Clan Blitzkrieg
1) a sudden overwhelming attack, 2) sudden, swift, large-scale offensive warfare ---vt. To subject to a blitz; overwhelm
Welcome to our website, this is the home of the Diplomacy Wargame Clan Blitzkrieg. We are an active group of gamers who participate in PBEM Diplomacy Wargames. We have joined with approximately 60 other gamers from around the world to start up a Clan ranking system within our hobby. The links below will give you more information on Diplomacy, the Clan System, the members of Clan Blitzkrieg, Current game maps, Current Clan and individual scores and positions (A formality only since Blitzkrieg is the cream of the crop), and links to the other also ran Clan websites. This website will be continually updated as games progress and new games start.
The foundation of mobile warfare has its roots in Ancient and Medieval World. The German Army late in World War I initially developed the tactics of modern mobile warfare. Germans developed those tactics in an attempt to overcome the static trench warfare. Elite "Sturmtruppen" (Stormtroops) infantry units were created to attack enemy positions using the momentum of speed and suprise but eventually failed because of the lack of mobility. During 1920s, British military philosophers Captain Sir Basil Liddell Hart, General J.F.C. Fuller and General Martell further developed tactics of mobile warfare. All of them found tank to be an ultimate weapon able to penetrate deep into enemy territory while followed by infantry. In late 1920s and early 1930s, Charles De Gaulle, Hans von Seekt, Heinz Guderian and many others became interested in the concept of mobile warfare and tried to implement it in an organizational structure of their armies. Heinz Guderian organized Panzers into self-contained Panzer Divisions working with the close support of motorized infantry. From 1933 to 1939, Germany was on a quest to fully mechanize their army for an upcoming conflict. German High Command used Spanish Civil War (1936-38) as a testing ground for Blitzkrieg tactics, which proved to be a formidable combination of land and air action. In September of 1939, Germany invaded Poland using mechanized ground force (Wehrmacht) working with the close support of the airforce (Luftwaffe) to breakthrough and penetrate deep behind Polish lines of defense. In May of 1940, during the invasion of the Low Countries and France, the Germans once again used same tactics (including the use of Fallschirmjaeger - paratroops) to shock and disorganize the defenders. From October of 1940 to March of 1941, Germans conquered Balkans using the same proven tactics. When in June of 1941, Germany invaded Russia, tactics of Blitzkrieg allowed them to reach the outskirts of Moscow in December of 1941. Tactics of Blitzkrieg were also implemented with great success by Erwin Rommel in North Africa (1941-1943). Since late 1942, outnumbered German Army was fighting a defensive war and was unable to launch any major offensives with exception of Kursk (June of 1943) and Ardennes (December of 1944) offensive. Overall, tactics of Blitzkrieg were the main contributor of early German victories (1939-1942). At the same time, potential of Blitzkrieg was fully appreciated by the Allies, who implemented its tactics on all fronts. US Army General George Patton used Blitzkrieg tactics in his European operations of 1944. After World War II, tactics of Blitzkrieg were used by Israeli forces during their numerous conflicts with Arab Nations as well as by American forces during the Operation Desert Storm. Overall tactics of Blitzkrieg are based on concentrated air and land attacks to provide a rapid and powerful punch through the enemy's lines in order to attack them from behind. Although, it is often forgotten that suprise was also very important to the success of Blitzkrieg and that is why Germany never declared war on any country that it attacked. The revolutionary tactics of Blitzkrieg formed a base for future development of weaponry and warfare.
