All,
Fresh on the heels of their ass-whooping at the hands of the Red Army, Stransky and Steiner have requested armored support and are heading back in. Once again I'm using 5Core Company Command, playing solo, going at it 'Two Huts and a Pigpen' and 'Pizza-Box Gaming' style, down and dirty, let's get after it.
Last fight I said this was 1944, after Stransky and Steiner had been kicked out of the Crimea, but when I set this game up I grabbed some early-war stuff, so I suppose they were caught up in a wormhole and transported back in time a few years... Bear with me, these are just test games so I'm not too worried about it, just want to see if I can find the magic with 15mm troops on FOW basing and, if successful, I'll be doing this a lot more often, and back to my usual campaign pattern of tracking characters.
Overview, north is left, German baseline is bottom (west) and Soviet baseline is top (east). The Reds are defending a no-name village somewhere on the Eastern Front, the Germans are on the attack. The Reds have already bloodied the Germans' noses on this very field, so you'll see the bodies of German Landser still lying about.
The opposing forces, Germans on left, Soviets on right.
The German force is comprised of a CO (Stransky) and a 2iC (Steiner), two Stug IIICs (short 75mm gun), an 80mm mortar team, and two Rifle Platoons (of three Rifle Squads each).
Regarding 'Two Huts and a Pigpen,' it's not lost on me that as soon as I got my ass whipped I went from 'these should be all infantry fights' to 'let's get some armor back on the table' ;)
The Soviet force is comprised of a CO, two Maxim machine gun teams, an 82mm mortar team, two 14.5mm PTRD Anti-Tank Rifle teams, and two understrength Rifle Platoons of two squads each.
Overview, now with forces present.
The German left, where Steiner has 1st Platoon and the Stugs all set to cross the Line of Departure.
While on the right, Stransky has 2nd Platoon (one squad at bottom left, he and the other two squads in the cornfield at center top), and the mortar team is set up at top right (same spot as last fight).
The Soviet right, once again making use of the trenchline, with a Maxim MG team, a PTRD ATR team, and two rifle squads.
The Soviet center, again with a Maxim MG team in the left-hand hut, a rifle squad in the right-hand hut, and their CO in the pumpkin patch behind.
And the Soviet left, with a rifle squad up front (to left), the other PTRD ATR team behind them (center), and the 82mm mortar team in the rear (where the 76mm Field Gun was set up, before it was destroyed in the last fight by the German mortar). We're all set!
The Germans open up with maximum firepower, looking to suppress the Red Army defensive positions. The fight starts with the 80mm mortar team dropping some HE on the enemy trenchline.
But the rounds fall a bit long...
Stug 1 (bottom right) fires on the trenchline (top left).
The Russkie ATR team in the trenchline is knocked ou and the MG team is pinned!
While Stug 2 fires on the ville.
Suppressing the enemy MG team there and pinning the Soviet CO!
2nd Platoon opens up from the cornfields...
Suppressing the enemy rifle squad and ATR team on the Commie left flank (their 82mm mortar team is just off camera to top right)!
A squad from 2nd Platoon (bottom right) and 1st Platoon (bottom left) each open fire on the trenchline (top center), to no effect...
The Red Army 82mm mortar team replies...
HE rounds fall on the German start line, pinning Stug 2 and suppressing the nearby rifle squad (far right).
As Soviet riflemen in the trenchline fire on 2nd Platoon.
Then there's a pause in the firing and the Commies set about rallying the troops. The rifle squad and ATR on the left flank (far left and bottom left) are good to go...
As is the rifle squad in the village and the CO (top center), but the MG team there fails and falls back (bottom right, from far left)!
The Soviet CO falls back to rally his machine gunners (just realized I cheated and let the Soviet CO have two actions, rallying himself and then falling back to rally the MG team).
And they're back in the fight.
Over on the Soviet right, the MG in the trench self rallies...
But fails, going suppressed!
So a rifle squad moves over, helping them to rally.
But they only get up to pinned.
So the other rifle squad in the trench moves over to give them another shot at rallying, getting dangerously bunched up.
And the MG team is back in fighting shape.
Stug 1 moves up the road (center), 1st Platoon moves up on the left, and 2nd Platoon move up on the right (top right).
Stransky moves over (far right) and rallies the suppressed rifle squad.
And they push up, near Stug 1 (center).
And Stug 2 self rallies.
The German mortar team (bottom right) goes to work on the trench (top left) again.
A Soviet rifle squad is 'men down' (white bead), another is pinned (yellow bead), and the MG team is suppressed (red bead). Told ya they were dangerously bunched up ;)
Stug 1 pushes up the road towards the village.
The Commie ATR team on the far left (bottom right) pops a few 14.5mm armor-piercing rounds at the approaching Stug (top left).
The Stug halts and returns fire.
But no one is hit.
Stug 2 goes cross country (center, with Stug 1 at top right) as Stransky (far right) and Steiner (far left) move up.
Stug 2 pops another 75mm HE round at the trench.
Suppressing the enemy rifle squad in the trench and forcing the MG team to fall back (bottom right)!
The Soviet MG in the ville moves back into the house (far left, from bottom center) as their CO move over (top right) to rally the MG team from the trench.
2nd Platoon riflemen spot the enemy MG team moving back into the hut and open fire.
Pinning them!
The Red MG team from the trench is successfully rallied.
As the Commie mortar team (bottom right) fires on 2nd Platoon (top left).
Pinning one squad and forcing the other 'men down.'
On the German left, 1st Platoon moves up (far left), Steiner move right (center), Stug 1 falls back to join Stug 2, and one of 2nd Platoon's rifle squads dashes across the street to provide some infantry support.
While Stransky dashes right to check on the 'men down' squad and rally the pinned squad.
The pinned squad successfully rallies and moves up (top right), but the 'men down' squad stays 'men down'!
On the Soviet left, the ATR team dashes over to the ville (top center, from bottom right), as the rifle squad on that side falls back to occupy their former position (from across the street, far left).
The enemy MG team in the ville is rallied by the ATR team.
And they're good to go.
As the Soviet CO moves right to check on a 'men down' rifle squad and the other MG team re-occupies the trench, rallying the suppressed rifle squad in the trench.
The Soviet CO and MG team look on (far right) as he pushes the two rifle squads from the trench and one from the ville (hut at bottom left) up, looking to engage the German armor (behind trees at top left) with anti-tank grenades and Molotov cocktails!
The Soviet CO (top center) signals his mortar team (bottom right) to shift fire to the enemy armor (top left) in an attempt to cover his infantrymen moving up on them (top center/left).
But the HE rounds fall long and no German units are affected.
The Soviet riflemen break cover...
On the far right, a German rifle squad from 2nd Platoon (bottom right) opens fire (top left).
The small arms fire has no effect and the Red infantry pushes forward, no engaged by Stug 1's MG-34...
The Commies manage to close with the German Stug...
But the German crewmen fight like bandits and eliminate the Soviet rifle squad!
Meanwhile, German infantry with 1st Platoon on the far left spot more Red infantry moving up and open fire!
This also has no affect, and Stug 2's MG-34 engages...
But defensive fire simply is not keeping these determined Commies from doggedly closing the distance!
But, with help from a nearby rifle squad, Stug 2 is able to mow down both Soviet rifle squads in close combat!
Stug 1 immediately follows up this dramatic victory by pumping 75mm HE rounds into the hut occupied by a Red MG team (top right).
Knocking the Maxim gun out and suppressing the nearby ATR team!
While Stug 2 fires on the enemy trenchline.
1st Platoon, on the German left (with Steiner visible at right) adds their fire, cutting loose on the trenchline.
While on the far right, a squad from 2nd Platoon fires on its counterparts on the Soviet left.
Pinning them down.
And the German mortar team goes to work.
Suppressing the Soviet MG team in the trench.
Stransky again checks the 2nd Platoon squad that is 'men down,' and again they refuse to budge!
It's about time to shoot a Corporal, Stransky thinks to himself.
The Red mortar team (bottom right) adjusts fire and begins dropping rounds on the German armor (top left) again.
But again the rounds are long!
On the Soviet right, their CO dashes through Stug and mortar fire to his suppressed MG team in the trenchline to rally them...
He's successful (bottom right), and the MG team immediately begins raking the German 1st Platoon (top left).
Suppressing two rifle squads!
The Commie mortar team (bottom right) AGAIN fires on the German armor (top left).
And this time they're on target, pinning Stug 1 and putting the supporting rifle squad 'men down.'
As the Red CO moves left (bottom left, from top right) to rally his ATR team.
They're good and dash into a nearby hut (top right, from bottom left).
Where they immediately set up and begin pumping 14.5mm armor piercing rounds into Stug 2 (top center)!
The first round clangs off, harmlessly, but then all hell breaks loose as armor piercing rounds begin penetrating and bouncing around inside the assault gun. The commander orders his crew to abandon the vehicle after his driver is killed and the radio operator and loader are wounded!!!
The German mortar team (bottom right) fires on the trench (top left).
Pinning the enemy MG team.
Stransky tries to rally the 'men down' squad from 2nd Platoon for a third time...
They are good to go and move up (top center right, from far right) as Stransky dashes left to rally Stug 1 and check another 'men down' rifle squad far left bottom).
But they've suffered too many casualties and are out of the fight!
Stug 1 creeps forward...
The Soviet ATR team, fresh off of knocking Stug 2 out, opens fire on Stug 1 (top left).
But the stubby armored vehicle shrugs off the impacts and fires, point blank, into the Soviet hut.
Putting the Red ATR team 'men down' (center) and pinning the enemy CO (bottom center left)!
A nearby 2nd Platoon rifle squad dashes across the street (the one that kept failing the 'men down' recovery tests by Stransky, center top, from bottom right).
On the German left, Steiner moves over to rally the troops.
One recovers but the other only gets up to pinned.
Just as the Soviets receive reinforcements, in the form of two fresh rifle squads, which arrived on their far left (pinned rifle squad at bottom right, 82mm mortar team just visible behind trees above them).
Trying to save his panicking ATR team (top right), the Soviet CO's command team, already pinned (bottom center), fires on the nearby German rifle squad (top center left).
The Germans (bottom center) are unfazed, and return fire.
And the Soviet CO is knocked out of the fight!
I don't normally let command teams be targeted by small arms/direct fire by themselves, but since they had initiated the fire combat and this was return fire, c'est la guerre.
Further left, the Soviet rifle squad there (bottom center) fires on another German rifle squad from 2nd Platoon (top left, with one that just whacked their commander behind the building at top right).
The German infantrymen (bottom right) shake off the effects of the enemy small arms fire and return fire.
On the Soviet right, the Maxim gun goes to work on 1st Platoon again...
Suppressing Steiner!
The Soviet mortar team (bottom right) shifts fire to 1st Platoon (top left), on the German far left.
Another German rifle squad is pinned (in addition to the one at bottom right, which was already pinned), but the rear-most squad is knocked out, and Steiner is now 'men down!'
Stug 1 moves up and pivots left (bottom right), firing on that damned Russkie machine gun team in the trench (top left).
Putting them 'men down,' which probably seals their fate as they can't self rally, they have to be checked by a friendly unit that moves into base contact, but there aren't any other Soviet units remaining on the embattles right flank.
Aware of the Soviet reinforcements (top center), two German rifle squads from 1st Platoon slip past the Soviet ATR team ('men down' in the hut at bottom left) and take up positions in the pumpkin patch (left) and the other hut (center), respectively.
If that seems weird, it's because the Germans rolled a 'Scurry' and you're not supposed to move into close combat during a Scurry, so the Germans moved between the Soviet reinforcements and ATR team to keep them from moving up, reoccupying the left-hand hut, and rallying the ATR rifle team. But now the Soviets get to respond without any reaction fire, so it's a bit weird strictly in game terms, but I don't have a problem justifying it in my mind; there's a lot of crap going on, guys moving through/between buildings, smoke, explosions, and rounds zipping by everywhere, situational awareness is nowhere near 100%...
The German mortar team moves up into the cornfield.
While on the left, Stransky moves over to check Steiner...
And he's out of the fight!
While these two dummies from 1st Platoon attempt to rally but fail, both staying pinned!
On the Soviet left, the reinforcements move up (center and right), looking to close with the Germans in the ville (top center).
While on the far left, the pinned Soviet rifle team (bottom left) self-rallies, and the 82m mortar men...
Figure the enemy is too close, so they bust out their PPsh's and Mosin Nagants, intent on fighting on as a rifle squad.
The Soviet reinforcements open fire on 1st Platoon in the village.
And one of the squads goes down in a hail of fire...
Their comrades (far left) return fire.
They put one Soviet rifle squad 'men down' (far right) but miss the other, which rapidly closes with the German squad (the last remaining rifle squad from 2nd Platoon) in the hut! Grenades, pistols, bayonets, and spades are broken out...
What kind of nonsense is this???
The Red Army infantry (top left) forcefully eject th Germans from the ville (bottom right)!
Stug 1 moves over to rally them...
But they fail and fall back again (far right, from top left), near the mortar team.
The mortar team moves up and tries to rally them.
They're good and move back up, next to Stug 1.
On the left, Stransky sets about rallying the remnants of 1st Platoon.
They are successful and advance to the edge of the field (far left, from center right).
The Soviet mortar team-cum-rifle squad moves right to check on the 'men down' squad of reinforcements.
They're good; they quickly move into the hut with the ATR team (top left) to check on them.
The ATR Team is now rallied back into the fight, and quickly dashes right (top right, from bottom left), where they jump into the trench and move down to try and rally the Soviet MG team!
But they stay down!
On the Soviet far left, the rifle squad there moves up, re-occupying its original position (far left, from bottom center).
The ATR team again tries rallying the Maxim team in the trench.
And this time they're back in the fight.
Things are all of a sudden looking very grim for the Germans...
The ATR team grabs their PTRD anti-tank rifle and dashes ahead, through the field (center right, from far left), looking to get into position to engage Stug 1 (top right)!
But the Soviet rifle squads in the village, the fresh troops that arrived as reinforcements, are proving a bit impetuous! Rather than hold fast and let the ATR team get into place...
They break cover and charge headlong at Stug 1 and the last rifle squad from 2nd Platoon (far left top) as their ATR team looks on (top right)!
The Soviet mortar team moves up and occupies the left-hand hut (center, from bottom right).
As the far left Soviet rifle squad dashes up (top left, from bottom center) and gets in behind the last remaining rifle squad from 2nd Platoon (top right).
Stug 1 and the German rifle squad fall back (far left, from top center left) to avoid being outflanked and/or overwhelmed at the point of attack.
Stransky sends a squad from 1st Platoon across the street, to the end of the enemy trench (top left, from bottom center).
And then leads the other squad right (center, from bottom left), getting in behind the Red ATR team and rifles (left top/top center left).
Stug 1 opens fire with its short 7.5cm gun...
And suppreses the enemy MG team in the trench!
Which the nearby German rifle squad quickly bum-rushes!
Finally putting them out of the fight!
As Stransky and the other 1st Platoon squad move up, taking the ATR team from behind.
Easily dispatching them (far left).
The Soviets now find themselves in a precarious position, with German armor and troops in front of them, and German infantry behind them on their right flank.
Caught out, the Soviet infantry throw in the towel.
Casualties, with German on left and Soviet on right.
The Germans lost Steiner's command team and a full platoon of infantry.
While the Soviets lost their CO, two PTRD ATR teams, two Maxim MG teams, their 82mm mortar team, and three rifle squads.
And four rifle squads captured.
Actually, just realized I screwed that up. The Soviet 82mm mortar team wasn't knocked out, it 'converted' to a rifle team and was captured.
And I screwed up the German casualties, too! I forgot, Stug 2 was knocked out by one of the Soviet anti-tank rifles!
Man, what a game! This game took a bit longer than normal, for three reasons:
1) Again, Force Morale. I let the game keep going when the Reds should probably have tossed in the towel after they rushed a full rifle platoon at the Germans and all three squads were mowed down, for no German casualties!
2) Not sure if you noticed, but there was a LOT of rallying and moving around without a lot of shooting going on. This was because the Soviets rolled an absolutely inordinate amount of 'Scurries.' It really saved their bacon several times, allowing them to rally units that were about to be close assaulted into oblivion, and to re-position troops to hotspots where the Germans had the upper hand.
3) The Random Event that brought two more Soviet rifle squads on the table, just at the wrong time for the Germans, putting them in a position to help re-take the village right after 2nd Platoon had gotten two squads into it.
But I can't say I'd do anything different, it was an absolute blast! I'm having a tremendously good time, and I think this is it, this is how I'm going to get back to KG Klink, I've just got to figure out how to handle/mark heroes a bit better (since KG Klink has so many NCOs and officers running around with Iron Crosses).
And a question for ya, if anyone's out there reading these things: how do you feel about how I'm doing these batreps? Here's what I mean; I've always had a lot of photos in my batreps, but there are a lot more now than normal. In the past I would play out an action, write some notes in my notebook, then take a picture, then move on to the next action. Now what I'm doing is taking a picture for absolutely everything. More specifically, in the past I would activate a command team, move it over to a suppressed rifle squad, take a picture, write down "commander moves over to rally 1st Squad," take a picture, roll the rally dice, then go write down "1st Squad successfully rallied." Now I move the commander over, take a pic, roll to rally, take a pic, and since I'm doing that I'm not having to take hardly any notes at all. I upload the photos and it's pretty apparent to me what happened, just by looking at the sequence of photos, so I'm not spending any time writing notes, and even better, trying to decipher those notes later, which really took a long time because my handwriting is so horrible! ;)
My concern is that it might be a bit aggravating to see it broken out that way, step-by-step, and with a million photos. I hope not, I hope the narrative is still flowing and dramatic, and I hope the extra photos of the minis and the table are just a bonus. Anyway, let me know what you think, and more batreps to come, the next fight is already set up and waiting on me! Or do I just hop straight into Kampfgruppe Klink? I'm pretty excited about it.
V/R,
Jack
