Crossing the Dnieper 1943

Chris at the Sharp End Gaming has put together a set of small unit tactical scenarios called “Command Ops Platoon Scenarios” which presently consist of three missions: Charge of the Pioneers 1942, Crossing the Dnieper 1943 and Kekava Firefight 1944. This after-action report will focus on the Dnieper scenario, a bridge defense type effort that pits the German 108th Infantry Regiment 38th Infantry Division against the Soviet 177th Rifle Regiment.

This semi-historical scenario begins at 04:00 on September 24, 1943 with the German forces comprised of the 38th Infantry Division that was depleted to at or below regiment strength. Hitler had allowed elements of Army Group South to fall back across the Dnieper, and faced Soviet forces that consisted of a refreshed and refitted rifle regiment whose goal was to establish a bridgehead and prepare for any possible counterattack.

War Over Vietnam Operation Rolling Thunder V

Bien Hoa, Republic of Vietnam March 2, 1965: This scenario covers the first mission of Rolling Thunder, an air operation orchestrated from Washington, DC by a White House that micro-managed the air campaign right down to selecting targets, ordnance and attack routes. In keeping with the doctrine of “gradualism”, certain obvious targets (such as North Vietnamese airfields) were kept off limits in order to threaten “future” destruction.

The scenario begins with several flights en route to one of two prepositioned ingress points: the South Ingress point which services the route packages of both the Bien Hoa and Korat flights, and the East Ingress point which services the route package of six flights (18 total aircraft) of A-1E strike packages coming from Bien Hoa.

Command Operations Objective Taganrog Soviet AAR

This is a semi-historical scenario designed by Chris from The Sharp End Gaming in which the German 1st Panzer Army is driving on the port city of Rostov as part of the advance of Army Group South. They are represented in the scenario by the 14th Panzer Division whose primary objective is to capture Taganrog by securing a bridge crossing over the Mius River.

The Soviets have several elements of two rifle divisions at their disposal and must attempt to hold the objectives for as long as possible to delay the Germans while the front line behind them reorganizes for the larger picture. The Red Army is represented on map by the 9th Army HQ and the 31st Rifle Division, along with a battalion sized reinforcement along with two tank companies.

Conquest of the Aegean Parachutes over Corinth

This is a what-if scenario from the original Conquest of the Aegean (COTA) game, which has been updated into the Command Operations universe with the recent release of Command Ops: Battles for Greece expansion pack. A German parachute regiment must take and hold the Corinth Canal Bridge until reinforcements arrive, while an Allied brigade must retake it and exit to the South.

The Corinth Canal Bridge is the lifeline for 4th NZ Inf Bde, which is currently in a rearguard position at Erithrai, astride the German axis of advance from Thermopylae. This makes it an attractive target for the Germans, and although their ground forces are still far off, they have a parachute regiment in reserve. Corinth is an ideal objective for such a force.

Pressure Cooker

The following after-action report is for a new scenario I have created for Command Operations: Battles from the Bulge which utilizes my Marine Corps 2.0 mod which must be installed for the scenario to work (please refer to the download links listed below). The scenario was designed with the current public beta build for Command Operations which is 4.5.264.

The scenario is a battalion sized engagement of semi equal forces that are tasked with seizing a ferry crossing in the Renkum area of operations. Both sides are supported by a tank battalion and an engineer contingent. As with the Operation Thunderclap scenario, this is an alternative history story line set in the year 1947 after the defeat of the Soviet Union.