mission units. Their Air Combat Rating is used defensively only. They never fire during Air Combat. Many fighter (F type air units) are dual capable, possessing CAS or Interdiction ratings as well as an Air Combat Rating(ACR). When dual capable fighters are present in an air combat, the owning player must im-mediately and irrevocably declare whether they are being used as mission units (performing CAS or Interdiction with those ratings and using their ACR defensively) or firing units (using their ACR to fire on opposing units).

The Axis player now reveals his three air units. Because the BF109 is dual capable, the Axis player announces that it will be a firing unit for this Air Combat.

The Axis player rolls one die and refers to the Air Initiative table. The result of “1” indicates “Axis Initiative, Local Tactical Advantage.” Axis Initiative allows the Axis player, within limits, to structure the matching of opposing air units for Air Combat resolution. Lo-cal Tactical Advantage applies only to a possible second round of Air Combat, and will be covered later. Opposing firing units must be matched against each other, so the Axis player allocates his one



BF109 against one of the MIG-3 units. The Axis player must now allocate a mission unit against the remaining MIG-3 because he has no other firing units remaining. Because it is his choice of which mission unit to use, he chooses the JU88 with its ACR of three instead of the JU87 with its ACR of one. The JU88 will be much harder for the MIG-3 to abort or damage. If the Soviet player had the Initiative, the weaker JU87 would have been chosen.

All firing units fire simultaneously in Air Combat. Mission units do not fire—they simply defend with their ACRs. The Soviet player fires at the JU-88 with his MIG-3, indexing the –1 column of the Air Combat Table (MIG-3 ACR of 2 minus JU-88 ACR of 3). He rolls a 6 (No Effect) result.

Now both players fire in the BF-109 vs. MIG-3 engagement. The German player indexes the +2 column on the Air Combat Table (BF-109 ACR of 4 minus the MIG-3 ACR of 2) and the Soviet player indexes the –2 column (MIG-3 ACR of 2 minus the BF-109 ACR of 4). The Axis player rolls a 5, which damages the MIG-3. The Soviet player rolls a 3, which has no effect. The MIG-3 is returned to the Damaged Box. The BF-109 remains for the second round due to Axis Local Tactical Initiative.

In most instances Air Combat would now be concluded. However, because the Axis player received a Local Tactical Initiative result, any unengaged Axis firing unit may choose a new target and fire again. The only Axis firing unit, the BF-109, is unengaged (its MIG-3 opponent from the first round of air combat limped back to the Soviet Damaged Box). The only remaining Soviet unit is the other MIG-3, so it becomes the target unit. The Axis player again indexes the +2 column, rolls the die and obtains a 3, which is a “destroyed” result. The MIG-3 is sent immediately to the Soviet Destroyed Box. Because it was the target unit in a Local Tactical Initiative situation, it cannot fire back.

Air Combat is over. All remaining firing units (in this case, the BF-109) return to their respective Flown Boxes. The JU-87 and JU88 continue the Interdiction mission.

The Soviet player is able to conduct AA fire because a HQ occupies the mission hex (it could have also occupied any of the six hexes surrounding the mission hex). The HQ will provide a +1 DRM to each Soviet AA die roll. The Soviet fires first at the JU-88. The die roll is 8 (modified to 9 due to the HQ DRM), obtaining an Abort result. The JU-88 is placed immediately in the Axis Flown Box. The next die roll against the JU-87 is a 5, but this time the HQ DRM is cancelled out by the JU-87’s own DRM of –1 against AA fire. The final die roll result remains 5, which equals “No Effect” on the table. The JU-87 remains in the mission hex after Air Combat and AA fire, so it automatically performs its mission. The Axis player receives one level of Interdiction in the mission hex for each Axis Interdiction rating point remaining in the hex (up to a maximum of two levels). The JU-87 has two Interdiction rating points, so the Axis player places a Level Two Interdiction marker in the mission hex and moves the JU-87 to the Flown Box. The air mission is concluded. The Interdiction marker remains in the mission hex until it is removed during the Game Turn Interphase. Until removed, it turns the mis-sion hex and the six surrounding hexes into a Zone of Interdiction affecting the Soviet player (for a complete list of Interdiction Effects, refer to the Air section of the 11x17 Chart Card).

Example �: CAS

Situation: The Axis player has declared an attack against a hex con-taining several Soviet units, two of which are AA units. A Declared Attack marker has been placed on the hex. At the start of the Axis Combat Phase, the Axis player allocates all desired CAS missions, and one of them is allocated to this particular Declared Attack. Unlike Interdiction, the only allowable mission hexes for CAS mis-sions are hexes bearing Declared Attack markers. The Axis player allocates from the Ready Box a BF-109 and a JU-87, placing them face down on the mission hex. Once the attacking player (the Axis player in this case) has allocated all CAS missions, the defending player allocates his CAS missions to any hexes containing Declared Attack markers. The Soviet player allocates two MIG-3 fighters and an SU-2 bomber from the Ready Box to perform a CAS mission in the example hex, and moves the units face up to the map.

Because both players have air units in a mission hex, they perform Air Combat:

1. The Axis player does not need to declare his BF-109 is functioning as a firing unit—it does so automatically because it has a CAS rating of zero.

2. The Axis player checks for Air Initiative by rolling one die and referring to the Air Initiative Table. The die roll is 6, which indi-cates that all firing units return to their respective Flown Boxes. The rest of the Air Combat procedure is skipped.

Both players’ mission units must undergo AA fire, because both sides have ground combat units qualified to deliver AA fire in or adjacent to the mission hex.

The Axis player rolls a 3 with no DRMs which results in a No Ef-fect result. The Soviet SU-2 unit remains in the mission hex. The Soviet player rolls a 10, modified by a +2 DRM (those two Soviet AA units contribute +1 DRM each), which yields a Damaged result when applying the –1 Stuka DRM. The Stuka is removed from the map and placed in the Axis Damaged Box.

The SU-2 now automatically contributes its CAS Rating of one to the Declared Attack as a +1 Defender DRM. Return the SU-2 to the Flown box. Place a one numeric marker in the hex if desired.

��.� Overrun ExampleSituation: It is the Axis Movement Phase. The weather for the turn is Dry. The Axis player decides to Overrun the Soviet artillery bri-gade in hex A with the Overrunning force shown in the illustration (all of the German motorized units begin the Axis Movement Phase stacked together in the hex adjacent to hex A, so all can move in the same Overrunning stack).

Because the Soviet artillery unit is stacked in a hex with a Strong-point, the Axis player must achieve 12-1 odds to Overrun. The Axis force has thirteen attack strength points. The Soviet unit (being a lone artillery unit in an Overrun situation) defends with its defense strength of one only. With odds of 13-1, the Axis force meets one



of the two pre-conditions for Overrunning a fortification hex. It meets the second because a motorized Engineer unit is part of the Overrunning stack.

The Axis player refers to the Overrun Table, rolls the die and obtains a six. The Axis player now applies the relevant DRMs:

1. Odds Ratio DRM: this DRM is –2 because the Overrun odds are 13-1 (exceeding the 10-1 ratio that provides the –2, but not quite 14-1 which would provide –3).

2. Defender Condition DRM: there is a –1 DRM because all the units being overrun (the only unit in this case) are artillery units.

3. Terrain DRM: there is a +2 DRM for the Strongpoint in the Overrun hex.

The net DRM is –1 ( –2, –1 and +2), so the modified Overrun die roll is five. This result falls in the 3-7 range of the Overrun Table, yielding an Overrun Succeeds result. The Soviet unit does not have to lose a step, but the Axis player places an Overrun marker on the unit and retreats it two hexes. The Axis Overrunning stack must now advance into the vacated Overrun hex, having expended two and one half MPs (one MP for the Overrun attempt, one half MP to enter the Overrun hex on a main road and plus one MP for enter-ing a hex with a Strongpoint). The Soviet unit in the Overrun hex did not exert a ZOC, but even if a Soviet ZOC had been exerted, there would have been no MP cost paid because the Overrunning stack began its movement adjacent to the Overrun hex. The Axis player “drops off” the Engineer unit and the flak battalion in hex A. The Engineer is left behind to destroy the Strongpoint during the upcoming Axis Engineering Phase. The flak battalion is left to protect the Engineers.

The reduced Overrun stack keeps moving, entering hex B on the minor road at a cost of one MP for entering a non-clear terrain hex on a minor road and plus one MP for entering the ZOC of the Soviet unit in hex C (making a total of four and one half MPs expended so far). The Axis player determines if Overrun into hex C is possible. The MP cost to Overrun into hex C would be one MP for the Overrun plus one MP for entering hex C (a non-clear terrain hex) on a minor road. Adding two more MPs would yield a cumulative total of six and one half MPs. All the Axis units have MAs of seven—enough to pay the Overrun MP costs. The Overrunning stack has ten attack strength points—just enough to meet the minimum 5–1 odds level for a “German only” Overrun against the reduced Soviet division with two defense strength points. The Overrun die roll is made, and an eight is obtained. This time the DRMs are unfavorable for the Axis player. There is a +2 DRM for the 5-1 odds level and another +2 DRM for the hill terrain in hex C. The modified die roll is eleven. Even though the total DRM is +4, the maximum Overrun DRM is +3/–3. Not only does the Overrun fail, but the Overrunning stack

must also lose one step. Overrun movement ceases. The only option remaining to the Axis player for occupying hex C is to declare an attack against the hex at the end of the Axis Movement Phase after possibly moving more Axis units adjacent to hex C and bringing Axis artillery into support range.

Note: At the start of this example, the Axis player had another Over-run option available. Because the Soviet unit in hex A has no ZOC, the Overrunning stack could move into hex B and declare an Overrun on the reduced division in hex C. Though the Overrunning stack would be adjacent to two Soviet units, it would only be in the ZOC of the one being overrun, so the Overrun would be permitted. The cost to move into hex B is four MPs (one MP for the Soviet ZOC, one MP for entering the hex off-road and plus two MPs for the woods in the hex). The Overrun MP cost is again two MPs. The Overrun will be conducted at 6-1 odds, eliminating the 5-1 Odds DRM. The Overrun can still fail, but the odds of losing a step will be less. The trade-off is that insufficient MPs remain to also Overrun the Soviet unit in hex A even if the Overrun against hex C succeeds.

��.3 Soviet Artillery SupportExample OneNormally only one qualifying Soviet artillery unit can contribute its support strength to any declared attack (defending or attacking). In this example the Soviets are defending, and either the artillery unit in hex A (the defender hex) or the artillery unit in hex B could contribute its support strength to the defense but not both. To maxi-mize defense strength, the Soviet player would probably contribute the defense strength of the artillery unit in hex A and contributing the support strength of the artillery unit in hex B. Examples two and three highlight the two conditions where more than one Soviet artil-lery unit is allowed to contribute its support strength.

Example TwoWhen defending, if two or more Soviet artillery units occupy a de-fender hex, each of those units may contribute their support strength to the defenders in the hex. In this example, the Soviet player would probably opt to have the two artillery units in hex A (the defender hex) contribute their support strengths. The Soviet player also has the option for one artillery unit in hex A to contribute its support strength and the other contributes its defense strength or for both artillery units in hex A to contribute their defense strengths and the artillery unit in hex B contributes its support strength. What the Soviet player cannot do is have the artillery unit in hex B contribute its support strength if either (or both) artillery units in hex A contribute their support strengths.

Note: If a defender hex is within the Command Range of a Non-Op HQ , only one Soviet artillery unit can contribute its support strength



regardless of how many artillery units occupy the defender hex.

Example ThreeAnother way for more than one Soviet artillery to provide support is to be stacked with an operational in-range HQ. In this example, the Soviet player could have four artillery units (the maximum) provide support to hex A, the defender hex. There are two artillery units in the defender hex which can contribute their support factors [refer to Example Two], plus the two artillery units stacked with the opera-tional HQ in hex C. Theoretically, up to four artillery units could be stacked with the HQ in hex C and contribute their support strengths to a declared attack (both on attack and defense). As in example two, the artillery unit in hex B cannot con-tribute its support strength if any of the artillery units in hex A or hex C are contrib-uting their support strengths.

Note �: If the de-fender hex were to be in the Command Range of a Non-Op HQ, only one of the five artillery units in this example could contribute its support strength.

Note �: Axis Air Interdiction can reduce the number of artillery units stacked with a HQ which can contribute their support strengths by one for each Interdiction Level. In this example, a Level One Interdiction marker in hex C would allow only one of the two artillery units in that hex to contribute its support strength. If hex C contained a Level Two Interdiction marker, none of the artillery units in that hex could support [refer to Interdiction Effects on the 11x17 Chart Card].

Note 3: The available support strength of eight (each of the four qualifying artillery units has a support strength of two) exceeds the defense strength of seven (the division with a defense strength of five and the tank brigade with a defense strength of two) in the defender hex. The Soviet player can either have all four artillery units support with only seven of the available eight support strength points, or can support with three of the four qualifying artillery units (six support strength points), and have one of the two defender hex artillery units contribute its defense strength.

��.0 Designer’s Section��.� Unit Abbreviations

– AXIS –Ber: Bersaglieri (sharpshooters); they were widely respected as good troops. This unit is actually part of the 3rd Celere but operated independently. It was fully motorized and included two companies of motorcyclists.

CCNN: Camicie Nere (Blackshirts); part of the (Italian) Fascist Militia, this unit was the 63rd “Tagliamento” Legion. They were intended for assault but nowhere did they live up to pre-war ex-pectations.

Celere: Italian 3rd Celere “Principe Amedeo Duca d’Aosta” Divi-sion; it includes two regiments of horsed cavalry.

FJ: Fallschirmjager (parachute); Veterans of Holland and Crete, these troops were the elite of the German armed forces.

Geb: Gebirgsjager (mountain); these troops were well-trained and equipped and organized for warfare in mountainous terrain. They were more mobile (with only two infantry regiments) than regular infantry but were wasted in non-specialist actions.

GD: Gross Deutschland infantry regiment

Korne: Unit commander’s name: Col. Radu Korne.

Le: Leicht (light); to gain mobility these divisions had only two infantry regiments instead of the usual three, and their artillery was motorized, but they ended up serving in standard infantry division functions.

M: Motorized. In 1942 the title would change to Panzer-Grena-dier.

MG: Machinegewehr (machine-gun)

Mtn: Mountain

Pasubio: Italian 9th “Pasubio” Infantry Division

Pz: Panzer (armored).

Sich : Sicherungs (security unit); these formations contained little heavy equipment and were intended strictly for occupation duty.

Slovak: Slovakian

SS: Schutzstaffel (lit. “Protection Squad”); most of these units belonged to the Waffen (combat) branch of the SS.

SSLAH: SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler; these were the elite among the SS and effective in combat. Still only a brigade in size, it was organized as four large, well-armed motorized infantry battalions plus smaller attached units. Most personnel were veterans.

SSR: SS Reich Division; Regiments: D =

Deutschland, DF: Der Fuhrer. This was an effective and well-re-garded division.

SSW: SS Wiking Division; Regiments: Ger = Germania, NL = Nor-dland, WL = Westland. These regiments included volunteers from Norway, Denmark, and Holland; all well armed and equipped.

Torino: Italian 52nd “Torino” Infantry Division

– SOVIET –Abn: Airborne; shortages of trained and ready formations forced the Soviets to commit airborne troops to the front line. All Soviet airborne personnel were jump-trained, determined, and steady. Most airborne units were converted to Guards status during sum-mer, 1942.

Army: For simplification some small historical units have been consolidated into larger game units. This is a composite unit assigned directly to army HQ command.

Chesnov: Unit commander’s name; this was an ad hoc grouping of a school unit with militia from Kharkov.

Gd: Guards; denoting experienced, motivated, and reliable troops, this honorific title was conferred on formations that had distinguished themselves in combat. Such honors usually brought an increase in rank for the commander, more pay for everyone, and greater priority in re-supply and reinforcement. It would also mean a change in tacti-cal organization and increase in authorized equipment, but most such



increases could not be accomplished until the spring of 1942.

K: Cavalry

MG: Machine-gun; Because they had few or often no vehicles at this time, these units were usually positioned in fortifications and controlled by a UR (Fortified Area) brigade HQ.

Mtn: Mountain

Naval: Naval Infantry Brigade; many former “sailors” were orga-nized into land combat units. Generally, they took disproportionate casualties because of poor basic infantry tactics, but made up for this by a refusal to yield.

NKVD: Narodnyy komissariat vnutrennykh del (People’s Com-missariat of Internal Affairs); these units would not hesitate to fire on their own troops to keep them in line. All regulars, Border Guards, and internal security regiments which participated in the campaign are shown in this game; the last notorious for slaughter of their prisoners.

Rostov: The Rostov militia regiment

SF: Southern Front; a composite unit controlled by Front HQ.

SWF: Southwestern Front; a composite unit controlled by Front HQ.

Tk: Tank; This game distiguishes tank “divisions” or units of a tank division by this abbreviation.

UKP: Udarnyy Komssomolskiy Polk (Communist Youth Union Regiment); these were intended as shock troops. Each is listed by city (Dnepropetrovsk, Kiev, and Voroshilovgrad).

Volnov: The Volnovakha militia regiment

Zap: Zapasnyy polk (Replacement Rgt.); these units had reserve, replacements, and depot functions. Zap units could find themselves on the front line during emergencies, and there were plenty of emergencies during 1941. There were also replacement and training divisions, brigades, separate battalions, training detachments and centers that were subordinated to military districts and fronts but only the regiments are shown here. NKVD rear area security units would send gathered-up Red Army stragglers to an army Zapasnyy regiment for sorting out and re-equipping.

Note: Some Soviet AA units have a city name to indicate their original sector of defense.

Soviet Military Schools: As Axis forces advanced eastward, the Soviets mobilized their training formations and academies as regular fighting units; anything to stop the invader. Many school units were evacuated far to the east but some were caught up in the fighting. Those actually participating in combat during the time of this game are represented here. Abbreviations used in the game:

DAU: Dnepropetrovsk Artillery School KAU: Kiev Artillery School KTTU: Kiev Tank Technical School NKU: Novocherkassk Cavalry School PVTU: Poltava Military Tractor School RAU: Rostov Artillery School RPU: Rostov Infantry School

��.� Suggested Reading1. Boog, Horst, et al, Germany and the Second World War, Vol. IV, Oxford, 1998.

2. Cooling, B.F. (ed), Case Studies in the Development of Close Air Support, Washington, 1990.

3. Erickson, John, The Road to Stalingrad, New York, 1975.

4. Glantz, David M., When Titans Clashed, Lawrence, KS, 1995.

5. Glantz, David M. Colossus Reborn, Lawrence, KS, 2005.

6. Haupt, Werner, Army Group South, the Wehrmacht in Russia 1941-1945, Atglen, PA, 1997.

7. v.Manstein, Eric, Lost Victories, Chicago, 1958.

8. Muller, Richard, The German Air War in Russia, Baltimore, 1992.

9. Seaton, Albert, The Russo-German War, New York, 1971.

10. Van Creveld, Martin, Supplying War, Cambridge University Press, 1968.

11. Ziemke, Earl and M.E. Bauer, From Moscow to Stalingrad: Decision in the East, Washington, 1987.

��.3 Designer’s NotesBarbarossa: Kiev to Rostov constitutes the fifth in a series of games that covers the war in the Soviet Union during 1941. We outfitted this game with the same rules, analysis, scale, and substantially the same charts and tables you will find in earlier games in this series. You will also find that each installment should fit together well enough that it will be possible to play them all together.

We chose to end the game early in December since this is the time when major military operations ended. This is earlier than origi-nally desired but we saw it as burdensome to saddle players with meaningless turns of play. The final choice of the conclusion date fit our choice for victory conditions much better. In broadest terms the Axis invaded the Soviet Union with the intent to achieve victory by conduct of a Blitzkrieg campaign. Such a style of campaigning requires certain objectives to be taken according to a timetable. If delays become too serious, the schedule is upset, the enemy may recover, and a quick victory would no longer be possible. For KtR the historical timetable became upset when German High Command and Hitler vacillated over what should be the prime objectives, Moscow or economic resources. Failure to achieve their Blitzkrieg objectives would lead directly to attritional war, a war in which the Soviet Union would hold an advantage; indeed, it used that ad-vantage to achieve eventual total victory. So we have set a victory point scoring system based on the German timetable for victory in 1941. If the German player cannot adhere to the required pace he will not achieve decisive victory. The dates you see generally follow the phased objective lines developed by planners in Berlin prior to the start of the Barbarossa campaign. It also still burdens the Soviet player to linger at some victory locations in order to deny the Axis the higher VP score.

At this game’s scale, a higher degree of map accuracy is required. Map research problems here were solved by much the same method as was done in the earlier games in the series. We should note the KtR maps continue the same high standard of research found with the rest of the series. Generally though, achievable accuracy drops off



the farther east the maps go. While researching I found that figuring just what hill, swamp, or road to include in this set of game maps to have been interesting, even if often tedious and frustrating. Some scenarios required a close examination of German situation maps. I traced the progress of each division to determine exactly when it entered or left the play area. There is less accuracy with the Soviets because the situation maps are confusing and that in turn is because so many records were lost. Even so, much can be deduced based on experience, the written record, and allowance for breaking up units to cover emergency situations.

General research presented essentially the same problem here in this game as it has for the earlier games in this series, that being a short-age of good English language sources for this particular campaign. As stated before, there is still a paucity of these for all East front campaigns of the war. There is, as you may expect, a vast body of Russian language sources and researcher Tom Burke examined many of these. We encourage you, if interested, to visit the archives for additional information. The result of Tom’s considerable efforts in interpretation can be seen in the great detail in game OoB. Some situations deserve more discussion.

Some German Bf109s have strength 3 instead of 4; this reflects the difference between type E and the better type F aircraft, perhaps a bit exaggerated but necessary. Air units moved back and forth a great deal, even from game to game, and so were hard to follow in the historical record. The 8th Air Corps, not historically present, was originally shown as an optional Pool Group Reinforcement but no German player ever passed on taking this group. It was too big, too powerful, and so is not shown. The same also seemed to apply to an additional Panzer corps for Guderian (also not included). German heavy artillery has certainly made appearances in other games but is appropriate and perhaps better depicted here (a scaling advantage). Like the rest of the series this game will not depict terror weapons or actions nor will we digress into political policies any more than how these might directly affect military operations. With that in mind we have omitted certain details regarding SS activities in occupied areas, so no death squads, almost no police battalions, and no terror bombing of cities. Keep in mind that these particular SS troops or SS-controlled troops (the police) were poorly trained and equipped for action against a properly-armed opponent.

While many Soviet units appear in the Special Reinforcement Pools, it is noticeable that Soviet High Command was reinforcing only sparingly. The fully organized armies were going to the Moscow area. Generally, the Pool Groups represent either special strategic reserves or groups not quite ready for combat due to lack of arms, delayed trains, etc.; a release of such a group means the arms or the trains could have arrived earlier. Also, Stalin withheld some units without regard to the military situation. For the overall counter mix we decided on a number of consolidations, or pairing together units of the same function, such as with artillery units. Generally, we found that such consolidations significantly reduced time required for set-up and play and reduced the risk of game-wise play distortions. In contrast, we split apart only a few divisions into their component regiments and did this to get a correct battle feel and to properly cover long frontages.

Games involving bridge demolition often seem rigged to me. It is very frustrating to work hard on a plan of attack and then see the vital bridge blown away. And then what if all the bridges are blown? Basically, since this worst case is just exactly what happened to Army

Group South, we are stuck with dealing with it. Regardless, the German army made use of their pontoons and kept advancing. But pontoons cannot carry a train and no trains mean a quickly worsen-ing supply status for those on the far side of the river. This situation, combined with worsening weather and persistent Soviet resistance, conspired to slow and eventually halt the German armies. Any game on this subject must deal with the fact that the Axis did not open their first railroad bridge until November 6th at Dnepropetrovsk, thirty-six days after German engineers began work to repair it.

Scenario 4, Battle of Sumy, is one of those little dream scenarios that highlights most of the game system in microcosm; essentially a Learning Scenario. Care has been taken to make it and the AGS Learning Scenario, Rostov Redeemed, balanced and interesting for repeat play. These situations are relatively free of outside influ-ence; they involve combined arms attacks by both sides; and should make for very interesting battle games at the tactical scale for some enterprising designer.

We hope we have produced a game you will enjoy playing. Finally, let me extend my considerable appreciation and thanks to the play-testers, to researcher Tom Burke, and to all who have generously written of their support of this game series and of what they hope to see in future games.

Vance von Borries

�3.0 Developer’s Notes The East Front Series remains a veritable work in progress. Much of the change from game to game is driven by newly uncovered Soviet sources. We have an obligation to portray the combatants as accurately as possible, but we have to balance any changes against the integrity of the existing game system.

My two primary tasks as developer are to insure the playability of the scenarios and to maintain continuity of the EFS system. I believe you will enjoy the scenarios.

About the continuity: Barbarossa: Army Group South represented the start of the venerable EFS system as we know it today, but a good ten years have elapsed since it came out. The EFS system has evolved through Barbarossa: Army Group Center and North, and now Kiev to Rostov. The challenge has always been to make sure any changes will work as well in earlier versions as they do in the current version. I believe we have succeeded, but you, the gamers, will be the ultimate judges. You will note in section 2.4 that there are a significant number of changes and additions to the Barbarossa Standard Rules (BSR). While some are truly new, many additions to the BSRs are “special” rules that have appeared so often in earlier playbooks that they have become the “standard” rules over time.

Enjoy!

Tony Curtis



�4.0 Play NotesMany of these observations are from long-time EFS play tester Warren Kingsley—to Warren, Thanks!

Both players will be challenged in Kiev to Rostov.

The Axis player starts most scenarios in deep logistical trouble. The spearheads have literally outrun their logistics. Ahead of them looms the Dnepr River, one of the largest in Europe. Although a formidable defensive barrier, the real challenge comes on the other side after the Soviets have destroyed the existing Dnepr bridges. It is almost impossible to repair the railroad bridges within the timeframe of the scenarios (as it was historically). Those of you familiar with previ-ous EFS games know the consequences of operating far ahead of a railroad net for any extended period of time. There are never enough ASPs, and now the Axis player has to decide whether to expend them to put units in General Supply to keep moving at full speed, or to allow units to remain out of supply and using the ASPs to put units participating in lower odds attacks into Attack Supply, trusting that CAS DRMs can allow higher odds attacks to succeed without too many asterisk step losses for no Attack Supply. The problem in all scenarios (even those where Attack Supply is not used) is the Axis forces are on an unforgiving timetable, and the number of attacks that need to be made will easily exceed the available Attack Supply. Losses will mount. Another problem lies with diverging objectives. The blessing of Guderian’s arrival on GT 36 turns into a curse fifteen turns later when all of his troops return to AGC, taking with them three of the original AGS motorized divisions—a Panzer Division and two Motorized Divisions (Operation Typhoon soon became the pre-eminent operation, and both Army Groups South and North lost critical motorized formations to the effort). Added to this is the decision to send a full army (von Manstein’s 11th) into the Crimea, further depleting Army Group South in its drive to the east.

The Axis forces are just too weak to pursue divergent advances, and the Axis player must plan to concentrate decisively to break through. It’s the old story—try to do everything, and you will end up doing nothing. Crossing the Dnepr—early on, the Axis player should endeavor to establish two or three bridgeheads. There are many crossing sites, but logistically, the further east you go, the harder it will be to support a crossing. Probably the main crossing will not occur much further east than Kremenchug. Concurrently, the Axis player has to keep prudent pressure on Kiev. Sitting idly in front of Kiev will allow the Soviet player to send too many units east to seal off bridgeheads. However, he cannot afford to burn up excessive amounts of Attack Supply and step losses in attacks there, for he will need both desperately east and north of the Dnepr later. Once the bridgeheads are established, the Axis player should advance the railroad net as close to the Dnepr as possible, bring forward Attack Supply, and then use the motorized unit mobility to move quickly concentrate on one bridgehead as the decisive breakout area for the southern pincer of the Kiev Pocket. Proper Axis play will form a Kiev Pocket and the Soviet losses will be enormous, but the supply restraints will be so great that the Axis player won’t be able to fully exploit the advantage. While he should use his numeri-cal advantage to keep killing Soviet units, he needs to be mindful that the units departing to AGC and the Crimea cannot be burned up and leave in a severely depleted state. They leave at strength levels close to what they had when they entered. Many of the RPs you receive will be required to rebuild normal losses in these units.

Extravagant losses will bankrupt AGS and fatally cripple its ability to keep advancing.

South of the Dnepr, the Axis supply difficulties will be, if anything, more severe than further north, but the Soviets are correspondingly weaker. The best Axis strategy may be to press ahead continually as far east as prudent (possibly Melitopol), while Soviet units are few and far between, then turn back and deal with the Soviets in the Perekop Isthmus in a timely manner to allow VP penalty-free exit.

The Axis player should always keep an eye on the scenario VP charts. By threatening critical VP locations where early loss yields large numbers of VPs, the Axis player can force the Soviet player to heavily reinforce these areas at the expense of others where the Axis player can profitably advance.

Tactical hints: Keep the motorized formations concentrated. This has been good advice in all EFS games. It is worth going without engineer support to concentrate many of these units at critical bridge repair sites to expedite rebuilding, especially at the rail bridges. Fuel shortages may be inevitable early, but concentrate your motorized formations where one ASP expended will place several formations back into supply for two turns. That way you will not be crippled by fuel shortages later. Conserve your infantry strength. If your infantry is burned up early, you will lose. You need a lot of infantry in the late game to attack in conjunction with the motorized formations, and to effectively screen large areas of the front. Intentionally commit the non-divisional motorized regiments to combat instead of screening. Each motorized step lost from these units is a motorized step not lost from a motorized or panzer division.

A final comment for the Axis player: Those who have played the Rostov scenario in AGS need to be even more respectful of the Soviets in this scenario because those numerous Soviet Cavalry Divisions are now Infiltration capable.

The Soviet player cannot savor the Axis problems too long, for he has his own serious problems. Assuming he is playing against a competent Axis player, he will lose a huge number of units—many irreplaceable—when the Kiev Pocket forms. If he is skillful and somewhat lucky, he will inflict enough losses on the Axis forces to cripple their ability to attack and advance later. Try whenever possible save HQs, and keep artillery and tank units out of the historical pocket area. Move them to the area east of a north-south line running through Dnepro-Petrovsk. Future success depends on saving enough of these units.

It is generally better to lose territory than units. The Soviet player should be equally mindful of the VP charts and hold tenaciously only until the VP levels for locations fall to the lower level, and then be prepared to lose these locations if the Axis forces push, rather than continue to lose units that will be needed later. At some point, the units themselves become more important than the VPs, or the locations.

Be mindful that mud can dry as quickly as it sets in, and that when it does, the Axis player moves first. Don’t get caught. Soviet reservists can help plug gaps in much the same way as receiving rebuilt units in cities and major cities. Remember Soviet cavalry’s ability to infiltrate in non-clear terrain. Resist the temptation to buy too many Special Reinforcement Pool Groups. The VPs the Axis player receives for many groups equal the VP values of many objective cities.



A. STRATEGIC SEGMENT (both players for all phases)�. Weather Determination Phase.Determine weather condition from scenario instructions or the ap-propriate scenario Weather Table [5.1]. If Storm, move all air units in Ready Boxes, and reinforcing or replacement air units [9.2], to the Flown Box.

�. Supply Determination Phasea. Axis player decides whether to conduct Logistics Pause [PB 5.1].

b. Trace supply to all on-map units [6.1]. In hexes where supply status has changed remove Fuel Shortage, Emergency Supply, or Out of Supply markers if now in General Supply [6.62]; turn Emergency Supply markers to Out of Supply [6.64]; place new Emergency Supply markers [6.63].

c. Remove MSUs or turn over Dumps serving as one-turn supply sources. Remove Emergency and Out of Supply markers from hexes now in General Supply [6.62].

d. Both players emplace Bridge units with their Under Construction side face up [PB 4.55a].

e. Receive Attack Supply Points (ASPs) [6.81]; convert ASPs into MSUs or Dumps; set these aside until the friendly movement phase [6.83 and 6.84].

f. Resolve Axis Fuel Shortage [PB 5.2] for certain Axis units that are OoS.

3. Replacements Phasea. The Soviet player refers to the scenario Set-Up Card or Replace-ments Chart for: 1) Use-or-Lose RPs: spend now or lose [7.24 and 7.25]. 2) I-Type RPs: adjust the Infantry “REPL” marker for: • New RPs received [7.22] • RPs are received for each eligible militia step converted [7.22b] 3) ZAP units in a city/major city/town can be exchanged for an

eligible one step unit from the Cadre Box [7.22.c.1] 4) “R” results: Remove one Garrison marker now, or set aside

chosen Pool Group(s) to enter as reinforcements; adjust VP marker if necessary [7.26.b].

5) Strongpoints (including E-Type). Set these aside until the Soviet engineering phase [7.21].

b. Spend Type I RPs to move Zap units from the cadre Box to the Active Box [7.22.c.3].

c. The Axis player refers to the scenario Set-Up Card for: 1) Use-or-Lose RPs: Spend these now or lose them [7.33]. 2) I-Type RPs and A-Type RPs: adjust Axis Repl. Markers [7.31

and 7.32].

4. Reinforcement/Withdrawal Phasea. Victory Plan determination [PB 10.75].

b. Remove available Axis/Soviet reinforcements and chosen Pool Groups from Set-Up Cards. Adjust Axis VP marker if necessary. Set aside ground units but place air units on the Air Unit Status Charts [8.21 - 8.23].

c. Withdraw required units (or their substitutes) or pay VPs [8.7]; adjust VP marker on the VP Track [25.1].

5. Air Readiness PhaseRefer to the Air Unit Status Cards.

a. Resolve Readiness for air units in Flown Boxes [9.11].

b. Resolve Readiness for air units in Damaged Boxes [9.11].

6. Axis Air Interdiction Phasea. Axis player designates Interdiction mission hexes.

b. Axis player places air units from his Ready Box face down on mission hexes [17.23].

c. Soviet player places fighters from his Ready Box on mission hexes [17.23], as desired.

d. Axis player reveals units and declares which are mission and firing units [17.31.b.2].

e. Resolve air combat [17.33].

f. Soviet player resolves AA Fire against surviving Axis mission air units [17.4].

g. Place Interdiction markers on mission hexes that still contain Axis mission air units [13.14] and place air units in the Flown Box.

B. AXIS PLAYER SEGMENT�. Axis Movement Phasea. Turn bridge units from their Under Construction side to their active side if across non-major river [PB 4.55d].

b. Place Receiving Replacements markers on desired on-map units [10.12].

c. Conduct ground unit movement. All unit types are allowed to move. Movement procedures allowed:• Reinforcement entry [10.13.g]• One-hex movement [11.9]• Railroad [11.1]• Strategic [11.3]• Overrun [11.4]• Infiltration [11.5]

d. Conduct Air Transport missions [11.7].

e. Adjust VP Track for VP hexes occupied.

EXPANDED SEQUENCE OF PLAY

3�Kiev to Rostov PLAYBOOK


�. Axis Attack Declaration PhaseDeclare all attacks and mark Defender Hexes with Declared Attack markers [12.0].

3. Soviet Reaction Phasea. Eligible motorized units conduct Reaction Movement moving at one-half MA [14.11].

b. Designate artillery support for Defender Hexes [14.2].

c. Issue Retreat or No Retreat orders [14.3].

4. Axis Combat Phasea. CAS missions 1) Axis player moves air units from his Ready Box to any desired

Defender Hex and places them face down [17.23]. 2) Soviet player moves air units from his Ready Box to any

desired Defender Hex [17.23]. 3) Axis player reveals his air units and declares them as mission

or firing units [17.31.b.2]. 4) Axis player resolves air combats in any order desired

[17.33]. 5) Both players resolve AA Fire as necessary [17.4]. 6) Net the surviving opposing CAS points in each mission hex.

Convert remaining CAS points into a combat die roll DRM [15.13].

b. Axis player designates all Declared Attacks that are Attack Sup-plied and designates those MSUs or Dumps that will provide the ASPs [15.3].

c. Axis player resolves Declared Attacks in any order desired [15.2]. Follow the sequence below for each Declared Attack: 1) Axis player allocates artillery support if the attack receives

Attack Supply [15.4]. 2) Axis player totals participating attack and support strengths

[15.51]. 3) Soviet player reveals Untried units and removes any with

zero defense strength [15.54]. 4) Soviet player totals participating defense and support strength

[15.54 and 15.55]. 5) Expend Axis ASP(s) if Attack Supply is designated

[15.56]. 6) Determine final odds [15.57]. 7) Axis player issues any Additional Retreat or No Retreat orders

[15.58]. 8) Any Defender Orders marker is revealed [15.59]. 9) Net Axis and Soviet DRMs. The final DRM cannot exceed

+3 or –3 [15.6 and 15.7]. 10) Resolve the combat on the CRT [15.8]. 11) Remove Declared Attack, Orders, and Numeric markers

[15.81.h]. 12) Apply combat results [16.1 through 16.4]. 13) Adjust Step Loss and VP Tracks as needed [16.25]. 14) Conduct Advance After Combat [16.5]. 15) Adjust VP Track for VP hexes captured [25.12].

5. Axis Motorized Movement Phasea. Only the following units are allowed to move [see Movement Phase Chart]:• Motorized—at only one-half MA• Cavalry—at only one-half MA

b. Movement procedures allowed:• Reinforcement entry [10.13.g ] (for motorized and cavalry units

only)• Overrun [11.4]• One-hex movement [11.9]

c. Adjust VP Track for VP hexes captured [25.12].

6. Axis Engineering Phasea. Turn over on-map Strongpoint Under Construction markers; place new Strongpoint Under Construction markers in allowed hexes [18.31 through 18.35].

b. Conduct Axis Railroad Conversion [19.2].

c. Place Fortified Line Destroyed markers and remove Strongpoints [18.13].

d. Remove Overrun markers from Soviet units [11.44 note].

e. Expend Axis RPs; remove Receiving Replacements markers [7.41]. Increase receiving units by the allowed number of steps.

f. Remove Do Not Move One GT markers from Axis units. Turn any Do Not Move Two GT markers on Axis units to their One GT side.

g. Conduct Bridge Repair [PB 4.54] for certain listed bridges across major river.

h. Turn Bridge Under Construction units to active sides if across major river [PB 4.55e].

i. Turn an Axis S-H artillery unit to its firing side, if desired, if it did not move during the turn [23.43.b].

j. The Axis player completes Logistics Pause [PB 5.12].

C. SOVIET PLAYER SEGMENTNote the change in sequence. When a phase is noted “same as,” return to the identical phase in Segment B and substitute “Soviet” wherever “Axis” appears, and “Axis” wherever “Soviet” appears.

�. Soviet Motorized Movement Phasea. Place Receiving Replacements markers on desired on-map units [10.12].

b. Conduct ground unit movement: 1) Unit types allowed to move are [refer to Movement Phase Chart]: • Motorized—at full MA • Cavalry—at one-half MA • Armored Train—at full MA • Units activated by operational HQs—at full MA

2) Movement procedures allowed: • Reinforcement entry (motorized and cavalry only) [10.13.g] • One-hex movement [11.9] • Armored Train [11.1.2 exception]

3� Kiev to Rostov PLAYBOOK


• Overrun [11.4] • Motorized Infiltration [11.5]

c. Adjust VP Track for VP hexes regained [25.12].

�. Soviet Attack Declaration PhaseSame as Axis phase [12.0].

3. Axis Reaction PhaseSame as Soviet phase.

4. Soviet Combat PhaseSame as Axis combat phase [15.0 and 16.0].

5. Soviet Movement Phasea. Turn Bridge units from their Under Construction side to their active side if across non-major river [PB4.55d].

b. Conduct ground unit movement: 1) All unit types are allowed to move except: • Units with Activation markers • Units with Receiving Replacements markers • Armored Trains that moved in the motorized movement

phase

Note: Motorized units move at one-half MA [see Movement Phase Chart].

2) Movement procedures allowed: • Reinforcement entry [10.13.g] • Armored Train [10.14] • One-hex movement [10.5.3 exception] • Railroad [11.1] • Strategic [11.3] • Overrun [11.4] • Infiltration (Cavalry) [11.52.b]

3) Zap Unit Infantry Rebuilding. A Zap unit may add one Type I step to an eligible unit during the Soviet Movement Phase [7.22.c.2]

c. Air Transport movement [11.7]

d. Adjust VP Track for VP hexes regained [25.12].

6. Soviet Engineering PhaseSame as Axis engineering phase except:a. Soviet engineers speed strongpoint construction [23.11] and are required for Soviet railroad conversion [19.3]

b. Cutting Axis rail lines [19.4]

c. Remove Overrun markers from Axis units [11.44 note]

d. Destroy Dnepr River bridges printed on the map [PB 4.53]

e. Spend Soviet RPs to remove Receiving Replacements markers from on map units [7.4.1] and increase each receiving unit by one step.

f. Spend Soviet RPs to move units from the Cadre Box to the Active Box, or the map [7.4.3.d]

g. Spend Soviet RPs to move units from the Eliminated Box to the Cadre Box

h. Eliminate excess ASPs at Kiev [PB 10.2.4.b].

7. Soviet Surrender Phasea. Perform surrender checks. Units that fail are placed in the Elimi-nated Box [21.0].

b. Adjust Step Loss and VP Tracks as needed [25.13].

D. GAME TURN INTERPHASE�. Remove all Activated markers.

�. Soviet player performs Non-op HQ recovery or disbandment [22.26.b].

3. Axis player converts each Mandated Attack not yet made into VPs for any VP hex captured during the turn and still held at the end of the Soviet Player Segment; adjust the VP Track [7.26.a.2].

4. Move the Game-Turn marker ahead by one box on the Turn Record Track.

© 2008 GMT Games, LLCP.O. Box 1308, Hanford, CA 93232-1308

www.GMTGames.com

game design by vance von borries table of contents

Documents