Well, we've played all 4 Sol'tsy games from MoL : All German wins and for those supporters of the hammer & sickle cause, I'm afraid they were quite substantial.

Here's the Final battle

‘Sol’tsy : Red Heat ’

March On Leningrad: Scenario No.5

Sol’tsy : 16th July 1941

Scenario played October 2009

Eighth Panzer Division spent three days fighting for it’s life in sweltering 90-degree heat. By the 16th July the Germans were encircled near Sol’tsy and the Soviets were determined to destroy them before help could arrive. With the German reserve units battling through heavy resistance to reach the isolated division, the Red Army moved in for the kill.

The requirement for the Germans was simple. Get out, quick and with as many forces intact as possible. To the east of the town was positioned Kampfgruppe Scheller. This thin crust of a force held one side of the river. Facing them, and determined to cross were large elements of the Soviet 70th Rifle Division and 21st Tank Division.. All the Kampfgruppe could hope for was to hold them at bay for as long as possible whilst the bulk of their comrades tried to break out westwards. And yet, to the west were the bulk of the enemy 70th Rifle Division. These would have to be broken through.

The German commander positioned all his available artillery in Sol’tsy. From there, the 105’s would bring down bombardments on the enemy and AT guns would try to impede any link ups of Soviet armour. Meanwhile, the German tanks and motor-cycle units would advance west and try to force a breaking point for the infantry following up in trucks etc.

In the opening hour from 0900, Soviet aircraft managed to destroy 25% of the 105’s in the town and German HMG units took high casualties by the river. In retaliation, the Germans put in bombardments against Soviet 76mm batteries and AT gun platoons. Some of the advance cavalry troopers in the Russian forces also took casualties when trying to cross the river from the east. But in the first 90 minutes, German casualties were higher than expected. Infantrymen were also falling to the massed Soviet OBA. The German tanks did score a success when they managed to trap a group of BT-5s and knock out 8 of them within 15 minutes.

As 1000 hours passed, both sides were inflicting heavy losses upon each other. The Germans as they tried to head west were mercilessly subjected to OBA and small arms fire, absorbing losses as they went. Meanwhile, the German armour continued it’s attempts to clear that path westward, forcing Soviet infantry into a confined area of the battlefield and scattering enemy armour that was too fearful of battling massed panzers.

By 1100 hours, the Germans appeared to be just edging an advantage. Gaps and possible avenues of escape were beginning to appear. Their motor-cycle units were or had broken through to safety, whilst the infantry advanced and battled slowly forward. Around this time, the eastern wing of the Soviet forces appeared to be speeding up their advance as most opposition on the river bank evaporated in their trail. This now meant that it was a race against time for both sides. For the next 45 minutes, the Soviets appeared to be inflicting a lot of casualties on the German forces as they tried to escape Sol’tsy and move into the open, or as the fled their advancing eastern wing. These casualties were mainly inflicted by the mass of artillery the Soviets had concentrated in the area, though their infantry were slowly inflicting losses as well. But by Midday, the Germans had regrouped some and in their turn, used their mass of tanks to grind down the western wing of the Soviet forces. This grinding down began to produce some gaps that the German infantry could attempt to filter through. From this point on, the battle had become a slogging match as both sides inflicted what pain they could on the other. German Panzers mercilessly gunning down soft targets and Soviet artillery pounding whatever victims showed themselves in the open.

For two hours the slaughter continued, but by 1400 hrs, plenty of Germans had begun to push through the perimeter towards safety. As well as that, the panzers had knocked out most remaining Soviet armour on the west wing and were in a position to withdraw as and when they pleased. However, further east, in Sol’tsy itself, the Russian reinforcements had entered the town and were now hunting down the German batteries there. This included having to fight it out house to house with some German infantrymen left behind to give the batteries some protection. The first Soviet armour that entered the town were hit by well hidden AT guns. After this initial surprise, the Soviet infantrymen armed with SMG’s engaged their enemy and began to gain the upper-hand. The poor German souls left behind in Sol’tsy would have to fight like rabid animals from herein and could not expect any mercy from the ‘liberators’.

But eventually, though Sol’tsy was captured back by the Soviets, the mass of the German Division had broken through toward their own lines and had successfully evaded elimination. For that reason alone, the Soviets would count this as a loss.

Casualties were pretty ugly. The Germans would count 611 dead but just 4 tanks lost. The Soviet losses tallied 900 soldiers killed and 36 tanks.

The four battles/scenarios around Sol’tsy town produced the following step-losses for each side.

SOVIET INF 91 steps, OFF 16, AFV 42 steps, GUN 23 steps

GERMAN INF 41 steps, OFF 9, AFV 13 steps, GUN 8 steps

After 5 months at least 8 playing sessions we finished the Sol'tsy campaign and even though I lost everybattle three out of the four scenarios were great fun. In this one surounded German forces have to break through Soviet encircling forces. I set up far too forward and Vince managed to break through reasonably easily. However a strong defensive line set up as far as possible from the German troops should mean that the Soviet reinforcements can arrive and trap the German forces. I would love to play this one again if I could persuade my FtF buddy.