Death Ride: Kursk - Gross Deutschland, July 4-13, 1943

From the Publisher:

These are the newly updated version.

The updates of these games are meant to work together.  The enhancement for this updated set of games is meant to support the newer version, not the original version.  If you have the original games and not the C2/FS enhancement in particular, this updated enhancement will not provide you those two important elements of the game system.  The new XLVIII Enhancement will give you the ability to play the air, logisitics, and maintenance portions of the game, but not the command and control or fire support rules.

All Death Ride Kursk XLVIII games come with or allow:

Numerous Charts and Tables

Rules Written Based on the Seven Battlefield Operating Systems

Detailed but not Overbearing with 4 levels of game play

Basic / Intermediate / Advanced / Ultimate

Each level is clearly marked and enhanced rules are all included and color coded for ease of understanding

There will be a variety of scenarios

The Command and Control and Fire Support Enhancements will be built in to each game

Task Organizing at the most basic level

A separate XLVIII Korps level Enhancement package for Air/Maintenance/Logistics

Excellent Solitaire Play

Scenarios for this game start on 4 July with the start of the entire offensive.

This base game has had a complete refresh.  My recommendation to those with the original games is NOT to get this one.  The reason is the considerable cost.  I do have the new maps, and if for some reason you didn't get them as part of your coupon purchases of the IISS games, you can write me direct and I can make a set of maps available for purchase.  The map is the most distinctive part of this refresh, althought the master rules have some important changes in them, and the Orders of Battle are more developed from new information I have examined over the last couple years.

This game, as the base game in the 3 game set, is considerably larger than any of the other games in the series.  It has the largest map area with (18) 11x17 sheets and Gross Deutschland has the 10th Panzer Brigade which adds considerable size to the counter count.  It also makes for some very exciting fighting.

Besides the map and scenarios the rules have undergone some refinements with additional clarifications and diagrams and some new rules.  These new Master Rules (v 2.5e) are available for download at the CSW Death Ride Kursk forum.  These games include the Command and Control and Fire Support Enhancements which means you don’t need to buy anything else to have detailed command and fire support operations if you want them.

The game system has some unique qualities.  Above all the open sequence of play within each players Operations Phase.  The game system models the seven Battlefield Operating Systems (BOS) in some detail and this makes play of the game feel very different from other comparable games.  During this Operations Phase you can perform Maneuver/Fire, Fire Support, Engineering, Intelligence, in any order you desire to support your plans.  During the enemy player turn you have the opportunity to exercise the Air Defense OS, and during other times of the sequence of play you account for Command and Control and Combat Service Support.  There is a lot here to digest and if you want to get closest to being involved in a military Command Post Exercise, this is it.

This game is going to give you a completely new appreciation for the struggles of the Gross Deutschland Division during the Citadelle offensive.  The attacks timetable was disrupted early on and never got back on track.  The division hit the Pena River, bounced back, slid to the right along the southern bank, and then north toward Oboyan.  The sheer quantity of troops set against them is daunting to have to try and wear down.  But this is the nature of the battle.  And the game does a great job of presenting the situation as a real slugging match.

Game Scales are:

Game Turns are 2 Hours of Daylight and 4 Hours of Night

Hex Scale is 330m per Hex

Red Army Units are Companies

German Units are Platoons and/or Companies

Gross Deutschland was the largest German division involved in the battle and was endowed with an abundance of armor.  Unfortunately it was armor (Panthers) that was still too young to work properly and caused everyone lots of headaches.  For this reason it is also the largest game in the series.  Gross Deutschland had the hardest mission as it moved through the center of the area of operations.  Its mission was to spearhead the XLVIII PzK operation and make the main effort up the Oboyan road towards Kursk.  The Division has components of all arms and is a very powerful organization, even without the Panther Battalions.  It is organized the same as an SS Division. It has a Panzer Regiment with 2 Panzer Battalions (90 MkIII and MkIVs), 2 Panther Battalions (190 Panthers), 2 Panzer Grenadier Regiments each with 3 Infantry Battalions and a Combat Support Battalion, a Panzer Artillery Regiment with 3 Battalions, a Reconnaissance Battalion, PanzerJager Battalion, Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Pionere Battalion, and an Assault Gun Battalion.  YOU have the ability to task organize the Division to make each Battalion a more potent combat weapon by cross-attaching infantry to the armor and vice versa, or even engineers or recon to these Battalions.

Gross Deutschland - Base Game - comes with (in Full Color):

(18) Map Sections of the Pena River Area of Operations

(16) Counter Sheets with over 3000 Units and Markers

(12) Scenario Cards and a Master Reinforcement/Withdrawals Card

(3) d10

140 Pg. Master Rules Version 2.5e, now including more diagrams and examples

Supplemental Rules Specific to Gross Deutschland

Order of Battle Cards

Task Organization Charts for Each Major German and Red Army Formation

Command and Control Enhancement Built In

Fire Support Enhancement Built In

Reference (Gamers HQ):

Grognard Simulations is known for their detailed and fantastic rulesets and their attention to detail concerning the gaming material, but because of the way they produce their games, You can´t compare the quality of the boxes with it from big companies like GMT or Compass Games: They are only for holding the huge amount of material, but not as a piece of art by itself (they are made from thin cardboard). This games are, like the name of the company indicates, for "real Grognards !"

English Boxed Version.

Death Ride Kursk is the most ambitious project GSI has undertaken.  The project is a series of monster games encompassing the entire southern front of the Kursk operation.  The series is broken down into 3 separate and distinct sub-sets of 3 games each.  That means the total series is comprised of 9 games.  Each game has a different number of maps and focuses on a different German Division.  The 3 sets are broken down into the 3 different Korps Areas of Operation (XLVIII PzK, IISS PzK, and III PzK).  The image states "The Monster Game of Monsters".  What this means is that each game in the series is a monster game of its own.  Putting them all together, and you can, is a Monster Game of Monster Games.

Each Game Set has a Base Game that includes the rules, charts, and other game system components that you will need to play the game.  The other games in the Game Set are expansions and need the Base Game to be played.