Dev Blog 15: Heeresgruppe Nord OB Deep Dive

Greetings! Let's take a deep-dive into one of the 2 new OBs coming in update 1.0.8.2: Heersgruppe Nord as it stood at the start of Operation Barbarossa! Heeresgruppe Nord (HGN) is a robust order of battle that lacks raw armored might, and suffers from inadequate air support, but enjoys deep reserves, great engineering potential, and strong artillery support. Next week we will explore their Soviet adversaries, but for now, let’s dive into one of the most unique German OBs yet included in CAOS!

Type: Historical OB
Preferred Playstyle: Attrition Warfare
[h3]Basic Composition:[/h3]

[h2]Strengths:[/h2]
Heersgruppe Nord has a few very powerful hammers, and a whole bunch of anvils. If you just want to hold an enemy in place and bludgeon them to death, this is your OB. HGN has enough panzers to make a breach, enough infantry to outlast virtually any opponent, a high concentration of engineers, and excellent artillery support. If you have a problem, HGN has a 15cm howitzer, or a Czech siege mortar, or a random French 155 long-gun, waiting to solve it. This is one of, if not the, most formidable defensive OB currently in CAOS, but its still imminently capable of offensive action, as its Soviet opponents can attest.

[h2]Weaknesses:[/h2]
HGN has 2 key weaknesses: 1) limited armored reserves, and 2) inadequate air support. Skilled opponents will know that you only have 3 panzer regiments, and of those 2 are strong, and 1 is mediocre. Expect your armor to be relentlessly bombarded the moment they’re spotted. Moreover, you do not have solid options to create your own alternative armored battlegroups. The Sturmgeschutz units at your disposal lack numbers, and the 559. Panzerjager Abteilung is secretly awful because it uses an R-35 based panzerjager that is both slower than every other motorized unit on the OB, and has an extremely prone to breakdown.

HGN’s dedicated air cover from Luftflotte I is insufficient to support the army group, and historically Luftflotte II assets supporting Heersgruppe Mitte were diverted to ameliorate this deficiency. The air cover available to HGN consists of 6 fighter groups, of which 2 are reserve/training units. No Stukas. 8 bomber groups, and an impressive 13 recon squadrons. However, this relatively high concentration of bombers and recon aircraft will swiftly be slaughtered if you lose air superiority. Experienced opponents will go all-in in the air war because it is your greatest weakness and the quickest way to endanger your precious artillery and armored units. Do not trouble yourself with struggling for air supremacy, this OB is not built for it, instead preserve your aerial might so it can be activated at the decisive moment. Play this air game like late-war Germany, not early-war Germany.

[h2]Diving Into Details:[/h2]
Let’s take a closer look at the capabilities of the panzer/motorized, infantry, and artillery assets at HGN’s disposal.

[h3]Panzer/Motorized Divisions:[/h3]

The 1st and 6th Panzer Divisions are both formidable, but for different reasons. 1st Panzer Division has the fewest tanks on hand of the army group’s PzDs, but it boasts both a high allotment of modern Panzer III F/Js and 2 mechanized infantry battalions, compared to the single mechanized company of 6th and 8th PzD. It also possesses a Sturmpanzer company, but you are only ever 1-unlucky battle away from losing them, so don’t get too excited. 6th PzD draws its strength from sheer numbers of borderline obsolete Pz 35(t)s. It’s a perfectly fine division so long as your opponent lacks heavy armor or high anti-tank concentrations. 8th PzD is a fairly standard Panzer Division, albeit one using Pz 38(t)s. 8th PzD has better, but fewer, tanks than 6th, and more tanks of lower quality than 1st.

As for motorized divisions, 3rd and 36th Infantry Divisions are well trained and highly mobile, but otherwise unremarkable. The SS-Totenkopf Division on the other hand is incredibly robust, owing to its sheer size. After your panzers make the initial breakthrough, SS-TD will often be the first division committed into the breach to absorb the inevitable counterattack.

[h3]Infantry Divisions:[/h3]

HGN commands a robust infantry lineup, primarily composed of mobilization wave 1-4 divisions. Virtually all of them are at, or near, establishment ToE. Infantry training levels are high, even among units that were initially raised as reserve units in spring 1940. Summer 1941 is the height of the German infantry arm in CAOS and arguably of the war in general. The meat grinder of the Eastern Front has not yet induced reductions in infantry force structure or degraded the quality of their replacements. Equipment shortages exist, but effective replacements (typically foreign gear) are readily available, and critical supporting corps/army artillery and AT units are generally motorized. Moreover, Germany’s adversaries, namely the Soviets, are only just beginning to embrace mass SMG-warfare that will prove so hazardous to the average German rifleman as the war proceeds. HGN stands at a fleeting pinnacle of German infantry power, enjoy it while it lasts.


To the surprise of absolutely no one, the reserve and security divisions held at army group are the weakest units on the OB. The 206. Infanterie Division is barely suitable for frontline combat and the 3 Sicherungs Divisions will collapse if threatened with anything heavier than an armored car. A substantial chunk of the personnel of the Sicherungs divisions are militia, use them for positional defense within fortifications or as mere speed bumps, as nothing useful should be expected of them.

[h3]Artillery:[/h3]

HGN’s artillery arm provides excellent fire support, but it is slightly deficient in counter-battery capability compared to its Soviet adversaries. HGN’s artillery overwhelmingly has a range of 2 hexes. Longer ranged guns are rare, and in some cases concentrated in the hands of 2nd-line coastal artillery battalions operating captured equipment. Historically, this potential weakness did manifest as ineffective communications, supply shortages, and limited cooperation between air recon and artillery units rendered Soviet counter-battery fire largely ineffective during 1941. Despite limited range, HGN’s sheer volume of artillery, the high motorization levels of its army/corps assets, and the incredible power of its heaviest weapons remain potent force multipliers.

Artillery Composition:
*Includes mixed 15cm/10cm units.

[h3]Most Curious Unit:[/h3]

One of the interesting oddities of building Heersgruppe Nord was the frequency with which units we previously modeled for Operation Sealion re-appeared. Primarily because 18th Army was slated to participate in Sealion, and later transferred east for Barbarossa. Several infantry divisions, Sturmgeschutz batteries, artillery battalions, and even the commandos of II/800 Lehr Regiment Brandenburg appear on both OBs. But of these units the most curious was the Marine Stoßtrupp Abteilung, a relatively obscure German marine battalion whose organizational details eluded us for a while during Sealion development until we found the excellent Deutsche Marineinfanterie 1938-1945 by Jörg Benz. Now, the Marine Stoßtrupp Abteilung makes its public debut not on the beaches of England, but rather being fed into the woodchipper of an Eastern Front OB.

[h2]Marching Onward:[/h2]
That will be it for HGN! Next week we will return to explore their Soviet adversaries in the Northwestern Front. An OB that will include many oddities, seized from the Baltic states and incorporated into the Red Army, including British artillery, locally produced armored cars, and even the occasional German AT gun. Both of these OB updates will release alongside a general Germany 1941 update and our first pass at improving turn resolution in late April.