Author |
thomaso827
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Method |
Solo |
Victor |
Germany |
Play Date |
2015-09-30 |
Language |
English |
Scenario |
KRBT008
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This 18 turn scenario has a major Soviet counter attack against a dug-in German force. The Russians are able to have a basic human wave attack of infantry and HMGs with almost every stack of 2 units having a leader. The Soviets start out dug in as well, but primarily so that any German OBA attacks are at a down 1, as otherwise the Soviets have little cover on the approach, with a small hill on the south side of their starting board, and a woods on the north, and I used the hill for the BM-13 and the woods for mortars, and placed the on-board 76.2 arty with their wagons set up in the eastern town hex where they could range in on the initial dug-in German positions. The Germans dug in most of the infantry and HMGs, saving just a few back for the town of Protasovo, one of the Soviet objectives on the western board. This allowed all the 40m hills to be occupied by dug-in groups of infantry and HMGs with good leaders. I placed the German 88 in the woods south of the town, the other AT guns and AA gun dug in hoping for flanking shots at the Soviet tanks, and the StuG III was dug in blocking the road at the westernmost hill/road hex of the big central board hill, where he could shoot at any Soviet armor that approached down the middle. This all worked well, as the Soviet line broke itself on the rocks of dug-in infantry, and the T-70 made the mistake of clearing the slope hex onto the big hill right at 6 hex range from the StuG. 2 shots, 2 steps taken. The fighting for the hills took center stage as Soviets and Germans fought in assaults. Germans won fight after fight but slowly lost steps of their own, and several German groups tried to withdraw to avoid being surrounded and cut off. One stack on the central 40m hill held out, destroying everything that the Soviets threw at it. The SMG troops managed to get behind it, only to have the leader killed and two of the three platoons demoralized. Even the dug-in AT guns, having lost all opportunity to engage enemy armor, held out in lopsided assaults. The StuG took out 6 steps of tanks before losing a step and withdrawing. In the next turn, the surviving T-34s took their revenge and eliminated the last step of the StuG, but when the two full T-34C platoons advanced, the 88 opened up and took a step for 7 armor step losses. The Soviet infantry had lost a considerable number of steps, with 3 LTs and a Major on the KIA list by the end of turn 8, and with over half of the infantry spread out over the center and eastern board, where many of the units had fled to before finally regaining their composure, the Soviet officers found it nearly impossible to round up enough troops to press on. Then, with the clock running out on my available gaming time, I rolled for turn 9. Soviets go first. Then rolled for German reinforcements. Elephants arrive this turn. Then rolled for air support. Germans get air support this turn. With the mobile armor forces depleted and the foot troops scattered all over the eastern 2/3ds of the board, I had to call it. I gave the Soviets credit for eventually clearing the hills, but there was just no way they were going to get 15 steps off the west edge of the board, and the German troops holding the town and reinforced now with 3 platoons of Elephants, were just going to be too tough a nut to crack for me to give them any credit for that possibility. So, game over, German minor victory. This is another one of the interesting Kursk fights that demands a replay, hopefully when I can get one of my local buddies to fight it out with me.
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