GROGNARD SIMULATIONS, INC.

Death Ride Kursk

Totenkopf Rules Supplement
Chris Fasulo Sr
4/18/2014

This supplement contains specific rules for the Totenkopf game of the Death Ride Kursk game series

Death Ride Kursk – Totenkopf Supplemental Rules

Contents
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1. Air Support Allocation ................................................................................................................... 3
1.2. Game Turn Record Track............................................................................................................... 3
1.3. Command and Control and Supply at Game Start ........................................................................ 3
1.4. Reserves ........................................................................................................................................ 3
2. Counter and Marker Specifics ............................................................................................................... 4
2.1. Close Air Support Markers ............................................................................................................ 4
2.2. Reserve Markers ........................................................................................................................... 4
2.3. Overwatch (OW) Markers ............................................................................................................. 4
2.4. Obstacle Markers .......................................................................................................................... 5
2.4.1. Mine Markers ............................................................................................................................ 5
2.4.2. Dummy Mine Markers .............................................................................................................. 5
2.4.3. Wire Markers ............................................................................................................................ 5
2.4.4. Dummy Wire Markers ............................................................................................................... 5
2.4.5. Dug-in Markers.......................................................................................................................... 5
2.4.6. Fortification Markers ................................................................................................................ 5
2.5. Smoke Markers ............................................................................................................................. 5
2.6. Artillery Mission Markers .............................................................................................................. 5
2.6.1. “DS” Mission Markers ............................................................................................................... 5
2.6.2. “GS” Markers ............................................................................................................................ 5
2.6.3. “R” Markers............................................................................................................................... 5
2.7. Assault Markers ............................................................................................................................ 5
3. Recommended Rules Use ..................................................................................................................... 6
3.1. Artillery Mission Markers .............................................................................................................. 6
3.2. Air Enhancement (when available) ............................................................................................... 6
3.3. Command and Control .................................................................................................................. 6
3.4. Optional Victory Level Determination .......................................................................................... 6
4. Historical Commentary ......................................................................................................................... 6
4.1. Zitadelle up to 9 July in the SS sector ........................................................................................... 6

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 4.2. Move to the Left ........................................................................................................................... 7
4.3. Failed River Crossing ..................................................................................................................... 7
4.4. Success .......................................................................................................................................... 7
4.5. Push to the West ........................................................................................................................... 8
4.6. Push to the East ............................................................................................................................ 8
4.7. Push to the North.......................................................................................................................... 8
4.8. Finale ............................................................................................................................................. 9
5. Designer Notes ...................................................................................................................................... 9
6. Credits ................................................................................................................................................. 10

1. Introduction
Death Ride Kursk – Totenkopf is the fourth game in the Death Ride Kursk series. This game, and the
entire series, has been refreshed and you will find some wonderful new material. In this supplement
you will find some material that is specific to Totenkopf’s game. Sections in here include Counter and
Marker Specifics to define the number of markers available in the game, Recommended Rules and
Options, and some Historical Commentary.

1.1. Air Support Allocation

The Totenkopf SS Panzer Grenadier Division gets 35% of all air support that the IInd SS Panzer Korps
would be allocated when using the Air Enhancement for the SS games. When not using that
enhancement the Totenkopf’s Air Allocation Table is used without division and all the Air Support
markers may be used. For non-daily scenario (not 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 July) use only half the Air
Support markers and Allocation.

1.2. Game Turn Record Track

This shows the battle starting on the 4th July 1943, but the game’s first scenario starts with turn 44. This
is because of the odd nature of the location of the Totenkopf Panzer Grenadier Division before 9 July
1943. Should you decide to purchase the last game (Das Reich) in the set then you will have scenarios
that start with 4 July 1943.

1.3.Command and Control and Supply at Game Start

For all scenarios all units start the game in Command and Control and In Supply unless otherwise stated.
They remain in this state for the first 2 turns of the scenario to allow the players to make any
adjustments they feel are required.

1.4.Reserves
In these games I have assigned some organizations, usually Battalions or elements of Battalions, which
start a scenario in Reserve. The Reserve is usually based at the German Divisional level. Your job is to

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manage the Reserve and retain that Reserve for use in any breakthrough or to plug any serious holes.
The Deployment section of the Scenario Card will identify the elements of this reserve. The Special
section on the Scenario Card will describe the consequences of using these Reserve forces, if any. Once
a Reserve force is deployed out of the Reserve area a player is not allowed to bring it back later on and
re-establish the Reserve. When playing the entire battle the Reserve restrictions are valid for the days
where it is shown on a scenario card.

Optional: Players may, at their discretion, place a different Battalion in Reserve and send the original
Reserve Battalion out to fight. This would in effect maintain the Reserve, although likely with a weaker
Battalion. This was done in order to better incorporate replacements in an area that was less likely to
be harassed by the enemy and would give the new soldiers time to acclimate to their new unit. If this is
chosen to be done by the player the replacement battalion must be in the reserve area before the
original reserve battalion can move out to fight.

Example: In the 11 July Scenario the German 5th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment has the III/5SSPzG (x13)
Battalion in the front line and the II/5SSPzG (x16) Battalion in Reserve. In order to have the stronger
Battalion in the front line the player could effectively move the III/5SSPzG Battalion into the Division
setup area and then move the II/5SSPzG Battalion out to the front line. The advantage is to have 3 extra
platoons that might make a difference available for use. The disadvantage is that it will take a few turns
to make the switch and valuable time will be spent. But you may find that there are plenty of troops at
the front line already and the time needed in getting a slightly stronger Battalion is worth the effort.

2. Counter and Marker Specifics

This section describes the type and number of supporting counters and markers that are available in the
game. This is important since many rules state that the counter limit is the number of counters
allowable in play at any time. These limits apply to the Totenkopf game and scenarios and are only valid
for this game.

2.1. Close Air Support Markers

There are 10 German CAS markers in the Standard game counter mix

There are 6 Red Army CAS markers in the Standard game counter mix

2.2.Reserve Markers
There are 18 German Reserve markers

There are 18 Red Army Reserve markers

2.3.Overwatch (OW) Markers

There are 29 German Overwatch markers

There are 0 Red Army Overwatch markers

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 2.4.Obstacle Markers
This section has the obstacle marker counts. All obstacles are Red Army obstacles

2.4.1. Mine Markers

There are 72 Mine markers

2.4.2. Dummy Mine Markers

There are 18 Dummy Mine markers

2.4.3. Wire Markers

There are 108 Wire markers

2.4.4. Dummy Wire Markers

There are 18 Dummy Wire markers

2.4.5. Dug-in Markers

There are 45 Dug-in markers

2.4.6. Fortification Markers

There are 27 Fortification markers

2.5.Smoke Markers
There are 9 German Smoke markers

There are 9 Red Army Smoke markers

2.6.Artillery Mission Markers

This section specifies the available artillery mission markers

2.6.1. “DS” Mission Markers

There are 18 German “DS” Artillery Mission markers specific to organizations
There are 56 Red Army “DS” Artillery Mission markers specific to organizations

2.6.2. “GS” Markers

There are 8 German “GS” Artillery Mission markers specific to organizations
There are 17 Red Army “GS” Artillery Mission markers specific to organizations

2.6.3. “R” Markers

There are 10 German “R” Artillery Mission markers specific to organizations
There are 12 Red Army “R” Artillery Mission markers specific to organizations

2.7.Assault Markers
There are 9 generic Assault Declaration markers

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3. Recommended Rules Use
These are the enhanced and/or optional rules I think you should seriously consider using when playing
Death Ride Kursk – Totenkopf.

3.1.Artillery Mission Markers

Use of the Artillery Mission markers will make your battle so much more exciting. Doing the planning
and then understanding the limits of flexibility of fire support on the battlefield are great to experience.
The important thing to remember here is that artillery did not fire willy-nilly all over the map. It was
tasked with specific support missions and this set of rules will force you to stay within that framework
and prevent pulling a few extra factors from anywhere around the battle area to support any
organization. The planning involved is good practice.

3.2.Air Enhancement (when available)

Use of the Air Enhancement will take your game to a completely new level and give the battle a true 3
dimensional effect. Be sure to use the CAS and GA Success/Fail rules for some accidental bombings of
one’s own troops or possibly hitting a different target. When playing the non-day specific scenarios you
should cut the air allocation by half for both sides. For those of you who want to see if attacking the
enemy airfields would have made a difference then this is your vehicle to do that.

3.3.Command and Control

Use of the Command and Control rules is absolutely elemental, in my opinion, in seeing how the
structure of a unit makes it so effective, or not, in combat. Task organizing is the most interesting part
of the game I know of. Also in this area is the use of Company counters. And along with the Company
counters is the manner in which losses are taken. Take the losses by Platoon, as that will make the use
of the companies more palatable. While I am not prone to making and using Kampfgruppe’s you may
find it helpful to put one together for a specific mission. Where I see the best use of these is taking a
disparate group of companies and forming them into a true combined arms team. This new Regimental
sized element could very well be your exploitation force if you find you have success in breaking
through. They will also provide an extra layer of command flexibility.

3.4.Optional Victory Level Determination

Use of the counting of casualties might make both players a bit more wary of willy-nilly adventurism. It
will force players to consider the cost of victory vs the gains. A player that charges forward regardless of
casualties just to take a town or hill and ends up with a combat ineffective unit is not successful. Once a
Battalion hits 50% they are pretty much combat ineffective.

4. Historical Commentary
A little bit of enlightenment as paraphrased from George Nipes.

4.1.Zitadelle up to 9 July in the SS sector

The offensive began on 5 July for the SS troops. Unlike the XLVIII Panzer Korps troops who began the
day before taking positions that would serve as jump off positions the SS would make their attack early

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on the 5th without alerting the Red Army to their intentions. This had the advantage of local surprise
and initial penetrations through the Red Army defensive front line elements were made quickly. The
speed and success of these attacks made the Russian command very worried. There were immediate
calls for help and support from adjacent units. Adjacent units would not be available to help since XLVIII
Panzer Korps attack would be very strong itself and III Panzer Korps kept the Red Army occupied in their
zone. Advancing to the town of Pokrovka the Germans found a major road artery that would allow
them to advance north or north east will little problem. Resistance in the town was very strong and it
took no small amount of time for the Germans to secure the place. Once done the next leap the
Germans made brought them right up to the Psel River and the approaches to Prokhorovka. To get this
far it took the better part of 4 days. Then the really hard battle started and the next few days would be
the hardest fought anywhere in the southern part of the salient.

4.2.Move to the Left

During the day and night of 8 July the 4th Panzer Army HQ, General Hoth, made the decision to halt SS
Panzer Grenadier Division Leibstandarte for a rest, and move SS Panzer Grenadier Division Totenkopf
from the SS Korps right flank to the SS Korps left flank. The reason was pretty simple. XLVIII Panzer
Korps had stalled along the Pena River and needed help to get their movement northward going again.
Hoth thought this move would accomplish that mission. A byproduct of that decision was that one of
the strongest divisions in the attack was out of the battle for an entire day. Another help that Hoth
thought would be brought by the change is that the SS Korps left flank could be cleared of Red Army
troops, and especially artillery, that was having a bad effect on Leibstandarte’s movement to the
northeast. This decision would have dire consequences for the outcome of the battle.

4.3.Failed River Crossing

Totenkopf’s first act upon getting to the Psel was to make a hasty attack and establish bridgehead. This
did not work well for them. They could not get enough combat power to focus on the crossing sites and
push across enough troops to stay across. Red Army counter-attacks pushed back every attempt at
crossing and the fire coming from the north bank of the Psel stayed lively. The nature of a hasty attack
is that planning is sacrificed for surprise. We already know that surprise was not made by the Germans
and the Red Army had brought up some reserves in order to bolster the crumbling front line units. With
the aid of the terrain and the remaining earthworks the Red Army put up a most stubborn defense.

4.4.Success
With a renewed effort the Germans made a push to gain that bridgehead they failed to make the day
before. They undertook a more deliberate planning for the operations and when the attack went in this
day they would succeed in developing a shallow but secure bridgehead. The German commanders
would not take failure as an answer. They wanted this bridgehead and they were going to have it. What
made this bridgehead so important was its strategic location versus the Red Army’s defenses. With the
bridgehead established the Totenkopf Panzer Regiment could focus its attention to cutting the road
near the Psel River bend that the Red Army used for resupply of their artillery in the area.

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 4.5.Push to the West
The Totenkopf Division was asked to maintain contact with the 11th Panzer Division. In order to
accomplish this, the Totenkopf Panzer Regiment had to make an attack to the west. In coordination
with the Totenkopf Reconnaissance Battalion they made a powerful attack into the Red Army 51st
Guards Rifle Division and supporting elements. The Germans made good initial progress and did make
contact with the Ghost Panzer Division. Unfortunately for the Germans the Red Army reinforcements
were strong enough to stop any further penetration to the north or west. The primary elements of
resistance were from the 33rd Guards Rifle Corps with the 95th and 97th Guards Rifle Divisions which
supported the 51st Guards Rifle Divisions left flank.

4.6.Push to the East

The Totenkopf Panzer Regiment moved eastward and left the Totenkopf Reconnaissance Battalion to
hold the division left flank and provide security from attacks by the Red Army against the divisions left
flank. The idea was to take the weakened but still powerful Panzer Regiment and make a thrust to the
east toward Prokhorovka before too many Red Army troops stood in the way. The move over took place
just fine and the Panzer Regiment kicked off its attack just south of the Psel River without much support.
They immediately ran into trouble and a sharp fight developed. Sitting in prepared positions were
elements the 2nd Tank Corps. These Red Army troops were relatively fresh and were easily able to take
and stop the German tanks in their tracks with having made significant progress. Finding significant
resistance here the Panzer was withdrawn and prepared for another push in a different direction. All
this maneuvering was done in an attempt to find the Red Army weak points. At this point virtually all
the weak spots had been plugged by something fresh. While the Panzer Regiment was trying to push
east the two Panzer Grenadier Regiments were trying to expand their bridgehead over the Psel River
and continue north. They faced some continued stiff resistance and were unable to make significant
progress. But there was hope that enough damage had been done to the Red Army here that a push by
the Panzer Regiment here would crack open the front.

4.7.Push to the North

The Totenkopf Panzer Regiment made the move during the night to cross the Psel River and prepare for
an attack north out of the bridgehead. The panzers were ready in the morning of 12 July to start their
attack. This of course was the day of the heaviest fighting near Prokhorovka. So the Battle for
Prokhorovka was not fought with all three SS Panzer Regiments or Divisions. Totenkopf was completely
engaged in their battle to the north in the bridgehead over the Psel River. Totenkopf’s attack got off to
a good start. They were able to penetrate the initial Red Army positions and advanced for a kilometer
or two. Then Red Army units began ferocious counter-attacks and halted the Germans in their tracks.
The hopeful attack ended with more losses and no breakthrough. The German panzers were pushed
back to their starting point and the effort came to naught. When you look at the positions of the 3rd SS
Division Panzer regiments you can see that their efforts were separated and disjointed. They were
never really focused during the period from 9-13 July.

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 4.8.Finale
After the Totenkopf Panzer Regiment failed to breakout to the north the battle developed into a
stalemate. There was a bit of consolidation that went on and the offensive was suspended due in part
to the invasion of Sicily on 10 July. The once magnificent Totenkopf division was weakened
considerably, although not destroyed nor combat ineffective. But because of the weakened state of the
troops and the exertions made over the last 10 days the German troops would be hard pressed to stop
the Red Army counter attacks that began to hammer away at the gains made. Manstein decided to
allow the SS troops to continue to fight in the hopes of eliminating more of the Red Army armor, which
he thought had been significantly damaged. Had he known the incredible amount of reserves available
and additional tank elements the Red Army could, and did, call upon, he would likely never had agreed
to comply with the plan. Manstein was the master of the backhand counter-offensive. Now he knew
that he had been correct in the first place and that the consequences of the offensive just finish would
be that his forces would be considerably weakened.

5. Designer Notes
When I first had the idea to expand to the IInd SS Panzer Korps area I racked my brain trying to figure
out how to get the 3rd SS Divisions into a 3 game set. The model was for the 3 Divisions to be placed
abreast of each other and stay that way for the entire fight. These SS Divisions went through some crazy
movements in the first days. So you are asking yourself why does this set of games start with 9 July and
the earlier games start with 4 July? I had to ask myself that same question. The answer became obvious
after a long hard thought process. Totenkopf started the battle on the Korps right flank on 4 July and
then moved to the left flank during 8 July. You will get to have that fun when the 6th installment of the
games comes out. The Das Reich game will have the scenarios that start from 4 July.

From a scenario perspective there are a few things I would like to touch upon. You are going to find
some smaller, not necessarily small, scenarios. They are there to encourage play for those who don’t
want all the bulk. They were some of the more distinct combats in the area. The “Seeing Ghosts”
scenario is good for a small area and a rampant tank battle for the Germans as they tried to make
contact with 11th Panzer Division on their left. The “Panzers Forward” scenarios deal with the 2
penetration attempts by the Germans. One attempt was toward Prokhorovka and the other north of
the Psel and Point 226.6. The scenario battle area to the east side and Prokhorovka in this game is tight
to say the least. That is why you will only find one scenario, and if the players want to play a campaign
with just this game I suggest they leave the boundary for the main scenarios alone and NOT play into
that space until the Leibstandarte game is released. You will have plenty of fun when Leibstandarte
comes out and then you will have more maneuver terrain than you want. For the “Psel 1”, “Psel 2”, and
“Psel 3” scenarios you will see they are focused on the crossing made by the German infantry regiments.
These should be fun. You will see that there is a number of 11th Panzer or Gross Deutschland units in
here. As I learned more about where units were employed and moved (new reading material), I needed
to get them involved. The 180th Separate Tank Brigade, a Gross Deutschland unit, can be switched with
a Tank Brigade and a Motorized Infantry Battalion from the 2nd Tank Corps. 309th Rifle Division and
31st Tank Corps are 11th Panzer units. 31st Tank Corps can be switched for 2nd Tank Corps. If you

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don’t have the 11th Panzer or Gross Deutschland units then my suggestion is to leave that part of each
scenario alone, or of course you could purchase them. We have tried to make some smaller scenarios
that players can enjoy without using the entire counter load. We hope we have done a better job that
way and you will find more of these smaller scenarios when the additional games arrive.

The daily scenarios, 9 July, 10 July, 11 July, 12 July, and 13 July, are meant to be played as 10 turn
scenarios in order to keep play length reasonable for each scenario. Players simply play through each
scenario to make a continuous battle from 9 to 13 July. The Psel scenarios are 2 days long as the
Germans failed to make a crossing of the river until 10 July.

Lastly, I am here to help. If you find yourself with questions please feel free to contact me. I am always
happy to clarify rules or my intent. And those of you who do call me, you already know that I make it a
high priority to answer those questions quickly. If you made the investment in my games then I am so
very grateful for that and you deserve answers in a timely manner.

For those of you who supported this project from the beginning with your pre-order dollars, and have
the original set of games, I wanted to be sure to provide you a well-deserved Thank You. The FREE
upgraded maps are a nice deal and will make your purchase feel that much better. I appreciate your
loyalty and look forward to providing the last 2 games of this 3 game set and then getting cranking on
the last 3 games in the III Panzer Korps area of operations.

6. Credits
Game Design: Chris Fasulo Sr

All scenario Situations and Commentary are taken from and are paraphrased from George Nipe’s book.

Blood, Steel, and Myth; the II SS Panzer Korps and the road to Prokhorovka. July 1943
George M. Nipe; RZM Publishing 2011

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