Major Felix von der Füll winced as leutnant Meinschaft stamped to attention in front of him. Meinschaft probably saluted as well but von der Füll was too busy wiping mud out of his eyes to notice.
"Get your men ready Meinschaft, we're launching an attack towards the river."
Meinschaft looked a little surprised, "Isn't this the river?" His confusion was understandable, in this season in Russia the border between water and land could best be described as fluid.
"This isn't the river," replied von der Füll. "The river is over there behind all of those Russians in foxholes. What you are standing on is solid ground. For given definitions of both 'solid' and 'ground' of course. Have you deployed your flamethrower team?"
An evil grin split Meinschafts face, "Yes herr Major, I've given it to the most irritating men under my command. Let's see how they like charging into battle with several litres of flammable liquid on their backs."
"Very good, all right return to your position, oh and take this satchel with you when you do?"
"What's in it?"
"Several kilograms of high explosives which I am entrusting to you due to my high regard for your leadership abilities and personality."
I returned from holidays eager to plunge into to battle. Instead I plunged into a series of defeats but because my blog wont write itself (although I'm looking very closely at ChatGPT) I hereby present one of the less humiliating ones for your delectation. I selected J202 - Down by the River because it looked interesting, presenting two different battles in one. Here I command two forces of Germans attacking both sides of a river defended by two groups of Soviets. The river is flooded and can't be crossed so apart from a certain amount of long range fire two separate battles rage simultaneously. My objective is to get 10 VPs worth of troops adjacent to river hexes. Each squad is worth 1 VP and AFVs are worth two. There must be two VP worth of troops on each side of the river so both attacks have to be successful.
On the west (top) side of the river I have the brave landsers of the 8th light infantry division; nine first line squads and two elite led by three officers including a 9-1 and equipped with three lmgs, a dismantled mmg plus a DC and a flamethrower. They are supported by a pair of early model StuGIIIG assault guns. On the other side of the river is a collection of war crimes defendants dignified if that's the correct word (it isn't) by the title of SS Totenkopf panzer division. Despite the name this is an all infantry force with eight and a half elite SS squads, three officers including a fearsome 9-2 and equipped with a pair of lmgs, a dismantled hmg and for some reason a dismantled 50mm mortar. A cute little twist is that both sides have a sniper counter on each side of the river and randomly select which side of the river is affected by any sniper activation.
The meat in this wehrmacht sandwich is Dave's defenders. Facing the army troops are ten first line squads (eight 447s and two 527s) an elite halfsquad and a pair of officers. They have a medium machine gun and two lmgs plus an antitank rifle and six concealment counters. They also have a 45mm antitank gun. Facing the SS are nine first line squads (six 447s and three 527s), three officers including a 9-0 commissar, two lmgs, a heavy machine gun and a 50mm mortar of their own. They also have eighteen factors of land mines and three wire hexes. A dozen concealment counters are evenly distributed between both forces. All Soviet forces in suitable terrain can set up in foxholes.
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| At start set up |
With two forces to command that meant I had to come up with two plans, a struggle for someone who rarely manages to achieve one with any great efficiency. For my top force I set up heavily weighted to the right intending to push through the woods, hopefully overunning his troops enroute and taking an at least partially sheltered route towards the river. My StuGs would motor down the road and hopefully tiptoe through the trees to assist them. A smaller force would plunge through the woods and hopefully attract the attention of his defenders in the centre. I was paranoid about his 45mm atg which could wreck my StuGs whose utility in my eyes was more for their VP value than any support they might give to my hard pressed infantry.
At the bottom I set up my SS to try and cross the road and flank his forces through the forest. A glance at the map will show that the Dave has pretty my ignored the left side of the board but I imagined that he would have laced the area with mines and wire so I ignored it in favour of a push through the middle.
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| End of German turn 1 |
My top force advanced through the forest setting up for an attack next turn. A half squad headed to the left to occupy the attention of the two units Dave had over there. My StuGs lined up to support the infantry. In the bottom I hit the edge of Dave's force and almost broke through. A dummy stack and a squad being all the force he had to oppose me. The forest stretched out in front of me, beckoning me towards the river.
Of course it wasn't that easy, Dave raced some squads across and into the forest (I kept a close eye on the hexes they moved through to ensure there were no minefields). On the other side of the river he largely kept his concealment and waited for me to move. I did manage to break one of his forward squads on the right. In my next turn I followed this up by moving into his forward position in force wiping out a hapless broken halfsquad and positioning themselves for the next push. Down the bottom I pushed through the forest to make contact with the troops Dave had just brought up. He also revealed his hmg guided by a 9-1 in a houe by the river bank. Firing across the river Dave achieved a rate tear on a series of 2-1 shots which broke one of my top squads moving forward and served warning that a lot of the ground I had hoped was reasonably clear was anything but.
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| End German turn 2. Things are going ok but the hmg was a nasty shock |
In his turn Dave broke a SS squad down (because of course 8 morale troops can't handle a NMC even when guided by a 9-2). He also jumped into CC with a CX halfsquad which was doing fire drawing duties at the front of my force. On the positive side long range fire on my part broke a squad in a foxhole thus cutting down the amount of shooting my troops would have to face in the next turn.
In my next turn I started to press forward and casualties began to mount. Fortunately Dave malfed his mmg and broke it while attempting to repair it but his hmg swept an impressive amount of the battlefield and left a scattering of pinned and broken units in its wake. On the plus side his atg proved rather disappointing. I pushed a StuG through a narrow gap in the trees to support my troops on the right. Dave unveiled his gun and took not one but two shots at the StuG's side. He gained a hit each time and each time the shell bounced off the StuG's not terribly impressive side armour. The gun would not fire again.
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| End of German turn 3, could be worse |
Down on the bottom board I resolved the CC in my favour and moved up towards his recently arrived woods defenders. I was starting to get concerned about time particularly as I could see more squads sliding sideways to take up defensive positions among the trees. Still I was reasonably satisfied. The trend on both sides of the river was generally forward and casualties had been acceptable to date. The situation was improved when in his next turn I broke the crew of his 45mm and removed a major threat to my armour.
My turn four was probably the high point of my game. Up the top my burgeoning forces on the right broke a pair of squads that made up the bulk of his defenders in last patch of woods before the river and I managed to push into the woods and an adjacent building. A single squad remained to defend the woods and I had troops lining up to take it on. Things looked so good that I sent the supporting StuG over to the centre to help out there. I rolled it into bypass in a defenders hex and moved a squad in to CC. If nothing else the defending squad would not be shooting out of its hex next turn. Down the bottom I broke all but one of the defenders immediately in front of me and moved three squads into CC with the survivor. Sadly that shifty character knocking on my door was reality.
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| End of German turn 4 - definitely the high point |
Having been refused entry reality managed to sneak in through an open window in the next turn. Down the bottom my three squad CC force proved incapable of dealing with a single squads worth of opponents. That CC would rage for three turns locking up a good third of my force and consequently weakening my attack to the point of impotence. Up the top in the little patch of woods that were all that stood between my troops and the river Dave's 7-0 managed to rally two squads back from DM and they proceeded to shoot the troops that I had got into the woods to pieces. Suddenly I was back in the same position I was in two turns ago with fewer troops and less time. Those two events, the CC and the rally pretty much ended my hopes but in case there was any doubt Dave's sniper shot dead the 9-1 who was guiding my troops on the top board and both the squads with him failed their LLMC. That was an absolute killer. I no longer had a coherent force on the top board just a scattering of leaderless squads. Not even the fact that one of my StuGs vapourised a Soviet squad and lmg position with a critical hit changed that grim equation.
I made a despairing final charge which was simply a hope that the dicebot might shower me with love. I was certainly showered with something. The high point was when a DC toting 8-0 took a morale check. I rolled snake eyes, went berserk and was incapable of placing the DC. Instead I charged into a 4-1 CC and was promptly dispatched. I conceded with tears in my eyes. At least I assumed they were tears, I was a little ill in this session and that might have been brain fluid leaking out my ears.
One noteworthy thing about this scenario was the absolute failure of all our wonder weapons. Dave's atg did absolutely nothing and his atr broke early in the game and never came back. My flamethrower malfed on its first shot and my DC wound up lying on its owners blood drenched body. Despite the outcome I genuinely enjoyed this game and would happily play it again as either side. Many thanks to Dave for yet another defeat.
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| The end, with the exception of a single StuG I'm nowhere near the river |
Major von der Füll spat out a mouthful of mud and looked around. All he could see was German uniformed figures sinking slowly into the "solid" ground. The last he had seen of leutnant Meinschaft he had been running screaming into a building attempting to beat some of the defenders about the head with a satchel of explosives. A Soviet soldier in mud spattered valenki looked down at him.
"Is this the river?" asked von der Füll in his best Russian.
"Sorry, that's a few hundred metres away. You're on solid ground."
Von der Füll regarded his sodden uniform for a moment.
"Define solid."
"You sink more slowly."
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