Dog Fight - Ostkreig Tournament Round 2

[Dog Soldier]

Forces
The Germans
7th LW Field Division
Assets – Numbers. This unit constitutes about half the Axis forces. I will need their ZOC’s more than the units themselves. The infantry have an AT capability as they are jaegers (HA = 4/1). They will be able to repel Soviet tanks if the T-34’s are used piecemeal.
Liabilities – D morale level. The division is very brittle and will not survive heavy fighting for long.
Friends – Other German infantry with higher morale to stiffen this unit.
Enemies – Everything Russian. Especially T-34’s.

336th ID
Assets – B morale, HA (hard attack) values.
Liabilities – This division is spread very thin and will not be able to concentrate. It’s best use will be to corset the weaker LW infantry. This unit will also be involved in the Sulatsky bridgehead and the south east along facing the 3rd Guards Cavalry.
Friends – 11th PD tanks.
Enemies – Russian artillery. Massed waves of Soviet infantry to overwhelm these units.

11th PD
Assets – A morale, strong panzer units, PzGr infantry which can take on and beat any Russian units.
Liability – This unit is the fire brigade to “plug the dike”. It will be needed everywhere. It can only be best used when it stays concentrated. Thus covering the flanks of this unit will be hard as the Axis is so short in the number of units in this scenario compared to the Russians.
Friends – Other infantry to cover the flanks
Enemies – Russian artillery. I do not consider the T-34’s in this scenario a true enemy of this unit. The 11th PD can defeat the Russian tanks in detail. Do not let the Russian 1st Tank Corps and 5th Mech. Corps to link up!

The Russians
Mobile units
Elements of 1st Tank Corps and 5th Mech. Corps
Assets – T-34’s There are five under strength T-34 Rgts in 5th Mech Corps alone! These still total 125 tanks with a base morale of C. This is the best Russian tank seen in PzC up until this point in the war. The T-34 units have two big advantages.
• Speed – Even in snow conditions these units can threaten large areas of the Axis lines. When used to assault a disrupted Axis position, the T-34c Rgts can still move after the attack a few hexes. If the Germans do not defend in depth, these Soviet tanks will break out and clean your Axis clock!
• Assault value – Most players try to take on the German panzers head to head in shoot outs. The T-34c’s are not best used this way. Assault is the best attack because it is 40% more powerful than direct fire against hard targets like German panzers. (assault value = 14, HA =10/1). Against Axis infantry the assault of 100+ T-34’s is just murder, not combat. Watch this AAR for how RickyB uses his T-34’s. I expect Russian artillery and infantry to fire on the Axis target hex, disrupting the defenders. Then the T-34’s will move up and assault once or split into groups of 50+ and assault twice. Like dynamite, they will blast a hole in a cracked German line.
Friends – Soviet infantry and artillery. Infantry to secure the flanks and mop up as the mechanized forces roll forward. Artillery to crack the Axis defenses.
Enemies – Axis AT guns (75mm and 88mm). 11thPD tanks. German tanks are better quality here. The Russians have to overwhelm them.


Russian infantry – 321st 115th and 333rd Rifle divisions.
Assets – C morale (321st and 115th ID; 333rd RD is D morale). The Russian infantry is good enough to go toe to toe with the German infantry in this scenario. They will rally several times before breaking if handled well and in mass. The 333rd RD is the exception. These guys are just fodder to add to the quality of the 1st Tank Corps defending the Sulatskiy bridgehead.
Liability – Speed. These infantry units are going to have clay feet in all that snow. German units will be able to avoid them for a good part of the scenario, thus negating their numerical superiority and massed fire power.
Friends – Entrenchments and villages on defense. Numbers. There are a lot of Red infantry units. Rotating them on the front of any German attack will be the key to wearing down the less numerous though better quality German infantry. Any cover to reduce the Axis PzGr direct fire will help.
Enemies – German assaults. Once the Axis fatigue and disrupt the Russian infantry, they fall to D or E morale. A concentrated assault at that time will sweep them away.

3rd Guards Cavalry Corps
Assets – Assault value. With a 16 assault value the assaults by the cavalry will be devastating. Thus the Germans must disrupt these units all the time to prevent them combining for a knock out punch on the Axis rear.
Liabilities – Few units. There are only eight regiment sized units in the whole corps. The Germans will need to keep most of these (five or more) out of the line by keeping the Soviet bridgehead small or disrupted so there are traffic jams limiting the number of Soviet cavalry units facing any German defender. If the cavalry do break out, only a strong response form the 11th PD will stop them.
Friends – The small flak units of 3rd Gds Cavalry. These units are speedy “door stops” that can hold a wedge for a turn in a cracked Axis line.
Enemies - PzGr infantry of 11th PD and Axis artillery. The large size but low SA (soft attack) values of the Soviet cavalry means they can not stand up well in a fire fight with equal numbers of German infantry. Artillery will hurt their massed ranks as these are the largest single units in the scenario (425 men) on the Soviet side.

Dog Soldier