SPW’s Der Weltkrieg – Tannenberg: Eagles in the East

SPW’s Tannenberg was the first game of the Der Weltkrieg that I played many years ago when I was expanding my foray into wargames beyond Advanced Squad Leader. (I later had to revisit ASL and relearn the game after many failed attempts to play through the first starter kit, but that’s a story for another time).

The Tannenberg scenario is a quick and easy scenario to play through. If you play fast (which I seldom manage to do) you can get through it in an afternoon once you’re all set up.

For reference, Decision Games’s Wacht am Rhein scenario Race to Bastogne that I’ve now twice documented on AARCentral is described as a tournament style scenario that should only take 2-3 hours to play through. On my second playthrough, my faster of the two, it was up for about a week in my apartment.

This time around in Tannenberg, I managed to play it through an evening and a morning, which per my standards is flying through the game. This is at least thanks in part to the simplicity and ease of learn SPW’s Der Weltkrieg system. The only limiting factor keeping me from playing longer scenarios/campaigns – other than space which is difficult to ratio in a 535 sf apartment – is the supply expenditure system in Der Weltkrieg. The Grand Campaign aside, which I know addresses this in part, each opposing side’s offensive potential in Der Weltkrieg is really hampered by two factors, the limited amount of supply and the cost of a poorly supported attack when opposed by a 3x counterattack.

As one commenter I had read previously observed, this does adequately represent the localized, offensive potential of a front or an army. Resources and support are stockpiled, and then – if done properly – efficiently expended in order to make a breakthrough or move the front a few kilometers. Then, the frontline troops are thinned to the point of needing to halt and/or supplies run out, necessitating an end to the offensive. Coupled with the threat of devastation from a 3x counterattack – with the benefit of hindsight from 3-4 scenarios over the years – this may make a lot of sense when trying to recreate the reality on the battlefield in WW1. Once supplies run thin for one side, their ability to match the attrition inflicted by their opponent wanes, and where either side was losing 4-5% of their fighting strength in an exchange, once one side gets the upper hand – provided they’re both still slogging away endlessly, which I find to be the case when I play Der Weltkrieg – the magnitude of attrition expands to 10-20% in favor of the side with remaining supply and at least equivalent combat strength. This is something I observed on the outskirts of Warsaw in my game this past weekend.

In this playthrough of Tannenberg, the game lasted from mid-August through October before I had to concede for the Russian position. The ‘Russian’ Steamroller did not make it past the frontier in East Prussia, and eventually found itself on the retreat in Poland.

The game started off historically, and I did all in my power to recreate the German tactics used in East Prussia in 1914. With the Russian first army just outside East Prussia racing for Konigsberg from turn 1, I used my cavalry, Landwehr forces, and two reserve divisions to screen the Russian advance. The resto f the German 8^th Army meanwhile consolidated south of Allenstein (the seat of the German HQ) in east Prussia) and raced to deal a knockout blow to the Russian 2^nd Army. Unless I skipped over it some place, due to the mobilization restrictions of the Russian forces, I managed to pin the Russians in Poland against Warsaw before most of the 2^nd Army had an opportunity to strike north. This stretched my forces thin against the Russian 1^st Army – it was looking dire for a while – but they managed to hold the line without breaking.

Part of the dire straights were due to my own house rule. I adopted a rule used in GRD’s Europa – Balkan Front. In Balkan front, non-divisional units cannot operate in their full fighting capacity unless they are supported by other units (unless of course they were identified as capable of operating independently. It’s a unique rule, and one I appreciated. As such, for all Landwehr brigades, I tried to have them operate with other units as opposed to independently. Especially given each hex covers 20km, it doesn’t seem realistic that single Landwehr brigade could hold up four Russian cavalry divisions.

What transpired outside of Warsaw – as the Russian 1^st Army raced on Konigsberg – was arguably my most negligent strategy of the game: wholesale slaughter in the fight for attrition. My goal was to bloody the Russian 2^nd beyond reinforcement and then race north to defend against the Russian 1^st. The Germans are best aided in this game not by the reinforcements they receive in September (the Russian’s secured 41 points trying to pressure Konigsberg so I received 1 Guard division, 3 infantry divisions, and a cavalry division) but by the terrain separating the Russian 1^st and 2^nd. The swamps and forts east of Allenstein are the missing link needed to hold off the Russian 1^st while warding off the 2^nd.

The German 8th attacks Warsaw as the Russian 1st moves on Konigsberg (got to love the glare)

Five or six rounds of combat were exchanged between the German 8^th and Russian 2^nd. It was pretty evenly matched in terms of die rolls, but the Russian 2^nd wore down quicker. Most German units had suffered 25-50% casualties when one final Russian attack, weakened by more than 50%, was met by a German counterattack that inflicted 4 times as many casualties. That was the breaking point. There were barely four combat-active units remaining and the German 8^th pulled back north, just as the Russian 1^st consolidated for a second push. The German 8^th relocated just in time to halt the Russian 1^st’s attack, which had been slowly grinding away at the German Landwehr and reserve divisions in their path.

The emergency reserves arrive for the Germans and hold the south edge of East Prussia as the Russian 1^st and German 8^th face off for the month of September. As more Russian reserve formations trickled in though, the Russian 2^nd swelled back to fighting capability and moved north. This was a mistake. Moving out of Warsaw, the Russian 2^nd had enough force to drive ahead of the Army’s HQ, but not cover its flanks. With the Finns, Siberians, and Turks trying to assail one of the forts east of Allenstein, there were no reserves within reach in that part of the sector. Trying to put pressure on the German underbelly, the Russian 2^nd extended too far. This allowed the reserve German cavalry and emergency forces to surround and isolate the Russian 22^nd, 24^th, and 79^th Reserve divisions. After two more turns, the Russian’s were completely encircled and eliminated. The encircling forces then moved south the lay siege to the Russian 10^th Army as it tried to scrape together a defense in Warsaw.

The Russian 2nd Army is surrounded

The Germans then press the Warsaw defenses

By October, the only field-worthy force – the Russian 1^st Army – had been stopped short by the German 8^th and both armies had exhausted their offensive capabilities. With more than 100 VPs in the German favor, I conceded the game to a decisive German victory.

Here’s a snapshot of the losses at game’s end. The top row are those forces surrounded and eliminated in one single encirclement. A bloody battle indeed.