Ostfront 1941

[Markus Wilding]

So, I've always wanted to do an Eastern Front RP, and I decided to make it.

 

That in mind, obviously this takes place in the Eastern Front right as it starts in 1941 with Fall Barbarossa.

 

Image of the situation before the launch of Fall Barbarossa on 22 June 1941, for those of us who are visual learners: (German text)

[spoiler][/spoiler]

 

Because of the inherent difficulties and problems of organizing a front with literally millions of soldiers operating on both sides, players have several options to play as:

 

Axis

 

Oberkommander des Heeres (OKH) - supreme commander for all Axis forces

 

Heeresgruppe Nord, consisting of: 16. Armee, Panzergruppe 4, 18. Armee, and Luftflotte eins, staged in East Prussia (29 divisions)

 

Heeresgruppe Mitte, consisting of: 4. Armee, Panzergruppe 2, Panzergruppe 3, 9. Armee, and Luftflotte zwei, staged in Eastern Poland, (50 divisions)

 

Heeresgruppe Süd, consisting of: 17. Armee, Panzergruppe 1, 11. Armee, 6. Armee, and Luftflotte vier, staged in Southern Poland and Romania (57 divisions)

 

Soviet

 

STAVKA - supreme commander for all Soviet forces

 

Northern Front, consisting of: 14th Army, 7th Army, 23rd Army and smaller units subordinate to the Front commander, based on the border with Finland

 

North-Western Front, consisting of: 8th Army, 11th Army, 27th Army and other front troops, defending the Baltic regions

 

Western Front, consisting of: 3rd Army, 4th Army, and 10th Army, defending Belorussia and Poland

 

South-Western Front, consisting of: 5th Army, 6th Army, 12th Army, 26th Army, as well as special command units, staged in between the Ukraine and the border with Romania

 

Southern Front, consisting of: 9th Independent Army, 18th Army, 2nd Mechanized Corps, and 18th Mechanized Corps, at the Romanian border

 

The tentative rules are as follows:

 

1. One RL day = 3 RP hours. I'll take suggestions on this if people think it's too short/too long/dumb.
2. Ideally, there would be one player for each front/army group. If there's not enough (especially on the Soviet side) I'll allow people to take more than one front/army group provided they are adjacent to each other...that shouldn't be too hard to pull off.
3. Please don't try to metagame by using foresight. We all know Stalingrad was a failure, as was the entire Eastern effort. Don't do anything Stalin or Hitler wouldn't have ordered.
4. Keep in mind machines, men, and supply lines break down. I know nobody likes to do it, but these sorts of things do need to be RPed. If you stretch too far, you'll be out of supply range and may also be encircled by the enemy. (Traitors will be shot)
5. Keep in mind body armor isn't really that much in circulation here. Soviet engineers or assault teams may have it, but it's at best a thin plate of steel (from my understanding of Soviet body armor at the time). The rest of the general infantry will have regular cloth or wool uniforms and steel helmets. Good luck.
6. GMs will keep a watch to make sure people don't break any of the above or do something else inevitably stupid.

As stated, I'm open to suggestions on these rules or additions to them. Let's try to keep this free from dumb arguments - we know how these weapons work.

[Greywall]

What the hell, count me in, rolling in the axis army.

[Evangeline Anovilis]

First off, the Axis inevitably loses?

 

Second, what will the impact of the western front be?

 

Third, 1 RL day = 3 RP hours means we will be RPing for quite some time. Barbarossa alone was over 5 months, for us in RL it'd be 3-4 years of RP. The entire Eastern front effort till 8./9. of May 1945 would take over 30 years... I doubt I want to spend this long on RP.

[Markus Wilding]

First off, the Axis inevitably loses?

 

Second, what will the impact of the western front be?

 

Third, 1 RL day = 3 RP hours means we will be RPing for quite some time. Barbarossa alone was over 5 months, for us in RL it'd be 3-4 years of RP. The entire Eastern front effort till 8./9. of May 1945 would take over 30 years... I doubt I want to spend this long on RP.

 

1. I know this. Perhaps the genius of some of our RPers can affect the outcome. Maybe Stalingrad wont be a total defeat. Maybe Soviet forces will muck up somewhere.

 

2. The Western Front will continue as normal, unless something extraordinarily strange or stupid happens, like an entire Soviet front is destroyed somehow. If that happens, events will conspire to make life hard for whatever side is benefiting from said anomaly. It won't be impossible to recover from, to be sure, but luck will run out eventually.

 

3. As I said, I'm open to suggestions. Feel free to throw one out there if you're done calculating things.