Introduction

June 23, 1941. In the initial days of Operation Barbarossa, the German 1st Battalion, Panzer Regiment 15 encountered some elements of the Soviet 10th Tank Division.

The main objectives:

1. Inflict casualties on the Enemy.
2. Avoid taking casualties.

Note: Score will be denoted by (x-y), where x=German score, y=Russian score. Russian score is divided AFV/Infantry

0900

German forces race eastward while the Soviet armour heads to the plains SW of the town of Nonamov

0915

The German armour in the southwest opens fire (to no effect). Soviets return fire and the PzIVE is first reduced then eliminated by the mighty T-34a tanks. (0-2)

As the Soviet armour is otherwise engaged, the German infantry take advantage and advances.

0930

Germans gain the initiative with THREE activations!

German infantry assaults the KV-1 reducing and demoralizing it. The KV-1 fails to rally and is eliminated by the German infantry while trying to flee. (2-2)

Some of the Russian BT-7s are destroyed by German tank fire. (3-2)

The T-34s miss the German tanks moving into position

0945

The Germans again continue their infantry assault and a BT-7 is eliminated while the T-34s are disrupted (5-2)

Nearby Soviet Tanks eliminate some German infantry. But this allows the German tanks to concentrate flanking fire on the BT-7 destroying it! (7-2/2)

The remaining Soviet T-34a is greatly outnumbered and flees the battlefield. The Germans have won this engagement.

Aftermath

This was a devastating battle for the Soviets. The plan this second time was to draw the Soviet fire with the German armour and then advance with the halftracks. If the Soviets refused to fire on the German Armour (ie pass), then the Germans would not advance the infantry (also pass) and have their tanks undamaged in striking distance. Once the Soviet armour fires, then the halftracks would advance.

The main problems for the Soviets are three-fold in this mission:

1. German Armour Efficiency: Although better gunned and armoured. Being attacked twice as often negates this benefit. Having only “one chance” to hit the Germans means that the tide can swing quite rapidly against the Soviets.

2. Initiative: With German initiative at 5, versus Soviet 2, the Germans are likely to get 1-3 activations first. Which means they can quite likely set up flanking fire even before the Soviets get their first shot in.

3. Infantry: The German infantry can’t be ignored. But, if the Soviets focus their fire on the infantry, then the German armour will chew them up. I tried to use the BT-7s against the infantry while the big tanks (T-34 and KV-1) attacked the German armour. This mission would be much more balanced if the Soviets just had a few infantry squads to provide cover from the German infantry. This mission, quite simply, shows the benefit of combined arms.