October 11th, 1941.

The German offensive is rolling along, however at some points in the front, the Russians mount fierce counter attacks that stun the Germans and make them think twice about how easy this war will be. On the outskirts of Mtensk, one such battle happens early in the morning, around 10am.

Elements of the 4th Panzer Division are counter attacked by the 4th Tank Brigade, which consists of around 30 or so T-34A's and some 12 KV-1's.

To hold the tide: Just 13 PZIII's, 15 PVIV's and some infantry.

This game was played between my friend Jeff and I and was our first large scale game of PG: Eastern Front, so neither of us had the games tactics down yet. However by the end I would learn about cross fire real well.

TURN 1 10:00am

The Russians rumble in off the west edge of Board 1, meanwhile the Germans, stuck in the mud and the grime of the Russian fall season, try to take up spots that will allow for spotting and cross fires early. The Russians are not hindered by the mud and they come on fast.

TURN 2 10:15 am

The Russian armored column fans out, and so do the Germans. The mud limits their movement, but the Panzer IV's anchor the right flank and the mass of the Panzer III'3 fan out and take the left flank. The infantry on the trucks disembarks and takes the town over.

TURN 3 10:30 am

At firing range, all heck breaks lose and the guns of the T-34's crackle to life, as the Germans take 5-6 shots at each T-34 Platoon and find that the Panzer III's cant reall penetrate the armor! The left flank is in trouble as the Russians have no problem picking off individual Panzer 3 platoons 3-4 tanks at a time!

On the right flank a platoon of Panzer IV's scores a hit and forces a unit of T-34's back, but it takes SIX shots to finally dent the massive armor of the Russians. To the south more German units become demoralized! The combat is fast and furious, so many tanks and shells flying everywhere!

TURN 4 10:45 am

The situation worsens for the Germans, and they now realize that the left flank is doomed. The Panzer III's are unable to stem the tide of the Russian T-34's and the wave rolls them over. First 6 then 10 Panzer III's are eliminated. The left flank of the Germans falls back toward Mtensk. Meanwhile north, a nasty Russian crossfire blows 5 Panzer IV's off the map and suddenly the Germans are 3 whole platoons down. Firing back, another Panzer IV platoon gets frist blood after 5 shots and takes out 5 T-34's, but the situation is critical.

Falling back to the town, the German Panzer III's strike one last blow and force a platoon of Russian T-60's back away from the town.

Facing odds that they cannot stop, the German Lieutenant in charge of the infantry defending Mtensk orders them to re load aboard the rickety trucks and retreat back to the east, to rejoin the stronger units that are coming along to reinforce Mtensk

The Germans are forced to withdraw from the Mtensk area and await air support to stem the Russian metal beasts that they are not used to encountering in such force.

The things Jeff and I learned here will go a long way toward understanding the mechanics of Panzer Grenadier.

First off, October on the Easter Front stinks! The mud reduced all my movement by 3, and it doubled the terrain cost of everything but roads. I was bogged down and could not use my armor properly.

Secondly, T-34's my GOD. Sometimes I had to take 6 shots and roll as high as 12 on two six siders to even dent his armor. If he had moved or I was at long range, I could not even hurt him

All in all a good game and we played till about 11pm.