VotG CGIV Kipper-Marsholio

[JOKippe]

Jeff, welcome back to ASL. Hope you find some opponents and the dice gods shine favor upon you.

DAY 18, Soviet Counterattack
For once, the dice gods were rather ambivalent towards my rolls. In the final four turns of the scenario, I rolled snakes once and boxes once. Both were at key points, but as long as the rolls are evening out, I have nothing to complain about.

The Set DC in L47 turned out to be my worst moment. Marsholio had several squads in the building and I was ready to light the fuse. I'm guessing that the engineer HS in charge of the detonation was being led by Major Fubar, as I rolled 12 on the TC...the HS was instantly killed by a boobytrap (one can only speculate how a group of highly-trained assault engineers hiding in a building might get killed while setting off an explosive located 120 meters away.) My terrible roll came at a terrible time, but it was the only boxcars I rolled in the entire scenario, so I can't complain too much.

In the next turn, the Soviets who survived the non-explosion in L47 moved to the finely-trimmed hedges of K47-K48 with the intent of doing some shooting at my boys in the I47-I48 building. I'm already having some trouble of my own in the structure, since the burning orchard had spread into into I47, forcing me to scoot out of the hex and bunch up in I48. But I had previously rotated my StG in I50 a hexspine to face the area, and I hit the Soviet squad in K48 with my first shot, and a snake roll on the IIFT exterminated them. Marsholio wound up pulling the other units away, and there was no more danger from that direction. He did get lucky with his AT gun the next turn, hitting my StG with a sideshot and knocking it out...but that turned out to be a hollow victory as I recovered the StG and repaired it right away in the Refit Phase afterwards.

My other great moment came when I got a bit crazy and advanced a 467 into his F42 hex, occupied by his 527 and 447 squads. No ambush...I declared HtH and was looking at a 1:4 compared to his 2:1. I rolled a 4, killing both his squads, and he rolled 12. It was probably the most successful CC I ever had, considering the long odds involved. (oh yeah, in the previous scenario, Marsholio had advanced a lone leader into CC against a squad of mine, but he wasn't as lucky and the leader died...we both try crazy things sometimes just to keep it interesting!)

After all this, Marsholio began pulling back a bit, apparently deciding to not lose any more units. The smoke covering his MG positions pretty much screwed him on this one. The last few turns went quickly since neither one of us was doing much, and the scenario ended as a German Victory. He did manage to take the building in L47, but I had decided not to defend it anyway. Other than that, the perimeter ended pretty much the same as it began. I was satisfied with the outcome, since I fully expected to be crushed by the overwhelming numbers at his disposal, and surviving the scenario (and hopefully killing more Soviets than I lost) was my main goal.

Losses
German: 1.5 Squads, StuGB (9 CVP)
Russian: 7 Squads (14 CVP)

It was a solid victory for the Germans, especially since I recovered and repaired the StG, making its loss meaningless.

19 Oct
We've just begun setting this one up, and Marsholio hasn't bought his units yet. I have 17 CPP and purchased 3 Sturm platoons, 1 Eng platoon, and a HW platoon, all in reserve. I'm probably going to select an Idle chit, since the weather is fog/mist and my southern reinforcements become available on the 20th. I still think the Refit Phase SOP is a bit vague...if I choose an attack chit, I receive 6 support PP, but the declaration phase comes after the purchase phase. In other words, the German player actually has to choose his initiative chit before the purchase phase in order to use the support PP, Or does the German player go back after initiative phase and then spend the 6 support points? I dunno...it's probably explained somewhere that I haven't looked...

 

[Marsholio]

He held the line quite well I might add. The smoke did hinder my monster stacks that I had set up to knock concealment off his units before my spare infantry company assault moved in to mop up. I really couldn't spare any losses as I barely have enough manpower to hold a defensive line across the front. I have been very lucky so far pushing back any where Kipper managed to bulge the lines, but I have to give ground somewhere vs losing tons of infantry to gain a few buildings he can steam roll into in the next day. After I bumped his lines a few times I decided just to limit my losses, gain the L47 building, and hold my line against any upcoming German assault.

Side note, that set DC was a great idea, I wasn't expecting it... nor was I expecting the unit trying to set it off blowing themselves up with a boobytrap activation. One more reason I love this game... you plan, purchase, formulate, then your detonator explodes in your face :laugh:

 

[JOKippe]

19 Oct
I did indeed choose an Idle chit for the 19th. Marsholio seemed a bit surprised by this, and I'm guessing that he thought I was over-eager to continue the success of my previous day. The truth is, I still need more units to be a real danger to the Soviets...after all, it was just a few scenarios ago that I was down to 10 squads and no leaders!
So, considering the bad weather, it seemed best to make the 19th a day of purchasing more units, saving a bit by purchasing as reserves.

20 Oct
With the 19th and 20th combined, I purchased an impressive attack force...2 Inf Coys, 3 Sturm Plats, 1 Eng Plat, 1 HW Plat, and a nice 150mm OBA with OBO and a Pre-Reg hex. The weather is overcast, so there'll be no Stukas or Heinkels helping out, but I can't expect everything to go my way.
View attachment 46311
I've decided to continue my attack from the southern edge, since I have an entry edge opened up there. Marsholio has it well-defended with impressive stacks in fortified buildings such as I-44, I45, K-45, M-45, and N-44. His stack in K-45 is so impressive that it looked like we had a side game of Jenga going on there. In the photo, it looks like there's a stack of Soviets in K-46...that's actually the upper-level stack of K-45. And it just so happens that K-45 is the Pre-Reg hex for my 150mm OBA )
Other than killing as many Soviets in his fortified x-45 line, my immediate goal is to capture the building in L-47, take the open ground in the area so my tanks will have some operating room, and extend my entry area as far east as possible. I'll be bring some HS with satchel charges on first, followed by a few Sturm, Inf, and an Eng squad.

I have my own MG stacks in F-43, F-44, F-46, G-47, I-47, and I-48 (my 10-3 leader is stacked with F-44, and all of the others have at least an 8-1 with them). I'll be very careful how I use these, and generally try to wait for his units to drop concealment first. I have 3 StgBs scattered around F-47 to provide smoke and FP against his upper levels, and my StugG in I-50 and 3 82mm mortars in trenches in I-49 and J-49 to provide support to the southern edge.
Meanwhile, my units in D-45, E-45 will push north.
View attachment 46314
Along the SW edge, I'll bring units on and take this lightly-defended area. It's not a major goal for me, but I'll retake some ground as see how far east I can take them, linking them up with my southern units. I'll totally ignore the north half of the map for now.

Looks like it's shaping up to be a very bloody day in the city!

 

[JOKippe]

20 Oct Turn 2
My Pre-Reg 150 OBA landed right where it was supposed to, on K-45. It's fortified on every level, so it will take some time to whittle the units down inside of it. But at least the blast area lowers the effectiveness of his huge stacks there, and there's always the chance of a rubble happening sooner or later. I managed to get ordnance smoke onto his most dangerous stacks to the west, and with the breeze, the smoke even drifts into my own lines, which is fine by me. I'm taking my time in that section, though firing my 10-3 led MGs in F-44 at H-44 with no immediate result except to strip concealment off his units there.
My immediate concern is taking the fortified building at L-47. My satchel charge HSs move up, too dangerous for him to ignore. The HSs pay the price, but my follow-up squads stream into the area, and it's too many targets for him to deal with. With my advancing fire, his units in the building break and rout away, leaving the building empty. I also start pushing east along the map edge.
View attachment 46328
Meanwhile, on the west edge, I move my other units onto the map and start taking control of this lightly-defended area. Most of his units there are holding the Rail Station, so I'll take as much ground around it as I can, though I really don't have enough forces to take it in this scenario.
Turn 3 to 5:
The dice stay fairly neutral, with no snakes of consequence from either side. Marsholio does start breaking MGs here and there, with mostly ineffective fire because of the smoke I continually plop down on his stacks...we also have a light rain going for 2 turns. My 150mm OBA does indeed start whittling down his stacks in the blast area; on Turn 4, I draw my first Red marker, and when I resume the OBA, it shifts one hex to the east, which is fine by me because now the blast is hitting K-45 and M-45 too.
I took the empty L-47 building, and moved squads with dm MGs into it. He managed to break most of them with some good shots from his nearby units, and it took me a few turns to rally them and get the MGs assembled. That put me behind as far as taking on the buildings to the east.

Very quickly, the southeast area became a dangerous place. He moved more infantry and 4 tanks in as reinforcements from the map edge. I really wasn't prepared to take on tanks in the area, but I pushed infantry towards the nearest KV-1 at O-50. With lots of smoke from my mortars, I managed to get 2 squads into CC with this tank...one quickly died, and I began to question whether it was a good idea to take on a supported KV with First Line squads. But my surviving squad managed to take the KV out on the next turn, and I continued pushing to the east along the map edge. Meanwhile, my StgG in H-50 had a several-turn duel with his other KV-1 that had moved into 0-47. Shot after shot bounced off of that monster, and my StgG was lucky to avoid any damaging hits as well. I knew it was a matter of time before his KV won the standoff, so I began using intensive fire. I managed to give his KV a potential shock, then a lucky hull hit finally took it out.
Fighting continues for the building at 0-48. He's funneling fresh units into it, including engineers, and that's where most of my casualties are occuring. The building has swapped sides several times, and Marsholio even had a flamethrower waiting to surprise me in P-47...of course, it was no surprise to either of us when the flamethrower broke the first time he tried to use it! I really need that building though...but I'm not sure I can take and hold it.
My assault on the heavily-defended H-44, I-45 line is having mixed results. I managed to kill a lot of his upper-level units with my tanks and MG firegroups, and even had a squad sitting in H-44 by itself for a few turns, but he finally started getting more units moved to the area. No matter how many Soviets I kill, there seems to be more waiting to take their place!
View attachment 46329
Along the west edge, I've pretty drawn up as close to the Rail Station as I can. I captured some good equipment along the way: MGs, ATRs, a FT, a Molotov projector, and a 45LL AT gun. But, I've pretty much done all I can there without losing a lot of my own units.
View attachment 46330
We're starting Turn 6 now. We usually manage to get in a few turns every weekend. After a few turns, we've drained the ale mini-keg and forget what we're doing, lol. We move on to Guitar Hero or a crappy movie after that. It's also grilling season too, so we're usually burning a hunk of meat at midnight. Marsholio also brings his famous hand-rolled cigars that are strong but delicious. Last weekend, he had an impressive one that looked like a 50mm mortar shell, but I prefer the 50cal size myself

 

[=FC=Gorgon]

Marsholio also brings his famous hand-rolled cigars that are strong but delicious. Last weekend, he had an impressive one that looked like a 50mm mortar shell, but I prefer the 50cal size myself

Russian tobacco? Interesting. Great AAR, please keep it coming as this sounds like a brutal fight.

A thought. Burn the hunk of meat before you play.

 

[Marsholio]

Russian tobacco? where? Nah, just some good ole Central American grown stuff, with a little splash of some CT leaf...

Geez what a day. Tough losses, but I held K45. The monster stack was wittled down to nothing and for 3 turns a wounded(from arty in turn 2 I believe) 9-2 held lvl 2 with a 50 cal, broke it, manned a HMG, then the arty finally broke him and his next self rally attempt was fatal. Boxcars with a 5 wound check kicker, best explained as suicide after watching the two squads with him die and 150mm cannons raining down for 6+ turns. By the end of turn 7 I estimate that 60% of my forces in the southwest were broken, along with most of their MG's... I broke 10 of those this CG day. I'm not sure if my endless hordes could have held the line another turn, ran out of units to move up.

Other highlights should have been my flamethrowers I had hidden behind my lines that should've toasted the 8-3-8's that were moving up, but no dice. I'm just glad only one of them got spiked by the Germans, as the other one ran out of fuel on a 10 and was retained off map pending survival of an assault engi squad.

Night counterattack will be coming....

 

[JOKippe]

Oh yeah, I did leave out a lot of the funny business that was going on caused by the relentess 150mm pounding of K-45. Marsholio did indeed had a lone leader in the upper level of K-45 taking over the abandoned MGs...it was both funny and annoying...he wasn't much of threat, and I wasn't going to devote a lot of resources to kill him, so I let the artillery do the job...and it took a while. He also had a Guard...and a leader, if I remember correctly...go beserk and rush out of K-45 to their death in the open ground leading to I-47. For my own funny business, I had a wounded 6+1 leader pick up a satchel charge and creep toward K-45. He was finally broken in K-46 and routed away. He survived, only to die in the Refit Phase...someday, Klingons will sing songs to his glory.
This was a scenario I didn't want to end, but it was over after T6.
Losses:
German: 3 Leaders, 23 Squads, 1 Crew (54 CVP)
Russian: 6 Leaders, 31 Squads, 5 Crew, 1 45LL Gun, 2 KV1 (100 CVP)

About 20 stone locations were captured by the Germans, and it was another German Victory.

20 Oct Night
View attachment 46561
I don't want to lose either a lot of units or a lot of ground...a tall order for defending against a Russian Counterattack at night. So, I'm playing it very conservative. I set up a lot of dummy stacks or stacks with dummies and a single HS in the forward areas (the blue "?" icons on the above map show these stacks). I'm hoping it will eat up a few turns as he figures out what I have and where. When he gets to my real lines of defense, he'll be facing lots of MGs at PB range. Every stack I have at setup consists of 3 counters (leaders and SW are HIP). I keep a few squads off-map, including my 10-3 leader, as reinforcements. I also purchased a Sturm platoon and a StG G platoon. I don't really need the tanks right now, but I better start getting them while I still can. It's overcast and NV is 2, so I expect a lot of CC. I really wanted to do a lot of tricky things with minefields and set DCs...but I could purchase only 1 fortification module, which I used for dummies. I have 3 81mmm mortars behind my lines, waiting to light up the battlefield like the first night game at Wrigley Field.
And Now For Something Completely Different:
View attachment 46558
No, Tuco the Chihuahua didn't jump onto the gaming table and mark his territory...that's one of Marsholio's hand-rolled cigars. Modeled after the Churchill, this zeppelin-like creation is something he calls "The Chamberlain". I'll admit I'm not sure if he means Neville Chamberlain or Wilt Chamberlain, but he should clarify that himself. I was in favor of calling it "The Clinton" but I realized that it's much too large and not curved enough to be called that.
View attachment 46559
Marsholio is quite sensible and realizes that he could not smoke the cigar while underwater or in outer space, so he lights it up in our gaming room. +3 smoke fills the hex.
And Now Back On Topic:
The battle is underway.
View attachment 46560
Soviet forces attack from several points. On Turn 3, he has recaptured the lower level of I-45 and it looks like we're going to have a major fight for that hex. He tried to push across to my F row, but was beaten back with losses. I wrongly assumed that he was going to push hard for the L-47 building, but he's skirting my defenses there by going along the southern map edge. I'm having terrible luck there, with not a single good roll for my defending units for 2 turns. I've already routed a couple of broken squads off the edge at the cost of 1 HS to do so. I moved in some 5-4-8 squads, but they were just as quickly broken with my crappy rolls. It's looking tragic there for the Germans, and the losses are piling up. So far, I've lost 6 squads to his 4. I've had another bit of bad luck due to a desperation move. I ran 2 StuGs up the J road to stop his units from crossing the road to reinforce I-45. That part of my plan worked, as his units had to move NW instead of directly to I-45. But then visibilty dropped with the weather change roll, and it's now NV1...which means I have to unbutton my tanks to move them out from behind his lines and run a PB gauntlet to get them back to my own lines. I'm hoping can I save at least one of them, but it's looking bad for those tanks stuck in J-43 and J-44 now.

The battle will probably continue tonight as we have a late celebration of the 4th. Another friend is scheduled to visit and he's been wanting to setup an Ironclads game. We'll probably just make him watch us play ASL instead. Give him a cold one, a charred bubba burger, and one of those Wilts or Nevilles and he'll be content to watch, I reckon.

 

[=FC=Gorgon]

Ha, great post, thanks! +3 SMOKE hinderance in the game room? That's harsh. Maybe some WP (in the form of a CO(2) fire extinguisher) would help?

 

[Peter Quant]

Great AAR guys!

 

[JOKippe]

20 Oct Night (continued):
The fighting in the dark continued. With NV dropped to 1, I continued pumping out IRs and starshells to help my diminishing forces hold the line. I did manage to save one of the StGs that was surrounded on the road behind his lines, but it suffered a Recall in the process (having to be CE to move is a big disadvantage in this urban fighting!) I continue to make crappy rolls until Turn 5, when a few rolls go my way and the Soviets finally show signs of running out of steam. I even have a good run of luck with the many HtH scrums scattered about the map. Marsholio seemed satisfied with his gains at that point, and I began assault moving my remaining forces towards his lines. The scenario ended after Turn 6, and I managed to move my perimeters adjacent to his strongholds in I45 and O48. These were risky moves, but my forces will be able to setup adjacent to all those fortified buildings of his to start the next scenario.
Losses:
German: 16.5 Squads, 4 Leaders (including a 9-2), StGIIIG -- 42CVP lost
Russian: 11 Squads -- 22 CVP lost
The Russians gained 13 stone locations, and it was a Soviet victory.

Things were looking very bad for me until the last 2 turns, when the majority of the Soviet casualties occurred. Overall, I'm satified with the way the scenario went, as I managed to hold most of my ground and place my perimeter next his strongholds. The next scenario will make or break the campaign...the Germans simply have to break through on the 21st!

Oct 21 (German Attack)
Time is running short for the Germans, and my plan is to carve his forces out of the southern area to the road in row P, and capture his long-held buildings just north of the 46 hexrows. This plan is just to setup my attack on the 22nd, which will feature a rolling barrage just north of my projected lines. If all goes well, I will have the SW corner of the map captured, and then I can resume my attacks in the north.
I still have plenty of German infantry squads to setup, so I decide to spend all of my CPP on Assault Engineers. I buy 3 platoons as well as a platoon of Sturms. Everything arrives at full strength, thanks to the modifiers on the rolls. I also add a StG and an Inf Gun platoon, and spend 2 points on Recon (I'll know what's in his strongpoints right away!) I'm leaving nothing to chance and spending no points on OBA, Stukas, or bombardments...it's going to be a battle that features overwhelming and direct German firepower. I set my Inf Guns up pointing at his strongpoints; my StGs are on the J road, lined up to fire at his upper levels and then move forward with the advance. I have Assault Engineers setup adjacent to his fortified H45, I45, and O48 locations. My heavy mortars and other StGs are setup with the intent of firing smoke at other upper level strongpoints that scattered here and there. It looks to be a hellacious battle, and with my firepower, I'm sure that the Russian line will be devastated.

One roll of the dice is all that it takes to render my whole plan a mistake. HEAVY WIND IS ROLLED!!!

I have no smoke to cover my attacks, but I'll carry on. My half of the 1st turn goes well...recon has removed a few dummies and I also know what I'm facing in several of the buildings I'm attacking. I take out his units in H44 and 048, and I capture those fortified locations. As my half of the turn ends, all is well and losses are minimal.

But things immediately go bad in his half of the turn...he has a hidden 45LL in the debris of J42 that opens fire (I had already fired area fire at the hex with my heavy mortar, but no results.)
His first shot hits my first StuG...and kills it.
His second shot hits my second StG, but it's ok.
His third shot hits the StG again and knocks it out.
His fourth shot hits my third StG (even with all the wrecks in the way!) and brews it up.
4 shots with a 45LL, and he knocks out 3 StGs and maintains concealment.

Meanwhile, with no smoke covering my troops, my engineers begin taking losses from his upper level firegroups. He counterattacks, killing my units in the buildings I just captured. He brings some T-34s out in the south, and I kill one that's in bypass of P50. It brews up, and within a few turns, the building and orchard are on fire...the road is blocked and my StGs can't get through there to support my attacks in the area. I have another run of bad rolls, and before I know it, half of my 8-3-8s are dead. My attack is stalled by Turn 4, with very little gain and too many losses.

I see no chance of winning this CG at this point. Too much ground to take with too few forces and too little time.
I concede defeat to Marsholio, who has fought an outstanding battle with his Russians. I had too many bad plans and too much bad luck to win this one.

We enjoyed this great CG very much. It has a lot more depth than Red Barricades. We like it so much that we're going to put Festung Budapest on hold and play another CGIV with VotG.

NEXT:
Marsholio and I switch seats...CGIV with me as the Soviets! :thumup:

 

[=FC=Gorgon]

Bloody fight and fantastic AAR! Can't wait for the next one.

 

[Tom Morin]

Bloody fight and fantastic AAR! Can't wait for the next one.

Ditto, very enjoyable reading about the furious action.

Don't forget to add the results to ROAR.

Tom

 

[rdw5150]

great AAR thanks for posting.....

I loved the pic of the cheech and chong type "cigar" :smoke:

Peace

Roger

 

[pj norton]

Great AAR! pj

 

[Marsholio]

Thanks to everyone that read it... I'll do my part to keep better records and try and remember what my plans are during the side switch for part 2 of this AAR. This was a hellova tough fight for the Russians, and a few lucky breaks, along with a few well set traps, were all that brought victory. Overall, I used a mix of delaying, massive counterattacks at what always seem to be just at the right time and place, and excessive beer/ale consumption in order to secure this victory. Mr. Kipper put up a great fight, and I look forward to see him handling defense as my troops race to fish in the Volga.

 

[JOKippe]

VotCG IV The Rematch

As I mentioned earlier, Marsholio and I are switching seats. It's been a while since I played as the Soviets, so I reread the notes about the vehicles and guns and such. At least the Red tanks have MGs, but the cramped turrets are a pain...I'm a big fan of going CE to lose the 1 TH mod. It's no secret that the Germans pretty much have their way on Day 1 (unless they're being played stupidly like I did in the previous game), so I'll try to setup in a spread-out fashion to avoid devastation by the bombardments and artillery which are sure to come. I'm not going to put a lot of units in the middle...if he attacks there in force, I probably can't stop him anyway. I'm a bit wary of a sneaky, strong attack on either the northern or southern edge, and I'm going to try to hold onto those areas for now. I'm not too worried about a big bulge in the middle at this point of the game...it'll just be a lot of ground that'll be hard for him to keep in the first few days.

One of the things that makes CGIV such a great game are the the options and tough purchasing choices that the players have to make on Day One. I decide to go with the two NKVD coys...quantity over quality, really. I also purchase a T34 platoon, but it may or may not make it onto the map, depending on my reinforcement rolls. I also puchase one set of fortifications and buy molotovs. My setup is fairly conservative and spread out...not a lot of depth except on the north and south edges. I'm not going to waste a lot of units fighting for the railstation, but I naturally fortify the locations with the given FB counters. I setup a trap in the north sector...I HIP T34s in D3 and D5 buildings and scatter units around with ATRs. I'm hoping he'll see I have no roadblocks in the area and think it's a good idea to commit a StG attack there.

The game starts, hurrah!
The early turns are no surprise...he makes a very strong attack in the middle...it's kind of the pawn-to-king-4 move that's expected to start every Day 1 game. He fights through my thin lines, heading east, but the railstation holds out. He doesn't commit much in the south sector, but my T34s get battered by his Stukas as I try to move them to watch the J road. In the north, I do catch him by surprise with my HIP AFVs. I torch one StG right away, but I quickly lose the T34 in D3 to a good shot from a StG in A3. I have some HS with ATRs moving on the mapedge keeping it occupied and away from my other T34. However, this surviving T34 winds up having a long shootout with a StG on the B row, and another StG is in the C row getting sideshots on the T34. I finally lose the T34 near the end of the scenario, but they did their jobs and his attack fizzled in the north sector.
View attachment 47003

In the south sector, not much happened below the railstation. I did lose a T34 and had another immobilized by his Stukas when I tried moving them, which I shouldn'y have done. He pushed south along the western edge, but it's not something I wanted to defend much anyway. My southern reinforcements never make it onto the map, by the way.
View attachment 47004

The middle sector...oh, the humanity! As you, the reader might have noticed, a huge amount of the map is on fire by scenario's end. Dry, moderate wind and my conscripts are tossing those molotovs down like they were pony bottles of Bud Lite at a sorority party. I really hadn't thought too much about the consequences; on paper, it just looked good to have a chance to double my conscripts' firepower. But everything was soon blazing and flaming like an audition in San Fransisco for the role of Liberace. I had a bit of bad luck with my own guys catching themselves on fire, though I did flame a StG in D15. I had the worst luck with this in the railstation...every time those units tried to use a molotov, they caught their own hex on fire and broke. He really didn't have to fight much to capture the railstation at all, with its defenders routing away with their boots smoking. I learned a lesson with this...don't use molotovs to defend a key fortified location!
Marsholio broke through a bit further east than I had hoped. The plan was to stop him from crossing the J road, but his Stukas stopped me from getting units there in time. Bad planning on my part. I also regret not purchasing an OBA module, because that could have slowed him down there as well.
View attachment 47005

LOSSES:
German: 5 Leaders, 20.5 Squads, 3 StGs (67 CVP)
Russian: 3 Leaders (incl. 10-0 Comm.), 43.5 Squads, 2 80mm mortars w/crew, 5 T34s w/crew (133 CVP)

The Germans captured 78 stone hexes. An absolute German Victory.

I lost a lot more units and ground than I should have, although I did keep control of the north and south sectors. Post-scenario intelligence reveals that Marsholio purchased a Rifle coy, a Stross plt, Stuka II, 1 bombardment, and 1 rocket OBA. The bombardment did little damage, but his rockets landed just south of the railstation, which prevented me from reinforcing the railstation in a timely manner. Overall, it was very well-played on his part.

Next, the battle continues with the inevitable Soviet Night Counterattack.