Designer Notes: Budapest ‘45

Budapest ’45 is now the seventeenth

title in a Panzer Campaign Series that
began in 1999 with Smolensk 41.
While the series has grown, it has
been enhanced along the way, making
this series arguably the most versatile
and complete operational series of
games covering World War II in
Europe.

In the introduction of previous

Designer Notes I’ve frequently
explained how long ago work began
on various titles, to illustrate just how
long each one is in the making. Not so with Budapest, at least from a Panzer Campaigns
point of view. Through the summer of 2006, after Minsk ’44 mastered, my partner, Dave
Blackburn and I, along with various members of our playtest team, began working to
complete an old Panzer Campaign project that we had previously put on the back
burner. We thought that if we worked along at our own pace, we might perhaps finish in
time to release a new title before the end of the year.

However, toward the end of my vacation in August, Rich Hamilton, the HPS Tech
Support Rep who was helping to arrange the 2007 Tillercon, sent me a request from one
of the event organizers, Joe Wilkerson, who had an idea for Budapest ’45 as a Panzer
Campaign. This title had been mentioned a number of times on various forums and
always with interest from a good number of the Panzer Campaign fans. This was an
area of World War II I confess I didn’t know too much about, nor had I happened upon
any single book which seemed to bring together much of what I would normally use in
making a new Panzer Campaign title.

This is where Joe Wilkerson, and his previous historical research in this part of the war,
came to the forefront. I’ll let Joe tell you more about his research and base knowledge in
Hungary during the war, but this time we can put a time line on the project. This game
was previously researched for an earlier project that Joe had, but, from a Panzer
Campaign point-of-view it took six months to bring together.

As with any John Tiller project, there was no release date picked. Joe and I discussed in
general terms when I foresaw this title being completed and available to the public. In
those early days I still had my eyes on a late 2006 release of a different title for Panzer
Campaigns #17, certainly one for early in 2007, with Budapest a likely candidate for
release at the Tillercon game convention in Kansas City, May 2007. But, as with all
games in development, we let the game dictate the progress of our projects and we
followed the path of least resistance. The more we worked on Budapest, the more we
liked what we saw and, over time, Budapest became our main focus. So we shelved our
other project for another day and decided to finish Budapest now for the winter of 2007.

Now let me get back to how the game concept developed.

The starting point as always was:

a) “What part of the fighting around this sector did we feel offered the most
interesting scenarios for a Panzer Campaign?
b) How much Map did we need?
c) That in turn would lead us to the units we required in the order-of-battle?

Joe identified three distinct time periods covering the late war fighting around Budapest.
These were:

a) Prelude or Budapest Op – Oct-Dec 44 – The Soviet attack which closed on an

encircled Budapest , which, if we had used as the focus, would have made the
title Budapest ’44;
b) Operation Konrad – Jan 45 – the three German counterattacks to relieve the
surrounded garrison, and
c) Spring Awaking – Mar 45 – a late war rally and more feeble effort to do what
failed in January.

Using our Stalingrad Game as an analogy, I reasoned that for any one game we could
not possibly cover all aspects encompassed by the title. By this, I mean for Stalingrad
we could have attempted to cover any and all fighting from, 1) Operation Blau, through
2) the meat grinder as the Germans inched forward in the city, 3) the Soviet attack
known as Operation Uranus, and 4) the eventual reduction of the pocket that contained
the German 6th Army.

So, like our Stalingrad game, where we picked Uranus as the focus, we had to evaluate
the information we had on Budapest, and take the best piece for this game. That is,
where the most ground changes hands within a period that has a reasonable number of
turns for a Campaign that players would find playable given our scale of two hour turns.

Of the three periods of action we identified for Budapest, we picked KONRAD as the
primary area of focus. It was during this period the Germans had built up a counterattack
force, making three attempts to break through to Budapest and relieve the considerable
garrison, multi-corps, trapped there. This period we felt had the most interesting forces
engaged and was, in fact, covering the last operational German offensive of the Second
World War. And, unlike the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans have a real chance to
break through to their objective here.

The Soviets were fairly weak in the area west of Budapest, but still had some powerful
offensive units in the area and launched there own spoiling attack on the north side of
the Danube River, with the goal of reaching Komarno on the Danube. So Konrad even
had some attack possibilities for both sides, although not to the same extent as we
offered players in Kharkov ’42.

Like Stalingrad, which had some scenarios prior to the main event, we felt as a
secondary area, a few scenarios from the earlier period, Oct-Dec ’44, might offer an
alternative with the Soviets on the attack. Some of this period will take place on ground
that is not all on a white winter background. We hadn’t completely ruled out any Spring
Awakening scenarios from March of 1945 but, over time, we learned that this would
have required more OOB research which only really offered less mobile scenarios due to
the mud ground conditions. Also, by this time the Russians were much stronger, so the
Germans really didn’t have much hope of success.

In addition, given that historically the Konrad offensive began just two weeks after the
Battle of the Bulge where the Germans attack in the US Army in the Ardennes, we felt
there was some interesting potential if were speculated on the effect had the Germans
not launched this drive in the west and had instead diverted just one Panzer Corps to
Hungary, just what effect that would have had on the battle. Players interested in
exploring this with us should look at scenario #441231_04.

By very early September, we knew what the focus area would be, but we still hadn’t got
our minds around just how much map area we would eventually need for the pre Konrad
scenarios. So…. when in doubt we go bigger.

Normally, John Tiller provides the period source map for each project, but this time Joe
had access to the maps we needed through University of Kansas Map Library. So Joe
had the university scan the area for Konrad.

As is so often the case, the area of interest on any map you want to see does not end up
in the center of a single sheet. Nor could we be so lucky as to have only two pieces to
splice together. We ended up with the area of map we wanted centering on six larger
sheets. Joe had these sheets scanned by the university, and the TIFF image files came
in at 330 to 450 MB, enough to tax the memory and video card of my 3 GHz CPU with 1
GB of Ram and 128 MB of Video memory.

By adjusting the resolution, and cropping out the marginal information, we were able to
get the game source map image down to one file that was slightly larger than 200 MB,
making it by far the largest source map image we had ever used on a single Panzer
Campaign Map. Minsk previously held that title with a size of 99MB. We don’t count the
Alamein Map, even though it was 132MB, because so much of that source was
featureless terrain, so that size didn’t translate into time in creating the map.

Our map challenges didn’t end there. Always wanting to be sure we had enough map,
we added an additional slice of 18 kilometers to the north edge of the original source, but
the source was from a slightly different period and we had a difficult time knitting the
together.

Creating our game maps has been a labor of love for Blackie, and this project was to
offer a new twist. The most difficult step of all in making a Panzer Campaign Map is the
contouring, particularly in large
areas with varied relief when you
are dealing with 1 kilometer
hexes. However this time, our
1944 source map as shown
here, had no contour lines as
such. Rather it used an old style
“hash marker” to show the hills
and grade. We then used the
survey point elevations marked
on the map to gauge the actual
height of the various land forms.
While Blackie worked away at the map, Joe began recalling his previously researched
OOB information and began transforming it into Panzer Campaigns terms, where we
built the components we needed for various units and began assembling the ones we
needed for the game. As we had Hungarians in this game, we needed some new
vehicles, armored fighting vehicles such as Toldi’s, Nimrod’s, Zrinyi’s, and Turan’s.

We even included a unit of Hungarian Tiger tanks. These Tigers I am sure will be of
interest to gamers and were left over from fighting in July 1944. Their existence was
confirmed by Niehorster's books listed in the Sources section, and while we did not know
for certain if they saw combat in the Konrad battles, they were certainly available. So
they were included in the game OOB, with a low percentage chance of being including in
the some of the larger scenarios.

At this point I would like to introduce our partner Joe Wilkerson for his take on some of
the historical aspects of this period and let him give you his take on how Budapest ’45
became a game.

Budapest ’45 – the Historical Approach

By Joe Wilkerson

In 2000 I began researching the fighting in Hungary at the end of the war, with the
primary purpose of creating some Command Decision™ scenarios for the HMGS branch
in Kansas City. These scenarios were run in 2001 and 2002. The scenarios were all a
part of the historical operation known as KONRAD III. But even after the scenarios were
played, I continued to research the period as this seemed to be one of the “less well
beaten” areas. And it featured plenty of toys for both sides; several Tiger units for the
Germans and some JS-IIs and lots of Shermans for the Russians.

Due to my involvement with Tillercon II, I finally got the idea to try to do something in
Hungary for Panzer Campaigns and contacted Glenn and we went forward from that
point. Obviously the game is a much expanded scope and actually we have not by any
means exhausted all the possible scenarios that could be done during period that
fighting had occurred on this map. In particular, the “Spring Awakening” and “Vienna
Operation” scenario groups were on our list of possible scenarios, but the order-of-battle
for those would have required additional research.

It has been a thrill for me to see the game unfold. Blackie’s work on the map is probably
the high point for me. To see this map “come to life” is still exciting whenever I look at it.
And seeing the Germans “jump off” at the start of any one of the Konrad scenarios is
also a thrill. Trying to understand what was motivating these guys after five years of war
is something we can only speculate about.
This game is primarily about four different nations: The Germans, Russians, Hungarians,
and also some Romanians, who by this time had allied themselves with the Russians.
The three sources which were the primary inspiration for this effort: Peirik, Niehorster,
and Ungvary (as shown at the right), each represent the
book version of the respective author’s Ph.D. primary
research. All three are focused on the Hungarian point of
view. And all three (only one of which is Hungarian) bring
home the “tragedy” that Hungary suffered during World
War II.

Following World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire

(The Holy Roman Empire) was broken up. The
Hungarians were associated with the losers and
apportioned a share of the “blame” for World War I, and
hence “punished” by having some of their territory given
to “Czechoslovakia”, some to Romania, and smaller
amounts to Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. The treaty of
Trianon thus became the Hungarian equivalent of the
Treaty of Versailles to the Germans.

I have known and worked with a number of Hungarian people during my IT career and
those people did not at all strike me as being “militaristic” people. I recommend the
movie “Sunshine” for those who are interested in an introduction to the Hungarian
people. But the fact remains that Hungary, being freed from the shackles of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire, did seek to then be free of the Treaty of Trianon and become the
“true” Hungary that it saw as its destiny. Perhaps the politicians focused on this desire
even more than the people did.

Nevertheless; between the wars, Hungary attempted to build up its military technology
via a key relationship with Sweden. In particular tanks, AT guns, and AA guns, were built
by Sweden for Hungary, and then licensed and built in Hungary. An arms industry, more
or less scaled to the size of the country, built up around Budapest. In the later thirties,
Hungary aligned itself with Germany, with the hope that their former ally would assist
them in their claims against their neighbors.

In 1941, Hungarian armed forces were active against Yugoslavia and Russia. In both
cases Hungarian forces, particularly the mobile forces, the cavalry, the light armor and
motorized troops were quite effective. However, despite their effectiveness in Russia,
the Hungarian forces suffered heavy losses and were withdrawn from the Russian
theater by the end of 1941. Hungary fielded an entirely new army in 1942 and focused
on building an even larger army at home in Hungary. This larger, “home” Army had the
purpose of general increased preparations to fight against the Russians, but also the
purpose of preparing contingency forces against Romania, an enemy considered to be
of a greater direct threat to Hungary than Russia.

In early 1943, the cream of the Hungarian forces in Russia was destroyed as a part of
the Stalingrad offensives. Thereafter only security forces, or small divisional sized units,
fought in Russia. Meanwhile, back in Hungary, the main army continued to build up and
train.
During the spring/summer of 1944, Russian offensives on the Eastern frontier of
Hungary and Romania brought the main Hungarian Army to battle. By the end of the
summer of 1944, the Romanians had been defeated and had switched sides. Also, by
this time, the two Hungarian armored divisions, though having fought well considering
their relatively poor equipment, had been worn down considerably.

During the fall of 1944, both the Romanians and Bulgarians had switched sides and
were attacking the southern approaches to Hungary in conjunction with Russian forces.
The German, and German Allied, forces in Yugoslavia were now having to face real
combat forces to their East. Note, while some of the forces which fought in Yugoslavia,
enter our map area along extreme southern edge, for the most part, our game is not
about the fighting in Yugoslavia.

By the middle of October 1944, the leader of Hungary, Admiral Horthy, determined that
for Hungary, greater death and destruction would result from continuing the war on the
side of Germany than from switching sides/dropping out. Hence, he began to proceed to
execute a peace with the Russians. The Germans anticipated this move and took steps
to prevent it. By employing some special forces, including Otto Skorzeny and some SS
Para units, the Germans succeeded in capturing Horthy, and switching the political
power in Hungary to Szalasi and the Arrow Cross, the Hungarian fascist party. Our
game begins about a week and a half after this “counter-coup”.

In general, the Hungarian people seem to have been very naïve about what was
happening. University students had no issue with fighting the Russians, though some
students commented that the training camps they were sent to in Hungary seemed a bit
disorganized. Militia and Para military units were organized in Budapest and, in a
number of cases, fought more effectively than regular units. The regular units had been
demoralized by fighting against the Russians and by the German heavy handedness in
replacing Horthy with Szalasi. The militia and para-military units did not have this
“baggage”.

The civilians in Budapest seem to have been in denial. While the Russian units
surrounded their city in November and December 1944, they continued with life as usual
in the city. Not until the city was surrounded, in late December, did they seem to realize
that things were changing. An estimated 800,000 civilians died during the siege.

The Hungarian military units continued to fight for Germany until the very end. They can
say they remained faithful to the end. Perhaps they were faithful to their own lives, and
the lives of the German solders near them who helped them live, more so than to the
regime in Berlin.

But the “tragedy” of Hungary is that the small country was caught between two “super
powers” who would’ve chewed it up regardless of its decisions. The tragedy was that the
small Army fought as well as it could, given its limitations of training and equipment. The
tragedy was that the Hungarian people, near the end of the war, were caught in a vicious
cross-fire between the two opposing armies at a time when the compassion for civilians,
on the part of soldiers, was perhaps at its perigee. And the final tragedy was that, in the
summer of 1944, the strength of the “Arrow Cross” was sufficient to allow Eichmann to
come to Hungary and remove a major portion of the Jewish population, a population
which had been in place for many centuries, a population which had been protected
since the start of the war by both Hungarian and German decrees, due to the support
given to the war effort by the Hungarian Jews. The Hungarian Jews even ran the details
of their own deportation operation because their own leaders so ordered it.

Ok, enough Hungarian tragedy, but as a historian I am required to “be true to my

sources”, and their message is that there was this “Hungarian Tragedy” which we should
learn about.

Back to the game.

We are presenting scenario groups from Prelude and Konrad. We are not including
Spring-Awakening/Operation Vienna”.

Prelude represents the Russian attempt to take Budapest by Coup-De-Main. This

attempt was ordered directly by Stalin over the objection of Malinovsky, the front
commander. In the event, despite a rapid advance into the southeastern outskirts of
Budapest, the attempt failed, due to massive Axis reinforcements reaching the front near
Budapest, and the supply difficulties on the part of the Russians. We hope we’ve
represented these aspects in the game.

The Konrad scenario group represents both the siege of Budapest and the three
attempts to relive the siege. The IV.SS.PzK, 3rd and 5th SS Panzer Divisions, was the
spearhead of all three of the Konrad operations. The German contingent within the
Budapest pocket was based upon the IX.SS.Gebs.K, consisting of the 8th and 22nd SS
Cavalry divisions. Some accounts indicate that members of the IV.SS.Pz.K had friends
in the pocket in the IX.SS.Gebs.K, and that this motivated them to try to get their friends
out of trouble. In the event, the second operation Konrad II, though it was the smallest of
the three attempts, probably came to closest to rescuing the surrounded troops. This
effort was stopped by Hitler’s direct order. The survivors to a man believe, or did until
their recent deaths, that they could’ve broken through if not stopped by this order. The
argument that the Russian 5th Guards Cavalry Corps would’ve stopped them not being
completely convincing. But nevertheless they were stopped and switched to the south
for the third attempt, known as Konrad III.

The Scenarios
As with previous games in the series, we’ve continued the scenario files names
convention, where the filenames begins with a # symbol followed by a number. The
numbers represent a date and scenario number, using the format mmdd_xx, where the
xx portion represents the scenario number on that particular day. The introductory, or
Getting Started.scn, is numbered #00 so as to appear at the top of the list of scenarios.
For this title we’ve included an additional #01 Started scenario as we felt all players had
best be familiar with aspects of crossing major rivers such as using “Has Boats”
Engineer units to ferry foot units over the river to create a bridgehead and then building a
pontoon bridges which take longer to build than the standard hexside river bridges to
feed heavier units like tanks, to the other side.

When we test these games we play almost exclusively against the AI, but most of the
testers are avid Play-by-Email fans. They could see where most scenarios were best
duplicated, with a second copy of the scenario optimized specifically for Head-to-Head
(HTH) Play. These scenarios are designation with an "a" after the number. Budapest
offered a few situations where the AI had enough local superiority as to offer a Human
defender enough of a challenge and in these scenarios we’ve used a “b” designation.

Both “a” and “b” designated scenarios have a “Designer Note” at the end of the overview
indicating how the scenario is best played. There is also a note on the Title line of the
scenario. The setup will normally be very similar. The differences are in the intangible
design issues, such as Victory Levels, Supply Levels, and strength of the fortifications.
Players also have an advantage slider that they can use to give one side or the other an
edge in combat, but experience shows that this has been rarely used in previous games.

And so without further adieu, below follows the list of scenarios in the game, followed by
the overviews, for those who like to look them over. Finally the references used are at
the end of the Notes.

Enjoy the game guys! A bunch of rather dedicated testers have worked long and hard to
bring it to you and offer you the very best in challenges, be it Head-to-head or in AI Play.
Still, in spite of our Quality Control, no game is ever perfect when it first ships, so if you
have any question, or feel there is an error in something in the game, please send the
information to HPS Support at:

“support@hpssims.com”

…and be sure to include with your comments a game file, (with password if a PBEM
Games), and the hex ID from the lower left corner of the map. If possible please include
a battle file before, and after, is even better. We are committed to giving you the very
best support in the industry, but if sure will help us zero in on your issue when you give
us all information we need to understand the issue fully.

Thanks Guys and Good Gaming.

The Scenario List

#00_Started.scn 00: Getting Started - The Basics

#01_Started.scn
#441029_01_Prelude.scn
#441031_01_Kecskemet.scn
#441031_01a_Kecskemet.scn
#441031_01b_Kecskemet.scn
#441103_01_Cegled.scn
#441103_01a_Cegled.scn
01: Getting Started – Major River Crossings 101
441029_01: Prelude - The Drive to Budapest
441031_01: Counter Punch
441031_01a: Counter Punch - [HTH]
441031_01b: Counter Punch - [AI Russian Attacker]
441103_01: Sweep round Cegled
441103_01a: Sweep round Cegled - [HTH]

#441231_01_Konrad.scn 441231_01: Konrad Campaign

#441231_01a_Konrad.scn 441231_01a: Konrad Campaign - [HTH]

#441231_02_Konrad_I.scn 441231_02: Konrad I - The Reich Strikes Back!

#441231_02a_Konrad_I.scn
#441231_03_Konrad_I_Alt_1.scn
#441231_03a_Konrad_I_Alt_1.scn
#441231_04_Konrad_I_Alt_2.scn
#441231_04a_Konrad_I_Alt_2.scn
#441231_04b_Konrad_I_Alt_2.scn
441231_02a: Konrad I - The Reich Strikes Back! - [HTH]
441231_03: Konrad I - ALT #1 - IV Panzer Korps Ready!
441231_03a: Konrad I - ALT #1 - IV Panzer Korps Ready! - [HTH]
441231_04: Konrad I - ALT #2 - What If no Bulge '44!
441231_04a: Konrad I - ALT #2 - What If no Bulge '44! - [HTH]
441231_04b: Konrad I - ALT #2 - What If no Bulge '44! - [AI Axis]
#441231_05_Esztergom.scn
#441231_06_Tata.scn
#441231_06a_Tata.scn
#450103_01_Budapest_Siege.scn
#450106_01_Komarno.scn
#450106_01a_Komarno.scn
#450106_01b_Komarno.scn
#450107_01_Mor.scn
#450107_02_Szekesfehrvar.scn
#450110_01_Konrad_II.scn
#450110_01a_Konrad_II.scn
#450112_01_Paula.scn
#450118_01_Konrad_III.scn
#450118_01a_Konrad_III.scn
441231_05: Night Crossing at Esztergom
441231_06: The First Punch at Tata
441231_06a: The First Punch at Tata - [HTH]
450103_01: Siege of Budapest
450106_01: Counter Stroke to Komarno
450106_01a: Counter Stroke to Komarno - [HTH]
450106_01b: Counter Stroke to Komarno - [AI Russian Attacker]
450107_01: Diversion at Mor
450107_02: A Stronger More Unwilling Ally
450110_01: Konrad_II - Relief of Budapest!
450110_01a: Konrad_II - Relief of Budapest!
450112_01: Paula Breakout [What If]
450118_01: Konrad_III - Third Time Lucky?
450118_01a: Konrad_III - Third Time Lucky? - [HTH]

The Scenario Overviews

00: Getting Started - The Basics

Paks, 100km S of Budapest, Nov 25th 1944: The Soviet onslaught was pushing steadily
northwards towards Budapest. Bridges over the Danube were much sought after, and
the one at Paks was no exception. The Hungarian 23rd Infantry Division was making a
fighting withdrawal towards the bridge and preparing to blow it. Hot on its heels was the
4th Guards Rifle Division with a little help from the 7th Mechanized Corps. [Size, small]
Designer Note: This is the Started_00 scenario and is the precursor to Started_01, which
should be played after playing this one. It should be played Human Russian v. German
AI with Fog-of-War ON.

01: Getting Started – Major River Crossings 101

Paks, 100km S of Budapest, Dec 1st 1944: There were many bloody attempts made to
cross the freezing waters of the Danube in 1944. As darkness settled on the wintry
landscape, there was feverish activity on the east bank of the river. Soviet bridging
engineers were making ready their pontoons, alongside them sapper battalions were
dragging their boats in preparation for the assault troops' crossing. On the west side an
eerie quiet settled as the mist rose. The German and Hungarian defenders had settled
into their trenches and shacks, hoping to spend a peaceful night. The first boats plunged
into the water and the Christmas card like scene disappeared in the crash of the guns.
[Size, small] Designer Note: This is a "What If" scenario, designed to be played as
Soviet human vs. Axis AI. Players should read the river crossing information in the
USER PDF under The Basics | Engineers in the sections on Pontoon Bridges and Water
Hex Ferrying.

441029_01: Prelude - The Drive to Budapest

Central Hungary, October 29th 1944: The first Russian attempt to capture Budapest by
storm began in late October, when Stalin ordered the Commander of the 2nd Ukrainian
Front, Malinovsky, to capture Budapest in five days. Malinovsky replied that he could do
the job but needed five days to prepare. Stalin ordered him to proceed immediately!
Thus, on the morning of October 29th, prior to all necessary preparations being
completed, the attack began. Initially successful, once the outskirts of Budapest were
reached, the attack bogged down, due to supply shortages and Axis counterattacks.
Another way in, to capture Budapest, would have to be found. [Size: large] Designer
Note: This scenario has been optimized for Soviet Human vs. Axis AI.

441031_01: Counter Punch

441031_01a: Counter Punch - [HTH]
441031_01b: Counter Punch - [AI Russian Attacker]

Near Kecskemet, 80km SW of Budapest, October 31st 1944: The 4th Gds Mech Bde had
pushed through a hole in the Axis lines with little loss. Now they had a good road out
through Kecskemet towards Budapest. They had been told to press on hard, as there
were few units, except beaten and disorganized troops, between them and the capital.
Unknown to them the Axis had scrambled together a small armored Kampfgruppe, with
units from 24 Pz Div and remnants of the Hungarian armor. Their task was to hit the
Soviet spearhead and block the road to Budapest. [Size, small] Designer Note: This
scenario has been optimized for Soviet Human vs. Axis AI.

_01a: Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for HTH play.
_01b: Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for Human German Defender
with the Russian AI on the attack. The German Player is SIDE 2.

441103_01: Sweep round Cegled

441103_01a: Sweep round Cegled - [HTH]

Near Cegled, 60km SE of Budapest, November 3rd 1944: The Soviet 2nd Mech had
paused for a day to regroup after the Axis armor had mauled them. Since then, with the
help of 27 Gds Rifle Corps, they had steadily pressed the stubborn Axis defense back.
SE of the capital, near Cegled, the line stretched along the Ujbrok stream and Gerje
river, but the Soviets had paid a high price to get that far and were stretched pretty thinly
along the stream. A 23rd Pz Division KG, primarily armor, were to attack across the
stream to the south west, to cut off Soviet units further north and restore a more stable
line. [Size, small] Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for Axis Human vs.
Soviet
AI.

_01a: Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for HTH play.

441231_01: Konrad Campaign

441231_01a: Konrad Campaign - [HTH]

Budapest, Hungary, December 31st 1944: The Hungarian capital city was encircled on
26 Dec 1944. Hitler order 4.SS.Pz.K to relocate from Poland to Hungary. By the evening
of 31 Dec 44, the leading elements had detrained and a decision was made to launch an
immediate attack. The goal of the SS troopers was to rescue their besieged SS brethren
in Budapest. Hitler's goal on the other hand, was to re-establish the status-quo. Shades
of Stalingrad all over again! [Size, very large] Designer Note: This scenario has been
optimized for Axis Human vs. Soviet AI.

_01a Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for HTH play.

441231_02: Konrad I - The Reich Strikes Back!

441231_02a: Konrad I - The Reich Strikes Back! - [HTH]
70Km west of Budapest along the Danube River, December 31st 1944: As the final year
of the war dawned, the IV SS Panzer Korps launched the opening phases of what would
really be the last German offensive of the war. Even though all the forces had not yet
arrived at the start line, a surprise attack was launched in two sectors - one with
available mobile forces in the Tata region and a second where two river crossings on the
Danube had been established by the 96.ID and the Hungarian Szent-Laszlo Division.
Both sides hastily moved more troops into the region each trying to out trump the other.
In the end, after a week of fighting the Germans had to re-think their approach and find a
new pressure point to continue the drive to the encircled troops in Budapest. [Size, large]
Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for Axis Human vs. Soviet AI.

_02a: Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for HTH play.

441231_03: Konrad I - ALT #1 - IV Panzer Korps Ready!

441231_03a: Konrad I - ALT #1 - IV Panzer Korps Ready! - [HTH]

70Km west of Budapest along the Danube River, December 31st 1944: The original
Konrad I attack was launched without either of the two primary SS Pz Divisions at full
strength. SS Totenkopf hardly had a full PzG Regiment at the start line and SS Wiking
was missing over 50 Panzer including a large number of Panther tanks that were
enroute by rail. These units arrived in bits and pieces over the first days of the battle with
the 711. VG Division making its way to the front on 2 January. By that time the Soviets
were already reacting to the attack and one can only wonder WHAT IF events had of
conspired to make these three divisions fully available at the start line when the attack
began. Would the Germans have had enough power to make the first strike for Budapest
the only one they would need? [Size, large] Designer Note: This scenario has been
optimized for Axis Human vs. Soviet AI.

_03a: Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for HTH play.

441231_04: Konrad I - ALT #2 - What If no Bulge '44!

441231_04a: Konrad I - ALT #2 - What If no Bulge '44! - [HTH]
441231_04b: Konrad I - ALT #2 - What If no Bulge '44! - [AI Axis]

70Km west of Budapest along the Danube River, December 31st 1944: The Battle of the
Bulge is often referred to as the Germans last offensive in terms of operational warfare.
Not so really as we have explored in this game and in the preceding Konrad series of
scenarios. Being wargamers, many of us like to speculate on logical and plausible
alternative situations. In this scenario we are assuming that Hitler was convinced by his
generals to not throw away his remaining panzer reserves on a futile attack on the west
front. Rather to use most of them to hold where he could while he launched another
drive at the Russians. An attack in a sector they were not especially strong in and yet
one that threatened not only Budapest but also Vienna. WHAT IF the Germans had not
launched the Bulge and sent just one Korps, all be it the powerful 1.SS Pz Korps to the
East Front complete with some paratroopers from KG v.d.Heydte, the Einheit Steilau
deception troops to sew doubt in the Russian rear areas, and even a few Captured T-
34s in the 150.Pz Bde. [Size, large] Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for
Axis Human vs. Soviet AI.

_04a: Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for HTH play.
_04b: This scenario has been optimized for Human Russian Defender with the German
AI on the attack. The Russian Player is SIDE 2.

441231_05: Night Crossing at Esztergom

15Km west of Esztergom along the Danube River, January 1st 1945: While the IV SS
Panzer Korps launched its surprise attack on the Soviet front lines at Tata, two Axis
divisions, the 96.ID and the Hungarian Szent-Laszlo Division established two
bridgeheads behind the Russian lines after forcing the Danube River first using assault
boats. [Size, small] Designer Notes - players are encouraged to review the Engineer
section of the User Guide concerning Pontoon Bridges and Full Hex Ferrying and begin
their efforts to cross on the first turn of the game.

441231_06: The First Punch at Tata

441231_06a: The First Punch at Tata - [HTH]

70Km west of Budapest along the Danube River, January 1st 1945: While the 96.ID and
the Hungarian Szent-Laszlo Division established two bridgeheads behind the Russian
lines, the IV SS Panzer Korps launched its surprise attack on the Soviet front lines at
Tata even though all the forces destined to take part in the attack were still in route by
rail. Units of Hungarian SS Ney Group were deployed for the first time along with SS
Wiking and Totenkopf. The attack pushed through the rough ground known as the
Gerecse Hills but was brought to a halt a week later by the Russians near the towns of
Bicske and Zsambek, forcing the Germans to rethink their axis of operation in the effort
to relieve Budapest. [Size, small] Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for
Axis Human vs. Soviet AI.

_06a: Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for HTH play.

450103_01: Siege of Budapest

Budapest, 3 Jan 1945: The city of Budapest was encircled on 26 Dec 1944. Like
Stalingrad, Hitler ordered the city to hold at all cost as several relief attempts were
hastily thrown together. But for the defenders, the noose tightened. The siege of
Budapest was a long a bloody affiar where the ground was measured in metres, not
Kilometers.[Size, medium] Designer Note: This scenario is a historical setup which
shows a desperate slugfest for Budapest. The fighting could have continued weeks
longer and eventually result in the same outcome. The scale of the Panzer Campaign
series was never designed to model street-fighting such as this, yet we feel it is
necessary to include this scenario to illustrate the full story of the fighting in Hungary in
the early part of the last year of the war.

450106_01: Counter Stroke to Komarno

450106_01a: Counter Stroke to Komarno - [HTH]
450106_01b: Counter Stroke to Komarno - [AI Russian Attacker]

Komarno, January 6th 1945: Just as the Konrad I offensive was beginning to wind down
and stall, the Russians launched their own attack aimed at taking the stream out of
further German attack plans. The blow was landed along the north bank on the Danube
River by the 6th Guards Tank Army and was aimed at the critical river crossing at
Komarno. The Germans were driven back 40 km and were forced to divert the 8. and
20.Panzer divisions to help stem the tide. In the final result, the heavily fortified city of
Komarno held and the Soviet attack failed to halt the continuation of the Budapest relief
effort. [Size, small] Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for Human Russian
Attacker with the German AI on the defense - but in this instance the Human Russian
Player is SIDE 2.

_01a: Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for HTH play.
_01b: Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for Human German Defender
with the Russian AI on the attack but in this instance the German Player is SIDE 1. The
Russian AI attacker will play SIDE #2.

450107_01: Diversion at Mor

Mor, 70Km west of Budapest, January 7th 1945: The original plan for Konrad included
the idea of attacking farther Sout, in the area between Lakes Balaton and Velence.
Finally, on 7 Jan 1945, the Axis forces in the area were ready. This attack was in support
of the main Konrad II attack in the Danube bend, but in the event was mostly a separate
event. Though unsuccessful, this attack did cripple the 7MC, which was never employed
in combat again. The final Konrad operation involved moving the main forces to this area
for yet another attempt! [Size, medium]

450107_02: A Stronger More Unwilling Ally

Szekesfehrvar, 70Km west of Budapest, January 7th 1945: Something about Hungary
the unwilling alley at this point in the war making an effort to help with the drive on
Budapest in the early phase of Konrad II. It was a poor showing and the Hungarian
performance earned them a quiet place in the line to the north later in the battle. We can
only speculate how far they may have gotten with a more spirited drive. [Size, small]
Designer Note: Under test the Hungarians proved they were no match for the Russians
in this sector. So, in the interest of highlighting their participation we've enhanced their
strength in this scenario to see how a stronger more willing ally may have faired.

450110_01: Konrad_II - Relief of Budapest!

Pilisszentkereszt, 15km NW of Budapest, January 10th 1945: By the end of the first
week in January, it was clear that the Konrad attack was bogging down around Bicske.
Hence 4.SS.Pz.K. proposed to shift the focus of the attack farther east where the 711VG
had captured Gran and attempt to drive towards Budapest from that point. Both sides
were worn out, but in fact this attack actually came the closest to really reaching
Budapest and might have done so, if not stopped by Hitler's orders. [Size, small]
Designer Note: This scenario has been compressed when compared to the historical
time covered in this phase of the battle.

_01a: Designer Note: This scenario has been compressed when compared to the
historical time covered in this phase of the battle. Further, it has been optimized for HTH
play.

450112_01: Paula Breakout [What If]

Near Lake Balaton, SW of Budapest, Jan 12th 1945: There were two operations to
relieve Budapest, Konrad, and the lesser known Paula. Guderian initially favored Paula,
an attack from the area of Lake Balaton to the NE by the IV SS Pz Korps and other
armored units. There were two problems with this plan, firstly, the time it would take to
regroup the units into the attacking formation, and secondly, the extra amounts of fuel
required. Therefore the High Command decided to accept the Konrad operation. "What
If" Paula had been employed instead. Certainly it would have given the Soviets a little
more time to recover, reorganize, and add to their defenses, while still continuing with
the siege, but it would have given the Axis a much more powerful force to rescue their
comrades in Budapest. From all the facts available, it would also seem that with their
superior numbers, the Soviets would be able to absorb the assault, and then attack from
both north and south as they did in Konrad III. [Size, large] Designer Note: This is a
hypothetical scenario designed to be played as Axis human vs. Soviet AI.

450118_01: Konrad_III - Third Time Lucky?

450118_01a: Konrad_III - Third Time Lucky? - [HTH]

Szekesfehervar, 60km SW of Budapest, January 18th 1945: By the 12th of January, the
refocused German attack that was to become known as Konrad II had ground to a halt
and the SS Troops had been ordered to withdraw. By the 14th, the Soviets had
reoccupied Dobogoko and Pilisszentkereszt. The offensive it seemed had ground to a
halt. But the Germans were not done yet. Under the utmost secrecy they redeployed
held the line, they redeployed IV SS Panzer Korps to the south in the Szekesfehervar
sector, just north of Lake Balaton. Here they combined with King Tiger Tanks of the
s.Pz.Abt.509 to spearhead the final drive to rescue the encirclement at Budapest. [Size,
large]

_01a: Designer Note: This scenario has been optimized for HTH play.

Sources:
Our three primary inspirations were:

(1) Niehorster, L. W. G., The Royal Hungarian Army 1920-1945: Volume I, Axis Europa
Books: Bayside, NY, 1998.

(2) Pierik, Perry, Hungary 1944-1945: The Forgotten Tragedy, Aspekt: Nieuwegen,
1998.

(3) Ungvary, Kristian, trans. Ladislaus Lob, The Siege of Budapest: 100 Day in World
War II, Yale University Press: New Haven, 2005.

The primary map source was:

1:300000, Ubersichtskarte von Mitteleuropa, 1936-7 call number 60300, Sheets P47-49,
Q47-49, University of Kansas Map Library.

The full source list for Order of Battle, TO&E and daily location information would run
well over 100 items. The most important, are as follows:

Madeja, W. V., Russo-German War: Kampf Lage – Ost Front: Autumn 1944 – 25
January 1945, Valor Publishing, Allentown, PA, 1987.
Nafziger, George F., German Order of Battle: World War II, Volumes I-VII, privately
published, 1994.

Sharp, Charles, C., Soviet Order of Battle: World War II, Volumes I-XI, privately
published, 1995.

Additionally many unit histories, biographies and secondary works were consulted, of
particular value were the German situation maps for the Konrad offensives contained
within the following work:

Ullrich, Karl, Wie ein Fels im Meer, Volumes I-II, National Europa Verlag GmbH: Coburg,
1999.