The Third Winter: The Battle for the Ukraine September 1943-April 1944

Operational Combat Series (OCS) games simulate campaign-level combat from 1900 to the mid-1950s. The series goal is to allow a sophisticated study of historical events while maintaining mechanical simplicity. Every facet of modern combat is modeled. 

The Third Winter covers the critical campaigns in the Ukraine during the period September 1943 - April 1944. This massive series of battles involved 75% of the Soviet and 85% of the German armored and mechanized forces, nearly 60 mobile divisions. The campaign proved to be the bloodiest in the war to date and The Third Winter covers the major engagements: the battle for Kiev, the winter counterstroke of Manstein's "fire brigades", the tank battles at Kirovograd, the Korsun-Cherkassy pocket, the 1st Panzer Army’s "moving pocket" battle (Hube's Pocket), the fortress battles around Tarnopol in the spring of 1944, the baptism of fire for II SS Panzer Corps and the slugfest in Romania. The spring mud season brought the campaign to an end, by which time both armies were exhausted. The Red Army would quickly recover, the Wehrmacht could not.

The game area covers parts of Southern Russia, much of the Ukraine, southeastern Poland, and eastern Romania. The game begins with the Germans in full retreat to the Dnepr in late September 1943. By the campaign’s end in late April 1944, four Axis armies will have faced four Soviet fronts in a titanic struggle. Several scenarios supplement the main campaign, as the German army fights its "Third Winter" in Russia.

The Soviet command and supply structure is modeled through Front HQ markers. Fronts are either in "Offensive" or "Regrouping" status, allowing for shifting axes of attack and the on/off nature of Soviet operational warfare during this time. Each Front has an assigned Air Force. Tank and Mechanized Corps rebuilding takes place off-map, allowing for rapid strategic force shifts. The Axis player has operational flexibility, but must battle multiple challenging situations.

Scenarios List:
The Dnepr Battles (Campaign Game Start, 4 maps, 63 turns), 26 Sept 1943 to 26 April 1944.
Die Götterdämmerung, (January Campaign Start, 4 maps, 27 turns), 26 Jan 44 to 26 April 44.
Red Thunder (April Campaign Start, 2 maps, 6 turns), 8 Apr 44 to 26 April 44.
Manstein’s Fire Brigades (1 map, 9 turns), 26 Dec 43 to 22 Jan 44.
II SS Panzer Corps Strikes Back (1 map, 6 turns), 8 Apr 44 to 26 April 44.
Rumanian Finish (1 map, 6 turns), 8 Apr 44 to 26 April 44.
Hube’s Pocket (1 map, 8 turns), 22 Mar 44 to 15 Apr 44.
Scorpions in a Bottle (Korsun Pocket Half-Map Introductory game, 8 turns), 26 Jan 44 to 19 Feb 44.

• Four 22" x 34" Game Map
• One 11" x 17" Scenario Map
  
• 10 countersheets
• Axis Player Booklet
• Soviet Player Booklet
  
• Two Terrain Effects Chart
• Four Multi Unit Formations Displays
  
• Four Player Aid Display Cards
  
• Two Breakdown Regiment Display Cards
• Two OCS v4.3 Charts and Tables
• OCS Rulebook v4.3
  
• Game Specific Rulebook
• Scenario Booklet
• 2 six-sided dice