Fortress - rules for playing a Firestorm campaign of the siege of Budapest-

1https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A1jl:A_lerombolt_L%C3%A1nch%C3%ADd_az_E%C3%B6tv%C3%B6s_t%C3%A9r_fel %C5%91l_n%C3%A9zve,_h%C3%A1tt%C3%A9rben_a_M%C3%A1ty%C3%A1s-templom._Fortepan_78926.jpg

Introduction This document’s aim is to provide background, rules and a map to play a campaign of the siege of Budapest in World War Two. The rules are supplements for the Battlefront’s Firestorm campaigns, you will need an official Firestorm campaign rulebook (any kind) to use together with this supplement. Besides this you can use the map and extra rules with any other kind of (turn based) campaign system. This is an unofficial supplement, feel free to test or modify any of the rules or the map. During publishing, please refer back to my blog: https://miniswithmoustaches.wordpress.com/

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Historical background The siege of Budapest was one the most fierce urban fights of the Second World War. With its 50 days length it is longer than the battle of Berlin (although shorter than the siege of Leningrad, but there were no urban assaults). Hitler wanted to use the city as a fortress, to grind up the attacking Soviet and Romanian divisions just as they did in Stalingrad with the Germans. was not just a neighbouring country of the Reich, but also the last oil supply source for the Axis war machine. It shows the country’s and its capital city’s importance, that the Hungarian front was always the first topic on the Führer’s daily military briefings, even when the Soviets were not far from Berlin. The city was sieged by Malinovsky’s 2nd Ukrainian Front, more specifically the Soviet 53rd Army, 7th Guards Army, parts of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, including the Soviet 46th Army, and the Romanian 7th Army Corps. The defenders were different German SS and Heer troops, units of the Hungarian Royal Army (mostly under German command even on company level) and ad-hoc civilian, law enforcement and the Arrow Cross Party’s combat units. The city was completely encircled on 26th December with around 79.000 soldiers and 800.000 civilians trapped inside. The fierce urban fighting started on both sides of the river Danube. Three relief attempts were made by the Axis powers in January 1945, with the aim of opening a new supply line from West into Buda and reinforcing the defending army with more units. All three attempts, with heavy SS panzer support, failed eventually. Combat within the city was fierce, all sides struggled to hold strategic buildings, intersections, or streets. Supply of the defenders was only possible through air drops and glider planes, landing on improvised airfields within the city. The defence of these air strips meant the difference between life or death for the encircled troops. The Pest side fell on the morning of 18th January, when the last defending units left it, during the withdraw they blew up the last intact bridge (Chain bridge) with retreating soldiers and civilians on it. The remaining units tried to hold Buda, pulling back to the hills. The Gellért hill with the citadel fell on 11th February 1945. A bridgehead was made on the other, the Castle hill by Soviet marines on 10th February, threatening the last defenders.

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On the night of 11th February 1945, the remaining 28.000 German and Hungarian defenders tried to break out westwards in three waves. Only around 800 reached the friendly lines. With this the siege of Budapest ended, the Soviets lost around 280.000 soldiers. 38.000 civilians died during the siege, from which 7.000 was executed (many shot into the river) and 38.000 more died in labour or POW camps, taken there by the Red Army.

Map The campaign map was prepared using a modern map of borders of the districts in Budapest. These districts were divided into smaller zones using a historical map of the siege. It is not 100% accurate cartographically but contains the most iconic sights of the fights and the places of supply, where the Luftwaffe tried to drop or glide in food, ammo, fuel and other supply. Bridges are just indicated with red lines between zones. Modifications and simplifications are for to support the gaming experience. All the zones have colour markings, which indicate the dominating type of terrain there (downtown urban, some kind of field, suburbs etc.)

2 The game map, you can download it separately

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If you want to fight on a historically accurate map, I recommend using this one, which is an annex to the book Siege of Budapest by Krisztián Ungváry (click on the map for bigger view and you can simply save it too, with the ‘Save picture as’ option): https://www.arcanum.hu/hu/online-kiadvanyok/2vhSzakkonyv- magyarok-a-ii-vilaghaboruban-2/budapest-ostroma-5C6C/budapest- ostromanak-1944-45-kartografiai-feldolgozasa-5C6D/mellekletek- 5D78/1szamu-melleklet-budapest-ostroma-terkep-130000-ket- mellekterkeppel-buda-es-pest-belvarosai-120000-5D79/

Rules As stated before, the rules follow the official Battlefront Firestorm campaign rules, with the following extras: The campaign consists of 6 turns. One turn has a Strategic, a Battle and a Movement Phase. Strategic Phase Move the turn indicator by 1. Check Victory conditions. Check if any of the Firestorm troops are out of supply and if yes, then how many turns were they previously out. Check the number of battles this turn. Roll a die and see the table for result: Number of Die Roll battles in the turn 1 or 2 4 3 or 4 5 5 or 6 6

Decide which side can attack. Each side roll one dice for every battle of the turn. The higher number wins (if the result is even, repeat the roll) and can decide on the direction of the attack in that battle. An attack can be launched from one zone to a neighbouring one, occupied by the enemy. There can be an attack to a zone connected by a bridge or to the Margarethe island with a river crossing movement. See rules later.

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From one zone it is possible to attack several other zones. The zone, from where an attack was initiated, could not be attacked in the same turn.

Battles Battles should be played on a table which has the same or similar terrain features like the zone they are fighting for. For more information check the terrain section.

Movement Phase Firestorm units can move two zones per turn.

Firestorm troops There could be any number of Firestorm troops on the same zone, but a player can only use 2 during the battle as extra forces of the army. More information on troop types and qualities could be found in the section of Firestorm troops. Optional rule: a Firestorm troop is destroyed if it suffers a casualty of 50% or more of its original strength during the battle phase.

Starting positions The starting position of each Firestorm troop is in the table under the section of Firestorm troops. These positions were determined using historical maps and reports. Feel free to change them before any campaign.

Out of supply If Axis units have to fight a battle on a zone that is out of supply, which means that there is no clear connection through friendly zones and/or bridges to a supply zone; or in case of Allied units they have no clear connection through friendly zones and/or bridges to one of the outer bordering zones of the map, then they need to use the following modifiers:

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First turn out of supply: Your unit can only do defensive actions or attack in a way to create the shortest connection with a friendly zone in supply. Roll a dice and check table for morale modifiers: Die roll Modifier 1 or 2 Morale reduced to a lower level. In FoW: Reluctant platoons only pass motivation test on a roll of 6. Nobody likes to fight with empty belly and no ammo. 3 or 4 No effect. There is an order, soldiers will execute it. 5 or 6 Morale increased to a higher level. In FoW: Fearless platoons will pass motivation test on a roll of 2+. When they are surrounded these soldiers will fight to the last man, no matter what attacks.

Second turn out of supply: Your unit can only do defensive actions or attack in a way to create the shortest connection with a friendly zone in supply. Reduce your army strength by 20%, rounding down the remaining number of units or points. Roll a dice and check table for morale modifiers: Die roll Modifier 1 or 2 Morale reduced to a lower level. In FoW: Reluctant platoons only pass motivation test on a roll of 6. Nobody likes to fight with empty belly and no ammo. 3 or 4 No effect. There is an order, soldiers will execute it. 5 or 6 Morale increased to a higher level. In FoW: Fearless platoons will pass motivation test on a roll of 2+. When they are surrounded these soldiers will fight to the last man, no matter what attacks.

Third turn out of supply: Your units ran out of ammo, ate the last can of food, and drank the last sip of pálinka (Hungarian schnaps) and lost the last will to fight. They will simply surrender and hope for the best as POWs. Your units and the zone are lost.

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Bridges Budapest is divided by the river Danube into two bigger parts: Buda and Pest. There are also several islands, from the campaign point of view the most important one is the Margarethe island (zone M). The two parts of the city are connected by several bridges (most of them for road traffic, others are for the trains), which are strategically important to be hold or destroyed at the right time for both sides. Bridges are not only important in moving troops from one side to another, but also in logistics: if a zone is only connected to a supplied zone through a bridge, then it is also supplied, and no morale modification is necessary during battles. Bridges can be destroyed by both sides: The player who owns both sides of the bridge, or retreats through it, may decide to blow it up. Soviet players can decide on blowing up one of any bridges using artillery and air power at the beginning of the turns. In all cases, the player must roll a dice and check the results: Die roll Result 1 or 2 No effect, the bridge is intact. Pioneers mixed something with the detonator… 3 or 4 Bridge is blown up partially, but still could be used by the troops. Some holes on the bridge will not stop a running soldier. 5 or 6 Bridge is destroyed completely, no player can use it in the duration of the campaign. Only two bridgeheads indicate the place of a once proud bridge over the old Danube.

If a bridge is just partially destroyed, then at the next time trying to destroy it with any methods, consult this table: Die roll Result 1 or 2 or 3 No effect, the bridge is still partially damaged but could be used. 4 or 5 or 6 Bridge is destroyed completely, no player can use it in the duration of the campaign.

The Soviet player can try to capture the Margarethe island or (CS1 and CS2 zones) through crossing the Danube. In these battles only infantry units, light mortars and light AT guns could be used with off-board heavy artillery support.

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3https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_ostroma#/media/F%C3%A1jl:Margit_h%C3%ADd_1944._november_4.jpg Operation Konrad The Axis powers tried to open a new supply line into Budapest, to reinforce the defending units. These three attempts were called Operation Konrad (I, II and III). Konrad I started on the 1st January 1945 from Tata, led by the IV SS Panzer Corps, and it was halted after great Soviet losses at Bicske. Konrad II was launched on the 7th January, again with the IV SS Panzer Corps, from Esztergom and was halted at Pilisszentkereszt. Konrad III, launched on 17th January, tried to follow a different tactic. In the attack, beside the IV SS Panzer Corps, the III Panzer Corps was also involved and the main offensive line was on the South. 8

The operation was started from Székesfehérvár and was halted at Ercsi. To represent the Konrad operations in the game, the Axis player(s) after turn 3 can decide once during the whole game at the beginning of their turn to launch the operation. This must be carried out after checking Victory conditions but before blowing up bridges. In this case they can put the following troops to the following zones: Operation Unit name Type FoW Starting equivalent zone Konrad I 3rd SS Panzer V or 3 Panzer V B4 Panzer IV Panther OR division 5 Panzer IV; Fearless Veteran Konrad I 5th SS Panzer 7 Fearless B4 Panzer grenadier Veteran SS division infantry MG teams with with 4 Sd highest Kfz 251 morale and (MG) half- experience track Konrad II 3rd SS Panzer V or 3 Panzer V B1 Panzer IV Panther OR division 5 Panzer IV; Fearless Veteran Konrad II 5th SS Panzer 7 Fearless B1 Panzer grenadier Veteran SS division infantry MG teams with with 4 Sd highest Kfz 251 morale and (MG) half- experience track Konrad III 503rd Heavy Panzer VIB 2 Confident B6 Panzer Veteran Battalion Panzer VIB Konrad III 5th SS Panzer 7 Fearless B6 Panzer grenadier Veteran SS division infantry MG teams with with 4 Sd highest Kfz 251 morale and (MG) half- experience track

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If the starting zone at the beginning of the operation is not occupied by Axis forces, then a battle has to be carried out immediately where the Soviet player is the defender. In case of Axis victory the starting zone will be a supply zone until it is occupied by the Allied player(s).

Victory conditions The Soviet/Romanian players win a Major Victory, if they manage to capture both sides of the bridges (or destroy all of them), all the supply zones and the zones P18, P19, P20, P21, B15. The Soviet/Romanian players win a Minor Victory, if they manage to cut all the German/Hungarian players from supply zones. The German/Hungarian players win a Major Victory, if they hold all supply zones, zones P18, P19, P20, P21, B15, and has at least one bridge intact and captured on both sides of the river. The German/Hungarian players win a Minor Victory, if they hold at least one supply zone and has at least 2 more zones in supply. If neither side wins a Major or Minor Victory, then that side wins which owns more supply zones and bridges on both sides.

Firestorm troops In this chapter you can find information about the Firestorm troops, whose original units were present during the fights for the capital. The unit types and their relative positions were determined using historical maps and reports, with certain simplifications. All the units and their stats are optional, as it is quite difficult to model the mixed and battered units on both sides in Flames of War.

Hungarian and German Unit name Type FoW equivalent Starting zone Feldherrnhalle Panzer 7 Confident P7 panzer grenadier Veteran MG grenadier infantry with teams with 4 Sd division good morale Kfz 251 (MG) (German) and high half-track experience 4th Hussar Infantry with 7 Confident P9 regiment good morale Trained (Hungarian) and middle Rifle/MG teams experience 10

13th Panzer Jagdpanzer IV 4 Confident P10 division Veteran Panzer (German) IV/70 (A) 13th Panzer Panzer V 4 Confident P10 division Veteran Panzer (German) V Panther 207th AA 80mm 29/38M 2 Confident H2 battery guns Trained 80mm (Hungarian) 29/38M guns 10th Infantry Infantry with 7 Confident P11 division good morale Trained (Hungarian) and middle Rifle/MG teams experience 12th Infantry Infantry with 7 Confident P13 division good morale Trained (Hungarian) and middle Rifle/MG teams experience Billnitzer- Zrínyi assault 3 Confident P13 group guns Veteran Zrínyi (Hungarian) II assault guns 1st Armoured Turán tanks 5 Confident P13 division Veteran Turán I (Hungarian) OR 3 Confident Veteran Turán II tanks 22nd SS Infantry with 7 Fearless P14 cavalry highest morale Veteran SS MG division and experience teams (German) Hungarian Csaba armoured 3 Confident P21 Royal Police cars or Green/Conscript armoured units Ansaldo light Csaba armoured (Hungarian) tanks cars OR 5 Confident Green/Conscript Ansaldo light tanks Hungarian Infantry made 7 Confident Cs1 Royal Police up of law Green/Conscript battalion enforcement Rifle teams (Hungarian) units with good morale and low experience 207th AA 80mm 29/38M 2 Confident Cs1 battery guns Trained 80mm (Hungarian) 29/38M guns II University Infantry 7 Fearless M assault conscripted Green/Conscript battalion locally with Rifle/MG teams (Hungarian) high morale 11

and low experience I University Infantry 7 Fearless B7 assault conscripted Green/Conscript battalion and locally with Rifle/MG teams Arrow Cross high morale units and low (Hungarian) experience Gendarmerie Infantry made 7 Confident V battalion of up of law Green/Conscript Galánta enforcement Rifle teams (Hungarian) units with good morale and low experience IX. SS Infantry with 7 Fearless C Mountain Corps highest morale Veteran SS MG HQ and experience teams German Hummel SP AA 4 Confident B15 artillery Veteran Hummel SP AA 271st Infantry with 7 Confident B14 Volksgrenadier good morale Trained MG division and middle teams (German) experience German sniper Sniper units 1 Aggressive On any two unit x 2 Veteran Sniper zones NOT unit occupied by Allied units

Soviet and Romanian Unit name Type FoW equivalent Starting zone 25th Guards Infantry with 22 Confident P1 Rifle division good morale Green/Conscript (Soviet) and low Rifle teams experience 25th Guards Recon unit 5 Confident P1 Rifle division with good Veteran DP MG (Soviet) morale and teams high experience 25th Guards Heavy 100mm AT 2 Fearless P1 Rifle division gun Veteran 100mm (Soviet) AT guns 155th Rifle Infantry with 22 Confident P2 division good morale Green/Conscript (Soviet) Rifle teams

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and low experience 155th Rifle T-34/85 tank 10 Confident P2 division company Green/Conscript (Soviet) T-34/85 tanks 155th Rifle 152mm 4 Confident P2 division artillery Trained 152mm (Soviet) battery guns 151st Rifle T-34/85 tank 10 Confident P3 division company Green/Conscript (Soviet) T-34/85 tanks 151st Rifle 152mm 4 Confident P3 division artillery Trained 152mm (Soviet) battery guns 151st Rifle Infantry with 22 Confident P3 division good morale Green/Conscript (Soviet) and low Rifle teams experience 2nd Infantry Infantry unit 24 Confident P4 division with good Trained (Romanian)* morale and Rifle/MG teams experience 19th Rifle Infantry unit 24 Confident P4 division with good Trained (Romanian)* morale and Rifle/MG teams experience 297th Rifle 120mm mortar 3 Confident P5 division company Trained 120mm mortars 66th Guards Soviet Storm 7 Fearless P5 Rifle division Group with Veteran SMG (Soviet) high morale teams and experience 297th Rifle Penal company 14 Fearless P5 division Conscript/Green SMG teams with commissar 66th Guards 76mm AT gun 4 Confident P5 Rifle division Trained 76mm (Soviet) guns 66th Guards T-34/85 tank 10 Confident P5 Rifle division company Green/Conscript (Soviet) T-34/85 tanks 68th Guards Katyusha 4 Fearless P6 Rifle division battery Trained (Soviet) Katyushas 68th Guards Soviet Storm 7 Fearless P6 Rifle division Group with Veteran SMG (Soviet) high morale teams and experience

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83rd Marine Soviet Storm 7 Fearless B11 brigade Group with Veteran SMG (Soviet) high morale teams and experience 316th Rifle Infantry unit 24 Confident B11 division with good Trained (Soviet) morale and Rifle/MG teams experience 316th Rifle Recon unit 5 Confident B11 division with good Veteran DP MG (Soviet) morale and teams high experience 316th Rifle 152mm 4 Confident B11 division artillery Trained 152mm (Soviet) battery guns 320th Rifle T-34/85 tank 10 Confident B10 division company Green/Conscript (Soviet) T-34/85 tanks 320th Rifle Soviet SMG 23 Confident B10 division unit with good Trained SGM (Soviet) morale and teams experience 37th Armoured T-34/85 tank 10 Confident B4 brigade company Green/Conscript (Soviet) T-34/85 tanks 37th Armoured Soviet SMG 23 Confident B4 brigade unit with good Trained SGM (Soviet) morale and teams experience 180th Guards Infantry unit 24 Confident B8 Rifle division with good Trained (Soviet) morale and Rifle/MG teams experience 180th Guards Soviet Storm 7 Fearless B8 Rifle division Group with Veteran SMG (Soviet) high morale teams and experience 180th Guards 152mm 4 Confident B8 Rifle division artillery Trained 152mm (Soviet) battery guns 109th Guards Recon unit 5 Confident B1 Rifle division with good Veteran DP MG (Soviet) morale and teams high experience 109th Guards Infantry unit 24 Confident B1 Rifle division with good Trained (Soviet) morale and Rifle/MG teams experience

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109th Guards 152mm 4 Confident B1 Rifle division artillery Trained 152mm (Soviet) battery guns Soviet sniper Sniper units 1 Careful On any four unit x 4 Trained Sniper zones NOT unit occupied by Axis units

*: Optional rule: Romanian units were so successful, that the Soviet commanders became envy and removed them from the battlefield after 15th January. To model it the Allied player(s) must roll a dice at the beginning of their turns after turn 3. On 5+ the Romanian Firestorm troops must be removed.

Empty zones As in the official Firestorm campaigns, there are no empty zones, players have to fight for every last piece of the city even if it is protected by rear or second echelon units. It represents the order of holding Budapest until the last men, plus that there were no stable and contiguous frontlines, fights were for certain buildings and streets and often opposing forces moved behind each other’s frontlines to patrol or seize strategic locations. This no empty zone rule also good from the playing point of view, as it gives continuous chances to play battles and the Soviet players cannot just march to downtown if they defeat the units on the outskirts. When you enter a zone, where no Firestorm troops are stationed, roll a dice and check the table to see what kind of unit will support the opposing side’s army during the battle: Dice result German / Hungarian Soviet / Romanian 1 University or Arrow Romanian Rifle unit Cross units with high with bad morale and good morale and low experience (in FoW: 24 experience (in FoW: 7 Reluctant Trained Fearless Green/Conscript Rifle/MG teams) Rifle/MG teams) 2 Police or Gendarmerie Soviet Rifle unit with unit with good morale and good morale and low low experience (in FoW: experience (in FoW: 22 7 Confident Confident Green/Conscript Rifle Green/Conscript Rifle teams) teams) 3 Hungarian infantry with Romanian Rifle unit good morale and middle with good morale and experience (in FoW: 7 experience (in FoW: 24 15

Confident Trained Confident Trained Rifle/MG teams) Rifle/MG teams) 4 Hungarian infantry with Soviet SMG unit with good morale experience good morale and (in FoW: 7 Confident experience (in FoW: 23 Veteran Rifle/MG teams) Confident Trained SGM teams) 5 Panzergrenadiers with Soviet Recon unit with good morale and high good morale and high experience (in FoW: 7 experience (in FoW: 5 Confident Veteran MG Confident Veteran DP MG teams) teams) 6 SS panzergrenadiers with Soviet Storm Group with highest morale and high morale and experience (in FoW: 7 experience (in FoW: 7 Fearless Veteran SS MG Fearless Veteran SMG teams) teams)

If a supply zone has no Firestorm troops on it, add +1 to the value you rolled with the dice to determine the support unit.

Air power As it is difficult to indicate friendly units in an urban terrain, neither side can use air units in their battles. Only the Soviet player can use aircrafts to try to destroy the bridges at the beginning of the turns. All other airplanes are fighting each other for air superiority and to disrupt the air supply of Budapest.

Terrain and strongholds There are different terrain types indicated on the map. In the following you can find additional information about them and how to represent them on your table. You can find ariel pictures about Budapest from 1944. made by the Allied forces, here: https://mapire.eu/hu/map/bp1944/?layers=30&bbox=2119067.915299 8826%2C6023591.655205407%2C2120882.100393089%2C6024188.8194888 86 I would recommend using this aerial map and links below for planning and building your table if you would like to have “maximum” accuracy.

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Urban Most of Budapest, as it was a quite large city on European level at that time, was densely populated with several storeys high buildings, palaces, municipal and military offices, garrisons. The transport was supported by boulevards, trams and even with a subway. During planning the table you should check this map, the aerial photos and the pictures here: https://fortepan.hu/hu/photos/?q=budapest,%20k%C3%B6r%C3%BAt&y ear_from=1940&year_to=1945

Factory There is only one industrial zone on the map (because of simplifications), Cs1, which represents the Weiss Manfréd factory producing vehicles, tanks and airplane engines. It was constantly bombed by the Allied forces during the war. To represent it you should build up a normal, everyday industrial scenery with huge craters.

Suburbs Some of the districts on the outer skirt of the city had smaller houses and bigger empty spaces between them. Usually these located next to the main roads heading towards the downtown (and ending in one of the bridges). On the table these should look like a dense village with one wide, paved road crossing through, sometimes with multi storey buildings where poor workers and their families lived. Some pictures:

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4 Hungarian heavy AT gun in the suburbs [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1986-064- 15%2C_Ungarn%2C_Stra%C3%9Fenk%C3%A4mpfe%2C_ungarische_Pak.jpg]

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5 https://fortepan.hu/hu/photos/?q=pasar%C3%A9t Parks, nature The bright green zones represent the non built-in territories around the city (B1, B2, B4, B5, B6, B10, the others you can find in the next chapter). As these are on the Buda side, the terrain should be hilly forests and fields with paved roads. For aerial pictures: https://fortepan.hu/hu/photos/?q=erd%C5%91,%20budakeszi

Special zones Some of the zones have a different name rather Bx or Px, because they have some special terrain feature:

M: . See the special rules about amphibious attack. It is connected with a bridge to both the Pest and Buda side. The terrain is mostly park like, but there are some buildings too. For more pictures: https://fortepan.hu/hu/photos/?q=Margitsziget&year_from=1940&y ear_to=1945 19

Cs2: part of Csepel Island. It has an airfield belonging to the Weiss Manfréd factory, with grassy airstrip and service buildings. For more pictures: https://fortepan.hu/hu/photos/?q=rep%C3%BCl%C5%91t%C3%A9r,%20c sepel&year_from=1900&year_to=1945

VL: Városliget, one of the biggest parks in Budapest. In addition to the grassy areas there are several other terrain features: a lake, the replica of the Castle of Vajdahunyad, the zoo, Heroes’ Square, a bath and several other buildings. There were attacks and counterattacks with AFV support here. For more pictures: https://fortepan.hu/hu/photos/?q=V%C3%A1rosliget&year_from=193 5&year_to=1945

H1 and H2: the horse racing fields, that were used as airfields during the siege. For more pictures and a FoW scenario: https://fortepan.hu/hu/photos/?q=l%C3%B3verseny,%20budapest&ye ar_from=1900&year_to=1945 https://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=53&art_id=2310

K: Kerepesi . There are several in Budapest, which became battlefields. The map contains only one, where it is recommended to furnish your table as a graveyard. The Kerepesi cemetery has a wall around it and contains, besides the graves, several crypts, which were fortified by the defenders. For more pictures (it did not change a lot since the war): https://www.google.hu/maps/@47.4959411,19.0846235,3a,75y,90.6h ,80.33t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s3OdLKTKAQF8cUO41QK3_WQ!2e0!6s%2F%2 Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D3OdLKTKAQF8cUO41QK3_WQ%26outp ut%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%2 6w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D337.6035%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D1 00!7i13312!8i6656

C: Castle. The royal castle in Budapest is located on the Buda side and on a hill, with limited roads to approach and many possibilities for fortification. Both the 9th SS and the Hungarian HQs were located here. The Tabán, next to the Castle hill, was used as supply field. For more pictures:

20 https://fortepan.hu/hu/photos/?q=budai%20V%C3%A1r&year_from=19 35&year_to=1945

V: the Vérmező. It is a huge, roughly flat field in the middle of Buda with several high buildings and wide roads around it. It was used as an airfield for smaller planes and gliders. For more pictures: https://fortepan.hu/hu/photos/?q=v%C3%A9rmez%C5%91&year_from=1 935&year_to=1945

6 A glider failed to land on the Vérmező and hit the building at Attila street 35. [https://cultura.hu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/cultura-2ww-budapest-haboru-1945-fortepan-kicsi.jpg] Strongholds Although the map is made up of zones for gaming reasons, the urban battles of Budapest were not for districts or territories, but for strategically important houses, streets and crossroads. The defenders prepared strongholds from single or set of houses, fortifying the levels, and preparing traps and fire lanes for the attacking forces. When you are planning the battles during

21 the campaign it is recommended to try to follow this way of thinking and the defenders should find the strategic locations and fortify them. Some examples from Kamen Nevenkin’s book, Budapest erőd 1-2. (Fortress Budapest) of strongholds and how they were captured:

7 The capture of house 844. on the corner of Lajos and Galagonya streets [alfahir.hu]

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8 Fortified building on Úri street next to Vérmező. Red lines indicate the firing lines [alfahir.hu]

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9 Stronghold number 1 at . Red lines indicate firing lines. [facebook page of PeKo publishing]

What kind of army should we play with? During the fights of Budapest infantry had the major role in both attack and defence. Anti-tank guns were used to protect strongholds and important roads, artillery gave fire support, while AFVs and assault batteries were used in counter-attacks or defensive fire support. To simulate this, it is recommended to use infantry based armies. Both in attack and defence phases HMGs, mortars and heavy artillery could be significant support. Do not rely on armoured support, as they are vulnerable in urban environment. Place your tanks and guns in positions with good field of fire and cover. Do not be afraid to use AA guns in anti-tank role.

If you don’t have something in your army, don’t be afraid to use proxies!

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Alternative stories You don’t have Soviet miniatures or tired of trying to stop the red tide? No problem. There are two alternative and fictional (but with proper historical background) campaign possibilities.

The first one is for you, if you only have German and Hungarian units. On 12th March 1944, the Nazi Germany invaded its ally, Hungary. The reason for that was the Germans revealed the Hungarian Government’s intention to make a separate peace with the Allies and to turn against Germany. To prevent this and the loss of the Hungarian oil fields in Zala, Operation Margarethe was ordered. Budapest was occupied by the Panzer Lehr Armoured Division, parts of the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division, 500 SS Parachute Battalion (occupied the airport at Ferihegy) and several other units. To oppose them in a hypothetical fight, the can field Police and Gendarmerie units, the Lifeguards of the Regent (as elite infantry), 1st Hussar Division (in reality, they were deployed to the Eastern front, but originally the Royal Army planned to use them in the protection of Budapest) and other military units.

10https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A1jl:Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-680-8283A- 12A,_Budapest,_marschierende_Pfeilkreuzler_und_Panzer_VI.jpg

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Another option could be a non-Soviet invasion of Hungary. The Hungarian Government hoped that the USA and Great Britain will invade Hungary from the South, through the Mediterranean, and that they will be faster than the Soviets ( was really afraid of a communist occupation). The campaign could be a siege too, but on one side with German and loyalist Hungarian troops, and on the other with British and US units.

11https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Margarethe#/media/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-669-7340- 27,_Flugzeuge_Me_110_%C3%BCber_Budapest.jpg

No matter which storyline you choose, the most important is that you enjoy the campaign!

Harchoz!

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Sources used for preparing this document: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Budapest Ungváry Krisztián: Budapest ostroma (Siege of Budapest) Ungváry Krisztián: A magyar honvédség a második világháborúban (The Hungarian army in WW2) Kamen Nevenkin: Budapest erőd 1-2. (Fortress Budapest) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Margarethe https://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=3161 Stalin’s Europe: The Soviet invasion of Eastern Europe October 1944 – February 1945 Flames of War V4 Army books by Battlefront Ltd.

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