Case Blue – GSI

Above is the Don Bend area of the Soviet Union in WW2. This is the primary fighting area for the battles in July of 1942, involving the German 6th Army. The Armored Knights Case Blue game system will have a multitude of games that encompass the German campaign in the east during the summer of 1942. The map scale is 2.5km per hex. Infantry/Armor/Artillery are represented as Battalions. Hq/AA/AT/Eng/AsltGun, and other supporting arms are represented as companies. This allows for an operational level game that forces players to decide where to focus the placement of their supporting arms assets. The sequence of play has something in common with the Death Ride System in that they both have very ‘open’ Operations Phases. This provides the players the freedom to structure the manner and timing of the movements and combats of the various units. At the current time we have three specific scenario areas, of the larger campaign, that are planned. Operation Wilhelm, Manstein’s Baton, and the Don River Bend area. Each can be seen in a little more detail below.

Operation Wilhelm: This game showcases the new and improved Armored Knights game system on the Eastern Front. This might become the base game for the entire Armored Knights Case Blue Series. We have not yet come to a decision on what the first release of this new version of Armored Knights will be. Whichever title it is we will be including the Master Rules in that game.

This battle is the first of a set of preliminary operations that preceded Case Blue. These were necessary to put the Germans in the right position to start the Case Blue offensive. Getting into the right position meant being in the right terrain and eliminating certain Soviet forces. The first preliminary official battle before Case Blue is Operation Wilhelm, and it is focused on the capture of the town of Ol’kovatka, and the elimination of the 28th Army to the west of this town. The battle will involve making some river crossings of the Donets River. Here is a snippet of the German 6th Army Area of Operations for Operation Wilhem:

This area may look familiar to some of you who are up on current affairs. But the Germans have an armored pincer attacking from the south, yeah, from the area of that swamp? And an infantry pincer attacking from the north. This battle is not that big, for those that don’t want a large game footprint. But there will be plenty of Soviets and Germans to play with. I am hoping to bring this title to you in 2023, and the Box Cover for this game looks like:

What will make this battle exciting for both players is that the Soviets will have the opportunity to attack with the 38th Army to relieve the pressure on 28th Army, and 38th Army has a Tank Corps to do that.

Moving around in this magnificent terrain and making the bold movements are the units of IIIPz Corps. One of which is seen here:

Game Design by: Chris Fasulo Sr and Robert Weebe
Map Artwork by: Robert Weebe

Key Features:

(4) 22×34 Maps of the Ol’kovatka Area (something new and improved for us)
Numerous Charts and Tables
Restructured Rules
Battalion Level Infantry and Artillery Units
Highly Detailed Without Overbearing Rules
Excellent Solitaire Play

The price for this product is $?? plus shipping and handling. TX residents pay Sales Tax of 8.25%.
This is currently on the Grognard Simulations Commitment Program. It’s target is C75. These 75 must be purchasers of the game direct from Grognard Simulations, not from retailers. If you are interested in getting on this Commitment List please email me at sales@grognardsims.com with your name and mailing address and this game’s name.

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Manstein’s Baton: This game is all about the month long attack by then General Manstein to take the port, and strongest fortress in Europe, Sevastopol, in the Crimea. This battle was very unique from the standpoint that it involved a proper seige battle against some very strong forts. The Germans brought out some of their finest seige guns against these forts. Guns from World War I, and some newer ones. The more asterisks there are the heavier the gun.

Dora – 800mm Gamma – 420mm Karl – 600mm

These units were not very effective either and threw volkwagen sized shells at the Soviet forts without hitting them very often. When they did hit they did some significant damage. AKCB-MB replicates this with some To-Hit-DieRolls which are expressed on the backs of each gun unit:

They are based on sets of d6 die rolls with possible DRM adjustments. If you pick up some written accounts of the bombardment period you will find that these guns missed the target forts by hundreds of feet consistently.

Once the bombardment is complete the troops have to go in and make assaults to take ground, and against this firmly dug-in enemy it takes a long time and many casualties. As it is the Germans started with some very reduced divisions, but Manstein did not let up, and with heavy Luftwaffe support, the Soviet defenses slowly crumbled.

Here is a small sample of our field of battle:

Sevastopol lies at the bottom left of this map. The map is scaled so that we can fight this battle better in the close quarters that it’s in. We have divide each larger hex into 3-4 hexes. Therefore this is a blowup map of the Sevastopol area.

Game Design by: Chris Fasulo Sr and Robert Weebe
Map Artwork by: Robert Weebe

Key Features:

(1) 22×34 Maps of the Sevastopol Area (something new and improved for us)
- Blown up in a different map scale
Numerous Charts and Tables
Restructured Rules
Battalion Level Infantry and Artillery Units
Highly Detailed Without Overbearing Rules
Excellent Solitaire Play

The price for this product is $?? plus shipping and handling. TX residents pay Sales Tax of 8.25%.
This is currently on the Grognard Simulations Commitment Program. It’s target is C80. These 80 must be purchasers of the game direct from Grognard Simulations, not from retailers. If you are interested in getting on this Commitment List please email me at sales@grognardsims.com with your name and mailing address and this game’s name.