It's 1630 on 5 July 1943 in western Russia, where the I Battalion, Panzer Grenadier Regiment 101, 292nd Infanterie Division is carrying out an assault on Soviet defensive positions in the "Bunkerwald," held by elements of the 1st Battalion, 676th Rifle Regiment, 15th Rifle Division. This is part of the German offensive to eliminate the Kursk salient, specifically on the northern shoulder of the bulge, as German forces push towards Ponyri.
I am playing this game because I have the good fortune of being buddies with Steve of the "Sound Officer's Call" blog , and he is running a "Firestorm Ponyri" campaign. He is playing some games with his local buddies, but was unable to play all of the games himself; rather than simply 'dice off' for results of campaign fights they were unable to play on the table top, Steve asked if anyone in the blogosphere wanted to help, so here I am.
It's been a little bit of an issue that I literally just sold off a bunch of German late war gear, so I'm a bit understrength, but Steve is working with me to make sure the fights I get match up with the forces I have. This is the first fight I've played, and I hope it wasn't too much a pain for him, I certainly want to keep going! First, I love to play games; second, it's been way too long since I've played any Eastern Front games (maybe eight years or so?); and lastly, I'm a solo gamer that still craves some camaraderie, so whenever I can help another wargamer out, I'm always quick to jump at it.
A rather unassuming swath of land in western Russia, part of the Kursk salient. At top center is a forest known by the Germans as "Schwarzwald," while at center is "Bunkerwald," and there is an unnamed patch of wood at far left. There are three dirt tracks in a generally north-south direction, mostly towards the three human structures: the State Farm (bottom left), the District Seat (bottom center), and Alexei's House (center right). The rest is untended grassland pocked with cultivated fields; there are some wooden fences on the southern half of the table, as well as scrub around a lot of the fields, that neither blocks LOS or provides cover (just for looks), while there are some hedges strewn throughout the table that don't provide cover or block LOS, but do serve to 'disrupt' LOS a bit (making shots through a bit more difficult).
The Orders of Battle
Germans
Battalion Commander
1st Company (three rifle platoons of three rifle squads)
2nd Company (three rifle platoons of three rifle squads)
3rd Company (three rifle platoons of three rifle squads)
Schwere Company (MG platoon of four MG-42s, mortar platoon of four 8.0cm tubes, infantry gun platoon of two 7.5cm guns, and an anti-tank platoon of two PaK-38 5.0cm guns)
Assault Gun Platoon (reduced, only two vehicles)
Battery of 10.5cm Artillery (off table)
Battery of Nebelwerfers (off table)
Soviet
Company Commander
Rifle Company (three rifle platoons of three rifle squads)
Anti-Tank Rifle Platoon (3 x PTRS-41s)
Anti-Tank Platoon (3 x 45mm ATGs)
Infantry Gun Platoon (2 x 76mm guns)
MG Platoon (3 x Maxim .30-cal MGs)
Mortar Platoon (3 x 82mm mortars)
Combat Engineer Platoon (three flamethrower squads)
Assault Gun Platoon (3 x Su-76s)
I'm playing in 10mm (figures, vehicles, and gear a mix of Pendraken and Minifigs UK) based at one stand=one squad, weapon, or vehicle. I'm playing this game using Too Fat Lardies' "I Ain't Been Shot Mum" rules, simplified a bit in terms of combat, morale, and movement.
And here we go, with troops added. The objective for the game is possession of "Bunkerwald" (the path of forest at center bottom); the Germans want it and the Soviets currently have it. The fight will go until one side breaks, winner determined by ownership of the objective. The German baseline is in the north (top) and the Soviets at bottom (south).
Scheme of Manoeuvre
German
The Germans have infiltrated the bulk of their Schwere Company into the Schwartzwald (patch of woods at top center), where they have emplaced their machine gun, mortar, and Infantry Gun (IG) Platoons. Because of the pace of operations they have not had the opportunity to conduct a thorough reconnaissance, so they are proceeding with a generic 'double envelopment' assault. To that end, 1st Company is crossing the line of departure in the northeast (top right), with a lot of open ground to cover, while 2nd Company is using a shallow gully in the north-northwest (top center left) that runs north to south to infiltrate as close to the objective as possible.
The Germans are aware of enemy forces in Bunkerwald and in a stand of trees in the southeast (bottom right), so supporting fires will be used to reduce/suppress those positions. The Germans are holding 3rd Company and their ATG Platoon in reserve (off table).
Soviet
The Soviets are manning static defenses with a mobile reserve to counterattack any German breakthroughs. To that end, the Soviets are manning three fortified and (semi-) mutually supporting positions: Strongpoint Irina (in woods at far left), Strongpoint Anna (Bunkerwald), and Strongpoint Ilsa (in the southeast/bottom right). To that end, the Soviet commander has task organized his rifle company, MG platoon, ATR platoon, and ATG platoon into combined arms forces at each defensive 'hedgehog.' So each strongpoint consists of three rifle squads, one .30-cal MG, one ATR, and one 45mm ATG.
The infantry gun platoon is emplaced in the southwest (bottom left), while the mortar platoon is emplaced behind the State Farm, with its platoon commander acting as forward observer on the second floor of the State Farm building. The Soviets have their assault gun and combat engineer platoons in reserve (off table, with the engineers planning to ride into battle on the Su-76s).
German Initial Deployment
I suppose here I will make a comment on the rules and my setup: I'm not sure why, but I really sold the Germans short during this fight by only giving them Platoon Commanders (PCs), but not Company Commanders (of which they could have had three for the rifle companies). When I was setting up I just kinda blew it off as, 'well, they've got plenty of troops, plenty of supporting weapons, plenty of leaders, they don't need'em.' Well, in the attack, across open ground in particular, you can never have enough leaders...
Soviet Initial Deployment
Off-Table Assets and Reinforcements
It’s Time to Fight
The battle begins with German artillery pounding the objective, Strongpoint Anna! 150mm HE shells, some quick fuse, some airburst, and some delayed fuse (to take care of bunkers) detonate, causing all sorts of headaches for the Russkies, but no real casualties, just pinning the PC and his MG team (below, left). While in the southeast, the Nebelwerfers slam into the earth occupied by Strongpoint Ilsa. This barrage causes significantly more damage, owing to the open topped positions: the ATR team suffers casualties and is 'men down,' two rifle squads are suppressed, and the PC and MG team are pinned (below, right).
Interlude
The Germans call up their reserves (3rd Company and the PaK platoon), and designate Alexei's House as the TRP for all supporting fires. The Germans are pretty beat up, but still looking pretty grim for the Soviets; no one is occupying the objective. If the Soviet CO's card will come up, I'm going to have him fall back and turn his mortar platoon into an ad-hoc rifle platoon in order to go occupy Strongpoint Anna. If they can get in there, and get the Engineer Platoon in there as well, holding the objective, with their Su-76s prowling around, it may very well be that the Germans don't have the firepower and bodies necessary to dig them out again.
Off We Go Again…
IABSM is always a treat, the friction it throws in the game can have you going mad, but I certainly enjoy it, especially for solo games, it makes the fight completely unpredictable. I'm sure it's not everyone's cup of tea; it can be so deliciously frustrating to have (for example) a PC and a squad sitting there, mere inches from a whole string of 'man down' and suppressed enemy forces, knowing that if you could just get them activated you'd surely charge, then knock out a whole string of troops. IF you could just get them to activate ;)
Regarding deployment, being omnipotent, I'm certain neither the plan of attack nor the plan for defense was the best, but I felt like they both gave the best opportunity for a great solo game. The 'hedgehog' approach to defense made a lot more sense than anything else I could come up with; it's historically relevant, and there was no way I was going to load everything up into Strongpoint Anna, knowing the German off-table arty assets in the fight. Conversely, knowing the Soviets were going with three strongpoints and didn't have any off-table arty, I could have just loaded up in the center and pushed the grunts forward, ignoring the flanks and daring the Reds to come out of their trenches and bunkers, but that hardly seemed sporting. Overall, I'm very happy with how the fight was planned and carried out, I thought the plans worked very well.
Man, what a fight! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. It's been a long time since I had that many troops on the table, felt good, though I can't say it want to do it all the time, so I'm looking at scaling at least some of my future fights in this campaign back to company-level. I can't wait to play some more next weekend. Awaiting my orders!
Just Jack