Фашистское Предательство!

Our engagement pitted raw conscript elements of a Soviet battalion against elite German panzergrenadiers, in a battle in the bitter winter wastes of western Russia.

The Soviet reconnaissance was effective, spotting most of the opposing German positions while concealing the maneuvers of the Soviet forces as they moved into their attack positions.

But the Red analysis of their intelligence was incompetent, and the disposition of units from the battalion on this company frontage were haphazard. The enthusiasm of the conscripts was undiminished, though, and they aggressively launched their assault on their objectives; a woodman’s hut on a lonely, frozen track; a bridge across a wide river; and an area of marsh from which concealed units could observe several key points in the area.

The Germans had, in the combat zone, only a platoon of heavy machineguns, all deployed around the woodman’s hut, and a lone Panther tank, stationed to watch a bridge.

Кровь на снежке!

The gallant Soviets launched their attack with two platoons of infantry, a platoon of heavy machineguns, and a squadron of T-34/76 tanks.

First platoon, under Comrade Petrov, launched itself directly at the woodsman’s hut. Their courage was remarkable, as the German machineguns cut the men down like ripened wheat. In a matter of seconds, only a few of the platoon’s men remained on their feet, and while some had advanced to within meters of the Germans, none came to grips with the enemy.

Long-range fire from the Soviet machineguns managed to knock out two of the three German MG’s. A long MG and a platoon command group alone held the hut for the fascists.

The second Soviet platoon advanced to occupy a farm within striking distance of the bridge objective.

Meanwhile, the three glorious Red tanks swept across the snow-covered ground, coming within sight of the German Panther. The German tank crew, used to dealing with Russian armor, began their methodical destruction of the Soviet tank group. A first shot from the Panther damaged one T-34, as shots from the t-34’s bounced off the German’s thick armor.

A second Panther round sent another T-34 up in blazes. The third tank in the Russian force took several shots at the Panther, in rapid succession. A round struck just under the Panther’s mantlet and blew the turret off.

Славный успех для храбрейшего!

Emboldened by their tank’s success, the second Soviet platoon rushed forward and captured the bridge objective, where they were joined by the undamaged T-34.

With two of their three machineguns knocked out, and their tank support gone, the remaining German gun crew and their platoon commander fled the field. There were, for the moment, no Germans at all in the battle area.

The deafening chorus “Long live Stalin! For Stalin!” echoed over the frozen field.

Then, the German reinforcements arrived.

Three squads of panzergrenadiers stealthily crept through a marsh. Two squads opened fire on the Soviets holding the bridge objective, killing or wounding all in the squad holding it; the third raced for, and occupied, the woodsman’s hut.

The survivors of the second Soviet platoon threw themselves into desperate hand-to-hand combat with the Germans in the hut, but the Soviets were repulsed with heavy casualties.

Several squads of Soviet infantry arrived to reinforce their comrades in the assault, but by this time, the German squads in the marsh had set up a deadly crossfire with the squad holding the hut. The reinforcing squads were cut down as they charged the hut.

Finally, flesh could stand no more, and the Soviet conscripts were forced to retire. They held only one of their three objectives when the withdrawal was ordered; a lone T-34 had remained on the bridge.

The Soviet attack had failed.

Nuts and Bolts:

Rules are straight PBI 2 from RFCM/Peter Pig.

Lloyd played the Germans, Cameron the Soviets. This game was part of a larger operation; Kevin (Soviets) and Eric (Germans) fought another engagement as part of the same battalion front. Kevin will write up a battle report detailing his fight, but suffice it to say that after his battle Comrade Kevin paid a visit to the Commissar and has not been seen nor heard from since.

All figures and vehicles are Battlefront. All buildings are JR miniatures, painted by Rusty Hiser, except for one scratch-built damaged building.

Our playing mat is white felt, with the areas defined by small marks from the felt-tip pen. The roads and river are painted on the mat with fabric paint.

Bridges are scratch-built, styrene and cardboard.

Trees are bare Woodland Scenics trees based on styrene and given a dusting of snow flock.

Hills are Styrofoam cut to shape with a hacksaw, painted and flocked.

Leytenant Balentinov's farewell

Comrades,

I am writing this letter by the slim light allowed in through the slats on the side of this packed train car. I have not been given any “official” word, but I believe that I am headed east and, by the near numbing cold, toward the Siberian work camps.

Before my fingers can no longer write, I must tell about the horrors that befell me and my men as we pressed the attack against the fascists.

Everything seemed to be going so well. We had experienced troops and our deception efforts allowed us to assemble what we thought would be overwhelming force against a lightly held German outpost.

We had a platoon of engineers flanking the Germans while scouts, supported by heavy machine guns, light tanks and a heavy tank prepared to breakthrough with a brutal frontal assault.

But all of our plans came to nothing.

The Fascist invaders would not emerge from their hiding places and our brave soldiers died in droves as they rushed forward.

Soviet dead lay littered on the bridge, in the forest, in the open fields beyond the river. At separate points in the game, we grabbed our objectives, a section of forest overlooking the bridge and a river ford, and the church. But every time we rushed forward, the bark of German guns cut us down.

The last-ditch efforts of the brave engineers to clear out the Germans failed in a withering hail of machine gun fire.

As the last Soviet survivors limped off the field, a German Panther heavy tank rolled on, looking to finish off the last remnants. The only real victory for Stalin came then, as the IS-2 blew it up with its first shot.

So while the battle was a failure on all fronts, the Great Patriotic War will continue. Sadly, it seems it will continue without me.

And now, the cold has grown too bitter. I can no longer hold my contraband writing kit.

Farewell,
Leytenant Balentinov

This game was played using Peter Pig's excellent Poor Bloody Infantry II from the Rules for the Common Man line. Figures are a mixture from Old Glory, Battlefront and Essex. We play the rules as written, with the only exception being that we base our troops on the wide Flames of War bases.