SS Totenkopf - "Fire Brigade" (M44 Campaign)

[von Nev]

Turn 14 - It's Chaos . . .

This turn was another reality check for me the Germans. The Russian tank hordes are enormous. As you can see in the picture, up north, Russian tanks are pouring over the steppes. Within about a 5 hex radious there are over 250 tanks, probably nearer to 300!! To face such a mass of steel I have only the Tiger battalion from Totenkopf. In this picture (which is the start of the my turn) I made the decision to retreat into the woods and start a slow and torturous withdraw to the Dnepr. I returned Totenkopf's Panther battalion back to the main part of the lines as it cannot move quickly enough to get north of the woods to hold the Russian attack back altogether. Instead, they will blast the Russian troops in the center hoping to stall them long enough that they can be rushed north to hold Totenkopf's left flank should the Tiger battalion start to fail. This is rolling the dice, but I cannot leave the center without such strong AT support. Just the presence of this battalion has already stalled the Russian attack. My opponent's tanks quickly disappear when this unit is around. As you can see from the picture, Russian tanks, even the "heavies" have all but disappeared.

Infantry that is left in the open is smashed. A company of SS troops is quickly reduced to 17 men or 9%. They will quickly be pulled out. I cannot afford to lose those A morale troops.

Down south the bulk of Totenkopf blasts the Russians coming west across the river. Although it cannot be seen in the picture, nearly 250 Russians perish in the combined fire of the Panther brigade and several of the SS infantry battalions.

Behind the lines the 28th Jager continues to feverishly build another line of defense.



This second screenshot shows the extreme circumstances that the 110th Infantry finds itself under. With little AT assets they are going to be run over if my opponent strongly attacks northwest roughly along the line of the red arrow. There really is nothing that Totenkopf can do if this happens except to maybe string the whole division out trying to hold the line. If I do this Totenkopf will be smashed along with the infantry divisions. The best I can do is keep the division together as a unit and mangle what Russian forces with its massive firepower.