22 June 1941

German plans for their sneak attack on the Soviet Union called for the Red Army’s 5th Rifle Corps, stationed west of Bialystok, to be left alone while tank forces surrounded it. But Lt. General Johann Pflugbeil could not bear to be left out of the grand operations, and part of the 221st Security Division went forward. Intended for occupational duties, the 221st had no artillery and few heavy weapons, these not being necessary against unarmed opponents.

Plans

The Soviet troops will deploy on the western edge of the wooded terrain on both sides of the main road. Four platoons will set up on the road in between the to sections of wood and dig in. The 82mm will deploy in the woods on the northern side of the road out of harm’s way, where they can take shots on the advancing troops.

The German troops will advance toward the Soviet position with the objective of engaging in assault combat. The defenders will likely take advantage of the terrain which will make this more difficult. The German forces have no artillery support or mortars, so this will be dangerous.

From 7:00 am to 7:30 ten infantry platoons and an HMG unit march eastward toward the Soviet positions. The Soviet HMG’s on their right flank fires ineffectively on the first infantry to spot them. At 7:45 a German Sniper takes a shot at a high morale Soviet captain but misses.

8:00. The German’s are closing in on the Soviet position in the woods. One platoon becomes demoralized and one becomes disrupted from Opportunity Fire by the Soviet HMG’s.

8:15. The Luftwaffe makes an appearance and a flight of Stukas becomes available. The Soviets retain initiative and activate first. The Soviet HMG’s fire at nearly pointblank range but the German troops pass their morale checks. A German Lieutenant 0-9-0 assaults the HMG with two infantry platoons. The Soviets pass their morale check. Soviet off-board artillery manages to leave a German infantry platoon on the 221st right disrupted. The Stukas fly a successful air barrage against the Soviet infantry to the south of the HMG’s.

8:30. A German sniper hits the Soviet 1-10-1 Captain. The German assault against the HMG continues but produces no results. Both sides exchange fire to no avail, while the Germans continue to bring up their right flank. Soviet mortars and off-board artillery also fire but with no real effect.

8:45. The Germans have initiative again. The assault goes on and the Soviet HMG becomes disrupted. Soviet artillery manages to demoralize the Germans only HMG unit. Otherwise, the rest of the fire is ineffective.

9:00. The Soviets win initiative. Soviet artillery is ineffective. As the assault continues, two German infantry platoons become demoralized. The German HMG flees as a result of its demoralization.

9:15-10:00. By 09:30 the German assault against the Soviet HMG in the woods starts to render results. The HMG takes a step loss and the turn ends early with Fog of War. By 09:45 the Soviet HMG is eliminated as fresh infantry moves into the assault hex for a second push. At this point the Soviets have lost two steps and a Captain, while the Germans have taken negligible hits.

At 10:00 a German Major with three platoons fires at the adjacent Soviet infantry platoon in the woods. As a result, the infantry loses a step and becomes demoralized along with the Soviet 0-6-0 Lieutenant. Failing to recover morale, the troops flee deeper into the woods, and the officer goes with the demoralized infantry platoon. Again the turn ends prematurely with Fog of War.

10:15-11:00

At 10:15, the Soviet Lieutenant 0-6-0 recovers his morale but his 2-2 infantry platoon fails. As German infantry advances along the right, one of the infantry platoons takes a step loss. Then Fog of War ends the turn. At 10:30, the Soviet HMG on the southern side of the woods disrupts a German 3-3 infantry platoon. Meanwhile, in the German rear, the HMG finally rallies.

By 10:45 the Soviets have lost 3 steps and a leader, and the Germans have lost one step. With a 2 activation initiative, the German forces make two assaults in the woods. This leaves the Soviet 0-6-0 Lt. disrupted. Four German infantry platoons advance toward the southern edge of the woods preparing to assault the Soviet HMG and infantry platoon. The Soviet 82mm mortars respond and demoralize one of the German platoons. In the north section of woods, the Soviet 2-2 is destroyed attempting to flee the enemy assault. The Soviet 0-6-0 Lt. manages to escape.

At 11:00, the Soviets swipe the initiative and snag the German plans for assault. The HMG and infantry fire pointblank at the German infantry and manage to destroy two steps and demoralize two platoons. The Captain 0-10-1 is disrupted. He recovers but flees with his two infantry platoons that remain demoralized. Unfortunately, they are both destroyed by Soviet Off-Board Artillery fire. At this point, the Soviets have lost 4 steps and a leader while the Germans have lost 5 steps. The Germans counter by launching two assaults in the northern part of the woods and demoralize a 4-2 infantry platoon and disrupt another.

11:15-12:00

At this point the Soviets have lost 4 steps and one leader lowering their initiative to 0. The Germans have lost 5 steps lowering their initiative to one. At 11:15, the German Major 0-9-1 and Lt. 0-9-1 assault the Soviets with three platoons. The Soviet HMG holds up under fire and leaves the German infantry disrupted or demoralized. Along the center of the woods’ western edge, the Germans launch another assault against a demoralized Soviet 4-2 infantry platoon. The Soviet unit is completely destroyed. [Soviet step losses:6 Leader loss:1].

At 11:30 the Soviet HMG recovers its morale. The Germans assault Soviet infantry [4-2] in the woods north of the main road. Then two infantry platoons and an HMG advances with a German Captain 0-10-0. Soviet Off-Board Artillery disrupts one of the German infantry platoons.

11:45. The German force gains initiative by two activations and launches assaults on the defending Soviet forces. The Soviet HMG is reduced by a step and suffers demoralization along with the officer in charge. The Soviets rally attempt fails and the HMG flees along with the Lt. 0-7-0, but to no avail. The HMG is destroyed by enemy fire and the Lieutenant is also killed. [Soviet step losses: 8 Leaders:2 German Steps: 5] The Germans continue to assault the enemy in the woods. The German Lt. that is leading the charge becomes demoralized along with the infantry platoon.

At 12:00 both sides exchange fire and miss. Soviet off-board artillery is completely ineffective as is the 82 mm mortars. Both sides make recovery attempts with partial success.

12:15. Both sides continue to attempt recovery of their morale. Both sides’ Direct Fire and Bombardment is largely ineffective. At 12:30, the Germans gain a two activation initiative and assault a Soviet 4-2 platoon. The Soviet infantry loses a step and becomes demoralized. One German 5-3 infantry is disrupted and the other is demoralized. [Soviet step losses:9 Leaders:2 German Steps:5] The Soviet 2-2 infantry fails its rally attempt and flees deeper into the woods. Somehow it escapes without cover. At 12:45, both sides resort to direct fire and bombardment with no effect. Most of the German troops recover to good order.

1:00. The German forces have two initiative activations. The Captain 0-10-1 and LT. 0-9-1 order three platoons and an HMG to use direct fire against the Soviet 7-4 HMG and its Lt. 0-7-0. As a result, the Soviet machinegun unit and the Lt. become demoralized. Soviet Off-board artillery rains fire on the Germans and disrupts a 5-3 infantry platoon, which pulls back.

At 1:15, the Germans continue with plus two initiative. The Captain and Lt. combine again for more direct fire on the Soviet HMG [demoralized.] This time, the HMG takes a step loss, and a further demoralization. It is eliminated. [Soviet Steps:10, Leaders lost: 2; German losses: 5]

The Soviet Lieutenant 0-7-0 fails to recover and flees deeper into the woods. Soviet off-board artillery fires on the German infantry but they all pass their morale checks with the aid of the Captain 0-10-1.

At 1:30, the German Lt. 0-9-0 assaults the Soviet 2-2 infantry which becomes demoralized. The Soviet Lt. 0-6-0 advances into the assault hex with two 4-2 platoons to rescue the beleaguered infantry. The 2-2 [demoralized] fails to recover and flees under the cover of the two fresh infantry platoons. Soviet Off-board artillery disrupts the German Captain 0-10-1.

1:45. The Soviets counterassault the German troops in the woods, which are outnumbered, two platoons to one. Both the German 0-9-0 Lieutenant and the 5-3 infantry platoon become disrupted. Off-board artillery fire hits a stack of German units in the open but they all pass their morale check. With that the scenario ends.

The victory conditions are fairly simple in this scenario. The side with the most step losses loses. The Soviets have lost 10 steps and two leaders, while the Germans have lost 5 steps, giving them better than a 2-1 victory. A couple of random events played a role, especially the two sniper attacks. The second took out the Soviet Captain which lowered his side’s initiative early on.