Shermans

A couple of Shermans armed with 75mm guns to make things a little more interesting for the Americans🙂

Italeri 1/72nd quick build kits.

Bases from Warbases.

Thats all for now folks, TTFN & KBO

Rahnstadt Falls

Soviet forces are advancing in the the industrial town of Rahnstadt which has been largely reduced to rubble by Allied bombing. Nether the less it has been designated a Festung and must be held to the last bullet.

Regular forces are being heavily pressed elsewhere and can only provide a solitary Pak43 for its defence. The brunt of the assault must be borne by the Rahnstadt Volksturm.

1. Pak43.

2. Dug in Panther.

3. Dug in 80mm Mortar.

4. An old Putilov 76mm field gun pressed into action.

5.Volksturm Platoon HQ, officer, mortar spotter.

6. Volksturm Squad one, eight men, two panzerfausts.

7. Volksturm Squad two, eight men, two panzerfausts.

8. Volksturm LMG team, three men, bipod MG34

9. Volksturm Squad three, eight men, two panzerfausts.

10. Booby trapped building.

Meagre reinforcements will arrive in the form of a Stug IIIG, a Volksgrenadier squad and a 251/21 half-track.

The Soviets would be attacking with a Motorized Infantry Platoon with support from an ISU152 battery, a motorized infantry patrol and an off table 120mm mortar battery.

Intimidated by the dug in Pak43 and Panther the Soviets attacked on a narrow front avoiding them but risking being bunched up and making a juicey target for any indirect fire.

As it turned out they were virtually unscathed, the Germans being unable to contact their mortars during most of the assault.

There was some consolation in that the Soviets also had the same communication issues with their mortar battery.

The Soviets close in, the driver of the Lend-Lease Studebaker deserving an Hero of the Soviet Union award for doggedly resupplying the ISUs throughout the assault.

The Soviets enter the booby trapped building but the charge fails to go off, a dud, drat!

Reinforcements arrive, unfortunately for them the Soviet communication problems are solved and a 120mm stonk disabled their supporting Stug.

Mention must be made if the LMg team in the corner house who literally fought to the last man holding off the Soviets until near the very end.

Turn eight and two and a half hours of tenacious defending the Volksturm had to yield the ruins of Rahnstadt to Bikkliski's Soviet forces.

Until next time.........

KBO