Kampfgruppe

Welcome, Commander. Kampfgruppe is a tactical wargame on a hex battlefield. You lead a German or Soviet battlegroup in a short, sharp engagement. This tutorial walks you through everything you need to fight your first battle.

1 · How to Begin

Launch the game and you will see the start screen. Do three things:

• Pick a scenario — start with Meeting Engagement, an even fight.
• Read the briefing shown below the scenarios.
• Choose your side — Germans (west) or Soviets (east).

Then press Deploy & Begin. Your units start on your edge of the map.

2 · Controls

3 · Turn Order

The two sides alternate. On your turn you move and fire your units, then press End Turn and the enemy takes theirs. A turn represents two minutes of battle, resolved internally as four 30-second combat pulses — so a single burst of fire builds up hits and suppression across the pulses rather than in one roll. Use the Next Unit button (or N) to cycle through units that still have an action left.

4 · Movement

Selecting a unit highlights every hex it can reach this turn in yellow. Terrain costs movement — open ground and roads are cheap, woods, buildings and hills are slow, and water is impassable except at fords and bridges. The number in each highlighted hex is its total movement cost. Each unit may make one move per turn. Before firing or holding, use Undo Move to reconsider.

5 · Combat

A unit may fire once per turn at any enemy within range that it has line of sight to (red rings mark valid targets). Firing ends that unit's activation, so move first if you intend to do both. Select a unit to see its odds against each target both on the map and in the side panel.

When a shot resolves, an animated fire trace and impact marker identify the attacker and target. A floating label reports misses, failed penetration, suppression, step losses, or a knockout. Reduced-motion preferences shorten these effects automatically.

• Soft targets (infantry, guns, machine-gun teams) take step-losses and suppression from firepower. Cover and range reduce the effect.
• Armour (tanks and assault guns) can only be hurt by penetration — anti-tank guns, other armour, or a point-blank infantry close assault. Ordinary rifle and machine-gun fire bounces off tank armour.
• A unit that soaks up enough fire becomes suppressed, then pinned (marked PIN) and cannot act until it rallies on a later turn.

6 · Scoring & Winning

Scattered across the map are objectives, marked with a dashed hex and the label OBJ. Move a unit onto an objective to seize it; you keep control until an enemy takes it back.

• Each objective you hold at the end is worth 5 points.
• Every enemy step-loss (casualty) you inflict adds to your score.
• Destroying the entire enemy force is an outright victory.

You win if you eliminate the enemy, or hold the higher score when the turn limit is reached.

You lose if the enemy eliminates your force or outscores you at the end. An even score is a stalemate over contested ground.

The command header displays the live German–Soviet score. The after-action report breaks down objectives, surviving units, remaining strength, losses and victory margin. Select Rematch to replay the same scenario, side and enemy command level.

7 · Saving & Restarting

Kampfgruppe automatically saves the current engagement on your device after meaningful actions. Press Save Battle for an immediate manual save, then use Continue Saved Battle on the title screen to resume. Starting a new engagement replaces the previous save; completing a battle clears it.