This was a randomly generated game played in October 2012 just for a bit of fun and to get some wargaming in. Jordi and Dae played the Germans, Strategus and Burt played the Soviets. 

After we'd generated the terrain by rolling dice, we decided that the Germans had to defend the bombed out town, with the Soviets having to overwhelm and evict them.

The Germans deployed within the town: some of their troops under Blinds, some already on table - especially their armour, which they wanted to be able to move as soon as the game began.

The Soviets, on the other hand, advanced everything under Blinds, as they did not want the Germans to be able to determine their main axis of attack. One thing they did deploy on table as soon as possible was their battery of katyushas: aiming to give the Germans a little "love and affection" right from the start!

The Germans were shooting at any Soviets they could see, but were getting back as good as they were giving.

The Russian artillery had zeroed in on the German positions on the riverbank, and were pounding them for all they were worth.

The Germans were spotting Soviet Blinds: which actually worked in the Russian's favour as they had realised that after the first surge forward, it would have been better to have deployed onto the table.

The Soviets had positioned their mortars on a hill (which was a mistake that they won't make again) and had begun their own bombardment of the Germans positions.

Meanwhile, the rest of their force were getting deployed on table and gradually creeping forward towards the German-occupied town.

The Soviets prepared to cross the river, hiding their infantry in the woods along the banks as they waited for the best moment to advance. Soviet anti-tank gunners, on the other hand, had brazenly moved right up to the riverbank in a hunt for targets. It was the Germans guns, however, that were doing damage.

Now, however, the massed guns of the Soviets prepared to shoot, laying down devastating amounts of fire until plumes of smoke could be seen in the town.

Some German units were lucky, and the German guns were quick to reply: taking out the Soviet mortars in full sight on top of the hill (never again!) nd severely damaging some infantry.

As time ran out (an unfortunate consequence of not being able to leave a game out as we play in our local Civic Centre) the Germans were still in the village, but with many casualties, and the Soviets were as yet unable to cross the river in the face of strong German opposition.

Even though it wasn't very clear whether either side had actually done enough to win the game, it was a good laugh...especially when the Germans discovered the almighty destructive power of the Katyushas (their players' faces were a picture!) even if their fire didn't actually kill many men.

Burt