All,
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 (https://soundofficerscall.blogspot.com/2019/10/firestorm-ponyri-station-campaign-first.html), 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 comradery, 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.
Scheme of maneuver:
German – The Germans have infiltrated the bulk of their Schwere Company into the Scwartzwald (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 Stugs and Landser push forward under fire.
German infantry push towards the objective, Strongpoint Anna.
But they're taking flanking fire from Strongpoint Irina.
A certain Soviet Lieutenant was the bane of the Germans' existence at Strongpoint Ilsa.
The Soviet reserves arrive! Would they be enough? To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
linkMan, 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!
V/R,
Jack
