DAR - The Cauldron Of Fire

[Cole]

Turn 9 Noon
The Germans now prepare to move on Shiroke Bilota. Before communications were cut off some spotters reported a sizable force using the shallow valley to cover their movement south. From the AT gun bunker Major Tarasenya excitedly calls in for air strikes along the ridge line to the west. His thought is that if he was the German commander he would position assault guns there to keep the bunker's defenders pinned. One assault gun was disabled the turn before due to artillery fire and Tarasenya hopes that more will arrive in time to be greeted by a squadron of Shturmoviks. His intuition is correct as he relays a report of a company's worth of panzers and half a company of infantry cresting the ridge.

The Red Air Force arrives quickly and it seems from radio chatter that two different strikes are inbound. The Major sees the first aircraft come in from the south and begin it's run. The aircraft starts strafing the tanks late and the full effect of the run falls on a platoon of German infantry which flees for cover. The second aircraft comes in and does the same thing. There's no time to arrange another strike and a great opportunity was missed. The German assault guns will now do some damage.

In the eastern sector the Germans are moving their infantry forward quickly. Fortunately for the Russians they have plenty of artillery and hopefully some HE will slow down the advance:



The situation to the east of Shiroke Bilota below. Quite a few batteries of artillery are assigned fire missions in this sector. The ominous Elefants cover the advance from the ridges just to the north.

[Cole]

Turn 10 Afternoon

The excellent German infantry continues to advance amidst heavy artillery fire and is now involved in a struggle for the valley. Life is not easy for the Russian defenders due to heavy German artillery fire though enemy German machine gun squads cannot pick their targets easily through the explosions and smoke. Disrupted German troops move to the rear to rally points while a few more platoons can be seen hurrying southwards down the ridge to the north.

Unbelievably many spotters remain in communications and even the comm wire for a couple of company HQ positions is still active which allows for the only Russian reply as their rifle and machine gun fire is ineffective from the mostly disrupted troops.

Russian artillery fire has accounted for about 17 SPs worth of German infantry during this past replay. I'm beginning to think that in this scenario, even with Earl's emphasis on the big tanks and heavy concentration of Russian artillery the center of gravity in this game will be the German infantry. I believe victory may lie in if the German player can preserve the strength of his infantry so they can play a role in the end game.

In the center the Ferdinands cause much damage against any exposed infantry. If they catch a platoon in the open a company of Elefants have a good chance of destroying it. Now there are a few of the giant tanks positioned overlooking the valley.

Major Dmitruk, commanding the 884th’s 3rd Battalion is organizing a successful defense guarding the rail line south. His troops entrenched in the forest east of the rail tracks have accounted for a couple of SP's worth of German infantry and his troops entrenched to the west have caused an advancing German platoon to retreat. Finally the Germans rush down the rail line to be met by a Russian MG position below. Two of the machine guns jammed and the Germans used the lull in fire to rush forward. Just behind the forward skirmish line Major Dmitruk could see what was probably a Hauptmann and his radioman calling in artillery strikes. Dmitruk sent in a platoon of engineers to help dislodge the enemy from the ridge above but the fire from the enemy only increased. Dmitruk had a reserve of two fresh platoons and chose to send one to the east trench line in order to call in more artillery fire. With his other platoon he personally lead a counterattack and pushed the German platoon off the ridge line. There was no time to savor this small victory as incoming shells are already hitting the Russian trench lines in the woods to the east.



Just west of Shirokoe Bilota a three platoons of 45mm AT guns attempted to ambush a wave of StuG III assault guns as they crested the ridge. All their fire was ineffective but the gun teams were able to quickly hide while the assault guns filled the area with shrapnel. The gun teams managed to survive the quick artillery response but a recon into the village by a StuG platoon soon revealed the huts and barns the AT guns were hiding in or around. There was no need for pin point accuracy as the giant Pz IV assault guns demolished everything in sight. By concentrating solely on destroying the Russian AT guns below there was no warning of the return of the Red Air Force. Revenge for the dead gunners was extracted by the brave pilots and 3 StuG guns and 4 Pz IV 150mm assault guns lay smoking on the field.


A lone Russian MG platoon wishes they could fly away with the aircraft as they hold the shallow fords against 7 platoons of advancing guns. Elsewhere Major Tarasenya has retired from the forward bunker to the main bunker guarding the bridge across the small river. A lone SMG platoon is left behind while the Germans muster for the assault.

[Crossroads]

Brilliant stuff - you need to sell the storyboard to Hollywood!

Hanks & Spielberg are you reading

[Cole]

K Kat,

Thanks. I just wish I had the patience and design skill of Dmitry, Umbro, and the others that have posted to the DAR forum. If my maps and pictures were half as good as theirs.... I don't even have the excuse that I'm only using Paint for my images as in your 26th Regiment DAR it seems you are using Paint but it's just very nice work with your maps. I'm going to have to step up my game!

[Crossroads]

I used Powerpoint for arrows etc:

- Ctrl+Alt+PrtScr -> Paint
- Paint (copy the part you wish to work with) -> Powerpoint (paste)
- Edit in Powerpoint (arrows, text boxes, etc), then (copy) -> Paint
- Save as jpeg -> upload to Photobucket

So in fact I did not use Paint for anything else but choosing the part of printscreen I wanted to work with.

Powerpoint had some quite nice tools such as Automatic shapes - Text box tools (I have a Finnish UI so I do not know what they are called in your case... I am referring to tools in the low left hand corner). Also the curved arrow is from there.

Regarding your DAR, no tool can help coming up with such a good narrative?

[Cole]

Turn 11 - Evening

Before the defenders were overwhelmed at Shirokoe Bilota spotter from the ridge behind reported a large force of German infantry moving from the west towards the center.
As darkness falls the AT bunker at Shirokoe Bilota is overrun and Regimental Headquarters no longer has communications with Major Tarasenya. Stragglers flee from the valley across open fields seeking the safety of the ridge behind, praying for darkness.

All along the secondary Russian line the Germans have either occupied or are about to overrun the last defensive positions.

Only one line remains between the rapidly advancing Germans and the small town on Ponyri.

K Kat - thanks for the powerpoint tips. Next move I might try and experiment with it.

[Cole]

Turn 12 - Night
Continued skirmishing and mopping up of Russian stragglers all up and down the secondary line.

Recap of 6 July. The Germans are starting to take heavy casualties from the massed Russian artillery but their artillery in conjunction with the long range high explosive capabilities of their Ferdinads and assault guns make life tough for Russian infantry attempting to defend or spot.

The Germans seem to be moving forces from the western side of the map towards the center following the victorious troops at Shirokoe Bilota.


Turn 13 - Early Morning 7 July
The assault continues. There are still a few disrupted hold outs but mostly the game is moving on to the next stage.

Turn 14 Morning.

Screen shot taken during the replay showing the extent of the advancing German forces after their victory at Shirokoe Bilota. There are still some well dug in hold outs in the woods off to the east.



Screen shot of the center. The two platoons of die hard infantry mentioned above have been destroyed by overwhelming German fire. The fighting was desperate and more and more German reserves were called in to wipe out the defense before the Russians could concentrate their artillery fire. The defenders managed to hold off at least a battalion of German infantry supported by a company of assault guns. They were mostly destroyed when the Ferdinands turned the woods into a hell of high explosive shrapnel.
One squad remained until the German commander called in the last of his reserves and personally led an infantry platoon to the best site to bring the squad under fire and destroy it.

I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for my artillery to cause serious casualties in the over stacked hexes but during my artillery fire phase I was mostly disappointed.

[Cole]

Turn 14 Russian Turn

While the infantry fought for dear life in the valley Russian tanks started massing on the reverse slop of the ridge. The situation had become desperate so 13th Army ordered the 129th Tank Brigade to counterattack and slow the German advance. Hopefully the Germans would be distracted by the fighting in the valley and not notice the Russian tanks moving down the hill.

The violent German assault was over before the Russian tanks could organize and an ambush that would allow me to surround and overrun enemy tanks would not be possible. The screen shot in my last post shows German units at the end of the replay. Their assault guns have advanced in good order and not too far from the safety of the valley. There's a good chance that they have op fire set. Orders are orders so a brave platoon of T-70's is ordered to a hill top...



The best way to appreciate the screen shot above is to listen to a story retired Colonel Sasha Lenartovich liked to tell his grandchildren whenever they asked about his experiences in the Great Patriotic War:

"I was leader of a platoon of the new Model 43 T-34 tanks. At the beginning of the war our T-34s scared the Germans but by 1943 they had introduced the new Panther tanks and we heard rumors of a new Tiger tank with armor almost impenetrable with our 76mm guns. We had to use our brains to survive. During Kursk I was with the 1st Battalion of the 129th Tank Brigade. The Germans had just destroyed our front lines and our tanks were the only thing between them and Kursk!

We were ordered to attack and a brave platoon of T-70 tanks from the 2nd Battalion climbed to a hill top about 3/4 of a kilometer to my east. We could see explosions and smoke surrounding the T-70s but fortunately none were hit!!

Soon we could hear the reports from our brave comrades. They had received fire from a platoon of StuG III assault guns and from at least two of the StuH 42 assault guns with their deadly 105mm guns. Next the voice of my battalion commander ordered my 1st Platoon forward. Once I crested the ridge my tanks would be only 750 meters away from the enemy.

I always lead from the front and my tank reached the firing position first. Before we could spot anything our turret was hit by a projectile. Thank God that the enemy round did not explode or I would not be here telling this story. The tank behind me must of thought we were killed and stopped behind us. That was Vanya's tank and he was never really a brave one. I started shouting into my radio for the other two tanks to come up to their firing positions but after a few moments I realized that my radio was dead (note: enemy op fire caused a disruption on this platoon, highlighted by green in the screen shot). I stopped worrying about the radio and started concentrating on finding the enemy tank. I finally spotted a lone StuG III hidden in the grass about 1/2 kilometer directly ahead. My gunner Alexandr started to engage the enemy tank. Alexandr's shooting was good and after another exchange of rounds we caused the enemy to retreat (black line going NE). It was not until after the battle that I was told that we came under fire from another assault gun.

Next forward was 3rd Platoon. They were located next to the T-70 tanks and when they reached their firing positions they were rewarded by the sight of the retreating assault gun. They had a perfect side view and quickly dispatched the enemy target. They were rewarded by op fire from a platoon of assault guns but the only result was that they drew the attention of the Russian tanks. The assault guns were soon sent retreating back down into the valley (black line).

Finally the 3 T-34s of 2nd Platoon arrived next to my tank and bought the enemy below under fire. They were able to destroy another assault gun but could not pierce the heavier armor of the 150mm assault guns.

Even though my radio was out I knew it was time to retire when I saw 2nd platoon fall back. We needed to seek the cover of the reverse slope before the Germans could bring more tanks forward and overwhelm us with superior fire. Our first engagement of the battle went well. We had killed two enemy tanks and caused three others to retreat, all for the loss of my radio!".

The link below shows the skirmish to the west. The T-70s were in the vanguard again and absorbed a lot of op fire, surviving without even a disrupted result. It might have helped that the tanks used the cover of the trees.

My T-34's went forward next and were not so lucky. German op fire was more effective, especially from two StuG III platoons stationed almost 2 kilometers away to the north west on the ridge across the valley. Two T-34's were destroyed by op fire and two platoons were disrupted and unable to retreat at the end of my turn. They will be good targets for the German gunners next turn and hopefully will retreat before they are destroyed.

Two recon half tracks were spotted half way up the hillside on the west side of the screen shot. They were quickly taken care of and the T-34s were able to kill a few Stu G III assault guns and even destroyed 1 SP of a Stu H 42 and making it retreat.

It was finally time to call in the Zveroboys or Beast Killers! The SU-152 assault guns first saw action at Kursk and earned their nickname because they were able to pierce the armor of the Tigers and Elefant's.

Even with the measly 8 direct fire points against armor that CS assigns to the Beast Killers two platoons of SU-152s and their leader lived up to their name and destroyed two of the new Stu PZ IV 150 mm assault guns. The other two platoons accounted for another 105mm assault gun and make a platoon of StuG IIIs retreat. At this point I took the screen shot below. A late arriving T-34 platoon will take the rear shot on the retreating assault guns.



On the far east side of the map the German infantry is storming out of the valley. They are supported by Ferdinands stationed across the valley that seek to destroy any Russian spotter.

[Cole]

Turn 15 early afternoon

The German infantry is now attempting to cross the open ground in front of Hill 253.5. A good portion of Russian artillery fire is directed to this sector and this turn account for 8 SPs of German infantry. The fire is so heavy in some areas that the enemy tends to retreat back to safety.

During replay I've spotted over 12 platoons of Ferdinands supporting the assault from the center to the east edge of the map.

To the west Sasha Lenartovich and his comrades are still holding the Germans at bay. The German commander has halted his assault guns and moved infantry forward. Lenartovich's company of T-34's were successful in pushing back German infantry that have reached the hill top while the other company could caused some damage to the enemy but two German infantry platoons remain in that area. Instead of helping the T-34's clear infantry from the hill top the SU-150's acted on reports of a German HQ setting up across the valley. The HQ, a leader, and also a leader accompanying a mortar unit were destroyed.

[Cole]

Turn 16 late afternoon

Below is a screen shot of the action just to the north of Hill 253.5. For the past few turns I had spotters stationed all over the hill that were able to keep the German infantry under observation. Sometimes a platoon would be spotted by the Ferdinand tanks and come under heavy and effective direct fire but I could always occupy an adjacent hex and spot there for a couple of turns causing steady attrition of German infantry due to artillery fire. Starting last turn the Germans have been able to locate most of my spotters and the combination of heavy artillery fire and the Ferdinand tanks caused me to withdraw most of my spotting platoons.

The engineering platoon that occupy the trenches in the woods half way up the slope have had an interesting odyssey. They were originally assigned to blow up the bridge just off the NE corner of the screen shot. The bridge only crossed a shallow stream but in this game I've tried to do everything I can to slow the German advance, even if it would only be a few movement points.

While preparing the explosives the engineers were caught in the open, long range fire disrupting them and causing them to retreat slowly down the paved road. They were saved by covering their withdrawal with smoke (and the platoon leader also had the presence of mind to keep calling in artillery fire - note at the end of this post on this). Once they reached the safety of the woods they have been able to withstand intensive artillery fire and direct HE from the German tanks though last turn the German tanks have saved their op fire, maybe because they suspect Soviet armor is in the area.

During my movement phase the Russian machine guns to the east bought the German infantry and leader under fire, disrupted their advance and the riflemen 250 meters eventually pushed them back down the hill.

Notice the evidence of heavy artillery shelling all over the screen shot.



Off to the west the Germans have not tried to climb back up the hill by Sasha Lenartovich's platoon so he had time to fix his radio (aerial was disconnected due to the dud round that hit his turret). He restored communications in time to receive the order to his company to clear German infantry that had reached the ridge top about a kilometer east. His company was able to engage two German infantry platoons by long range fire and sent them packing back down the hill but a couple of squads in another platoon went to ground. Lenartovich's company then moved out of LOS of the remaining Germans squads in case there was German armor they couldn't see at the bottom of the slope.

I made a mistake on leaving a couple of platoons of T-34's in the LOS of the assault guns stationed across the valley. Even at 2 kilometers they have accounted for at least 3 kills. In the screen shot below an assault gun can be seen by the NW corner. From that hex the Germans can spot the hex on my side of the ridge right under the word "censors" .

The T-70's and T-34's assigned to work with the SU-152 Regiment climbed back up the hill, absorbed op fire, and found that German infantry had almost reached the top on the other side. The Russian T-70's quickly surrounded the Germans and the T-34's and SU-152's got to work. The only problem was that by the time the tanks had climbed the hill top and could locate their targets they could only shoot once and the orders were not to stay too long for fear of the remaining German assault guns below. The German infantry suffered a few losses but were not destroyed.

A newly arriving company of T-70's were ordered down into the river valley. It is an understatement to say that the T-70 company commander was pleasantly surprised that the valley was empty of enemy forces. Hopefully this threat to their flank and rear will cause fear and confusion in the Germans advancing on the ridge. At the very least some assault guns will now have to move to the valley and away from op fire duties.




When I finish this DAR I will post some thoughts but one thought I have now is that disrupted units should not be able to spot. They are too busy being "disrupted" to communicate, provide accurate reports, call in artillery fire, etc, etc.