In the aftermath of Operation CITADEL, Soviet attacks in the Ukraine followed the usual pattern: masses of med and machines thrown at the lines of Panzerkorps III, only to be thrown back by German counterattacks. However each time the new front line would be further west. In an effort to flank the SS divisions defending west of Kharkov, Major General Ivan Galanin’s 4th Guards Army threw more fresh troops at Hoernlein’s “Großdeutshland” Division.
Attacker: Russian (5th Guards Airborne Division)
Defender: German (Bataillon II, Panzergrenadier-Regiment 'Großdeutschland')
7 turns
Players: 2 OBA: None Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:21.5 D:12.5
AFVs: A:0
AFVs: D:2
SPW 251/2 SPW 251/sMG
Guns: A:0
50mm RM obr. 40 PTRD-41 ATR
D:1
8cm GrW 34
Misc Rules:
All buildings are ground level only. D: SPW 251/2 enters with all armaments removed
Very interesting scenario with different options for both sides. As the German defender, I set up strong in thee centre, placed all my dummy counters plus a couple of half squads on the right flank and the mortar on the left flank behind woods with a spotter half squad entrenched in front of it. I wanted to deter a flank attack and I got my wish when Eric sent his whole force up the centre with a view to capturing buildings. Things started well for the attackers as the forward defenders where overwhelmed. The Russians captured two victory building to get a head start with 6 VPs. After this however the defence stiffened and a series of low rolls resulted in casualties for the attack which started to bog down. When the German HMG halftrack managed to survived two ATR shots and exit, I was ahead on points. The mortar halftrack was less fortunate and was immobilized. At game end, the Russians had to charge for the exits with the few units that could reach them. A 9-2 leader and accompanying stack waltzed across open ground to make it to safety but that was not enough when the German 9-2 led a half squad off the board to seal the win on the final turn. Highly recommend this one. Would be happy to play either side.
2025-11-04
(A) Eric Partizan Eric
vs
Doug Leslie
German win
2025-05-09
(A) Andy Bagley
vs
Matt Ellis
Russian win
My first playing of this classic scenario started badly for the Russians with well-placed German fire-lanes disrupting my initial assault. Still, I pressed forward steadily despite some losses, and by turn 4 had managed to take three multi-hex buildings. The German forces were still largely intact, although I had broken his 81mm mortar crew, making it very difficult for him to evacuate this gun.
Things started to turn as the Germans attempted to withdraw however: a critical fine lane failed when the firing unit cowered, and another 'rearguard' broke, meaning my units could run through the centre unopposed. The decisive moment was when his SPW251/sMG, complete with HMG and crew trying to exit, was knocked out by a fortunate ATR shot, at which point my opponent conceded. Great scenario though (rare example of a rearguard action) with lots to do for both sides.
2025-05-04
(A) Louis Langdeau
vs
Derek R
Russian win
3.5 hrs
Interesting scenario. Derek hadn't played in a while, and the deployment in this scenario for the Germans is extremely odd. Lots of considerations that need to go into how you can set up to block the Russians from swarming, while also giving yourself a way to pull back. I took full advantage of my deploy capability and jammed half squads as aggressively as I could to try and break up my opponent's flanks, and around turn 3 I got a couple good results to unseat a lot of Derek's strong points. Derek couldn't make a rally to safe his life, and I started FTRing a bunch of his troops. At end of T4 I got 3 multi-hex buildings, and by the time we were going into German Turn 5, I had enough points about to exit that it wasn't mathematically possible for him to catch up.
Like I said, interesting scenario. German deployment asks a lot of questions, and it feels like there's a good layout there if you can find it. Finding it is the tricky part though! Going to give it another try in the future as the Germans to test that out.
