DLC 43 Kursk North: Ponyiri

[monkspider]

Ponyiri
General, imported core
Starting prestige 4700
After Upgrades 358
Ending prestige 1259
DV on turn 17/20
Losses 1x Recon Car
Found: 1 KV-1C (though I am not sure from which city)

Poor old Model had a hell of a time trying to break through the Soviet defenses in the North. Always being one who enjoys the challenge of trying to change history, i decided to take up the Northern Pincer and see if I could do better.

Prestige was a bit more abundant than I had been used to but still nowhere near what I would have ideally liked to have. I upgraded my last Char B1 to a Panther, upgraded my Panzer IVGs to Panzer IVHs, bought a Wehrmacht Infantry and some recon cars and overstrengthed all my units as much as I wanted. I doubt I will have such a luxury again anytime soon, this battle was a brutal one and left me with an army that was quite beat up and I fear what my next repair bill will look like.

The endless rows of defenses were appropriately demoralizing and draining. I managed to cross the Oka river fairly handily thanks to the bridging engineer and my two Tigers and I reached Ponyiri fairly early on but it seemed like it took FOREVER to to capture.

Even though I achieved a DV, I felt like it was something of a Pyrrhic victory due to the heavy losses I incurred. My strategy may have been somewhat flawed I think I was more aggressive than I should have been, out of a combination of over-confidence from my force being back at full strength and frustration at the in-depth defenses.

Overall an excellent representation of the battle and a great scenario.