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.
Engineer
Medic
Expert