Stalingrad Day 4 - more meat in the grinder

After the last game my Pioneers had successfully got the better of Mark's Russians in Fallen Heroes Square, so I handed the baton back to Paul for the next mission - a German probe into the Russian defences.

As we had switched venues to Hartlepool Wargames Club we had an issue with the terrain for Fallen Heroes Square in that some of it came from Asgard Wargames. Additionally the Probe mission really needs a 6x4 table and our FHS layout was only 4x4. So we decided to move the location of the scenario a little closer to the Volga and into the Housing area. Paul and Mark set up the terrain. Paul as the attacker had 3 support points, Mark also had 3 due to his lower force rating. Neither thought they had enough.

They were probably right.

Probe is in my mind probably the most dangerous CoC campaign missions to play because it encourages recklessness. All you have to do to win as the attacker is get one team off the opposition baseline. It's hard to resist the idea of taking a risk in rushing forward to get a cheap and easy win, but if it goes wrong your arse can be flapping in the wind, but even then the temptation to give it one more go is very strong. See later..............

So the Patrol Phase went well for the Germans - in fact due to some Soviet inattentiveness they got a Jump Off Point (JOP) within about 15" of the Soviet table edge, and given they could deploy 6" further on this looked like it was going to be a quick win - after all it was only 9" to the table edge and victory, so what could go wrong?

Jump Off Points after the Patrol Phase - the Germans need to exit one team at any point on the right edge

Rolling for Force Morale saw the Russians just squeeze it with 9 points to the German 8, which gave them a slim possibility of closing the door on the Germans before it was too late.

Turn 1
A breathless sentry rushes into the Soviet Command Post - "Comrade Leytanant he pants - the Germans are outflanking our position!!" Cursing his sleeping sentries, the Leytenant grabs his Tokarev and rouses his men. He quickly gets two squads "on the line" along with his flamethrower team, and ready to move to intercept the Germans. Is it too late?

Not quite. The German deploys one Squad from his advanced JOP and a second behind the wing of a crashed He111 (little known fact, but Stalingrad is littered with crashed He111s).

As it is the turn they deploy neither can move, but the second squad can bring some fire down on the Soviets as they deploy to try and stop the lead squad, killing three Comrades, including an NCO.

Back with the Russians, and there is nothing that can be done but shout Urrah!! and charge before the Germans have slipped past. Sadly none of the squads committed manage to get close enough to the Germans - it looks like this could be over quickly.

Caught in the flank the charging squad takes two more KIA in quick succession. At this point the German commander has an option to change plan and punish the Soviets caught in the open, or push on towards his objective hoping to get the mission completed with minimum casualties. The lead German team decides to go for it - needing 6 or better on three dice - and......the Dice Gods say No

The Soviets cannot believe their luck, and with a bellowed Urragh! charge again - this time reaching the Germans who are almost in touching distance of the table edge and victory, and coincidentally overrunning a German JOP.

The fight is bloody and brutal, with men killing with guns, knives and anything they can lay to hands. As the smoke clears the Germans have lost six, only one NCO and a Landser left alive, but they have inflicted nine casualties on their Soviet opponents to win the melee.

The remaining Soviets fall back, only two soldiers plus their officer holding their nerve slipping into a nearby building, the rest have broken and ran. Their sacrifice has not been in vane however, because the German team is now pinned and unable to advance further, nor can the German use either of the JOPs for the next activation.

Back on the German side things are not as hoped but there is plenty to be happy about. The frantic Soviet charge was repelled with heavy losses. Now the Soviets are reduced to only one effective squad it should be just a matter of brushing them aside.

By this point due to losses the Soviets are down to 3 command dice, but prove that there is no such thing as a lost cause by rolling three 6s, ending the turn, and crucially removing the overrun German JOP. That costs the Germans deary in Force Morale. Then, in a demonstration of just how difficult and dangerous street fighting can be, the two surviving infantrymen (clutching their squad DP LMG) and bolstered by their heroic Leytenant move up a floor and drop a grenade onto the two surviving Germans below - killing the Landser and causing another loss of German Morale. Both sides are down to 3 command dice.

The Germans then deploy their reserve, along with their second Senior Leader, from the remaining JOP - they have 13" of table to cover to reach the table edge. They immediately take casualties as Mark uses his Chain of Command Dice to interrupt the turn and hit them with his DP.

The leader shouts "Run Like Hell" - and again they fall short by an inch or so. Back around the Heinkel, a firefight is raging, but the remaining Soviet squad is never going to out shoot almost twice as many Germans.

The surviving DP team and their Leytenant take a moment to hug, then with a great cry of "For the Motherland" they throw their last grenade and empty their "record player" into the Germans sheltering below. It's not quite enough - but only by the narrowest of margins.

The Germans have manage to break the squad in the firefight and that loss breaks the Soviet force. What is worse the brave Leytenant and his pair of heroic gunners is so far away from a friendly JOP that he and his men are captured due to some appalling dice rolling. He was proposed for an Order of Alexander Nevski, but this will probably never be awarded as he is currently in a POW cage and we know how that ends on the Ost Front. His opposite number has also been put forward for an Iron Cross 2nd Class, but again that has not been confirmed.

As the sound of battle dies both sides lick their wounds. The Germans have succeeded in finding the week spot in the Soviet defences, but at a heavy cost. The Soviet Platoon is now leaderless and down to less than a dozen men.

Something that has now been driven home to me is just how brutal street  fighting can be (Doh! - yes I know, it should be obvious, it is Stalingrad and there are not many happy endings there) It's one thing reading about it, but it's another actually seeing it (in a game of course). It is looking like we may have to rethink our campaign simply because we will very soon run out of troops!

Next time, just in case there has not been enough bloodshed, it will be an assault on the main Soviet defence line. In theory it will be me against Andy, but we may just say "to Hell with it and try playing it as a Big CoC game with all 4 players. After all, the gloves really are off now.