I had to try this one. Given the Soviets’ arm-long list of VC’s, the time frame allowed, the forces waiting for them, untested tanks that kept bogging down, and an order of battle that would make me doubt HQ’s sobriety much less its sanity, made this a scenario that I couldn’t resist. I set up the German defenses over its 75% of the mapboard. Then I assigned the Soviet armor its mission, and sent them off to meet their fate in a battle whose outcome was almost a forgone conclusion.

The main thrust of the Soviet effort was aimed at the German Heer units deployed on the west bank of the river on Map 5. The aim was to eliminate them, wheel around and push onto map 9. Meanwhile the T-26’s would clear the lightly held woods on Map 6 then roll east while the main force came up from the south of the large wooded hill on Map 9.

The Soviets were hampered before ever encountering a German unit by their own tanks. Committed to battle before given a proper field testing, Soviet armor kept bogging down, hampering the speed at which they could travel. They became easy targets for the hard-hitting and incredibly effective OBA and for equally disruptive raids by the Luftwaffe. The main Soviet thrust was weakened by disrupted and demoralized units. Their only two shining moments were when the German PzJr I was eliminated in a deadly crossfire and when the mighty KV-2’s rained death on the German infantry.

The T-26’s fared no better. The woods may have been held lightly, but they were held by incredibly determined SS units. What should have been a simple mission dragged on for hours with the first assault.

As the Soviet attack ground on, the Germans reinforced, shattering any forlorn hope of a Soviet victory. It was time to go home. While extricating themselves from the battle, the Soviets suffered enough casualties to give the German defenders a clear cut victory. The Soviets had once more reaffirmed in the form of corpses and burning armored hulks that armor by itself is a really bad way to dig out determined enemy infantry.

The special commendation for this action goes to the coordination of all aspects of the German defense. The OBA and Luftwaffe worked astoundingly well in breaking the morale of the Soviet armor. I especially have to mention the German mortar platoons that worked together to demoralize two T-34a platoons within 15 minutes.