Expanding the Perimeter Army Group South Ukraine #3 |
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(Attacker)
Germany
(Attacker) Romania |
vs | Soviet Union (Defender) |
Formations Involved | ||
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Germany | Grossdeutschland Division | |
Romania | 1st "Royal" Guards Infantry Division | |
Soviet Union | 27th Guards Tank Brigade | |
Soviet Union | 36th Guards Rifle Division | |
Soviet Union | 81st Guards Rifle Division |
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Overall Rating, 1 vote |
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4
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Scenario Rank: --- of 940 |
Parent Game | Army Group South Ukraine |
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Historicity | Historical |
Date | 1944-04-25 |
Start Time | 06:00 |
Turn Count | 30 |
Visibility | Day |
Counters | 197 |
Net Morale | 0 |
Net Initiative | 2 |
Maps | 6: 14, 16, 22, 23, 24, 25 |
Layout Dimensions | 86 x 84 cm 34 x 33 in |
Play Bounty | 216 |
AAR Bounty | 171 |
Total Plays | 1 |
Total AARs | 1 |
Battle Types |
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Urban Assault |
Conditions |
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Off-board Artillery |
Randomly-drawn Aircraft |
Reinforcements |
Scenario Requirements & Playability | |
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Army Group South Ukraine | Base Game |
Eastern Front | Counters |
Elsenborn Ridge | Maps |
Red Warriors | Counters |
Road to Berlin | Counters |
Introduction |
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The Germans had hoped for a longer reprieve after the failed Soviet offensive at Targu Frumos. But seeing the buildup of assault units in front of them, they decided to let the troops as Iasi take care of themselves and recall the battle groups from 24th Panzer Division. More drastic was the decision to send Grossdeutschland and the Royal Guards forward to expand the defensive perimeter. |
Conclusion |
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For once German intelligence was excellent, allowing the combined Axis force to strike while the Soviet Guards were engaged in relief operations near the front and thus unprepared for battle. According to official Guards history "The soldiers had still not found their bearing...the enemy had an obvious superiority in tanks, and his aircraft ruled the skies. In spite of all this the Upper Dnepr soldiers bravely accepted battle." The 106th Guards Rifle Regiment was encircled and either fought bravely or ran away in panic, depending on whose history you read. Whatever the reality was, the Axis extended their lines to the outskirts of Harmanesti (the town on Board 24) |
Additional Notes |
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There were no Romanian wagons in the PG universe when this game was released. Players may either substitute German wagons or download the the DIY counters for Romanian transport from Avalanche Press. |
AFV Rules Pertaining to this Scenario's Order of Battle |
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5 Errata Items | |
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The reduced direct fire value of the Heer HMG became 5-5 starting with Fall of France. (plloyd1010
on 2015 Jul 31)
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The morale and combat modifiers of German Sergeant #1614 should be "0", not "8". (Shad
on 2010 Dec 15)
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Liberation 1944's Tiger movement and armor ratings are backwards. They should be Armor 7 and Movement 5. (petermc
on 2014 Feb 14)
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These units should have a Direct Fire rating of 2-3, just like the RKKA and NKVD counterparts. (danradz
on 2011 May 04)
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Kommissars never get morale or combat modifiers. Ignore misprints. (Shad
on 2010 Dec 15)
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Two battles for the price of one | ||||||||||||
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This scenario played over 6 boards has a mix of Romanian and German units trying to take all the towns on at least three of the boards. The Soviets have to defend a wide front but are well led and have good morale. My Russian set up was to concede the board 22 towns without a fight, put some units on the board 16 town but the majority of units would set up on board 24. There was a small screen of units on the Soviet left on board 25 to cover the deployment of reinforcements who would defend the towns on board 23. The Axis attack is somewhat dictated to by the set up instructions. The Axis left flank attack is made up of Romanian Guards units supported by Panthers and Tigers, the right flanks is the GD division with Stug support. I detailed a German GREN company with ENG support to take the town on Board 16, 3 Panthers would also move to support this attack. Initially all went well for the Axis forces, the German GREN brushed aside the Soviet roadblock without loss and the town on board 16 was cleared of enemy troops is reasonable quick time. With more than half the game to go 2/3 of the VC had been achieved, by now though the battle had become two separate affairs with the Romanians with German tank support moving towards Board 24 and its towns, and the GREN of GD division already involved in skirmishes on the outskirts of the Board 23 towns and the hastily thrown up dugout of the 81st Guards. For a few turns I could not decide as the German commander which of my two attacks had the most chance of succeeding, and activation's flitted between both flanks. In the end I went for the left flank attack as there was now no enemy tanks of A/T guns on that side of the board. The Romanian INF threw themselves at the staunch Soviet defenders and losses on both sides quickly mounted. FOW now played a part and their were three very short game turns from GT17 thru to GT20 (GT19 was longer) which threw the Axis attack off schedule. By this time there were some German ground troops now in support of the Royal Guards but they got sucked into the vicious house to house fighting which was now raging in 4 of the 6 town hexes and were unable to join up with the German tanks. The Soviets encouraged by their KOM now launched a limited counterattack which succeeded in Disrupting and Demoralising a whole stack of Romanian INF/ENG and a German PANTHER, meanwhile on the right flank very little was happening just the odd long range shot and the ongoing assaults on the edge of town. Finally with Axis losses outstripping the Soviets the attack was called off. The Perimeter would not be expanding as much as my waist. A good solid scenario this, I am sure Herr Hughes would have made a better job of this attack,however the scenario does though show that any alliance is a strong as it's weakest link the axis had 25 step losses 20 of them being Romanian, (though to be fair they did do most of the fighting) A good set up for the Russians also helped make this a little more one sided than it should have been. Worthy of a replay this one! |
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