Moscow '42 AAR: Sukhinichi II : We Will Rescue You

[Strela]

End of German Turn 21; January 24 1400 - 1600 Visibility 5 KM (Day)

The victory points move by only 2 to 393. With no further objectives changing hands, the change in score is driven by losses; 100 men KIA for the German's and 240 for the Soviets. With only 13 points above a draw, the capture of a 10 point VP hex would turn the game.



The hapless 18th Panzer is out of command again. Consistent with the morning, both the 208th Infanterie and 18th Panzer's Artillery regiments are unavailable due to supply issues.



339th Infanterie continues to push forces northwards. The recon bicycle company moves up to ensure the highway is garrisoned. The Soviets are serious and have four Rifle Battalions converging on the German centre.



208th Infanterie sector is now looking more like a 'corral & mop up' operation. The Soviet forces are all disrupted and running out of room to retreat. The effort to take Proloskoye is abandoned and the appearance of Soviet recon cavalry prompts the Germans to redeploy to prevent isolation.



It's obvious that the Soviet pullback was just the lull before the storm. The advancing Russian cavalry squadrons are facing off against the battered Panzer Divisions units. The graphic below shows how threadbare the Panzer formations are. To the west, the Soviet recon cavalry are probing the defences while another wave of Rifle Infantry is approaching Sukhinichi from the north east. All units facing the Soviet cavalry are ordered to pull back a hex as there is little reason to defend forward and risk being charged by the cavalry.



This is the last thing the Germans needed; a full assault against the Panzer Division. The only saving grace is that there is little of value in the area and a general retreat will hopefully minimise casualties.

[Dog Soldier]

Russian Turn Twenty One
14:00 24 January 1942 Visibility 5km

Sukhinichi Front
The cavalry regiments continue to close with the retreating Germans of 18th Panzer Division. I move two rifle battalions and the engineer company of the 324th Rifle Division NE of Sukhinichi to threaten an assault next turn. Three rifle battalions of the 324th Rifle Division now menace the NW trenches of Sukhinichi manned by a unit of the German 216th ID. It is all out now. All good order units will now move forward to engage the Germans. Maybe I will get some lucky breaks.
Not all goes well. A German artillery bombardment disrupts the recon unit before they can launch their assault on the western 10 VP location village. I now can spot the artillery. I may not be able to do more than that soon.

At Proloskye the German cavalry move out of LOS into the valley to the east. I move my Rifle battalion north again to block the road. The Russian recon unit moves to the hex just south of the village. This play is over for now. I will simply rest and wait for the Germans to try something, or they may not.

In the NW I move two more rifle battalions to hold the German infantry as my single rifle battalion creeps up on the village further south. A German infantry battalion continues to assault my two rifle battalions back down the road towards Verk’ Syaglova. Nothing I can do there. I move the AA unit south to see if the German left the victory location in the woods empty. At the least I might cause one of the two German infantry units here to call off the attack to occupy the woods.


Dog Soldier

[Strela]

End of German Turn 22; January 24 1600 - 1800 Visibility 2KM (Dusk)

Losses are more slanted towards the Soviets reflecting their more aggressive stance. The Russians lose 320 men to the Germans 100. These heavier casualties impact the victory points increasing the score to 404 an improvement of 11.



As the sun sets, supply continues to be an issue. The Korp HQ as well as much of it's heavy artillery s unavailable.



339th Infanterie's defending Landser's are very strong. With the onus on the Soviets to attack the highway, it was just a matter of waiting for the Russians to trudge through the snow and mow them down. Most of the attacking Rifle battalions are disrupted. Pushing up the highway towards Verk' Syaglova is slowed by the presence of good order infantry but the flanking Soviet AA gun is ambushed and shot up.



Where's he gone??? 322nd Rifle Division exits the board. Though some may consider this a gamey tactic, Brian and I discussed this and agreed it represented the breaking off of the German pursuit. With night coming nothing more would be achieved by either side.



The situation in the north though under control is still under severe pressure. 324th Rifle Division somehow disrupts the defender in the north east corner of the town and breaks into Sukhinichi. This is all the remarkable as the defender had over 450 men and very little fatigue. Egged on by their success the Russians along the northern flank advance forward and are almost disrupted to a man. That's not before they inflict casualties on the defenders though. In front of the cavalry, the 18th Panzer units pull back another hex, trying to stay out of assault range. The challenge going forward is that they are probably at the limit of their pullback. The corridor to Sukhinichi is now perilously thin.



With this being the end of the German dusk turn, the Soviets will have to continue to push forward if they want to have a chance of winning. If the Russians are not adjacent to an enemy unit for the remaining two night turns they will have little chance of advancing while staying undisrupted due to night move disruption - which is almost guaranteed for D class morale troops. It's starting to feel like the Germans have done just enough to win...

[Dog Soldier]

Russian Turn Twenty Two
Dusk, 16:00 24 January 1942 Visibility 2km

Sukhinichi Front
As dusk settles in the 83rd Cavalry division regiments pursue the retreating 18th PD units to the west along the road. An assault by the 324th RD takes the NE part of Sukhinichi and 5 VP. The surprised Germans fall back onto their HQ for the 216 Infantry Division in the village.
I move other rifle battalions forward to pin German units in the southern and western parts of the Sukhinichi perimeter. I am only three km from closing off the village again. However, there are strong German forces in the western trenches. I will need more luck to push them out of their positions.


In the NW there is good news and bad news. The good news is my rifle battalion found the German 10 VP village only guarded by an ATG and IG unit. The rifle men take up positions in the upper village to launch an assault next turn.
The bad news is my stack at Verk’ Syaglova tried to direct fire and disrupt the German infantry bearing down on them. German defensive fire disrupted my last good order unit there. Guess I will lose those 10 VP next turn.

Across the whole battlefield, the Russians now are adjacent to 25 VP in locations. I only need 15 VP (about half that are threatened) in locations to swing this back to a draw. I should collect more German losses taking those VP locations than I lose with my cheaper troop values.
This is not over yet.


Dog Soldier

[Strela]

End of German Turn 23 January 24; 1800 - 2400 Visibility 1KM (Night)

As we enter the penultimate turn, the score continues to favour the Germans with an increase of 15 points to 419. The renewed push by the Russians comes at heavy cost with the loss of 330 men to the Germans 100. The Soviets also lose two vehicles and a gun, the Germans; 1 vehicle.



Three HQ's are out of supply. Unfortunately the 339th Infanterie and 18th Panzer are currently heavily engaged and now bereft of artillery support.



The 339th Infanterie sector has exploded into action. The push up the highway to Verk' Syaglova has been successful and the hamlet falls. The Landsers are out of ammo and out on a limb. The expectation would be to abandon this outpost once the German forces further east pull back. Its capture adds 10 VP's to the score. West of the highway, the full employment of an infantry regiment manages to isolate the two attacking Rifle battalions while pushing back the other disrupted pair. This should end the Soviet foray forward here. A crisis opens up a little further south, where masking its movement using the terrain another Rifle battalion breaks into the village astride the highway. This is critical for two reasons, firstly there are 10 VP's here defended only by light infantry howitzers and anti-tank guns. Secondly, a key supply route is cut and responsible for the large number of units out of command currently.



The 208th Infanterie sector has fallen silent and there will be no further action with the retreat of the opposing Rifle division.



The cutting of the highway in the 339th Infanterie sector has really compromised the Sukhinichi defence. The red highlighted units below are out of command, unavailable or low in supply or ammo.



The following graphic shows the increasing pressure on the German forces (red highlighted units are disrupted). The Soviets have definitely advanced and whittled down the German forces at the same time. Compare the strength of some of the defending Axis forces from this turn to the last. Most companies are twenty or less men. Another turn or two of this pressure and many of the Germans units would be hors de combat. The push by the Soviet cavalry is particularly dangerous and coupled with the rallying of a number of the Rifle battalions potentially catastrophic.



With only one turn left the end result is becoming clearer. If the game went a little longer the score could change pretty dramatically. The Soviets still have two turns in hand - what can they do?

[Dog Soldier]

Russian Turn Twenty Three
Night, 18:00 24 January 1942 Visibility 1km

Sukhinichi Front
Five Russian units rally. All rifle regiments, no cavalry.
I bombard, fire upon then link the three rifle battalions of the 324th rifle division together and rush the Germans in the center of Sukhinichi. Bloody hand to hand to hand combat in the dark ends with 61 Russians and 41 Germans dead. The German infantry hold their position while the Russians will attempt to rally and have one more go at the Germans next turn. Everywhere else Russian rifle battalions shoot it out with the Germans in the dark. I manage to disrupt the German infantry holding the last southern village outside of Sukhinichi. None of my rifle battalions that move up for next turn’s assault remain in good order. The dark and cold disrupt them all. Still I have to try. If they all rally and the German infantry do not I will have a shot to swing 10 more VP my way. All are low fatigue, so they have a good chance to rally. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I advance two units of the 83rd Cavalry and they disrupt. The AA gun is very vulnerable in travel mode. They may be safe as they are out of any German LOS. A cavalry squadron manages to get a volley off after disrupting to eliminate a single IG in the German stack before it. It was a small hope. I would have liked the cavalry to get an assault in this turn. It just did not turn out that way.

In the NW, a heavy German artillery bombardment disrupts the riflemen from launching an assault on the German ATG company. Not much of a chance, but maybe they will rally next turn. I move the rest of the 323rd to rescue the two rifle battalions surrounded in the German half of the turn or to get out of German LOS to prevent any more German direct fire attacks. The entire division is now disrupted. I think they will be safe though.

All else is quiet. My aggressive moves this turn drop the VP total gained in the German turn back by 10 victory points. David only gained 15 VP instead of 25. This will most likely end a German minor victory, though the German 18th PD will be threadbare at the end.

Dog Soldier

[Strela]

End of German Turn 24, January 25; 0000 - 0600 Visibility 1KM (Night)

The fighting continues unabated over the last turn with 200 Germans falling beside 370 Soviets. The Germans lose another artillery piece in the close quarter fighting at Sukhinichi.



With 339th Infanterie failing to clear the Soviets from the highway in their sector, both the 18th Panzer & 216th Infanterie continue to have supply difficulties. 9 artillery formations are unavailable and 18 units are low on either ammo or fuel.



There is little changed in 339th Infanterie's area. All spotted Soviet battalions are disrupted, though the supply route along the highway is still interdicted by roving Soviet infantrymen. All the critical villages and towns are secured and with no Soviets adjacent, safe from recapture.



208th Infanterie is unchanged and is now resting. The opposing rifle division has been routed from the area of operations.


Around Sukhinichi the fighting has been bitter but no ground gained or lost. Both sides have continued to take casualties but the Soviets have failed to break into the final German defensive line. Nearly every adjacent Russian formation is disrupted (all highlighted in red) and it is hoped that there will be few if any rallies and follow on assaults.


There is one more Soviet round to be played and the scenario will come to a conclusion. It looks like it will go the Axis way but it has been a hard fought battle with the possibility of changes of fortunes right to the end. An epilogue will follow the last Russian turn.

[Dog Soldier]

Russian Turn Twenty Four
Night, 00:00 25 January 1942 Visibility 1km

Sukhinichi Front
The Russian cavalry make an assault on the German PzIII unit looking to get next to the VP location and cause some VP casualties. The assault is successful in destroying two tanks, at a cost of only three men, but the unit holds it ground. No other units rally this turn that can change the outcome by launching last ditch assaults. The Russians are just out of time and out of good order units.
The lack of artillery fire means the Germans are low ammo and maybe many of the mobile units are low fuel. The Russians are just to beat up to take advantage of the German weakness.
Close, but no cigar.

In the NW, my rifle battalion fails again to rally. No final assault on the weak ATG battery in the village.

This is the end for this scenario. Only a three km corridor remains to be closed the next day to trap the Sukhinichi garrison along with some 18th PD units. The 83rd Cavalry is making steady progress. The German 208th recon unit attempts to flank the three western most cavalry units from the south. There is a reserve, well rested Russian cavalry unit in the village to the SE which could surround the recon unit in turn. The heavy losses in fatigue for the Russians mean they may not be able to press the siege for a while even if the cavalry were successful. There just is not enough places where the Russians can flip the VP locations. This scenario will end as a German minor victory.

Dog Soldier

[Strela]

End of Game; German Epilogue

The scenario finishes with the sun rising on January 25th. The fighting over the last six hours has been inconclusive for all but the 260 Soviets and 70 Germans who have fallen in the last turn. The score edges up slightly and finishes in the middle of a German minor victory. The Soviet push came just a little too late.



The below screen shot is of the finishing positions and HQ's of all formations remaining on map. It's a good comparison to the full screen shot included in the very first turn of this after action report.



The post-game view shows all units. I have tried to show you all the engaged units in each of the following screen shots so the reader can see the various force match ups. In the 339th Infanterie area it is obvious that the 323rd Rifle Division is pretty much out of action, while the German forces have if anything become stronger. There is actually sufficient Landsers to break down the big German battalions further, but this was resisted to ensure units were not picked off piecemeal but rather to try and heavily wound any Russian stacks that could be engaged.



For the 208th Infanterie Division, the standoff at Proloskoye is evident. The German's were too slow moving an Infanterie Battalion in that direction and this left the Recon cavalry unit unable to take the village. The other Infanterie battalions are showing little wear for their recent engagements. The average unit strength is 600+ men each.



With so many units around the confines of Sukhinichi it was necessary to break the action across a number of shots so all units could be identified. This is the overall battlefield around the town.



North west of the town the Russian strengths are more than a match for the opposing Germans - if only they could have more than one or two Rifle battalions undisrupted at a time. The German line is completely threadbare. Note the single mobile AA vehicle and two Pzkw-II's as well as the very persistent lack of supply due to the Soviet interdiction of the highway. There is little to stop a concerted Soviet effort.



In the Sukhinichi defences the German strength is evident. The breaking of the siege and the periods of inactivity have allowed the 216th Infanterie to rebuild some of its units. Less can be said on the flanks beyond the town. The 18th Panzer Division has been pretty much bled dry in the attempt to keep the corridor open and it would have taken little effort to isolate the town again. Maybe the Russian cavalry should have pushed to the north rather than to the west?



South of Sukhinchi, both the problem with supply and strength of the cavalry is apparent. The cavalry have continued to push back the remnants of 18th Panzer Division and have assaulted the German's wherever possible. Another two PzKw III's were lost this turn to cavalry charge. Most of the defending units are now only companies and are accumulating excessive fatigue.



The scenario has finished after 24 turns a German minor victory. Looking at the state of the Panzer units in particular, it is a pyrrhic victory at best.

The scenario has been a great example of the small unit actions that typified the desperate 1941/42 fighting on the Eastern Front. Single vehicles holding the line is not atypical.

The margin of victory is not indicative of how close the Russians were to winning. Their chances were really cruelled with excessive disruption of units and delays in recovery. The very lucky sighting of the 83rd Cavalry Divisions movement was a game changer. If not spotted there was a very good chance that the bulk of 18th Panzer Division would have been isolated on the hill - in deep snow and with supply threatened if not cut. In another play through we have seen the cavalry achieve surprise with dire results for the German’s.
In real life the German’s abandoned Sukhinichi on the morning of the 25th due to the same challenges now being faced by 18th Panzer. The rescuers were in danger of needing their own rescue and a retreat was ordered despite Hitler’s entreaty to stay put. This scenario has followed history nicely with the strong push by the fresh German regiments the only significant difference.

[Dog Soldier]

Epilogue

This game was going well enough for the Russians even though the 83rd Cavalry had some bad luck. Being spotted early (dusk of the first day) tipped my hand allowing some small German units to move down the road over night and at dawn to slow the cavalry and recall the 18th Panzer Division infantry back to the main road leading into Sukhinichi. German artillery disrupting the cavalry squadrons the second day and the cavalry’s slow recovery from that disruption nearly caused a disaster. These two events eventually lost the game. The Russians never got as good a jump on the 18th Panzer Division that I was seeking along with isolating the Sukhinich garrison. It was close for a long while in terms of victory points, but I was eventually unable to achieve what I had hoped against a good player like Strela. He recovered nicely, then pushed his advantage against my other infantry divisions with the strong German infantry recently brought from France.

The Russian cavalry are key to a Russian win. Keeping the Germans guessing where the cavalry will strike can spread out the Germans, or pin their units from strong offensive actions. The Russian player must balance this effect with the need to give the cavalry time to achieve something in victory point terms.
Keep the cavalry concentrated, scout ahead with the light tanks, then hit the Germans hard where they are vulnerable and grab some victory point locations.

The same can be said for the Russian infantry divisions. Although far less mobile than the cavalry, coordinating their attacks with the cavalry’s main move can place a strain on the German forces where the Germans cannot react to everything with sufficient forces.

Strela played for time around Sukhinichi. I could not force him give up any victory point locations around the village to maintain the integrity of his forces. The Russians had to take them from him.
The 18th Panzer Division’s attack up the hill was expected in my plans. Unfortunately the 328th Rifle Division was not up to the task of a fighting withdrawal and maintaining good order to counter attack in support of the 83rd Cavalry Division’s move along the main road behind the bulk of the 18th Panzer Division. Had the 328th been able to keep their troops from disruption, a strong counter attack by them would have prevented the 18th Panzer from redeploying enough forces to disrupt the cavalry, forcing the cavalry to retreat and regroup as they did in this game.
The German artillery should share credit in breaking up some of the Russian moves and suppressing Russian units for rallying in greater numbers.

It was a close thing for a while there. Just not enough good order Russian troops could be brought to bear on the Germans to overwhelm a point in their line, precipitating a disaster for the Germans.

Dog Soldier