Publisher/Date:
Lone Canuck Publishing (2022)
Product Type:
Scenario Pack
Country of Origin:
Canada
Contents:
11 scenarios on cardstock, 8 pages of rules, 2 half-sheets of die-cut counters (one with 88 5/8" counters and one with 24 5/8" counters and 100 1/2" counters, for 212 total counters).
Grossdeutschland Pack 3: High Tide at Kursk is the third (but seemingly not final) scenario pack in a series of such packs published by Lone Canuck Publishing that feature the exploits of the Grossdeutschland, an elite German unit (of different size, composition and type depending on the period of the war). The unit is notorious for having committed atrocities against captured African troops in the 1940 campaign in France (as well as other crimes elsewhere). While the previous packs featured the GD division in France and the Soviet Union in 1940-41 and on the East Front in 1942-43, the scenarios of this third pack take place over only about 10 days in July 1943 during the Battle of Kursk.
GD3 was in the works for a long time before its 2022 release; a discussion forum post from 2016 stated that it was “in the pipeline” of upcoming LCP products, describing it as coming with a mini-campaign game, 10-12 scenarios, and a steppe map. Somehow along the way, the conception of the product altered somewhat. GD3 has no map at all, for example. It does come with 11 scenarios, rules that divide the scenarios into three mini-campaigns each using some of the scenarios, and two half-sheets of counters.
The counters are attractive and of good quality, though the die-cutting is very deep, so they can possibly separate unintentionally–best to handle the sheets carefully lest a counter or few become strays. The first half-sheet of counters includes 24 trench counters (giving a hint of what players might expect to find in the scenarios), some German and Soviet assault engineer squads/half-squads, 20 Bangalore Torpedo counters, and 20 specialized fire markers (MA Fired, BMG Fired, SW First Fire, Inherent First Fire, etc.). The second half-sheet is all 5/8″ counters, including 24 MORE trench counters (yikes), 8 AT-Ditch counters, 32 Soviet AFVs and Guns, and 24 German AFVs. The AFVs are extra counters of existing system vehicles, for use in larger scenarios.
A bit unusually for LCP scenario packs, GD3 comes with 8 pages of rules. There are two pages of rules for the scenarios, describing things from the aforementioned Bangalore Torpedoes to Soviet Machinegun Nest, and two pages each for the three linked-scenario campaign games (or “tactical missions”) included in the pack.
Each campaign is the same. Players play several scenarios in a row (the first four, the middle four, or the last three). The winner of each scenario gets 5 VPs, plus 1 additional VP per 5 CVP attained (and -1 VP per 5 CVP lost). After the scenarios are played, VPs are totaled and victory determined by the score. The scenarios are “linked” in only one way. Each scenario in this pack features random OB additions. However, the winner (of each of the first three scenarios) gets one or more “credits” that can be used to influence the dr for the reinforcements in the subsequent scenario. It’s a modest impact, at best. Note that one of the campaigns will be significantly longer than the others, because it includes a monster-sized scenario.
The scenarios are an odd bunch. Generally speaking, they are all either small/very small or large/very large, with no medium-sized scenarios. Often one side has a large force while the other has only a tiny force. It all depends on preference, of course, but some of the scenarios are going to be smaller than many ASLers would like to play. The first scenario, for example, GD17 (Opening Move), features 7 German squads (plus a small random OB addition) against 2 Soviet squads and one crew (for a Machinegun Nest). The Soviets have five times as many fortifications as they have squads to defend them. Even the Soviet OB addition is more likely to add SAN or Mines than put any more bodies on board. One lucky sniper role and nearly half of the Soviet OB could be gone. GD24 (Crippled Tiger) features 4 Soviet squads (plus a random OB addition of one or two half-squads) against a German squad, a crew, and an abandoned Tiger (with a random reinforcement ranging from one crew to two squads). Again, this is a really tiny scenario.
Some of the scenarios are very vehicle-heavy. GD26 (The Clash of Steel), for example, is a simultaneous set-up scenario that pits 5 German squads, 3 Guns, 8 halftracks, and 7 tanks (plus a random OB addition of from 1-3 AFVs) against 21 Soviet tanks (and a random OB addition) and 10 more tanks and 9 squads as reinforcements. GD23 (Red Riposte) features 10 Soviet squads with 10 tanks (plus random OB additions) against 5 German squads, two Guns, and 2-3 Guns as random OB additions, with three tanks as reinforcements.
The monster-sized scenario is GD20 (The Nut that is Cherkasskoye). I don’t know who that crazy Cherkasskoye was, but a lot of people were fighting over him. This is a 15-turn scenario played out across four boards, three of them desert (with five overlays). This scenario features a German attack with 37 squads, air support, 4 guns, 43 half-tracks (good luck with that), 13 armored cars, and a large random tank/assault gun reinforcement of 24 slightly varying AFVs. The Soviets defend with 21 squads, 7 HMG Machinegun Strongpoints, 15 guns, OBA, more fortifications than you can point a Panzerfaust at, plus reinforcements of Guns and assault engineers, as well as random reinforcements that vary wildly in amount and quality.
Three of the scenarios feature OBA, two feature Air Support (or the possibility of it). One scenario is a night scenario (the same tiny scenario with the abandoned Tiger, which may make it even less likely to be played). Four scenarios use desert boards for Steppe terrain.
To play all the scenarios, the following boards are required: 4, 5, 18, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 56, 62, 72, 1b, q, t, v, x.
It’s a little hard to anticipate the audience for this one; East Front armored warfare aficionados are perhaps the ones most likely to have a hankering for it, for the larger vehicle-intensive scenarios. Some others, though, might find the pack’s very small or otherwise hinky scenarios a little off-putting.
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