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As the fighting continues across the shattered city...the first radio reports broadcast the news we have all anticipated...The Volga River has finally been reached!

In the northern half of the city...there are some small intense firefights...but nothing that can not be contained by the forces that are already there.

In the central part of our salient, near the gun factory, our troops push forward despite some resistance. Here and there a few recon elements push their way through gaps in Ivan's battered defensive line. Some even reach the river banks and begin scouting for signs of Russian troops attempting to cross the river into the city...once found these will be hammered!

To the south reinforcements continue to flood into the sector...to bolster the front there and resume the push in due time. It is here that the critical part of the battle is unfolding...and it is here that the center of gravity will shift to...now that the Volga has been reached.

the last reinforcements cross the Volga just in time it seems... they are few and probably cannot hold back the fascist tide... we take out a few more tanks this turn but still not enough. The fighting will go on, we will make them pay for every house!

The command has been given out to all units... it is the same... 'seek and destroy'

for the most part the fighting enters another lull within the battered and blasted city.
Recon elements continue to probe forward...looking for enemy units as our push begins to shift its direction and bearing. The gaps in our lines are filled in by re-inforcements...and we are now in a better position to force the issue to it's final conclusion.
To the south...on our outskirts...Ivan is moving more of his armor into place...but we are not concerned. In a very short time there will be a thunderous welcome for any Russian units heading that way!

Our defences begin to crumble... no tank kills this turn and a katushya is forced into direct fire!!! Where once Russian tanks stood guard over streets now German tanks do the same...

Soon it will be time to go underground... to regroup to plan a counteroffensive...

soon...

but not yet...

continues in the north...where a KV-1 lurks about, tyring to flank our defensive positions there. It would also seem that Ivan is trying to get more armor there...as he has landed several more of these monsterous panzers near the Tractor Factory. Luckily we have more than enough firepower available in that sector of the front...and will push forward and take the fight to Ivan!

In the center a katushya rocket launcher is destroyed..but it's companion KV-1 still squats there in the street, effectively blocking our advance to the Volga through the Gun Factory.

Elsewhere in the center sector our troops continue to press forward...wiping out pockets of resistance here and there. As they do so further infantry re-inforcements join up with them to solidify our front...so we will be ready to push forward here very soon as well.

In the south...this is the only sector of our front where the Russians seem to have a slight edge. Armor and infantry re-inforcements have been vectored there as well...so we are confident we will be able to contain any counter-attack that will develop from this area.

One interesting piece of information...Divisional HQ has tallied up the reports thus far and in our actions with the enemy we have claimed over 50 Russian AFV's destroyed thus far!

The End has come!

Orders from on high have recalled all fighting Russian forces to regroup... The Fascists have gained a greater foothold on our beloved city.

Results as follows

F9 Soviet Surrender

German 22575
Soviet 11948

Men lost

Ger 658
Rus 1122

Arty

Rus 1

APC

Ger 35

AFV

Ger 20
Rus 77

Air

Ger

1

Thoughts...

The end result was much the same as the Second German Assault on Stalingrad in fact, pushing the Russians back to a narrow strip of land against the Volga...

The battle was far from similar though... Using such a large map and having no idea where the Germans would attack I laid down a 'defensive blanket' which would hopefully allow for a solid defence of the city. However...

Herr Orzel chose 1 main point of thrust which of course I couldn't reinforce in time with my city defenders... I had forgone any transport for troops as I hadn't expected to have to run about too much. I was wrong and this was my fatal mistake...

At the game end I still had troops marching Northward from the southern end of the city and having traversed only a fraction of the distance required to engage... This left me with a peacemeal defense and I'm quite amazed my troops in the front lines did as much damage as they did...

I had created 4 mobile reserves of tanks but again these were positioned well out of the initial attack. I can only commend Orzels attack of troops first (and a lot of them and a lot of halftracks) which forced me to commit my first two mobile reserves and the harsh treatment they suffered from the enemy infantry...

my remaining two reserves only emerged once the German armor had begun to make an appearance however, their superior gunmanship and fire control took out many of my own vehicles and they also walked into ambush situations in order to engage enemy armor...

I guess it was psychological that having such a huge map I had not entertained the idea of fighting over only one quarter of it. My greatest error was my lack of transport which even left approx. half my arty out of range.

That said it was a great battle! Very atmospheric and with a real taste of street fighting and (for me at least) defending such a vast area...

It should also be noted that it took me some time to actually realise there were no troops in the South or far North of the map. I kept creeping forward and poking my nose around corners and thinking 'they must be around the next corner' and that lost me vital turns. Perhaps a few armored cars or motorcycles would have been in order.

I won't list my entire force as I have lost the notes I made of it but it was mainly consisting of tanks (a mixture of T34, Kv1 and 2 and KV8) and infantry (whatever I could buy with Rarity on).

I had to ferry my reinforcements across the Volga also which was interminably slow especially as I wasn't a 100% sure where they would show up so had positioned my barge carriers in several places and of course they took ages to reach the reinforcement hex...

ok excuses over with over to Orzel... congrats on a wily win! What's next???

Ok over to Orzel

Hellcat...a good game my friend. We'll have to chat about what will be next.

I was a bit worried going into this battle at first...thinking that being on the assault, with even points and higher unit costs that I might be walking into some real trouble. However, once I saw the map I knew what I needed to do.

I knew that Hellcat would have to try to cover the entire city front, either with a continuous in-depth defensive line or a trip wire defense with mobile "fire brigades" positioned behind. As it turned out it seemed to be a blend of the two...but regardless I figured the map size would allow me a fair amount of time to exploit a narrow breakthrough.

Hellcat took a surprising large amount of armor for a city fight...and at times I started to get worried when I'd kill four or five per turn and five or six more would show up!

However, my infantry and engineer units did a really good job in breaking the Russian defensive lines and then taking up ambush positions to take out any armor that came into the fray. I suffered some losses by forcing them into block busting...but the mobile reserves that came at them were surprising armor heavy...which were at a disadvantage in street fighting.

As far as my armor purchase...well that gave me about 40 AFV's...but a boat load of PzGrenadier units, whose mobility helped me break into the city at a greater pace than the Russian units could re-act to.

I placed some of the best crewed AFV's to the flanks to guard against any CA's...since I figured that would be Hellcat's first reaction once he figured out what I was up to. What was left, some Pz IV's but mainly StugIII's and a couple flampanzers went into the city to help fend off the Russian armor that survived my infantry ambushes.

Over all....the battle developed just as I had hoped it would...much to my surprise. I thought for sure that my narrow thrust would be over-whelmed by cheap Soviet infantry....and my plans thrown into chaos....but it didn't happen. Thank God! lol.

So, in the end run, I think the map size worked against Hellcat more than what he purchased. It forced him into a position that left him little room for error...and a lot of ground to cover.

Great game Hellcat...the fighting was bitter and fierce for a long period there...and we destroyed a good portion of the city in the process. It really gave a good taste of how city fighting goes down, more so than what our words could convey. It was not pretty and at times I'm sure we both were wondering what was going to happen next...really exciting for most of the battle and just the type of fight I love!!!

It was a fitting battle to mark your return to the forum Hellcat. I Salute you my gallant foe!

A shame all my cheap inf were so far away... have been reading about Napoleon at Ulm and how he set up a spider's web in order to react in any direction...

Ah... How I have learned :rolleyes:

what's next Orz???