Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Scenario for the New Year: Ponyri Station

Not much time for gaming or painting over this holiday so I'm reading over the Rapid Fire rules again and getting a taste for "big battles" once again.  That said, I thought I would delve into yet another great project for 2015: Kursk!

I've been wanting to play Ponyri Station for a long time and what a better way to play Ponyri than using "big battalions" as part of the Rapid Fire rules?  Unfortunately for me, I'll have to improvise on some of the weapons values as I only have the 1942 Soviet and German tank / infantry OOBs as well as the Normandy OOB.  Maybe I'll be able to find some of the vehicles from that collection?  Anyone have any thoughts?  I don't have it here with me but I need SU-122, the Ferdinand, and the Stuh as well.

Anyways the scenario I'm looking at is from Mr Bob Mackenzie's Command Decision scenarios specifically Ponyri Smaller - which is the fight for Hill 253 which occurred as a pre-cursor to the Ponyri assault.
Picture courtesy of Bob Mackenzie's Wargame Scenarios Page.  

I put in an order with Game Models for 3 x Ferdinands so I'll be able to showcase them in the battle.  If not,I'll have to use Tigers as proxies...  Imagine if I would have ordered Battlefront how much that would cost me???

Anyways the assault on Hill 253 featured 2 German infantry Battalions with attached StuGs, some artillery, and the PanzerJaeger Abt with the Ferdinands.  Real textbook stuff here.  The Germans have their nebelwerfers and tube artillery support.  The Soviets have a ton of mortars, and some SP 122mm artillery on call behind the main position.

I think this scenario will be tough for the Soviets to win as they're outnumbered 2:1 until they can be reinforced which is on or about turn 8 with a full rifle battalion and tank brigade.  Yes, a brigade of tanks!

No idea when I'll be able to actually play this scenario but it looks like alot of fun.  From what I remember of the few Rapid Fire games I've played are that it offers a quick and clean combat resolution.  Some of the concepts are a little strange as they are a significant departure from other rules sets but once you're used to them, they play just fine.

I've also been taking another hard look at Blitzkrieg Commander once again.  I purchased the second edition and would like to have a go at playing it and seeing what the differences are.

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope everyone has an enjoyable and safe New Years (some of you reading this may already be in 2015!).    See you next year.

7 comments:

  1. Happy New Year Steven!

    Out of interest, why aren't you using BG Kursk for this?

    Ive found the Skirmish Campaign books to be excellent for this sort of thing, just scale up the squads for platoons etc and you are good to go. All Historical scenarios in both books

    http://brigadegames.3dcartstores.com/Skirmish-Campaigns-Russia-43-Gross-Deutschland-at-Kursk_p_2107.html

    http://brigadegames.3dcartstores.com/Skirmish-Campaigns-Russia--Red-Guards-at-Kursk_p_2111.html

    Best wishes for a great year!

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    1. PS I want some Ferdinands too!

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    2. Paul,
      It's funny you mention that - I actually am planning a BIG Battlegroup Kursk scenario centered around Ponyri Station.
      I just felt like an operational level game where 1 tank or stand equals more of a platoon. Rapid Fire is able to do that very quickly.

      No complaints about Battlegroup here! But this scenario in Battlegroup would require 3 of my tables! :)

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    3. We could all use more Ferdinands! Happy New Year! :)

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    4. I am looking at the skirmish campaign booklets now! Thank you for posting!

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  2. Happy New Year Steve! I should have somewhere the EasternFront scenario Raid fire with several OOB and statistic. let me know via mail which vehicles you are interested in I'll try to find the book in order to send you some ...pics!

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    1. Marco,
      That would be helpful. I will email you some of the vehicles I need. The Rapid Fire eastern front supplement is very difficult to get. I have the 1941-1942 tank OOBs for Eastern front but purchasing the Eastern Front battles book is very difficult.

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