1201_01a Close Call at Kubinka HTH

[Plain Ian]

Russian Turn 15



Sorry no excitement here again. Just some artillery against some of his leading units and the 2/787th fired at the Pioneers at Naro-Fominsk. 

The 2/1st Gds at Naro could have fired but they are sitting at fatigue 93. I did not want to fire and end up taking losses which moved it into yellow fatigue (100+) which would drop its Morale to C. Not that this makes much difference at this stage. 

I also wanted to reduce the chance of Ammo low by not firing. This is a bit of a lottery as I think the test or roll for this done if the unit has fired at any time over both halfs of the turn (Russian/German) so defensive fire will also trigger checks even if you do not fire in your turn. I do not think the 2/1st fired during his turn?

The 4th Sappers survived two assault this turn? The effects of storm, plus losses (his Bn's must be 200+ by now) plus heavy fatigue must have caused this. Possibly if he had used both at the same time it might have worked.

Eldar mentioned this in his email that direct fire is still giving good results which is true. I'm a bit puzzled since the Storm also effect his attack values? However he cannot gain ground unless he assaults.

[Plain Ian]

German Turn 16 - Night

Night falls but the firing continues. Two German units appear to have rallied, including one that was disrupted in last turns assaults. 

I've stopped separating artillery and direct losses on the map and will just show hexes which received artillery and total losses. I won't show enemy counter battery fire either.



3 front line Russian units were disrupted this turn and none recovered or rallied. The 2/25th managed to repair a T-60 and now have 28. (2 short of full complement) The 1/22nd and 1/25th are down to 19/20 tanks each and the 2/22nd has 24. The 33rd Tank Bde (off map) is still in reserve and has 59 runners. (1 lost to breakdown when it moved)

Russian armour lost 5 tanks this turn all BT-5's. These have a lower defense strength (4) than the T-60 (8) so are easy targets. The 1/25th lost its tanks to artillery fire and actually disrupted with the first barrage. The 1/22nd lost its tanks in a duel with the Pz 38's of 19th Panzer. They score nothing in return......

Losses to Russian infantry were quite heavy and return fire pretty desultory due to Disruption and high fatigue. Amazingly the 1/113th of 32nd Rifle Division remained un disrupted and is the only non disrupted infantry unit in the front line.



Not much action at Naro. The 2/1st Gds have gone yellow fatigue but this area is really a side show now.

Eldar hasn't advanced and we have 3 turns left after this one.

[Plain Ian]

Russian Turn 16



Well I'll just play the game out and keep my moves to the minimum. 

I should step back with my Disrupted infantry and force Eldar to waste a turn moving up. I don't think he can move a woods hex and still have MP's to assault. I'm not even sure he can even fire after moving one woods hex?

I could also move the 25th Mot Rifle Bn into the 100 VP town to reinforce my Disrupted armoured group. But I'll leave the unit where it is. Eldar is gaining about 30 VP per turn by just firing at the moment. If he assaults the town and wins I might be able to use the 25th to assault and take back the town. I've brought down the 1/33rd as well.

Another turn of firing coming up? Possibly an asault against the 2/774th and 3/774th?

[Plain Ian]

German Turn 17



Eldars turn came bouncing back pretty quick. I guess he was pretty happy with the results. <G> 3 crunching assaults, one of which took the 100 VP hex north of Sememychi. The Germans shot even better than last turn???? Russian losses were pretty heavy and his VP tally now stands at 284. He needs 267 116 more for a Draw. 

I'll update this post with comments tomorrow night and post the action at Naro as well.

Added 26/10/2017


7th German Division continues its side show. The 1/113th is facing 4 German Bn’s and loses 38 men. It disrupts this turn but somehow rallies. The unit will Break next turn as will the 1/322nd which has fatigue 292. The whole group must withdraw.

The only reserve the 32nd Rifle has is the 3/322nd which has recovered to fatigue 95, but it is still disrupted.

The 2/113th is down to 167 men and is also at Maximum fatigue. They too will have to pull back and leave the defense to the tanks of 22nd Bde. The 1/22nd Bn was again out shot by 19th Panzer and lost 1 tank. 

The big news was that the 100 VP hex was taken by a 4 Battalion assault from the 292nd Division. The 467th Sappers bore most of the losses but the 1/25th lost 2 more tanks in the fruitless defense. 
The 25th Motor Rifle Bn will not be trying to assault the town and take it back. Yes it should have moved into the town last turn but never mind. The 1/33rd Tank Bn would not be able to help it any way as he has moved up another infantry Bn to block this. The 1/33rd will probably go to relieve the battered 22nd Motor Rifle Bn.

Assault in PzC is interesting. To win a hex you have to disrupt the defender and not be disrupted in the attack. So last turn he lost 2 assaults when assaulting with individual units as they disrupted. However if you assault with more than one unit AND some of your attacking units do not disrupt then ALL of the attacking units get to advance? Even the disrupted one advances?
You would think game engine would prevent the disrupted units advancing. 
However I can understand the game logic as the unit disrupting probably takes the most casualties and is the lead attacking unit which helps carries the rest of the attackers into the hex?

Anyway on to the 258th German Division front. There were two assaults. The 4th Sappers were finally thrown back, and the 774th group were also assaulted with the 2/774th suffering pretty badly in the assault. (now Max Fatigued)

The 1/774th which was in reserve lost 32 men and the 222nd HQ lost 12 men in subsequent attacks. These two units will form the last stand for this VP hex, which is worth 75 points. The 33rd Motorised Bn was ready to move down to help but it has gone LOW FUEL so will be delayed!!

The 689th AT Rgt was vaporised when one of advancing units spotted it and fired. So yes you can move in a woods hex and fire during Storms. Comrade Stalin will not be pleased that I am not looking after his guns.

I'll put Naro sub map on a separate thread.

[Ricky B]

He actually needs just 116 for a draw - 267 will push him up to a minor victory.

[Plain Ian]

He actually needs just 116 for a draw - 267 will push him up to a minor victory.

Oops you are correct. I can't count. I've always found the VP Dialogue confusing. The manual talks about "less than" or "more than" when talking about working out what level of victory you have. 

So if Eldar has 299 points its clearly a Major Defeat. If he has 301 then its clearly a Minor Defeat. If he has 300 then its.......well whatever the VP dialogue reports. 

I'll update my post.

[Plain Ian]

German Turn 17 - Naro Holiday Camp



Whilst the 32nd and 222nd Divisions are getting shot up, the 1st Gds are having a nice quiet time down at Naro-Fominsk. 

Apart from the 2/1st Gds who were pretty badly cut up this turn. The Germans have upped their game it seems. I checked the replay to see if he moved in fresh units but its the same German units. 23 men were lost in one shot, admittedly this is from 2 Motorised Bn's. Even the Pioneer/MG Bn group scored well against the 2/787th.

I'll move a few things about this turn. The 35th Gds Artillery Rgt are back on line so they should take about 8-10 from his infantry in the clear.

[Plain Ian]

Russian Turn 17 – the best laid plans o mice and men 

Well I didn’t quite press the panic button but a lot of thought went into the move. Not all good thoughts.



Naro-Fominsk

Things got off to a great start when the 35th Gds produced an out standing barrage of -16 and -25. The 2/1st Gds joined in and things went downhill fast with them losing 31 men to return fire and artillery. The 1/1st Gds arrived for support but this just added fresh misery and they lost a further 10. The 2/1st are now red fatigued.

The 2/787th restored my confidence by finally getting the upper hand against the Pioneers. They too have been reinforced.

Holiday Camp Naro has been closed by the NKVD and its back to work boys.



222nd Division

I looked at the situation with the 75 VP hex. A few options. Leave the 1/774th behind and try to hold out for 2 game turns, or just give it away and fall back preserving my troops.
I’ve opted for the 2nd solution. Winning isn’t everything. The 2/25th were brought down for support. Eldar will possible try to disrupt the whole stack and end the game with a big assault. We will see. At least my boys have a retreat path.

The 125 VP hex is safe I think so I pulled back the disrupted troops and left the 25th Tank Bde group to fight it out and pin the Germans. They did well.

Bit of a disaster with the 1/33rd. I debated holding it in place and firing 3 times against the 292nd unit. Then decided to move into the woods and replace the 22nd Motor Rifles. After the move I fired and was hit with artillery....and disrupted. So I’ve replaced one disrupted unit with another. Doh.

The 22nd Tank Bde targeted the Pz 38’s and knocked out 2. German artillery retaliated and the 1/22nd lost a BT-5.

32nd Division
No choice but to fall back. I have tried to stand and fight most of the game. The 1/17th was finally brought over.

And that was that. VP total is 270. Eldar will pick up 75 next turn so will have 345. So he must score 55 points net to gain a draw.

[Plain Ian]

German Turn 18

File back from Eldar. I've not checked the replay just opened it looked at the end positions and the VP's. A good turn I would say. He's taken the 75 VP hex. 

I've taken a quick snapshot and added the VP dialogues and his movements. Just one assault I think? 15 Russian tanks lost? Will check things properly when I look at replay. I'll add full results to map as usual.

I'm off on holiday tomorrow and won't have a lap top with me so its going to be a week.

[Plain Ian]

German Turn 18

Ok back from holiday. Tan gone, here is the breakdown for the German turn.



The German 7th Division follows up my retreating units from the 32nd Rifle Divison. He allocates no artillery in this area and there are few fire attacks. 
The 1/17th surprises one of his advancing units and it disrupts under fire. The 1/17th is at full strength (480 men morale C) and will probably cause serious damage if it assaults his unit. 
Another unit of 7th Division advances into clear terrain, receives fire and pulls back? I had kept the 3/322nd back recovering and it would have recovered to green fatigue but it fired and has now slipped back to yellow. 

The mystery of the 15 tanks is revealed. He continues to exploit the weakness of the BT-5. The 1/22nd Tank Bn losses 3 to artillery and a further 3 more to the 19th Panzers. Its disrupted and heavily fatigued with just 12 tanks left from its starting 30. The 2/22nd has 24 T-60's and is in good order. Russian return fire scored only fatigue hits in the battle.

As I feared the 1/33rd Tank Bn was assaulted by Pioneers and motorised units from the 19th Panzers. It lost 9 tanks and disrupted retreating north wrecked. (Fatigue 170) His advance meant that the 22nd Tank Bde HQ was spotted and also received fire. 

The good news is that the 22nd Motor rifle Bn has recovered from Disruption but is fatigue 143.