Took a long trip, so have not been able to game for a while, so I was glad to get back and try out some more play testing of my new Micro Armor rules. The first game showed that the initiative mechanics slowed down the game too much and caused some odd situations to evolve. There was also insufficient carnage for close range attacks. Based on those observations, I made a few changes to each area in the effort of streamlining and speeding things up. I also simplified some of the troop types and made certain troops get rerolls instead of having different stat lines.
I also decided that things would go faster if I made unit cards for the various formations. So, I sat down and designed and typed those up. I really only needed a handful for playtesting, but me being me, I could not stop there. I ended up doing full list for both the Soviets and Germans that included all major formations. I think I may have a problem….
With new card sheets and redesigned QRG in hand, I set up a game at my FLGS. I am trying to keep the games small for now, to ensure the mechanics are solid, before expanding to larger forces. I also need to see how things go from an overall timing perspective to enable games to finish in the expected time (still not quite there on this point). I set up a map that was five foot by three and a half foot. The terrain was covered with random woods and towns and a number of large woods. It would represent fighting during the second phase of operation Bagration.
The defenders would be a German Fallschirmjager Regiment that was supported by a 120mm Mortar battalion and had a ready reserve from a Stug Battalion (31 Stugs). They deployed one battalion forward, with two battalions farther back holding the flanks. The artillery was in the rear with the regimental HQ. The Stugs would roll to enter three turns after first contact. The roll would start at one and would improve one each turn. The German mission was to stop a Soviet breakthrough and cause twice as many casualties on the Soviets for a Major victory.
The Soviet force was a reinforced Tank Brigade. The brigade contained two battalions of T-34/85s, a battalion of T-34/76s and a Motor Infantry Battalion. The force was reinforced by am ISU 152 SP Artillery Regiment. The entire force also was supported by two squadrons of Sturmoviks that were in general support (needed a roll of 4+ to enter each turn. The Soviet mission was to achieve a breakthrough by controlling a road that lead off the German back end, while not taking excessive casualties. The Soviet Tank Brigade units could recycle once they were down to fifty percent and reenter from the Soviet rear.
The Soviet attack plan was to overwhelm the front battalion with the totality of their armor and shoot them out at combat range and then continue up the right flank to clear the road. Thy largely followed this approach and ground forward against the Germans. The aircraft were used primarily to pin down the rear infantry battalions and then switched to the Stugs when they made their appearance.
The Germans held their forward battalion in place until it was weakened and then fell back through the center woods to get protection from the flanking battalions. Once the Stugs arrived, the left flank battalion started to fall back int he face of the Soviet onslaught. Unfortunately, that fight was turning out badly for the defenders, they managed to rout off a tank battalion, but they were pushed back with heavy casualties.
The Soviets continued to get back footed during initiative during the game, delaying and breaking up their attacks. However, their armor (or armor saves) seems up to the task, causing much frustrations from the Germans.
We had to call the game after playing seven turns, as the store was closing (one turn short of the goal). It was clear that the Soviets would not clear the road in another turn, as they still had to deal with the Stugs. The German infantry was almost exhausted, with one battalion suppressed and another one hit away. They would defiantly have been able to hold on for another turn until nightfall.
With that, it looked like a German minor victory. The Soviets were mostly intact (with the infantry not even scratched) and they had advanced two kilometers, but the defenders held and would be able to regroup over the night for the next day fighting!
I was generally happy with the revised initiative movement and other changes. The only thing that stuck out to me was the potential power of hand had AT weapons (Panzerfausts in this case). I think these will need a tweak to cover combined arms attacks in the open. The cards were helpful (I just need to cut them out next time). So, it looks like we will try them again next month!
- Manteuffel