This AAR is notable for me, because it was the first scenario I played after reintroducing myself to the Panzergrenadier system. I tried the original game, was not impressed and put it away. The 3rd edition rules and the new modules, caught my interest. Fronte Russo was what probably tipped me over the edge.

I wanted to start off with a relatively simple scenario, and chose FR Scenario 6 – The Fall of Petrikovka. Two boards, small counter density, and a little Italian L5 tankette. Also, it seemed like the classic situation found in many PG scenarios – an attacking force trying to dislodge some defenders from a town.

Set-up and strategy

The Soviets put most of their units in the town on board 4, with the two mortar units in the back to avoid being hit by bombardment. They also put an entrenchment, leader and reduced MG unit on the hill in the NE corner of board 4 to serve as spotters (an error I later realized, as the town gets the same elevation bonus), and two entrenchments, a leader, several INF units and a MG unit in the woods north of the town to deny the Italians easy access to this limited terrain. The idea is that the Italians will either fail to dislodge the defenders from the city by Turn 24, or lose too many steps trying.

Turns 1-7

The Italians survey the set up, and decide to rush their initial forces down the eastern side of boards 5 and 4 to attack the woods and set up some sighting positions for the heavy artillery arriving on Turn 8.

The first few turns consist of the Italians chain-activating and moving south. The Soviets respond by moving a leader and MG unit east in the woods, and by moving the spotters on the hill toward the town. As the Italians come in range of the mortars, one stack is hit and an infantry unit is disrupted.

Things then get interesting as the Italians get a lucky initiative die roll and can make three activations. They move the L5 tankette, an INF unit and a leader up adjacent to a stack of two reduced Soviet INF units on the eastern edge of the woods. The Soviets manage to disrupt the leader with OpFire, thereby delaying the inevitable assault. The other leaders and INF swarm forward, coming under OpFire from the Soviet MG. The two Italian MG units also move up to within range of the woods, while the 47mm AT gun unlimbers right behind them. On the next turn, the Italians manage to get a leader, an INF unit, a Motorcycle unit and the L5 in good order next to the two reduced Soviet INF units. The Soviets and Italians trade mortar, MG and AT fire, with a few disruptions (an Italian captain later deserts on his recovery roll; I hope it wasn’t Capitano Aceto). Unfortunately for the Soviets, the Italian assault stack is now out of the LOS of any leader, so will be safe for a while from mortar fire.

On the ensuing turn, the Italians win the initiative by one and advance to assault. I had to double check to confirm that the L5 did not provide a +1 bonus per the player aid. The Italians fight ferociously, rolling a 6 and eliminating one unit and demoralizing the second. The Soviet roll has no effect. Meanwhile a bit to north, the Soviet MG manages to disrupt the two Italian MGs, and then the Italian 47mm gun lands an incredibly lucky shot, rolling a 3 and disrupting the Soviet MG and INF unit in the woods, despite the presence of a 10/1/1 Colonel. The Soviet force that started on the hill has now reached the town, reinforcing it.

So the Italians have gained a foothold in the woods, and the Soviet defenders there will be under pressure. In retrospect, I see that it would have been better for the Soviets to have placed all three entrenchments on the SE edge of the woods to deny that area to Italian spotters.

Turns 8-23

The Italian artillery arrives, and sets up outside of mortar range and LOS of Soviet units. Combined, they pack a Fire Value of 44. Meanwhile, the Italian units in the woods advance toward the Soviet entrenchments to the west. The Soviet mortar unit proves to be a genuine nuisance, disrupting units and making the Italian side waste time bringing them back. The Italians eventually assault the positions on the western edge of the forest, routing the defenders with little or no loss. There now ensue several turns of trading fire at two-three hex range, with the mortar and artillery chipping in. Slowly but surely, the Italians’ fire superiority tells, especially after the MGs are brought up to form a deadly three-hex fire group led by a Colonel [editor's note: this was mistake - I later realized he could form only a two-hex group]. The Soviet stacks in the city hexes facing the woods soon become interspersed with disrupted and demoralized defenders. What’s worse, Soviet losses have now reduced their initiative to zero.

When the Italian player gets a multi-segment activation, he bombards the city, fires on it with his fire group, and then advances a Captain and two INF units to assault position. The attackers survive OpFire, but one hex is disrupted by the mortars. On the next turn, more Italians charge from the woods to get into assault position. This time, the mortars miss, and on the subsequent turn motorcycle troops and an MG unit advance into close combat. Soon, more stacks advance into the city. The city’s back hexes have become clogged with demoralized defenders. It’s a long and grinding fight, but eventually, with only one turn to spare, the last defender (one of the mortars) is eliminated from the city and the exhausted Italian troops take a well deserved rest.

Post Mortem

This was fun; it was good scenario to relearn the system. I’m not sure I played the Soviet side all that well. I was pretty passive, hoping they could hang on until time ran out. But then again, they came within one turn of winning. Two things about the system really became clear with this session: 1) artillery is absolutely the key to taking positions (or for that matter, defending them, as the Soviet mortars showed); as an attacker you must think about getting good spotting positions to take advantage of it; and 2) you must have patience. Combat results take a while to accumulate, and you have to wait until the defense is properly suppressed before rushing out into open terrain.

I give it a 5, because it was fun, balanced and being my first AAR has sentimental value.