Author	J6A
Method	Solo
Victor	Soviet Union
Play Date	2020-03-04
Language	English
Scenario	WoaP001

This is an interesting scenario. The Germans are heavily outnumbered, however the vast bulk of the defense is Soviet militia with 1 step and 5 morale. However, they have good OBA support (and decent on board), a handful of light tanks, and 3 KV-1 units. The Germans need to clear the Soviets off the east-west trail on the west map, take the 2 towns, or get 6 steps across the river to win. Well, they need 2 of 3 to do that. They have a relatively small force, supported by a little OBA, some PZIIs and PZ38(t)s.

I decided to send the tank destroyers north, while I was going to send infantry forces up the middle and to the south with the PZIIs to sweep away the 5 morale Soviets. The Soviets put a strong blocking position with dug in KV-1s in the center, and the lighter tanks on the flanks. The towns were defended by the few good troops the Soviets had and Soviet artillery and mortars were scattered in the towns and woods.

Things started to unravel early for the Germans. A 4 strength Militia MG kept hitting with opportunity fire at 3 hex range and kept rolling on the ends of the table, causing German casualties and morale checks that the 8/6 Germans kept failing. Soviet OBA was on point, also rolling extreme rolls and causing casualties and the KV-1s were deadly against the troops that came up the center trail. I was a bit overconfident with the Germans, and they paid for it. The Germans made slow progress, with the PZ38(t)s winning a tank duel with T-26s, killing 6 steps for the loss of 2. However, I couldn't get the AT guns into position to fire on the KV-1s without the KV-1s being able to see (and likely slaughter) the Prime Movers. Eventually I unlimbered them where they could see the Soviet T-26s (and get the final kill) and also the Soviet positions in front of the town. I foolishly left them stacked 3 high, and a Soviet artillery shot rolled...you guessed it, snake eyes, killing off the 50mm AT and leaving the others ineffective. The Germans did make progress in the south, however the center was a disaster, and there was no infantry supporting the tank destroyers in the north. Plus, even with 8/6 morale, the Germans refused to recover from Disruption and Demoralization in many cases.

I called it after turn 12. The Germans had lost a lot of infantry, they were definitely not going to get any of their objectives, or perhaps 1 if they got really luck. Unlike history, the Soviet militia, despite high casualties, came out on top.

With better German tactics (probably come through the woods rather than up the trail, despite it being slower, use smoke to mask the AT guns coming the the front and unloading) and less extreme Soviet rolls, I think this could be a very balanced scenario. And thanks to VASSAL, I didn't have to fish out counters and maps from 4 different games!