The Roar of the Maus - The Biggest and Baddest

[heinrich55]

EPILOGUE

There is no doubt in Major Staudt’s mind that the make-up of his small kampfgruppe was all that tilted the balance of the battle. His men were all instructors and teachers of their craft. They were skilled at gunnery and showed accurate kill rates out to 700 meters or farther. Some kills were out close to the kilometer mark, especially for the Elefant with its 8.8 cm. gun.

Yes, he has suffered losses, all men he knows personally. The loss of both the scout halftrack units is particularly hard to take, as they gave their lives to give him advance notice of the avenues taken by the rushing Soviet tanks. He had hoped to bring them all back this day, knowing in his heart that that simply would not happen. He is exhilarated that his losses are far lower than he anticipated.

To his own crew, he spreads praise and appreciation. They had 3 kills to their credit, and rings will be painted on their barrel to show they shared in the day’s action.

Thinking back, he can only believe that three critical moves on his part turned the day.

Having Captain Kohl force his way through dense woods on the left flank put them finally into a position where they could take enemy tanks in the flank on the east end. It took forever for them to arrive there, but when they did, they had some excellent shooting opportunities.

Ordering Leutnant Schmidt to ride his Elefant along the south edge of the central wooded area was initially intended to give him a shooting position to face east towards Zossen. That was the expected attack location. Instead, the Leutnant was only partway there when the Soviets roared in from the south, pushing across the wide field there in an attempt to gain the southern suburbs of Baruth and take the kampfgruppe in the right flank.

Schmidt was alerted to this threat by the scout halftracks, who then all perished while trying to extract themselves from the fast assault that overran them. Schmidt turned to face the onslaught, firing repeatedly at targets in the 800 meter to 1 kilometer range and was so successful that the remaining survivors pushed into the woods to escape his accurate gunnery. When they did this they were slowed considerably.

This allowed the reinforcement group of Zuckermann’s Panzer Mark IV tanks to reverse course and swing back into the southern suburb. Baedeker’s Jagdpanzer also rushed there, going from left flank to right flank. Tense moments ensued where the Mark IVs and the Jadgpanzer hunted – and were hunted by - the infiltrating Soviet tanks between the buildings. For the loss of two Mark IV panzers, all the enemy tanks were wiped out and the suburb and the flank secured.

A sad note accompanied the end of the battle. Sgt. Hagen was bringing his giant Maus back down the road, flush with victory, when the transmission tore itself apart. The Maus had fought a gallant battle, standing up to some of the best Soviet tanks and utterly crushing them, only to collapse after the fighting was over. The weight was just too much for the weak powertrain.

A call went to Kummersdorf for towing apparatus. There was none. Immediate reports were of more Soviet armor columns approaching. The Major sadly gave the order to destroy the Maus, over the understandable protestations of Sgt. Hagen and his crew. With tears in his eyes, “Admiral” Hagen oversaw the destruction of his beloved land battleship.

The Maus would fight no more.

[nelmsm1]

Excellent AAR. I've passed along the link so others will find this.

[Mad Russian]

There are no better AAR's than those done by you.

We spent weeks researching the last hours of the Maus. There are several scenarios but the most probable is that the tank broke down, here on the northern road out of the village, and the Soviets overran it after a heavy tank battle.

The reports of the Maus in battle didn't seem to be what happened.

But, of course truth is stranger than fiction, and there is a chance the tank did take part in a combat action, so we put together the one and only mission of the Maus as best we could. Your playing the single scenario campaign and AAR does all the effort we put into this justice.

Thanks for the AAR.

Good Hunting.

MR

[rickier65]

heinrich,

thanks for this AAR. Very nicely done! Your selection of screen shots with the excellent narrative really made it come alive.

Thanks!
Rick

[Erik Rutins]

Great AAR Heinrich, thanks for posting this!

Regards,

- Erik

[lancer]

G'day,

Great AAR!

Cheers,
Lancer

[heinrich55]

Thank-you all for the nice comments. They are very appreciated and high praise indeed.

I knew there was a lot of research done to go with this scenario, and I wanted to do that effort some justice so a little story to highlight the research seemed the right thing to do.

In all likelihood the giant Maus broke down and quite possibly never fired a shot in anger. But what if, just what if the behemoth got a moment in history, that last shot at glory?

These are fun to do but always a lot of work. The nature of the game allows for a wonderful mechanism to highlight the small stories of the virtual soldiers.
We all play these battles for many reasons and draw enjoyment from the action that occurs from turn to turn. I like to focus on the individuals rushing around on the battlefield or crewing the tanks.
There is so much drama that occurs from moment to moment - I wish I could catch it all but then I'd never be able to finish the battle; there is just too much going on. [:)]

Thanks again for the encouragement. With the support you all bring to this gaming system, it will only keep getting better. We'll see what the next battle brings.

Heinrich55

[Enigma6584]

Beautiful AAR! Very well done. A joy to read.

[nicwb]

Thanks heinrich55 - that was a great AAR !

[Josh]

Great AAR Heinrich, I enjoyed reading every post, thanks.

[Ratzki]

Excellent read. Looking forward to another.

[eniced73]

ORIGINAL: Ratzki

Excellent read. Looking forward to another.

+++1 to that.

Very well done. Easy to ready and always entertaining.

[LoneWulf63]

Now that was just too cool. Chris.