Editor: Kursk - CMBB

1st SS Panzergrenadier Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler(Theodor Wisch, SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS)

The spring rasputitsa halted offensive operations, giving the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler time to rest and refit. By early June 1943, the division had been fully refitted and now under the command of Brigadeführer, Theodor Wisch. Its armour strength was 12 Tiger Is, 72 Panzer IVs, 16 Panzer III and Panzer IIs, and 31 StuGs. In late June 1943, the formation of 1st SS Panzer Corps meant that Hausser's SS Panzer Corps was renamed 2nd SS Panzer Corps.

The 2nd SS Panzer Corps was moved north to Belgorod in preparation for the upcoming Summer offensive, Operation Citadel. The LSSAH, along with the Totenkopf and Das Reich, was to form the spearhead of Generaloberst Hoth's 4.Panzer-Armee, tasked with breaching the southern flank of the Kursk salient. Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model's 9.Armee was to breach the northern flank, and the two forces were to meet near the city of Kursk, thereby encircling a large Soviet force.

The 2nd SS Panzer Corps reached its assembly areas on 28 June and began preparing for the assault. The attack was set for 5 July, and on 4 July the 2nd SS Panzer Corps, as well as the XLVIII.Panzerkorps on its left and the III Panzer Corps on the right, began minor attacks to secure observation posts. Fighting lasted throughout the day, with the LSSAH Pionier-Bataillon seeing heavy action clearing out the entrenched Soviets.

The LSSAH panzers, advancing in Panzerkeils, soon ran into the Soviet Pakfronts. The elaborate system of Soviet defences slowed the attack, but unlike in Model's sector, the 4.Panzer-Armee, spearheaded by the SS Panzer Corps and the LSSAH, was not halted, and eventually broke through.

By 9 July, the SS Panzer Corps had advanced 30 miles (48 km) north, and were nearing the small town of Prokhorovka. The LSSAH again took the lead, by now its armour strength reduced to just 77 armoured vehicles. 2nd SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment, supported by several panzers, advanced straight up the road to Prokhorovka against heavy resistance. By midday, the grenadiers had cleared the Komsomolets State Farm and the began the attack on Hill 241.6, which they secured shortly after nightfall on 10 July.

On 11 July, the advance resumed. With the division capturing Oktiabr'skii State Farm and Hill 252.2 in heavy fighting against Soviet Paratroops of the 9th Guards Airborne Division. On 12 July, the Soviets threw the 5th Guards Tank Army into a counterattack near Prokhorovka. Two tank corps faced the LSSAH hitting the advancing Germans around Oktiabr'skii State Farm and Hill 252.2. In the ensuing fighting, the outnumbered Germans inflicted heavy casualties on the Soviets, knocking out many tanks. In the process, the LSSAH also suffered relatively light casualties, however the Soviet counterattack had stalled the German advance, and the division was forced to fall back to Oktiabr'skii. Fighting continued on the 13 July, but the focus of the Soviet attack had shifted to the Totenkopf, to the left of the LSSAH.

1. SS Panzergrenadier Division Leibstandarte 'Adolf Hitler'
under command of: SS Brigadeführer Wisch

1 SS Panzer Regiment
1 SS Panzer Grenadier-Regiment
2 SS Panzer Grenadier-Regiment
1 SS Panzer Artillerie-Regiment
1 SS Panzer-Reconnaissance-Bataillon
1 SS Panzer-Engineer-Bataillon
1 SS Flak-Bataillon

armor:
106 tanks
35 assault guns
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SS Panzerregiment 1 from LSSAH
4 Pz II
3 Pz III (short 50)
10 Pz III (long 50)
67 Pz IV (long 75)
13 Pz VI
9 Panzer Befehlspanzer
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I.Pz.Jager Abt./1.SSLAH was allocated 4 Marder III Ausf M ( Sd Kfz 138 ) in June 1943
As for Stugs, they had a mixture of Stug III F-8's and Stug III G (early)

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3 PzI 4 PzII 3 PzIII(kz) 10 PzIII(lg) 67 PzIV(lg) 13 PzVI 9 PzBef 35 StuG 40, 21 Marder, 6 Hummel, 12 Wespe, 12 Bison

Panzergrenadier Division Großdeutschland(Oberst Karl Lorenz 14 Jan 1943 - 1 August 1944)

In June 1943, with the addition of armoured personnel carriers and Tigers the division was redesignated Panzergrenadier-Division Großdeutschland, though in reality it now had more armoured vehicles than most full scale panzer divisions.

The newly re-equipped division was attached to the German Fourth Panzer Army of Generaloberst Hermann Hoth, and was to take a major role (again paired with the SS-Panzerkorps) in Operation Citadel, the battles to sever the Kursk salient. During the buildup period, a battalion of new Panther Ausf. D tanks came under the operational control of Großdeutschland. After the launch of Citadel, the division was heavily engaged in the fight to penetrate the southern flank of the salient. The new Panthers were plagued by technical problems, suffering from engine fires and mechanical breakdowns, many before reaching the battle. The division fought on until it was pulled back to Tomarovka on 18 July 1943.

III Panzerkorps (General der Panzertruppen Hermann Breith)
III Panzerkorps was formed in June 1942 from III. Armeekorps. The Panzerkorps was now attached to Heeresgruppe A, the formation tasked with capturing the Caucasus as a part of Fall Blau. After the disaster at Stalingrad, III Panzerkorps took part in the battles around Kharkov as part of Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein's Heeresgruppe Don.

The Corps was attached to Generaloberst Hermann Hoth's 4.Panzerarmee in Operation Citadel, and was heavily involved in the fighting withdrawal from Belgorod to the Dniepr.

What I would like to do is

on German side: OFFENSIVE
tank batallions with Tigers, Panthers and StuG's
infantry with artillery

on Russian side: DEFENSIVE with counterattacks
trenchlines with pillboxes
infantry with artillery
reinforcements will be tanks with infantry

I would like to create a massive force but with the right %'s....meaning if they had 2 Panther companies for each Tiger company I would like it in the battle also 2 V's for 1 VI's etc.

All help is appreciated

WOW.....2 ARMIES.....!!!!!!!!!!!!   

I have never been a big fan of the larger scenarios. Even tough I've made them myself at times. Sometimes it's hard to recreate the fight if it isn't big. Most of the battles around Prokhorovka weren't anywhere near division level let alone Army level.

Good Hunting.

MR