The Battle of Wurzburg

As noted in an earlier post, Wurzburg seems inconsequential in most of the 19702/1980s operational level wargames on the Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe.  It seems to be out of the way of the main axes of any Soviet thrust into West Germany.  Other than the quadrigame, Wurzburg looks like a place that could be easily isolated and left for secondary forces to mop up after the Warsaw Pact forces had reached the English Channel.  Put in wargame terms, no one gets a lot of victory points for holding or seizing the place.

Not so in the quadrigame.  In this game, the initial Soviet led invasion runs into some trouble in the Fulda and Hof Gaps.  As a way to disrupt the American defense in the Hof Gap, the Soviets send a full Combined Arms Army to attack American forces holding Wurzburg.   I am not sure this really makes sense geographically, but my knowledge of West Germany terrain and US Corps boundaries was not very deep in the mid 1970s.

Wurzburg sits between the two Soviet invasion routes into southern West Germany, which is probably not a good place to be.  

In the quadrigame, the description of the battle is included.  Wurzburg is initially defended by the US 3rd Mechanized Infantry Division.  This unit, with a few corps assets, has to hold off the entire Soviet thrust for a couple of days until the rest of the US First Corps (REFORGER perhaps?) shows up.  The initial attack takes high casualties, and the Soviets drop three tactical nuclear weapons on the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Division.  Ouch!  This takes out three battalions and disrupts another four, permitting the Soviets to penetrate into Wurzburg proper despite the prompt American nuclear retaliation.  As additional American reinforcements arrive, they are able to counterattack and drive the Soviets out of the city, hopefully avoiding the nuclear contaminated areas.

 

The SPI "history" of the battle.  It sounded pretty bloody.

The specific scenarios provide additional information on the engagement.  In all but one of them, the Soviets have the initiative in the beginning.  By trading space for time, American reinforcements may come to save the day.  The game is balanced sufficiently to allow either side to win, which is good in a game.  Whether this is particularly accurate is up for debate.  If nothing else, the game will keep a couple of teenagers occupied for a few hours doing something nondestructive, which is a pretty good trade off.  

Elements of the Soviet 57th Guards Motorized Rifle Division contest the northern portion of Wurzburg with the US 3rd Infantry Division.