INTRODUCTION

In this scenario, Elements of an SS Cavalry division and infantry elements of the 19th Panzer division move to protect the main flanks of the division while dislodging Soviet advances in the lines. I played Alan Sawyer in two skype sessions on this one and it went the full 25 turns. The Soviets are tasked with holding at least one of the roads AND inflicting at least 12 steps losses on the Germans for any type of Victory conditions while the Germans need to clear at least the North/South road completely. The Game ended in a Draw, thanks to mis-reading the VC on my part but also, the lack of any Soviet leaders with any kind of combat or morale modifiers made it very hard to press an attack out of defensive positions with any benefit.

SETUP

The Soviets setup concentrated on the crossroads on Board 9. HMG/INF in three stacks around the crossroads with leaders. Lt Col and 82mm MTR behind with 45mm AT Gun. Single Lt and INF on board 6 to spot in case of German flanking move. Germans enter the map up the north/south road, leading with INF and HMG followed by MTR/HMG stack. REIT units approach on the left flank of the large swamp on board 9.

BATTLE

The SS troops begin by entering on the road on board 9 in column with INF units leading the column followed by the mortars and HMGs loaded in wagons. The Soviet mortar fires on the tail end of the column as they are unable to move into the swamp and are exposed, causing a wagon to explode with an HMG platoon loaded. The Germans fire back with OBA and destroy the 45mm AT Gun. As the victory conditions called for the Germans to control at least one of the roads, the Soviet plan was to maintain their dug in positions and wear down the onslaught. The Cavalry units entered on the south-western edge of the swamp and moved to skirt the dug in positions by moving north through the swamps on board 6. As the cavalry moved on, the Soviet INF platoon and LT in hex 1009 on board 6 moves to shore up the right flank in the swamp.

Most of the time, I watched the Germans slowly approach looking for an opportunity to launch an assault or two that might break the Soviet line. As the Infantry and HMGs approached and attempted to circle around the main defensive positions with the HMGs, the Cavalry continued their flanking manuevers through the swamps on board 6. However, as they ultimately needed to get to the swamp on board 9, they crossed over open ground and loss several men and horses to Soviet OBA. In the meantime, The Germans approached the dug in positions and attempted to flank the left side and after some particularly brutal fighting (losing several infantry steps and having several cavalry units becoming disrupted and demoralized), they were able to get into position to begin spraying rifle and MG fire on the dug-in positions. Despite several units losing morale, The lines held, but not unitl several elements were executed by the local Kommissar. After several executions, it seemed as though the rest of the troops got the message and decided to return to fight. The cavalry did make an attempt to rush the Soviets from the northern flanking move, but were repelled by OP Fire and further OBA attacks that destroyed a unit of Cav and forced them to withdraw before engaging the soviets defending the rear area of the dug-in positions.

Even without exceptional leaders, the Soviets were able to hold fairly well, rolling well on morale checks and only losing a LT and an INF platoon from direct fire attacks. The Soviet OBA continued to bombard German positions that were revealed with fire and the casualty count started to rise for the SS. After laying down fire for several turns, the Germans finally launched an assault on Turn 19 against a lone disrupted INF unit and officer with an INF, HMG and Officer. As they moved on the dug-in positions, the Soviet units put up a fierce resistance, demoralizing the HMG unit. After failing their recovery, they fled from the assault, leaving the INF and officer to fight the Soviets, who where shoring up their defense with units in reserve along the road. Not being able to take the crossroads and continuing to take casualties by uncannily accurate Soviet OBA, the Germans began to withdraw from the attack having suffered 11 step losses compared to 6 for the Soviets. The Soviets made one final effort to inflict another step loss to gain the victory but were unable to move or combine enough units to provide enough firepower to inflict damage.

AFTERMATH

In the two scenarios that Alan and I have played, we have gone down to the wire and that is what makes great scenarios and this a great game. This was probably my best effort at playing the game as I was able to defend the crossroads and really left Alan with a difficult nut to crack. I rated this a '3' but it would be a low 3 / high 2 as it seemed that I ended up passing for most of the game as I waited to see where the main thrust of the attack would come, but I also had no option to combine any fire from any adjacent hexes, having all leaders with neither combat or morale modifiers. I seemed to get real lucky on my Kommissar rolls (who was an '8' morale and usually needing '6' to recover demoralized troops), and my OBA, which did make it very difficult for Alan. When we did get into battle, they seemed to be real close, and were it not for the fact that I had thought I needed 10 step losses instead of 12 that caused me to make some rash moves in the end, I possibly could have forced another loss for the win. Overall, it was a somewhat fun, quick scenario to play.