Yakovlevo Debriefing

[Dog Soldier]

I thought I would start a thread here for the tournament players and any one else following along at home, to discuss the scenario, lessons learned etc.

Anyone who would like another crack at this scenario can choose either side with default optional rules and send me a game file. I will glad to have a friendly game where we can discuss what tactics work or does not work for either side.

The title of the scenario from the recently completed second round of the Punch and Counter Punch tournament is #0706_03 Yakovlevo - Breaching the Second Line.

IMHO, breaching the line is not the hard part. Taking the objectives in Yakovlevo and Pokrovka is the tricky part. How well the Soviet armor is handled can make a huge difference in where the Germans end up at the end of the game. There can be many different ways this scenario plays out.

One example has been mentioned already I think on the Panzer Battles forum. If the Soviets commit to an up front defense in the initial bunkers, can that leave them both weaker and out maneuvered by the faster PzGr when the Germans penetrate the bunker line? Is the felay gained fatal to the German timetable or will the LAH division have an easier time the latter part of the game?

What was your experience?

Dog Soldier

[ComradeP]

I don't think the Soviet armor can stop the Germans by itself, as the German player can get to Pokrovka without triggering either of the two tank brigades by going along the eastern high ground and then through the fields.

The Germans have one more PzG regiment than they have in the Pokrovka scenario, so taking the town isn't too difficult if you have the time.

My main mistake was thinking that it would be too difficult to do so.

I broke through the initial bunker line on turn 7, with low manpower losses as Gregor focussed his artillery fire on vehicle units. I had released a Guards Rifle battalion "by accident" and also ended up releasing a tank brigade early, so I felt I couldn't get into Pokrovka on time to capture the objectives.

I concentrated my PzG units on one or two bunkers at first, forgetting that assaulting isn't all that effective in the game and not knowing direct fire from 1 hex would be so effective, so I only took the first bunker on turn 3. After that, things went well enough, and by turn 7 I think a major victory was still possible. He did have the time to evacuate his artillery.

I really have to learn to "reconfigure" my playstyle every time I switch from another wargame to this, as in most wargames, physical assaults capture positions, whilst in this game that's not likely to happen due to the math involved making it unlikely that 4-5 units in a bunker will disrupt from assaults. That was a mistake on my part, as I should have moved large stacks of vehicle units next to the bunkers to shotgun the defenders instead of assaulting them with infantry and using the vehicle units from 2 hexes away.

In a mirror game, with Gregor as the Axis, he got through the initial bunker line by turn 3-4, the main difference in approaches being using the StuGs, Tigers and Marders to fire from the hex adjacent to the defender, which nearly always resulted in a disruption result.

That may or may not have been lucky as later on, when firing at positions of secondary importance, he disrupted units less frequently. He attacked across a fairly wide front, and didn't release any additional battalions, so I was limited to 2 battalions which wasn't enough to prevent the units in the bunkers being disrupted one by one. He killed most of the artillery units, which didn't have time to move out and he had a major victory in the pocket halfway through the game.

That situation was more or less what the updated version was trying to prevent, but shotgunning units in bunkers one by one with vehicle units is still by far the most effective way to clear a bunker, as assaulting just doesn't cut it due to the way the assault system favours the defender.