Teenage Memories of Wurzburg

I have never been to Wurzburg, so one might wonder just what memories I could possibly have regarding a place I have never been.  In fact, I don't think I have even looked at a single book or article about that city until recently, and certainly not in the halcyon days of the 1970s.  Yet, I have poured over any number of maps (in hexagon format) over the area from any number of SPI games.  Those are the memories that I have regarding this relatively minor location, where the citizens never dreamed that they would become the epicenter of some cardboard counter battle.

My first encounter with the city was in 1974 with SPI's Modern Battles Quadrigame.  I remember buying this game at a LGS and being quite impressed by the graphics and counters.  Color!  The map geography could have been completely fabricated for all I knew about southern Germany, but the chance to have a full Soviet Combined Arms Army fight a US Corps was pretty exciting.  If I recall correctly, the game was pretty well balanced, even without the use of nuclear weapons.  The units were battalion sized, with some Soviet ones plussed-up with the various divisional assets.

The "Wurzburg" map from SPI's Modern Battles Quadrigame.

 Wurzburg showed up in my next SPI game postulating a Warsaw Pact invasion of West Germany.  "Fulda Gap, The First Battle of the Next War" was a favorite from its publishing in 1977.  Here the units were unknown combat strength brigades, with a nasty habit of turning out poorly at the most inconvenient time.  Wurzburg, located at the southern map edge, didn't figure too importantly in the invasion.  The game was pretty good, though I think NATO had a bit of an edge, especially with the air assets available.

SPI's "Fulda Gap" map.  The rectangle in red is the approximate area of the quadrigame map.  North is the top of the map.

If some Cold War was good, more must have been better.  "The Next War," SPI's monster game of the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Western Europe had 3+ maps and thousands of counters.  Unit size was a division, with lots of naval and air available.  I think I played this only twice or three times, which was still a lot in that era as it took a LONG time to get through.  I think the use of nuclear weapons would have been a relief to all of the teenagers involved, just to get some resolution.  I don't think Wurzburg was ever important in the times I played, but since that was last millennium and my memory may be a bit rusty (especially since I lost both times if I recall correctly), I could be mistaken.

The center map for "The Next War."  Wurzburg is almost an afterthought here.  Once again, North is to the top of the map.

Both Wurzburg and I survived the 1970s and SPI's next incantation was the Central Front Series of Games (Hof Gap, Fifth Corps and BAOR) published in the early 1980s.  If the "Next War" was tough to get through, the Central Front series was even tougher when linked together.  You really NEEDED to use nukes just to free up the map to an acceptable counter density, otherwise there was too much to remember.  Wurzburg shows up in "Hof Gap."  Since I didn't really play these games to any result, I can't really say if it was an important location or not.  It doesn't look like it would ever be some sort of Bastogne or St. Vith in terms of the road networks anyway.  Units were battalions and regiments once again.

SPI's "Hof Gap" map.  North is toward the upper right hand corner.  Wurzburg's area is not that different from the first game. 

Looking at the road makeup today, I still don't get the feeling that Wurzburg is that important in any major Soviet thrust into southern Germany.  Admittedly, the road network is not the same as it was in 1985, but it's probably close enough.  

The graphics are not as colorful as 1977 in this current map of southern Germany.  

Anyway, as I continue to build up my Soviet tank horde to smite the running dogs of American Imperialism and their lackeys, I will use the first "Wurzburg" map and units as my touchstone.  Its the least I can do to keep memories true, even the losses.

On to Wurzburg!

Just to show that merely because I am no longer painting LW BOTB Germans, my level of insanity hasn't decreased, I have started a new project.  I am jumping on the Team Yankee bandwagon only a few years behind the times.  Yes, I know it is not as shiny as it was when it first came out, but it has an undeniable attraction.  Massed Russian tank waves have a charm all of their own.  Growing up in the 1970s, I played my fair share of the SPI wargames, many of which were devoted to the theme of a Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe.  I remember getting the Modern Battles Quadrigame from the local hobby shop and playing it extensively over the years.  While all of the games were good, the one that I liked the best was Wurzburg, which examined the Soviet invasion of Western Germany.  In this game, a Soviet Combined Arms Army has to be fended off by one US Mechanized Infantry Division, later reinforced by an Armored Division.  Particularly stirring to me was the cover picture for the game, featuring a US M551 Sheridan tank in a threatening pose.

From the Modern Battles Quad, one of SPI's finest!

 Now, one can argue that a Sheridan was more a threat to its own crew than the enemy, but with that picture my fate was sealed.  In fact, when Battlefront came out with a Sheridan model for its Vietnam range, I felt compelled to buy it.  From Wurzburg it was only a hop, skip and a die roll to other addictive Cold War games, such as Fulda Gap, The Next War, Hof Gap, Seventh Corps, etc., all designed to play out the invasion.  While I am currently building a Soviet force, I am going to use the old Wurzburg game to set the stage and terrain for the ensuing skirmishes between the Soviet 27th Guards Motor Rifle Division (GMRD) and the US 3rd Mechanized Infantry Division, both units which were featured in the game.  It should be fun, and if nothing else, won't require any bizarre camouflage to paint on the vehicles.  The Soviet tanks and armored personnel carriers are green.  Not expecting their vehicles to last that long, green is good enough.

As for my force, I am working on BMP-2s and T-64s as the backbone of the army.  It is difficult to tell just what Soviet Division had what tanks and when they got them.  The 27th GMRD may have actually had T-80s by the 1985 (the nominal start of WWIII).  Right now, Battlefront only makes T-64s and T-72s, and the QRF T-80 pales by comparison, so I will use T-64s.  It looks neater as well, and that is important.  I am also using BMP-2s, as I think they look better than the BMP-1, and are also more powerful.  I think the 27th GMRD did have this vehicle, so proxying the tanks should be acceptable.  If I used the 1970s as my starting point, the T-64 would probably have been more likely, but the BMP would have been the APC of choice.  So, this is a decent trade off, even though the US force won't have Sheridans in their Armored Cavalry Squadron.

Culmination in the Ardennes

     One of the many reasons that the German offensive in the Ardennes in 1944 failed is that they literally ran out of gas.  Panzers don't get great gas mileage, and Volksgrenadiers need bread and ammunition to fight.  With scare stockpiles to begin with, any interruption in the logistics chain would cause the Wacht am Rhein surprise to fall apart.  And it did.  Allied air power was pretty good at interdicting the German supply lines, and the Panzer Divisions culminated before the German objectives could be reached.

    I believe I have culminated as well painting Late War Battle of the Bulge (LW BOTB) Germans.  I certainly never planned this to be a major project.  I figured I would just paint one (1!) panzergrenadier platoon in winter camouflage and use the various tanks I had for my Normandy endeavors to flesh out a BOTB German force.  Ha!  The figures proved to be very enticing as they painted up nicely, and the winter motif was particularly enticing.  There were many very interesting actions in the Bulge as well, far beyond the standard Bastogne siege and relief.  The battle at St. Vith caught my interest and so the lone panzergrenadier platoon expanded into separate forces to represent the Fuhrer Escort Brigade (a Confident Veteran force) and the less confident 18th Volksgreandier Division, (a Reluctant Trained mob), both of which saw fierce action around the city.  Any way, after almost two years of painting LW BOTB Germans, I have decided to take a rest for a bit on this front.  Instead of the one (1!) envisioned panzergrenadier platoon, I painted up:

- Company HQ
- 2 panzergrenadier platoons each with a panzerschrek stand
- a heavy platoon for the panzergrenadiers with 4 HMGs and 4 81mm mortars, which could easily be broken down into separate HMG and mortar platoons.
- 3 volksgrenadier platoons (2 with assault rifles and one R/MG), each with an attached panzerschrek stand
- a 120mm mortar platoon
- a 4 gun 10.5 cm lefh 18/40 battery with 4 guns
- a hetzer platoon with 4 hetzers
- a stand alone 88mm flak gun for antitank purposes
- a lot of forward observers

A full storage container of LW BOTB Germans.  The top drawer has the HQ, panzergrenadiers and heavy platoon.  The Mobelwagons are from my son.

Drawer number two has the three volksgrenadier platoon and the 120mm mortar platoon.

Last but not least.  Drawer number three has heavy weapons for the Germans; the 10.5 cm battery, the hetzers and the 88.  Plus some supplies to fight over.  That's a lot of winter stuff.  

     That's a lot of Germans!  And there are a lot more to go.  One of the advantages of being ~2 years behind the latest "Oh shiney!" draw at Battlefront is that I picked most of these up at substantial savings (at least that's what I tell Frau PanzerCDR . . . ) so my lead pile is pretty big.  If I decided to go back to the Bulge I could easily pull out a pak 40 ATG platoon, or some pioneers, or maybe some LW Panthers, or something.  But these, and their American LW winter opponents will have to wait for a bit until I get motivated by the snow or Battlefront figures out just what Version 4.0 is supposed to be.  I am not sure which will come first, but either way I'll be ready!