Gemigabok presents...
Winter of No Surrender
http://www.saunalahti.fi/~ejuhola/7.62/chainofcommand/WoNS_1-2/index.html
Campaign Eleven – Fangs of the Wolf
Game Three – Parts Two and Three
Winter of No Surrender (WoNS) is a series of Winter War campaigns for Chain of Command and other game systems. This is our playthrough of the eleventh
WoNS campaign –
Fangs of the Wolf. The campaign is currently in playtest and will be released... later.
We're using Chain of Command rules with the At the Sharp End supplement, loads of special campaign rules, and 20mm figures. At the time of writing, we have John as Colonel Sharov and Janne as his assistant commander, today being doubled by Heikki. We have Jarkko as Lieutenant-Colonel Susitaival, with Mikko as his assistant command.
Previously on Fangs of the Wolf:
Campaign Introduction:
https://thewargamersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4954Game One, Part I:
https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=137031.0 Game One, Part II:
https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=137317.0Game Two:
https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=137428.0 Game Three, Part I:
https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=137800.0
As you may or may not remember from last time, a company from Group Wolf is assaulting the Red Army occupied Table J on a misty, dark night. Acting on limited intelligence, the Finns are astounded to find that there are over 400 Soviet artillerymen and all their equipment on this Table!
There are two artillery units, the 7th Divisional Artillery Battery and the 56th Regimental Artillery Battery, fielding four and six 76mm guns, respectively. A lot is at stake here as these guns represent a sizable part of Group Sharov's artillery park. The ramifications of losing these guns to the enemy would be most uncomfortable. The Finns might be able to take the guns into their own use, and use them for direct and/or indirect fire. Group Sharov's ability to support its forces with devastating pre-game barrages would also be dealt a major blow.
The Russians must either retreat their guns from this Table, which is difficult, and the retreat, or – preferably – defeat the attacking Finns right now...
Date: 21 December 1939, Day Twenty-Two of the Winter War, 0440 hours, night.
Location: Table J, Ahola Farm, about 40 kilometers north of the village of Suomussalmi, in central-eastern Finland. About forty kilometers from the border of the Soviet Union.
Weather Conditions: Cloudy skies, -20 degrees Celsius (+3 degrees Fahrenheit). There is about 22 cm (9 inches). Visibility is 18” in the dark but reduced to a maximum of 15” due to a heavy mist. Dawn will arrive around 0730 hours.
RED units:
1: 1st Platoon 1st Section (John)
2: 1st Platoon 2nd Section, with platoon leader behind house (John)
5: 2nd Platoon 1st Section (Janne)
9: 3rd Platoon 1st Section (support section for 2nd Platoon) (Janne)
56th Regimental Gun Battery:
B. Command Platoon
C. Headquarters Section
D. Support Detachment
E. Signals Platoon
F. Signals Platoon, 1st Radio Section
G. Signals Platoon, 2nd Radio Section
H. Signals Platoon, 3rd Radio Section
I. Signals Platoon, 1st Telephone Section
J. Signals Platoon, 2nd Telephone Section
K. Reconnaissance Detachment
L. Reconnaissance Detachment, Recon Team One
M. Reconnaissance Detachment, Recon Team Two
N. Regimental Gun Section One
O. Regimental Gun Section One, Gun Team One
P. Regimental Gun Section One, Gun Team Two
Q. Regimental Gun Section Two
R. Regimental Gun Section Two, Gun Team One
S. Regimental Gun Section Two, Gun Team Two
T. Regimental Gun Section Three
U. Regimental Gun Section Three, Gun Team One
V. Regimental Gun Section Three, Gun Team Two
7th Divisional Artillery Battery:
W. Command Platoon
X. Headquarters Section
Y. Headquarters Section, Forward Observer Section
Z. Headquarters Section, Fire Control Section
GREEN units:
7th Divisional Artillery Battery:
11. Headquarters Section, Battery Signals Section
12. Headquarters Section, Battery Signals Section, Telephone team
13. Headquarters Section, Battery Signals Section, Radio team
14. Divisional Gun Section One
15. Divisional Gun Section One, Gun Team One
16. Divisional Gun Section One, Gun Team Two
17. Divisional Gun Section Two
18. Divisional Gun Section Two, Gun Team One
19. Divisional Gun Section Two, Gun Team Two
In the darkness of the Ahola farmyard, John's 1st platoon is fending off Mikko's 1st platoon, who have been furiously firing at them from the west...
The trench and the darkness have given John's 1st section good cover and they have only lost two men thus far...
...but a firefight in the darkness is a frightening experience and shock is quickly mounting... they now have ten men left and nine shock.
In the east, Jarkko's third section has been firing at the 7th Divisional Artillery. He deploys his 4th LMG section in support.
John's platoon leader is attached to his 1st section and therefore exposed to all the fire directed at his men.
Having been shot at by Jarkko's attacking troops, Z, the fire control section of the 7th Divisional Battery, breaks and they run into the yard of the farmhouse and seek cover by throwing themselves onto the ground... The fire control section is the men who calculate the parameters for the guns when the battery engages in indirect fire. It originally consisted of one junior leader, one senior fire controller, three junior fire controllers plus a teamster with a horse and cart for all their equipment.
As a special rule the fate of these inactivated Russian troops has no effect on the Russians' Force Morale. But of course all losses to the artillery troops can make it more difficult to perform the primary function of the Battery, indirect fire.
Shock is also accumulating on unit 11, the Battery Signals Section, which consists of an inferior Junior Leader, a teamster and twelve senior and junior telephone and radio technicians. This section is responsible for arranging and operating the communications between the battery and the Divisional headquarters.
Having been shot at for several Phases by what seems like half the Finnish Army the techicians now have fifteen points of shock...
...and they break, running away from the enemy fire...
...and on their way their contagious panic also affects the crews of guns #15 amd 16...
...with the Transportation Group of gun #15, who then also run away towards the east, taking along their attached gun section senior leader and section sergeant... The Transportation Group is composed of one NCO (inferior Junior Leader) and four teamsters, who handle the gun's limber and ammunition cart, along with their eight or so horses.
...until they are suddenly staring right at Mikko's machinegun...
The Finns are just as surprised as the Russians.
They take the paniced Russians as prisoners and have to assign two riflemen to keep them under watch. But it is a good trade as the junior lieutenant and section sergeant will be able to provide good intelligence, if they choose to co-operate.
Meanwhile, the Battery Signals Section #11 has ended up near the barn. There they are, for the moment anyways, safe.
In the east, Jarkko begins his advance... 3rd rifle section moves to the open ground...
The Russians are still Surprised and in disarray. Jarkko figures that if he can close in and take the closest enemies under fire, their panic will bring further problems to the Russians.
Jarkko has his 4th LMG section run south.
At the same time, Jarkko wants to keep out of the 76mm Regimental Guns' reach... It is misty and dark, so Jarkko has to get his men to within 15” of the enemies. Luckily the 76mm guns are slow to manhandle in the snow and they will probably first have to engage the machinegun.
And now Mikko has rolled an end of Turn. The various routed Russian sections run off table, and Mikko's two guards take their prisoners to the rear areas. But far more importantly, the Surprise condition has now passed and the Russians are free to deploy more forces and they will also be more efficient than thus far.
Jarkko's attack movement with sections 3 & 4 has left the Maxim MMG alone at the forest's edge...
And indeed, the Russians are not idle. Heikki activates B, the 56th Regimental Artillery Battery's commander. This is Senior Lieutenant Prinyasilov, an Inferior Ranking Leader.
Prinyasilov calls the rest of the gun team to the gun.
John sees the threat from Jarkko's approaching forces and he decides to activate Y, the Transportation Group of #16, the second gun of Gun Team One. He pulls them away from the front line, along with W, the Battery's Deputy Commander Leytenant (Senior Leader) and the Battery's political officer.
The 76mm Regimental Gun approaches the machinegun.... Jarkko scrambles to deploy more forces. His 1st Rifle Section runs to the edge of the woods, and opens fire on the gun...
The gunners immediately get two points of shock...
… the MMG fires at the gun as well, adding one point of shock and killing a crewman... Luckily for Heikki, the rest of the crew are now within four inches and therefore share the shock.
Jarkko deploys his last section, LMG section #2, which adds another two points of shock...
Then it is Heikki's turn. The gun lobs a seven-kilogram HE shell at the machinegun, dismembering one of the crew and causing three points of shock....
Meanwhile, in the farmyard, another firefight is going on...
At the transformer building, Heikki takes Janne's support section, #9, out of its trench and has them run west.
At the farm, Mikko is pummeling the entrenched 1st section with rifle and Maxim machinegun fire, and shock is mounting. John has been unable to achieve firepower parity with the enemy,
John now deploys one of his secret weapons... a 45mm antitank gun modle 1937 is suddenly wheeled into view from somewhere behind the house.
The armored tractor is parked sideways, to provide some cover from Jarkko's infantry approaching from the east.
It opens fire at what is effectively point-blank range...
The 45mm shells smash into the woods and cause serious trouble for Mikko's Finns...
Meanwhile, Heikki's gun team is under furious fire from all troops that Jarkko can muster to shoot a them...
They now have shock equal to their number and are therefore close to becoming pinned...
To support and mptivate them, Jarkko deploys his platoon leader along with his two messengers.
The arrival of the 45mm gun has evened out the battlefield at the farmyard...
John now deploys his third section behind the eastern fence, in preparation for Jarkko's assault.
While the farmyard provides the Russians with good cover, for us players there is more than a bit of the Alamo or
Zulu! about the situation, and those assiciations aren't exactly promising for the Russians...
But Jarkko's men are still a ways off. As Jarkko does not want any nasty surprises, he moves his forces only tactically.
Near the transformer, Heikki deploys his second section (6) into the trench vacated by support section 9.
Again, I have had to dig up all of my Russian troops for this so you may see things like submachine guns and flamethrowers here and there... they're all carbines!
RED units:
1: 1st Platoon 1st Section (John)
2: 1st Platoon 2nd Section, with platoon leader behind house (John)
3: 1st Platoon 3rd Section (John)
5: 2nd Platoon 1st Section (Janne)
6: 2nd Platoon 2nd Section (Janne)
9: 3rd Platoon 1st Section (support section for 2nd Platoon) (Janne)
56th Regimental Gun Battery:
B. Command Platoon – Battery Commander
R. Regimental Gun Section Two, Gun Team One
U. Regimental Gun Section Three, Gun Team One
7th Divisional Artillery Battery:
W. Command Platoon (activated)
Y. Headquarters Section, Forward Observer Section (activated)
GREEN units:
7th Divisional Artillery Battery:
15. Divisional Gun Section One, Gun Team One (not activated)
16. Divisional Gun Section One, Gun Team Two (not activated)
18. Divisional Gun Section Two, Gun Team One, with Battery Commander (Activated)
The Finns, in BLUE:
1 - 1st Platoon, 1st Rifle section (Jarkko)
2 - 1st Platoon, 2nd LMG section (Jarkko)
3 - 1st Platoon, 3rd Rifle section (Jarkko)
4 – 1st Platoon, 4th LMG section (Jarkko)
5 – 2nd Platoon, 1st rifle section (Mikko)
6 – 2nd Platoon, 2nd LMG section (Mikko)
9 – MMG from 1st MMG Platoon (Jarkko)
10 – MMG from 2st MMG Platoon (Mikko)
Two weeks later we continue the game. Heikki is no longer with us, but Janne is back.
Both John and Janne have Force Morales of 9... John has three pips on his CoC dice, Janne two.
Welcome, Guest. Please 
April 24, 2025, 04:42:55 AM
November 01, 2022, 11:43:31 AM