von Marwitz
Forum Guru
SP246 Triggerline Zoebel - AAR
Scenario Overview:
This scenario features an interesting and unusual tactical situation which is why I selected it for play.
The Russians have to assault across two Foot Bridges placed as part of the setup. Russian AFVs can solely cross over a Pontoon Bridge in U4 which is only completed (i.e. placed on board) at the start of Russian Turn 2. After having crossed the water obstacle of the 'Hauptgraben Canal', the challenge lies in navigating lots of open ground vs. German resistance while attempting to gain armor superiority, without which the attack might end in a blood-bath, in order to dislodge the German Infantry.
The action is set in mid-March 1945 on the Eastern Front close to the Seelow Heights and the river Oder which was the last major obstacle on the Russian's juggernaut to Berlin. EC are Wet and the ground soggy, which is represented by all AFVs paying an extra 1MP per non-road/bridge hexside crossed. As an added twist, all German AFV must pass a TC if a IS-2m (the Russians have two) crosses the water obstacle, a Flooded Stream, for the first time, failure of which is harshly penalized by Recall.
The objective is to clear most of the buildings west (to the left) of the water obstacle of Good Order Germany MMC for which the Russians have 6.5 Turns.
The Germans have 9x 467 with a normal assortment of SW but only two Leaders (a 9-1 and 8-1).These Germans are burdened with an ELR of 2. Their armored element is impressive - 2x Pz VG, 2x Pz VIE(L) with a SPW 251/1 thrown in.
The Russians have 14 squads roughly half of them Elite and 1st Line with a reasonable assortment of SW. Only three Leaders (9-2, 8-1, 7-0) seem a bit scarce in the light of the ample Open Ground they have to cross. This at-start force is supported by two T-34/85 and a 82mm MTR, which is clearly no match for the German armor. However, the Russians do get armored support with a punch in the form of two IS-2m and two IS-2 arriving in Turn 2. Any of these is perfectly capable to take out the German panzers and the IS-2m is frontally almost impervious to the Tiger's MA. Even the Panther's gun only has a chance to take these out frontally by a turret hit. The 'regular' IS-2 tanks are not quite as well armored but still are no piece of cake.
Preliminary Assessment:
The focus for the Russian attack must be the southern board 70, as most of the buildings, in which the German Infantry can hide, find themselves there. The notable exception is the 44R7 compound.
For the Russians, there are only two jumping-off positions that provide a semblance of cover: the central 70U1 Woods area and even less so the 70V10 area on the southern (bottom) board edge. On the German side, close to possible crossing points, there is only a single Woods hex in 70T10 which can be put under enemy fire and a small patch of woods close to the Pontoon Brigde being completed in Russian Turn 2 consisting of hexes 70R5/S5, which can be put under enemy fire as well. Besides that, Open Ground all over the place with three lone out of season Orchard hexes sprinkled in.
You will have understood that I have just described the main challenge for the Russians: The Germans will set up somewhere in the good TEM of the buildings towards the rear and take long-range pot shots vs. the Russians advancing towards them with nowhere to hide or to seek cover.
Meanwhile, as long als the German Armor is around, the Russian tanks cannot expose their flanks and the T-34s will be easy game. As such, the Russian armor is limited in its ability to closely support the assaulting Russain Infantry. The IS tanks, powerful as they were, do not have ROF and they can't even Intensive Fire. If this weren't enough, they have a circled B11 which could lead to Low Ammo and more trouble. Nevertheless, the Russian armor needed to get the better of their German counterpart.
Another striking problem was, that the sole source for Smoke for the Russians was their 82mm MTR aside from the one-time sD6's of the two T-34s. In view of the terrain to cover, this was precious little.
Now, to the German perspective:
An ELR of 2 is like the Sword of Damokles dangling overhead and would likely lead to trouble. But even worse was the fact, that the Germans only have two Leaders available. They cannot afford to lose a single one of these. But explain this to Snipers or other freakish occurrences. It was likely that one of these Leaders would be found in the 44R7 compound and the other one somewhere in the village of board 70. Maybe the German SPW 251/1 was intended as a means to allow a leader to change position quickly if the other one dropped out - but it would have to happen mostly along roads because of the increased offroad movement cost for AFV. Whatever happened, the Germans would need to find a compromise of skulking out of harm's way and shooting at the approaching Russians while on the move across the open terrain.
Another problem is the German armor. Normally, you'd rejoice if you get a combination of Tigers and Panthers - it can't get much better than that after all. Yet, any hit by the powerful Russian 122L Gun with its TK# of 25 is likely to take out any one of the German tanks with the first hit. If the Russians have a bit of luck, things can go quickly down the drain. So the Germans need to find a way to keep their armor in the game as long as possible - at best out of harm's way but still able to shoot at some Russians. Of course, positions behind the 'indestructible' ASL-walls are best for the purpose, as Hulldown positions will reduce the chances of being hit by more than 50% which might make all the difference. Sadly, the only suitable Walls around are found around the 44R7 compound - which provides you with a glaring clue to the importance of that position for the Germans. On the bright side of it, only the IS-2m's can afford to face off the German armor frontally. Presenting the side target facing is hazardous for any Russian tank. But try to cross that Pontoon bridge onto the German side of the water obstacle without doing just that. The Germans have to exploit this. The German tanks are also very useful against Russian Infantry. Their MG's have more reach than the German squads.
Situation at the Start of Russian Turn 1 - Game Start:
The Battle Plan:
The Germans had set up strongly in and around the 44R7 compound with two Panthers and a Tiger taking advantage of the precious Hull Down status provided by the walls, building TEM or a combination of both. The armor was supported by some Infantry, apparently even led by the best German 9-1 Leader. From there, the Germans could cover the entire length of the 'Hauptgraben Kanal' in a southerly direction with flanking fire.
Most of the remaining German Infantry set up in a wide crescent within the good TEM of the board 70 village buildings quite far back from the water obstacle but with good fields of fire for long-range shots.
The third important German position was a patch of Woods on the southern (bottom) board edge which provided cover for the second Tiger lurking behind it in a position which would make it very difficult for my Russian armor to turn north after crossing the Pontoon Bridge in order to engage the 44R7 compound. A squad with LMG provided Infantry cover and could lay down a Fire Lane vs. Russian attackers attempting to reach the Woods along the southern board edge.
This defensive setup was very sound as it made it very difficult for my Russians to come to grips with the German armor. But as long as the German armor was at large, crossing over with unsupported Russian Infantry would likely be a bloody undertaking.
Red arrows indicate my planned route of attack for the infantry, with the numbers indicating roughly the turn numbers I had in mind for these moves. Green arrows show the planned armor moves.
I decided to set up one Footbridge in 44U10 to provide an Infantry access with a short route to the 44R7 compound originating from some scarce rally terrain in which I could hide some of my Infantry until some armored fire support base was established. During the first Turn, I would send across only a single squad to keep the Germans busy and maybe hope for a wonder. The two T-34/85 were set up out of harm's way of the German cats and would provide Prep Fire support in the hope of inhibiting some units which could lay down fire on the southern Foot Bridge.
Especially, I liked moving in one of the two IS-2m's quite far in the North from where it had just sufficient MPs to reach hex 44AA8 and stop there. From that position, I could threaten the German Tiger in 44S7 and probably even the Panther in 44R7 - if LOS existed, then the Panther would not even be protected by the Wall. To hit the Tiger, I'd need a turret hit, though. Only the Panther had a chance to do some damage vs. my frontal armor, but in doing so, he would have to turn its turret and could not over the Pontoon Bridge any more. With a bit of luck, I might take out some of the German beasts early without much danger for my own tank.
Two squads were placed around the 70Y4 junction, where they would meet up with two of the entering Stalin-tanks and able to take off as part of an Armored Assault across the then established Pontoon Bridge in 70U4. In the Woods next to that junction my 82mm MTR was HIP'ed with the intention of laying down SMOKE into 70S2 as the opening shot as this would cover the southern Footbridge from fire originating from the 44R7 compound.
Most of my Infantry including the 9-2 and 7-0 Leaders set up on the southern board edge ready to cross the second Footbridge in 70U10. I selected that location as on the opposite side of the water obstacle there was one single Woods hex which was screened from the 44R7 compound by the 70R5/S5 Woods and seemed to provide the shortest route to the next patch of cover around 70O10. The Russian Infantry would spread out on the German side of the water obstacle and hope for the best.
In Turn 2, the IS-2m from the Y4 junction would cross the now available Pontoon Bridge, forcing Task Checks on the German AFVs hoping to trigger their Recall. Since the Morale of the German AFV crews were 8 or even 9 for the Tiger crews, probably not much would happen, but any recalled German tank would help. Depending on how the German armor situation looked around the 44R7 compound, the IS-2 and T-34/85 tanks would follow up to cross. If the situation was still too dangerous, they would provide Area Fire support vs. German Infantry to help out my Russian footsloggers on the enemy bank to get forward.
From Turn 3 onwards, the board 70 village would be attacked from the south-east and north-east with the intention to ultimately screw up rout paths and ways of retreat to crush the German opposition there for the win.
So much for best-laid plans.
Situation at the End of Russian Turn 1:
I can keep the description of Russian Turn 1 rather short as I have described my intentions in the Battle Plan above.
The MTR importantly put down a SMOKE round in the intended hex. The T-34/85s broke the dangerous German 467+MMG in 70L7. My northern IS-2m arrived in 44A8 as planned and during the AFPh established by MG fire, that LOS indeed existed to the Panther in 44R7. A shot of the MA missed as was to be expected, but Acquisition was gained on the Panther. I would hit the beast next halfturn on a 7 or less, which would give the Hitlerites something to think about.
In the south, my Infantry crossed the Footbridge. Everybody made it across, a squad broke. And - it had to be - my all important 9-2 and a 458+MMG squad both gacked their MCs on a 1 or 2FP @-2 shot. This was a serious setback as it would be very difficult to rally them. I had counted on that 9-2 to kick broken Russians back to duty...
The importance of the 44R7 compound was proved as an excellent fire base: As most of my Infantry stood back around the northern Footbridge except for one scouting squad which was immediately shot up, the German tanks trained their turrets to fire vs. one of my squads that had ventured beyond the screening Woods into 70O8, forcing a MC. Luckily, I rolles Snakes to Battle Harden, but I found it prudent to advance back to 70R7 after this unnerving experience.
Situation at the End of German Turn 1:
German Turn 1 went rather quickly. The enemy fired some low FP shots on my southern crossing, of course, re-DM'ing my 9-2 & company and the other broken squad. The SPW ventured forth to corner my broken scout at the northern crossing, gunning them down mercilessy in combination with the Tiger to the last man - it was not pretty...
Alas, my IS-2m missed its all important shot vs. the Panther in 44R7, which was impressed enough to reverse out of the building behind the wall into R6. A pity!
The Germans redeployed their Infantry a bit and that was that.
All my Defensive Final fire was completely ineffective.
To be continued in a subsequent post...
As some off-topic (but not necessarily uninteresting) posts follow, you can click on the following link to directly jump to the continuation of the AAR.
von Marwitz
Scenario Overview:
This scenario features an interesting and unusual tactical situation which is why I selected it for play.
The Russians have to assault across two Foot Bridges placed as part of the setup. Russian AFVs can solely cross over a Pontoon Bridge in U4 which is only completed (i.e. placed on board) at the start of Russian Turn 2. After having crossed the water obstacle of the 'Hauptgraben Canal', the challenge lies in navigating lots of open ground vs. German resistance while attempting to gain armor superiority, without which the attack might end in a blood-bath, in order to dislodge the German Infantry.
The action is set in mid-March 1945 on the Eastern Front close to the Seelow Heights and the river Oder which was the last major obstacle on the Russian's juggernaut to Berlin. EC are Wet and the ground soggy, which is represented by all AFVs paying an extra 1MP per non-road/bridge hexside crossed. As an added twist, all German AFV must pass a TC if a IS-2m (the Russians have two) crosses the water obstacle, a Flooded Stream, for the first time, failure of which is harshly penalized by Recall.
The objective is to clear most of the buildings west (to the left) of the water obstacle of Good Order Germany MMC for which the Russians have 6.5 Turns.
The Germans have 9x 467 with a normal assortment of SW but only two Leaders (a 9-1 and 8-1).These Germans are burdened with an ELR of 2. Their armored element is impressive - 2x Pz VG, 2x Pz VIE(L) with a SPW 251/1 thrown in.
The Russians have 14 squads roughly half of them Elite and 1st Line with a reasonable assortment of SW. Only three Leaders (9-2, 8-1, 7-0) seem a bit scarce in the light of the ample Open Ground they have to cross. This at-start force is supported by two T-34/85 and a 82mm MTR, which is clearly no match for the German armor. However, the Russians do get armored support with a punch in the form of two IS-2m and two IS-2 arriving in Turn 2. Any of these is perfectly capable to take out the German panzers and the IS-2m is frontally almost impervious to the Tiger's MA. Even the Panther's gun only has a chance to take these out frontally by a turret hit. The 'regular' IS-2 tanks are not quite as well armored but still are no piece of cake.
Preliminary Assessment:
The focus for the Russian attack must be the southern board 70, as most of the buildings, in which the German Infantry can hide, find themselves there. The notable exception is the 44R7 compound.
For the Russians, there are only two jumping-off positions that provide a semblance of cover: the central 70U1 Woods area and even less so the 70V10 area on the southern (bottom) board edge. On the German side, close to possible crossing points, there is only a single Woods hex in 70T10 which can be put under enemy fire and a small patch of woods close to the Pontoon Brigde being completed in Russian Turn 2 consisting of hexes 70R5/S5, which can be put under enemy fire as well. Besides that, Open Ground all over the place with three lone out of season Orchard hexes sprinkled in.
You will have understood that I have just described the main challenge for the Russians: The Germans will set up somewhere in the good TEM of the buildings towards the rear and take long-range pot shots vs. the Russians advancing towards them with nowhere to hide or to seek cover.
Meanwhile, as long als the German Armor is around, the Russian tanks cannot expose their flanks and the T-34s will be easy game. As such, the Russian armor is limited in its ability to closely support the assaulting Russain Infantry. The IS tanks, powerful as they were, do not have ROF and they can't even Intensive Fire. If this weren't enough, they have a circled B11 which could lead to Low Ammo and more trouble. Nevertheless, the Russian armor needed to get the better of their German counterpart.
Another striking problem was, that the sole source for Smoke for the Russians was their 82mm MTR aside from the one-time sD6's of the two T-34s. In view of the terrain to cover, this was precious little.
Now, to the German perspective:
An ELR of 2 is like the Sword of Damokles dangling overhead and would likely lead to trouble. But even worse was the fact, that the Germans only have two Leaders available. They cannot afford to lose a single one of these. But explain this to Snipers or other freakish occurrences. It was likely that one of these Leaders would be found in the 44R7 compound and the other one somewhere in the village of board 70. Maybe the German SPW 251/1 was intended as a means to allow a leader to change position quickly if the other one dropped out - but it would have to happen mostly along roads because of the increased offroad movement cost for AFV. Whatever happened, the Germans would need to find a compromise of skulking out of harm's way and shooting at the approaching Russians while on the move across the open terrain.
Another problem is the German armor. Normally, you'd rejoice if you get a combination of Tigers and Panthers - it can't get much better than that after all. Yet, any hit by the powerful Russian 122L Gun with its TK# of 25 is likely to take out any one of the German tanks with the first hit. If the Russians have a bit of luck, things can go quickly down the drain. So the Germans need to find a way to keep their armor in the game as long as possible - at best out of harm's way but still able to shoot at some Russians. Of course, positions behind the 'indestructible' ASL-walls are best for the purpose, as Hulldown positions will reduce the chances of being hit by more than 50% which might make all the difference. Sadly, the only suitable Walls around are found around the 44R7 compound - which provides you with a glaring clue to the importance of that position for the Germans. On the bright side of it, only the IS-2m's can afford to face off the German armor frontally. Presenting the side target facing is hazardous for any Russian tank. But try to cross that Pontoon bridge onto the German side of the water obstacle without doing just that. The Germans have to exploit this. The German tanks are also very useful against Russian Infantry. Their MG's have more reach than the German squads.
Situation at the Start of Russian Turn 1 - Game Start:
The Battle Plan:
The Germans had set up strongly in and around the 44R7 compound with two Panthers and a Tiger taking advantage of the precious Hull Down status provided by the walls, building TEM or a combination of both. The armor was supported by some Infantry, apparently even led by the best German 9-1 Leader. From there, the Germans could cover the entire length of the 'Hauptgraben Kanal' in a southerly direction with flanking fire.
Most of the remaining German Infantry set up in a wide crescent within the good TEM of the board 70 village buildings quite far back from the water obstacle but with good fields of fire for long-range shots.
The third important German position was a patch of Woods on the southern (bottom) board edge which provided cover for the second Tiger lurking behind it in a position which would make it very difficult for my Russian armor to turn north after crossing the Pontoon Bridge in order to engage the 44R7 compound. A squad with LMG provided Infantry cover and could lay down a Fire Lane vs. Russian attackers attempting to reach the Woods along the southern board edge.
This defensive setup was very sound as it made it very difficult for my Russians to come to grips with the German armor. But as long as the German armor was at large, crossing over with unsupported Russian Infantry would likely be a bloody undertaking.
Red arrows indicate my planned route of attack for the infantry, with the numbers indicating roughly the turn numbers I had in mind for these moves. Green arrows show the planned armor moves.
I decided to set up one Footbridge in 44U10 to provide an Infantry access with a short route to the 44R7 compound originating from some scarce rally terrain in which I could hide some of my Infantry until some armored fire support base was established. During the first Turn, I would send across only a single squad to keep the Germans busy and maybe hope for a wonder. The two T-34/85 were set up out of harm's way of the German cats and would provide Prep Fire support in the hope of inhibiting some units which could lay down fire on the southern Foot Bridge.
Especially, I liked moving in one of the two IS-2m's quite far in the North from where it had just sufficient MPs to reach hex 44AA8 and stop there. From that position, I could threaten the German Tiger in 44S7 and probably even the Panther in 44R7 - if LOS existed, then the Panther would not even be protected by the Wall. To hit the Tiger, I'd need a turret hit, though. Only the Panther had a chance to do some damage vs. my frontal armor, but in doing so, he would have to turn its turret and could not over the Pontoon Bridge any more. With a bit of luck, I might take out some of the German beasts early without much danger for my own tank.
Two squads were placed around the 70Y4 junction, where they would meet up with two of the entering Stalin-tanks and able to take off as part of an Armored Assault across the then established Pontoon Bridge in 70U4. In the Woods next to that junction my 82mm MTR was HIP'ed with the intention of laying down SMOKE into 70S2 as the opening shot as this would cover the southern Footbridge from fire originating from the 44R7 compound.
Most of my Infantry including the 9-2 and 7-0 Leaders set up on the southern board edge ready to cross the second Footbridge in 70U10. I selected that location as on the opposite side of the water obstacle there was one single Woods hex which was screened from the 44R7 compound by the 70R5/S5 Woods and seemed to provide the shortest route to the next patch of cover around 70O10. The Russian Infantry would spread out on the German side of the water obstacle and hope for the best.
In Turn 2, the IS-2m from the Y4 junction would cross the now available Pontoon Bridge, forcing Task Checks on the German AFVs hoping to trigger their Recall. Since the Morale of the German AFV crews were 8 or even 9 for the Tiger crews, probably not much would happen, but any recalled German tank would help. Depending on how the German armor situation looked around the 44R7 compound, the IS-2 and T-34/85 tanks would follow up to cross. If the situation was still too dangerous, they would provide Area Fire support vs. German Infantry to help out my Russian footsloggers on the enemy bank to get forward.
From Turn 3 onwards, the board 70 village would be attacked from the south-east and north-east with the intention to ultimately screw up rout paths and ways of retreat to crush the German opposition there for the win.
So much for best-laid plans.
Situation at the End of Russian Turn 1:
I can keep the description of Russian Turn 1 rather short as I have described my intentions in the Battle Plan above.
The MTR importantly put down a SMOKE round in the intended hex. The T-34/85s broke the dangerous German 467+MMG in 70L7. My northern IS-2m arrived in 44A8 as planned and during the AFPh established by MG fire, that LOS indeed existed to the Panther in 44R7. A shot of the MA missed as was to be expected, but Acquisition was gained on the Panther. I would hit the beast next halfturn on a 7 or less, which would give the Hitlerites something to think about.
In the south, my Infantry crossed the Footbridge. Everybody made it across, a squad broke. And - it had to be - my all important 9-2 and a 458+MMG squad both gacked their MCs on a 1 or 2FP @-2 shot. This was a serious setback as it would be very difficult to rally them. I had counted on that 9-2 to kick broken Russians back to duty...
The importance of the 44R7 compound was proved as an excellent fire base: As most of my Infantry stood back around the northern Footbridge except for one scouting squad which was immediately shot up, the German tanks trained their turrets to fire vs. one of my squads that had ventured beyond the screening Woods into 70O8, forcing a MC. Luckily, I rolles Snakes to Battle Harden, but I found it prudent to advance back to 70R7 after this unnerving experience.
Situation at the End of German Turn 1:
German Turn 1 went rather quickly. The enemy fired some low FP shots on my southern crossing, of course, re-DM'ing my 9-2 & company and the other broken squad. The SPW ventured forth to corner my broken scout at the northern crossing, gunning them down mercilessy in combination with the Tiger to the last man - it was not pretty...
Alas, my IS-2m missed its all important shot vs. the Panther in 44R7, which was impressed enough to reverse out of the building behind the wall into R6. A pity!
The Germans redeployed their Infantry a bit and that was that.
All my Defensive Final fire was completely ineffective.
To be continued in a subsequent post...
As some off-topic (but not necessarily uninteresting) posts follow, you can click on the following link to directly jump to the continuation of the AAR.
von Marwitz
Last edited:
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