von Marwitz
Forum Guru
J94 Kempf At Melikhovo - AAR
A quick 4 1/2 turn scenario set in Russia, July 1943. The Russians Guards unit has to defend some village buildings with some infantry aided by a 45LL ATR. A KV-1 M41 will appear to reinforce either turn 1-4 based on a dr. The Germans have the same number of squads as the Russians. Their main assets are a Flamm-Pz III, a 9-2 leader and a PzIVH. The potential weakness of the scenario is the SSR that defines the arrival of the Russian KV tank. If you are lucky and it arrives on turn 1, it might be too good for the Russians. If it arrives late on turn 4, then it might be too good for the Germans. If used for tournaments, I would set in place a special rule defining entry of the KV tank on either turn 2 or 3.
I had the defending Russians and decided to defend the village and resist the attempt for a front-line defence despite the German having to cross Open Ground. The reason for that is that the TEM in the village is better, Russian infantry is scarce and the VC require the buildings to be held. With only two Russian Leaders, rallying would be tricky in any case and falling back from a forward position difficult. Maybe placing an outpost there could be an option but likely, it would be quickly overwhelmed.
The Germans attacked with their Schwerpunkt on their right, which is probably the best route to take. My opponent was somewhat cautious, however, fearing the HIP ATG taking out his FT-tank on the approach. Good for me because this cost him some time. The Russians were lucky rolling a 1 for their reinforcement dr, so the KV tank entered at the earliest possible time, trundling into the village to settle between the Walls in U4. Since I did not count on the tank arriving early, I set up my HIP ATG in S3 with CA towards T1. In Y6 a HIP 237+ATG was laying in wait for the German PzIV in case of a flanking attempt. In X3 I had positioned a 447+LMG with the 7-0 to cover that flank. Intention was for the 7-0 to fall back into the U6 victory building if possible while the 9-1 initially placed there would move forward to the R6 building to rally broken Russians falling back from the cluster of buildings within that road net. Two 447s with the MMG would make the last stand in the U6 victory building with some FireLane possibilities.
During German Turn 2, the Germans moved into a line of attack east of the R2-Y2 road, while the PzIV prepared to flank me via teh AA6 road. Russian Turn 2 saw me skulking leaving the Germans hardly any fire option with all Russian HIP units still HIP.
In German Turn 3 the Germans began to attack in earnest, moving his tank to attack S3 where a squad of mine was in view and my ATG still hidden. Hoping for ROF, I changed CA to fire at the FT-tank figuring I'd die anyway during the MPh or AFPh if I kept HIP. No Hit, no ROF. But I unnerved the FT-tank which smashed into the R1 woods where he bogged. I fired again at better odds despite going for Intensive Fire and APCR (Russians are Guards). No APCR. Another shot, miss and Malfed the ATR. Uh-oh... German "volunteer" HS took to the road on U3 and T2 but I managed to pin one and break the other. Two 467+LMG+LMG just reached R1 beneath the bogged FT-tank, after the 9-2+friends in T0 had broken the Russian defending 447 in R3. My HIP ATR popped up to shoot the PzIV in the back to no effect, which continued on to freeze the X3 position after surviving another TK shot to the side by the LMG. The Russian Sniper lethally wounded the German 8-1. Because the FT-tank had bogged, it was not able to fire during its MPh but was now eagerly doing so in the German AFPh. He rolled an ill-fated 11 to X-out the FT on the first shot, still breaking the Russian 447 in S3 while the ATG crew passed. A 467 ADJACENT to X3 broke and ELR'ed the 447+LMG while the leader had previously sneaked out in time. During the APh, a 467+LMG each advanced into the Road in S2 and R2. Besides the bad luck of the Germans with ragard to their vital FT-tank, my KV-tank sat firmly in U4.
Russian Turn 3 predecided the game. My glorious crew managed to repair the ATG. I was not able to rally any broken Infantry, though. Luckily, the German infantry had taken some punishment as well having lost two HS and the 8-1, two HS broken, an most importantly the FT-tank X'ed and bogged. During Russian PrepFire, the Russian ATG crew handled its Gun magnificently, breaking the two ADJACENT 467+LMG and afterwards calmly shrugging of the fire of the very concerned 9-2 and seemingly winning the war all by itself. The KV-tank added a bit to the havoc. Altogether, the German attack was in a shambles.
In German Turn 4, his Panzer IV attempted to have a go at my KV-tank from the flank but as I had Wall Advantage and he could not circumvent the Wall without using ESB, I let him approach and stop ADJACENT despite having to turn my turret two hexspines. My first shot missed as expected, tried Intensive Fire with APCR needing a 6 for both but rolled to high. Again with normal AP but this time I hit and killed the Panzer IV. When I broke a German 467 Assault Moving into T3, the Germans conceded.
Altogether, I have been very lucky in this game:
von Marwitz
A quick 4 1/2 turn scenario set in Russia, July 1943. The Russians Guards unit has to defend some village buildings with some infantry aided by a 45LL ATR. A KV-1 M41 will appear to reinforce either turn 1-4 based on a dr. The Germans have the same number of squads as the Russians. Their main assets are a Flamm-Pz III, a 9-2 leader and a PzIVH. The potential weakness of the scenario is the SSR that defines the arrival of the Russian KV tank. If you are lucky and it arrives on turn 1, it might be too good for the Russians. If it arrives late on turn 4, then it might be too good for the Germans. If used for tournaments, I would set in place a special rule defining entry of the KV tank on either turn 2 or 3.
I had the defending Russians and decided to defend the village and resist the attempt for a front-line defence despite the German having to cross Open Ground. The reason for that is that the TEM in the village is better, Russian infantry is scarce and the VC require the buildings to be held. With only two Russian Leaders, rallying would be tricky in any case and falling back from a forward position difficult. Maybe placing an outpost there could be an option but likely, it would be quickly overwhelmed.
The Germans attacked with their Schwerpunkt on their right, which is probably the best route to take. My opponent was somewhat cautious, however, fearing the HIP ATG taking out his FT-tank on the approach. Good for me because this cost him some time. The Russians were lucky rolling a 1 for their reinforcement dr, so the KV tank entered at the earliest possible time, trundling into the village to settle between the Walls in U4. Since I did not count on the tank arriving early, I set up my HIP ATG in S3 with CA towards T1. In Y6 a HIP 237+ATG was laying in wait for the German PzIV in case of a flanking attempt. In X3 I had positioned a 447+LMG with the 7-0 to cover that flank. Intention was for the 7-0 to fall back into the U6 victory building if possible while the 9-1 initially placed there would move forward to the R6 building to rally broken Russians falling back from the cluster of buildings within that road net. Two 447s with the MMG would make the last stand in the U6 victory building with some FireLane possibilities.
During German Turn 2, the Germans moved into a line of attack east of the R2-Y2 road, while the PzIV prepared to flank me via teh AA6 road. Russian Turn 2 saw me skulking leaving the Germans hardly any fire option with all Russian HIP units still HIP.
In German Turn 3 the Germans began to attack in earnest, moving his tank to attack S3 where a squad of mine was in view and my ATG still hidden. Hoping for ROF, I changed CA to fire at the FT-tank figuring I'd die anyway during the MPh or AFPh if I kept HIP. No Hit, no ROF. But I unnerved the FT-tank which smashed into the R1 woods where he bogged. I fired again at better odds despite going for Intensive Fire and APCR (Russians are Guards). No APCR. Another shot, miss and Malfed the ATR. Uh-oh... German "volunteer" HS took to the road on U3 and T2 but I managed to pin one and break the other. Two 467+LMG+LMG just reached R1 beneath the bogged FT-tank, after the 9-2+friends in T0 had broken the Russian defending 447 in R3. My HIP ATR popped up to shoot the PzIV in the back to no effect, which continued on to freeze the X3 position after surviving another TK shot to the side by the LMG. The Russian Sniper lethally wounded the German 8-1. Because the FT-tank had bogged, it was not able to fire during its MPh but was now eagerly doing so in the German AFPh. He rolled an ill-fated 11 to X-out the FT on the first shot, still breaking the Russian 447 in S3 while the ATG crew passed. A 467 ADJACENT to X3 broke and ELR'ed the 447+LMG while the leader had previously sneaked out in time. During the APh, a 467+LMG each advanced into the Road in S2 and R2. Besides the bad luck of the Germans with ragard to their vital FT-tank, my KV-tank sat firmly in U4.
Russian Turn 3 predecided the game. My glorious crew managed to repair the ATG. I was not able to rally any broken Infantry, though. Luckily, the German infantry had taken some punishment as well having lost two HS and the 8-1, two HS broken, an most importantly the FT-tank X'ed and bogged. During Russian PrepFire, the Russian ATG crew handled its Gun magnificently, breaking the two ADJACENT 467+LMG and afterwards calmly shrugging of the fire of the very concerned 9-2 and seemingly winning the war all by itself. The KV-tank added a bit to the havoc. Altogether, the German attack was in a shambles.
In German Turn 4, his Panzer IV attempted to have a go at my KV-tank from the flank but as I had Wall Advantage and he could not circumvent the Wall without using ESB, I let him approach and stop ADJACENT despite having to turn my turret two hexspines. My first shot missed as expected, tried Intensive Fire with APCR needing a 6 for both but rolled to high. Again with normal AP but this time I hit and killed the Panzer IV. When I broke a German 467 Assault Moving into T3, the Germans conceded.
Altogether, I have been very lucky in this game:
- My KV-1 M40 came in on Turn 1.
- The Germans X'ed their vital FT-tank on the first shot.
- My ATG performed just gloriously.
von Marwitz