Return to Sender MTO (id:#63517)
Prior Publication: Armies of Oblivion
See Also: Return to Sender by Multi-Man Publishing Return To Sender by Critical Hit
Designer: Brian Martuzas
Starter kit scenario?:    Deluxe scenario?:
 
Balance:
BulgarianGerman (SS)
22.222222222222%

Overview:

The Bulgarian surrender and subsequent re-entry into the war on the side of the Allies left the German positions in the Balkans in disarray. Army Group F was entrusted with keeping a withdrawal route open for forces in Geece and Albania. Elements of the the 7th SS Prinz Eugen Division took up positions in the Rabicka Gora Mountains. Before long, the familiar whine of German 105mm artillery could be heard, but this time the shells were incoming. German-made weapons were being turned against them by their former ally. Soon came German panzers, but with Bulgarian markings. Trucks with mounted infantry accompanied the tanks. Fortunately for the Prinz Eugen Division, it had been augmented with “88s” that had been withdrawn from the Ploesti oilfields after Romania’s defection to the Allies.
Attacker: Bulgarian (2nd Army)
Defender: German (SS) (3rd Bataillon, 13th Regiment, 7th SS Division Prinz Eugen and 3rd Company (FlaK), 7th Panzerjäger Bataillon and remnants of the Ploesti Area FlaK Detachment)  
10 turns
    Players: 2     OBA: Bulgarian     Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:30.0 D:15.5
AFVs: A:9
PzKpfw IVH(g) x 6
SPW 251/1(g) x 3
Medium Truck x 6

AFVs: D:0
Guns: A:0
5cm leGrW 36(g) x 3
D:5
2cm FlaK 38 x 2
8.8cm FlaK 18 x 3
5cm leGrW 36 x 2

Victory Conditions:

Exit VP: Building Control VC: Area Control VC:
Unit Based VC: LOS Style VC: CVP Cap:
Misc Rules: A: Air Support turns 2-4.
Overlays: Hi12
Errata (source)
Overcast starts on turn 8, not 5.Journal13
Players wanting to play this game/Request a match:

Scenario info

Last Played:
DateReporterOpponentBal.ResultTimeComments
2023-06-01(A) Jeff B vs John Fedoriw German (SS) win11.25 hrsI opted for a heabvy south approach, with a large stack laden with MGs set to camp out in the northern end of the wooded hill. Two squads and my 9-1 were shredded by some extremely effective area fire by the 88s, and a huge pile of unused SWs lay there to mark the spot. Plus I lost a tank to a very sneaky LOS. I should've parked my radio observer in the stone building up on the hill to get that ball rolling, but I figured I needed that extra leader to get my men to the front as quickly as possible. Turn 2 saw me try to lay some smoke for my continued advance, but all but one tank ran out. An extremely tough VC to begin with, this was going to be a disaster. Turn 3 saw me lose a plane to heavy AA fire before it could even arrive to the fight, and I lost a tank on my break for the gully. The level 2 hill in the middle was heavily manned, and was going to be very difficult to clear. Turn 4 saw me push them off the summit however, but at the cost of yet another tank. Turn 5 saw me continue trying to clear the middle hill, eliminating two squads and two leaders, but at the heavy cost of two HTs and another tank. And he still had a strong bastion protecting the hill. Turn 6 still saw the hill uncleared, with a 9-1, squad, and HMG still holding out. Plus I lost my last two tanks and, more importantly, last of my AFVs. Without armor support, clearing the guns was going to be nie impossible, let alone clearing all the Germans that had dug themselves in on the wooded southern end of the big hill. I played it out for two more turns, but the death by a thousand cuts was just too much to overcome, and I never took even a single gun. My plane performed very poorly, his guns shot very well, and my poor use of OBA didn't help any. All-in-all not a terrible game, but I knew without smoke this would be a loss, and so it was.
2021-11-27(D) Kermit Mullins vs Dan Best German (SS) winThe Bulgarians ran into a buzzsaw of MG and 88mm fire. by Turn 2, four of the MKIV's were knocked out and 8 Bulgarian squads were KIA'd with broken and ELR'd units on the field. The Germans had only a single broken squad. After 2 turns, it was over with a Bulgarian concession for a German win.
2021-08-26(A) Michael Rodgers vs Bruno L'Archeveque German (SS) winAs Bulgarian, I played for the long game, used a lot of HS, and did not ride loaded in trucks. I even kept my tanks mostly out of sight of the 88s. My radio broke on turn two and (using Pleva OBA rules) did not come back until turn five. In turn six, one 88 and the HMG together during a Prep fire broke almost every Bulgarian unit they could see, about eight units. Germans still had most of their squads. Rain had started too, so conceded then. Played this before J13 errata publichsed.
View all or balance report
ActionDate
Pte Parts Linked the scenario to ROAR2024-07-17 01:55:02
mtrodgers99 Added a playing2023-07-29 00:40:14
mtrodgers99 Posted a link/reference2023-07-29 00:33:05
mtrodgers99 Added Errata2023-07-29 00:29:41
buser333 Added a playing2023-06-09 12:32:51
FileDescriptionUserViews
(bulgarian.png)Imagehoxson11005
(bulg-ss sm.png)Imagehoxson1853
(asl120.gif)Map Imagehoxson1981
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Statistics:
Avg Rating: 5.67Votes: 3
Views: 4512
To-Play list count: 0
Estimated Play time: 15.7 hours
Recorded Games: 3
Archive recorded plays:
Bulgarian0
German (SS)3
Drawn:0

ROAR Data: (as of today)
Return to Sender [Confirmed]
[A] Bulgarian 4
[D] German 11
All Rights Reserved. (c)2022 Dave Ramsey.