Defending Kobrin - the battle

The table.

The Germans advance, the Russians have been spotted in the wood west of the river. 

 Ivan has prepared his defences in the woods.

 They await the inevitable assault.

 The Russian blind in the wood to the north is spotted as a dummy blind, clearing the way for the German 2nd platoon to move up the left.

 The German 1st platoon methodically take apart the inferior Russians, but it takes time.

Second platoon move into the woods, but impatiently the armour pushes too far forward on a bonus card. The very next card is Russian blinds and the 45mm ATG lets fly. With a well aimed shot the first German tank brews up, all bar one of the crew escape. The next shot finds its target and although it fails to destroy the tank it damages the main armament, putting it out of action. 

 The 45mm continues to hit the remaining tank, eventually the crew bail out expecting each new hit to turn the tank into a blazing coffin.

 The Russian crew find the range and punish the tanks !

 Second platoon move through the wood. Once in place they will have sight onto the Russian ATG.

 The Russian big man Ivor Varuka planning the defence from the cover of a wood.

The Germans having learned the lesson of impatience have moved into position to lay fire down on the brittle Russians. However the blank card ( marking the passing of a turn ) has not been kind to the Germans and there is only one turn left.

 The final position after 10 turns. The Germans were unable to cross the the river in the given time. When they did take a chance luck was against them and one armoured platoon was history. Steady fire upon the Russians reducing their effectiveness via shock worked well and given more time they would have prevailed.

A Russian victory however, they had slowed 3 Panzer Division.

The heroic ATG team remained at their gun to the bitter end.

Defending Kobrin

The second battle from the 41-Drive on Minsk skirmish campaign book. Elements of the 3rd Panzer Division are approaching Kobrin. The Soviet 205th Motorised Division have set up defensive positions to cover the retreat of of their Tank Divisions.

The Soviet troops may start in foxholes or trenches.

They have 3 Platoons of Infantry and a 45mm ATG. The infantry platoons have prepared squads with extra grenades and Molotov cocktails.

The German force objective is to exit 2 AFVs off the eastern edge. They have a platoon of two PzII tanks, a platoon of two PzIIIs and two platoons of infantry.

All the woods are dense (no vehicle movement) the streams have steep banks and marsh along most of their length, vehicles may only cross at the bridge or the fords.

Although the Russians are dug in and outnumber the German Infantry they are of low quality and lack the leaders to motivate them, (one of the strengths of IABSM is that the rules can model a small highly motivated confident force to combat a larger less motivated force). This won't be an easy task for the Germans however,  the close terrain does not suit the German armour. If their infantry do not protect them the Russian infantry will have plenty of opportunities to close assault the German armour.

As the Russians had prepared squads for such an event I added a tank killer card to the deck, which would allow one squad to close assault any German AFV within range.

Other cards in the deck:

Russian Big Man 1

Commisar

Tank Killers

Platoons 1 to 3

ATG

Russian Blinds

German Big Man 1 to 4

Rapid Deployment

Axis Rally

German Blinds

Platoons 1 & 2

Armour 1 & 2

After action report to follow.

Armour Clash part two

 Not my usual type of game, an armour heavy meeting engagement in pretty open ground. I prefer Infantry heavy games with lots of terrain on the battlefield. This is the first battle in the drive on Minsk campaign as detailed in the previous post. Click on any picture to enlarge.

Start lines and the PLAN.

The Russian Infantry make great progress and reach the cover of the gully on the Russian right.

 German slow start and Russians great spotting.

The Panzer 3 Plt moves down to the gully.

 just in time to see the Russians deploying their ATG on the hill, they open fire.

 The truck is HIT get that gun into action quick!

 The Panzer IIIs clock two platoons of T26s moving into hull down positions.

 Russian infantry reach the edge of the wood as the Germans top the hill.

 With no big men to rally them the T26s tactics are to hold their position and fire from hull down positions.

 With their first shot first blood!

 Taking a chance when the recce bonus card comes up, they make a dash through the Russian infantry lines. Should have had them on overwatch. Just hoping the armoured car comes up before Tea Break.

  

With the Russians in their superior position the armoured duel is going against the Germans.

 Ivan gets the gun in position.

 The Russian armoured cars turn up and make a flanking move down the left ( two 6s & a 5 for movement). They then proceed to take no further part in the battle, a transfer to the penal battalion for whoever is in charge.

Those damn T26s are so hard to hit hiding behind that ridge.

 The German Recce armoured cars break loose in the Russian rear.

 Overview of the battle.

 German Company CO tries to restart the stalled attack.

 Those Russsian armoured cars threaten the German right. ( keen observers will notice they are not BA10s, I don't have any these are standing in ). 

Skulking at the edge of the wood !!!

 German recce turns back to fire on the rear of the Russian tanks.

 The crew of two T26s abandon their tanks ( Shock overtaking their morale ).

 One final salvo from the Russians takes out two PzIIs

 One T26 knocked out, two abandoned, one with a damaged gun and one immobilised.

One PzIII and three PzIIs knocked out and one PzIII immobilised.

 Russian infantry surrendering. ( should have had more photos of the infantry battle ).

 T26s panic with Germans front and rear.

A German victory, but a costly one. Only one T26 was knocked out, but their low morale and only one big man eventually took it's toll on them.
The battle could have turned out very different if the Russian armoured cars card had come up a few times.

Armour Clash

I decided to play through the Skirmish Campaign scenario book "41 Drive on Minsk" using the IABSM 3 rule set. An article by Tom Ballou on converting the OOB can be found on the Toofatlardies Yahoo Group.

The Skirmish Campaign books are easily converted to most platoon or company level rules. Each scenario can be played out on its own or as a linked campaign. A base force is given to each side and variable attachments are diced for, giving a different game each time you play out a scenario.

The first scenario in Drive on Minsk is Armour Clash which sees elements of the 3rd Panzer Division bumping into advancing elements of the Soviet 22nd Tank Division.

German Orders: Exit at least four AFVs off the eastern board edge.

Soviet Orders: Exit at least two AFVs off the western board edge.

Game length: 10 Turns.

German Force:

5 Big Men

M/C Plt, 3 sections of 8.

Recon Section, 8 men in Sdkfz 251.

Panzer Zug 1, 4 PzII

Panzer Zug 2, 2 PzIII

A/C Plt, 2 Sdkfz 231

Russian Force: 

1 Big Man

Inf Plt, 3 sections of 10 men.

2 Plts, 3 T26s

A/C plt, 2 BA10s

ATG, 45mm

La petite ville française

A Platoon Forward Game

My units are infantry, other units are allocated on a scenario by scenario basis. Below is the battle report.

The Briefing

Through a combination of manoeuvre and combat the regiment has gained a position on the enemy's flank.

Your battalion has been ordered to deliver the "hammer blow" by rolling up the enemy position. Your battalion is once again in the vanguard. There has been no time to arrange artillery support, but you will have the element of surprise.

Aerial view of the town square take from the east.

Aerial reconnaissance suggest that a  French Battalion HQ is located in the town. The French forces are lightly dug in and mainly facing east. They are in company strength with at least one anti tank gun and a high likelihood of one or more tanks. (The defence is set with markers and until they are spotted or the French commander wishes to activate them their exact composition is unknown).

The town square, location of the French Battalion headquarters.

German OOB

1st Company & 2nd Company

CC +1, HMG

3 Plts. each

PC +1, rifle groups x3

Support

3 x Pz38t

Pz38ts thread their way through the woods.

Pre game events reveal three French positions, giving me some much needed intelligence.

Move 1

Company 1 advance through the woods the 38ts are just out of shot.

Move 2

Pz38ts break off left intending to strike deep into the rear of the french. Company 1 continues its advance through the woods. Company 2 still in reserve till we can identify French positions.

The French muster their forces realising the Germans are striking for the rear of the town!

( In pre game events the French commander was Bold, uncharacteristically, and would be quick to react, hence the activation early of some French defenders).

To be continued !

German Infantry Company for Platoon Forward.

Company OC Hauptman Malwitz: A gifted commander very loyal to the government but with a pessimistic outlook.

1st platoon OC Oberleutnant Urtz: An average commander but cunning with a keen interest in engineering.

2nd platoon OC Feldwebel Breiding: A sensible but poor commander, motivated by increasing his position  in life.

3rd Platoon OC Feldwebel Gunter: An average commander. Hedonistic and addicted to living life to the full.

MG Platoon OC Werner: An average commander, obnoxious and looks forward to the next bottle.

The company started as a Regular company at full strength and its current strength varies with combat losses and replacements.

How the company is represented on board is dependant on the rule set being used:

In Crossfire it could be 1CC, 3PC  and 9 stands plus HMGs

In PBI 1CC, 3PC, 9LMGs and 18 rifle stands plus HMGs

Russian Civil War

Another project started ! White Russian troops for a game in November. Peter Pig army box, a long way to go yet.


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