Eastern Front October 1943

In October 1943 the 315th Grenadier Regiment of the 167th Infantry Division had to hold a 10km long battlefront. The Regiment numbered just over nine hundred men and was supported by just four StuG IIIs. Three Soviet guards infantry regiments and a tank regiment with the support of two further Divisions  smashed through the 315th and poured westward. The survivors formed small battle groups resisting the Soviet forces flowing west.
Chaos followed, with Division first ordering a counter attack with non existing troops, then ordering the survivors to hold their positions.

This scenario pits a small battle group at Solotaryevka and a small wooded hill against overwhelming Soviet odds. Could they hold out against the next wave? A small force with a high proportion of Big Men try to hold off an unknown number of Soviet attackers.

I like to use IABSM 3 Company level rules, but these forces can be adapted to any company level rule set.

KG 1 ( village )

Big Man Lvl 3
2 HMGs ( 5 crew)

Zug 1
Big Man Lvl 2
Big Man Lvl 1
2 Sections of 8 men

Zug 2

Big Man Lvl 2

Big Man Lvl 1

2 Sections of 8 men

1 Pak 38 crew 5

1 75mm IG crew 5

KG 2 ( the woods )

Big Man Lvl 3

1 Forward Observer

1 HMGs ( 5 crew)

Zug 1

Big Man Lvl 2

Big Man Lvl 1

2 Sections of 8 men

1 x StuG III

As this was a solo game for the enemy I used the system of blinds from Platoon Forward tweaked for company level, that way I wouldn't know the exact make up the enemy, each blind may represent a platoon, HQ, heavy weapons group or nothing. 

I used the following:

7 x Type A , 5 x Type B and 3 x Type C. I then shuffled them and diced to see which section of the table they arrived on and which would be reserves. As it turned out all but two started on the table.

 The battleground, Soviet blinds mass for the assault.

KG 2 defending the woods.

 KG 1 on the village perimeter.

 KG 1 on the village perimeter.

 Soviet blinds revealed. Argh! most blinds contained forces, this was going to be pretty one sided.

 Blinds revealed at the other end of the table. One armoured platoon, an infantry platoon and CHQ with MMGs.

 Platoon 4 advance on the wood supported by a platoon  of T34s, confident that the previous waves had silenced the bosch.

 Soviet troops advancing in the open take a terrible toll.

T34s engage Zug 2.

 Solotaryevka under attack.

 Soviet machine gunners in the open, too good a target, the machine gun bursts into life.

They pay the price and are cut down.

 Soviet armour stand off and shell the wooded hill. ( PSC T34s great value. )

The lone StuG behind the wood engages the armour assaulting Solotaryevka.

 Human wave! two platoons of Soviet infantry charge the German defenders.

 1st Platoon are short.

2nd Platoon closes with the Jerry.

 Sweeping away the defenders they gain a foothold in the village.

 The Jerry section and HMG open fire cutting down the Soviet platoon caught short of the village.

Wait till you see the whites of their eyes.

 Soviet armour fire High Explosive on the wooded hill, ( two T34s roll a six in the attack, a third rolls double six. ) Its all over at the wooded hill as the survivors lose their bottle and retreat to the far side of the hill.

 The platoon big man signals the advance.

The hill is lost, the only option is to make their way back west to where ever the front line is now.

Russian infantry break into the village.

The StuGs only success, one bailed out T34 ( The eagle eyed will have spotted Zvezda T34s, also great value but early war only. I had to press them into service didn't have enough T34s ).

Defeat is only a matter of time now, the German commander signals his men to fight their way back to their own lines.

France 1940

A fictional scenario set in late May 1940. Using IABSM 3  &  Platoon Forward ( tweaked for company level ).

The German forces are heading for the English channel, luftwaffe reconnaissance have spotted several undefended river crossings in a small market town some miles north. Division have sent you ahead to secure the crossings and town before a coherent defence can be organised.

German Force


Company HQ

Big Man lvl 3
2 x MMG
1 x ATR
1 x Mortar 50mm

Kradshutzen Plt             Armd Plt. 1


Big Man lvl 3                   Big Man lvl 3
Big Man lvl 1                   3 x Pz II
3 x Sections of 8
on Motorcycles

Platoon Two                   Armd Plt. 2


Big Man lvl 3                   Big Man lvl 3
Big Man lvl 1                   3 x Pz III
4 x Sections of 8

Air Support


1 x Stukka

The Allied force blinds were totalled, then one third were placed on board representing remnants of French units and two thirds would represent a BEF force sent to bolster the defence. These would arrive on turn  one to four diced for at the beginning of the game. It turned out to be move one!
In Platoon Forward the blinds are classed A,B or C so that you can deploy them with some degree of knowledge of what type of troops they represent but they are diced for only when they are spotted or deployed. ( In this game it threw up a few surprises. )

The position after the first move.

Platoon one with the PzIIIs take the left flank bridge, Platoon two cross the centre ford and Company Hq and the PzIIs head for the rail bridge.

BEF arrive (under french blinds)

 Covering the main road into the town, a garden hides a 25mm Anti tank gun.

On the left flank the French anti tank gun spots Leutnant Krabbe's armoured platoon and opens fire.

Krabbe orders the platoon to ENGAGE. In the ensuing duel the Panzers win through, killing two crew and causing shock resulting in the remaining crew fleeing, leaving the gun.

 Confidently the panzers advance along the main road.

Having taken care of the ATG the left flank pushes forward.

 2nd Armoured platoon take the rail bridge.

But the French are waiting.

 During the skirmish the French knock out one PzII, severely damaging another forcing the crew to bail out and inflicting shock on the third.

Overview of the town. British mark IVs can just be made out. A section of the German 2nd platoon moving into the park, over confident rush through the park right into one of the mark IVs ( rolled two 6s and ended up moving into close combat ) They lost the combat, then came under fire from the light tank losing all but two men.

The Air support card comes up almost every turn but only makes one appearance. This is the view as it screams down toward the French tanks. It misses the target but inflicts damage on another blind. After this attack it disappears for the rest of the game.

A section hopping from one building to another is caught in the open by a machine gun in the building opposite.

 Armoured platoon 2 taking damage.

 Hauptman Kliesche pushes the antitank rifle team forward behind the cover of the railway embankment. From there they take potshots at the French tanks panicking one which pulls back.

 Armoured platoon one pushes into the market place, the infantry in support clear the surrounding buildings.

Clearing the buildings.

During the game the first few Allied blinds revealed two armoured platoons and an anti tank gun, subsequent blinds melted away revealing little else, just one HMG and an infantry section. Without the poor bloody infantryman the town could not be held, the Germans had won.

Until the last two blinds melted away the game could have gone either way. It was also unusual to have so many tanks come up on blinds ( in my experience anyway ), but it was an enjoyable solo game playing against the unknown.

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.