Tips from the Frontline

[RNL Tiger]

Attack failed miserably

• Sniper will hopefully knockout the 20mm flak
The 20mm remained hidden and so the sniper did not get his chance to kill the crew.

• 82mm mortar has been peppering the trees just behind the flag for a couple of turns for the same reason and will now start to fire into the area of the panzers [I don’t know how effective that will be but I will find out soon]. The purpose is to provide a distraction for my lone tank on the right…

This did not seem to have any impact and so I will not bother trying to distract medium/heavy tanks with 82mm mortar again. I guess that tactic would be much more successful against light vehicles.

• T34 will come in from the right flank and will hopefully engage the five panzers one at a time rather than two or three together. It is a risky approach but my infantry are also depending on it…

My T34 hunts forward and rather than engaging just one or two seems to have stirred up the whole hornet’s nest of centre panzers and the smaller group behind them too. The T34 bravely tries to attack and fires a couple of shots that only hit the dirt but it is not long before the tank is knocked out. “Yes the T-34 fired twice so he certainly had his chance, but the odds (6 panzers and a Hetzer, were against him) So it now looks like your Stalins must take centre stage and win it for you”



You can also see the squad darting across the open space to the flag.

• SU-76M has been bombarding the outside flag for the last couple of turns to soften up the defense

I thought the SU would continue to bombard the defense and I had shifted its fire to what I thought would be the location of supporting Axis infantry waiting in ambush in the second set of scattered trees. However, for some reason the SU stopped firing and I am speculating when I say that I think it was because I targeted the spotted marker rather than ground near it. That little mistake would cost my squad their lives…

• 2 platoons will attack the outside flag, 1 squad will go across the open ground and be relying on the T34 and mortar to provide enough distraction for the panzers to not be cut down by their machine guns. The other squads will be ready to fire into the area of the flag and kill any defenders clustered around the flag

The attack progresses and an Axis squad runs away in the face of superior firepower but the Axis infantry on the far right in ambush were not suppressed as they should have been by the SU-76M and eliminate the advance squad. The tanks having eliminated the T34 are starting to turn their attention to supporting their infantry and laying down suppressing fire:



Clearly there is too much open ground for the infantry to cross when 5 panzers are guarding it. This really leaves the flag occupied by the Axis forces and whilst the Axis infantry has been bloodied they will rally soon and return to the flag. The SU-76M is running low on ammunition; it cannot forced out the Axis infantry alone and it has no hope against the panzers. T34 will no longer influence the course of events so it is now down to the last two Stalin tanks for the Allies to have any hope of turning the tide.

• Stalin tanks will rush back to the village and hopefully do better at the shorter ranges. Of course they will be more vulnerable too but that is an acceptable risk

I had looked at the map and decided that the Stalin would not get LOS from this position as the LOS went through the thickest part of the woods. However, I clearly misjudged the depth of cover and both Stalin tanks get LOS to the panzers. Unfortunately this is a missed opportunity and the few shots they take are harmless [as usual]. It would have helped the tanks if I had interspersed a hunt command with their movement orders but I didn’t and so a golden chanced to hit the panzers in the side passes by:



The Stalin tanks proceed into the village, where defensive smoke has been laid down. As the Stalin emerges through the smoke, with the second one close behind, it is engaged and knocked out at just over 200m by a Panzer IVH:



The second Stalin arrives on the scene. The Panzer IVH fires first but the shell ricochets harmlessly and in return the Stalin delivers swift retribution in the form of a knockout blow at the front turret’s weak point:



The Allied attack has reached its zenith and is now petering out. The Allied success was in displacing the infantry around the outside flag but that success cannot be exploited due to the panzers in over-watch. The T34 made a brave attempt but succumbed to the overwhelming odds. The Stalin tanks have had to come in close and one was knocked out before it could even fire a round. The second Stalin knocked out the offending Panzer IVH but is now against 7 Panzer IVHs and 1 Hetzer; not even the most optimistic person can believe that the Stalin has a chance. However, it is worse than that as the last Stalin doesn’t even put up a fight and dies ignominiously in retreat.



“Your last Stalin was hopeless, he just had clear shots at my tanks but never fired and actually retreated! I rarely buy Stals for 3 reasons - firstly they're expensive, secondly they're slow and lumbering with long reload times and slow turret-traverse, and thirdly cheaper faster T-34/85's pack almost as big a punch.”

The battle has been decided; the question remaining now is how big the defeat will be… First of all the Axis forces need to consolidate the flags again [Unknown and Allied] and possibly destroy a few more Allied forces before bringing things to an end.



So now the Allies are in retreat to save their lives and concede probably a major defeat.