Had a good game with Wayne Baumber today with this scenario over Skype. It is an interesting infantry only game where the Germans need to kill more Soviet units before the end of the game. But this is a little deceiving as the Soviets get the setup, including entrenchments. The Germans get good OBA, but will need to watch out for the shots by the few strong Soviet units.

Wayne had a nice setup with the his Soviets well back from the German start line and in the cover of the woods. I, as the Germans, would need to advance across most of the board before they could engage the Soviets, which bought them about 4-5 turns. Once the Germans moved close enough they were able to engage his units but they put up a good fight. The Germans was able to get morale checks with some disruptions/demoralizations/kills, but the key attacks he was able to weather the fight. Eventually, the Germans was able to break the Soviet defenses in the woods, but a well done retreat kept his leaders intact.

Several INF's were able to get around the flank of the Soviet defenses and hit the onboard artillery with the overwhelming OBA. A German LT was able to capture a dugin position, but Soviet OBA put an end to his advance when he demoralized. Continuing to push the Soviet defense the attack on the first entrenchment yielded some success by kill the HMG stationed there, but this would prove to little to late for the Germans. They come up three steps losses short of a victory.

One standout in the game was the lone Soviet LT 9-0-1 that braved the whole battle trying to hold the woods defenses and then staying with demoralized troops after all the units were killed. Repeated OBA and DF attacks would not phase him and was able to make it through the battle. Most likely receiving the Hero of the Soviet Union. As for the Germans, their performance was average with many disruptions and demoralizations that slowed the advance. They most likely will need some retraining.

This scenario was played over Skype v Alan Sawyer. This battle pits a smaller entrenched Soviet force against a larger German force with better morale,leaders and off board artillery support. The German player has to eliminate 18 steps to win. The Soviets biggest ally is time. This games is only 14 turns long. As the Soviet commander I set up behind woods to the left this was to force Alan to either attack frontally or execute a flanking attack through the woods. It might also shield me from the dreaded German artillery. This set up worked well as Alan went for the flanking attack, I put a light screen of units in the woods in order to delay the Germans in an attempt to further delay the final assault. These held out well under the command of Lt901 Pavlov who weathered numerous morale checks and kept rallying units and throwing them back into the battle. However eventually the line broke and the German commander had victory in his grasp, with his artillery pounding away the attack went in. Regrettably for Alan just has he was about to deliver the "coup de grace" the game ended and he fell just 3 steps short. I have given the one a generous 4 rating, as it got quite tense towards the end and as I discussed with Alan this games is a little like those chess puzzles you get in the paper as the German player has to work out the best way to win. On the other hand once the Soviet player has done his set up he has only a few limited options, other than hold on! If this game had gone on one more turn I am sure the result would have been different and ifit had been a 16 turn game then the Germans would have won, as Alan's AAR puts it time was on my side.

The Soviets opted to entrench two hexes east of the woods and one to its west, all held with INF and HMG. The bulk of their forces were in the woods, ready to reinforce the entrenchments if the Germans hit on the flank, or to make the Germans pay for every meter of woods if they came up the center. Either way, the Soviets waited with a “come and get us” attitude.

The Germans were to clear the woods and work their way behind the entrenchments. They deployed the first wave between the town and the field, with the second wave deploying from the town. They approached before daybreak.

They hit the woods as the sky began to lighten up and found the Soviets waiting, ready for the fight. The forest sound resounded with the sounds of many bitterly contested close assaults. The mighty German OBA concentrated on the entrenchments, disrupting and demoralizing the units holding them. Combined with the loss of two leaders, the entrenched Soviets could do little to reinforce their comrades in the woods.

The Soviets in the woods fought with a magnificent tenacity, giving in close assault as good as they got. Their doggedness began to take its toll on the Germans, inflicting casualties, disruption, and demoralization on the Hitlerites. The lost German momentum due to the bolstering of morale proved a vital factor in the loss of this engagement.

In the end, the Germans had taken most of the woods. Their primary goal of inflicting tremendous casualties on the Soviets, however, eluded them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this engagement for two reasons. First of all, I left it a far more seasoned veteran of assault tactics. This is not a “wait and see” scenario for the Germans. Due to its limited number of turns, the German player must push, push, push from the first activation. Second was the way it played out for me. There was a lot of what keeps me coming back to PG in the dice rolls. At just the crucial time, the Soviets took the initiative with two activations to tighten up their line in the woods. They no longer reacted to the tactical situation, but redefined it, making the Germans lose critical time adapting to it. There were also many instances of excellent marksmanship by the Soviet units. They’d often inflict morale checks against the Germans that were way out of proportion to their firepower v targets in the woods. Add to it the high instances of failed morale checks on the German’s part and you had the Soviets leveling the field against an enemy with superior firepower, morale, and leadership.

Special commendations in this engagement goes to Soviet Captain 9-0-0, KIA scouting in front of the woods and the Soviet ATR units, fighting as infantry in repeated assaults on their position.

Author	Blackcloud6
Method	Solo
Victor	Soviet Union
Play Date	2023-05-18
Language	English
Scenario	EFDx104

This is a straightforward infantry assault against an entrenched defense line.

The Germans chose to hit the Soviet right flank, which was the weak side, west of the woods. Meanwhile they had a supporting attack move up to the east west road, with the guns under the cover on the dark early morning turns to support the attack, clear the east part of the woods and fix the Soviet east trench line.

The attack went in as planned but took a bit longer than desire to break the Soviet right. The German chased the remnants into the woods but were unable to get the final two steps killed a to get to the 18 needed to win. It went down to the final assaults which is always a good thing in a scenario.