Bill’s Germans stymied my Russians in this city slugfest. I’m not a big fan of the urban grudge match, but if you are this is your scenario.
About two-thirds of the Germans started in the board 22 factory, the other third in the board 20 factory, with a few sprinkled among the wooden buildings between the two.
My Russians started in an infantry-armor mass centered on 20N7, with a 2xMMG kill stack on the first floor of 20M6. I was afraid to set up in the obvious 2nd floor of 20M7 for fear of eating burst after burst of 20mm FLAK fired from anywhere below. We plopped a smoke in 20K7 and one platoon scouted the board edge woods around 20K10 just in case the Germans had a HIP gun in there. My troops, including the 10-2 and HMG, and tanks then raced north between those secure flanks to line up west of the row houses (D4-I7).
On turn 2, the Russians slammed the board 20 factory. Concealed Volksgrenadiers (the pickets) crumbled under fire from the Russian MMGs in 20M6. My 6-2-8s stormed through the row houses into smoke adjacent the factory, laughing off sloppy shots from high rolling 8-3-8s at point blank range. My armor came around both sides of the row houses being careful to stay out of panzerfaust range. The 10-2 led his HMG team up to the second floor of the mega structure (20E7) west of those row houses to later fire over them. The German position was folding like a cardboard box, but their sniper did mission kill a commander exposed ISU-122! A courageous German 8-1 and 4-3-6 with MMG held on in the factory for another turn, but then it was over with minimal Russian losses.
Meanwhile, my Forward Observer raced from his starting position in 20N5. I had started him there to bombard the board 20 factory, but the Germans folded before that was necessary. Anyway, he worked his way up stairs to the second floor of 20K2 where he had a good view of the remaining German factory – before a sniper killed him! An 8-1 reclaimed the radio, but drew a red card and then he too fell to a sniper. That hurt. I really needed that artillery to soften the second German factory.
With the game half over, my Russians surged east in and around hex row D to close on the other factory from behind. As expected, the German wire was south of that fortress – out of the Russian path. But the German 88mm, 20mm, and mines were all well placed to interdict the Russian advance. The guns were in 22B7 and 22C8. Their cross fires killed a T-34 in 22A9, an ISU-122 around 22E10, and clobbered some infantry in the woods around 22C9. My Russians veered south, using wooden buildings to shield themselves from those guns, but ran into mines in and adjacent to 22F6. My sniper chimed in to take out the German 88’s crew while a flamethrower finished the 20mm.
Under time pressure, the Russian infantry followed tank-made trail breaks through minefields to enter the board 22 factory at G6. But German small arms and machine gun fire was just too strong. The 5-4-8s with HMGs earned the German victory by slicing down repeated Russian attempts to expand that doomed toe hold.
2015-02-15
(D) Vic Lauterbach
vs
MA
Russian win
Good scenario but German setup is critical - mine was flawed - let Russians get around my right flank early and close on the final buildings where their firepower was too much for the defense.
2015-01-21
(A) Martí Cabré
vs
Eoin Corrigan
Russian win
I was very lucky in this scenario with almost no German units passing MC rolls. I started with a human wave that overran the German HS outposts, aiming to the west factory. My plan was to first take one and then with all the units take the other one. Only the OBA, a couple of tanks and some infantry were pinning the east factory to keep them from moving. The German FlaKvierling opened fire on the infantry but was destroyed by a T-34. After closing enough to the west factory I dropped some smoke and crashed a couple of tanks inside the factory to OVR units there and make cover for my FT and DC teams, some of which were broken by mines. The units inside the factory broke almost all German defenders so before Turn 3 Eoin conceded the scenario. Though I was indeed lucky, a lot of things happened (sniper killing commissar, mines, tanks inside factories...) which make it real fun.
