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My brother and I haven't gamed at all since we were teenagers, when we used to game all the time.
Now that my nieces have gotten older, I've talked him into a little PBEM action.
With limited time on his hands, I don't know how much gaming we'll get in a week.
Doesn't matter, any gaming is good gaming. Especially with an old friend.

Col. K - this is command.
We believe the Germans are going to break the non-aggression treaty soon.
You are to prepare the defense around the town of Dubno.
You will see to it that every soldier performs his duty to the Motherland.
Command out!

Meeting engagement, Dubno (custom map), June 1941, 2050 points, 14 turns, 16 visibility, hazy.
Soviet player takes first turn.

SO Headquarters
Command Car
SO Forward Observer
75mm OB artillery x2
80mm Mortar section
120mm Mortar
7.62 HMG section
7.62 ATG section
SPAA truck section
GAZ truck transport section x2
SO Rifle Company
SO Conscript platoon x2
SO Cossack platoon
KV1A heavy tank section
T34m41 medium tank platoon
T26E infantry tank platoon x2
BT7M recon tank section x2

As you can see, I prefer a nice, historically balanced force selection.
I know my brother will do likewise, although I'm sure he'll take a pair of 88s.

TURN 1: At the northern edge, recon tanks cross the open field to take position in a gap in the trees, cossacks pushing their horses to keep up with them. An infantry tank platoon provides overwatch from a nearby ridge line.

Another platoon of infantry tanks deploy on the hill flanking the northern objective. A rifle platoon, an AT gun and a HMG have set up nearby. All local victory hexes captured by turn's end.

Defending the open terrain around the central objective, two platoons of conscripts have began to dig in. They have been ordered to hold position and assault any enemy AFVs which cross the field.

The southern objective is captured by the second recon tank section, benefitting from a smokescreen laid before them. Setting up behind a stone wall, my medium and heavy tanks (hereafter designated the heavy tank platoon) wait to punish Jerry should he press from this point. An ATG and a HMG provide extra muscle in this area.

My rear victory hexes are guarded by two rifle platoons. Some 300 yards behind that, the mortars set up in a small field.

One OB artillery battery is in contact and ordered to lay smoke around the northern objective now.
Too bad it won't arrive till Jerry's turn.

My plan is to try and get in Jerry's rear with my northern recon forces. All my infantry have thier range set to 1 and are ordered to stand their ground. The heavy tanks are to roll up from the south and threaten the central objectives. For the most part, Jerry will have to cross open ground to come after me.

AXIS TURN 1: Classic line abreast engagement outside of Dubno/Rovno develops.

At the northern edge, my recon tanks stopped his halftracks from crossing the pass in the woods. Panzers swinging around the outside of those woods did spot my cossacks however. My opt fire only succeeded in halting his advance. A cossack and an infantry tank unit on overwatch were forced to retreat from the panzer's ensuing fire.

Despite never having moved and a 1 firing range, my conscripts were sighted and fired upon by his units around the Dubno/Rovno objective. Axis units have halted at the edge of the townline. Too bad I only have one gold star in the area.

Jerry loses two recon tanks and an armored car trying to reach the southern objectives. One of my recon tanks in the area was destroyed by a flank shot from panzers just south of Dubno.

ALLIED TURN 2: My northern recon force has discovered an engineer squad in a halftrack, and a towed 8.8 ATG. Retreating from LOS of the ATG, I fire on the halftrack to no effect. The two platoon sof infantry tanks take potshots at Jerry's northern advance pazers, again to no effect. They also retreat out of LOS. I hope this isn't a terminal pattern developing here.

Having nothing to contest the contral objective of Dubno/Rosno except retreating conscripts, I order the mortars to finally open fire on the enemy now sighted outside of town.

In the south, moving from the stone wall cover, my heavy tank platoon scores a PzIII and a PZIV.
Finally got kills on panzers! Extra vodka for all those boys tonight.

And go figure, all my OB artillery is offline. [:(]

AXIS TURN 2: Jerry's managed to kill one of my recon tanks on the hill in the far north. Another was routed, but rallied back into action.

Around the northern objective, the crew of the ATG was forced to abandon it's gun, not before striking a panzer down however.

My conscripts continue to be pinned around the central objective.

The ATG on the southern fron nails another PzIII, while my heavy tank platoon stands nearby out of sight.

ALLIED TURN 3: My northern recon force loses a recon tank, having encountered an engineer FT squad in the wooded pass. My cossacks converge on the position of the re-sighted enemy 88mm ATG.

Defending the northern objective, my infantry tanks, not wanting to stay under fire too long, fire off their main guns and then retreat back out of sight. One is lost to enemy AFV fire. The rifle platoon in this area unsuccessfully attempts to close assault of of the panzers. They do mangae to button all of Jerry's tanks with 200 meters of their position.

The central objective remains in Jerry's hands, my conscripts doing little more than rallying to pinned status after the fire they've received.

In the south, my KV1s kill a tank destroyer, while the T34s begin to creep towards the central objectives.

The mortars continue to rain shells on thier previously targeted positions, although probably deviod of the enemy now.
It's ok - I've got ammo to spare. The OB artillery remains out of contact.

AXIS TURN 3: Jerry continues to get the better of my northern recon force, killing my last recon tank and claiming a cossack unit. His units have faded into the woods once again.

Defending the northern objectives, another of my infantry tanks gets waxed. Jerry pours fire on the rifle squads around the objectives, and routs them all.

A conscript squad has been lost in the area of the Dubno objectives, but the remaining squads have prevented Jerry from advancing across the middle of the board.

The southern front reports no significant casualties.

ALLIED TURN 4: Cossacks continue to be stonewalled by Jerry engineers on the far north flank. Around the northern objective, my infantry tanks kill an armored car. Near the Dubno objectives, a PzIII survives fire from my heavy tank platoon, only to fall to the 7.62 ATG covering that sector. One OB artillery battery is in contact, and ordered to fire one one of Jerry's 88s setting up by the northern objective.

I'm definately getting the upper hand here, and I'm betting my brother wishes he had purchased some artillery for this battle.
Oh well, rookie mistake. I'm sure he'll get more tenascious as the battles continue.

AXIS TURN 4: Cossacks tangling with Jerry's engineers lose yet another squad. Making a push on the hill flanking the northern objectives, a PzII and a PzII have practically eliminated the rifle platoon guarding that position on top of claiming another of my T26s. Worse than that, long range fire from his units around Rosno have crippled my heavy tank platoon. One T34 was destoyed, the rest routed. One KVs crew abandoned their vehicle.

Looks like the tides of fortune changed hands quickly.

ALLIED TURN 5: The cossacks decide to avoid any enemy in the vicinity and proceed to ride toward the back of Jerry's lines. Three T26s move to provide support for them on the far north mapedge.

On the hill flanking the nothern objectives (which are now in Jerry's control) two T26s unload on the PzIII at 2 hex range to no avail. They retreat to the reverse slope out of sight. The HMG which has somehow remained hidden from view, has destroyed an armored car that ventured adjacent to the woods he was hiding in.

The functioning members of the heavy tank platoon engage engineers at the east end of Dubno, forcing Jerry to retreat.

All remaining infantry units are ordered from their second line positions forward towards the Dubno objectives. Taking their place as rearguard, my AA trucks move to my rear victory hexes.

With my OB artillery once again out of contact, I have no way to screen my routed heavy tanks threatened by long range fire from Rovno. My mortars have begun to lay supressing fire one those units.

I haven't seen any message about my opponent calling for reinforcements yet, but I'm beginning to think its a good idea.
I decide to wait another turn.

AXIS TURN 5: Jerry succeeds in breaking my HMG guarding the northern objectives. He takes potshots at my fleeing T34 to no effect.

ALLIED TURN 6: Trying to regain the hill near the northern objective, I blast his PzII at the cost of one of my infantry tanks. My infantry continues to creep forward, firing on his lead tanks, buttoning two of them. My mortars are down to a few rounds each, and not causing more than mild concern for Jerry.

A quick count shows both forces pretty beaten up. I have five T26s, two T34s, a KV1A and a BT7m left for AFVs. Jerry has two PzIVs, two PzIIIs, two SiG33s and a JPz left. I may outnumber him in vehicles, but he has quality on his side. I have a company of infantry left versus his engineer platoon squad, however, my boys will have a tough time advancing under fire. This battle can still go either way. Niether of us has called for rienforcements yet.

AXIS TURN 6: Jerry sniffs out my cossacks with his engineer squad again. Looks like they're in a private dual to the death. He reinforces the northern objective with an 88, continues to pin my infantry advancing on Dubno, and routs my heavy tank platoon in the south. My remaining KV is also destroyed this turn.

ALLIED TURN 7: My infantry tanks are split in two groups. One heads up north to reinforce my cossacks, losing a tank to the PzIV on the hill by the northern objective. The other section o f T26s rush that tank, flanking and killing it at close range. Looks like the only way I'll take a panzer down with those infantry tanks. I have two T34s left, one routed, and one in the secondary line, recovering from a rout. My infantry make no headway towards Dubno.

Time to call in the cavalry! Stay tuned!

This game was concluded in hotseat mode - as I was at my brothers house most of the weekend.
Couldn't do a play-by-play at the time, so here's a recap.

With my reinforcements arriving late and taking two turns to reach to front lines, they were largly ineffective in swaying the inevitable outcome of the battle.

Talking to my opponent revealed that his reinforcements were called in on turn 2, which would explain the swing in momentum on the battlefield around that time.

For the most part my artillery was barely a harassement, having difficulty arriving in a timely manner in such a fluid battle. Targeting moving AFVs was another strike against thier performance.

My infantry had two or three attempts at AFV assaults, failing all. With the poor moral and experience of my troops, most would not take a rounds worth of incoming fire without breaking and running. Even T34 and KV crews would bail at the sound of machinegun fire on their hulls, despite manning statistically superior machinery.

In the end, my brother captured all the objcetives, and took home a marjinal victory.
Losses being approx. 400 men for me and 100 to my opponent, with AFVs being 30 lost to me while only claimg 15 of the enemy's.

Despite my loss, I've gained a PBEM pal with a taste for a few more battles.
He may have bragging right this week, but the war's not over yet!

Col. K - this is command.
The Germans are crossing the Dnieper river and you must halt their advance.

I'll have to recap our battles as my brother has limited playing time available. My turns take too long for him when I write a report during my turns. Maybe in the future I'll try to do some writing while I await his turns.

July 1941, predesigned (custom) map - East Europe River Crossing, meeting engagement.
12 turns, 20 visibility, clear weather, soviet moves first, 2050 points.

My core consists of a partisan group riding light BT-5 tanks. A conscript company rides an infantry tank company of T-26m40s. Two KV-1As, three T-34m40s and a T-35 very heavy tank provide additional support. I envisioned this as a likely reactionary force to stop an unexpected German river crossing.

I've split my forces about evenly between the two groups of objectives to be fought over, with both groups deploying in woods flanking their respective objectives. Jerry has the bulk of his forces north, as that is where the brige crossing is.

My northern attack group takes a pounding, never making it out the woods and is largely destroyed to the man. The southern forces, facing only token resistance, fares much better. They secure their objective but are unable to advance north before time runs out.

My reinforcements arrive before my opponents, and they sweep aside Jerry's advance recon going into my backfield. On the last turn, they capture all the northern objectives, only to lose half of them on Jerry's last turn.

This one played out as a draw, which I'll count as a moral victory.

I've really created a monster here, as my brother is totally into the PBEM thing.
Now all I have to do is learn how to effectively fight with '41 Russian forces. [8|]

So Game #3 begins ...

So my bro goes ... hey, shouldn't we play German advances instead of meeting engagements?
Me: Well .. yeah .. except you don't need a point advantage as it is ...

August 1941, river crossing somewhere in the Ukraine, premee map - (the one before Dubno)
16 turns, German advance, Russian first turn, visibility 24, clear weather, 2500 points each side.

At least I got control of all the objectives at the game start now.
I set up a line defense behind the forward objectives, hoping to draw him into an open area crossing.
Last game was fought [mistakenly?] in a thunderstorm, and I'm sure this one is in clear weather this time.

My core is built around a Rifle company and a company of outdated heavy KV tanks defending a river crossing.
A couple sections of old T-34s, T26's and the new infantry tanks round out armored support.
A pair each of heavy ATGs, HMGs, AA guns and 122mm OB Howitzers fill in the holes.
Reinforcements consist of a MC section and a company of the new KV1B heavy tanks.
Can't wait till he sees these monsters! I just hope the crews stay in thier tanks!

We're about 5 turns into the game, Jerry has left for the weekend, and heres the score ...

Jerry commits heavily from the north map edge. He's excersizing the concentration of force principal against a line defense. I'm being rolled up like a Mighty Taco. Most all of my starting AFVs are picked off by long range fire despite being in good cover. Not to mention Stukas are making a statement now that they have good weather.

The highlight of my day has been that I actually managed to hide a Rifle platoon in some woods I knew he'd have to cross. They remained undetected until they had the chance to destroy two tanks in close assaults before being eliminated. He still has not achieved any objectives.

Jerry's got a good feel for the force composition needed for the engagements I've been setting up. I feel he's really got an edge on me with SS troops, firing rates, and better experience in general. At least I've shamed him into not bringing those frickin 88mm ATGs anymore. The downside being that those HT mounted 80mm Moratars he's bringing actually pack quite a pounch.

Not to mention my troops can't hit shit, kill shit, nor stand their ground under fire.
Stalin has issued a "scortched earth" policy and assumed supreme command of the military.
The good news is that General January is going to make an early appearance this year.[:D]

BTW - Did I mention me and my brother like small engagements on a larger field?

The battle takes a turn for the better as we continue our game.

After securing the northern end of the field, my opponent begins to split his forces, some heading south, some heading on an end run. He admits that was probaly his big mistake this game, he shoul;d have kept them as a contrated group.

Through sheer attrition I've begun to take a toll on his forces. I'm guessing my boys are gaining some experience finally.
They are starting to rally in a timely manner and actually hitting things.

His end run forces run into my new KV-1B reinforcements, and are decimated.
I wish I could've seen the look on his face when he checked thier armor values.

A couple of his halftracks make a play for the southern objectives, only to be cut down by the platoon of riflemen and T34's I have in the area. Those T-34s and the new T-50 infantry tanks which were lying in reserve begin to move up from the south and engage him in a contest for the middle of the board.

My reinforcements push along the northern road and retake the northern objectives. The only thing hurting me is that I still can't spot his 76mm ATGs, even though they've killed more than a few of my tanks.

I've caught him in the open with my double flanking counterattack, and he's already crying uncle.
There's two turns left, and I smell a marginal russkie victory!

Being cocky, I pull a classic stupid here ... [:-]

I plot artillery on the AT guns suspected position, and foolishly choose HE ammo.
The gun remains unsupressed and with a clear view of my tanks heading for the remining objective.

My losses pile up, and in the end the game was a draw.

September 1941, premee map - (the one with the big hill.)
29 turns, Meeting engement, German first turn, visibility 35, clear weather, 2900 points each side.

My brother set this one up. I told him to make it a Russian advance. I warned him that I was going on the offensive.

To start, I buy a FO and a battlion of 76 artillery.
I buy a T34 company, plus a T34 section, and load them with riflemen.
I buy a KV-1B company, and load them with SMGs.
I buy six trucks and load them with an 76.2 ATG, a MG and a scout.
A Partisan group is purchased to infiltrate his rear objective.
Five of the now available tank destroyers round out the initial purchase.

With a 30 turn game, I plan a wave attack for a strategy.
I send half my forces over the large hill dominating the middle of the board.
In the southeast corner, there is another hill where I set up the remainder of my tanks on overwatch.
By limiting his return fire, I kept my losses manageable while dominating the central hill.

Reinforcements consisting of another company of heavy tanks and a few more TDs arrive.
Scouts are riding the tanks, as thier recon will be needed later to sniff out Jerry's leg units.

My initial attack wave still holds the central hill, but is wearing thin. Losses go over the 50% mark.
Artillery is laying down good suppresion on his units, and preparing a smokescreeen for the upcoming second wave.

When the reinforcements arrive, they are joined by my forces from the southeast hill.
They form a second wave comprised of two companies of heavy KV tanks, smashing thier way toward the central objective.

With my forces united in the central postion, it was simply a matter of divide and conquer after that.

I finally got my marginal victory. Double vodka rations tonight!

October 1941
German Advance, Russian first, 2900 points, large random map
28 turns, 29 visibilty, clear weather

My new units are the Tandesantiski's .. so I buy a company of them.
They're elite light infantry armed with molotav's aboard elite T34s. I like that.

A company of partisans with more molotav's will make for a nice ambush here.
The obligatory company of rifleman and conscripts round out the infantry portion of my forces.
A section of light tanks and a company of armored cars support my ground pounders,
along with a platoon of 45mm ATGs. An offboard 76 Artillery battalion remains on call.

I can set up a reverse slope defense along the entire length of the board. Between the partisans on light tanks, the Tankodesanti's and the armored cars, I can have a secondary line of defense at whatever his point of attack may prove to be with like 3 turns.

Preemptive smoke from the offboard artillery battery screens off the middle of the board, being backed up by expendable conscripts and a well deployed rifle company. The northern flank is screened by my AT guns, the central by the armoroed cars, and the southern by my Tankodesantis.

Advance recon units spot the enemy on a concentrated southern attack approach. This is actually my best-defendable terrain, considering my second line defenders are all mobile. I can re-deploy quickly.

A company of prototype T34s are purchased along with a platoon of partisans for reinforcements, along with my armored cars and partisans-carrying light tanks redloy southward. These units are assigned to a flanking attack manuever.

In the first moves of the battle, my forces attack his advancing armored units at close range with molotavs, behind reverse-sloped, smoked, and wooded terrain. I'm almost scoring even odds with enemy units killed at this point, which is a very good thing.

My second line of defense deploys just in time to delay his exploitation of my front lines.
If I was a little better at placing artillery, I'm sure I could have crippled him here.
The map played right into my hands, along with his (almost expected) attack route.
Oh well, cest la vie.

My reinforcements procede to the southernmost mapedge, taking backroads to get there.
They are supposed to come up on a rear attack once his line has broken through my initial defense.
A company of averge T34s dosn't hide too well, even in a wooded expanse.
Jerry's forces pounce on them, practically forcing all to retreat on the opening round of hostilities.
There is a sick feeling in my stomach.
Molotav weilding infantry in support of those tanks, including some Tankodesanti units that had survived, turn this mini-battle from being a total route.

Guarding the rear objectives, well-placed partisans, rifle, and conscripts made sure Jerry paid some blood money in toll to take those objectives. At this point, casualties ratios were definatley favoring my opponent. I'm wondering how to pass the tedium of another ten turns while my forces get whittled to nothing.

After several turns of close action, supporting a rifle company in a wooded poition guarding the last objective, my A0 HQ unit is destroyed. Custers last stand. Russian morale broken. No more commissars on the field. Game over.

Before the last obective cluster is taken from me. We end with a draw.
I consider it a moral victory, as I don't easily hand over a 50% point adavantage to my brother easily.

Out of the five games we've played, it's been a majority victory once for each of us, otherwise draws. Joseph says we have done very well.

So I'm teasing my brother about only getting a Draw during our last game, especially since had a 50% advantage in points over me. I offer him a chance at redemption, and setup another Advance for him.

November 1941, 2500 point Delay for Russia (moves first), 17 turns, 18 visibility.
I've decided to try a medium, random map. The map has a good kill zone in the middle,
with hills and a railroad bridge funneling his advance into it.

New units for me are Russian AT squads. These are sweet, twelve guys with three ATR weapons and four shots.
A company of those please, and two companies of Rifleman for good measure.
I also experiment with onboard 75mm Artillery, a Katausha section, and will try and lay a minfield for the first time.
A conscript company, light and heavy AA and AT guns support our infantry.
I take very little AFVs this time, 2 KV1Cs and 2 T28s to start.
Scouts are positioned to retake forward objectives after the Wehrmach has passed on through.

Reinforcements consisted of a pair each of TD's, T34s & KVs escorting an ammo truck.
I had meant to take OB rockets, so the 'truck seemed like a good idea at the time. A pair of Snipers hitch a ride too.

AFTERMATH: Well, one platoon of Engineers don't lay many mines, especially since I forgot to set them minelaying during the deployment phase. I don't think the mines even affected the battle. The ATR squads performed surprisingly well however, denying him his fast HT/truck transport units. Onboard artillery seems to lack the teeth the offboard variety has, but the rockets do have potential. I'll just have to practise more. My hidden Scouts did retake the rear objective from him as planned.

In a real surprise, my units are finally, actually gaining entrenched (defensive) status.
Previously, even units that never moved could only get "in cover."

After yet another bloody battle fought between us, we end with a draw as usual.

However, this time, I manage to score more points than my opponent!
While being outnumbered 3 to 2 in points. A real moral victory! JS is very pleased. [:D]

Good read so far

Col. K - This is command. Enemy forces are amassing outside of Moscow.
Stalin has declared the city his personal fortress, expects you to do your duty.
The Wehrmach must be stopped at any cost. Command out!

The all important Game 7 of a series. The moment I've been waiting for.
Time to see how valiantly Ivan's troops can defend the Motherland.

December 1941, 5500 point German Assault and first move.
Medium random map, 18 turns, 30 visibility.

Surveying the map for the game, I break the map in thirds as usual. Top has most of the objectives and the concentration of my forces behind a 3 deep minefield. I do be nice and leave one access through it. Note to self: do not make it a horizontal pass agin, much too easy to identify. I manage to layer a second line of defense in the area too. The middle of the board has a nice channeled killzone for me to defend, after a mixed doubledeep field of mines and AT obstacles sets up. The bottom third is barren except for a single line of AT obstacles and some scouts and machine guns.

For forts I build a Strongpoint, and a handful each of light pillboxes, log rifle and machine gun nests. Infantry consists of a company of conscripts (they're so cheap), and a platoon each of Rifleman, Guards, Partisan and Heavy ATR squads. A single battery of 120mm offboard artillery supports a sprinkling of other ordanance on the board.

As the reinforcements enter on a road the leads directly to the main area to defend, I decide that a company of KV-2s should make for a timely debut on the battlefield.

AFTERMATH: In a surprisingly daring move, Jerry has a company of FJ infantry paradrop in the northern sector. They are pretty much cut to ribbons as they land right into the Jaws of the Bear. Hoping I would have gaps in the minefield, Jerry runs unit after unit to their destruction probing the minefield. Only after significant losses does he find the secret way through. Engineers in the middle of the board clear a path for the Mechanized Infantry that arrive for his reinforcements.

His piecemeal attacks are mauled before he relearns the value of laying smoke to cover his advances. When my slow KV-2s finally enter the field, most of his AFVs are dead or disabled, leaving only his infantry to bear the fire of their 150mm HE rounds. Offboard artillery supplied maybe three fire missions, beaing a waste of points spent. I manage to hold one of the groups of per-turn victory hexes till the end of the game, which probably should have been a few turns longer.

END RESULT: a Draw, with Germany scoring 7500 points to Russia's 12000.
I outscored him by 50% while suffering a 2-1 point disadvantage.

The citizens of Moscow will sleep a little sounder, til next month ....