Ukraine '43 (2000)

On August 3rd, 1943, less than two weeks after the Kursk offensive, the Soviets launched a massive offensive near Kharkov that ripped open the German line. The ensuing battle began their summer offensive that would take them across the Ukraine to the Dnieper River.
During August the two sides were equally matched and a tremendous war of attrition raged from Kharkov to the Sea of Azov with neither side willing to give ground. In September, bled white by the never-ending Soviet attacks, the German army retreated in haste to the safety of the Dnieper River. In October, the battle raged along the length of the Dnieper and for the Perekop Peninsula, the only land exit to the German 17th Army in the Crimea. During this three month period German reinforcements poured in from every sector, but it was never enough. Three Soviet Tank Armies and four Soviet Fronts ground through nineteen panzer and panzergrenadier divisions. German and Soviet losses were staggering. Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine, fell on November 6th.

[1st edition]

• German Panzer Corps/Russian Tank Army capabilities
• Soviet massed artillery
• German tactical proficiency
• German Tiger tanks
• Soviet sappers
• air power
• differing capabilities for Marshal Zhukov and General Manstein
• Zone of Control Bonds

• 280 1/2" full-color counters
• One One 22x29" full-color mapsheet and one 5x29" full-color mapsheet which form a 26.75 x 29” map
• 32-page Rule Book
• 2 full-color 11x17 Player Aid Cards
• 1 8.5x11 Sequence of Play Card (w/ Historical Setup on the reverse side!)
• Three 6-sided dice

The 2nd Edition has been re-designed to play much faster using the system used in France '40 and Normandy '44. Players familiar with those games will find the new Ukraine '43 very easy to learn. All the components will be upgraded -- the counters will go from half-inch to 9/16 size, the map will be enlarged so the hexes can accommodate the larger counters, and each scenario will now come with a setup card to facilitate setting up the game.

• Larger units
• Larger hexes
• Additional Sturmgeschütz brigades and Tiger Tank battalions in the order of battle.
• All Panzer and Panzergrenadier divisions, Soviet Tank and Mechanized Corps now have a 3rd step (remnant unit).
• Simple, classic igo-ugo system.

• Russian Tank Army and Shock Army capabilities

• Soviet massed artillery

• German Tiger tanks
• 
air power
• differing capabilities for Marshal Zhukov and General Manstein
• Zone of Control Bonds

• 9/16" full-color counters (one and a half counter sheets)

• 28-page Rule Book

• 5 full-color Player Aid Cards
 (2 Combat result/Terrain effect chart, 3 At Start/Reinforcement cards)
• Two 6-sided dice

DESIGNER: Mark Simonitch
DEVELOPER: Tony Curtis
MAP ART: Mark Simonitch
COUNTER ART: Mark Simonitch

(source: GMT website and user's description)