A harried looking Soviet tank officer brought his T-34 to a screeching halt and took his life in his hands by popping the hatch and looking around. Unfortunately the map in his hand was printed in Cyrillic and since it didn't depict rubble it was of limited use. So far he had been navigating by tourist guide. Behind him a long queue of tanks, assault troops and, for some reason, an American halftrack were jammed on the rubble strewn street waiting for him to make up his mind.
Sweating nervously the officer spied a ragged civilian cringing in a pile of rubble.
"You," he screamed in his best German. "How do I get to the Spittelmarkt?"
"You go straight down Saliva Boulevard and turn left at Expectoration Platz," replied the German without missing a beat.
"Did you enjoy that?" asked the tank officer.
"Little bit, yeah."
The tank officer could feel the eyes of his regimental commander burning into his back. The regimental commissar was no doubt considering burning other things into his back.
"Look I'm desperate ok. Tell me where the Spittelmarkt is and you won't be the loser."
The German relented, "Ok, straight down the road, try and avoid the rubble. It's the place with all of the machine guns and StuGs. You can't miss it."
With a wave of thanks the tank officer dropped back into his vehicle.
"Straight down the road," he told his driver. "We can't miss it."
"A statement that cuts both ways," muttered his driver as he revved the engine.
After botching Operation Barbarossa as the Germans I was kindly given the opportunity to botch the taking of Berlin as the Soviets. Dave Wilson and I played this one over a couple of sessions. It is late April 1945, Berlin is in ruins and appropriately Wagnerian music is playing as the defenders of Berlin stage their own personal gotterdammerung amongst the rubble. Down at the Spittelmarkt various misplaced Scandinavians plus a smattering of locals who didn't get out of the way in time are preparing to defend several square feet of Berlin to the death. This is scenario FT 196 - Spittelmarkt. I command assault troops of the all conquering Soviet army looking to capture the vital U-bahn station before reinforcements can be rushed in from Airbnbs in Kreuzberg. The objective is to ensure that no good order German squads (or functioning AFVs) remain within two hexes of the Spittelmarkt itself which from the map is little more than a glorified road junction.
To plough through the rubble I have a formidable force. Ten first line squads, a pair of 458 elite squads and three squads of 628 assault engineers. These are led by four officers including a doughty 9-1 and have a trio of light machine guns and three demo charges to assist them along. Also present are three T-34/85 tanks and an American sourced M3A1 half track tossed in I can only assume for historical verisimilitude. On turn two a pair of IS2M tanks arrive to provide some heavy metal.
Defending the Spittelmarkt is a collection of SS who should really have read the writing on the wall by now. Eight squads ranging from 447s to awesome 658s with three leaders and a hero plus a hmg, a pair of panzerschrecks and two light machine guns stand ready to defend approximate a block of downtown Berlin. Assisting them are a pair of StuG IIIGs and four roadblocks. Coming on on turn three are some distinctly unenthusiastic Volksturm in the form of a second line squad and two conscripts with a 7-0 leader an lmg and another panzerschreck. Before the game starts we both get to place a bunch of rubble counters where we think they will do the most good.
Below is the at start map. I've set up heavily weighted on the right as that looked to be the safest way forward while secondary forces would attack the centre and left.
 |
| My assault engineers are all on the right as is my entire armoured force |
Things didn't go too badly in the first couple of turns. My forces on the right ate up territory heading for the Spittelmarkt while managing to keep out of the sight of the hmg team which was of course up on the second floor of a building I failed to rubble effectively. In the centre I pushed forward against his defenders in the rubble and overwhelmed them in close combat. Only on the left had disaster struck as I had misjudged lines of sight and a chunk of my attacking force were carved up by the hmg team. Still casualties were acceptable so far and I was pressing in on Dave's defences.
 |
| So far no tank losses, this would soon change |
I had now struck the centre of Dave's defences. I parked a T34 behind a roadblock to take on a StuG only to get smothered in smoke. Another T-34 went up in flames when he fired a panzerschreck out of a building. I began to get that creeping feeling of helplessness I always get whenever I play armour against Dave. This feeling would only increase as the game proceeded. Still for right now I wasn't looking too bad. A tank had been sacrificed but my beasts were coming and my infantry was definitely pressing forward. Also one of his StuGs had run out of smoke, it's always good news when Dave runs out of smoke.
In the next turn Dave's StuG would manage to shock another T-34 despite the presence of a road block and smoke but my infantry were starting to grind forward and the IS2s were coming up to replace losses. I killed his shreck halfsquad and started heading towards the Spittelmarkt itself. I didn't even bog an IS2 grinding through rubble. Dave's hero would meet an unlamented end and I deluded myself that things were still going reasonably well.
 |
| Things are still going well, says he in a fit of self delusion |
Dave repositioned his armour to better protect what appeared to be the most important building while I brushed aside the last of his outlying defences on the right. The Spittelmarkt appeared to be within my grasp. I had even managed to reconstitute a bit of a left flank which was tiptoeing forward hoping not to be noticed. However Dave's surviving forces (most of them) received a boost as a bunch of ragged, fear crazed civilians turned up to "bolster" the defences. How could I lose from here? Read on.
 |
| OK, things could be worse. Patience young Jedi |
"I've got this," I thought in what in retrospect can only be considered deranged hubris. I sent a T-34 around behind one of his StuGs forgetting for a moment that this never works and pressing forward with my infantry. Everything seemed set for the final assault. One of my IS2s had nestled behind a roadblock and was exchanging shots with his other StuG similarly behind a roadblock. Turret hits would be the order of the day.
 | |
| So pressing forward, let's just ignore the vulture hovering over my head |
Somehow, at this point I can't remember how, Dave managed to extract his StuG from the menace of two tanks including an IS2 without so much as a scratch on the paintwork. His other StuG smoked out my other IS2 but in a brief moment of glory this didn't stop it from blowing up the StuG in gouts of flames with a return fire shot. Things really were looking quite good.
 |
| If you're wondering what I'm doing with the M3A1 halftrack the answer is "I don't know" |
Then I went slightly mad. In reference to that last sentence, delete the word "slightly". I lost my remaining T-34s to fausts and schrecks but the real problem was an act of staggering stupidity on my part. With my assault troops in readiness I decided to send a major kill stack (a pair of 628s, lmgs and the 9-1) into the building rubble despite the fact that him hmg team was adjacent. I think I was hoping the plus three modifier for rubble would protect them. The 9-1 and a squad died and the remaining one was broken and suddenly my assault force was in ruins. It really was a piece of prize idiocy on my part. The game to all intents and purposes ended there but I struggled on. I still had my IS2s and a smattering of other squads so significant firepower was still at my command.
 |
| Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory |
We could have ended it there but I wanted to see if I could achieve anything further so Dave very kindly agreed to keep crucifying me. With my attack on the right drowned in a welter of blood I shifted my focus to the left while I attempted to salvage something from the wreckage. My trump card here was my second IS2 weaving its way slowly through a cluster of buildings to somewhere it could be helpful. I had successfully stripped some concealment and was attempting to break down the remaining defenders to help my attenuated assault force forward.
 |
| Perhaps there is still a faint chance |
I now had both my IS2s up on the front lines while his surviving StuG had retreated back to its original location. I had managed to chase some of his troops on the left out of their positions and I was gearing up for the final push. I even had a toehold in the building with his hmg team (which, incidentally, is out of position for the victory conditions). I would need to use the weighty firepower of my IS2s to shoot my way forward. At that point Dave decided to try a deliberate immobilisation attempt on one of my IS2s. He was successful. The crew bailed out whereupon a snake eyes on an IFT shot guaranteed that one of my two remaining tanks was now out of the battle. The writing was not just on the wall, it had been tattooed onto my face. I took the hint and conceded.
 |
| No, no there isn't |
Well I lost that one. I lost it with one stupid decision and threw away a very winnable game. Despite that we both enjoyed this one (perhaps Dave a little more than me). Once again I learnt that I am simply incapable of using armour efficiently. The best use I made of my T-34s was using their burning hulks as cover. Many thanks to Dave for the game. Next time I'll try not to be an idiot (bold promise I know).
Two Volksturm troopers watched with polite curiosity as a Soviet tank officer staggered into view. He smelt of smoke and despair and for some reason he had a Baedeker's Guide to the Ruins of Berlin in one hand.
"Is this the Spittelmarkt?" he demanded in German that would have been quite good if it wasn't for the edge of hysteria.
One of the Volksturmers nodded.
"The U-bahn station is just down the road," he added helpfully. The Soviet officer looked around wildly as if expecting a U-bahn station to leap on him from behind a bush. The Volksturmer pointed and the Soviet officer staggered off.
"Why do you think he wants to get the U-bahn station?" asked the other Volksturmer. His companion shrugged.
"I think he just wants to get away from here."
"Speaking of which..."
No comments:
Post a Comment