This months WWII Tuesday night game came and I opted to try another play test of the battalion level micro armor rules I have been working on. I have fleshed out the planes since the last game and did a little with modifiers for supported and unsupported tank attacks on infantry.
The game was set up on a four by three foot table, with mixed terrain. The game plan was for a German Grenadier Regiment to defend against an assault by a reinforced Soviet Infantry Regiment. The Soviets would win a major victory if they could wear a road off the table. They would have a minor victory if they pushed the Germans back and had less units that were warn or routed by turn eight. The Germans would win if they stopped the breakthrough and had less units that were worn or routed by turn eight.
The German force was composed of a 1944 German Grenadier Regiment of two battalions of Grenadiers. This was reinforced by a Hetzer Company and a 88mm Artillery Battalion. The forces would start dug in, camouflaged and with registered artillery.
The Soviet force was composed of a three battalion Infantry Regiment. It was supported by two Breakthrough Tank Regiments of JS2m tanks, two battalions of field artillery and three squadrons of Sturmovick support.
I wanted to see if a well supported infantry force of similar strength could overcome a force that did not have as much support. I was anticipating a minor Soviet victory, because of the superior Soviet stand off ability.
The game started with the Germans setting up first. The deployed with an infantry battalion on each flank with the Regimental assets holding the center. The artillery battalion was deployed forward right behind the Regiment to provide heavy AT support if needed. The Hetzer company was attached to the right flank infantry battalion. The left flank was deployed forward to hinder the Soviets from using the forward road to support command and supply. The Soviets set up second, with their forces spread somewhat equally across the front, with the third battalion of infantry on the left.
The Soviets started with a single battalion assault on the German left flank to try to clear the road for their follow on forces. The rest of the regiment moved forward cautiously. The Germans opted to hold their ground, as they had the advantage. The Soviets faired very poorly in this attack. Between the Germans being able to get the firepower advantage and the swing in die rolls, the Soviet infantry was worn after one assault. The Germans by contrast took nominal punishment.
This put the Soviets in a bad position. First they would be down an infantry battalion and they found part of their forces out of command. With the situation precarious, the Soviets decided to throw in the hammer and attacked the German left with a regiment of tanks and two infantry battalions. Seeing the writing on the wall, the Germans quickly withdrew from their forward positions to get away for the assault. This maneuver was successful and the Germans were able to pull back with a minor battering, taking as good as they got against the following Soviets.
The next hour of fighting broke down into a long range duel, as both sides had critical failures of command and could not get their formations moving. After some reorganization of command and rallying some of the units in the worn battalion, the Soviets went forward again. The Germans were again able to escape the assault taking as good as they gave.
With the Soviets now concentrating on the German left, the German commander saw an opportunity to attack with his right wing to cut off the Soviet lines of communications. The Soviets opted to continue to push forward for one more assault.
The Soviet assault was not able to make much headway. The inflicted losses on the German defending infantry battalion and regimental assets, putting them on the edge of being warn. However, it cost the Soviets dearly, as all their infantry to become worn and holding the attack. The armor would be needed to hold off the German counter attack and consolidate the territorial gains, but no advance would be possible. The Soviets did push the Germans back two kilometers, but with three warn units against none for the Germans, it was clear the Germans had bent but did not break. German Victory.
The Soviet artillery turn out to be a non-factor during the game. Some of this was bad luck in command rolls. Part of if was just the lightness of the guns themselves. The air support did not tilt the balance, as the heavily armored Sturmovicks seems prone to golden bee bee shots! A greater concentration of the flights may have helped, but the early losses stymied this farther.
The game proceeded OK. The more experienced player with the rules did better of course, so I probably should have had them attacking (which is harder). Will do that the next time! I also need to make some tweaks to the re-rolls and how to handle guns in units more cleanly. Well, we will see how that works out in the next game!
- Manteuffel