In October 1943 the 315th Grenadier Regiment of the 167th Infantry Division had to hold a 10km long battlefront. The Regiment numbered just over nine hundred men and was supported by just four StuG IIIs. Three Soviet guards infantry regiments and a tank regiment with the support of two further Divisions smashed through the 315th and poured westward. The survivors formed small battle groups resisting the Soviet forces flowing west. Chaos followed, with Division first ordering a counter attack with non existing troops, then ordering the survivors to hold their positions.

This scenario pits a small battle group at Solotaryevka and a small wooded hill against overwhelming Soviet odds. Could they hold out against the next wave? A small force with a high proportion of Big Men try to hold off an unknown number of Soviet attackers.

I like to use IABSM 3 Company level rules, but these forces can be adapted to any company level rule set.

 

My Troops

KampfGruppe 1 (village)

HQ

  • Big Man Level 3 
  • 2 x HMGs (5 crew each)

Zug 1

  • Big Man Level 2 
  • Big Man Level 1 
  • 2 x Sections of 8 men

Zug 2 

  • Big Man Level 2 
  • Big Man Level 1 
  • 2 x Sections of 8 men

Support 1

  • 1 x Pak 38 (5 crew)

Support 2

  • 1 x 75mm IG (5 crew)

Kampfgruppe 2 (the woods)

HQ

  • Big Man Level 3 
  • 1 x Forward Observer 
  • 1 x HMG (5 crew)

Zug 3

  • Big Man Level 2 
  • Big Man Level 1 
  • 2 x Sections of 8 men

Armour

  • 1 x StuG III
 

As this was a solo game for the enemy I used the system of blinds from Platoon Forward tweaked for company level, that way I wouldn't know the exact make up the enemy, each blind may represent a platoon, HQ, heavy weapons group or nothing.

I used the following: 7 x Type A , 5 x Type B and 3 x Type C. I then shuffled them and diced to see which section of the table they arrived on and which would be reserves. As it turned out all but two started on the table.

 

The Game In Pictures

 

The battleground, Soviet Blinds mass for the assault

Kampfgruppe 2 defending the woods

Kampfgruppe 1 on the village perimeter

Inside the village

Soviet blinds revealed. Argh! most blinds contained forces, this was going to be pretty one sided

Blinds revealed at the other end of the table. One armoured platoon, an infantry platoon and CHQ with MMGs

Platoon 4 advance on the wood supported by a platoon of T34s, confident that the previous waves had silenced the Bosch

T34s engage Zug 2

Solotaryevka under attack

Soviet machine gunners in the open, too good a target, the machine gun bursts into life

They pay the price and are cut down

Soviet armour stands off and shells the wooded hill (PSC T34s: great value!)

The lone StuG behind the wood engages the armour assaulting Solotaryevka

Human wave! Two platoons of Soviet infantry charge the German defenders

1st Platoon's charge is short!

BUT 2ND PLATOON CLOSES WITH JERRY!

Sweeping away the defenders, they gain a foothold in the village

The German section and an HMG open fire, cutting down the Soviet platoon caught short

Wait 'til you see the whites of their eyes!

Soviet armour fires High Explosive on the wooded hill: two T34s roll a six in the attack, a third rolls double six. It's all over at the wooded hill as the survivors lose their bottle and retreat to the far side of the hill

The platoon Big Man signals the advance

The hill is lost, the only option is to make their way back west to where ever the front line is now

Soviet infantry break into the village

The StuGs only success, one bailed out T34. The eagle eyed will have spotted Zvezda T34s, also great value but early war only. I had to press them into service didn't have enough T34s!

Defeat is only a matter of time now, the German commander signals his men to fight their way back to their own lines.

Tony Hobbz