Berlin.pdf

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NORTHERN EUROPE, 1945

KURLAND

Bremen

THE

NETHERLANDS

Hamburg

Berlin

POMERANIA

PRUSSIA

POLAND

Warsaw

The

Hague

Brussels

BELGIUM

LUXEMBURG

GERMANY

Prague

SILESIA

SLOVAKIA

Paris

FRANCE

AUSTRIA

SWITZERLAND

Budapest

HUNGARY

ROMANIA

Belgrade

ITALY

YUGOSLAVIA

0 Miles

0 Kilometres

500

1000

Why Collect A Force From Berlin?

By April 1945 the Soviet Red Army had pushed all the way to

the Oder River, just on the doorstep of the German Capital,

Berlin. On 16 April 1945 the Soviets launched the Berlin

Offensive across the Oder with the goal of taking Berlin and

bringing the war to a conclusion.

However, the Germans had not been idle and withdrew from

the Oder River bank and took up positions on the Seelow

Height where they dug-in on the most direct route to Berlin.

The German entrenched infantry held off Soviet infantry and

tank assaults in a savage four day battle. Eventually the Soviet

weight of numbers and firepower told, despite great Soviet

loses in men and tanks, and the men of the German Ninth,

Third Panzer, and Four Panzer Armies were thrown back from

the Oder.

Stalin’s two leading Marshals, Zhukov and Koniev, then

raced to be first to enter Berlin and to take its symbolic seat

of power, the Reichstag. The German defence of the city was

improvised, but stubborn. Street battles raged from block to

block as regular

Heer, Waffen-SS,

and

Luftwaffe

troops, as well

as auxiliaries like the

Volkssturm

and

Hitlerjugend,

fought to

hold back the red tide.

This book will allow you to field a German Berlin Kampfgruppe.

A battle group hastily formed from troops withdrawing into

the city from the Oder Front, as well as locally raised militia

like the

Volkssturm,

the people’s levy, and the teenage boys

of the

Hitlerjugend.

You can tailor this force around

Heer,

Waffen-SS, Fallschirmjäger, Volkssturm

Hitlerjugend,

or any

combination of these. They are supported by guns and tanks

from the

Heer, Luftwaffe

Waffen-SS.

Against these German troops were the Soviets of Zhukov’s 1

Byelorussian Front and Koniev’s 1

Ukrainian Front. These

troops have become experienced and hardened during their

continuous onslaught of the Germans through Poland, Prussia

and now Germany. These experienced heavy tankers of the Hero

Gvardeyskiy Tyazhelyy Tankovy Polk and the heavy assault

gunners of the Hero Tyazhelyy Samokhodno-Artillyeriyskiy

Polk will destroy all before them, whether they fight across the

farmland of eastern German or through the streets of Berlin.

You can field the hard-fighting Red Army riflemen of the Hero

Strelkovy Polk (Hero Rifle Regiment) with Guards options and

Red Army options. Included are options to field customisable

specialist street-fighting Shturmovye Groups.

Fight for the streets of Berlin and bring the war to an end!

Written by:

Wayne Turner

Assistant Writers:

Michael Haught, Michael McSwiney.

Editors:

Peter Simunovich, John-Paul Brisigotti

Proofreaders:

Russell Briant, Alexander Costantino, Sean

Ireland, Paul Kitchin, Michael McSwiney, Luke Parsonage,

Huw Peregrine-Young, Gavin van Rossum, Brad Sainsbury,

Gregg Siter, Stephen Smith, Garry Wait

Graphic Design:

Victor Pesch

Cover and Internal Art:

Vincent Wai

Miniatures Design:

Tim Adcock, Evan Allen,

Giorgio Bassani, Will Jayne

Painting:

James Brown, Blake Coster, Casey Davies,

Michael Haught, Aaron Mathie, Victor Pesch,

Chris Townley, Wayne Turner

Terrain, Modelling and Photography:

Battlefront Studio

Playtest Groups:

Dad’s Army (Gavin van Rossum),

Einherjar (Gísli Jökull Gíslason),

Northern Battle Gamers (Nigel Slater)

CONTENTS

The Battle for Berlin, April 1945 . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Defenders of Berlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

German Special Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Berlin Kampfgruppe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

German Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

German Arsenal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Kampfgruppen of Berlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

German Painting Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

The Soviet Race for Berlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Soviet Special Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Hero Gvardeyskiy Tyazhelyy Tankovy Polk . . . .46

Hero Tyazhelyy Samokhodno-

artillyeriyskiy Polk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Battle for the Reichstag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Red Banner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Hero Strelkovy Polk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Hero Corps Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

Soviet Arsenal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Urban Basing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Soviet Painting Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72

This is a supplement for

Flames Of War, the World War II miniatures game .

A copy of the rulebook for

Flames Of War

is necessary to fully use the contents of this book .

means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that

in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

THE BATTLE FOR BERLIN

Even though he was facing a rapidly deteriorating war

situation, Adolf Hitler was still obsessed with regaining

the strategic initiative and launched a disastrous series

of offensives in late 1944 and early 1945. While some of

these offensives enjoyed temporary success, their ultimate

effect was to bleed many of Germany’s elite units white.

Furthermore, Hitler was obsessed with holding every inch

of ground Germany had conquered and left many other

key divisions deployed to protect Germany’s far flung

possessions. As a result when the Soviets launched their great

Vistula-Oder offensive in early January, 1945, they were

rapidly able to overwhelm the minimal German resistance

and reached the Oder River by the end of the month. Only

the fortress city of Küstrin (Kostrzyn), a mere 70km from

Berlin, held out. Though the way to Berlin was essentially

open, the Soviets halted their advance until their positions

on the western bank of the Oder could be secured.

by assigning them both to the operation. Zhukov was to

assault the ‘Gates of Berlin’ at the Seelow Heights with his

roughly 1 million troops, while Koniev was to assault toward

Berlin from positions further to the south. This setup what

amounted to a race to the German capital between the two

Field Marshals. Rokossovsky’s 2

Byelorussian Front would

advance on the city from the North, but this was never

intended to be the primary axis of attack.

erlin

ffensive

Zhukov began his offensive on 16 April 1945 with a massive

artillery barrage which could be heard as far away as Berlin.

His goal was to demoralize the Germans and punch a hole

through their lines at the Seelow Heights, clearing a path to

the German capital. Knowing that the offensive was coming,

Field Marshal Heinrici had time to respond to the expected

barrage and moved Busse’s Ninth Army Group back between

one and two miles from their forward positions. Zhukov’s

barrage therefore ended up falling on largely empty trenches,

though those defenders actually caught in the barrage

compared it to being caught in an earthquake.

Though Zhukov’s forces were able to quickly dispatch the few

German defenders in the valley floor, the second defensive

line on the Heights themselves held firm, exacting a terrible

toll from the Soviets. Against Stavka’s orders, Zhukov

committed his tanks from both the 1

and 2

Guards Tank

Armies earlier than planned in an attempt to overrun the

Heights, but the Seelow Heights proved to be poor tank

country. After the first day of the offensive, with its minimal

territorial gains and high casualties, it was quickly apparent

that this operation would not enjoy the same immediate

success of the Vistula-Oder offensive.

Stalin was furious at the lack of progress and considered shifting

the main axis of attack away from Zhukov’s forces and instead

allowing Koniev and Rokossovsky free rein to attack Berlin

from the south and north respectively. In an effort to stave off

the dictator’s displeasure, Zhukov regrouped his forces and

continued to pressure the German positions. The strongpoints

at Friedersdorf and Dolgelin, which had stopped the Soviets on

the first day of the offensive, fell to the combined efforts of the

reParations

This unexpected reprieve gave the Germans a chance to

rush additional units into the area in a desperate attempt to

stem the Soviet tide. The Germans took advantage of a bluff

called the Seelow Heights, which overlooked the majority of

the Soviet bridgeheads over the Oder River. Field Marshal

Heinrici, commanding Army Group Vistula, defended the

area with the Ninth Army Group, under Lieutenant General

Theodor Busse, consisting of some 200,000 men (though

only 110,000 were on the Seelow Heights proper), around

550 tanks, and a little over 2500 guns and anti-aircraft

weapons, many of which had been relocated from Berlin. The

Ninth Army was therefore assigned the unenviable task of

defending against the primary Soviet advance toward Berlin.

The Soviets had not been idle during their pause at the Oder

River. For the upcoming Operation Berlin, the Soviets had

amassed a force of over 2.5 million men supported by 6300

tanks and assault guns, over 40,000 guns and mortars, over

3000 Katyushas, and over 8000 aircraft. Stalin continued

to play on the rivalries between Field Marshal Georgi

Zhukov, commanding the 1

Byelorussian Front and Field

Marshal Ivan Koniev, commanding the 1

Ukrainian Front,

3. Panzer

Armee

Stettin

POMERANIA

Belorussian Front

Arnswalde

21. Armee

Finow Cana

Henningsdorf

Müncheburg

Wreizen

Küstrin

Seelow

Dolgelin

Friedersdorf

Frankfurt

Belorussian Front

Brandenburg

BERLIN

Wannsee

Potsdam

Zossen

Kummersdorf

FRONT

7 MAY

Brandenburg

Gate

12. Armee

FRONT

16 APRIL

HALBE

POCKET

9. Armee

Lieberose

Guben

Oder River

Lübben

Dessau

Cottbus

Torgau

Forst

Ukrainian Front

Spremberg

Leipzig

4. Panzer

Armee

0 Miles 10

0 KM

Dresden

17. Armee

Guards Tank Corps and the 8

Guards Mechanized Corps,

while the 3

Shock Army assaulted the town of Seelow itself.

The Germans, however, had built their defences in depth in the

short time allowed to them and continually counterattacked to

break up the Soviet advance.

By 18 April, though they had inflicted severe casualties on

the Soviets, the German positions began to waiver under

the continuous Soviet pressure. The first breach came at the

point where Busse’s Ninth Army met Manteuffel’s Third

Panzer Army near the village of Wreizen. This portion of the

line was manned by elements of

5. Jägerdivision

Light

Infantry Division) along with several other fragmentary

formations and

Volkssturm

(People’s Assault or Militia). By

this point the Ninth Army’s left flank had failed, and its right

flank was being pressured by Koniev’s breakthrough further

south. Zhukov finally captured the town of Seelow itself as

well, which spelled the beginning of the end of the battle.

erlin

Lead elements of the advancing Soviet columns, sensing that

a breakthrough was imminent, began a race toward Berlin,

but waiting for them was the last of the German armoured

reserves in the area, including

503. Schwere SS-Panzer

Abteilung

(503

Heavy SS Tank Battalion). Its Königtiger

(King Tiger) heavy tanks took a heavy toll on the first Soviet

tanks to cross the heights, but ultimately the panzer reserves

were too few to repulse the Soviet advance. Though their

casualties had been high, losing tens of thousands of men

and roughly a quarter of their armour, by 19 April, the

Soviets held the heights and had regrouped, and before them

lay an open road to Berlin.

On 20 April 1945, Adolf Hitler celebrated his 56

Birthday

in his bunker a few miles away in Berlin. In light of the

critical war situation, the

Führer

finally assigned the defence

of Berlin itself to Army Group Vistula. In an effort to

THE BATTLE FOR BERLIN

BERLIN OFFENSIVE, 16 APRIL - 7 MAY 1945

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