I won’t make this a large AAR but this scenario was very enjoyable. Basically the German start in control of most of the town hexes with a smaller force then wait for what the Russians will bring on board but if they can hold out long enough, they get automatic reinforcements with armor on turn seven. Both sides have the same objectives, victory points for town hexes controlled and victory points for enemy steps eliminated. Tanks count double. Half way through, I still had no idea who was winning but the Soviet started to get the upper hand in towns hexes by the sheer numbers but there was still hope for the Germans as armor reinforcements were on the way. This hope faded as the Soviet had the a great ambush setup, with a lines of T-34/85’s and one SU-76 that blasted them as they came into range, over or around the hill. They also had great die rolls, or good marksmanship, depending on how you want to look at it. Burning all that German armor made up for all that lost Infantry and put the Russians way on top for a clear victory. This was really a fun play and I highly recommend it. 12 turns, one map, and manageable force, with a nice unit mix, makes it a winner. I lost two leaders on each side, so it was brutal combat, with many steps lost.

Soviet 47 points

German 29 points

Major Soviet Victory

The Soviets advanced with the Guard units and tanks on their left, intent on taking on a small town hex on the hill occupied by 2 German grenadiers and an officer. The RKKA advanced on the Soviet right, heading towards the woods to assemble and wait for a full frontal human wave assault on the town once the one hex town had been taken by the Guards. The Soviet officers drawn were a dismal lot, with a bunch of 7-0's and even a 6-0! A harbinger of things to come. The guards advancing on the one hex town on the hill came under immediate arty fire and dispersals and demoralizations were common. I advanced the T-34/85's adjacent, to the one hex town, but the tankers aim proved miserable, and one tank step was picked off by a German 75 in the town. The Guards finally assaulted and won the town hex, but at a bloody cost. Meanwhile, 2 Soviet HMG units were inadvertently caught out in the open by the Germans, and both ended up being demoralized. I pushed the RKKA units forward across the open plains, but they were suffering disruptions and demoralizations by the bushel. By game turn 5, (out of 12) with the German Tigers and Panthers about to come in in two turns, I conceded as the Russian. The assault wasn't coordinated properly by me, the Soviet commander, large errors such as not blasting the 75mm that was just dug in, not in a town hex being a big reason. It's a fun scenario, but the Russian player has to plan his assault meticulously, something that I failed to do!

Pertinent house rules:

Double-blind, Linear AT fire chart, Faster mechanized movement.

German setup:

The plan assumes the Soviets will move to departure positions 3 hexes from the North half of the town, as indicated by the jump-off lines. Soviets would then rush the town to the positions indicated by the arrow heads. In the next turn the Soviets would make assaults in order to gain infantry lodgements in the town. Tanks and SMG units would follow, and rotate in as excess and disrupted infantry move out. I figure that 4 lodgements would certainly collapse the town's defenses, 3 may be successful, while 2 could be contained.

Grenadier Platoons are placed up front, and in guard positions through the town, HMG support in the forward East and West hexes, Engineer support in the center. Mortars are in the rear of the town, with a guard. The AT battery is in the center of the town to deal with supporting tanks in the forward hexes. The AA and IG are setup outside the town to provide harassing fire to approaching Soviets. The colonel is in hex 0710 and a motivational captain (morale modifier of 2) is 0809. This allows activating the entire town with one action, and morale bonuses for nearly everyone. Still, the colonel says,”Dieses ist langer tag für das Vaterland.”

Soviet entry:

Soviet movement is noted behind the the light wood and on the hill. The Germans establish pickets (Observation Point) in 0807 to try to see what is happening. Germans sight part of a Soviet rifle company in 0402, while the Soviets see the 20mm AA dug-in in 0409. German blind fire on the ridge seems to have a minor effect on something. Soviets move against the flanks: Soviet infantry begins to emerge from behind the woods on the Western side. 2 companies of SMG infantry are moving down the east side. German blind fire on the ridge seems to have a minor effect on something. Soviet artillery eliminates the flanking AA position.

Soviet complete the envelopment:

The next couple turns have the Soviets making the envelopment of the town. A probing attack is made at 0608. Point -blank fire kills 3 steps. The survivors retreat to the woods.

On company of SMG is held up around 1209 due to artillery and mortar fire. The other advances down the Eastern side of the town. The German 75mm infantry gun begins harassing fire as the lead platoon is able to spot it. As the SMG company moves to engage the infantry gun, they see the AT gun lurking in the town, ready to fire upon tanks assaulting the front.

The Germans partly come to their senses about command exposure. The Colonel runs off to hide in the woods, while the major takes his place. 1 SMG begins assaulting the infantry gun.

Soviet artillery kills one of the mortars which was pounding the SMG company near the Northern hill.

Soviet infantry assault:

When it comes, the assault falls on the front and Western flank. The Soviet Guard SMGs eliminate the infantry gun. Artillery fire fails to disrupt the Western side of the town, as does prep fire from the tanks on the Northeast side. The German line erupts in fire as the Soviet infantry charges the line. German artillery, breaks up the Southern most infantry company. This allows the German grenadiers to fire successively down the line. Beginning with 0908 firing on 0707, and working around the town, most of the Soviet infantry is killed, or demoralized.. However, there is one lodgement in 0708, which results in the engineer being demoralized. The infantry which does not break into the village retreats to the woods in the West, most of the survivors are at half strength.

With the failure of most of the infantry attack, we agree the game is functionally over. We continue to play mostly out of a sense of completing the story.

Relief arrives:

German artillery causes substantial disruption of the SMG company in 1011. The mechanized infantry and PzIV move up to assault the SMG company. The T34s in 1008 take pot shots at the PzIV, then retreat up the hill next turn. The assault is successful after a second preparatory artillery strike.

The assault in the town continues. The engineer recovers, and the SMG breaks and retreats out. The Soviet HMG in 0707, recovers and moves into the 0808 assault hex. The mortars in 1105 move out of the town to hide elsewhere on the hill. The SMG company around 1207 moves back up to the hill and disappears.

Counterattack:

The T34s in 0908 cause damage and disruption to the infantry in 0909, prompting the move of the reserve platoon. When the infantry group recovers it jumps the T34s and the panthers move into 0909. With the T34s pinned by the grenadiers, the panthers wreak havoc. The surviving platoon runs up the hill.

The status quo remains in 0808 and will continue until the end of the game. The Soviet infantry seem to be trying to reorganize in the woods. German tigers move up to the West side of the town. T34s on the hill reveal themselves and begin dueling with the tigers. The tigers loose a step, the T34s loose more.

Final:

The Germans have lost 2 AFV and 8 other steps giving the Soviets 12 VPs, plus 3 for the town hex (1105), for a total of 15 VPs. The Soviets have lost 7 AFV and 22 regular steps, 36 VPs, and the Germans control 6 town hexes, for a total of 48 VPs.

Critique of German and play:

The chain of command was good, but would be better with the SGT and CPT, in 0808, being switched. The SGT had a combat modifier of 1, this would have been useful in raising the North-West corner firepower to the 16 column, as the LT in the North-East hex was able to do for his force. The AA position in West of the town was not useful, putting the gun in 0710 would have been more useful. The troop deployments were generally good, but I leaders we placed inefficiently.

This small 12-turn scenario has Germans holding town hexes on board 24, with 2 companies of t-34-85s and their SMG tank riders, 2 leaders and a Kommisar, along with an RKKA infantry battalion and an Su-76. The Germans have a reduced battalion holding the large multi-hex town and the single town hex just inside the German start area on the ridge, and get a good reinforcement group, including Tigers and Panthers on turn 7. I placed the German Col in the center hex of the large town with an infantry and an engineer to reinforce any outer hexes of the town, and I placed the 75mm AT and 20mm AA guns in the north-central hex with an infantry and HMG to either side, then filled all the other outside hexes of the town with infantry, placing the 75mm Infantry gun and one infanry in the southwest and the mortars in the southwestern most town hex, and placed a Captain and Sergeant with 2 infantry in the northern town hex, my usual thought of an outpost to slow the enemy down and call in OBA. The Russian Guard made for that northern town thingking their overwhelming numbers would take it easily and let the RKKA troops head on to start enveloping the big town. First blood drawn was one of the T-34 steps in assault on the northern town, which successfully held the whole game, killing all but one step of the T-34s and 2 of SMGs, while killing both of their officers while the Kommissar wandered the field reeducating fleeing troops. The envelopment of the large town looked by turn 6 like it was going to succeed, having taken some casualties but retaining morale and numbers, but just as the German Colonel found himself replacing a downed line officer, and while 2 town hexes hung in the balance, in comes the reinforcemnts. The came in to the town folling the road, and breaking out to reinforce assaults all around. This turned the tide for the town, but the Tigers got brave or just plane foolish, and skirting the town and the RKKA troops to the west, an RKKA LT with two infantry assaulted them, taking 2 of the few German casualties of the game as both Tigers took a step loss, damaging and demoralizing the brave RKKA troops in turn. With lots of Russian blood on the field, I played out turn 12 just to see if any Russian troops might at least challenge a couple of town hexes, but no luck. Only one town hex was contested, the Germans in the small northern town having chased away their antagonists completely. Major German victory, 70 points to 5. Great game.

Germans set up with all their units in town hexes. An HMG and the 20mm AA gun protected the small northern one hex town while the balance of their forces were spread out in the large town. The 75mm AT gun set up hidden (per a house rule) and the 81mm mortar unit was set up to be able to provide support for the large town as well as the small northern village. The Soviets advanced with their Guards units (SMGs riding on the T-34's) heading straight for the large town while the balance of the Soviet forces swept down toward the one hex village. The Guards infantry unloaded from the tanks which moved adjacent to the large town in an effort to soften it up a bit before the infantry approached. Meanwhile the regular infantry tried to assault the one hex town but were summarily thrown out. The Guards tanks had no luck reducing the town so the infantry moved closer. The regular infantry decided to bypass the small town and try attacking the large town as well. The Germans had some very good leaders positioned in the center of town though, and they aided almost every German unit. By turn 7 the Soviets had made little progress and when the German armor arrived it really tipped the balance in their favor. The big tanks began eliminating each other, which closed the door on any potential Soviet chance for success. In the end the German higher morale and initiative were just too much to overcome and the Soviet piecemeal attack resulted in too many casualties. All in all not a bad scenario, but one that needs a very good Soviet commender to have any chance for success.