Really Rumbling on the Mius

[Dog Soldier]

Turn 7

A “?” in the main road in the north shows additional German reserves are moving toward hill 164. The artillery is becoming a bit more dispersed than I would like. This is due to some artillery units being at the end of their range and a lack of spotters for any one single hex. Rather than split up my divisions to allow for more artillery fire (spotters of different organizations) on a single hex. I tend to try to keep the divisions together. The benefits of being close to the HQ and other friendly units of the same division outweigh the temporary benefits of being able to bring several long range artillery units to bear on a single hex or two from different divisions. The battlefield is closely packed anyway. With the steep hillside to climb up from the Mius River to the VP locations, LOS from any one hex can be quite limited.
Moving the artillery units forward is out of the question. The low set up value in M43 for the Russian artillery and high movement costs means it could take a minimum of four turns to move the artillery enough hexes forward to be able to reach German units moving up. In reality, the low set up percentage models well the Russians historical lack of mobile artillery to keep up with an advance.

The KV tanks have reached the top of the ridge just southeast of the 150 VP location on hill 164. During the German turn I will be able to see if any significant enemy forces are on the other side.

Successful assaults brought the Red Army closer to the 100 VP location at Gustafel’d. Repeated artillery barrages, direct fire from the T-70 tanks, and an assault by the T-34s accompanied by MI of the 33rd Guards failed to drive off the Regimental HQ of the 336th ID north of Gustafel’d. Having concentrated the 33rd Guards tank battalion in one hex should give me the power to get to the village for a last turn assault or to stop any German counter attack from the northwest. I was even able to get a stack from the 320th RD adjacent to that crucial village. With two turns left I am more confident now that Gustsafel’d will fall if the AI German player cannot reinforce the village soon.

Hill 164 is the toughest nut to still to be cracked. German defenses on the eastern slopes are still holding out. To the SE I was able to disrupt the German 294th ID unit. The smaller 336th ID unit refused to cave under pressure.

Dog Soldier