West Of The Oktiabrski State Farm

Ken was over this afternoon for a pre-scheduled World War II Eastern Front clash.  In following with the tradition of late, we used a scenario from the BATTLEGROUP: Kursk book (as the name of the post implies) but used Flames of War V4 to play it.  I kept the OOB as similar as possible to the OOB from the BGK rules.  The Soviets are attacking past a small village and must over-run positions newly occupied by elements of the 1st SS Panzer Division.

Looking down the dusty track that would house the 1st SS PanzerGrenadier Regiment's leading platoons.  They would make their stands here.

 The OOB followed pretty closely with the BGK book.  The Germans had a panzergrenadier company from "Iron Cross" so 2 x PanzerGrenadier platoons, a mortar section, a MG34 section, a single platoon of Stug IIIs (long barrel), a 105mm battery off-table, a flight of 2x 37mm Cannon armed Stuka dive bombers, and a platoon of Pak-40s in ambush.

The Soviets had a full "hero" Battalion of 2 x companies of 10 teams each with maxim HMGs, Kommissars, a mortar company in support, a battery of 122mm artillery off-table, a 45mm AT gun platoon, and a company of T-34 tanks in support.

Soviet village south of Prokhorovka

German Stuka circles overheard

digging  in along the road in cover.

The Germans watching over the village for Ivan's approach

 Ken had a small deployment area over which to move out from.  His small platoon of scouts with their "Spearhead" rule didn't help much in this scenario.  (we used the "breakthrough" scenario from the book meaning I start as defender in 2 diagonally adjacent quadrants of the table).

They didn't have to wait long.

 Ken surges his infantry forward, charging across the steppe.  They are able to get very close on the first turn!  Ken's observer is in a great spot and he starts raining 122mm artillery down on my left platoon, who would take the brunt of the fighting.

 I catch a lucky break and get my reserve roll right away.  Over the radio, the Stugs hear a familiar call "Panzers Vor!" and they move out towards the north!

The Stugs get into position and start machine gunning their way through the infantry.

  

 My right platoon needs to come back down closer to the objectives, especially since Ken's reinforcements will come down that road!

Second platoon shifting into position.

 Ken pushes his elite scouts up to the line and they charge into close combat with my PanzerGrenadiers!  Ken wins the engagement and my platoon breaks off!  Not an auspicious start!

Scouts leading the way!  Ken uses his scouts to punch through.

 The first turn is over quickly (this game, unlike the last one, is only about 85 points a side).  Artillery is raining down on both sides now and Ken's infantry is decisively engaged on my left.  The Stugs are ruining their day but they continue to push forward and into my 1st Platoon's positions!  My troops on the left fall back into the woods to their rear and will dig in again.

Here they come!  Soviet Scouts burst forward into the German positions.  Ken does a great job of keeping my units pinned so he can assault.

ALL GUNS REPEAT BOMBARDMENT!  Actually both Ken and I forgot the REPEAT rule and Ken and I rolled to re-range in each turn, even if it was on the same spot!

Before Ken overran the left platoon's positions

And after!  My Platoon pulls back!

 Ken rolls his AT guns forward to deal with my Stugs. 

 Meanwhile the Soviet scouts occupy the positions held by the 1st German platoon along the road!  To make matters worse for me, Ken makes his reserve roll on Turn 4!  The tanks rumble forward - Stal Stal Stal!

Red Steel moves out!

 Ken's tanks slice their way up past my first platoon and drive a wedge in between my forces.  I end up springing my Pak40 ambush along my rear base-edge.  It's not where I wanted to but the situation forced my hand!  Ken's infantry companies in the lead are suffering badly now from constant artillery and machine gun fire.

 Ken goes for broke to cause casualties and dislodge my infantry from the woods.  he needs to start turn 6 sitting on an objective with me further away than 4".  This is his chance!

Ivan pins the 1st platoon down in the woodline as the scouts move forward to close assault them!

 The defensive fire is brutal however and Ken's scouts are pushed back in the open!

German infantry on the right can only sit and watch.  Meanwhile, Ken's artillery targets them as well  - there are plenty of 122mm shells to go around comrade!

 My Stukas come in again and target Ken's armor, along with my Pak40 ambush they're able to KO 4 tanks at the bottom of turn 4.  Not bad shooting but is it enough?

 The mortars radio into command "We haven't fired a shot all day.  What's happening up front?"

everyone is firing around the mortar platoon.  I shift them left so they can possibly spot targets for themselves.

 Ken goes for broke and attempts to overrun the first platoon with the remnants of 3 seperate units - like a Soviet human wave attack!  First the scouts, then the 1st and 2nd companies.  The Germans aren't pinned, either.  It's rough and Ken's infantry don't come out of this one "in good spirits."  The formation breaks and the game is over and the Soviets break off the attack.  They'll be back, though.

Soviet battalion commander coordinating the assault.

This game was alot of fun and I'm starting to see the value in smaller games (100 points or less) that force you to make decisions on what units you want to have on the table.

This game was very interesting and alot of fun.  Not only did we have armored units, but this seemed like a hard infantry fight and I think both Ken and I re-learned some things as well.  Ken mentioned he should have made better use of his artillery by dropping smoke in front of his attacking infantry.  He also said he would have taken a different, more covered route to the objective.  I forgot all about my observer and should have used a dedicated observer for my guns instead of the company commander.  Also, Im not sure if the dive bomber/ground attack aircraft were worth the points.  I probably could have gotten away with more armored vehicles and used them to better effect than the Stukas (but let's face it - the aircraft are cool to have on the table!).

Great game and I'm looking forward to the next one!  (Next battle coming up is "The Defense of the Stalinskoe State Farm").