Bonfire of the NKVD - Russian

[UP844]

Russian Setup:

As my squads have a range of 2 hexes, exchanging fire with the longer-ranged German infantry would be suicide, so I'll meet the German at close range (1-hex) in the woods (red crosshairs), hit them first and hit them hard. I plan to inflict some casualties firing in the German Movement Segment and then, being adjacent, to add others through Final Fire in the Russian Defensive Fire Segment. The two groups in the woods consist of a stack of 2 squads and a * leader and a stack of 3 squads. This should be enough to cripple any German attack (maybe [;)]).

There is a 1-hex gap in the center, but I should be able to see any Germans moving through it and to redeploy accordingly.

The crews with the MGs set up on the right side of the map, where they should be able to stop any Germans attempting to advance in the open. The MMG will have to fire through the grain hexes, but the ** leader is more than enough to negate their effects.

I will probably lose the southernmost VP hex, but any German entering there would have to endure the adjacent fire from the C* leader and 2 squads and from the LMG. The VP hex value, anyway, is not worth taking fire by Germans in their fire segment.

[UP844]

At the end of the German Turn 1, everything seems to go according to my plan:

1) the crew-served LMG in the open is broken by MMG fire, and remains in open terrain [:D].

2) a German crew and squad took the VP hex, but were both broken by fire from the eastern group and route in a building hex in LOS of my LMG

3) In the center there is a B** leader with some squads and a C* leader with other squads advances towards the two eastern VP hexes. They didn't fire in their Advancing Fire Segment, but I have no intention to give them a target for their next Defensive Fire.

[UP844]

At the end of the Russian turn 1, the easternmost stack of the west group retreats deeper in the woods to avoid being fired by the Germans.

The LMG fired on the broken units in the house, just to keep them at Broken+ status, and the broken crew in the open is eliminated through failure to rout.

I will wait to see if other Germans show up on the right side; if the German in the woods manage to break through my infantry, I'm going to move the MMG so as to cover the two eastern VP hexes.

So far, everything is going as expected.

[UP844]

On Turn 2, the German C* leader moves adjacent to my westernmost stack where - unfortunately - all the units are Out Of Command. The defensive fire does not hurt the Germans at all and, to add insult to injury, they even fire in their Advancing Fire, though they do not cause any casualties. In the Advance Segment, the Germans enter CC: a squad suffers Casualty Reduction, but the Russian lose their D* leader.

The German B**, on the other hand is much less lucky: its stack takes First and Final Fire from 3 SMG squads at 1 hex and only a HS survive long enough to rout away.

The LMG continues harassing the broken Germans to keep them at Broken+ status.

[UP844]

In Turn 3, the Germans kill the 2 squads locked in CC. The Russian MMG moves to cover the VP hexes, and the lone Russian squad that attempted to reinforce the melee hex rejoins its stack.

Nothing happens on the right side of the map, with the exception of the usual LMG harassing fire.

[UP844]

On turn 4 the C* leader and its stack advance, take some ineffective fire from the adjacent Russian stack (where 2 out of 3 units are OOC) and routs them, then advances to take one of the VP hexes. All is quiet in the right sector.

In the Russian segment, the MMG fires on the German stack, breaking all of the German units. A Russian squad from the east group moves double time and arrives adjacent to the Germans in the VP hex, another moves through the wood and advances adjacent to the Germans after they routed. The Russian C* leader moves to the location of the broken Russian units to rally them, while its squads surround the broken Germans in the nearby wooden building. The LMG crew moves to the wooden building south of its setup hex to block any rout path for the said Germans.

In the advance segment the Russian retake the VP hexes they lost in the previous turns.

In the administrative segment of Turn 5 the Germans fail to rally and are then eliminated through failure to rout.

The Germans will never be able to read the top-secret reports about the political reliability of the city Zoo personnel [:D]