Stalingrad Campaign AAR

[Alexandra]

Actually, I'm a little worried about this fight.

Why?

Because, this core has developed a very effective pattern of combat that will also work in the city. Scout with SS, supress with mortars, and FlakPz and then burn. Use SS to finish things and panzers to deal with enemy armor.

It is a *very* efficent in close core, and one of the first I've played where I'm not worried about moving my key armor - the FlamPanzers, into cover terrain.

But, in the open, it's not as good, and those Flak guns could be very hard to work around.

The again I do have a 120mm mortar - and that should be good for suppression!

Alex
Go Pats! Run the table to San Diego!

[BryanMelvin]

Alex - I'll give you a hint:

There is platoon worth of Armor for the on map Aux. force as well as plenty of smoke ready to use

Also - several flak batteries were removed to help balance this game to 7.1 standards

Still not easy but winnable even with flamepanzers...

[Major Destruction]

Originally posted by Alexandra


I am starting to wonder, though, how an Axis Minor Core would fare, say Hungarians or Italians.

Alex

I have taken your idea and run with it. I have an Italian core although the Commander and the flags are German. If you want to use an entirely Italian core you need to edit the Nation in the Campaign editor.

My plan is to repair any damaged infantry units but all replacements of vehicles will come from German supplies. Also, support units will be German. I will also try, wherever possible to refurbish and use captured Soviet equipment. This self imposed rule will make replacements more difficult to aquire.

Initially the core force is quite large. Italian units are cheap. But they have some nice toys like the 90mm truck-mounted AA gun and the 13.2mm heavy machine gun.

Observations thus far: FlamPanzer's rule! That 2 hex range is awesome.

Alex

In my first battle I bought one flammpanzer with my support points. It was destroyed in turn 2 by an unspotted ATR.

[Alexandra]

Kill Leaders:

Sgt Langkeit, Flampanzer II (19),
Sgt Krafft, Flampanzer II (17),
1Lt Schaub, Pz Plt Ldr (13), 2Lt Becker, FlamPz Plt Ldr (13)

Mission Seven:

Date: August 23, 1942
Time: 1200
Location: Gumrak Airfield

Mission: We must take the Airfield at Gumrak.

Support: 1 Ammo Dump, 3 scout teams.

Aux Forces: 4 Pz III, 2 squads, 6 trucks, 1 FO, 2 Pz IV, 2 FlakPz, 1 Sig II, 1 scout platoon, 1 81mm mortar squad

The Map: For all intents and purposes it's all open. There's a ridgeline and two patches of woods for us to cross, to get to the airfield.

The Plan: Suppress Flak and anything else and knock it out. Use arty liberally. Infiltrate with the Spec Ops Teams.

Turn 1:

We advance and spot 7 enemy positions. 5 37mm Flak and 2 12.7mm AAMG. We start to engage but knock nothing out and lose a scout team. We hit them with mortar fire, 2 tubes per AA gun.

Turn 2:

We push in after supressing the AA guns. We knock out an AAMG team and discover an infantry platoon. We eliminate the MG team supporting that platoon. We then find parts of another platoon supported by an infantry gun.

Turn 3:

We keep laying into them with mortars while Teams Kaptain and Schirmer makes it to thier objectives. Third platoon knocks out 2 AA guns and a 50mm mortar squad while a HMG is killed by Sgt Krafft. We lose a FlakPz to an infantry assault. 2nd Platoon takes out 2 squads in a gorge and 2 more are bagged by supporting units. We then overrun an ATR team and another AA gun. We lose a Mk III. The Spec Ops teams get an enemy squad and locate two more flak guns.

Turn Four:

Third Platoon knocks out an 82mm mortar and a 45mm ATG. Panzers take out an AAMG and it looks like most of the first line defenses on the west are gone. We start to push onto the airfield. We take the control tower.

Turn Five:

Team Conkling makes it to target for the first time! AA guns are all over the field and we lose a track. But, with daring and dash 2nd and 3rd Platoons race in and 2 of the guns are knocked out by 2nd's squads. Sgt Krafft burns out a mortar position. An AAMG is taken out next but they get a Flak Pz. Along the north east side of the perimiter, we knock out an AA gun and an ATG. Spec Ops teams kill a squad.

Turn Six:

I want to note that, at this point, I've not needed to move 1st Platoon at all. It's mounted as a mobile reserve. Second Platoon overruns 3 AA guns and the southern half of the runway is in our hands.

Turn Seven:

We kill a squad. All VHs taken. Enemy infanty that we bypassed start to move towards the field to try and retake it.

Turn Eight:

I swing onto the defense. I'll supress the last 4 AA guns with mortars and finish infantry off as it closes. They lose a squad counterattacking.

Turn Nine:

We finish a squad and then Sgt Krafft burns the enemy HQ out! I decide to smoke the AA battery in hopes of bagging more enemy soldiers.

But, before we can, they yield. It's a MV 3222 to 828.

We lose 62 men, a APC, 3 AFV.
They lose 208 men and 17 guns.

Comments: Smooth. Very very smooth. We roll on. Bring on the enemy, we can take 'em.

Between missions: All units repaired. No upgrades.

Next mission: We have been attached to 2nd Panzer Regiment, 16th Pz Division and ordered to stop an enemy counter attack.

Alex
Pats 27 Bills 17. We should had more, but, I'll take it. Go Pats!

[BryanMelvin]

Way to go Alex!

Next battle should be an easy cake walk. Majority of play ratio is a Decisive - but then again, it all depends on what you do!

After this short easy battle - its into the city

[Grenadier]

That proves the Flak chicks are not nearly as lethal as before. The first time I played this I lost about 1/3 of my vehicles to the 37 mm guns and was never able to get better than a draw. Looks like the retooling is working

[Alexandra]

I dunno if they are less lethal. I never gave them the chance to find out.

I supressed them, constantly, with mortars. I didn't give them too much of a chance to shoot back. 10 mortar tubes on map, 9 81's and a 120, and, a rare for me, Ammo Dump

When you're ducking for cover, it's hard to shoot back!

Alex

[Grenadier]

When I first played it, I suppressed the flak guns with 105mm artillery. mortars, nebelwerfers and Wurfrahmen 40's supported by an SD 252 LGM ammo carrier.

or so I thought. Those women could eat the flame and spit it back out:D Finally the 3rd time I played it I set my ammo om unlimited and fired the wurfrahmens and nebelwerfers every turn with a full charge. Even them the guns on the far right of the field beyond the rr line and then ones to the south of the field kept takinhg a toll, then guns I had bypassed as I thought they had been destroyed as I could no longer see them or get any result with Z key fire shot my hts and pzs from the rear getting 2 more and suppressing my advancing infantry before I got the last VO

A large number of players got discouraged by this battle and stopped playing the campaign. There were several posts on this subject way back when. That is part of the reason I got involved in the redesign

[cadmus]

Alexandra: I just wanted to thank you for and compliment you on your excellent AAR's. They are among the most thorough and enlightening of any posted in this forum. I started off reading them for education. Then I began reading them for enjoyment. The only problem I have now is restraining myself from reading them before I've fought the battle myself. When I do, and read them after I've fought over the same terrain, I almost always find myself admiring how much more intelligently you handled the situation than I did. But ... I'd like to think I'm learning from you.

Carry on and keep up the good work!

[Alexandra]

Xeno - thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you both learn and enjoy. This campaign works well for me as the core size is the size I like, and rarely is there a Bde worth of Aux forces. I like small

And now, onto the next one!

Kill Leaders:

Sgt Langkeit, Flampanzer II (20), Sgt Krafft, Flampanzer II (20),
1Lt Schaub, Pz Plt Ldr (13), 2Lt Becker, FlamPz Plt Ldr (13)

Mission Eight:

Date: September 2, 1942
Time: 0900
Location: Russian Steppe, between Kuznici and Rynok

Mission: We have been attached to 2nd Panzer Regiment, 16th Pz Division and ordered to stop an enemy counter attack

Support: 2 88s

Aux Forces: 14 trucks, 2 Mk IVs, 2 Mk IIIs, 4 squads, 4 ATGs, 1 FO, 1 Flight Me 110D2, 5 tracks, 3 Mk IIs

The Map: It's wide open.

The Plan: Hold our ground and kill them. Nice and Simple. I'll infiltrate Spec Ops into the NE corner woods to try and Decap the enemy HQ. Ok, not so simple The hold team is 2 Plts, plus 3 Flak Pz, plus the Stug and Mk IVs and 88s. All other core units are a turn 3 or so move in and flank attack group!

Turn One:

Our units move towards the line. The enemy attacks with armored cars and various tanks. They lose 4 ACs and 4 tanks.

Turn Two:

ATGs get three more tanks. Core forces only get 1 tank though. The enemy drives forward losing 2 more tanks.

Turn Three:

Flanking forces released. Defensive fire takes out six enemy tanks and Flak Pzs kill many crews. The enemy second wave advances. Two more tanks die, but many of these also carry infantry. Then, a suprise! Stuarts from the west! One dies to direct mortar fire and the Flampanzers are ordered back west.

Turn Four:

Team Schirmer arrives. Defensive fire gets 3 tanks and a TD squad. To the west, 2 Stuarts die. One to 120mm mortar fire and one a flampanzer. Flank attack is called back. The enemy attacks on. They lose 5 tanks in the main attack and 3 more and a TD squad to the west. However, I lose a squad, as well, to my own Flampanzer. The Red Air Force makes a run. Three Germans go down, but a plane leaves trailing smoke.

Turn Five:

Team Kaptain arrives. Defensive fire takes out five more tanks. To the west, 3 kill 2 tanks and 3 TD squads. Lt Becker's Flampanzer gets hit. The Luftwaffe gets a tank and at least 2 squads and the enemy loses another tank attacking. SFMB.

Turn Six:

We knock out a tank in the main body and two more die off to the west. We also get a TD squad. SFMB.

Turn Seven:

Conkling arrives. We get three more TD squads. The Red Airforce gets an 88.

Turn Eight:

We bag two more tanks and an TD squad. SFMB.

Turn Nine:

2 More TD squads die.

And we win. DV 12715 to 394.

German losses: 37 men, 1 88.
Soviet losses: 335 men, 55 AFV.

Comments: Again smooth. Now to the city.

Between scens: All units repaired. The last IVf(s) is upgraded to a IVg.

Next mission: We are ordered to support the 295th Infantry by taking Mamayev Kurgan Hill.


Alex

[BryanMelvin]

The Russian offensive along the North part of the narrow corridor to Stalingrad was a disater for the Soviets. They used many lend lease tanks. The Germans just picked these off. Sometimes, German units ran out of ammo and had to move back so that the German air force could finish off the Russian's that survived.

The Steppe was littered with burning hulks of lend lease armor as well as Russian armor and still the Russian's attacked and attacked to no avail...

This battle tries to simulate this..

Now it will get more difficult

Hill 102 awaits

[Alexandra]

Bring on the Hill!

I have some tricks planned for the defenders - and I think a lot of you will be suprised at how Alex steps outside her normal box here

Mwahahahah

Alex

[Ezikel]

You could show them your short n curlys.... Braveheart style ^^

[Alexandra]

Kill Leaders:

Sgt Krafft, Flampanzer II (29),
Sgt Langkeit, Flampanzer II (24)
2Lt Metzger, FlakPz Plt Ldr (21)

Mission Nine:

Date: September 14, 1942
Time: 0900
Location: Mamayev Kurgan Hill, Stalingrad

Mission: We are ordered to support the 295th Infantry by taking Mamayev Kurgan Hill

Support: 2 Btns 150mm OBA, 9 gliders

Aux Forces: FO, 1 Flight Stuka, 4 Pz IV, 2 Rifle Companies, 2 Engineer Platoons, 2 Support Platoons, 1 Bty 105, 1 Bty 150

The Map: The map is dominated by the hill, which is, a hill. To the north and south of the hill are rows of houses, to the west open terrain and to the east the Lazur chemical plant. There are nine VHs. Three on the north side of the hill, two on the crest, one on the southwest side, two to the southwest of the hill and one south of the hill.

The Plan: Multi directonal assault! Spec Ops will infiltrate to the south to take the VH south of the hill. Aux Infantry will make the attack from the north, to take north slope. My panzers and some SS and Aux infantry will come in from the west - and as many of my SS as can be fit into them will glider land atop the hill one Turn 1 after a massive bombardment of the hill. I may even see if I can get Flampanzers into gliders!

Glider notes: Looks like all of one squad each. So All of 1st platoon and part of 2nd will go in that way. Looks like 8 squads and 2 MG teams. Not bad. Wish they were British gliders though

Pregame: Bombardment and all landings go well.

Turn One:

The attack begins! To the north infantry advances, no contact. They are backed by 2 Mk IVs and my flampanzers. To the east we advance as well, and, again, no contact. On the hill Gruppe Porsche, named for the first platoon leader, gets to work. They knock out a 76.2mm ATG, and a pillbox. They also get an enemy FO team. The enemy is stunned and does not react, and a Stuka takes out an AAMG position. The top of the hill VH is taken.

Turn Two:

To the north, our forces start to come out of the housing area and engage an ATG. To the west we advance and Flak Pz long range fire supports the north attack. On the hill, we start to expand the bridgehead, engaging as we go. The enemy HQ is located and brought under fire.

Turn Three:

To the north, the attack gets near the hill as more and more men emerge from the housing area. To the west we lose a man to a mine, and a few more to a MG nest south of us. We'll smoke the nest, so, ignore it for now. On the hill we move carefully, and take another hilltop VH.

Turn Four:

On the north, we knock out a log rifle pit and polish an ATG. On the west, we establish contact with an enemy platoon strength postion on the lower southwest side of the hill. We also take out a pair of ATR teams. On the hill, one detachment starts to support the north attack by shooting enemy infantry from behind, one starts south, to engage AA positions, and another moves west, killing the enemy HQ and heading towards some mortars.

Turn Five:

No sign of the Brandenburgers yet. Even if none of them arrive, though, we'll be ok. To the north, we keep advancing and drive a squad back. To the west, we start to find and engage enemy squad size positions. Two squads are driven back. On the hill, we keep engaging infantry to help the north advance, as well as secure the last hilltop VH.

Turn Six:

We push in on the north, finding more enemy and knocking out an ATR and polishing a squad. We also take a VH. We push in, slowly, from the west, knocking out 2 squads, though both had been reduced in strength. We knock out a log rifle pit with panzer fire. The hill force knocks out an AA gun and an ATR.

Turn Seven:

Team Schirmer arrives. Along the north, we kill off three squads and lose a Mk IV. More enemy positions found. We push in from the west and along the way kill 2 squads and take a VH. We are, though, hitting layed enemy infantry. We take another VH on the hill, on the south, and KO an AA gun. Two ATR teams die on the east side of the hill.

Turn Eight:

Along the north we deal with infantry. 2 ATR teams and 2 squads are destroyed. It seems enemy infantry is moving in from the northeast, so we may have to deal with a counterattack from that direction. On the west we slowly push them back and have both west VHs, though it looks as if enemy infantry may be coming in from the south as well. On the east, we take out a 50mm mortar squad. ** The enemy attacks. Infantry only, and, I think, for the most part, squads I just never found earlier. We lose a squad on the southwest side of the hill.

Turn Nine:

Along the north, we take out a squad, a MG team and a 45mm ATG. An enemy platoon is crossing a hilly ridge, but I hope to slow them with arty. On the west we advance, knocking out a bunker and a squad while pivoting to deny the south west flank. Lt Metzger's FlakPz dies to a mine, but 9 of the 21 man crew live. *** They keep countering, but only manage to lose a FO.

Turn Ten:

Along the north, we take out an ATR team, a MG team, a squad and a bunker, and blunt the counterattack. Along the west, we advance carefully and knock out a MG team and finish off a pair of squads. We engage an ATG and find a pillbox. Along the south, the Spec Ops team takes the next to last VH and a squad is sent to deal with the pillbox. It finds another along the way, so will need to kill 2 of them. We also get an ATR team. Two 82mm mortars are spiked along the west. *** Then disaster. At least 4 Platoons of Guard Infantry appear on the hill. Right at the crest. A hill we've held for an hour nearly. Did they walk up the hill? No. They just were beamed in. As a result, I lose 1st and 2nd Plt MG teams, 1st Plt HQ and 4th Sqd, and 2nd Plt, 2nd Sqd. Elsewhere on the field, we polish off two squads. I want to stress I have no problems with the reinforcements, or the numbers. My problem is that 200 or so men just appeared, in clear terrain, over a hill we held for nearly an hour. Make them make the approach route instead of just appearing.

Turn Eleven:

Let's see what we can salvage. Along the north, we kill five squads. Along the west we move in, heading for the crest and get an ATG and a pillbox as well as a squad. *** They attack, and finish off a core engineer squad and we kill a squad. SFMB.

Turn Twelve:

We attack in the north and sweep over the ridge. Six squads fall, and 16 prisoners are taken. Aid is moving in from the West, too, and we knock out a pillbox and a squad. *** They lose a squad in the counterattack. SFMB.

Turn Thirteen:

The fight contiunues along the north and west side of the hill. We knock out three squads and take the ridgeline. Two thirds of the hilltop is in thier hands.

Turn Fourteen:

We continue to attack. Five squads go down and five more prisoners are taken. The mop up is going well, though too many of our SS comrades were killed before it could begin. They still hold the center and south hill VHs. SFMB.

Turn Fifteen:

We push forward, trying to finish them and take this hill. We knock out three squads and take the south hill VH. However, there we lose a Mk IV to a molotov projector, and a Flakz to a Light Machine Gun! And, the crew of another FlakPz bails from Rifle fire! *** They lose a squad counterattacking, and it looks like they lose another in an AI initiated melee. SFMB.

Turn Sixteen:

We knock out another squad and take the last VH, but they get 1st Platoon, 2nd Squad as it tries to fall back. They lose a squad in thier turn and then they withdraw, The hill is mine.

Pow: 22 (36 on the campaign)

Result: German MV 6506 to 1447.

German Losses: 251 men, 4 AFV.
Soviet Losses: 805 men, 26 arty.

Comments: Overall, I liked the scen. Force structures were good, the map was good, balance was good. What I disliked was the 12 to 16 squads of beamed in infantry. There were just too many to reasonably assume they were guys who'd hidden and rallied and attacked. Make them make the approach route, or use fewer.

Between scens: Replacement. All fixed, except the one FlakPz

Next Scen: We've been attached to 71st Infantry Division and orders to take the Stalingrad train station and Red Square.

Alex

[Grenadier]

The sudden appearance of the Guards was to emulate the arrival of Rodmitsev's 13 Guards Division 51 Guards Regiment which reinforced the defenders of the crest. A conventional attack would have timed so that by the time the German assault reached the top so would the Guardsmen, creating a see saw battle for the top. Your tactic of a glider landing is unusual, to say the least;)

Bryan and I did not take into consideration someone trying a glider landing when we redid the campaign, but using a more conventioal prepared assault up yhe hill. To have had the guardsmen approach from the Volga risked detection by aircraft and Rodmitsev's men came up through the sewerlines, undectected by the Germans until they reached the top so that is how they beamed in:D

[Major Destruction]

Actually those guardsmen had buried themselves in a graveyard, as yet unmarked on the map, then appeared, ghoulishly, out of the graves to assault those paratroops in a very paranormal manner.

Not at all unreasonable in light of the Player's unconventional assault technique!:p

[Alexandra]

Originally posted by Grenadier
The sudden appearance of the Guards was to emulate the arrival of Rodmitsev's 13 Guards Division 51 Guards Regiment which reinforced the defenders of the crest. A conventional attack would have timed so that by the time the German assault reached the top so would the Guardsmen, creating a see saw battle for the top. Your tactic of a glider landing is unusual, to say the least;)

Bryan and I did not take into consideration someone trying a glider landing when we redid the campaign, but using a more conventioal prepared assault up yhe hill. To have had the guardsmen approach from the Volga risked detection by aircraft and Rodmitsev's men came up through the sewerlines, undectected by the Germans until they reached the top so that is how they beamed in:D

Lol! Told 'ya I was gonna step outside the box Too bad the gliders weren't bigger. The force landed was able to do a lot to smooth the assault, but I doubt I'd do that again. It was fun once, though.

Now, if I had FJs, seeing how cheap the plane sections are for them, heh

I can accept the sewer line explaination quite readily, and, in the end, the beaming only hurt them. They did so well with suprinse that they took out all the SS left on the crest - and so I hit them with all my 105s and 150s!! and then mopped them up.

Still, the infantry losses hurt, but I took the hill.

I'll be offline till next week, so, when I get back, expect the Train Station report - I remember that one from last time!

Alex

[BryanMelvin]

Originally posted by Alexandra



Turn Ten:

*** Then disaster. At least 4 Platoons of Guard Infantry appear on the hill. Right at the crest. A hill we've held for an hour nearly. Did they walk up the hill? No. They just were beamed in. As a result, I lose 1st and 2nd Plt MG teams, 1st Plt HQ and 4th Sqd, and 2nd Plt, 2nd Sqd. Elsewhere on the field, we polish off two squads. I want to stress I have no problems with the reinforcements, or the numbers. My problem is that 200 or so men just appeared, in clear terrain, over a hill we held for nearly an hour. Make them make the approach route instead of just appearing.


Alex

Just a note - the hill had deep bunkers located in the rugged eastern Washes. The guardsmen used the Washes to advance up the hill - unspotted by the Germans. When the Guards attack began, the Russian units inside the bunkers joined the fray (most at pistol point). This attack took the Germans by surprise as the Russains seemed to appear out of the ground - around them. In air photo of hill (which map was made from) the deep rugged eastern Washes are very deep and offer ample concelment. Looking at the photo you can see that was best venue for an attack. I can imagine, in the heat of battle, German infantry looking at these Washes, and saying something like this "Ivan cannot advance up these-they are way too steep and rugged!" then....

I hope this battle gives the same shock to a player as it did to the real German commanders that day

Despite an airborne assault!

PS--
I wanted to add this type of info in text but that would have given the battle away

[Alexandra]

Kill Leaders:

Sgt Krafft, Flampanzer II (33),
Sgt Langkeit, Flampanzer II (29)
2Lt Becker, Flampanzer Plt Ldr (24)

Mission Ten:

Date: September 16, 1942
Time: 1000
Location: Stalingrad

Mission: We've been attached to 71st Infantry Division and orders to take the Stalingrad train station and Red Square.

Support: 1 Engineer Company

Aux Forces: 6 rifle platoons, 1 recon platoon, 1 support platoon, 2 engineer platoons, 2 105 btry, 1 150 btry, 1 FO, 2 Spec Ops platoons, 2 MG 42 teams, 2 rifle companies, 11 panzers

The Map: It's urban, natch with a mix of wooden houses, and stone public buildings. We have to take train station #1. In addition, we have to take the 9th of January Square, Lenin Square, a pair of hills overlooking the Volga, Red Squre, the Univermag store, Gorki Theater, a nail factory and a couple buildings past the station.

The Plan: Urban Assasult. Find, pin, kill, advance. All nine spec ops squads will try and infiltrate.

Turn One:

We have two main groups, north and west. Both will move east, towards the Volga. North makes contact with enemy squads, a trio of them. It's initial objective is 9 January Square. West moves towards the station. We destroy a train engine and a bus, and kill a squad, but lose a Mk III.

Turn Two:

Group north kills all 3 squads it found last turn and finds two more. Group west takes out 2 flat cars, a tanker car, 2 boxcars, a squad and a MG squad. We lose a squad.

Turn Three:

Team Schirmer arrives. Group north advances steadly. It kills 3 squads, 2 ATR squads, an a 50mm mortar team. Group west also advances, driving the enemy back. 2 flat cars and a box car are destroyed and 2 squads are killed. The marshaling yard is in our hands. We lose an MG42. *** 4 Assault teams pop in. They are squads who tended to be trained to hide out and then attack from the back. They knock out an MG34.

Turn Four:

An attached Spec Ops team arrives. North continues to advance and kills off a squad. I have two engineer platoons between the two groups and one of them bags an ATR squad. We keep up the pressure at the station, and knock out a boxcar, as well as kill 3 squads and 3 of the assault teams. South of the station, we burn out a squad. *** Enemy assault teams take back a marshalling yard VH.

Turn Five:

Group north moves on, eliminating 4 squads and reaching the outskirts of 9 January Square. Group west kills a 45mm ATG north of the station. In the station area, the fighting is heavy and urban. We knock out a tanker car and kill a squad and an assault team and take back the VH, while losing a Mk III and a 50mm mortar. Part of the station, along it's north side, is in our hands. South of the station, we lose Sgt Eberbach's Mk IV to mines while we kill 2 more squads. *** We lose Team Schirmer, and a marshalling VH is lost to an assault team, even though there is one of my units in the hex.

<Note: This clearly shows 2 of SP:WaW's weaknesses, both of which I hope are corrected in CL. The first is the inability to reaction fire to a reinforcing unit. Clearly, the assault team popped up, next to the VH, and got to enter it for free, without drawing reaction fire from the pop up. The second is the loss of a VH with a fully capable defeding unit, in it. A VH should not be lost if the owning player has a good order unit inside it, not should it be lost if an enemy unit enters it, and, in the act of entering it is destroyed. The way I'd handle this is to make VH control check not part of the turn, but at the end of each player turn. Each VH could be checked for ownership: If empty, it stays the way it is, if both players have units in it, and both are good order, it stays the way it is, otherwise, it goes to whomever is in it.>

Turn Six:

2 spec ops teams arrive. North kills an ATR squad and loses a scout team. West we lose a Mk III to mines. Infantry losses are high on both sides. We lose a scout team and a squad, they lose 2 squads, a MG squad and an assault team. We retake the VH again. South of the station, we kill a MG squad and a rifle squad - and then lose Sgt Langkeit to mines. This has me ripped. Not only is he lost to mines in a handtop road hex - kinda hard to bury them there! - but not 1 - not 1!! of the 40! Infantry that walked through the hex happened to notice that they were stepping around anti tank mines?????? The spec ops teams take Gorki Theater. **** They lose an assault team and we lose a squad.

Turn Seven:

Team Conkling arrives. North slowly, and effectively advances. Panzer fire knocks out a strongpoint at Pavlov's House and 5 enemy squads fall. Team Conkling takes a volga hill. Other spec ops take the VH in Red Square, for the moment. West takes out a MG squad and 3 squads while losing a recon team. An enemy assault team surrenders, giving us 4 PoWs. But, we lose a Mk IV to a strongpoint in the Nail Factory and Sgt Kessler to mines. I am now totally sick the inability of Infantry to see AT Mines on concrete roads. *** They take back the Red Square VH and killed the team, or what was left of it there, as I expected them to. Three more assault teams show up.

<Note: The mine comments are engine related and not directed at Marauder>

Turn Eight:

Another Spec Ops team arrives. North advances into 9 January Square, coming under fire from a HMG and a Maxim in Pavlov's House. A bunker is killed. West kills 4 squads (taking five prisoners), and a Maxim squad and loses a MG team to, yes, mines. What I thought last turn were more assault teams were just 'normal' guard squads and all have been killed. *** The enemy is agressively counterattacking, but all it does is get him two more dead squads.

Turn Nine:

North advances on. A force is shifted to move towards Lenin Square as the VH in 9 Jan falls. The maxim in Pavlov's House is eliminated as is a 45mm ATG. Team Conkling takes the other Volga Hill VH. My two engineer platoons in the middle are starting to be a factor, with one coming towards Lenin Square from the west, and the other towards the Univermag from the north. On the West, we take out 3 squads and a MG nest. The Station is in our hands.

Turn Ten:

The fighting in the north area slows, as we work on taking out some annoying guns on the perimeter of the square. On the west, we eliminate 2 squads and a MG nest. *** The enemy counterattack hard from the Nail factory towards the station, and at the admin buildings and station itself. We lose a squad, as do they. They also lose a MG squad.

Turn Eleven:

We finish a 45mm ATG to the north, but the first of the between group Engineer platoons loses a squad. The second of them also loses a squad, though Heer help is coming in. To the west, we finish off a pair of squads. *** Agressive enemy attacks cost them 3 squads and a molotov projector team. SFMB.

Turn Twelve:

Group north knocks out a pair of MG postions, and pushes towards Lenin Square. Two enemy squads go down, but, so does a German one, and a Mk III gets tagged by a 45mm ATG in the library. We kill a squad in the center of the city, as we push towards the Univermag. A flampanzer knocks out a MG bunker at the Gorki Theater and we get another on the edge of Red Square the same way. That will open up our flank attack on the Nail Factory. We then drive into that factory, killing a squad as we do. *** The enemy retakes a Volga Hill VH. The Spec Ops team there will have to hold until help - which is on the way - arrives.

Turn Thirteen:

To the north we take out a squad and a MG nest. In the center, we kill a squad near the Gorki, but lose a Spec Ops Squad at the Univermag. Another enemy squad dies as we take the Nail Factory. *** The enemy loses a squad counterattacking at the Station.

Turn Fourteen:

We kill the Library ATG. We then take out a Bunker and a squad near the Nail Factory.

Turn Fifteen:

Swirling fighting across Lenin Square as we push the enemy back. We kill a squad on the appraoches to the Univermag. We kill a squad near the station as well. *** They lose 3 squads counterattacking, though they now have both Hill VHs as I pulled Team Conkling back.

Turn Sixteen:

In Lenin Square, we knock out a pillbox and an ATG and take the VH. We kill a bus and an FO team north of Univermag. We mop up two other squads and take both Admin buildings. *** Three more enemy squads fall in counterattacks. SFMB.

Turn Seventeen:

We lose a squad, and they lose two, in fighting on the south side of Lenin Square. We lose a squad in the 'mag, and Lt Becker to an ATG. Now, I wanna talk about this ATG - in case anyone from Matrix is reading. This gun fired, over the course of my turn 8 shots over a 240 degree arc, at 5 different units, even though it's dug into a stone building and was under direct infantry fire at less than 50 meters range. Something really needs to be done about dancing guns and tanks, as, by letting them shift facing radically the entire concept of flanking and knocking out - which is the correct historical way to deal with them - does not work. If it can't be fixed in SP:WaW, it really needs to be in CL. *** They lose a squad and we lose an MG42 team during enemy counterattacks.

Turn Eighteen:

We kill 2 squads and the ATG! *** They lose 1 in a counterattack. SFMB.

Turn Nineteen:

We take Red Square. Only the hills are in the enemies hands.

Turn Twenty:

We lose a squad at the 'mag, but kill one on the hill. *** We lose another at the 'mag.

Turn Twentyone:

We shove the last enemy squad out of the 'mag, losing 3 more in the process. Again, a unit is able to fight in 4 directions without any loss of firepower whatsoever. We then kill 3 squads on the hill and take back a VH. *** Enemy loses 2 countering.

Turn Twentytwo:

We take the last VH back. We lose one to enemy counters.

Turn Twentythree:

They lose two countering.

And we get a Draw!!! 9206 to 4074. This is very disaapointing, for two reasons. One, I did better then my historical counterpart. He failed to reach the Volga, while I made it there, and in strength. Second, I took Pavlov's House, which if I recall right never fell historically, and should have been a VH.

German losses: 536 men, 10 AFV.
Soviet Losses: 1473 men, 19 guns, 2 APC, 9 AFV.

PoW: 5 (41 on the campaign)

I guess the busses were 'APCs' and the train cars 'AFVs'

All he had lef on the field were 2 squads, a rifle pit, and an ATR team. Bah! Should be at least an MV.

Between scens: We get one flampanzer back. We are down 2 Mk IVs, a flampanzer, and a flakpanzer.

Next mission: The Grain Silo.

Alex

[Grenadier]

Alex, how could you? You went about destroying my 'eye candy" trains and busses. They were only worth one point each and if you wait long enough the crews abandon them for easy pickings:D

Most of the VO's in the train station are point per turn and this reflects the see-saw nature of the fighting here. The AI is set to respond only after they are discovered. None of the reinforcement hexes are set next to a VO. They are all at least 2 hexes away and 2 are over 5 hexes away. Actually the 71 Infantry did get a batalllion under Capt Meunch to the Volga that same day but it was cut off by furious counterattacks and Pavlov's House was reoccupied by SGT Pavlov at the end of the month where he held on for most of October. German losses were very high on the 14th and your score reflects this. You did a great job so don't be so hard on yourself. The best I ever got was a draw after I redesigned the original with one exception.

Look at the mines that took out your tanks like the NKVD men who hid in the tall buildings and then dropped Molotovs on the rear decks of the tanks after the infantry had passed through or like the remote controlled mines placed in the barricades the tanks crashed through. A lot of the conditions in the battle have to be abstracted in the game. Many of the tricks I placed in Lost Victories, especially in the Crimea, are also being used here.

I did the redesign of the city and factory battles and the added city and factory battles so from this point I am the target of your comments:)

If you want to know the best way to play this for a marginal victory, e-mail me