The German Army had failed to take the city of Voronezh by early summer 1942. Three Russian bridgeheads remained in strength on the west bank of the Don River posing a threat to the entire front. The Hungarian Army was entrusted with clearing these bridgeheads. The newly arrived 1st Armored Field Division, freshly equipped with German-made tanks, sallied forth in hopes of clearing the Russians from the west bank. . .
Attacker: Hungarian (1st Motorized Infantry, 7th Light Infantry Division and 30/3 Heavy Company, 1st Armoured Field Division and 30/I Tank)
Defender: Russian (293rd Division/10th Tank Division)
9 turns
Players: 2 OBA: None Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:20.0 D:18.0
AFVs: A:16
38M Toldi I x 3 40M Nimrod x 2 PzKpfw IVF1(g) x 3 PzKpfw IVF2(g) x 5 LT vz 38(t)E x 3 Motorcycle x 8 Horse x 12
AFVs: D:9
Valentine V(b) x 2 T-34 M41 x 3 Stuart III(a) x 4
Guns: A:0
50mm RM obr. 40(r) x 2
D:1
76.2mm P obr. 39 50mm RM obr. 40 x 2 PTRD-41 ATR x 3
Misc Rules:
Pontoon bridges are NOT one lane w A: Only Elite may enter as Passengers
This one is a throwback to the days of big, brutally long scenarios. I drew the defending Soviets, who are favored, so Jim got the balance. The early turns went great as I picked off 5 of Jim's AFVs. In Turn 4, his fierce attack hit the 43M7 walled compound and cleared the 43W7 woods. I quickly lost all the Stuarts to the PzIVs, and Jim's other Panzers stopped both Valentines (one UK, one immobilized). The 76L ART and HMG stopped his infantry but not for long. By Turn 6, the 76L and HMG were broken as were most defenders of the walled compound. They were surrounded and doomed plus I was down 3 CVP (32 to 35), so I used the T-34s to bolster my left flank and hold out for the win. It just barely worked! Jim had a great plan and executed it well. Ironically, in very long game, he needed one more turn to win. His attack ran out of steam, and he ran out of time fighting for the last 2 of the southern 3 VC hexes. I had 71 CVP at that point. Wire in the 43V4-Y6 grain hexes and digging foxholes paid off. Jim: The Hungarians lack leadership, IFT/CC punch and have too many AFVs with low depletion numbers. I got close but needed more 75*/75L HE hits on 447s to win this one. The extra Nimrod doesn't help much. Three T-34s give the defender a big edge late. It's definitely pro-Russian but great fun if you like a classic East Front slugfest!
2024-04-11
(D) Douglas Leslie
vs
Marc Hanna
A
Russian win
Marc wanted to try a meatier scenario, so I suggested this one. Given that it appears to be pro-Russian based on reported results, I agreed to give the balance to the attackers since it was my turn to defend. I set up with the conscripts in the victory hexes in the western grainfield with the Commissar to supervise foxhole digging. Both mortars set up here with bore sighted hexes in the woods in front of the grain. The ART gun set up in an overwatch position from the other side of the river. Some squads started in these woods to slow down the advancing Hungarians but they were destined to fall back into the grain when things got too hot for them. The rest of my force set up in the walled buildings with the heavy weapons and ATRs. Wire was set up to prevent bypass and movement through gaps in the woods and buildings.
The first three turns saw the Hungarians moving fairly cautiously and, by the time they were in a position to attack the western grainfields, I had Stuarts and Valentines waiting for them. Turn four saw the Hungarians charge the grain with their light and medium tanks and some infantry. This did not end well and the Hungarian armour took heavy casualties without inflicting any casualties. To the East, a lone MK IV got involved in a "dance of death" with a Stuart in the Russian MPh which ended with the Stuart putting an AP round through its turret. At this point, Marc had seen enough and conceded.
2022-11-03
(D) Øyvind Jacobsen Bjørkås
vs
Tuomo
Hungarian win
2021-08-17
(D) Russell Dewhurst
vs
Gordon
Hungarian win
2021-08-01
(D) Dave Mareske
vs
Dan Best
Russian win
This is a good scenario, but the Axis player needs to take time advancing across the open terrain. A couple of blazing wrecks in the grain made things interesting as the Axis made their approach to the pontoon bridge by the village. The first wave of Russian tanks made it across the bridges successfully and were able to slow the advance. After loosing several AFVs and having three marked with unconfirmed kills, Dan called the game in my favor.
