Comments on: Wargaming in the Classroom: An Odyssey

By: Dan Kurt

Dan Kurt — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 21:46:51 +0000

If I remember correctly, there is an entire chapter in Hitler’s Panzers East on the sufficient Logistics Capability of the Germans. One point I remember was that the Todt Organization had enough prefabricated double line railroad track to reach well beyond Moscow.

The entire plan was to effect a rapid war of maneuver and to reach as far a Gorky and then to fight a Reverse Front War. Read the book as I don’t think you will be disappointed.

By the way, Stolfi had a bachelor degree in engineering before he obtained his Stanford Ph.D. in History. He writes like an engineer: clear, sparse text that is organized and readable. Stolfi also read and spoke German (his mother was German) and had access to the archives of the Wehrmacht captured by the Americans and stored in the USA.

By: Slovenian Guest

Slovenian Guest — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 19:40:33 +0000

And Hitler’s Panzers East can be read online here, that’s a legit Russian history site as far i can tell.

The conventional wisdom on World War II in Europe sees little prospect of the Germans Winning in 1939-1940 and virtually none after the attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941. In his book, Hitler’s
Panzers East: World War II Reinterpreted, Russel Stolfi advances the thesis that in June 1941 the
Germans had the physical capabilities at the right time and place to win the Second World War. Stolfi
states the German invasion of the Soviet Union, operation name Barbarossa, whether successful or
unsuccessful had the tactical, operational, and strategic qualities that make it the hinge of fate in
World War II. He claims the Germans had the fundamental physical strength to defeat the Red Army
and seize the Moscow-Gorki area, and yet, they neither took Moscow nor won the campaign. At the
time, the Soviets had no control over their own destiny. They fought hard but ineffectually against
German armies that advanced relentlessly through their defense. Under such circumstances, Stolfi
believes Germany must have failed for some reason, some outlandish misjudgment, or aberration
demanding a fundamental reevaluation of World War II.

…

If Germany had defeated the Soviet Union in 1941 and conquered all of Europe, the political and socio-economic dynamic might have been different in Europe. The political and social consequences of this outcome would have been tremendous. Liberal democracy would undoubtedly have been suffocated. Marxian socialism would probably have been made extinct. This book highlights the burden of command and the impact of various solutions in the prosecution of war.

World War II Reinterpreted offers the student of Readings in Military Leadership a unique perspective on the question of whether the man shapes the times or whether the times shape the man.

That summary is from this pdf review of the book. It goes even further inside, chapter by chapter reviewed!

By: Scipio Americanus

Scipio Americanus — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 19:26:38 +0000

I thank you, SG, but I’m not sure my wife does…

By: Slovenian Guest

Slovenian Guest — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 18:59:26 +0000

It's your lucky day Scipio, the mentioned book is surprisingly in the public domain, and can be downloaded, free of charge, from the Internet Archive here: A bias for action: the German 7th Panzer Division in France & Russia 1940-1941 Thank you library of the Marine Corps!

By: Scipio Americanus

Scipio Americanus — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 18:15:02 +0000

I’ll have to give that a read, Dan. My understanding was that by the time they got near Moscow, the German armies couldn’t be sufficiently supplied by the crappy Russian logistics network to allow further offensive action. That plus stiffening Russian resistance led to stalemate.

By: Dan Kurt

Dan Kurt — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 18:07:42 +0000

Prior to my and my wife's moving I packed away my library, and in it is a book, Hitler's Panzers East by R.A. Stolfi. In the book, if my memory serves me right, Stolfi wrote that the attack by the Germans on the Soviet Union in 1941 had been war gamed extensively to come up with the actual plan. The head of the planning was General Erich Marcks. It was gamed over ten times, perhaps as many as fourteen in succession. The Germans lost circa the first 9 or so times. Then there were a few draws. Then the Germans won with increasing efficiency the next 3 or 4 times, at which time they had a plan. The plan was for four armies to simultaneously attack: one north toward Leningrad, one south through southern Ukraine, and two central toward Moscow. Of course Hitler stopped the Southern attack. Then at the end of July, when the two central armies were set to attack toward Moscow, Hitler instead had the Ukraine attacked, delaying the thrust to Moscow. General Winter eventually stopped the Germans. The Stolfi book is quite compelling in that the plan would have won the war for the Germans by September, 1941. Stolfi wrote that Hitler also screwed up the Northern Army's attack by stopping it after the Bridge at Dvinsk (now Daugavpils) was captured intact. Google Stolfi's A Bias for Action: The German 7th Panzer Division in France & Russia 1940-1941.

By: Slovenian Guest

Slovenian Guest — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 20:26:22 +0000

Here is a two hour YouTube video introducing this board game... With 11,519 views it's actually the most watched video on that channel!