Forward
Our Friday battle took place in September of 1942 shortly after the Nazis has crossed the Terek River from Mozdok in the Caucasus as part of the drive to Grozny and the rich oilfields needed by Hitler and Stalin alike. And some of you thought they had nothing in common … apart from being narcissistic, megalomaniac, butchers of millions.
Like most of the game design for our Friday games the normal challenges were there. As a group or individually are the correct forces available, will the people who committed to bringing a force component will show up, and how many people will unannounced show up to play and when. The plan was to have players bring their own stuff, and contribute their miniatures to a rollicking good time, some fantastic banter, and a willingness to contribute to the carnage. It’s always great to have the problem of managing resources to get everyone involved!
Background
On 4-7 September, 1942 at 04:00 the Germans near simultaneously launched an attack to the south-east along the Voznessenskaya Road towards Ordzhonikidze and ultimately Grozny from their bridgehead across the Terek led by II Bn/4th Panzer Regiment and II Bn/117th Panzergrenadier Regiment with II Bn 201st Panzer Regiment and III Bn/117th Panzergrenadier Regiment in the second echelon to ultimately advance on Grozny; with an attack along the Terekskaya- Terek axis (a distance of 6km) along the southern banks of the Terek River to take the village of Terek and secure the Panzers flank with the II Bn/50th Regiment, 111th Grenadier Division. We fought the flank attack.
The Game
While both German and Soviet artillery played significant roles in the battle; I removed this as a game mechanic to allow it to play out as an infantry and tank battle. As this was neither the main axis of advance nor of defense, I also did not allow for airpower. Historically, both German thrusts ran into problems and became bogged down. So, our scenario began with the II/50th strung out as a Soviet counter-offensive began from the town of Terek with a Ruskie infantry battalion advancing from the woods along the line of the river towards the point of the Germans farthest advance unit – a platoon of infantry in the industrial farm complex and a composite Tank Brigade of 3xKV-1s, 5xT-34/76, 5xValentines and 10xT60s. An anti-tank Regiment of a battery each of towed 45mm, towed 76mm and SP 57mm anti-tank guns followed behind the tanks.
No plan survives first contact. And I mean my plan. I expected that the Germans would do a bumper stop action at the Farm Factory but instead, they immediately high tailed it for the protective balka line to their rear along with the platoon caught initially in the open. This meant that the Russian infantry had a long hard slog to get into the fight.
Elements of the Soviet 10th Rifle Brigade and a lead Tank Brigade reached the German infantry’s defensive line on their turn 5. The aggressive Russian tank commander had pushed forward rapidly to get his tanks in a supporting position for when the infantry came up with slower tanks – like the T-26 and Valentine Companies – in trail and the A-T section behind them. A second Soviet tank brigade –similar in composition to the first – also initiated its advance from Terek.
On German turn 5, the infantry sprang an ambush of a platoon of 50mm guns and moved a platoon of StuGs forward. The former were in play immediately while the StuGs required another turn to get into position. The Soviets had been warned of a battle to the south and the possibility of German armor coming from that direction. And so it was, with Panzer Mk III (upgraded) platoon and Panzer Mk IV platoon coming in off the southern road in a “V” formation and into the middle of the Soviet advance with A-T guns to their front and tank brigades on either flank.
Several interesting decisions have now come into play. The German armor had destroyed the 76mm A-T Battery on its arrival but had ignored the more potent 57mm SPs. These and the 45mm guns now began to exact a tool. Moreover, they were joined by the audacious lead T-26 battalion which revered course and began maneuvering into the German left flank. The dynamic contribution of these “mosquitos” soaked off a lot of German firepower from the PZ IIIs as they danced with the Germans, disrupted their lines, and drew firepower from more lucrative targets.
(Only five T-26s were able to fire on their first opportunity on Turn 6 but scored several hits and one kill. (The point cost of a Mk III up-armored is roughly equivalent to a T-26 battalion of 10.))
For several turns, the German infantry line would exchange fires with the KV-1s and T-34s, eventually decisively winning a battle of attrition as the Sovie infantry laboriously moved on under a barrage of German 80mm mortar fire.
On turn 7, German reinforcements arrived in the form of a platoon each of PZ IIIs and PZ IVs into the cauldron of the units that preceded them. And the cranage continued. At the infantry line, a trio of 20mm AA guns on Bren Carriers en portee also arrived from ambush to stiffen the German defense.
At about turn 10-11 the final German player arrived and brought his tank into the cauldron and the Soviet footsloggers finally were able to launch an easily repelled assault. German Panzer-Grenadiers also arrived in halftracks behind the tanks as the last of the last German Panzers. A third Soviet tank brigade – 3xKV-1s, 8 x Lee/Grants, 10 T-26s –a also moved south from Terek as the last of the first tank brigades went up in flames.
By turn 12, the Soviet attack appeared to have seen its high-water mark with the infantry stymied at the German defense, its StuGs going over to the offensive and the German and Russian second and third waves stabilizing a relative north-south line at the Farm Complex. The Soviets had not penetrated the German line to reach Terekskaya and the Germans had failed to take Terek. And tanks burned across the flat steppe.
Historically, this battle raged from 4-7 September with a German 20mm Quad Flak gun arriving in “a timely manner” to save the German infantry’s retrograde movement and later to be joined by the 111th Bn/191st Assault Gun Brigade and the 1/13th Panzerjaeger Abteilung to stiffen the defense of the German anvil. With II Bn/4th Pzr Rgt having been turned into the flank of the Russian attack. Over the course of two days, the Russians lost some 86 tanks to include five captured along with 1 unspecified gun and 10 mortars. The first Russian Tank Brigade lost one each T-34 and Valentine to man alone rolls and the commander actually voluntarily abandoned one KV and two T-26s to assume command of the Third Brigade, we might consider these to have been the ones captured.
A draw in terms of geographical objectives, the point value of tanks destroyed appeared to go in the Russians favor although the numbers of Soviet tanks greatly exceeded those of the Germans. The infantry never got to a decisive commitment. An interesting alternative to the results might have occurred had the Germans initially decided to fight for the Farm Complex (out of range of supporting German mortar fire) and the diversion of the T-60s and Valentines to deal with the appearance of German tanks. Had these contributed to softening up and even flanking the German defensive line it would have been a very different game. Additionally, the failure of the Soviet infantry to occupy the Farm Complex, meant that this key piece of real estate was open to German Panzer-Grenadiers once they were committed although challenged at the end by the third brigades T-60s.
Of course, most critically, I had a good time as game designer and “executioner”. Because of the contributions of other players collections, I was able to have yet another German panzer company in reserve along with a company of Soviet Stuarts and a company of 76mm SPs that could have been committed.
- MJ