Berlin fell on 2 May 1945. Hitler was dead. The 10th SS-Panzer-Division crossed the river Elbe at the city of Dresden on 6 May. As most other German units on the Eastern Front, they retreated west or southward away from the Red Army steamroller. Realizing that time was running out, the remnants of the division made use of the windy roads around the town of Schmiedeberg to reach their destination: the American frontline in the south. They did not realize that Russian spearheads had already bypassed German defensive lines. The main roads were already in Russian hands. Like a constant "pain in the neck" the Russian troops of General Rybalko's 3rd Guards Tank Army pursued the retreating Germans. Unbeknownst to the SS soldiers, local Volkssturm had set up roadblocks as a pointless last ditch effort to stop the Russian advance. Those roadblocks hindered the Frundsberg in their escape.
Attacker: German (SS) (10th SS-Panzer-Division "Frundsberg")
Defender: Russian (23rd Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade, 7th Guards Tank Corp, 3rd Guards Tank Army)
6.5 turns
Players: 2 OBA: None Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:9.0 D:11.0
AFVs: A:6
PzKpfw IVJ x 2 M4A3(75)W x 2 JgdPz IV(L) SPW 251/1
D:6
T-34/85 x 3 T-34 M43 x 3
Guns: A:0 D:0
Misc Rules:
D: Hidden Roadblock on Bd 41. Streams are Deep.
Map Board(s):
41
50
Overlays:
P2
Errata (source)
Players wanting to play this game/Request a match:
I remember first playing this scenario as a playtest and already liked it back then. This time, I played the published version which was very similar to the playtest version, the sole difference being the Special Ammo Depletion Numbers being reduced for the Germans.
The scenario is set one day before the end of the war in Europe. A German SS-force, well supported by armor, including two American Sherman tanks (no Captured Use penalties apply) have to enter the playing area, push through a small defending Russian force, all the while being hotly pursued by a larger Russian force that enter on the same board edge as the Germans - but one turn later. This is a very original and exciting concept.
The Germans needs to plan a fast route to exit a very significant part of his forces. A hip Roadblock will likely block one of the paths. He will carefully have to consider with how many of his forces he will hold back and delay the chasing Russians. In the process, he will rarely have the chance to rally his troops that break, melting away from the number that he can exit.
I played the Germans in this one. I planned the entry of my forces to make best use of every MP (and yet I could have done it a bit better). Delaying the Russian on my heels on the eastern flank worked quite well. I also found the Roadblock a the spot where I had suspected it.
In dashing forward with utmost speed, I chanced my halftrack loaded with my 9-1 leader, a 548+LMG. Alas, it was destroyed by the Russian T-34/85 with everyone being killed. However, this opened the opportunity - still somewhat risky - to swarm his tank, which I could take out with his crew surviving. That Russian crew, though, absorbed incredible amounts of fire, inclusive of a CH by a Sherman gun until finally going down in turn 4.
Meanwhile the Russian tanks pushed hard from behind, partly loaded with riders. Altogether, though, my opponent was unlucky with his tanks. He overlooked that one stretch of woods could not be bypassed and thus detoured through the stream where the T-34 M43 bogged and mired and was thus effectively out of the game. He pushed hard - probably a bit too hard - with the two T-34/85 with riders across the bridge. At first, this seemed to pay off because I couldn't take neither of the tanks out with my Pz IV or with PFs, though some Riders bailed out to become Berserk, which was highly unpleasant. Luckily, during the AFPh, the Russian tanks 'only' managed to immobilize my Pz IV, the crew of which kept its nerve and remained in the tank. Yet it seemed that the hours of my Pz IV were numbered with a Berserker ADJACENT and in the beads of three Russian tanks, two of them at PB range. This is the time, when Intensive Fire is not an option, but a neccessity. I figured my best chances were not to fire at the acquired ADJACENT tank with the first shot, but rather at the unacquired one at 2 hexes range. If I could kill or even burn that one, it would create 'Russian Smoke' to protect me from the third one on the far side of the bridge. Luckily, indeed, this worked out, also killing that tank's Riders. The Intensive Fire shot then killed the ADJACENT tank and either that shot or a subsequent PF shot blazed it. With that, my Pz IV was 'saved' for the moment, because the chances of the third Russian tank of hitting it were now low - and it indeed did miss. Next turn, the Russian Berserkers charged into my immobilized tank's hex but luckily got blasted to bits by its gun firing into its own hex.
My Jagdpanzer was staring down the road towards the middle of the village and was (too) boldly confronted by the Russian T-34 M43 of the northern force. Amazingly, both vehicles must have traded about half a dozen shots at double point blank range, until finally the T-34 went down and my Jagdpanzer prevailed.
Thus, the Russian tank force was seriously weakened and allowed me to surge forward with more units and vehicles than would otherwise have been possible. The Shermans and my second Pz IV could keep the Russian infantry of the northern force in check while the Russian infantry only emerged from the eastern woods, when my infantry already had put some distance between them.
To make matters worse, the remaining Russian T-34 M43 with Riders bogged and mired on the western flank when attempting to circumvent its own Russian Roadblock.
In this situation, I had enough squad equivalents / vehicles to exit during German turn 5 - altogether 7. But none more could have come after those. So the Germans escaped the Russians to break through into the American sector and into American captivity when the war ended...
A blast of an exciting and hairraising scenario, which I can thoroughly recommend.
2020-10-11
(A) Andy Beaton
vs
Richard Hooks
German (SS) win
Sacrificed the Shermans to get through the defending tanks, sacrificed the PzIV's to hold back the reinforcements, sacrificed the halftrack to tie up the infantry, German infantry just ran through for the win.
2019-05-17
(D) Michael Rodgers
vs
Jim Runcimen
Russian win
The German failed to leave the rear guard close to the board edge, allowing the Russian to take shots at the running Germans.
2017-03-10
(D) Simon Staniforth
vs
Russian win
2015-11-20
(D) Michael Rodgers
vs
Andre Escobedo
German (SS) win
Andre Escobedo and I played FrF76 PAIN IN THE NECK; I had the Russians. This is a funky scenario where no side starts on board. Germans want to exit. Russian gets a small blocking force in front of the Germans and a larger chasing force behind them. Andre split the Germans. He sent some up the German left, and some up the centre. He also put two squads on the German right as blockers. He left the JgPz4 in the center to cover the main road that the Russian chasers would need to use. My initial small blocking force came in on the Russian right. On turn 2, I sent the T34/85 to the left in response to German movements. I brought my chasing force in on the German right to park a tank on the level 2 hill there. I did not realize, however, that the LOS is not 360 degrees; I would not do that again. I sent all the infantry that way to take out the German squad near there. Three tanks from the chasers took the road on the German left. One crossed the bridge to go after the JgPz4, but I forgot about the squad underneath it; I lost that tank to a PF. A second tank was immobilized near the bridge, where there was a third blocking squad that fired two PF duds at that tank. I had most of my tanks CE most of the time. A sniper small stun made my T34/85 fall to a PF. The other blocking T34 couldn't kill some adjacent German infantry and it also went down to a PF. After four turns, there was only one Russian squad left of the blocking force. I conceded.
