This scenario has a small force of German infantry and armor holding two towns and a large space in between from a rather large Russian force of infantry and armor. Russians have to do at least 2 of 3 things to win, being get 15 steps off the north edge of the board, eliminate 8 steps of Germans, and/or take at least 8 town hexes. Since the closest town to their entry is a 7-hex town in the southeast corner of the board, it is the obvious first choice for attack. I deployed the German Pz IVF2 in the town with 2 StuG IIIBs, an infantry platoon, HMG and the infantry Captain, along with the 37mm gun and it's truck, all in the 3 southern hexes, with the tank and infantry in the middle. I put one stack of infantry, HMG and LT dug in just north of the east-west road and centered so that anything trying to make a rush (not much of a rush at deep snow speeds) to get the exit conditions would take several turns of direct fire and possible directed OBA from there, and I placed the last infantry and HMG in the northwest town with the two Pz IIIs. Russians were split into two main groups, with the tanks, loaded with tank riders, along with a few more infantry and HMGs that couldn't be fitted into the trucks, and half of the leaders, lead by one of the two captains, heading directly for the nearest town, while the trucks loaded with the rest of the infantry, hmgs and 76.2 guns headed up the western half of the board, my intent to dismount infantry as close as possible to the northwest town and run the guns directly off the north side of the board as fast as possible to at least start an exit group in hopes that there would be enough survivors from one or both town assaults to complete all 3 victory conditions. Things didn't work out quite as planned for the Russians. Long range German tank fire killed 6 steps of T-34s rather quickly, with most of the kills going to the panzer ace Mk IV and a few to the two StuGs. German OBA and infantry direct fire disrupted and demoralized much of the infantry as they tried to form pincers to strike from both sides of the town while Russian armor approached from the center. As plans go, this one worked to some extent, as Russians succeeded in hitting both town flanks, while the surviving Russian armor pulled up adjacent and eliminated the Mk IV. After losing the HMG, the German infantry and Captain moved over into the hex with the StuGs along with their halftrack, forming a 30 column defense force, while the AT gun in the other corner with it's truck and a column 1 defense managed to hold the Russians for6 turns before finally being eliminated. Russians walked over all the vacant hexes, but stack after stack trying to assault the citadel in the eastern hex of town were destroyed, including the last surviving T-34s and even the KVs, with surviving remnants of demoralized infantry wandering to the woods south of town to try to recover, and where they would stay as an absence of good surviving leadership prevented their returning to more assault. On the other side of the board, Russian infantry dismounted as soon as they started receiving fire and formed into 3 assault stacks, while the trucks towing the guns broke off towards the north center and into medium range fire from the dug in Germans, where they were promptly eliminated. Fire from Russian mortars that had been driven up the middle and deployed to cover both towns had little effect, and, with the Russian OBA, managed to disrupt or demoralize the dug in Germans, who managed to return to good morale after a turn or two at most. The Russians in the northwest managed only once to actually get a stack into assault with the south central town hex, and there were destroyed to a man, while long range fire from infantry and tanks in the east and west hexes disrupted and then demoralized the next waves of Russians in the open before they could get close. As Russian numbers dwindled, they became unable to actually take either town, or to be able to get an appropriate number of steps off the board. They just barely managed to cause an 8th step loss among the dug-in force in the middle, keeping the Germans from having a major win. Great game.

Red Warriors, scenario #14: Feldwebel Schaffer

*Back to the old days of PG with a scenario from Red Warriors, reminds me of so many memories from the past but back to the game. This looked like an interesting scenario with Soviet having about three times the force but with three objectives to take for a major victory and two for a minor and the German victory levels below this. The Deep snow will made movement slow and both sides have off-board artillery. 25 Turns of fighting ahead!

*First of all, how to setup the Germans? Help defend the town hexes, and setup to block or slow the Soviets exit points, dug-in when possible and setup to do as much damage as possible. Still, there are still so many options in setup and a small German mixed force to try it with. This could play out differently with each game-play.

*The Soviets don’t have enough Transportation for all the Infantry, even if they use all their armor for tank riders, so at least 9 units must go on foot. One battle-group of Soviets head for the first town, to see if it’s possible to get 8 town hexes under their control and eliminate at least 8 German steps. The Second battle-group of Soviet tries an end-round the forest, to exit 15 steps off the North edge of the map or engage the second town in the north if all is going well in the battle of the southern town.

*The Battle for the town hexes in the South really fell apart for the Soviets, so bad in fact, that I now decided a Major victory could not be had at this point in the battle but a minor one was still attainable and was now the new goal. Losses in the south were heavy to both the Soviet Infantry & Armor units, as the Germans setup a good crossfire of armor and fortified the towns with everything else. The Soviets however had already eliminated 12 steps of Germans, so the only thing left to do was exit 15 steps and forget the German held town in the North. The KV-I moved so slow in the deep snow and everything else was slowed down as well. There was a dash for the northern border; with the remainder of the German armor trying it’s best to stop the truck loads of Soviet Infantry and support units. The Soviet unloaded the 45mm AT guns and the KV-I were finally able to assist, as the T-34A’s & T-60’s were burning or demoralized. The PzIVF2 was also gone but there were still a few StuGIIIB’s and PzIIIG’s but not enough to work in blocking the Russians.

*The Soviet had their minor victory and this is kind of an interesting battle for both sides to make decisions. It’s difficult to say which strategies are best, only playing this once, so this has replay value. The deep snow makes progress slow however.

Red Warriors 14: Feldwebel Schäfer

During the first week of Operation Mars in November 1942, the line between Chernovo and Spas-Berezje formed the critical cornerstone of the Soviet breakthrough. The Russian 65th Tank Brigade attempted to sever the vital road (P136), connecting the town of Belyi to Smolensk, but was intercepted by the stopgap German 1st Panzer Division. Conditions were appalling during the whole campaign, with deep snow everywhere and temperatures never above -20°C / -4°F.

And so, on November 30th, vanguard units of 1st Panzer Division hastily position themselves to block the onslaught of the reinforced 65th Tank Brigade that tries to encircle the town of Belyi, trapping inside the 246th Infantry Division and most of 2nd Panzer Division. A few sections of infantry, together with a platoon of StuGs and SPWs, quickly take up defensive positions in Klepino, the southeastern village. The rest of the German infantry and APCs hunker down in Chernovo in the north. Feldwebel Hans Schäfer in his PzIV, and all the other tanks and assault guns, hurriedly dug in just north of the P136, along the track towards Chernovo.

At 10.00 AM, 2 Russian columns enter the battlefield. The first one, containing all the rifle platoons, marches straight to Klepino without any armour in support. The other column has all the SMG and HMG platoons riding the tanks towards Chernovo. The latter only make it 500 yards before the T34s get peppered with all the AT fire that the Germans can muster. Two steps of T34s, and thus also 2 steps of tankriding HMGs, are immediately put out of action. Of course, both tank units being hit are the tankleaders, so while they need to recuperate, the other T34s ditch their tank riders and prepare for retaliating fire. At Klepino, a lucky Russian OBA shot manages to kill the only German officer in the village, so another Lieutenant is quickly send along the road to replace him. We will call him Lt Spears from now on.

A few minutes later, the first Russian rifle platoons are already in the direct vicinity of Klepino and HQ in Chernovo counterorder Lt Spears back to his original position. The 2 T34 platoons shoot at Schäfer, reducing his unit, demoralizing him in the process. The PZIIIs and the StuGs fire back but all shots miss or bounce of the T34’s tough hides. At 11.00 AM, the German commander once again orders Spears towards Klepino, where by now the Russians are already assaulting the suburbs. Quickly those Russkies run in a heap of trouble, realizing that assaulting AFVs without your own, is generally considered a bad idea. So both units of KVIs skirt around the woods and “race” along the road towards Klepino. Along the way, they end the still ongoing German Lt Spears dilemma by running him over, killing him in true Hollywood fashion.

When both T34 leaders return to good order, the Russian tanks once again start moving forward, trying to catch up with the SMG platoons that are by now already in close contact with the dug in positions of the German panzers. The latter retreat in good order towards Chernovo before they become pinned down. At Klepino, the StuGs are aware that the KVIs are coming, so they position themselves to welcome the Russian behemoths. Once again, the Russian tank leader takes a hit, but for once he doesn’t bat an eyelid, and eager for revenge rumbles on. At that moment, the German situation at Klepino is getting precarious. While the troops are fighting valiantly, the Russian numbers are taking their toll on the much smaller German force. The arrival of the KVIs now severely tips the scales in favour of the Russians.

At 00.15 PM, a fierce tank clash erupts at the south gates of Chernovo. The T34s duke it out with the PzIVs, StuGs and 2 PzIII formations. Feldwebel Schäfer and his unit are the first to bite the dust. Moments later the other panzer positions are all assaulted by Russian SMGs. Ach du Lieber! And at Klepino, after a cat and mouse game that lasted about 2 hours, the StuGs run out of urban real estate and are mercilessly neutralized by the relentless Russian tankers. Klepino has changed hands. Immediately the Russian battalions move out of the village, due north, leaving only a garrison unit behind. The KVI platoons once again hit the P136 towards Chernovo to rescue the T34s.

But those T34s don’t need rescuing. They are happily turkeyshooting the pinned down panzers, and when the KVIs show up half an hour later, they are already mopping up the SPW units cowering at the back of the town. When at 3.00 PM the Russian rifle battalions exit the northern side of the battlefield in strength and the defenders of Chernovo are practically being encircled by T34s entering the town from the north, the German commander grudgingly capitulates.

A Russian major win! One with potential devastating consequences. If the bulk of 1st Panzer fails to retake this road, the whole Rjev salient might crumble and would suddenly turn Operation Mars from an inglorious “meat grinding” failure into a success that could easily overshadow Operation Uranus!

So what do we think about the scenario itself? Well, the German defensive force is clearly to weak to really stop the Russians taking at least 2 of their 3 objectives. You could tweak this by adding a German leader and 3 or 4 extra inf, and also by reducing the duration of the scenario to about 20 turns to put some stress on the Russian plan of execution. But all considered, we had a great time playing this game, it is always heaps of fun trying to roll the high numbers needed for AT combat and running over Lts.