Once the German invasion of Russia was under way,
the Soviet commander of the South-Western Front, General Kirponos planned an immediate
counter-attack against the spearheads of Army Group South. In a four day tank battle that was
remarkable for it’s confusion and reckless violence, the Russians hit the southern flank of XLVIII
Panzercorps at Radziechow. The hills and wetlands west of the town became the focal point
of the battle. It was a full fledged “encounter battle” with mobile forces
arriving on the field at the same time.
Attacker: Russian (Elements of Gen. Karpezo’s XV Mechanized Corps and Gen. Potapov’s 5th Infantry Army)
Defender: German (Elements of 11th Panzer Division)
8 turns
Players: 2 OBA: None Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:16.0 D:15.0
AFVs: A:10
BT-7 M37 x 3 T-40 x 3 T-26S M37 x 3 BT-7A
AFVs: D:7
PzKpfw IVE PzKpfw IIIF sIG IB x 2 PzKpfw 38(t) A PzKpfw IIF x 2 Opel Blitz
Guns: A:0
50mm RM obr. 40 x 2 PTRD-41 ATR x 2
D:1
7.5cm leIG 18 PzB 39 ATR x 2
Misc Rules:
All land hexes west of the river do not exist. A: BT-7A is -/2/2 version
My last completed game of the year may have been the best. I've really enjoyed the ESG scenarios I've played, and this was no exception. My mortars had both road entry hexes covered and wreaked devastation early, immobilizing a tank and clogging both locations with infantry (one stack broke to a man, the other lost their leader, broke two squads, and pinned the third). I actually thought my opponent might throw in the towel at that point, but I'm sure glad he didn't or we would've missed one hell of a game! It was obvious he was going for the Level 3/4 VC when his onboard infantry made for the big hill, while his tanks parked on the southern ridgeline to prevent my reinforcements from easily making it over the bridge. This is probably the most obvious and easily obtainable VC for the Germans to shoot for. Unfortunately, with 8 Turns, I still had to respect the other options and guard the exits and stock the stone buildings. My men up on the hill would just have to hold out as long as possible. Thankfully the commissar leading them up there proved his mettle time and time again, holding out until the bitter end, where he sacrificed himself by staying in melee, allowing a squad to infiltrate out. An ATR up on the hill was able to knock out one of the Panzers, while an ATR across the way immobilized another. Unfortunately he was in U6, directly in front of the bridge, and was still able to hold my men and tanks at bay for most of the game. Meanwhile his infantry were moving up the hill concealed from the west, while my reinforcements desperately closed the gap. I made a move with my tanks to try and knock out at least one of the two remaining Panzers, but I lost two of them and retreated the other to prevent an exit attempt. But not before immobilizing the last mobile guardian Panzer. With their backs being pushed against the road, my commissar was able to lead a squad in to make easy pickings of this tank in CC while it was distracted from the front by my last remaining tank on that side of the bridge. As the Germans continued to push up the hill, my men time and again used FPF, knowing that their fearless commissar would inspire them with the courage to bounce back. The Russian ATRs were deadly at the close ranged required by the Panzers, and the last mobile one was knocked out by the men up on the hill. All this and we were only halfway through! I lost another tank trying to tie up one of the Grandfathers so my reinforcing infantry could start climbing the hill, but without ROF or IF I just parked another next to it and burnt it. This would be the start of what would later become a major problem for both sides to contend with - rapidly spreading fires. Turn 7 I was finally able to knock out the bridge guardian with an ATR, my commissar and company were clinging to life on the eastern edge of the hill, while my reinforcements (led by my amphibious tanks) were pushing up from the west. A couple turns before I had swung my lone radio tank north to climb the hill. On the last Turn he made his move to Level 3, as did a lone squad pushing up through the crags. My amphibious tanks and accompanying infantry finally reclaimed two of the three Level 3 wooded hill hexes in the triangle. But he would get last move to dislodge me, succeeding in only one of the four hexes by dropping a DC on the melee. I stopped a group of Germans short of reinforcing an existing melee by pinning the leader and a squad and turning the other squad berserk. Being that I had two concealed squads, a HS, a 9-1, and a motion tank there, he needed everybody in there he could get. Two other squads tried to CC another motion tank, passing their PAATCs but failing. And thankfully the fourth didn't matter as it would've been a rules dig to see whether another tank trapped in burning woods was considered good order. An absolutely fantastic game!
2017-03-18
(A) Paul Works
vs
Doug Kirk
Russian win
2017 March Madness ASL Tournament; round four. Doug is an excellent player and always fun to play. This scneario has a lot going on and lots of options for both sides. Fun.
