Holding Action

We played a scenario from the "Battlegroup" Fall of the Reich supplement earlier this week, the German force was tasked with holding the Russians at bay for 9 turns.

The Scene Is Set, The Germans Will Deploy In The Farm And Beyond

The Germans had to dice for their initial forces, they managed to get on a healthy amount of units for the task ahead, which was fortunate has no help was forthcoming later. The Russians commenced with just their Recon units on the table and then have to dice each turn to bring on a number of units. The Russian's took first turn, emboldened by seeing the German PAK40 retire due to lack of ammunition they advanced on the right in an attempt to flank the village, meanwhile a T34 platoon advanced on the left flank, to be met by a German foot patrol holed up in the farm and a Hetzer supported by a Tiger II.

The Lead T34 Is Taken Out By A Panzerfaust Shot From The German Foot Patrol In The Farm

The Waiting Panzerschrek Team Are Made Redundant, The Russian Recon Force Was Taken Out By Artillery Fire

After the initial rush there appeared to be a communication breakdown on the Russian side, coupled with the very poor results from firing off the Russian units who received orders, the same could not be said of the Germans whose fire was both accurate and deadly, indeed the only real Russian success was in keeping the German Tiger II pinned for a while by shots bouncing off its armour. Hopes on the Russian side were raised when the German Hetzer had to retire due to running out of ammunition, this was short lived when another emerged from the village. With the Russian force remaining also running out of ammunition it was clear that they would be unable to brush aside the opposing Germans in time to stop their main force escaping, so the Russian commander called off the attack to await further support.

The Hetzer And Tiger II Await The Russian Bear 

The Russian ISII Fires On The Germans With Little Effect

Russian 45mm ATG Advances To Support The Now Destroyed Recon Units

The Second Hetzer Replaces The Out Of Ammo One

Russian Infantry Appear To Late To Effect The Battle

A cracking little game, one of those times where the dice gods totally deserted the Russians and totally favoured the Germans, a case of chalk and cheese.