Hube's Pocket (1995)

Hube's Pocket - The Battles for Western Ukraine, January to April 1944, is the fourth game in the Operational Combat Series from The Gamers and depicts the campaign in the Western Ukraine from January to April, 1944. It pits Manstein’s Army Group South against the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts in three encirclement battles—Kirovograd, Korsun, and Kamenets-Podoliskiy. Both sides confront difficult strategic and tactical problems. The still potent German army holds a vulnerable position. Poor logistics hampers the maturing Red Army.

However, the game attempts to portray the logistical weakness of the Red Army at this time in the war, and make it a challenge for the Soviet player to keep the Germans encircled or even just on the run. The game also attempts to portray Hitler's "no retreat" mandate (via the victory conditions), and thus limit the German player's ability to conduct a mobile defense.

Contains "series rules" shared by every game in the series and game-specific rules unique to itself.

OCS games emphasize supply management and mobility as primary aspects of operational combat (i.e. at the unit scale of battalion/regiment/division) in WWII.

Game Scale:
Turn: 1/2 week
Hex: 5 miles / 8 Km
Units: Battalion to Division

Game Inventory:
Two 22 x 34" full-color mapsheets
Six dual-side printed countersheets (4 combat, 2 markers - 1,540 1/2" counters)
One 40-page OCS version 2.0i rules booklet
One 24-page Hube's Pocket specific rules booklet
Two 4-sided OCS v2.0i Charts & Tables booklets
Two 6-sided dice

Complexity: High
Solitaire Suitability: High
Players: 1 or more
Playing Time: 10-100 Hours