Zelva, Near Minsk : 26th June 1941

Scenario played : Saturday April 12th 2008

This scenario is designed to represent Soviet forces trapped amongst the encircling and fast-moving Panzer Divisions in the opening stages of Barbarossa. At the town of Zelva near Minsk, a battalion sized infantry force from the Soviet 29th Tank Division, supported with some squadrons of cavalry and also of T26 tanks attempted to breakthrough the encircling Wehrmacht and back to their own lines. Facing them was just one reinforced company of the 15th Motorized Infantry Regiment.

At 1100am the Soviet forces could be seen by the German motorized company some 2.5km away. The 5th company had deployed on a line dominated by hill 230 to the North and a small wood to the South. On the hill were deployed an 81mm mortar platoon and a section of 37mm AT guns, supported by the HMG platoon and an infantry platoon. 700m to the South were deployed two infantry platoons in the woods plus one more infantry platoon some 500m further South of the wood. As soon as the Soviets were spotted, the order to ‘dig-in’ was given whilst the mortar platoon opened up at 2km at the screening cavalry but with minimal effect.

By 1115am the mortar platoon began directing fire towards the Russian infantry. This long range fire did nothing to hold up the advance and the Soviets continued to stream forward practically unhindered. By 1145am the Soviet forces had pushed to within 400m-800m of the German positions all along the line. Strangely, the Soviet Commander had failed to send his T26 tanks to the fore? The attack had been little interrupted and the Soviets must have been happy at seemingly delivering an initially coordinated blow at the 15th Motorized positions.

By midday the Soviet assaults had begun at hill 230 and the woods. The Soviet commander inexplicably unleashed an unsupported cavalry charge at the now dug-in Machine gun platoon atop the hill and not surprisingly suffered horrid casualties with no effect on the enemy. The leading elements of the Soviet infantry were also mauled by the defenders, absorbing enough casualties to lend themselves to a demoralized state. At the woods too, the Red infantry suffered 75 casualties or more as the German infantry platoons positioned there were able to bring down a heavy and accurate small arms fire at their attackers. Despite this, at 1215pm, the Soviets were very much enveloping the wood. In balance, the first wave of assaulting infantry at hill 230 had been repulsed with losses of some 100 men or so.

With the hill looking much safer by 1245pm, the Germans released the two platoons of infantry on it and dispatched them with haste in order to support the position at the woods which was by now much outnumbered and also to try and hinder any Russians attempting to slip past and to safety beyond. It was not clear at this time whether this move was perhaps too late. Soviet infantry were now engaged in close quarters combat within the wood thus holding the German infantry there in check whilst their comrades continued to sweep round the area towards what appeared undefended territory beyond and perhaps a successful break-out?

Now two hours into the battle, four platoons of Soviet infantry engaged at the wood broke off and away eastwards to affect the break-out. To the North, the T26’s appeared to be passing hill 230 seemingly unmolested? Despite this apparent advantage, there were many Soviet troops from the first assault on the hill retreating back towards Zelva for the safety of the town having taken some punishment in that first assault. At 1.15pm, the German infantry released from hill 230 make contact with the four Soviet platoons trying to exit. The German infantry attacked them and halted them from making further progress as both sides engage in a firefight. At the hill, one squadron of T26’s are disrupted as their supporting infantry, perhaps as many as 100 are wiped out by the MG and Mortar platoon defending the hill. As a result, some of the tanks became reticent to advance further.

1.30pm and the Soviets engaged in the firefight with the German infantry lose some 50-60 men in the exchange as opposed to perhaps 10-12 German casualties. One Soviet platoon breaks out and the T26 tanks head east for what appears safety. By this time, the Soviet attack is bitty and uncoordinated and the battle had now settled down to a cluster of smaller actions that would all prove important to the final outcome. But as time wore on it became more and more evident that the Soviets had sustained too many casualties, including a number of tanks to the now re-deployed AT guns. As the battle petered out, Soviet break-outs totaled some 400 men and a squadron of tanks. By 4pm, some 500 or more Soviets had retreated back to Zelva, about 400-450 had been killed as opposed to only 40-70 German casualties. The break-out attempt had failed, perhaps only just? But enough to be considered a Russian defeat. The 5th Company, 15th Motorized Regiment had performed exceptionally in the face of over-whelming odds.

All my AAR's are from memory so please forgive any error,s. In this scenario battered Soviet troops try to breakout of an encirclement. I seem to remember it went to the wire as my brave Soviet boys tried to get off the map. One highlight (or lowlight really) was when I charged a German MG nest with cav, not a smart move. The game ended with a German victory however I think this one could go either way. Worth a replay.

En este escenario una compañía reforzada alemana de infantería tiene que bloquear el regreso a sus líneas de varias unidades enemigas embolsadas (alrededor de dos batallones de infantería, más algunas secciones de caballería y dos secciones de tanques). Las unidades soviéticas, además de tener baja moral (7/5), están muy desorganizadas, ya que cuentan al inicio con sólo dos líderes.

Los alemanes establecen una línea que se apoya en una pequeña colina. Los soviéticos avanzan inmediatamente hacia la débil línea alemana. Los alemanes hacen fuego con una sección de morteros sobre los líderes enemigos, consiguiendo desmoralizar a uno, con lo que logran paralizar momentáneamente a cerca de la mitad de los atacantes. El otro líder dirige sus unidades contra la línea alemana en un ataque desesperado. El fuego de oportunidad alemana frena a parte de los atacantes, pero otros consiguen rebasar la línea.

El primer líder consigue rehacerse y, junto a otros líderes llegados al campo de batalla, reorganiza a sus unidades y ataca la línea alemana, que se defiende con un fuego devastador. Sin embargo, algunas unidades soviéticas maltrechas consiguen rebasar aquí también la línea alemana. Una sección AT alemana de 37mm consigue destruir dos medias secciones de tanques T-26, desmoralizando al resto, pero no puede impedir que la infantería enemiga la desborde.

Al final del turno 13 los soviéticos consiguen hacer salir por el borde este del mapa 12 steps, con lo que vencen la batalla.

Los alemanes no han tenido ninguna baja. Los soviéticos han tenido 11 steps (los tanques cuentan doble).

(NOTA: No he considerado a efectos de las condiciones de victoria a las unidades soviéticas desmoralizadas que se vieron obligadas a salir del mapa).

The Soviets set up to activate as many units as possible. The Captain led the infantry and HMGs, while the Lieutenant led the cavalry units. Their goal was to race through the German line and exit as many surviving units off the board as they could. The Germans, as it turned out, set up poorly. The mortar and 37 mm were set up on the hill, while a strong fire group was set up between the hill and small patch of woods. During the first two activations, the Germans dug in. Meanwhile, the Soviets sprinted to the northeast.

As the Soviets approached, the Germans failed to react. Instead of leaving their positions and attempting to intercept the Soviets, they just sat there. In the first hour, the mortar had demoralized some reduced Soviets, but most were still moving. The Soviet HMG platoons could not keep up with the running infantry and were left behind. The cavalry ran to the southeast of the hill, hoping to get by the 37 mm and off the board.

The Germans finally left their positions and moved toward the northeast in an attempt to stop the fleeing Soviets, but it was too late. They disrupted and demoralized a few Soviets, but the majority were able to survive, run by the Germans, and exit to the east. Likewise, the cavalry units were briefly delayed by 37 mm fire, but recovered and ran to the east. The Soviets concentrated on running, and never fired a shot.

I realized that my German set up was poor. Instead of concentrating the forces, they should have been spread out and prepared to move early to close anticipated gaps in the defensive line.

Encore une situation différente : des restes de la 29ième division soviétique sont encerclés et cherchent à rompre la ligne allemande (sortir de la carte par l’est). Pas loin de mille hommes (vingt pions en tout), infanterie, cavalerie et HMG, plus une dizaine de tanks, et face à eux une centaine de fantassins allemands, un canon anti-tank, et un mortier. Mais les russes n’ont que deux officiers pour les emmener, et seuls les unités activés par des officiers peuvent avancer vers le feu ennemi.

Les russes peuvent chercher comme condition de victoire ou bien à attaquer les allemands, ou bien à chercher à s’échapper. Je décide de tenter la fuite. Les allemands sont sur la colline qui permet au canon AT de couvrir toute la zone. Un peu d'infanterie dans le bois au nord. Les chars passent au nord, l’infanterie au sud, regroupée dans une grande formation. Les soldats allemands abandonnent le bois pour pouvoir tirer sur les fuyards à pied depuis la colline. Au fur et à mesure, le mortier puis les tirs de mitrailleuse allemande démoralisent des unités russes. Les officiers abandonnent ceux qui ne peuvent pas suivre pour essayer d’évacuer le maximum d’unités en conservant la cohésion de la formation.

Au nord, le canon AT n’a pu enlever qu’un pas sur les quatre des deux unités de chars. Au tour dix, les chars peuvent sortir, trois pas russes de sauvés. En bas, en même temps une infanterie arrive à sortir. Les allemands se rendent compte que tirer de la colline ne suffit pas, et se lancent à l’assaut, pour essayer d’intercepter les russes. Ils arrivent à éliminer le capitaine et trois unités d’infanterie, mais plusieurs autres peuvent sortir, même si elles sont disruptées par le mortier. Finalement, 15 pas russes arrivent à sortir et les soviétiques gagnent, les allemands ont été trop timides, tirer sur les fuyards depuis la colline ne suffisait pas.

Le lieutenant russe a réussi à rallier un groupe supplémentaire de trois infanteries et deux HMGs, mais les allemands descendus de la colline les arrêtent. Pas de perte supplémentaire pour les allemands.

La particularité du scénario est qu’il se joue sur les bords de la carte, ce qui donne un feeling un peu artificiel. Il faut imaginer que d’autres allemands hors carte empêchent les russes de descendre plus loin. Intéressant pour la situation originale (fuite d'une armée en déroute) mais trop linéaire sinon.

Usually I finish scenarios out even after one side has reached their VCs and secured either a victory or a draw just to see how things pan out in the end but there was no interest or reason in doing that here with this one. It's not a broken scenario and perhaps would be very good for a shared match but solo it turned out to be a disappointmant. It was an undisputable Soviet victory at 13:30, the beginning of turn 11, after a total of 23 Soviet steps had easliy exited the east edge of the map.

The flaw in the German operation was that foot units decided to advance and engage the Soviet horde hoping to push them back into town. Step losses mean nothing to the Soviets in this one and they just kept pushing forward not concerned with opportunity fire and even made the effort to conduct a successful assault on German INF that were attempting to barr their way. The only thing the Germans managed to accomplish was to eliminate 75% of the T-26s with their 37mm AT gun but the Soviet tanks didn't even try to stay out of range of it and still got one reduced T-26 off the map. Demoralization was the best thing to happen to Soviet units which had made it past German lines and failed recovery rolls even better as it helped them to reach the east edge. If the Germans had deployed closer to the east edge then a lot of this mess could have been avoided as demoralized Soviet units would of either of been halted or forced to flee back towards the town. The Soviets also recieved 3 more leaders (1xCAP;2xLT) and an additional INF unit as reinforcements which greatly assisted in getting units moving or rallied.

I think this one is a decent challenge for the axis player and it is possible for the Germans to get a victory, I just didn't have it in me. It is a lot to ask of a small force with little stopping power to hold back overwhelming masses. I think the Soviets only stopped twice to engage the enemy and even then with just few units to cause a distraction while the others continued to push on. Despite giving this a "2" rating for a solo effort I believe this one has a decent replay value but probably only against an actual opponent in a shared match so perhaps in the future it will be revisited.

Author	t1M0t8yk
Method	Solo
Victor	Soviet Union
Play Date	2022-01-28
Language	English
Scenario	EFDx015

The Russians set up fanned out away from the town to the east and southeast. The RKKA plan is to keep the full-strength platoons together with the 7-1-1 lieutenant and draw fire from the German mortar team. The remaining Russians (reduced-strength platoons, HMGs, cavalry, and tanks) will avoid fire as long as possible before assaulting one of the flanks and/or dashing off the east edge. Both forces will prioritize exit. It seems to me there aren't enough Germans to stop rapidly moving Soviets.

The Germans set up the AT battery in the middle of the board in front of the hill, the HMG just behind it on the hill, the mortar team in the woods, and the four infantry platoons with two space spacing to assure all hexes are in two hex DF range of at least one unit.

It played out much as I thought it might. There's just not enough Germans. The Soviets worked both flanks, gradually scooting enough steps off the board. It was over by turn 10. It could be a more interesting scenario with more German defenders, a lower German casualty threshold, a higher RKKA evacuation threshold. Perhaps easiest would be a shorter turn count - I recommend 12 turns instead of 20.

I don't recall if the Soviets even fired a single shot. Their infantry moved en masse toward the very spread out German line. They took a few casualties getting through but within about 7 of the allotted 20 turns had succeeded in exiting 12 steps.

Too simple for Soviets. Victory conditions need to have something like "Soviets must inflict at least 2 step losses" to be competitive (but ahistorical perhaps). It's nice to have a Break-Out Scenario, but this one is poorly balanced.

Scenario Rating 2/5: For interest only, really. I upped the rating to a 2/5 as it isn't as broken as those cave scenarios, nor did it feel as pointless as Scenario #16.