Second Kharkov Campain

Wanted to post an update here. I managed to break my 3d printer. I think I have replacement parts already but I am very sad about it.

I managed to get some writing done and have the first of several pint sized campaigns laid out. It begins with the initial assault of the german positions at Federovka. The small town was laid out on a dirt road that ran north to south. It provided a natural spot for the Germans to set up a hedgehog defense line. It was in the direct line from Stari Staltov to Kharkov.

From the 1:50,000 scale map that I have, i have outlined the two areas I am looking to use for the town battle. The first is the initial outposts that are positioned along a balka or deep ditch that runs outside of the town on the hill the town resides on.

I annotated the map based on a document I found on-line that explains russian map symbols. It is very comprehensive and makes for a very useful key. I am going to provide a map like this in the booklet so people can move the map around to match the terrain that they have if they wish instead of the spots that I picked.

The Germans had a bad position as their line of retreat was through a grassy swamp that was directly to their rear. Initially the infantry held up against the infantry assault. But when airsupport and tanks arrived, the Germans at Federovka broke and fled to the rear. These troop pulled back to hill 119 that is just to the left of the map above.