Victory Results:
 0 %
Record a victory for BOTTOM ARMY  0 %

The Soviet victory in their defense of the Kink salient was the first time a major German offensive was stopped with only minimal gains. But what made the 1943 summer campaign exceptional was the counterattack that the Soviets planned before the battle of Kursk and launched even while the German SS corps was still trying to push north. On 12 July. Operation Kutuzov began with the goal of eliminating the German salient arormd Orel. By the end of August, Soviet mechanized fortes had pushed forward almost 100 miles along a fivnt of nearly 300 miles. The Germans fought desperately, but once the Soviets seized the initiative, the fray of the Russian hear would not abate until the war ended in Berlin 21 months late!

 

The stream is Shallow.• Vehicles may not enter balkahexes.​

  Soviet German
Division 1

2 Squad Bases
- 2 Elite Infantry
- 6 Regular Infantry

2 M3A1 Half-Tracks
2 KV-1s
2 SU-122s

2x Engineer

8 Squad Bases
- 3 Elite Infantry
- 22 Regular Infantry
- 3 Officers
- 2 Machine Gun Crews

1 PaK 40 AT Gun

1x Medic

Division 2

2 Squad Bases
- 2 Elite Infantry
- 6 Regular Infantry

2 M3A1 Half-Tracks
2 T-34/76s
2 SU-122s

2x Engineer

6 Squad Bases
- 2 Elite Infantry
- 14 Regular Infantry
- 2 Officers
- 1 Machine Gun Crew
- 2 Mortar Crews

1 PaK 40 AT Gun

1x Medic
1x Expert

Strategy Decks Artillery 2
Soviet Reinforcements
Supply 1
Artillery 1
Ground Support 1
Starting Strategy Cards 3 2
Operations Cards 044 Soviet Command Restraints
005 Clear Mines
040 Lack of Tank Radios
047 Katyusha Support
048 Heavy Mortar Support
046 Nebelwerfer Support
Deployment Zone Any hex with a dark red border on maps 5A and 12A. Division 1: Any of the hexes with trenches on map 3113 and any of the hexes on map 35H.
Division 2: Any hex on maps 4A and 33B.
Starting Initiative Initiative Token  
Objective The Soviets win if they control the victory hex at the end of round 8. The Germans win if the Soviets are unable to fulfill their objectives at the end of round 8.
Rounds 8
Actions per turn 4 3
Reinforcements

The Soviets receive reinforcements as noted below.
Status Phase of Round 4:

Soviet Division 1 receives:
• 4 Squad Bases
- 1 Elite Infantry
- 8 Regular Infantry
- 1 Officer
- 2 Machine Gun Crews
- I Mortar Crew
• 2 GMC CCKW 353s
• 1 T-34176
• 1x Medic
• 1x  Expert

Soviet Division 2 receives:
• 4 Squad Bases
- 2 Elite Infantry
- 11 Regular Infantry
- 1 Officer
- 1 Mortar Crew
• 2 GMC CCICW 353s
• 1 T-34/76
• 1x Medic
• 2x Expert

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Special Rules On round 1 only, the Soviets may use the "047 Katyusha Support" and "048 Heavy Mortar Support " cards at no command cost. -
Terrain Features
  • The stream is Shallow.
  • Vehicles may not enter balka hexes.

 

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alecrespi replied the topic:
10 months 2 days ago
Klaus Fritsch (Apr 10, 2011)

Here is my AAR for this scenario. Notes are at the bottom. Even if the fight seemed a bit unfair, play was still fun.

Round 1
Initiative - Russians

Russians
Almost no tank movement
Tanks suppress all but one squad in the trench line and destroy one MG squad, one squad and the AT gun on the hill
Halftracks and combat engineers advance towards the trench line

Germans
The AT gun from the second line fires at extreme range and lightly damages one halftrack.
Squads from the second line advance up the balka towards the first line. This may be a mistake, see notes at the end.


Round 2
Initiative - Germans

Germans
Fail to contact artillery
Kill a few combat engineers
Pin two combat engineer squads
Destroy one halftrack

Russians
Disrupt one squad
Pin two squads
Combat engineers clear two hexes of razor wire
Tanks move and fire
Destroy one MG squad


Round 3
Initiative - Russians

Russians
Heavy mortar support only pins one squad
Fail to contact artillery
Pin all but one of the squads in the trenches
Combat engineers clear three hexes of razor wire and kill one soldier
Tanks kill two soldiers

Germans
Nebelwerfer damages three tanks, kills one soldier and destroys one razor wire
Kill some combat engineers
Fail to contact artillery
AT gun in the second line heavily damages a T-34 with a lucky long-range shot


Round 4
Initiative - Russians

Russians
SU-122 destroys one squad in a trench
Sustained blanket fails to pin anyone
Combat engineers remove two minefields
Offensive artillery kills one soldier in the second line
KV kills two soldiers in a trench
T-34 destroys a squad in a trench
Russian reinforcement beam onto the battlefield

Germans
Nebelwerfer fails to do any damage, four CPs down the drain
Mortar pins one engineer squad
Infantry destroys two combat engineer squads


Round 5
Initiative - Russians

Russians
Artillery lightly damages AT gun in second line and kills one soldier
Combat engineers remove one minefield
Tanks move and fire, killing one soldier in a trench, one soldier in the open and destroy one expert squad
Reinforcement squads occupy two trenches

Germans
Artillery pins combat engineers
Expert charge T-34 from the balka, no effect


Round 6
Initiative - Russians

Russians
Two SU-122s destroy an expert squad
Artillery destroys the AT gun in the second line and one squad
Artillery destroys one squad and kills two soldiers
Artillery destroys double mortar squad in the second line
Artillery disrupts MG in the second line
(at this point the game was decided, in my opinion)
Three T-34s reach hill 3A
Infantry attacks squads in balka and kill three soldiers
Tanks and trucks loaded with infantry advance

Germans
Nebelwerfer drifts one and destroys one T34 and Truck, kills two soldiers, heavily damages on KV and one halftrack
Surviving infantry falls back towards the second line


Round 7
Initiative - Russians

Russians
Heavy mortar support disrupts MG in the second line again
Two t-34s reach the objective on the bridge

Germans
Nebelwerfer only lightly damages one T-34 on hill 3A
Fail to contact artillery
No squad would be able to reach the bridge in round 8, so the Germans retreat from the field.


Survivors after Round 7
Russians
Heavily damaged:
SU-122
KV
Halftrack
Lightly damaged:
T-34
Undamaged:
3 SU-122s
KV
2 T-34s
2 halftracks
3 trucks
Infantry:
10 squads (not all complete)
Germans
4 squads (not all complete)


From the Russian point of view, the question was not "if" but "when". This attack was quite slow and methodical, first clearing most of the first line before initiating the breakthrough movement with the faster T-34s and SU-122s. Maybe the bridge could have been reached earlier, but given the superiority in numbers and firepower and the generous time allowed in the scenario, it did not seem necessary to take that risk.

The Russians never used their reinforcement deck, they did not need the additional troops and had better use for their CPs elsewhere.

The Germans might have made the mistake of rushing all squads not in entrenchments in the second line to the balka in the hope of threatening a Russian breakthrough with ambush from the balka. As it turned out, that ambush was too feeble to accomplish anything. The threat might even have convinced the Russians to be more thorough in their mop-up of the first line than they would normally have been. In the end, these German squads were sorely missed on the second line during the final two rounds, as there was no-one there to contest Russian control of the bridge objective. When I play the scenario again, I will leave them out of sight by the houses to cover the bridge, but I do not think that this will save the Germans.

In general, it is not really clear why AT guns cannot set up in trenches with their operating squad. The equipment rules system hinders the game here by stating that equipment is the stacking equivalent of a vehicle. Trenches can only take one squad, ergo no guns with crew in trenches. Sheer nonsense.

Even in a trench, the German AT gun might not have survived the first round, but it would have drawn a lot more fire with a defense of 6 rather than 3, thus at least slowing the Russians down a bit.

As a whole, the scenario is only for German players who do not mind playing speed-bump, and as such it would be better suited to being a part in a campaign, where after the Russian breakthrough, other battles follow.

In my opinion, the scenario could use:
Two more German AT guns, one for each line of defense, allowed to set up immobile IN trenches and entrenchments with their crews.
Russians moving onto the board at the start of the game and as reinforcements.
Maybe a round or even two less to give the Russians an incentive to take more risks.
Two more tank obstacles adjacent to the existing one to block the way behind the first line (did the Germany run out of construction material?). The one obstacle hex does nothing.
alecrespi replied the topic:
10 months 2 days ago
The Hungarian (Jul 12, 2011)

Just thought I'd pass this on. Replayed the above and had the best FOTB engagement yet. Germans won, just. Was very, very close with action all the way.

Fix as follows:
(i) Russians move onto the board instead of deploying at start.
(ii) Germans can deploy on neutral 2cp space.
(iii) Germans have Tank Buster Deck
(iv) Russian round 4 reinforcements come in as (i) at start of round 5
(v) Germans get 1 Panther reinforcement status phase 4

The tank buster deck really makes for a lot of action. Lurking in balkas with sticky bombs and anti tank weapons slows the Russian advance and weakens their flank considerably. No longer a red steam roller.