Tannenberg Line

[DRG]

My "Social distancing" project

There are two RAR's
One is the scenario
One is the new graphic files with a slightly altered black "rebel" ID tag and V hex flag to expand it's use.



The old one with the yellow outline has been replaced by the grey/ black one on the right. In this scenario, it is used to represent the non-German SS units that were involved.

This is not "political correctness" it's a way to allow scenario designers to differentiate the difference between the two. This will be the standard black flag when we release another patch upgrade......... eventually.

Extract the scenario to the games Scenarios folder and the Graphics to the Game Data/ Graphics folder


The scenario was designed to be played as P1 ( German ) but playtesting has shown it is playable from both sides

Battle of Tannenberg Line*
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DATE: 24 July to 12 August 1944*
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BATTLE LOCATION: The Sinimaed Hills about 20 km west of Narva, Estonia*
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BATTLE TYPE:*
Germany (Defend) vs Soviet Russia (Assault)*
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HISTORICAL SITUATION:*
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In the Sinimaed Hills, the III German Panzer Corps was Commanded by Waffen-SS Obergruppenfuhrer Felix Steiner. The German defences were made up of troops of many different European nationalities and included the 11th SS Division Nordland made up of Norwegians and Danes. Roughly half of the infantry consisted of local Estonian conscripts of the 20th Estonian SS Division who were highly motivated to resist the looming Soviet re-occupation. As well there were units of the 4th SS Brigade Nederland, made up of Dutch volunteers as well as the Flemish SS Battalion Langemarck and the Walloon SS Battalion Wallonien along with other support units.*
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On the attacking Soviet side were the rifle corps and divisions subordinate to the Russian 2nd Shock Army commanded by Lt. Gen. Ivan Fedyuninsky and the 8th Army commanded by Lt. Gen. Filipp Starikov along with independent artillery, air and armoured vehicle units.*
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The Soviet artillery and air forces began bombing the Sinimaed Hills on 25 July. The first Soviet infantry attacks on the hills were made on 26 July. The most intense battles took place between 27 and 30 July with the Sinimaed Hills passing from one side to the other many times.*
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The Sinimaed Hills were a good defensive position to control the Narva-Tallinn road on the isthmus between the sea and the great bogs to the south. The first defensive structures at Sinimaed were built as early as during the Great Northern War (1700-1721). During World War II the German army built up powerful defensive positions in the Sinimaed Hills.*
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This scenario compresses the battle to one event. To truly recreate this battle correctly it should be broken down into a mini-campaign but even that would be difficult. In the small area represented by this map the Germans commanded a force of just over. 22,000 men which held off an estimated 136,000 Soviet troops and the game simply cannot portray that accurately without breaking the battle down into a series of smaller events so this scenario is an attempt to recreate the general feel of the battle*
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The historic outcome of this series of battles was a defeat for the Russians with casualties estimated at ten times the losses of the formations commanded by the Germans. The Red Army failed to seize Estonia at this time which granted tens of thousands of Estonians more time to flee to the West. Estonia was captured a month later from the south-east. As no successful breakthrough was made in the Sinimaed Hills, the Red Army was unable to establish control on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland which delayed Finland's exit from the war until the beginning of September.*
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Map and Scenario Creation by Don Goodbrand*