In an effort to replicate the spectacular successes at Belostok and Minsk during the first weeks of BARBAROSSA and to prevent Soviet forces from escaping towards Moscow, Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock’s Army Group Center initiated an encirclement of Smolensk. By the second week of July, however, it was evident that Soviet resistance in the Smolensk pocket was greater than anticipated and would take longer than hoped to reduce. Hitler, fuming at the delay, issued Directive 34 on 30 July which temporarily halted Bock’s drive on Moscow in favor of armored thrusts towards Leningrad and Kiev. Generaloberst Heinz Guderian’s Panzergruppe 2 moved southeast of Smolensk where it encountered Group Kachalov, an ad hoc Soviet formation under LT. General Vladimir Iakovlevich Kachalov assembled to relieve units trapped in the pocket. Kachalov launched a series of costly frontal attacks that the Germans easily repulsed. Guderian than slipped south along the Roslavl-Smolensk road, where Soviet forces attempted to regroup in villages around Roslavl in an effort to slow Guderian’s advance.
Attacker: German (Infanterie-Division 23 and Panzer-Division 4)
Defender: Russian (149th Rifle Division and 104th Tank Division)
The western HIP units were quickly unveiled by the Germans, and they had barely any effect in the game. One of the ATRs, however, managed to escape eastward and wreck a tank from behind. The Russian AT gun did a great job wrecking three tanks. The situation looked balanced, slightly in Russian favor, until the last 1.5 turns, where both the AT gun and the KV-1 MA malfunctioned, together with key shots from the German infantry to the Russian counterpart. Eventually, the Germans won by the slightest difference (9 vs. 8 victory points, with the KV-1 tank in game).
2022-11-04
(A) Kermit Mullins
vs
Scott Waites
Russian win
Fun scenario. My Germans moved through the north edge. The Russians were able to destroy all of my tanks by Turn 5. My opponent's dice were just insanely hot. He almost never missed a shot and I was having trouble with rolling constant 11's with 15 and 20 firepower shots. Despite my normal bad dice, I was able to make it a game and get 8 points worth of buildings. I couldn't close out two Melees in stone buildings even with 2-1 odds and that cost me the game as the Russians had 9 points at game end. Good scenario.
2022-08-19
(A) Dan Best
vs
James Treu
Russian win
2022-08-15
(A) O Ramaille
vs
Russian win
A very good scenario where the Germans with heavy firepower have to quickly reach the objectives despite resolved Russian defenders. The German attacked mainly through the Southern flank and quickly found hidden Russian defenders that were easily overwhelmed. One ATR managed to shock a Panzer whereas the AT gun failed to destroy anything. Nevertheless, German progression was slow through the grain and the Russian BT threatened the advance of the Panzers. The German infantry reached the outskirts of the village but faced determined defenders. Out of time, the German rushed to the center of the village conquering a few buildings but failed to control enough of them or even destroy the KV.
2022-05-22
(D) Craig Renier
vs
Steve Boro
German win
The Germans advanced methodically on both Russian flanks. On Turn 2, the German armor was surprised as they encountered both Russian ATRs. However, the Russians failed to gain hits or kills, despite 1 hex range shots. The Russians eventually gained one kill with an ATR, but both MMCs were broken, one CRed, and the Commissar was pinned leaving stuck behind in the RtPh. The Germans continued the advance, passing a poorly placed Russian AT gun. Once revealed, the AT gun often kept rate, but could not garner much effect beyond an eventual kill on another AFV until it was finally overwhelmed by the German attackers. The Russian BT, also poorly positioned, was shocked, and then recovered, only to be destroyed by two German AFVs which had maneuvered cutting off the Russian withdrawal path across the road into the village. The Russians were able to withdraw a few of their remaining Good Order squads across the road and positioned themselves to cover the open ground facing the Germans. The Russian KV set up to cover the side road and in LOS and CA of the Pz IIIH, but was nevery able to get a hit. Getting increasingly desperate, the Russian KV malfed the MA using IF and then suffered recall while trying to repair the MA. In the end, the Russians lost almost their entire force while the Germans suffered no infantry casualties. Using two AFVs, the Germans made a final push freezing a MMC with MMG in one building and another MMC in a second building which allowed the bulk of the German infantry to safely cross the road into the center of the village. With only one Good Order MMC remaining, the Russians conceded at the end of Turn 5.
