DeletedUser
END OF THE REICH
Starting on 16 January 1945, the Red Army breached the German front as a result of the Vistula–Oder Offensive and advanced westward as much as 40 kilometres a day, through East Prussia, Lower Silesia, East Pomerania, and Upper Silesia, temporarily halting on a line 60 kilometres east of Berlin along the Oder River. During the offensive, two Soviet fronts (army groups) attacked Berlin from the east and south, while a third overran German forces positioned north of Berlin. The Battle in Berlin lasted from 20 April 1945 until the morning of 2 May and was one of the bloodiest battles in history.
The first defensive preparations at the outskirts of Berlin were on 20 March, when the newly appointed commander of the Army Group Vistula, General Gotthard Heinrici, correctly anticipated that the main Soviet thrust would be made over the Oder River. Before the main battle in Berlin commenced, the Soviets managed to encircle the city as a result of the battles of the Seelow Heights and Halbe. During 20 April 1945, the 1st Belorussian Front led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov started shelling Berlin's city centre, while Marshal Ivan Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front had pushed in the north through the last formations of Army Group Centre. The German defences were mainly led by Helmuth Weidling and consisted of several depleted, badly equipped, and disorganised Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS divisions, as well as many Volkssturm and Hitler Youth members. Within the next days, the Soviets were rapidly advancing through the city and were reaching the city centre, conquering the Reichstag on 30 April after fierce fighting.
Before the battle was over, German Führer Adolf Hitler and a number of his followers committed suicide. The city's defenders finally surrendered on 2 May. However, fighting continued to the north-west, west and south-west of the city until the end of the war in Europe on 8 May (9 May in the Soviet Union) as German units fought westward so that they could surrender to the Western Allies rather than to the Soviets.
RULES FOR GERMAN PLAYERS:
the usual stuff but also;
no hordes of tanks, German armour was deployed like gold-dust in Berlin.
any armour will be singular and deployed ramdomly, and remember, fuel and ammuniton is scarce, so armour would be abandoned as soon as it ran out of either.
no groups of crack waffen-ss with high morale and pristine uniforms and weapons. the german defence was ragtag at best. keep it realistic.
RULES FOR SOVIET PLAYERS:
the usual stuff but also;
please don't field hordes of JS-IIs and T34/85's at every turn, remember the effectiveness of tanks is limited in street fighting.
REMEMBER: your characters are expendable, if your section dies you can spawn a new one! you can play as infantry, armour crew or AT gun crew or similar, but it's best to start off with a section of infantry.
GERMAN PLAYERS:
will command a section of 5-10 men. keep it random, you can be fanatical but badly trained Hitler youth, demoralised and conscript Volksturm and anything in between.
German players will start off in the ruined eastern suburbs of Berlin, your objective is either to try and escape to the west, where you can surrender to either the British or Americans and expect to be treated fairly, or you can dig in and hold the line, either believing that the Fuhrer will bring the miracle weapons or just trying to buy time for the refugees to escape west. remember that the odd fanatical groups that wander around will execute anybody who is 'deserting', even if the 'desertee' has signed permission to be going that way from a senior officer.
SOVIET PLAYERS:
will command a rifle squad of 10 men, most likely crack troops who fought at Stalingrad and who have been brought out of the reserve to use their street-fighting expertise.
victory is within your grasp! nothing can stop the armies of the motherland from crushing the fascist dogs under their boots!
you will start off in the ruined eastern suburbs of Berlin. your objective is to push west and wipe out the fascists once and for all! but remember, any deserters will be executed for betraying the motherland!
here's the character form:
SIDE: (either soviet or german)
UNIT: (compulsory for soviets, optional for germans)
NAME:
PERSONAL WEAPON: (soviets will be equipped with the usual, but germans could be equipped with anything from useless italian weapons with the wrong size ammuntion to captured PPSH-200 SMG's)
NAMES OF YOUR MEN:
here's a rough list of units that took part in the battle for berlin:
SOVIETS:
you can go for individual units if you want, but it would be a lot easier to just say which army group your unit was part of; either the 1st or 2nd belorussian front or the 1st ukrainian front.
GERMANS:
just think up any old unit, some aspect of it is bound to have taken part in the battle sooner or later. otherwise just say 'volksturm' or 'hitler youth'.
and that's pretty much everything!
my character profile will be up soon.
we'll start once we have enough players.
if anyone has any questions just mail me!
Starting on 16 January 1945, the Red Army breached the German front as a result of the Vistula–Oder Offensive and advanced westward as much as 40 kilometres a day, through East Prussia, Lower Silesia, East Pomerania, and Upper Silesia, temporarily halting on a line 60 kilometres east of Berlin along the Oder River. During the offensive, two Soviet fronts (army groups) attacked Berlin from the east and south, while a third overran German forces positioned north of Berlin. The Battle in Berlin lasted from 20 April 1945 until the morning of 2 May and was one of the bloodiest battles in history.
The first defensive preparations at the outskirts of Berlin were on 20 March, when the newly appointed commander of the Army Group Vistula, General Gotthard Heinrici, correctly anticipated that the main Soviet thrust would be made over the Oder River. Before the main battle in Berlin commenced, the Soviets managed to encircle the city as a result of the battles of the Seelow Heights and Halbe. During 20 April 1945, the 1st Belorussian Front led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov started shelling Berlin's city centre, while Marshal Ivan Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front had pushed in the north through the last formations of Army Group Centre. The German defences were mainly led by Helmuth Weidling and consisted of several depleted, badly equipped, and disorganised Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS divisions, as well as many Volkssturm and Hitler Youth members. Within the next days, the Soviets were rapidly advancing through the city and were reaching the city centre, conquering the Reichstag on 30 April after fierce fighting.
Before the battle was over, German Führer Adolf Hitler and a number of his followers committed suicide. The city's defenders finally surrendered on 2 May. However, fighting continued to the north-west, west and south-west of the city until the end of the war in Europe on 8 May (9 May in the Soviet Union) as German units fought westward so that they could surrender to the Western Allies rather than to the Soviets.
RULES FOR GERMAN PLAYERS:
the usual stuff but also;
no hordes of tanks, German armour was deployed like gold-dust in Berlin.
any armour will be singular and deployed ramdomly, and remember, fuel and ammuniton is scarce, so armour would be abandoned as soon as it ran out of either.
no groups of crack waffen-ss with high morale and pristine uniforms and weapons. the german defence was ragtag at best. keep it realistic.
RULES FOR SOVIET PLAYERS:
the usual stuff but also;
please don't field hordes of JS-IIs and T34/85's at every turn, remember the effectiveness of tanks is limited in street fighting.
REMEMBER: your characters are expendable, if your section dies you can spawn a new one! you can play as infantry, armour crew or AT gun crew or similar, but it's best to start off with a section of infantry.
GERMAN PLAYERS:
will command a section of 5-10 men. keep it random, you can be fanatical but badly trained Hitler youth, demoralised and conscript Volksturm and anything in between.
German players will start off in the ruined eastern suburbs of Berlin, your objective is either to try and escape to the west, where you can surrender to either the British or Americans and expect to be treated fairly, or you can dig in and hold the line, either believing that the Fuhrer will bring the miracle weapons or just trying to buy time for the refugees to escape west. remember that the odd fanatical groups that wander around will execute anybody who is 'deserting', even if the 'desertee' has signed permission to be going that way from a senior officer.
SOVIET PLAYERS:
will command a rifle squad of 10 men, most likely crack troops who fought at Stalingrad and who have been brought out of the reserve to use their street-fighting expertise.
victory is within your grasp! nothing can stop the armies of the motherland from crushing the fascist dogs under their boots!
you will start off in the ruined eastern suburbs of Berlin. your objective is to push west and wipe out the fascists once and for all! but remember, any deserters will be executed for betraying the motherland!
here's the character form:
SIDE: (either soviet or german)
UNIT: (compulsory for soviets, optional for germans)
NAME:
PERSONAL WEAPON: (soviets will be equipped with the usual, but germans could be equipped with anything from useless italian weapons with the wrong size ammuntion to captured PPSH-200 SMG's)
NAMES OF YOUR MEN:
here's a rough list of units that took part in the battle for berlin:
SOVIETS:
you can go for individual units if you want, but it would be a lot easier to just say which army group your unit was part of; either the 1st or 2nd belorussian front or the 1st ukrainian front.
GERMANS:
just think up any old unit, some aspect of it is bound to have taken part in the battle sooner or later. otherwise just say 'volksturm' or 'hitler youth'.
and that's pretty much everything!
my character profile will be up soon.
we'll start once we have enough players.
if anyone has any questions just mail me!