For the third game in our campaign we played a defence line scenario. With the Soviets pushed out of Ostrok, STAVKA order an immediate counter-attack. Scrapping together what they can Comrade Garry launched an all-out attack that just didnt get going...
The Soviet preliminery bombardment did little but their first artillery attack, a salvo from a Katyusha Battery, scored a direct hit on the German Battlegroup commander... What a way to start the game. By a miracle only one man in the command team was killed but the rest were pinned down. A further timed barrage came down among the houses of Ostrok, causing no damage but a few units ducked down. With few Soviets on the battlefield it mattered little.
In the Germans turn they fired back with their supporting artillery... at a pre-registered target point, stood next to which was the Soviet Battlegroup Commander. The inevitable happened and a direct hit from a 105mm shell cut the head off the Soviet force. This was a major blow as it now meant the Katyusha Battery could only target the pre-registered target point in Ostrok, which meant that all the German anti-tank guns were now out of harm from the artillery. It began to downhill from their for the Soviets...
A group of Soviet engineers arrived with all manner of fun goodies to blow things up and headed towards the German command post. They too took a direct hit from a 105mm shell and only four survivors staggered from the burning truck to dive for cover along the field ditch. Their they would stay till a second direct hit wiped them out. A Soviet KV1 rumbled on the table, only to breakdown as it tried to drive up a hill, with no field of fire it sat impotently on the reverse slope for the rest of the day. Indeed the Soviet right flank amounted to nothing.
Pushing on the right the Soviets threw caution to the wind and surged forward with two T34s and a platoon of infantry. The tanks weathered a storm of AT gun fire, with 37mm and 50mm rounds bouncing off while the 88 crew couldnt hit a thing... Obviously still shaken up from losing some crew men to the enemy artillery in the first turn. As the Soviet infantry came forward the German Forward Artillery Officer got on the telephone and using the Wire Team rustled up a battery of 210mm howitzers for a bit of impromptu fire support. One direct hit from a 210mm shell wiped out an entire Soviet rifle squad.
The Soviets still pushed on, the T34s valiantly trying to protect the infantry as they came under sustained fire. As they used HE and MG fire on the German troops they failed to cause many casualties, but they did knock out the 37mm pak36. With a gap appearing the T34s leapt forward, the infantry rushing in behind them.
It was at this point the 88mm crew got their eye in. With a crack, followed by a flash, one of the T34s erupted in flames. Then the German MG teams in the buildings of the village opened fire on the infantry. First one, then a second squad were cut down in the open. To add insult to injury the Germans also called in their artillery and the loss of another unit pushed the Soviets over their Battle Rating and the survivors withdrew...
The Soviet attack just never got going. The death of the commander at the start limited their options and the Command Chaos rule kept leaving them with few actions at critical points. The Germans were never really pushed and once the enemy artillery became ineffective after the first turn, the defence line was never likely to be breached. As it was the Soviet piecemeal attack never stood a chance.
The Germans are now ready to push on to their next objective and punch through a nearby Soviet defensive line... As usual a few more pics on the Facebook page;
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.287061598112953.1073741837.239624736189973&type=3
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