Panzer Grenadier Battles on March 28th:
Spearhead Division #15 - Dillenberg
Soviet Guards attempt to hold back a mass of advanced German technology.
Author GeneSteeler
Method Solo
Victor Germany
Play Date 2012-03-01
Language English
Scenario Gr46002

Introduction

June, 1946 - Hypothetical

The main objectives:

German 1. Inflict Casualties 2. Capture Towns

Soviet 1. Inflict Casualties 2. Hold Towns

Time = 6 hours (24 turns)

BATTLE SUMMARY

Soviet Guards occupy the towns and are faced with a mass of High tech German armour accompanied by heavily armoured troops transports carrying “advanced” infantry.

Opening thoughts

  1. Soviet Guards – yeah! At least they have armour efficiency. But still, compared to the German Tiger IIIs and Panther IIs the Germans just appear too deadly.
  2. German infantry is better with much better leaders. The Katzchen will make the Germans deadly in assault and protect versus bombardment on their approach. They are only susceptible to AT-Fire, but at long range (150% printed value), they actually have a decent chance of surviving Soviet attacks.
  3. Soviets would guard the towns as the Germans attack. They intend on making the Germans pay dearly for any town hex they lose.
  4. Soviets have 27 trucks. I decided not to put these on the map. I would assume each Soviet (full strength) foot unit would have access to a truck should they want to use one. Seemed silly to litter the map with 27 trucks when the Soviets were unlikely to use them!
  5. Both sides have very strong OBA (Off-board Artillery). Infantry should stay indoors and keep their windows closed.

The Battle

The battle begins at the crack of dawn with visibility of 200m (1 hex). The Germans enter from the west and move toward the Soviets. As they near their targets the infantry dismounts and gets ready to charge. (The Germans did this to avoid losing whole platoons to AT Fire)

As dawn breaks the Germans slowly come into sight (at 7-8 hexes). If the Soviet armour fires they will become “spotted”

This created a very interesting choice for the defenders. Should they fire (and get spotted markers) or stay hidden. If they fire, should they test their luck against the Panthers or just pick off the (empty) APCs?

Well, the Soviets decided to fire in the north and stay concealed in the south. It would be interesting to see which strategy fared better.

In the north the Soviets decided to knock off the APCs and 10 Katzchen were eliminated. But they were spotted and fell under heavy fire from the Panthers and Tigers (AT Fire +2/+3) which quickly blew the Soviet armour away taking out 4 full strength units (8 steps). Viscious.

In the south the Katzchen retreat as the infantry moves through the marsh on foot. fire. (10-16) = (German losses – Soviet losses)

Artillery fire then eliminates the German Colonel (decapitation!) (13-16)

Germans enter the north town as Panthers eliminate another JS3. (14-20) T-44s open fire and a Panther is hit! But the T-44s are quickly overrun. (20-25)

German Tigers and Panthers advance against north town which is quickly being taken.

In the south the Germans charge and the Soviet armour withdraws not wanting to come under German AT Fire! (20-29)

Over the next half hour the Tigers lead the Panthers into battle. The Soviets try to cause some damage but the very scary Tigers quickly turn them into burning husks. The firepower of those tanks is unbelievable. (22-40)

At the halfway mark and both north town and south town are almost completely captured as the Panthers eliminate every spotted Soviet tank. Score is about 53-24 now, but I’ve began to lose track so I’ll now count at the end.

This looks like it will be an easy German victory.

Over the next hour the German tanks begin their advance eastward once more. In the southeast town the Panthers tempt the Soviet armour to take a shot at them. But knowing wisdom is the better part of valour the red tanks withdraw.

In the north a cheeky T-44 hits a Panther! But is quickly eliminated.

The German tanks charge the final towns in the east as their infantry comes under heavy artillery fire. The Tigers in the south are ambushed by JS3s and T-44s which eliminate one and reduce another! But they are spotted by some Panthers. A tank battle ensues with both sides losing some tanks. Although eventually trounced, this felt like a moral victory for the Soviets.

With an hour and a half to go, the Soviets still hold the 3 eastern towns, but they have taken way too many armour losses to have a chance at victory.

Soviet OBA continues to rain down on the German foot troops but tanks and APCs move to the village edge putting the Soviets under devastating direct fire! (a couple brutal 45 direct fire attacks are made). Germans are a good 40 steps ahead in casualties inflicted.

The last 45 minutes sees the Germans, led by their Tigers, overrun the majority of the SE town. (at the siren they are 1 turn away from capturing the whole town). In the north almost all the German Katzchen and infantry has been lost. (only 1.5 foot platoons have survived!)

Time to tally the score:

Soviets 50 (casualties) + 8 town (x2) = 66 points German 113 (casualties) + 15 town (x3) = 158 points

GERMAN MAJOR VICTORY

Aftermath

Another fun battle but the Germans were just too powerful for the Soviets. Also I believe that the VP apportioned for the towns should be reversed. x2 for the Germans and x3 for the Soviets. Another possible “balancing” would be for German armour to count quadruple (x4) instead of double.

As it stands, this one is too easy for the Germans. Alternatively, perhaps halving their armour received would give a more balanced result.

Scenario Rating: 3/5 – Fun scenario, but very hard for the Soviets.

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