Russia February, 1942 Bitter cold and winter storms have helped the Soviet army stall the German offensive in Russia. In this battalion s area of operations, both sides have dug in to wait out the deadly weather. While this part of the front is mostly quiet, the German High Command has ordered aggressive action in the sector to keep the Soviets offguard and guessing. Hauptmann Stammler s company will launch a reconnaissance in force and, if the opportunity presents, advance the German positions further into the Soviet line. Stammler s reconnaissance is executed with professional precision and the rewards are immediate; all Soviet positions are located and the Wehrmacht assault troops take their jump-off positions. The Soviets, alerted by increased German patrols, begin an uncoordinated and increasingly frantic reconnaissance effort of their own, but fail to make many contacts. One Soviet patrol is ambushed and suffers heavy casualties. To make matters worse, Soviet patrols are repeatedly pulled back in or cancelled altogether because of heavy German shelling. Stammler receives the word from battalion headquarters to launch his attack; two of his platoons, supported by three Panzer III tanks, are given the task of capturing two Soviet-held bridges and the command post of the defending units. Unaware of the nearness of the attacking forces, and surprised by the speed and ferocity of the attack, a Soviet platoon reinforced with a brace of heavy machineguns tries valiantly to hold up the attacking Germans until support from nearby units can arrive.
The left of the German attack turns out to be blocked by a series of minefields, but the tanks press forward in the center supported by their infantry, toward the first bridge objective. The Soviet squads defending the bridge suffer immediate heavy casualties, and it is left to a lone machinegun crew to face the onrushing Panzers. The crew is quickly dealt with and the attackers move to take the other side of the bridge.
In a matter of minutes, the Panzers and their supporting infantry capture the other end of the bridge, and begin to drive to a small hamlet dead ahead from which to turn the flank of the remaining defenders. The Soviet company command post frantically calls for immediate reinforcements; Comrade Kapitan Bakhtin is told to hold at all costs, and that tank support is on the way.
The Soviet command post and a squad guarding the approach to a second bridge targeted by the Germans have a clear line of sight to the slaughter of the defenders at the main river crossing; the troops begin to panic as they are subjected to steady fire from the advancing attackers. Even though Soviet tanks are within sight, Comrade Kapitan Bakhtin can stand the strain no longer. He decides to take his chances on being shot by NKVD troops, rather than face what he believes to be certain death under
the treads of the advancing Panzers, and the coward and enemy of the Soviet State gives the order to abandon the defensive positions. For a few minutes, only Germans are in the battle area as the Red Army flees the field.
Against the tide of retreating Soviets, three T-34/76 tanks roll at full speed toward the small hamlet now held by the Panzer IIIs. A terrifying exchange of tank fire flashes between the T-34s and the Panzers; the Soviets prove resolute, and though one T-34 is destroyed and one immobilized, a Panzer III goes up in flames, incinerating it s crew, and the other two Panzers are immobilized, with one crew abandoning its tank and cowering in a nearby building.
Passing their tanks, a Soviet rifle platoon rushes pell-mell into the battle area, screaming and waving their weapons, bent on recapturing their lost positions. Undeterred by heavy casualties, the counterattacking comrades repeatedly close assault a key woods and capture a perfect location from which to launch assaults on their captured command post, and on one of the bridges now held by the Germans. The effort is too little, too late, however, and as the battalion commander has Comrade Kapitan Bakhtin arrested and immediately shot along with dozens of men of the fleeing company, he has the counterattacking platoon recalled and moved to shore up the defenses in another threatened part of the Soviet battalion s line. The German Victory is total, thanks in large part to executing a wildy successful reconnaissance while keeping Soviet patrols guessing. The Germans lose six men dead and four wounded, along with all three of their tanks; the Soviets losses are 52 killed, wounded, captured, missing, and executed, with one T-34 destroyed and one immobilized. Hauptmann Stammler is awarded the Knight s Cross, while the hapless Soviet replacement commander, Comrade Kapitan Nezadachlevo, is ordered to personally lead a counterattack tomorrow without tank support. The margin of victory in the battle was 73 points, and the pre-battle reconnaissance was particularly fun, realistic, and very relevant to the on-table game. The play mat is felt, with small dots from a felt-tip pen marking the areas, and roads, rivers and other terrain painted on with fabric paint; the hills are Styrofoam, painted and flocked (I do not recommend this, as the white
flock is yellowing though the pieces are not yet a year old); the houses are from the wonderful Battlelands 15 set from MicroTactix, printed on card and assembled; the trees are Woodland Scenics, left bare of foliage and sprayed with flock; the Soviet forces are Battlefront figures and tanks, painted by Lloyd McMann and played by Mike Vasquez and Cameron Fairchild; the German infantry are Battlefront painted by Lloyd, the tanks are Battlefront painted by Staff Sergeant Ed Donovan, and commanded by Lloyd and Eric Wood. The fortifications and minefields are fashioned from Crayola Model Magic; I give this stuff my highest recommendation. As always, feel free to write us with comments, suggestions, or questions, at cfairchild@fairchildtraining.com.