Horses and Tigers:
Tanks and Cavalry in 'Road to Berlin'
By Doug McNair
May 2006

As Germany's defenses fell apart in the last months of World War II, the German high command was forced to adopt numerous unlikely contingency plans to keep its armies in the field. With Axis oilfields in the Balkans being overrun by the Red Army, one such contingency was the revival of the cavalry as a mobile force that wasn’t dependent on gasoline. This led to one of the most unlikely pairings of forces in the whole war: cavalry working with King Tiger tanks in the defense of western Hungary.

The Tiger II was one of Germany's greatest achievements in military engineering, but it was slow and vulnerable if caught out in the open. The muddy ground conditions prevalent in springtime Eastern Europe slowed tanks even more, so the King Tigers weren't useful for much but providing stationary defense against oncoming Soviet armored columns. In this role they were devastating, but their relative immobility made them vulnerable to infantry attack unless they had screening units of their own.

The German cavalry fit this bill admirably. Immune to all but the deepest mud, cavalry could skirt the flanks of Soviet armored columns with ease, perform hit-and-run charges on the Soviet infantry screen, and wear them down long before they got in position to threaten the King Tigers.

For this reason, the Soviet infantry had to coordinate its movements with that of lighter Soviet tanks and the JSU-152 assault guns (whose anti-personnel firepower was just as devastating as the King Tiger was against armor). If the Soviet infantry could make it to the Tiger II's position intact, then the combined tank and infantry forces had a good chance of dislodging them. But if not, King Tigers in prepared defensive positions overlooking a road were all but invulnerable, and there was very little that Soviet armor out in the open could do against them without supporting infantry.

Game Summary

A recent running of the "Horses and Tigers" scenario from Road to Berlin illustrates these points. The scenario is played on six boards, laid out in a square with three set up vertically north of the other three. Two roads run east-west through the northern and southern boards. Two hills dominate the two western boards, and that’s where the Germans set up.

The Soviets enter the eastern board edge, and must clear one of the two east-west roads of all German units for a Major Victory, or must exit at least 20 steps (tanks count double) off the west board edge for a Minor Victory. The Germans win a Minor Victory by eliminating at least 30 Soviet steps, and a Major Victory if fewer than 20 good-order Soviet steps are on the two western boards or have exited the west board edge at the end of play.

German Setup

The Germans have six Tiger II units and twelve REIT cavalry units, plus a few grenadiers and heavy machine gune, one antitank gun, a StugIIIG turretless tank, and light offboard artillery support. All units may begin dug in.

The tanks are hobbled by the German fuel shortage — each must roll a die after moving, and on a 1 it runs out of gas and can't move for the rest of the game. So the German player decides to set up three Tiger IIs on each road at the crest of each hill, giving them maximum visual range over all intervening cover so the Soviets can’t use strategic movement to rush the German positions in the early turns. The Tiger IIs will be very hard to hit with their armor value of 8 and the –2 penalty for AT shots from below against dug-in units. Add to that the Tiger II's AT firepower of 11 and range of 9, and the fact that they can fire twice per turn, and the Soviets will have a very hard time of it even if half the King Tigers run out of gas on the way to the battle.

The German player places one HMG and one or two grenadiers just east of each Tiger II position, on the roads at the bottom of the hills. The HMGs will maintain a western roadblock while the grenadiers rush eastward to establish a forward roadblock. The German player then deploys the cavalry on the roads and in the area between, planning to have them ride forward and take up charge positions in the swamps and forests flanking the roads. The StugIIIG goes with the northern units since the northern road is in more open terrain and less defensible. The AT gun (and its wagon) goes with the southern units.

Made by fascists, these machines helped defend the Soviet peoples.

Soviet Setup

The Soviets have a powerful force of six JS-2 heavy tank units, twelve not-as-heavy T34/85 tank units, four JSU-152 assault gun units, one captured half-strength German Tiger unit, and nine submachine gun-armed infantry units (SMG). They also have moderate offboard artillery support, and can draw an aircraft unit once per hour (on XX30 turns).

The Soviet player decides to have all his forces enter on the northern road because it's in more open terrain and therefore gives the German cavalry fewer places to hide and prepare for charges. This also takes the three Tiger IIs on the southern road out of the game unless they can slog their way north without running out of gas (even then they'll be a long time coming).

The Soviets can fire smoke once per turn, so they'll do this to screen themselves from the Tiger IIs and move as many tanks as close as possible to them before opening fire. They'll send some lighter and faster T34/85 tanks out ahead, hoping to draw long-range fire from the Tigers and thus reveal their positions to the Tiger-killing JS-2s (which can fire at almost the range of the Tigers). The tanks will stick to the road as much as possible moving west, while the infantry will move along their flanks (the mud slows the tanks enough that the infantry won't have much trouble keeping up).

0900 Hours (Turn 1)

German initiative starts at 3, and Soviet initiative starts at 4. The Soviets win the roll and get one activation before the Germans.

The T34/85s spearhead the Soviet advance, entering the road on the northeastern board and moving westward toward the town there. The mud adds one to the movement point cost of all terrain entered by mechanized units and wagons, so it’s slow going for the tanks. They can’t see beyond the town and the woods flanking it, so the German cavalry uses strategic movement to gallop at least ten hexes eastward from their starting positions (more for cavalry on the northern road). One cavalry detachment moves to concealed positions in the swamp north of the road on the center-north board.

Soviet SMG platoons then enter on the north flank of the tank advance, and more German cavalry moves north from between the roads to take up position in a town north of the northern road and west of the swamp. The rest of the Soviet SMGs enter on the south flank, and more cavalry moves northeast from the southern road.

Finally, the grenadiers and StuGIII on the northern hill move eastward on the road to confront the Soviet tank spearhead, and the StuG does not run out of gas.

0915

The Germans win initiative by one activation. The StuG and grenadier move farther east to a copse of woods just south of the road, near the east edge of the north-central board.

Then the Soviet tank spearhead moves west toward them, entering the town on the northeastern board but not yet moving to within line-of-sight of any German units. The cavalry in the swamp north of the road take advantage of this and use strategic movement again to move southeast, to the woods south of the town. They intend to hit the oncoming Soviet infantry as it enters the woods, or from behind if they follow the tanks down the road to the north.

More Soviet tanks enter the board on the road, and the cavalry in the town north of the road moves eastward to the swamp. Soviet infantry south of the road moves west toward the woods south of town. More cavalry moves up from the southern road and enters another swamp south of the road. Then the first JS-2s enter the road from offboard, and the grenadiers from the southern road move north, while the German AT gun there limbers up and hitches to the wagon for the long slog north. The other units on the southern road remain in place in case some Soviet units enter on the southeast board edge.

0930

The Soviets draw one air unit — a P39 with a direct fire value of 18 and one die of tankbusting capability. The Germans win initiative by one activation, and send their cavalry eastward from the swamp south of the road into the woods south of the town to strengthen the opposition to the advancing Soviet SMG platoons.

The Soviet aircraft attacks but rolls a 2 and misses the copse with the grenadier and StuG just south of the road. The grenadiers from the south road continue moving north. The Soviet infantry on the north flank of the advance move westward and break into the open north of the town. They plan to charge directly at the copse with the StuG and grenadier, hoping to draw their fire so the tanks in the town can spot them and mow them down.

German offboard artillery responds and disrupts one of the SMG units that just broke into the open. Soviet offboard artillery replies, hitting now-spotted cavalry on the edge of the woods south of the road, but the fire has no effect. The German wagon starts moving north with the AT gun.

The tank spearhead moves to the southwestern town hex, leaving the town hex north of them open so the JSU-152 assault guns can move in there and provide overwhelming long-range direct fire against any cavalry that break into the open near the road. The Germans pass, and the Soviets move their south-flank SMGs into the woods south of town to confront the gathering cavalry there. The Germans pass again, and the rest of the Soviet units enter the road from the east. This is the signal for all the units on the southern road to start the long drive north.

0945

The Soviets win initiative by two activations, and two SMG platoons north of the town start by advancing directly upon the StuG and grenadier in the copse south of the road. They move adjacent to it, and the Germans have no choice but to open up with point-blank opportunity fire (even though it’s suicide for the StuG) since they’ll get assaulted by the SMGs next turn if they don’t.

The Germans roll a 5 on the 45 column, inflicting one step loss on an SMG and demoralizing it, and disrupting their captain. Other SMGs advance behind them, but can't reach the copse because their lieutenant had to stay behind to keep from losing contact with the disrupted SMG (it fails to recover). The StuG and Grenadier hit these units with opportunity fire as well, and disrupt one of them. On their second activation, the south-flank SMGs move adjacent to the German cavalry in the woods, and opportunity fire from the cavalry is ineffective.

The German cavalry on the edge of the woods charges northwest and hits the demoralized SMG and its captain adjacent to the StuG and grenadier. No tanks from the town can hit them with opportunity fire due to woods in the way, and the cavalry charge wipes out the demoralized SMG and their captain.

Then the T34/85s in the town open up. The first one hits the StuG, doing one step loss to it and demoralizing it. The other two hit the cavalry that just wiped out the SMG and captain, disrupting and demoralizing the two cavalry units respectively. Other tanks move laterally into firing positions north of the town.

The Soviets move three JSU-152s into the northern town hex. Their direct fire range is 8, so they'll have a huge field of fire against the cavalry and grenadiers anywhere near the road.

German offboard artillery disrupts another SMG on the road (the artillery captain with his itty-bitty guns is outdoing himself today . . .), and the remaining JSU and Tiger move west. The grenadiers from the south move north, ending up just shy of the road on the center-north board, and just outside JSU-152 range. Soviet offboard artillery responds and hits them, rolling an 11 on the 30 column and doing one step loss and disrupting and demoralizing the two units there. The Tigers from the south move north, and one of them runs out of gas just two hexes north of the southern road. It's out of the game unless the Soviets come south.

The turn then ends on a Fog of War roll. The Germans have now taken three step losses (the tank step loss counts double), and the Soviets have taken two.

1000

The Germans win initiative by one activation. The exposed forward units in and around the copse activate and try to recover morale. One cavalry unit next to the copse recovers, but the StuG and another demoralized cavalry fail and flee. The StuG flees westward down the road, while the cavalry flees south.

The SMGs in the woods south of town assault the cavalry there. It's three Soviet SMGs and a lieutenant versus two German cavalry and a lieutenant. Both sides roll well and inflict one step loss. The German lieutenant and the cavalry that took the step loss are demoralized, and the other cavalry unit is disrupted. One Soviet SMG is disrupted and another is demoralized, leaving a third and their leader in good order.

The major commanding the SMG that could not pile into the assault hex decides the situation on the south flank is under control, and decides to link up with the north-flank advance. He does this because their captain was killed by the German cavalry charge, and all they have now is a lieutenant with a morale of 7 and no morale bonus. He moves out of the woods northwest and links up with them. German offboard artillery fires and once again displays superior accuracy, disrupting the lieutenant and an SMG with him (smart move by the major).

Then the three JSU-152s in the town open fire on the grenadiers and their lieutenant in the copse by the road. Their combined firepower is 54, and they disrupt the lieutenant and demoralize the grenadier.

The T34/85s in the hexes north and south of the JSU-152s both hit the cavalry next to the copse, but the cavalry holds morale. Then the sergeant leading the cavalry which came up from the southern hill heads east to the woods to reinforce the assault there. Soviet offboard artillery hits the two cavalry units trailing behind the sergeant which couldn't quite make it to the woods, and demoralizes one of them. Then the grenadier in the copse by the road tries to recover morale but fails and flees with its lieutenant.

The Soviet lieutenant on the road fails to recover morale. The demoralized German lieutenant in the assault hex in the woods also fails to recover and exits the hex, but the two cavalry units he was leading both recover to good-order and stay (the demoralized one rolls a 2, recovering to good order immediately). More disrupted Soviet SMGs on the road fail to recover, the German HMG from the south road moves north, and the turn ends on a Fog of War roll.

The Germans have now taken 4 step losses, and the Soviets have taken 3.

Slayer of Tigers, the JSU-152.

1015

The Soviets win initiative by one activation, and the JSU-152s in town open fire and demoralize the cavalry by the copse south of the road. Then the tanks charge out of town and move west down the road, stopping just short of the charge range of the cavalry in the swamp north of the road. Another tank fires and disrupts a German leader.

The German cavalry sergeant who made it to the woods last turn piles into the assault hex with one of his cavalry units, bringing the German total to three cavalry in the hex (all good-order). The demoralized lieutenant and cavalry unit he leaves behind are inspired by his bravery, and both recover morale. Again, both sides score one step loss in the assault (both roll sixes), but all the Soviets become demoralized. Two German cavalry also become demoralized, and one becomes disrupted, but the sergeant is unfazed.

Soviet offboard artillery hits the disrupted grenadiers just south of the road and west of the tank advance. It rolls a 3 on the 30 column, doing one step loss and demoralizing the remaining grenadier and its leader.

German offboard artillery replies and hits the major and his SMG unit near the road, and rolling a 2 on the 8 column (the artillery captain is up for a promotion . . .). The SMG makes its morale check, but the major becomes demoralized! The lieutenant next to him recovers morale, but the SMG with him does not. Demoralized German cavalry south of the road next to the copse also fail to recover and flee. Then the demoralized major fails to recover and flees northeast (what was he thinking coming here . . .), leaving the lieutenant all alone with his disrupted charges. The demoralized StuG on the road also fails to recover and flees westward from the advancing Soviet tanks.

The Soviets in the assault hex are all demoralized and all fail to recover. They exit the hex, but the only non-demoralized German unit there is disrupted and can't do any damage with its half-strength “free shot.” The German grenadier and its leader that fled from the copse continue fleeing, and the JS-2s move west from the town. The HMG moves northward, and the turn ends on a Fog of War roll.

The Germans have now taken 6 step losses, and the Soviets have taken 4.

1030

German initiative is now 2 while Soviet initiative is still 4. The Soviets draw a mega-powerful IL-2-34 tankbuster aircraft, and win initiative by two activations. The aircraft goes after the King Tigers on the hill, but rolls a 1 and misses the hex (where's a decent pilot when you need him?).

The T34/85s leading the advance move west, bypassing the cavalry in the swamp to the north and moving beyond their charge range. They are now within 150% of the Tiger II’s AT-fire range, meaning the Tigers could hit them at half-strength. They’re hoping this will happen, so the JS-2s can spot them and move up from behind to start hitting them full-strength.

More T34/85s advance to a position three hexes behind the lead tanks — they're within charge range of the cavalry but the intervening hex is within maximum range of the JSU-152s in the town, so a charge would be suicide.

Then the sergeant and his cavalry in the woods charge the retreating, demoralized Soviet SMGs. The two demoralized cavalry he was with flee, but the others behind him pile in. The Soviet leader and one SMG unit are wiped out, but two other demoralized units remain in the assault hex. This is good, because it means the Soviet tanks to the north can't fire on the Germans.

The Soviet tanks continue moving westward on the road. German offboard artillery hits the lieutenant and his SMGs again, but there’s no effect. Then the demoralized Soviet units in the cavalry assault south of town fail to recover and exit the hex, and the cavalry’s “free shot” inflicts another step loss on them. The cavalry sergeant has now crushed the southern Soviet infantry advance completely, cutting the Soviet SMG force in half.

The German cavalry in the swamp north of the road decides not to charge through the JSU-152 fire to get to the tanks on the road, so they fall back westward to the town north of the road and just east of the hill where the King Tigers are. The demoralized leader and grenadier already in the town stay demoralized. Soviet offboard artillery then hits straggling cavalry units just outside the town and rolls a 10 on the 42 column, inflicting one step loss and demoralizing the other unit.

The StuG continues fleeing west, and three JS-2s at the south edge of town open fire on the heroic cavalry sergeant who drove the SMGs out of the woods there. One of the cavalry units with him is disrupted, the other is OK, and the sergeant himself rolls a 2 for morale and sits his horse defiantly and unmoving (there's an Iron Cross in this for sure).

Other demoralized German cavalry south of the road flee, and most of the Soviet SMGs on the road recover morale. The Tigers move north from the southern road, and the demoralized Soviet major fails to recover again and continues fleeing northeast and into the woods there.

The Germans have now taken 7 step losses, and the Soviets have taken 6.

Soviet armored infantry.

1045

German initiative is still 2 while Soviet initiative is still 4. The Soviets win by one activation, and the lead T34/85 blows up the fleeing StuG. The other T34/85s with it spread out on the road to let the JS-2s behind them move past and engage the Tigers on the hill.

The heroic cavalry sergeant withdraws back into the woods to avoid further tank fire from the town. One disrupted cavalry which was with him stays behind and recovers. Then some of the T34s on the road behind the spearhead start moving offroad to the southwest and northwest, screening the impending infantry advance from German cavalry. They get next to both swamps, which will force the demoralized German cavalry there to flee if they don’t recover.

But the eagle-eyed German artillery captain pre-empts the infantry advance by hitting the Soviet lieutenant with a 3 on the 8 column, disrupting him and an SMG with him. Soviet offboard artillery replies and disrupts more cavalry.

The German demoralized cavalry in the north swamp flee from the adjacent tanks and head for the town to the west. Then the JS-2s move west from the town on the road while the JSU-152 assault guns move southwest offroad to screen the south flank of the infantry advance from the cavalry sergeant. The demoralized German cavalry in the southern swamp flees south from the advancing tanks, and the turn ends on a Fog of War roll.

The Germans have now taken 9 step losses, and the Soviets have taken 6.

1100

The Germans win initiative by one, and the cavalry sergeant moves to the southwest corner of the woods to give a morale boost to the recovering cavalry that's in the open next to the woods.

The Soviet player wants to fire smoke to screen the tank advance so they can move into the full-power fire range of the Tigers. But the oft-disrupted lieutenant is the only non-demoralized Soviet leader on the board now thanks to the two German heroes, and he’s way back east and can’t see past the copse to spot the preferred smoke hex. If the JS-2s just waltz into Tiger range unscreened they'll be mauled, so they move up to 10 hexes away from the Tigers and wait for the lieutenant to get his act together. German offboard artillery does not harm the lieutenant this turn, and he and the unit he's with both recover morale.

A cavalry unit in the town north of the road recovers, and a German major and two good-order cavalry move northeast from the town gunning for the lieutenant, running a long dogleg outside the range of the Soviet AFVs ahead of him. Tanks move north of the road to counter this move and screen the lieutenant and his SMGs as they move west. Then the three JSU-152s just south of the road and west of the town open fire, and annihilate a full-strength cavalry unit just outside the woods next to the heroic sergeant (they died bravely for him…).

The Tigers from the south move north, and the disrupted SMGs on the road next to the Soviet lieutenant do not recover morale. Then offroad tanks fire and demoralize more cavalry north of the road. The German HMG moves north again, and tanks move south from the road to counter it. A German captain alone and three hexes southwest of those tanks recovers morale, and more tanks move north of the road to screen the wide-riding cavalry. Then the demoralized Soviet major in the woods northeast of town finally recovers, and so does the disrupted German lieutenant next to the heroic sergeant in the woods south of town.

The Germans have now taken 11 step losses, while the Soviets have still taken only 6.

Fascist shells cannot harm our brave lieutenant.

1115

German initiative is now 1, while Soviet initiative is still 4, but the Germans win by one activation! German offboard artillery fires again at the lieutenant, but is ineffective. He and his four good-order SMGs move westward around the copse, and can now spot for smoke (the disrupted SMG he was previously babysitting stays behind and finally recovers). The Soviet infantry is now completely screened by tanks on all sides, so the cavalry has no hope of getting to them. The Tigers therefore move north again (their gasoline still not running out), and are now just one hex away from being at 150% of firing range on the T34/85s south of the road.

The lieutenant spots for smoke fire, and successfully places a smoke marker in a good screening position east of the Tigers, well within Soviet tank range.

The cavalry leader running a dogleg north of the road changes his target and rides east to try to kill the Soviet major in the woods. But in the first hex he enters he’s hit by long-range fire from the single JSU-152 north of the road, and is demoralized. He and his cavalry aren’t going anywhere.

The Soviet tanks advance westward, with two JS-2s and a T34/85 ending up one hex east of the smoke marker, and more tanks trailing in the two road hexes behind them. All are screened by smoke.

The cavalry sergeant, with the heart of a Hussar of old, knows the moment has arrived and gallops out of the woods toward a charge position south of the road, from whence he'll hit the lieutenant or die trying. Unfortunately, death comes early, as the three JSU-152s fire on them immediately, rolling a 3 on the 45 column and mowing them all down. The lieutenant, seeing his fearless sergeant and cavalry fall under a hail of bullets, decides that it's more important to head south through the woods and round up the demoralized cavalry there . . .

The Soviet tanks extend their screen north of the road, and the Soviet major in the woods to the northeast recovers to good order. More units move and recover, and the turn ends on a Fog of War roll.

During the Marker Removal Phase, the smoke marker drifts one hex to the northeast, right into the hex with the lead JS-2s. This is perfect, as it screens them from Tiger fire and lets them wait until the Tigers have revealed themselves by firing at the weaker, unscreened T34/85s on the road behind them.

The Germans have now taken 13 step losses, and the Soviets have still taken only 6.

The Red Army’s heavy artillery.

1130

The Soviets win initiative by 1 activation, and drawn an IL-2M aircraft with light tank-busting capability (rolls one die for tank damage). It zeroes in on the King Tigers . . . but rolls a 2 and misses the hex! Not a single Soviet aircraft has hit its target all game long. And with all the infantry's dithering, the tankers decide to stop pussy-footing around and just charge down the Tigers’ throats.

They’re startled out of their rage fast, as the first Tiger opens up on the T34/85s in the third road hex behind the smoke marker. Tiger #1 fires twice (all tanks in this scenario have Armor Efficiency), and with an AT firepower of 11 to the T34/85's armor of 5, each shot obliterates an entire tank unit! That's two units gone, and counts for 8 Soviet step losses!

The JS-2s in the smoke hex immediately return fire. They have an AT firepower of 8, the Tigers have an armor of 8, and there's a –2 AT fire penalty due to the Tigers being dug in on a higher elevation. So the JS-2s need 12s to hit. Each fires twice, and the first one rolls two elevens, bouncing shells of the Tiger’s armor. The other misses completely. Gaaaaaauuuuugggggghhhhhhh! (Or whatever that is in Russian.)

Then the second Tiger opens up on the newly-revealed JS-2s in the smoke cloud. It fires once at each of them, and does a step loss to each, but both make their morale checks.

The last JS-2 in the tank spearhead is behind the smoke cloud, so it moves offroad and up to the town, taking up a more protected firing position. Then two T34-85s, having no hope of hitting the Tigers from afar, cry "Na Zapad!" and rush the Tigers’ position, hoping to get adjacent to it so they can use point-blank fire. Seemingly in revenge for the heroic cavalry sergeant, Tiger #3 opens up with opportunity fire, annihilates one of the T34/85 units, and does a step loss to the other, demoralizing it.

The two mobile Tigers from the south move north, and now have the T34/85s south of the road within firing range. The T34/85s skedaddle, moving north to the road, and the Soviet lieutenant and his SMGs move westward. The turn ends on a Fog of War roll, and the smoke disappears.

The Germans are holding steady at 13 step losses, but the Soviets have now taken 24!

1145

Both sides now have an initiative of 1. The Germans win by one activation, and Tiger #1 destroys the remaining two JS-2 steps on the road. The JS-2 that moved to the town returns fire, but misses. Tiger #2 fires and annihilates it. Tiger #3 hits another tank unit, doing a step loss and demoralizing it, and then the Tigers from the south open fire at long range with a crossfire bonus and eliminate the last tanks of the Soviet spearhead. The remaining Soviet tanks pull back out of Tiger range while the lieutenant continues moving west with his four SMGs.

1200 - 1230

Tiger #1 keeps firing while #2 and #3 move east and pile into the hex with the HMG on the road. The lieutenant and his four HMGs move west under smoke screen and adjacent to the Tigers. Two SMGs out of four are hit and demoralized as they move adjacent, leaving two for the assault.

But on the 1215 turn the last German hero, the artillery captain, earns his own Iron Cross by disrupting the lieutenant. He can’t order anybody but the one good-order SMG in his own hex to assault on turn 1230. The Soviets draw another tankbuster on 1230 and get the initiative . . . but it rolls a 2 and misses. The Tigers then open up on the adjacent SMGs and kill or demoralize them all.

The tank spearhead is twisted wreckage on the road, the infantry is shattered, and the air force is drunk on vodka, so the Soviets withdraw, the German score a major victory, and the cavalry sergeant gets a whole platter of posthumous fried eggs.

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