Bucha, Ukraine - 27 Feb 2022 - 15mm
Brucelea v. Oriskany - PanzerBlitz Ostfront 1943 (p2)
Okay, we’re back for Part 02 of this battle between myself (playing a kampfgruppe of Grossdeutschland Division – 500 men and 70 tanks) against the main body of 12th Tank Corps / 3rd Tank Army (1250+ men, 70 tanks) played by Andrew (@brucelea)
Background and setting details are all below. Basically, Andrew’s set up his battalion of a Soviet motorized rifle brigade on the table on defense, now I have to assault with elements of Grossdeutschland Division (to include II. Bn, PzRgt “GD,” II. Bn, Fusilier Rgt “GD,” PzJgAbt and StgPzAbtg “GD,” and of course 13. Kompanie, PzRgt “GD,” some of the first Tigers to see action in this part of the war.
There are five objective hexes on the table. I have ten turns to take at least three of them. I took the first on the fly, but the second is heavily defended. I’ve spent several turns carefully setting up an all-out frontal offensive (really my only way into this objective), so now we’ll see how it goes.
First up, my supporting attack to the south gets underway when Andrew moves from T-60A light tanks and T-34/c medium tanks up against my PzKpfw IVs of II. Bn/PzRgt GD, and StuG-IIIs of StPzAbtg GD. The KV-1s are too far behind to support. Honestly, I might have held back on those light and medium tanks until the heavy tanks could close the distance and support. So I have 10 StuGs (2 batteries) pin down the T-34s in the open, while three platoons of tanks (PzIVGs and PzIIIJs) take out the T-34s in the woods. 
Finally, the assault in the center gets started on the town of Vll'khuvatka. I roll in with tanks from the north (PzKpfw IVs) and south (Tigers), using the shape of the town to screen each attack from at least some of Andrew's 76.2mm antitank batteries (9-A-5). The only unit exposed to a crossfire of both batteries are the Marders in the center, selected because, well, they're a little more expendable. They also have a lower defense than my tanks, so I'm hoping Andrew will fire at them instead of my tanks. Andrew doesn't entirely take the bait, however, pinning down one platoon of Marder tank destroyers but also KILLING one platoon of PzKpfw IVGs in the north. In this attack, the 76.2mm AT battery was assisted by Soviet 37mm AA guns firing from under cover across the Orchyk River.
Andrew is also getting bolt up north, where fifteen T-60A light tanks are speeding across the steppe to threaten the objective hex I've previously taken in Vil'khuvatka. There's a lot of movement in this scenario, I should state that each hex measures 150 meters across (covering the area of a say ... two FoW tables).
Now that I've closed the distance on Turn 3 and taken my lumps, on Turn 4 I can open fire point-blank into the town of Vilk'huvatka. Tigers, Mark IVs, Marders, halftrack MGs and 2.0cm FlaK autocannons all target AT guns first, along with Soviet SMG platoons to reduce the risk of close assault in the streets and approaches of that town. I won't lie, I get two pretty good rolls here, killing both AT batteries and SMG platoons.
Now starts my movement phase. Using split move and fire (a little like "shoot & scoot" in other systems), my German TANKS only - see note below - can shift out of the way for German infantry, HMGs, and engineers to rush in for close assault Of course such movement is subject to Soviet opportunity fire, and Andrew makes damned sure to pin down the German "pionier" engineers (they would lend a pretty substantial bonus to any Close Assault Tactics - CAT). As a result, my infantry close assault more or less fails, only dispersing the remaining Soviet rifle platoons in the target hexes, not killing them outright. NOTE NOTE NOTE --- > Okay, in writing this battle report and reviewing the maps in detail, I realize I unintentionally cheated my ass off here. Those Marders are not turreted AFVs, and so do NOT get the Split-Move-and-Fire rule. This means I could NOT vacate that central assault hex, which means the Soviet rifle platoon in the northern objective hex at Vil'khuvatka would NOT have been dispersed. I don't think I would have made THAT much a difference since I failed to take the hex anyway, but I will make the correction and apply it to future turns.
In the south, Andrew's KVs close up behind the remaining T-34s and T-60As and together they make a mad rush at my tanks. Now I've gotten a little too aggressive with the StuGs here, pushing forward in that river gully. So they CAN'T help with opportunity fire (they can't see anything down in that ravine, just as they cannot be seen in turn). This leaves the PzKpfw IIIs and IVs on their own. No worries, with my opportunity fire I can easily disperse the Soviet tank platoons before they hit me in an overrun. EXCEPT I ROLL A 6! (low rolls are better, so a 6 is the worst possible roll). The opportunity fire whiffs and Andrew BARELY misses killing the whole stack of German tanks. Even if they all rally (Grossdeutschland is an elite unit, they have Morale "A" in this scenario so they probably will), they'll still be clobbered again point-blank by the T-34s. PRO TIP when playing against the Soviets. NEVER EVER EVER let them get this close! At less than 150 meters, a 76.2mm T-34 hits almost as hard as a Tiger.
The furious street battle for Vil'khuvatka continues in the center. Now on Andrew's Turn 5, he tries to rush in some reinforcements. But my Tigers, which have been shifted during Turn 4's split-move-and-fire, get opportunity fire on the moves and blow the Soviet rifle and engineer platoons into kitty litter. That northern Soviet rifle platoon in Hex 1215 should be set upright (good order - see rules error above).
Uh oh, Soviet light tanks are now adjacent to my first objective hex up in the northwestern part of the board. I'm not too worried about it . . . for now. That German infantry platoon is well-positioned in that concrete town hex, and fifteen T-60As aren't likely to shift them. But if Andrew gets artillery or medium tank support up there, I could be in serious trouble. Also, that's my headquarters unit up there (CP) - if I lose that my morale drops to a "B." If nothing else, it's a distraction that might require me to dispatch a few platoons of Marders or PzKpfw IVs up that way, diluting my assault on Vil'khuvatka.
The overall situation HALFWAY through the game (end of Turn 5). I have one objective hex, hopefully I'm about to take a second. After that things are going to get very tense, very tight, and very rushed as the clock starts to run out on my attack.So that’s where we stand for now. After 3 hours, we had to call the session for the moment, we will come back and finish this hopefully sometime in two weeks, Jan 26-27.
This one’s really on the razor’s edge, I think. My Grossdeutschland Germans have one objective hex, we’re on the cusp of taking the second one, on Turn 6. I don’t think I’ll be taking the southern one after that T-34 overrun, let alone reaching the one in the far northeast corner of the board (along the Khar’kov road).
This leaves me with the one on the east back on the river, where one hell of a battle is liable to open up as Andrew and I probably converge everything we can put there on the last 4 turns or so.
I have a lot of firepower but not much time, and of course Andrew can still cause problems for me in the backfield with his T-60As and my northwestern objective hex.
We’ll see what happens! Can Andrew hold on for the Motherland? Tune in and find out!
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