The lockdown games with K, Daughter#1’s boyfriend, trapped with us for the duration, continue. My intention is to gradually walk the lad through WW2 theatre by theatre in a vaguely chronological order. We’ve had a go at Poland and France, now it was time for the Eastern Front with a few games from my Vyazma or Bust! scenario pack.

Background

The first battle of the campaign takes place in September 1941 as the Germans begin Operation Teifun (Typhoon), the assault on Moscow, with an attempt to take Izdeshkovo, a town sitting astride the main Smolensk-Vyazma highway. If they take Vyazma, then the road to Moscow is opened.

The German player is tasked with clearing a section of the road which his division will use to advance to their assault. The Soviet player commands a collection of battered troops withdrawn from the front line to rest and recuperate. The German attack is somewhat of a surprise!

The Battlefield

As can be seen from the picture, above, the battlefield was mostly covered in light woods. These were traversable by tracked vehicles and foot, but penalised movement. They also provided some cover from spotting and fire.

The Forces Involved

I played the Soviets: most of my force in scrapes facing south around the bridge and the village. This outpost consisted of three infantry squads, an MMG and a light mortar, supported by three 45mm anti-tank guns.

A KV-1 heavy tank, the mainstay of my defence, was near the point where the road has a junction with a track, supported by another anti-tank gun team and a squad of infantry. My three T-26 light tanks (a big gun on a cardboard vehicle!) were spaced out along the track.

My plan was to hold any advance along the road with the KV-1, forcing the Germans to assault the small village and bridge across open ground. My T-26 tanks would then swing round in a right hook manoeuvre hopefully hitting the advancing enemy in the flank.

The Germans had a platoon of motorised infantry, mostly in trucks; some MMGs and medium mortars; and a platoon of tanks: all Panzer IIIs, one “H” and three “F”s.

The Game Begins

The game began with the Germans advancing strongly onto the table.

First blood was to the Soviets as the German Company HQ was caught napping cruising along the road:. Out popped a Russian 45mm anti-tank gun and took their truck out, also killing half the infantry squad inside with the help of some remarkably accurate machine gun fire from the KV-1.

I then moved my T-26’s forward through the light woods, beginning my outflanking hook.

Meanwhile the Germans, recognising the threat, had sent their tanks towards what looked like developing into the schwerepunkt . This did, however, expose their armoured column to flank fire from my anti-tank guns positioned around the bridge.

By rights, I should have KO’d at least two of the Panzers, but despite vast numbers of 45mm shells winging their way towards them, only one was hit and destroyed.

No matter, I was pretty happy that the KV-1 could deal with the others as they came into view through the trees.

Unfortunately the dice Gods were against me. Shells from the monster tank just bounced off the leading Panzer III, and when it returned fire, it’s first shell scored four penetrations, blowing my game-winning asset into smithereens!

This was a disaster of serious proportions, made even more damaging when K used his Armoured Bonus Move card to bring his tanks forward.

Worse followed!

An unfortunate Tea Break card saw the Panzer III N take out the anti-tank gun right in front of it. Things were getting desperate.

So desperate, in fact, that I used an infantry squad to close assault the rear of the Panzer III N, leaving the cover of their scrapes to do so.

They did manage to do it some damage, but not enough to take it out of the game., and then my infantry squad got hit in the rear by the German motorised infantry platoon that lurked under the Blind you can see in the background of the photo, above.

I survived the initial round of combat, as the Germans rushed in, but was soon overwhelmed by sheer numbers, and thrown backwards, effectively Shocked out of action for the rest of the game.

Meanwhile, my poor dice rolling continued with my T-26s: all three were taken out by the two surviving Panzer III Hs, with only one Panzer III H losing its main gun in exchange.

I had a moment’s consolation as my single mortar managed to land a shell in the middle of the German motorised infantry, but otherwise it was effectively game over: especially as I’d lost another anti-tank gun to some more extraordinary machine gunning from the Panzer III N.

The Germans now had five infantry squads versus my two; two operational tanks versus my single anti-tank gun; and had got their 4-dice MMGs into a position where they could start to lay down some serious fire…and they hadn’t even called in their air support yet!

Aftermath

I suppose, being Soviet at this stage of the war, I should have fought on to the last man, but the writing was well and truly on the wall, and I ordered my men to retreat.

We’d have to leave the Commissar in a ditch somewhere to avoid a visit from the NKVD, but at least we had lived to fight another day!

A disaster for the Soviets, so it’s on to scenario #2B for our next encounter.

Robert Avery