Dog Fight - Ostkreig Tournament Round 1

[von Nev]

Here is the German turn 5.

At the start of the turn I made a mental note that the units in the city are from the 172nd Rifle Division and down south they are from the 187th Rifle Division. This is good news as two very strong German divisions should be able to deal with two rifle divisions. The challenge will be how deeply are the Russian defenses? I am sure I will find out.

Up north the 10th PzD split its Panzer III battalion into companies in order to assault the disrupted Russian units to the east of where I am trying to push through. If at all possible by the end of the turn I want to get the Russians far enough away that they cannot see my engineers as they clear the rest of the minefields at the start of next turn. Once the minefields are clear I have a whole division's worth of mobile German infantry that can rapidly assault through the whole town. With the close proximity of the town to the cross point I should be able to assault in travel mode and have enough points to get deep into the Russian rear areas in one turn. Hopefully with this rapid assualt I can pin Russian units either east of the town or in the town proper. In order for this to happen I must focus on getting to the bridges to prevent the Russians from escaping.

Once the battalion split I used one company to capture the critical bunker to the east and a second to assault the now disrupted (thanks to a stuka strike and a whole lot of arty) trench just to the west. Both assaults were successful. Luckily the Russians to the west both retreated to the same hex and opened a door to move through the forest to the edge. Unfortunately I ran into a Russian mobile infantry unit in the clear. He will be in trouble next turn if he stays there. I also saw the heavy Russian arty battery still in place in central Mogilev. This may present an opportunity next turn as if I can disrupt it quickly (and it is not reinforced) that I will easily capture the hex and eliminate an arty unit for good and take a jumping off point to assault the bridge hexes.

I rush several engineers into the mines to ensure by next turn I can push the whole division through a cleared lane. I am pretty pleased that by the end of the turn the 10th PzD is firmly in control of the entire forest area to the south, east and west of the minefield breach site.

Down south the 10th Motortized has had still not built a bridge on turn 5 despite the fact that two bridging units were trying at the end of turn 4. I can't blame the engineers I suppose as they are trying to build under direct fire from two battalions of Russians and being clobbered by arty. That said, not all was lost as I pummelled the now three Russian units that are at or near my crossing point.

The yellow arrows are a rough estimate of the route that I will take to once the 10th Motorized builds a bridge. Luckily the 10th Motorized is stacked right next to the bridge so I will have a lot of units to assault to clear the Russians from the bridgehead. I am a little concerned that the Russians can defend in the marsh and swamp areas, but I will put my motorized infantry in "on foot" mode to get them through. Plus, I have a couple motorcycle infantry that can enter marshes even in travel mode. Needless to say I will have options. I just need to get across the darn river!