von Marwitz
Forum Guru
J102 The Yelnya Bridge - AAR
This little scenario I have skipped over several times because for some reason I always believed I had played it before. It turned out that I had not. As I had just finished reading most of the quite monumental (in size) divisional history of "Das Reich", I took this as a hook to play it now. In this playing, I have been the Russian defender.
There is some oddity about board 47 worth the mention. On the current SK style boards and VASL boards, hexes F3, G3, and H2 stand out strangely showing Level 2 Hill artwork while the center dot in these hexes is at Level 1. This would make them, by the letter of the rule, Level 1 hexes. However, on the original mounted versions of board 47, which were the sole ones in use when this scenario was originally designed, it was Level 2 Hill artwork that surrounded the center dots. So board 47 in the current 'official' SK-style version and the VASL version based on it have what one could call a 'flaw'. It is my recommendation to talk this over with your opponent for any game set on the non-mounted versions of bd 47. In any case, we played those three hexes as if they were Level 2 because this is how the situation was at the time of the scenario design.
The objective for the Russians is to exit a number of VP along the North edge (at the top), some of which must be Infantry (Prisoners don't count) for an immediate win or else Control the three building hexes at game end.
Many will connect board 47 to PTO. Indeed it is quite a nasty place to move about, first and foremost with vehicles. Entering from the South (bottom) and intending to exit in the North (top), two obvious choke points stand out glaringly: H6 (with the bridge) and Q6. Even after having crossed the Stream, vehicles have very few options to move off North. But as well for Infantry, the Stream or Stream-Woods hexes take time to cross. The thick Woods in the northern middle of the board will make it difficult for the Russians to switch forces from the West to the East and vice versa.
With regard to the forces, the Germans have two PSW 221, which can move on roads as quick as lightning, but which are quite brittle. A Pz IIIG and a Pz IIF are solid tools in the German's box, however, all German AFV can easily be taken out by the 'King Kong of All Evil', the Russian 76L ART piece, which can also fire SMOKE. The German Infantry is an SS crack force, even sporting 3x 548SS Assault Engineers, however, with only light SW and only two Leaders.
The Russians get a mix of 1st Line and Conscript squads, a 9-0 Commissar and an 8-1, one MMG, LMG, 50mm MTR, and ATR each. Their key asset is the aforementioned 76L 'Ratsch-Bumm' (in conteporary German vernacular) ART piece. 4 Dummy counters, two Trenches and a Pillbox are supposed to stiffen the Russian position. In mid-game, the Russians receive reinforcements in the form of one Platoon of Infantry. Another ally of the Russian is, of course, in many but not all ways the terrain.
4.5 Turns means that the Germans have no time for sloth.
Situation at Game Start:
The Russians can take various approaches: They can put everything in the East (right), they could put everything in the West (left) or they can split their forces. Putting everything on one side will give the Germans at least the temporary benefit, that some of the Russians will have to change positions. The Western side has the added attraction, that if developments show exiting enough stuff being out of the question, the Gemans can still attempt to capture the buildings for a win. Likely for these reasons, my opponent chose the 'put all in the West' approach.
With my Russian defence, of course I had to prepare for all eventualities. So I sought out places from which my ranged weapons and those with anti-AFV capability (how flimsy it might be) could reach some targets. Furthermore, naturally, I needed to cover the choke points and have an eye on my capability to shift Russian forces from side to side - or rather from the middle to one side - before my reinforcements could plug any gaps that might have torn up until then.
Situation at the End of German Turn 1:
In German Turn 1, my HIP Russian Gun position made its appearance concealed at once, since it did not set up in Concealment Terrain. That did not really concern me as it would get into action soon enough. For sure, not even having fired a shot yet, the Gun made a serious impression upon my opponent as he decided to move all his AFV offboard before entering. This put them into positions, where they would not be able to get to places fast - so it was quite a gamble in the light of an Exit VP option.
The German Infantry could more or less move where it wanted to with its Morale of 8 and as my Russians were often obliged to fire long range. But there were some successes: A 548SS AE with the 8-1 moved into the Bore Sighted hex of my MTR in H7 - and got KIA'ed with the Leader broken. Another 548SS AE was broken by the MMG.
Situation at the End of Russian Turn 1:
In my Russian Turn 1, I was pretty safe from most of the German AFV. My ATR was hoping to kill one of the thin-skinned PSWs, but no luck. Unfortunately, I broke my MTR, but I was happy to break two more German squads, one of which rolled Boxcars to be reduced to a HS.
For the second Turn, the German would not have the punch he needed to get forward quickly.
To be continued in a subsequent post...
von Marwitz
This little scenario I have skipped over several times because for some reason I always believed I had played it before. It turned out that I had not. As I had just finished reading most of the quite monumental (in size) divisional history of "Das Reich", I took this as a hook to play it now. In this playing, I have been the Russian defender.
There is some oddity about board 47 worth the mention. On the current SK style boards and VASL boards, hexes F3, G3, and H2 stand out strangely showing Level 2 Hill artwork while the center dot in these hexes is at Level 1. This would make them, by the letter of the rule, Level 1 hexes. However, on the original mounted versions of board 47, which were the sole ones in use when this scenario was originally designed, it was Level 2 Hill artwork that surrounded the center dots. So board 47 in the current 'official' SK-style version and the VASL version based on it have what one could call a 'flaw'. It is my recommendation to talk this over with your opponent for any game set on the non-mounted versions of bd 47. In any case, we played those three hexes as if they were Level 2 because this is how the situation was at the time of the scenario design.
The objective for the Russians is to exit a number of VP along the North edge (at the top), some of which must be Infantry (Prisoners don't count) for an immediate win or else Control the three building hexes at game end.
Many will connect board 47 to PTO. Indeed it is quite a nasty place to move about, first and foremost with vehicles. Entering from the South (bottom) and intending to exit in the North (top), two obvious choke points stand out glaringly: H6 (with the bridge) and Q6. Even after having crossed the Stream, vehicles have very few options to move off North. But as well for Infantry, the Stream or Stream-Woods hexes take time to cross. The thick Woods in the northern middle of the board will make it difficult for the Russians to switch forces from the West to the East and vice versa.
With regard to the forces, the Germans have two PSW 221, which can move on roads as quick as lightning, but which are quite brittle. A Pz IIIG and a Pz IIF are solid tools in the German's box, however, all German AFV can easily be taken out by the 'King Kong of All Evil', the Russian 76L ART piece, which can also fire SMOKE. The German Infantry is an SS crack force, even sporting 3x 548SS Assault Engineers, however, with only light SW and only two Leaders.
The Russians get a mix of 1st Line and Conscript squads, a 9-0 Commissar and an 8-1, one MMG, LMG, 50mm MTR, and ATR each. Their key asset is the aforementioned 76L 'Ratsch-Bumm' (in conteporary German vernacular) ART piece. 4 Dummy counters, two Trenches and a Pillbox are supposed to stiffen the Russian position. In mid-game, the Russians receive reinforcements in the form of one Platoon of Infantry. Another ally of the Russian is, of course, in many but not all ways the terrain.
4.5 Turns means that the Germans have no time for sloth.
Situation at Game Start:
The Russians can take various approaches: They can put everything in the East (right), they could put everything in the West (left) or they can split their forces. Putting everything on one side will give the Germans at least the temporary benefit, that some of the Russians will have to change positions. The Western side has the added attraction, that if developments show exiting enough stuff being out of the question, the Gemans can still attempt to capture the buildings for a win. Likely for these reasons, my opponent chose the 'put all in the West' approach.
With my Russian defence, of course I had to prepare for all eventualities. So I sought out places from which my ranged weapons and those with anti-AFV capability (how flimsy it might be) could reach some targets. Furthermore, naturally, I needed to cover the choke points and have an eye on my capability to shift Russian forces from side to side - or rather from the middle to one side - before my reinforcements could plug any gaps that might have torn up until then.
Situation at the End of German Turn 1:
In German Turn 1, my HIP Russian Gun position made its appearance concealed at once, since it did not set up in Concealment Terrain. That did not really concern me as it would get into action soon enough. For sure, not even having fired a shot yet, the Gun made a serious impression upon my opponent as he decided to move all his AFV offboard before entering. This put them into positions, where they would not be able to get to places fast - so it was quite a gamble in the light of an Exit VP option.
The German Infantry could more or less move where it wanted to with its Morale of 8 and as my Russians were often obliged to fire long range. But there were some successes: A 548SS AE with the 8-1 moved into the Bore Sighted hex of my MTR in H7 - and got KIA'ed with the Leader broken. Another 548SS AE was broken by the MMG.
Situation at the End of Russian Turn 1:
In my Russian Turn 1, I was pretty safe from most of the German AFV. My ATR was hoping to kill one of the thin-skinned PSWs, but no luck. Unfortunately, I broke my MTR, but I was happy to break two more German squads, one of which rolled Boxcars to be reduced to a HS.
For the second Turn, the German would not have the punch he needed to get forward quickly.
To be continued in a subsequent post...
von Marwitz
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