Tactics in Sinister Forces
Part II: Even a Dead Communist Inspires Fear in the Enemy!
(unless he has tread marks all over him . . .)
By Doug McNair
March 2006

After suffering an ignominious defeat at the hands of schoolchildren in my last Sinister Forces outing, I was determined to have another go at the Soviets and redeem my honor. Best way to do that, I figured, was to go up against some of the best troops they have, and use German combined arms to triumph over superior Soviet morale in highly defensible terrain.

Our “Even a Dead Communist . . .” scenario fit the bill perfectly. Played on a large, roughly square surface of six boards — with boards 9, 7 (inverted) and 2 laid-out vertically left to right, and boards 11, 3 (inverted) and 10 laid out left to right below them — it’s a double-dash to the river. Six platoons from the Soviet NKVD 26th Frontier Regiment start off on the western boards in roadblock positions in town and forest terrain. Elements of the German 23rd Panzer Division enter the west board edge and must push past the Soviets to take control of at least one of the two east-west roads (plus the towns along it) for a Minor Victory, or take control of all towns on all boards for a Major Victory.

But just as the Germans are entering the west edge, the Soviet 11th NKVD Division and 2nd Tank Brigade enter the east edge. They must inflict at least 20 step losses on the Germans and keep control of at least two towns for a Minor Victory. For a Major Victory, they make sure that at game-end no German units are east of the north-south river that runs through the center of the map on boards 7 and 3.

Factors Driving Play

The following factors define tactics for the Soviets and Germans.

The people’s defenders wield anti-tank rifles of great power.

Soviet

The double-dash nature of the scenario would seem to be tough on the Russians. They have no trucks for their infantry, which must use Strategic Movement to move west on the roads quickly before Germans top the western hills and spot them. They also have only four platoons of heavy T34/76 tanks, and two platoons of light T60’s, the latter of which won’t last a minute under panzer fire.

But the western roadblocks, combined with the fact that NKVD troops all have higher morale than the Germans, are more than enough to compensate for slow Soviet movement. NKVD base morale of 8 plus their reasonable compliment of leaders makes them tough to disrupt or demoralize with ranged fire. It also makes them even harder to dislodge from town and woods hexes through assaults. Units with superior morale and a leader get +2 column shifts on the assault table, while enemy units assaulting woods or town hexes get -1 and -2 column shifts respectively. That, plus the fact that units don’t have to counter-assault when assaulted, means that just a few high-morale units with leaders can hold town or woods hexes against enemies for a long time. If they can do that long enough for the NKVD infantry plus the tanks to get to the western boards in force, they can stop the Germans from ever seeing the river.

German

Luckily for the Germans, they have plenty of tools at their disposal to deal with the NKVD. They have 11 tank platoons, two platoons of P204f armored cars, and three platoons of SPW 251 halftracks. These armored units all have direct fire ranges of at least five hexes, meaning they can stack up and pound NKVD infantry positions from a distance with little fear of being assaulted. They can also travel with German infantry overland to provide superior firepower, outflank Soviet positions and drive wedges between Soviet infantry units on the roads. The Germans also have plenty of leaders and two Engineer platoons, all of which provide positive column shifts in town assaults. Finally, the Germans have superior offboard artillery firepower, and get to draw one aircraft unit every other turn. So, they can hit Soviet units at a distance for a long time before advancing on them with their own infantry. The Germans need to use all these tools to balance their strategy carefully, using superior mobility to perform flanking maneuvers while not dispersing their forces so much that their superior firepower becomes diluted.

Game Summary

Here’s what happened when I took on the NKVD.

Setup

The Russians set up two NKVD Rifle platoons plus an anti-tank rifle platoon in the forest crossroads hex on Board 9, plus the road hex just west of it. They set up the rest of NKVD 26th Frontier Regiment’s units (3 RIF platoons and a 45mm AT gun platoon) in the two westernmost hexes of the town on Board 11.

The roads connect all boards, meaning Russian tanks can eventually get to the main German thrust from any position. So, they decide to bring their tanks in at the eastern edges of both boards 2 and 10. The Russians think the Germans will probably launch their main attack to the south, on Board 11, since the terrain there is more open and less hilly, giving panzers greater mobility and fire range, and artillery spotters a good view. They therefore assign the majority of their infantry and all their support weapons to enter the road at the east edge of board 10, and a smaller force of infantry to enter the east edge of Board 2 (to the north).

The Germans do indeed plan to launch their attack on the southern east-west road, and assign almost all their forces to enter the west edge of Board 11. They will bring in most of their infantry plus six panzer platoons at the road itself to hit the town on Board 11 head-on. A smaller force of infantry plus five panzer platoons will enter the light woods at the northern end of Board 11, maneuvering in a quarter-circle north and east of the town to take the east-west road from the north and cut the town off from any reinforcements coming from the east.

A 76.2mm field gun prepares to open fire.

Turn 1: 0700

Starting Initiative is German 3/Russian 2. The Russians win the initiative roll, getting 1 activation before the Germans. Two heavy T34/76 tank platoons use strategic movement to speed west down the southern road all the way to the town on Board 11, taking up flank-guard positions in the northwestern and southwestern corners of the town. The two T60 tank platoons are slower, but make it to the eastern edge of the town as well. The main force of Soviet infantry and support weapons slog down the road to the eastern town on Board 10.

The Germans activate and bring in all their PzIVEs and PzIIIJs plus three HMG platoons to a position two hexes west of the town on Board 11. Russian opportunity fire from the town is ineffective.

The other two T34/76 platoons enter the eastern edge of Board 2 to the north and dash westward to where the NKVD roadblock is at the crossroads on Board 9. The smaller infantry force enters Board 2 as well and makes it to the town there.

A German airstrike and Russian AT fire from the western town are ineffective. Then five PzIIIH platoons, three SPW 251 APCs, plus infantry, HMGs and an Engineer platoon enter at the north end of Board 11 and head east through light woods. They would have liked to use strategic movement to make it to the north-south road on Board 11 and beyond, but the T34/76 that made it to the northwest corner of the town there can sight down the road, so they can’t strat-move there. They make it to a point just west of the road, with line of sight to the town blocked by woods to the south.

More Russian infantry forces enter the east edge of Board 10. German 50MM AT guns and mortars on trucks enter the west edge of Board 11 south of the road and head for a patch of light woods southwest of the town. The Soviets pass, and the two German P204f armored cars enter the western edge of Board 9 (in the forest north of the other German forces) and use their superior movement allowance plus strategic movement to make it all the way to the north-south road on Board 9. This will block the movement of Soviet forces coming south from the crossroads on Board 9 toward the main German assault.

Soviet offboard artillery then opens up, and rolls a 3 on the 21 column on a stack of 3 HMG units just west of the town on Board 11. It does one step loss to the Germans, with one HMG Demoralized and another Disrupted. This is bad for the Germans — they were counting on those HMGs to pour massive fire into the town in preparation for an assault there. They had to stack three-high because the road up the hill to the town is the only way for them to get close enough to fire at it without a negative column modifier for range. However, stacking three-high is what helped the Soviet artillery get a step loss on them (target-rich environment).

German offboard artillery replies and disrupts an NKVD rifle platoon in the town. Further Soviet and German offboard artillery is ineffective.

0715

So far the Germans have taken one step loss and the Soviets have taken none. Initiative is still German 3/Soviet 2. The Soviets win the initiative roll and get 1 activation before the Germans. The T34/76 at the southwest corner of the western town fires at a PzIVE to the west, but misses. Then the remaining good-order German units west of the town activate to move and fire. One NKVD rifle platoon in the town is demoralized, but the German HMG which the Soviet offboard artillery demoralized fails to recover and flees west to the woods. Two German infantry units advance adjacent to the town, and Soviet opportunity fire on them is ineffective.

The main Soviet infantry force to the east on Board 10 use strategic movement to move westward as fast as possible before Germans move east to spot them. They make it to the town just east of the river on Board 3.

The German tanks and infantry north of the western town now move east. The T34 that can spot them from the town would need an 11 to hit a moving PzIIIH at long range with opportunity fire, so it lets the tanks go by and waits to see if the infantry accompanying them go east or attack southward down the road. This also forces the infantry to keep moving on foot rather than hopping on trucks or halftracks — trucks and APCs are toast to a T34. The Germans move to the road and beyond, but stay outside the T34’s direct fire range. The T34 then moves up the trail through the woods northeast of town, to a village hex southeast of the German advance. It plans to pop the Panzers at short range as they go by.

The Germans unload their AT guns and mortars in the woods southwest of the town. Then the Soviet T60’s move to the position on the north edge of the town that the T34 vacated when it went Panzer hunting. The Germans and Soviets then trade offboard artillery fire, with an NKVD captain and rifle platoon in the town becoming disrupted and a German infantry unit that advanced next to the town becoming demoralized. A previously-demoralized NKVD rifle platoon in the town recovers morale, and the T34’s at the crossroads on Board 9 move south on the road and adjacent to the German armored cars blocking it. The armored cars pull back a few hexes to the south and around the corner, still blocking the road but unspottable by the T34’s.

0730

Initiative is still 3/2, and the Germans draw a weak Me109 squadron for air support. The Soviets win the initative roll and get one activation before the Germans. The Soviet captain in the western town is now disrupted, so he can’t combine fire from two hexes on the Germans adjacent to the town. So, the two disrupted NKVD RIF units in his hex fire on them at point-blank range, scoring an M2 result on the 16 column. But the good-order German unit makes its morale check, and the demoralized German unit isn’t affected.

The Germans west of town all activate, firing and assaulting. Three panzer platoons blast away at the T34 in the southwestern town hex, but they need a 12 to hit it because it’s in town and up on a hill. Even with armor efficiency (that is, each full-strength Panzer can AT fire twice per action segment) they miss. The Demoralized German unit just west of the town recovers, and the remaining adjacent units assault into the town. They score no damage, but they tie up the Soviets there so they can’t fire out of the town anymore, including the 45mm AT gun (a fact important to the pnzers). Then more German units advance on the town, and opportunity fire from the T34 which the Panzers failed to kill scores a step loss on an advancing HMG (disrupting it and its leader) and disrupts another infantry unit as well. Then, three PzIVE’s move northeast to a hex just adjacent to the two T60s guarding the north road. They’re dead if they stay.

The Soviets east of the river on Board 3 are still outside German line of sight (hills and woods are in the way), so they use strategic movement again. They split into two groups, with one heading west to engage the Germans on that side of the river, and the rest (including the supporting artillery and AT guns) staying east of the river and in the town on Board 3 in case the German northern advance decides to cross the river and head in that direction.

The Germans north of town also split, with the Panzers and some infantry units advancing to the eastern edge of Board 11 (the commanding Colonel riding the lead tank), and the remaining infantry, HMGs and engineer unit heading south down the road to the town and the newly-beleaguered T60’s. The German eastern advance rounds the hill at the east edge of Board 11 and spots the lead infantry units of the Soviet westward road advance (no more strategic movement for them). The east-west road the Soviets are on is 5 hexes south of the Panzers. But the T34 in the village southwest of the German advance opens up on the infantry there with opportunity fire, rolling a 12 and causing a step loss to one INF unit and demoralizing it.

The T60’s opt not to hit the southward-advancing Germans with opportunity fire, as doing so would make them stay put and die. They opt to leave instead, hoping the T34’s coming down the northern road will hit the Germans from the rear and slow their advance. The T60’s head to the east edge of town, outside the line of sight of the PzIVE’s, hoping to hit the German infantry east of town as it comes south to hit the Soviets on the road. Unfortunately, the departure of the T60’s leaves the road wide open for the German infantry to the north to enter town and cut off the 26th Frontier Regiment from the east. So, unless the 26th wants to die bravely, it has to withdraw eastward unless the westward-marching Soviets can get to the town before the southward-marching Germans.

German offboard artillery hits the Soviet road marchers east of town, rolling a 3 on the 30 table and scoring a step loss on one of the two units on point, demoralizing both of them. The Kommissar traveling just behind them has his work cut out for him.

Soviet offboard artillery is ineffective on the Germans coming south to take the town. Then German offboard artillery hits the western town, demoralizing the Captain and his two RIF units there (the Kommissar is spitting blood). However, German optics aren’t what they should be today, and friendly fire hits a stack of German units that is massed to assault the town. The Engineer unit with them (key to killing the just-demoralized Russians in town) is disrupted, so he’s not going anywhere. Somebody back at Artillery Command is in trouble now.

There are no good-order Soviet leaders in position to spot for offboard artillery anymore, so remaining Soviet offboard artillery this turn is wasted. But the T34’s that have been playing cat-and-mouse with the German armored cars on the road to the north decide to offroad-it, smashing through the woods, down the hill, into the clear, and into the rear of both German advances north and northeast of the town.

The Luftwaffe misses its target, and the remainder of the turn consists of Soviet units from the north and northeast moving toward the action, while the Germans unload and unlimber their mortars and AT guns southwest of town. The demoralized Soviets in town try to recover but fail, but since they’re surrounded by Germans they have nowhere to flee. They stay put and cower.

German air support arrives.

0745

Initiative is still 3/2, and the Soviets win by 1 activation. The two T34’s in the rear of the German northern advances fire at the PzIIIHs leading the southeastern advance. Both miss. The Germans north of the town move south and enter it, staying clear of the T34 at the southwestern edge of town (they want the Panzers and AT guns outside of town to take it out before heading down to assault the other Soviet units there).

The Soviets east of town march west to save their comrades there. One of the two demoralized units at the point of the march flees south while the other recovers. Long-range opportunity fire from the three PzIIIH’s in range of the road is ineffective. The German AT guns south of the town fire at the T34 on the south edge of town and miss, but the mortars demoralize an NKVD RIF unit on the road. The T34 then blasts a PzIVE west of town, doing one step loss and demoralizing the other step. Then the three PzIVE’s at the north edge of town (the ones from which the T60’s fled) move south through town and get adjacent to the T34 that just killed the Panzer outside of town. The PzIVEs’ new position also gives them LOS on the reluctant T60s again.

The T34 in the village northeast of town rolls a modified 12, eliminating both steps of one of the two unactivated PzIIIH’s north of the road there. The remaining unactivated panzer and two good-order German infantry units advance adjacent to the T34 to assault it next turn. The three SPW 251 halftracks stack with the other three panzers to concentrate maximum firepower on the road to the south. But the half-strength demoralized German infantry unit that took the step loss from the T34 last turn flees north.

The Soviet anti-tank rifle on the northern road fires but misses the German armored cars. The two NKVD RIF platoons with it (plus their leader) go offroad south around the armored cars. The leader wants to go south and get out of the woods fast so he can spot for artillery on the Germans in and around the town. Opportunity fire from the armored cars is ineffective.

The German units west of town try to recover morale but only some are able to do so. The half-strength demoralized PzIVE that the T34 in town hit fails to recover and flees south. Then two PZIIIJ platoons advance adjacent to the T34 on the south edge of town. The T34 now has five Panzer units adjacent to it, to the northeast and the southwest. If it stays, the Panzers will get crossfire bonuses. Seeing this, the T60’s flee once again, because they’re sure that the T34 will die before all the PzIVE’s fire at it, and one PzIVE with armor efficiency could kill both T60’s. They move east to a woods hex that’s north of the road but out of LOS of the PzIIIH’s farther north. Their hope is to hit the German infantry or APC’s as they come south.

The Germans pass, waiting for Soviet units in town to try to recover from morale before hitting them with offboard artillery. They all do recover morale, and German offboard artillery is ineffective, except for more friendly fire, which demoralizes the German engineer adjacent to the town (send that artillery captain to the Russian Front! Oh, wait . . .).

0800

The Germans have now taken 8 step losses, while the Soviets have taken only one. Initiative levels are now 2/2, but the Germans win the initiative roll. The two PzIIIJ’s outside of town blast away at the T34 at point-blank range, but miss on all 4 shots. The PzIVE’s will have a +2 crossfire bonus, so the T34 (feeling invulnerable) fires at them but misses. Then two of the threee PzIVE’s destroy the T34, and the third fires at a stack of NKVD RIF units on the road east of town, disrupting two of them.

The Soviets are now embattled on all sides, so it’s hard to decide who to shoot at first. The T34 northeast of town is about to be assaulted by a combined force of tanks and infantry, so it fires at the PzIIIH next to it, killing one step. The panzer makes its morale check, however, so it will be able to assault (though at half-strength).

The Germans who advanced south to the town now assault the NKVD captain and two RIF platoons in the town, but get a bloody nose. All the Germans are disrupted or demoralized, while the Soviets are not affected. Soviet offboard artillery hits the Germans just west of town, and two German leaders there fail their morale checks. The remaining leaders order an assault and try to recover morale for their other units. One unit on each side becomes demoralized, but the much-vaunted Engineer who was hit twice by friendly fire fails to recover from demoralization and flees northwest.

Soviet offboard artillery hits German infantry accompanying the Panzers and halftracks north of the road. The infantry only make their morale check because of Colonel’s +2 morale bonus. Then the two German infantry and the half-strength Panzer assault the T34 that has killed 3 Panzer steps and an Infantry step thus far. Both sides roll an M1 result, and both the T34 and the Panzer become demoralized.

Soviet onboard artillery is ineffective, and a German lieutenant west of town moves to the hex with the two T34 wrecks on the south edge of town. From there, he can spot for artillery fire on the Soviets in the road to the east. Seeing this, the Russians move toward the town as fast as they’re able. Some reach the eastern town hexes, but others in the rear have to head south offroad to avoid massive opportunity fire from the three panzers and APCs stacked together north of the road. Those panzers and APCs plus two accompanying infantry then move south to a position two hexes north of the road on the border between Board 11 and Board 3. This puts them adjacent to the cowardly T60’s, who are in the woods just to the southeast.

The two T34’s on the northern road move south to the north edge of the town. They don’t want to get next to the Panzers (who outnumber them 5 to 2), but they want to keep them occupied so they don’t charge east and slaughter the Russian infantry on the road. The Soviet plan is for the T34’s to hook up with the NKVD RIF platoons that just reached the east edge of the town, then assault the panzers together.

German offboard artillery and the Soviet counterassault of the bloody-nosed German assault in the town are both ineffective. Then the T60’s, who at least have enough pride not to run east across the river, decide to redeem their honor by dying gloriously. They open up on the adjacent German vehicles and kill a halftrack. Then a flight of Stukas hits a 3-high stack of NKVD RIF platoons that just reached the east edge of town, demoralizing one of them and disrupting another (and for once, there’s no Friendly Fire!). This reduces the chances for a Soviet combined-arms assault on the panzers in town.

The Soviet ATR misses the German armored cars to the north, which disrupt an NKVD unit heading south. German mortar fire disrupts an NKVD unit east of town, and the rest of the turn consists of failed recoveries on both sides.

0815

The Germans have now taken 12 step losses, while the Soviets have taken 5. Initiative is now 1/2. The Germans now have the Soviets bracketed on the east and west in town, but the German eastern units are without a leader and the T34’s are between them and the western Soviet units. Half of the Soviet units on the road east of town are disrupted, and the German Panzers, halftracks and infantry are now close enough to hit them with massive firepower, while killing the T60’s as an afterthought. The Stuka strike last turn also killed the best Soviet hope for breaking through to rescue the stalwart NKVD units defending the western edge of town.

The Soviets get the initiative by 1. One of the T34’s in town jumps into the hex with the NKVD troops to try to finish off the bloody-nosed German assault at the west end of town, while the other T34 fires at adjacent Germans separating it from the incoming Soviet troops to the east. Both attacks are ineffective.

Then the panzers, APC’s and infantry north of the road kill both T60’s plus one step of Soviet NKVD troops on the road, and disrupt two more Soviet infantry.

Soviet offboard artillery disrupts one German HMG separating the Soviet units on the eastern and western edges of the town. The German infantry northeast of town assault the demoralized T34 there once again, but are ineffective (the demoralized half-strength Panzer flees). Further Soviet offboard artillery is ineffective.

Then the three PzIV’s on the southeast edge of town fire at the three Soviet units in the eastern town hex that the Stukas hit. They roll a 12 on the 22 table, doing two step losses and disrupting and demoralizing the remaining units there.

There is no longer any chance for a Soviet town assault this turn, and with all the damage to the forces on the road they decide that the western town is lost. They order a retreat from the town, and order their units east of the river to dig in on the east riverbank to keep the Germans from crossing. Their fresh units which entered on Board 2 and have been moving in from the northeast will move through the woods on Board 3 and assault the Germans north of the road from the rear. At the same time, Soviet offboard and onboard artillery fire will hit the German infantry by the road, hoping to it from the Panzers so the Soviet assault can hit the Panzers while they’re alone.

Disrupted and demoralized Soviets in the road try to recover so they can retreat, but are only somewhat successful. One NKVD unit advances northward and adjacent to the huge stack of panzers and APCs to block it from moving south and cutting the Soviet retreat route.

The two PzIIIJ’s move into town to engage the T34’s there. The Soviets in the bloody assault hex try to recover but fail, and one demoralized unit flees. German offboard artillery then demoralizes another Soviet unit on the road. The fresh Soviet units coming from the northeast advance toward the woods near the panzers. Then German offboard artillery fires at the foolish NKVD platoon that moved to block the panzers north of the road. It rolls an 11 on the 30 column, doing a step loss to it and demoralizing the other step. Then the Soviets in the town east of the river move to defensive positions on the east riverbank and prepare to dig in. Then, German mortar fire disrupts the Soviet major on the road (the highest-ranking leader there).

Several demoralized German units in town assault hexes fail to recover and flee. Soviet mortar and 76.2mm fire on the German infantry north of the road is ineffective due to the colonel’s morale bonus. The demoralized German engineer west of town once again fails to recover and keeps running (a lieutenant with a +2 morale bonus in pursuit).

The demoralized Soviet T34 northeast of town flees the assaulting German infantry (free shot ineffective), and more demoralized Soviet units in the eastern part of the town flee south. The armored cars north of town score a step loss on NKVD troops moving south, while the Kommissar brings a leaderless NKVD unit south of the road back to good order (it will have to head east with the retreat).

0830

The Germans are holding steady at 12 step losses, while the Soviets have now taken 18. That’s 13 in one turn! Initiative is now German 1/Soviet 0. The Germans win initiative, and the two PzIIIJ’s in town fire point-blank on the T34’s there, doing one step loss to each of them and demoralizing the remaining two steps.

The Soviets on the road east of town try to recover again, and those that fail and flee, or which are good-order, move east toward the river. The colonel and his tanks and infantry then moves south to the road, cutting the retreat of the remaining Soviets on Board 11. The APC’s with their armor value of 0 are too vulnerable to Soviet AT fire from the town east of the river, so they stay north of the road behind the woods and fire at other units on the road (no effect).

Soviet mortars in the town east of the river hit the German infantry that just reached the road. They score an M2 result, but once again the +2 morale bonus of the German Colonel pulls them through with no worries.

Then a fresh German engineer, infantry unit and leader assault and kill one of the two demoralized half-strength T34’s remaining in town. The remaining Russian infantry in town try to break out but can’t. The other demoralized T34 flees. The German infantry NE of town assaults the demoralized T34 again, and does a step loss.

The Soviet 76.2mm gun in the town east of the river fires but misses a panzer on the road. The panzers are out of range of the 45mm AT guns there. The Germans send a flight of Stukas to hit the 76.2mm and 45mm guns in the town, and the 76.2mm is demoralized. Half the units on the east bank then start digging in, while the Soviet Colonel combines 24 points of HMG firepower to hit the German infantry on the road. It disrupts one infantry unit.

Offboard artillery fire from both sides is ineffective, but PzIVE fire from the western town demoralizes two more Soviet units caught between them and the PzIIIHs to the east.

A firing PzKw IV.

0845

The Germans have still taken only 12 step losses, while the Soviets have now taken 26. Initiative is still 1/0, and the Germans win initiative. The five German tanks in town charge eastward down the road to mop-up the Soviets there, while the Germans assaulting the remaining Soviets at the west edge of town demoralize them all and kill the last T34 step there. The final T34 northeast of town flees.

The few good-order Soviets in the swiftly closing panzer vise head east to hit the colonel and his forces and hopefully escape. But opportunity fire from the two halftracks north of the road inflicts one step loss on the Soviets and kills their major, forcing extra morale checks and demoralizing everyone there. The rest of the Soviets in the vise fail to recover morale and flee. German offboard artillery then does a step loss to an NKVD HMG unit east of the river, but its morale holds.

The demoralized Russian captain in the bloody assault hex at the west of town rolls a 12 on his recovery roll, and deserts. His two units (which were also demoralized) also fail to recover and flee the hex, and the Germans score step losses on them with free shots as they leave. The Russians have now all but deserted the town. Finally, the crew of the 76.2mm gun east of the river fails to recover and deserts the gun, and the Kommissar kills a cowardly Soviet step south of town.

0900

The Germans haven’t taken a step loss since 0800, while the Soviets are now up to 33 step losses. Initiative is still 1/0, but the Soviets win by 4 and get 2 activations. All for Lenin and Mother Russia, a Soviet lieutenant leading a lone NKVD platoon in the road assaults the three PzIIIHs blocking the Soviet escape east. The tanks brush him off, inflicting a step loss on the NKVD platoon. But Soviet offboard artillery demoralizes a German infantry unit north of the road, and the fresh Soviets coming in from the northeast burst out of the woods and move adjacent to the just-demoralized German infantry.

The panzers in the road then wipe out the foolish NKVD platoon (the heroic lieutenant escapes) while the panzers to the west move up to support them, and the demoralized German infantry unit flees from the fresh Soviets to the north. Finally, German assaults wipe out the last of the Russians in the town to the west.

0915

It all comes down to the battle on the road. The Germans get the initiative, and the halftracks fire at the rear of the Soviets who just burst from the woods. The halftrack fire demoralizes one Soviet platoon and the Major leading the force! Then the three PzIIIH’s in the road fire westward at the few remaining Soviets retreating from the town. They demoralize their two leaders and one infantry unit, leaving another disrupted.

The demoralized Russian major who was all set to assault the Panzers in the road fails to recover, and flees north with the demoralized Soviet infantry unit. The Soviet relief force is now leaderless, all Russian units west of the river are scattered, and the Soviet HMG line east of the river is facing a wall of German armor. There are eight Panzer platoons which can hit the HMGs and infantry there at will, along with German offboard artillery and airstrikes. The two Soviet AT guns in the town don’t have the range to hit the Panzers, and they’ll fall to German artillery and airstrikes soon anyway. Meanwhile, the German infantry can march southeast from the western town, cross the river south of the Russian defensive line, and move north to roll up their flank. The German armored cars can range over the northern boards unopposed and take control of both towns there, while the German armor can roll over the Soviets once they break. They will take the remaining towns, and so . . .

The Germans score a Major Victory!

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