Ness (Ian's wife) was charged with loading up the Sky HD system at their house (as she is much more technically proficient than Ian - who probably would have blacked out half of North Wales and brought down the Sky satellite had he tried). They have one of those huge projector / screen combos and in HD the little we saw of the wedding looked very good and I'm sure everyone had a nice day - but Mother Russia called and we were soon upstairs checking out the scenery.
We fought the first battle in 'Where the Iron Crosses Grow' - the Eastern Front supplement to Spearhead. And what a cracking scenario it is. Counterattack on the Dvina it is called - a Russian tank brigade (the 3rd Heavy) supported by the 144th Rifle Regiment (to which was attached the 287th Artilley Battery). We had the choice to have the artillery on or off table - I had them on and just as well....
Against them were the SS Totenkopf Motorised Infantry Division supported by the SS Auflarungs Abteilung Recon Battalion and the 1st Battallion SS Artillerie Regiment with their 105mm guns (off table). Also due to show themselves were the 8th Panzer Division (Regiment 10, 1st Abteilung) armed with Pz38t and Pz IV's and a hefty force of infantry in the form of Shutzen Regiment 28 (1st Battalion) who brought with them a Pzjgr 1b and a Stug IIId! Holey Moley!
Set Up
Ian had set up a cracking table - with a very useful feature (and one which again highlights how the 6mm scale allows greater scope and flexibility).
As seen in the picture below, the edge of the table does not reflect an unrealistic 'edge of the world' - instead the sticky tape denotes the edge of the playing area but allows troops to move off and come back. This also meant that the playing area was not cluttered with paper, dice and other paraphenalia but just troops and scenery.
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| The bit of tape denotes the edge of the gaming area - but not of the terrain. Troops can skirt around and come back, making the scenery much more realistic. |
Victory conditions were for the Russians to lose no more than they 'killed'. The Germans had to kill twice what they lost. In addition, having troops on terrain features would add to the casualty count
Hills 101, 305 were worth 1 point, Hill 304 1.5 points and Hills 301, 302 amd 303 worth 2 points per occupying platoon.
Hills 501, 803 were worth 2 points and Hill 802 were worth 1 point.
Game to last 15 turns.
So there was as much emphasis on taking territory as killing the opposition.
The Plans
The Russians have a major problem - they can only change orders by throwing a 6 on a d6 each turn. They also have variable morale (Green, Regular or Veteran) which is only discovered when they come under attack.
So they are the equivalent of a wind-up toy - turn the key and let them go! You need a definite plan for the Russians and the use of timed orders is important (i.e. "Go here - then on Turn x attack there").
My plan was to hold three hills in the rear (802, 803 and 501) - the German 'scoring' hills - with part of the 144th Rifles and the 287th Artillery. The HQ would take another part of the 144th and aim to take Hill 101 (a scoring hill) then (once the tanks are moving on) to take Hills 301 and 302 (worth more points) with the 3rd Heavy Tank rolling over Hill 503 before cutting in to take Hill 101 as well then - on Turn 8 moving on to take Hills 301 and 302. So timed orders may (or may not help). The final battalion of the 144th were in reserve in the woods close to Hill 801. There orders were to stay where they were as a reserve then to rush out (on Turn 7) to take Hills 305 and 304 - scoring hills.
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| Hill 803 at the bottom of the picture, with Hill 802 in the middle. The wood to the right of 802 hides part of the 144th. Just above the wood is Hill 101. To the left you can see hills 304 and 305 (part of the 144th objectives). In the far distance are the final objectives of Hills 301, 302 and 303. |
The Battle Begins
Mark started the ball rolling (Germans get +2 on Initiative in Spearhead) by sending his recon elements forward to hills 801 and 503 to find my troops. He got a shock as he saw the entire 3rd Heavy Tank heading their way.
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| German recon goes looking for Russians.... |
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| ...and finds a wave of Russian armour heading right for them! |
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| A red tide heads for Hill 101 |
As the 3rd Tank trundled over the countryside, the 8th Panzer turned up on my left flank - lining up (with their attached infantry) by Hill 804 and all over Hill 805 - directly threatening the 'scoring' hills of 802 and 803! As the Russian armour was elsewhere, the infantry and artillery would have to fight this force alone.
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| 8th Panzer and Shutzen Regiment 28 show up on my flank. Pity the Russians on the hills! |
The Russians loaded up and let fly, killing a Pz38t. Revenge for the anti-tank battery!
Meanwhile, the Germans on Hill 101 see the red tide heading their way and open up - killing a BA10 and T-28 in the process. The Germans take a hefty lead.
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| Germans on Hill 101 get some good shooting in. |
We used the 'smoking tanks' markers for the first time (you can see them in the picture above). We decided that these did not get in the way of other units but were useful for marking where vehicles were killed and added to the look of the battlefield. As more were added to the battle, it really did work well (look out for more in the following photos).
The Battles for Hill 101 and Hill 803
Clearly the Germans had considerable force on Hill 101. I slowed my tanks to half speed to get close and open up with their guns while the 144th and HQ continued their advance and came into the open to flank the hill.
I'd kept soem recon on the right of the tanks - and they spotted the German recon force of SS Auflarungs mooching around their right flank.
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| German recon spotted on the right flank! |
In addition, another unit of infantry popped out of a field by Hill 101 to protect the flank of troops on the hill. The Germans opened up with everything and started killing Russian tanks (and taking a big lead). Mark started rolling 6's for hits (kills) and throughout the battle seemed to roll a 6 for every shot! It was like playing Russ all over again!
In contrast, I appeared to be able to throw nothing above 2 on a d6 (including missing with 6 tanks!). So the Germans were sitting pretty and I was losing tanks and troops by the bucket load.
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| Germans get some good shooting (a string of 6's from Mark) to smash my tanks. |
The only good thing from my point of view was that in rolling for the morale of my three groups, I'd rolled three 6's! All units were Veterans (Ian - who was umpiring - found it hard to keep the smile off his face). Mark didn't know it but by facing three Veteran units he would have to kill pretty much everything on the table to win!
The Russians pressed on regardless - despite indirect artillery killing some of my infantry. We responded by knocking out the ATG on Hill 101 with our mortar and indirect fire from our own ATG! The tanks would be a little safer now.
On Hill 803, the Russian artillery opened up and killed two more Pz38t's. We were starting to redress the balance. Which was just as well as Mark threw two more 6's for kills on my infantry by Hill 101. In return, my dice continued to be crap - all infantry shots missed. I really must find some dice that work!
But at least my tanks were behaving and devastating fire swept 4 German platoons from Hill 101!
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| The Germans are swept from Hill 101. |
Lunch Break
We then broke for lunch and drinks. We asked Ness for an update on the nuptials. It was all done by the time we'd got downstairs. There was a big box of Kleenex next to Ness who was dabbing her eyes - hayfever can be a real pain! I took the opportunity to replace Ian's outside tap while the sausage rolls were bing prepared - 60 seconds later saw the new tap in place. We plumbers don't mess around, unlike those despicable sparks who spend 4 hours rewiring a plug.
We also found out about the incredibly romantic proposal and wedding Ian had arranged for Ness - all I can say is that William and Kate's came a very poor second!
Then it was back to 'blood and iron'.
Back to the scrap!
The next turn made it more difficult for me as Mark threw another load of 6's for kills and suppressions! With my poor dice it felt like fighting with one arm tied behind my back! There is a frustration like no other when your opponent throws well and you don't. I was missing and he was killing - so dice after dice was thrown back in the box in frustration.
Even worse, I also failed to recover 3 from 4 suppressions. In response to Mark's string of 6's, I seemed unable to throw anything higher than a 4!
By Hill 803 at least the guns were doing something as more Pz38t's succumbed and Mark decided to withdraw them before they fell to half strength.
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| Panzers shot up - including their recon tank. Mark decides to withdraw before they lose the lot! |
On the right flank, a BA-10 took on the Recon unit single handed. He managed to shoot up a half-track then a supporting BA-10 attacked a motorbike unit in the rear - and lost the melee despite having a +2 on the roll! Another dice was tossed back into the box in disgust!
The Germans fell back from Hill 101 in a break off (meaning they had to move back for two full turns) - taking them to around Hills 301 and 302. As they had nothing left to fight the tanks with and I ran forward to take it. The first objective was in our hands.
But as one unit German unit fell back, another charged Hill 803 (luckily without the withdrawing tanks). My cannon accounted for one of the charging units but I also missed a few. As I said at the time "If I could throw dice, I'd be dangerous!"
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| The fighting around Hill 803. German tanks burn and casualties are inflicted on both sides' infantry. |
The BA-10 on the right flank was doing stirling work and polished off another recon unit while their comrades by Hill 101 took the hill. Their timed orders now kicked in and the tanks rolled on to the next objective. In addition, I had managed to change the orders for the reserve infantry of the 144th and moved them to hold Hill 501 as the remainder of the 144th popped up on Hills 802 and 803. As these (as Mark now suspected) were Veterans he would find it hard to winkle them out.
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| Hill 101 is captured after heavy losses on both sides. |
By taking the Hill, they could now spot other German units ensconsed around hills 301 and 302 - not just the break off units but also the German infantry reserve. These had a problem. They were in trucks with no armour and virtually no anti-tank support - and there was still sufficient Russian armour to massacre them if they stood and fought.
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| One of the German reserve forces is spotted by Hill 302. Trucks in the open! |
Then Mark unleashed his next suprise. Another battallion of German infantry appeared by Hill 305 - heading directly for the relatively undefended Hill 802! And the panzers returned next to them - deciding whether to attack the Russian armour or to support the charge on 802.
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| German infantry arrive from nowhere and head for Hill 802. |
I had to follow my orders so the Russian armour rolled on towards Hill 301 (killing Germans as they went). I left a couple of infantry on 101 and moved the rest up to assault 301.
By Hill 803, the fighting got close and vicious. The Germans pounded in and casualties were heavy on both sides. But the big guns on the hill proved lethal and more and more Germans fell to artillery fired over open sights.
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| Hill 803 - absolute carnage! |
In a small side action, the German recon unit was sent packing by a couple of BA10's. But true to form I managed to lose another by charging a unit in the rear at +2 and losing. FFS!
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| The recon unit is sent packing - but manages to kill a BA10 that attackes them in the rear. I REALLY must find better dice. |
I therefore moved units off Hill 802 to support the troops on Hill 803 - caching Regiment 38 in the flank. Just one unit of infantry and an ATG was left to defend Hill 802.
All this had not stopped Mark rolling 6's for kills - he continued to inflict severe casualties on me. Totting it up, he must have got close to 12 x 6's in shooting!
In return, I rolled a whopping 5 1's in my shooting phase. More dice were sent into the bin of history.
As the Germans swarmed towards 802, I decided to withdraw the remaining infantry and ATG platoon off Hill 802 (as they would get swamped anyway) and joined the battle around 803 instead - a battle that was reaching its crisis.
Mark threw everything in - including charging his Pzjgr into my artillery on the hill, which I countercharged with the HQ unit. If the Germans could take the two hills and kill off my infantry there, they could sneak a victory. His retreating recon unit and his remaining Panzers could also charge the two platoons holding 101 - stopping me scoring and potentially hitting my armour in the flank.
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| General view of the battlefield. The smoking tanks look really good! |
By the 300 hills, with one battalion of Totenkopf routing, the other decided discretion was MUCH greater than valour (so much for Hitler's best!) and as one ran for the trees to escape the Russian armour - leaving just an artillery spotter to bring fire down on anything he could see.
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| The Germans run for the forest - cowards! |
But Hill 803 was proving to be the key point of the battle. The Germans - being hit on all sides had (despite my awful dice throwing and Mark's 'only 6's' dice) were crumbling. The Russian artillery were key - blowing chunks out of the oncoming Germans. But I lost one to the Pzjgr! Luckily the HQ unit trounced the armour with a Molotov Cocktail and the Germans lost another unit.
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| The Germans swarm over the undefended Hill 802 as the remaining units are pulled in to defend 803. The original attacking German force is looking a bit sick. |
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| Mark, staring defeat in the face, debates a point with Ian. He lost the debate. And the battle. Heh heh heh! |
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| The battlefield. Smoking tanks show where the main encounters took place. The battle for 803 still rages as the Russian armour engulfs the German positions by 301 and 302. |
Then events took a dramatic swing. The Germans attacking 803 were reduced again as the flank attacks proved decisive. The Germans routed (another 20 units off the table!) - meaning they now had to kill 80+ Russian platoons. The high scoring hills were being denied to the Germans, while the key Russian objectives were undefended and had Russian armour all over them. As a consequence Mark had to somehow take out all my tanks with one ATG and 5 Panzers - as well as eliminate one damaged battallion in a defended position (with 3 guns in support and another untouched infantry battallion in reserve itching to kill more of the hate invader).
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| Hill 803 - scene of vicious fighting - is retained by the brave Russian defenders. Another German battalion is routed. |
Given the time and the situation, Mark bowed to the inevitable and chucked in the towel. Afamous Soviet victory!
Aftermath
After the battle was a discussion about what we both could / should have done. Ian's view was that Mark had become fixated on taking Hill 803 and hadn't used the flexibility that the Germans offer (Germans can change their orders on anything but a 1 - Russians need a 6 to change orders). His armour had been punished heavily (losing 5 tanks) without really getting into any kind of scrap and his troops had attacked piecemeal rather (as my Russians had) attacked in overwhelming force. Certainly if - by finding my troops - he'd withdrawn, regrouped and attacked using a greater force he would have overwhelmed Hill 803 - although it would have been bloody having to come back in and face the artillery again.
As it was - and luckily for me - Mark was fighting with only half his force until the very end (and some of them were trapped in a wood and so neutralised). To be fair to Mark though, seeing that huge force chugging towards hill 101 forced him to keep something in reserve in case (as was proved) the battalion holding the hill was knocked back.
His off-field artillery was devastating (especially throwing 6's all the time) and it made getting his recon units to run to be the most important task in most situations.
Having the tanks and infantry attack at the same time (combined arms) was most effective - just difficult to achieve with the Russians. Had Mark punched through with his Panzers and infantry, its clear that I would have struggled to hold on. But when the panzers withdrew I knew I had a chance - and so it proved.
Ian said winning with the Russians is doubly satisfying given the obstacles they face - and he's right. There is little flexibilty there and so you have to plan well and hope the plan is a good one.
Luck was there on both sides - Mark throwing 6's to my 1's was countered by me throwing three 6's for morale and getting Veteran troops.
Another great day - thanks to Ian and Ness for putting it all on and looking after us and Mark for a great battle!