AAR - Defenders Of Stalingrad - RO3

Major Issues

Elder Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
325
Reaction score
1,102
Location
Secane, PA
First name
Vince
Country
llUnited States
Played this against Jim Thompson. He had the Soviets.

Germans have to hold on to at least one hex of the Martin Guitar factory. Some Soviets start in it, others come at it from two sides. The Germans have some good stuff to defend with, including a HMG, 838s, a 9-2, and a FT.

Like Saint Thomas Aquinas always said, "The best defense is a good offense", so I actually set up to attack those Soviets in the factory on turn 1. I had a dummy stack and my 9-2 kill stack inside his end of the factory, and some other guys, including all the 838s, in the factory behind. Two stacks to prep and break concealment, everyone else assault moves adjacent, where I get +3 TEM, then jump in and kill!

But, like most plans, it did not survive first contact with the enemy. Jim decided that his guys were going to come after me. I thought they would hold tight until reinforcements came.

Everyone came after my 9-2 stack.

7590
I broke two squads and pinned one, and a lucky sniper broke a third squad, but I was in trouble. A squad I thought was a dummy stack gave him an encircling shot. My 9-2 broke, and one of the squads pinned. In rout phase, my 9-2 routed out of the factory upstairs.

To Heaven. ?

Both of these squads die in CC. A minor silver lining is that he destroyed both my HMG and MMG in CC.

You know you are doing poorly when the highlight of the turn is losing two MGs. ???

But, as my sainted grandmother always used to say, "If at first you don't succeed, make lemonade." Which makes no sense. And may not even be what she said. I really wasn't paying attention. But my turn 1 plan was to surround and kill off the three Soviet squads I had broken. This mostly worked. Jim had brought the NKVD into the factory behind the Martin factory, and a shot from them broke the FT-toting crew. He lost all three broken squads, but my FT crew was eliminated for failure to rout.

I recovered the FT. After his turn 2 moves, I now had several squads that were doing the Fort Apache thing, with Soviets all around. He gets into a Melee with the FT-toting 838.

My turn 2, my crew yells, "Here, catch!!!" as he places a DC, then runs away. He successfully escapes, passing two 2MCs along the way. The DC got a K result, but the HS passes. Jim's troops did pretty well passing MCs this game.

Mid-game, we had a couple Melees that wouldn't end. I had gotten a couple squads out of trouble, and my remaining units were gathered in one half of the factory. At this point, I made yet another critical error. Instead of dropping back with one stack, I decided to stay and hurt a big stack of 628s. A 16+2 gave me a 2MC, but the only result was one squad pinned. Return fire broken both of my squads, and another shot reduced both.

They rout away, and I block the center of the factory with a concealed 8-0 with a DC. When someone moved adjacent, he was going to throw it for a 30+3. But a 10+2 Prep Fire shot broke him. Sigh.

End game, I am dropping back to the one end of the factory. I lose a couple squads in CC. Jim gets a CX 628 behind me, outside the factory. I decide to man up, and jump him with my two remaining squads and a 8-0. I get lucky by getting ambush, kill him, and withdraw back into the factory.

Last turn, hordes of Soviets move adjacent.

7591
I break a couple, but there are too many, and my remaining guys break in the advancing fire phase. Soviet win!

Tight game, and one I could have won. This probably played out differently than most playings, as most (smarter) German players would just try to hold on to the one end of the factory. As it was, Jim lost at least half of his troops. Recommended.

 
Top