Stalingrad Redux Part 3 - Dug in T34

This is one of those "I have a cunning plan" moments. Reading up on the battle it became clear that the German Panzers had a lot of problems with dug in Soviet T34s, mainly due to the difficulties in spotting them before they could get their shot away. Initially I was very sceptical about how powerful these would be in Chain Of Command (and said so on the Facebook Group), My experience with CoC over the years is that if you sacrifice your mobility you lose. Stationary tanks in CoC are very vulnerable to infantry close assault, particularly in close terrain. When I thought about it a bit more however I do see the point - in real life, and in CoC, the tank that gets the first shot usually wins against another tank, so being able to deploy and shoot with a tank near a Jump Off Point is actually very handy indeed (apols to the guys on Facebook).

Anyway I decided I needed a dug in T34. I didn't want to just put some earth banks around a normal full kit, I wanted to show it was properly dug in. I contemplated buying a kit and chopping the hull down, but that seemed like a faff too far. Then I wondered if Paul Davison could print me something suitable on his 3d printer? I explained \ badgered him about this and he went away and seemingly forgot, then a week or so later dropped off a pla print of a T34 that he had amended the files so as to cut the hull down to just above the running gear. I have to say it was almost perfect for my needs.

I decided to paint it as one of the alleged unpainted models that was rushed out of the factory onto the battlefront. I suspect this is a bit of propaganda but it certainly looks different. I built up some earth around the hull and a quick paint later here is the result - and most pleased about it I am.

Here it is cunningly hiding on my painting table!

The only problem now is I want to build and paint a full hulled version in a similar scheme - maybe a "bitser" with a painted hull and bare turret or................



     

Stalingrad Redux Part 2 - The Workers United Will Never Be Defeated!

This has turned into a bit of a Covid19 Project. I already have some German Pioneers so I decided to try and do some opposition. The obvious option would be Soviet infantry but there are already plenty of those. Second choice was Naval Infantry, but in a moment of confusion \ inspiration I decided to do Workers Militia.

(The History Bit)
Depending on how you look at it the period before the battle of Stalingrad was either a skillful Soviet retreat or a sort of coordinated rout. Either by skill, luck or judgement the Soviet troops facing the 1942 German summer offensive (Fall Blau \ Case Blue) didn't get caught by the repeated encirclement attempts as they had the year before. Rather, they fell back in a series of local retreats that left the Germans clutching at thin air. This really stumped the Germans as their strategic plan, in fact the whole concept of Blitzkrieg, was to encircle opponents armies in the field. It could be argued that the Red Army was just doing the traditional "trade ground for time" thing that had worked time and time again (I'm looking at you Napoleon). The problem was this was rapidly turning into a habit and the Soviet people were starting to get a bit worried. By the summer of 1942 the Germans were in control of a rather large portion of the Soviet Union - sure, there was plenty of it out East, but the main population centres were all either under German control or under threat. If the Red Army kept falling back as it was in Summer 1942 there was a very real risk that there would be nothing left worth defending. Enter Stalin and his infamous Order 277 "Not One Step Back" . Order 277 is probably one of the most misunderstood orders of the war and has been used repeatedly to paint the Soviet Union and the Red Army in negative terms. There isn't enough time to fully discuss this here, but the overall effect was to make it clear that it was no longer acceptable to keep falling back. From 28th July 1942, it was time for the Soviets to stand and fight.

Back to the Militia. The withdrawals of the summer were almost instinctive rather than planned. That meant the Red Army in the area of Stalingrad were in no shape to hold the city. They needed time to reorganise. Luckily there was a pool of manpower available - the Workers Militia Battalions, mainly based around the factories. These local forces formed the first line of defence at Stalingrad, along with the AA batteries, and they suffered heavily when the Germans arrived, being almost wiped out. What they achieved however was to give the Stalingrad Front the time it needed. The rest is history.

As a gaming force the Workers Militia is interesting. There is an official Bolt Action army list, but nothing for Chain of Command. The Bolt Action list is pretty basic - in fact the platoon has no SMGs or LMGs - just rifles - and has the option for unarmed squad members - "the one with the rifle shoots" etc. How realistic or historical this is overall I don't know. Maybe for the winter of 1941? but by the summer of 1942 the Soviets had recovered and their armaments industry was churning weapons out in impressive quantities. The photographic and documentary record is clear that at least in Stalingrad the Militia were equipped with both SMGs and LMGs. After that the support weapons available are probably going to be the same as line infantry, and once the regular army arrives will be regulars too. In Chain of Command there is no "Official" list, however there is a Partisan list that fits the bill for the main body well enough, and I can write a reasonable support list.

So here we are - Workers and Peasants united against the Fascist invader

I wasn't too keen on the Bolt Action Soviet Partizans -partly due to the lockdown making availability questionable at the time, so I went a bit "off the reservation"and mixed and matched, which I think is perfectly acceptable given the subject matter. Most of the rifle armed figures are Bolshevik Militia from the Copplestones Castings "Back of Beyond" range. Ok they're a couple of decades out on date but are otherwise fine as armed Soviet civilian types, and I'm sure Grandpa Ivan would be out manning the barricades anyway. The SMG and LMG armed figures are from Artizan Designs. As I was casting around the net for more suitable figures I stumbled across the Eureka 28mm Workers Militia. This is a very small range and a bit more expensive than the Copplestones, but are spot on for the job in boiler suits. If I had known about these at the start I would probably have just used them. My Commissar is Warlord plastic, as are the ATR and some of the support weapon crews. The support weapons are mixed, with PSC providing the 45mm ATG and crews, and a 3d print of the 76mm M1927 and Ampulomets. The PSC 45mm ATG set is fantastic value and although still available it looks like the link is not working if you try and find it through the website menu - but if you search for it directly you can order it. You get 2 guns and crews and you can assemble the guns as either of the 45mm ATG variants or as a 76mm Infantry Gun - sadly this is the version that entered service in 1943 so isn't available at Stalingrad. The medics are PSC and 3d prints. Lastly the Commander is none other than Warlord's Johnny "Red" Redburn who is taking a couple of days off from commanding Falcon Squadron to do some fighting on the ground. He probably had to ditch due to engine failure and decided to help out.

Eureka Workers Militia Squad

Support weapons

Commissar, Johnny Red (out of focus) and the nurses

All the militia were painted with this new fangled Citadel Contrast paints - and I have to say it works quite well.

I need to add a sniper or two - these just arrived from Bad Squiddo Games and the pose and details are stunning. I also have some tank hunter teams to paint, a couple of guys with Molotov Cocktails or AT grenades. After that all I will need are a tank, and some barricades. And Jump Off Points, and Patrol Markers, and...............

Stalingrad Redux

A while ago we decided to do a Chain of Command Stalingrad Campaign. It went really quite well but broke down when our platoons were "non combat effective" (as Holly said, They're dead Dave). In some ways this was a very successful campaign with a historically accurate result. Battles in urban areas were ridiculously bloody, (They're all dead Dave) and we burned through the reserves and reinforcements in a couple of games. The result was that after a while our units became more and more static - we could reasonably expect to hold our positions but had no chance of expanding them. Those that were still breathing that is. It was an interesting lesson.

We had decided to do it again - but this time with some changes to learn the lessons from our previous experience - and then the lock down began (!)

Anyway I thought I would share our cunning plan, just in case anyone else feels the need. We will be using the campaign rules from "The Sharp End" campaign system from Two Fat Lardies . This is really, really the best buy you can get for a tenner, even if you don't play Chain of Command. Seriously, if you play any WW2 set of rules, Bolt Action, Disposable Heroes whatever, just pick them up here from Two Fat Lardies store. They're full of great ideas that will easily transfer to your favourite system. Do yourself a favour - buy them.

Ours will be a ladder campaign, based on a vaguely historical series of locations \ events rearranged in a more Hollywood sequence, with the results of each battle dictating when and where the next game will happen. If the attackers win they will push through to the next "rung" on the ladder, and if they lose they can be pushed back. The campaign will end with either the Germans capturing the banks of the Volga or being thrown back past the city outskirts. Or everyone dying. My money is on the latter tbh.....

Anyway - Stalingrad 5 step ladder campaign – thoughts & suggestions

Campaign Zones as follows – each would be a different scenario\play style

1. Outskirts (Soviet Campaign Objective- campaign start)
2. Train yards and factory
3. Fallen Heroes Square inc railway station
4. Workers Housing \ Pavlov's House
5. Oil tanks and the Volga bank (German Campaign Objective)

Suggested Terrain. We've raided our terrain boxes and also the local club and we are planning the following:

1. Outskirts – Mostly wooden buildings \ burned out small houses with fences etc. Looking at photos these are arranged in fenced off blocks so table should have 4 – 6 blocks each of a couple of houses plus sheds etc. Paul has printed some burned down shacks with only the chimney remaining. We have about a dozen, plus a sawmill and similar, so we can cover a table with suitable bits.

2. Train Yards and Factory area. Large industrial buildings separated by large open areas with lots of blocking terrain.

3. Fallen Heroes Square. A public square surrounded by ruined buildings with a central open area. The square can contain wrecks, fountains, statues etc for cover. I have a 1:48 He111 that I built and chopped up - details here: crashed He 111 . Paul has also printed the railway station building - it's a burned out shell, but fits our requirements perfectly. This will be our neutral table - the mid point of the campaign.

4. Workers Housing – Larger ruins of workers housing with wide streets between them. Paul has a rather ambitious plan to print Pavlov's House, which will fill the centre of a 6x4 quite easily. Looking at the photos and the maps (Island of Fire by Jason D Mark has some amazing maps) there is an awful lot of space around the individual blocks so this could be a bit "interesting" with lots of trenches around the table edges.

5. The Volga Banks. Oil tanks, pump houses and pipes, plus some smaller industrial \ warehouse style buildings. Of the Germans can take this area they will have reached the Volga and cut off the Soviets in the city. The oil tanks are now going to be my Covid terrain project. I've been watching The World at War episode on Stalingrad and in addition to some film of an Ampulomet in action, there's also some pics of troops moving around the collapsed oil tanks - I think I can build them using some plastic paint buckets and chop them down. These have several terrain opportunities as they cover a fair chunk of the table at minimal cost. Possibly. Watch this space.

All areas should have plenty of appropriate scatter terrain – whatever we can grab as available but lots of shell holes, barricades etc.

Forces. To avoid the premature end of the campaign (They're all dead Dave) we're going to give each player 2 platoons, and allow them to swap them around on a scenario by scenario basis. Progression up and down the ladder will be based on aggregate results. To give the Germans an advantage initially, to get them into the city, the Soviets will have to keep the same platoon in the front line 'til the third game. Soviets will only get reinforcements once the game gets past the middle of the campaign, Germans will only get them up to that point.

I'll go into the lists we're using next time........

Is 20mm the unloved ginger child of WW2 Wargaming?

This is for Mark really, but I think it may be interesting to see what others think.

I started wargaming in 20mm. I think that is true for most of us who grew up in the 70s and early 80s in the UK. It is almost impossible to explain just how limited your options were as a wargamer in those days. Initially it was just one word. Airfix

I know there were other manufacturers out there making metal models, but if you were like me a young lad the chance of ever discovering them was slim, and even if you were aware you still needed to write and send a self addressed envelope (and possibly a postal order) to get a typed and un-illustrated catalogue. Luckily we had Airfix, and it was available in just about every newsagent and toy shop in the country.

Airfix were the main supporter of my wargaming from the start. That meant for most "periods" their soft plastic 20mm (1:76) figures or polystyrene kits, supported by their rule books initially loaned from the library and illicitly photocopied.

WW2 was the big interest for me. After all the war ended only 30 years before and we all had family members who had taken part. It was possible to play other periods of course, and the idea of fighting Agincourt using just the figures available in the two "Robin Hood" boxes must have occurred,  but the main arena was WW2. Choice was, well, limited. Airfix had a vast breadth of range, but it did lack depth. Germans could happily fill their order of battle with Panzer IVs, Panthers and Tigers, and the ubiquitous German Recce set provided a Kubel and 222, but that was about it. Similarly the Brits could get their hands on a Churchill, Sherman, Crusader and Matilda. This made for exciting times if you were so inclined, trying to convert a passable Cromwell out of plasticard and the wheels from a Crusader etc. Later, Matchbox joined the fray, adding such much needed kits as a Panzer II and III, and a Sherman Firefly. All of this was in what we now call 20mm, and as a WW2 wargamer there was nothing to compete.

But today 20mm is rapidly shrinking into the shadows. Initially 15mm, then more recently 28mm have dominated WW2 gaming. 20mm still survives, but it is no longer the first choice for me and many others, so why is that?

Firstly I should say in many ways it IS the logical scale of choice for some games. Availability of cheap plastic kits in an amazing variety, some, such as those by Dragon are available painted to a standard most of us could only dream of. Figures have also come a long way, and figures by companies such as AB are frankly streets ahead of most of their 28mm rivals in terms of detail and animation. Range is also very comprehensive. In 28mm I only know of one manufacturer makes Belgian infantry, not so in 20mm. Try finding a Sdkfz 132 Marder II in 28mm, no problem in 20mm. Price is also VERY alluring - 20mm kits being equivalently priced to 15mm ones, and usually a fraction of a 28mm one.

The problem is the tyranny of the masses. 15mm has blossomed with popular rules like Flames of War rapidly dominating the market at the "Company" level of gaming. 28mm has followed suit at "Platoon" level even if Bolt Action has a very suspect concept of what a Platoon actually was. What that means is that if you want to play a WW2 game, those scales are where you will have the best chance of finding an opponent. And that, sadly, is a fairly huge factor. OK if your club or group want to either stick with 20mm or start afresh, but once you are in, you are committing to a very fixed group, and if, as often happens, you fall out or move on, then you may end up trying to play solo.

I would also add I like 28mm as a scale to paint. As I grow older I can no longer conceive of painting some of the smaller scales to a standard I would be happy with. That may not include 20mm yet, but it is getting there. And then there is the spectacle. a Tiger in 28mm is quite a lump of eye candy in a way 20mm cant quite manage.

And of course, once you commit to 28mm, it makes little sense to play other scales for similar projects. I'm excited at the soon to be released Chain of Command Fall of France expansion. If I were starting from scratch I may conciser 20mm, (edit - I originally typed 28mm instead of 20mm) but I'm not. I already have quite a bit of 28mm kit that will port over, and a group who prefer to play in 28mm (and another local group who would look puzzled at the thought of playing in 20mm).

So that is why, with some sadness, I wont be starting 20mm again. Sorry Mark, it just does not make sense to me, but I understand why you make the suggestion.

Comments please - let's try and discuss

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.

Medic!! A quick support option in Chain of Command

Pretty self explanatory really. Medics are used in Chain of Command to get your wounded leaders back in the fight - no-one cares about the other guys apparently. They are List 1 options so cost only 1 support point, and are damned useful to have around. Bolt Action also has a Medic option for your Platoon Command so its useful thing to have for both games.

The problem is finding suitable figures. That's not to say there are none, because there are quite a few available, but they tend to be full stretcher teams and the like, or available as part of a bigger pack with other figures I don't have much use for. What I wanted was just one guy.

Fortunately making \ converting a Medic for my Germans at Stalingrad is not a massive challenge. The German combat medic had a couple of easy identification points - mainly a white tabard and arm bands with red crosses and a bag to haul around his wares.

The tabard is beyond me - but then again was not always worn, particularly on the Ost Front where shooting at Medics was something of a sport. They also wore helmets either in white with different styles of red cross, or a standard helmet with more discrete markings - again because wearing a white helmet with a red cross on it is probably asking for trouble on some battlefields.

I put together a kneeling figure from the spare bits from my Warlord plastic Pioneers \ Early War infantry. The satchel came from the bits box - I think it was in the old Wargames Factory Zombie Hunters set, with a sling made from paper soaked in pva, the armbands are the same.

Painting was in my now standard quick and dirty early \ mid war scheme I have used for all my Stalingrad figures. I couldn't resist the white helmet option as it makes him stand out on the table a bit, which is nice for me visually but probably a bit of an issue for him - ah well, if the Russian snipers are shooting at him, they're not shooting at the Leaders I suppose.

I need to do a bit of touching up and dirty up the base to match the rest of the platoon, but I quite like him.

"Where the Iron Crosses Grow" Stalingrad Reinforcements

I saw the Empress Miniatures "Veteran Wehrmacht Infantry" set a couple of months ago, and weakened. It has to be said they are pretty damned good, and easily recognisable as their silver screen counterparts - my only peeve is Kruger would look so much better with a knife or bayonet in his hand IMHO. Cant have everything.

It took a while for them to get to the painting table, but spurred on by our ongoing Stalingrad Chain of Command campaign I finally got them painted.

I'm pretty happy with Steiner, Kern and Schnurrbart but I seem to have given Kruger a massive nose - I#ll have another go.

Not sure if they will be happy transferring from Sevastopol to Stalingrad, but after the last game I need the assistance.

Wish Empress would produce Colonel Brandt and Stransky to complete the set

Stalingrad Campaign - Day 2, into the Kill House and thoughts on Chain of Command

It was my turn this week to try to push the Russian patrols out of Fallen Heroes Square using Chain of Command (CoC).

I won't go into a blow by blow after action report for a couple of reasons. The main one is that we at the Old Codgers Gaming Club (OCGC) have four members and three of us have Blogs, so it seems a good idea to take it in turns to run the battle reports when the others are playing. This division of labour should mean we are free to play and enjoy the game without the constant urge to take photos and make notes. In theory at least. Day 2 s patrol action is covered on Andy's Blog which can be found here

https://rangoruk.blogspot.com/

Mark will also be covering this too - but he is a bit partisan so take what he says with a pinch of salt!

http://exiledfog.blogspot.com/

I can give a quick run down on "the cunning plan" which was to push forward with only 3 patrol markers right up the centre of the table to try and gain some advanced Jump Off Points (JOPS) then just kick the Soviets out by brute force in close assaults with our "HandGranaten!" tactics before their numerical advantage kicked in. It sort of worked. My Pioneers are rated Elite so they can deploy further forward than Regulars, and they're better in close assaults and slightly less likely to be hit by small arms fire. We managed to grab one building but the fighting in and around it was fierce and casualties were very heavy on both sides. The Soviets withdrew, handing a somewhat Pyrrhic victory to the Germans. It was an interesting game but it showed up our "ring rustiness" with the CoC rules - we made several slips, but they probably evened out so no real damage done.

What it also did was make me think of why I like Chain so much (see - I nearly typed something else there). I think it comes down to something I had not really thought about before - pressure to be competent. Unlike any other set of WW2 rules I have played CoC rewards competence and punishes incompetence with usually equal measure. Because the games are brutal and unforgiving if you screw up you only have yourself to blame. In a campaign setting that is even more apparent. I'm really enjoying our campaign, but the pressure really is on.

Obergefreiter Michael Baumbach will not be returning to Ausburg

Day 3 will be a German attempt to probe the Soviet lines in preparation for the main assault.

Stalingrad Campaign Day 1 part 2

So back in Fallen Heroes Square...

Facing each other across the quiet of the Square are a platoon of Panzer Pioneers from PzPio Abt 50 lead by Feldwebel Karl Trost (AKA Paul D), and on the Soviet side an Infantry Platoon from the 339th Infantry Regiment of 308th Rifle Division under Jnr Leytenant Mikhail Saburov (Andy P).

Both platoons are already under strength - as a side note we (possibly foolishly) decided to start the campaign with some randomly determined losses so we rolled a D6 per squad to determine how many short we were from full strength. This is following the historical example - I had always assumed the Pioneers at Stalingrad were at full strength when they started, which had caused me some problems when I was writing a scenario for Battlefront WW2 battalion level games some years ago as we couldnt get everyone on the table! Since then many new sources of information have become available from authors such as Glantz and Mark and it is clear that those "fresh" units were already close to half strength BEFORE being sent to Stalingrad, and the Soviets had to survive a crossing of the Volga under fire to reach the city.  In this case Trost was short 8 men from his book strength of 40, Saburov was short 15 men from his book strength of 41. We took this into account and recalculated Force Ratings at the campaign start. Andy P running the Sovs also decided to scrap one Squad from his orbat to boost numbers in other squads, Paul D had fewer missing so kept his "book" ORBAT for now.

Soviets deploy their 50mm mortar team and a rifle squad under Sgt Belik in the trenches on the East of the Square, taking up  overwatch positions. A second Squad under Sgr Zelenko is holding the building on the North West corner of the Square known as Dom 1

Immediately the Germans deploy 1 Squad under in the buildings West of the Square (Haus 4) , the other an LMG team with Trost in the centre of their positions at Haus 2. Their fire kills a Soviet infantryman in Dom 1.

The Soviets return fire with their light mortar and place suppressible fire on the German positions, but in return the light mortar is hit again and the crew retires, costing the Soviets a Force Morale point.

More Soviets mass on the East of the square and consolidate their positions in Dom 4. They have a small but potent squad under Sgt Rashkova with a pair of DP "Record Players". 

This position allows them to shoot up the German squad in Haus 4 across the Square. Obergefreiter Winkler is hit and wounded in Haus 4

Luckily the Germans have an attached Medic, and he quickly moves to tend the NCO

On the East of the Square the Soviets squad under Sgt Shlepin start to move down the trenches, attempting to outflank the German positions and consolidating around Dom 4.

In response to this outflanking move the Germans deploy their Senior Leader to rally the forces in Haus 2 - what is rapidly turning into a strongpoint. Their fire wounds a Soviet NCO.

The Soviets now have accumulated enough Chain Of Command points to have a CoC dice – and after pushing forward to further outflank the German strongpoint they use their CoC dice to move their Jump Off Point on the East side of the Square behind Haus 1.

Meanwhile on the West side German fire is starting to tell – three Soviets are now dead in Dom 1. 

Back in the strongpoint the Trost deploys some troops to cover the threatened flank. All three Squads are committed.

The Soviet Senior Leader Lt Mikhail Saburov now bravely moves to join his flanking Squad – under heavy fire from Haus 2. Totally ignoring enemy fire he stands on the parapet of the trench and fires his pistol at the Fascists, who respond with a huge volume of MG fire – and miss!

In the strongpoint two Germans on the ground floor are killed by Soviet fire.

Saburov, still exposed, orders his men forward with a Urragh!!, Shlepin and his men surge forward  and at the same time behind the attacking Squad a small group of pioneers with a ROKS2 Flamethrower deploys from Ambush using a CoC dice. Although their fire and that of the attacking infantry causes a kill and 2 shock, they fail to get close enough to close assault the German position.

The Germans respond with a hail of fire on the now exposed Soviets – cutting down the squad with the exception of Shlepin who is wounded, and two of the ROKs crew. The rest are forced to withdraw.

Shlepin calls out “Do svidaniya Rodina!” and throws a grenade into the building before attempting to assault – but his bravery is not rewarded and he slumps against the outside of the building hit again.

An eerie quiet descends, broken only by the cries of the wounded. Both sides have suffered heavy casualties, and both are now at Force Morale 4. Neither side has achieved their objective, and much blood has been spent.

Losses on both sides were heavy, particularly the Soviets. Had the assault on Haus 2 been more successful they would have almost certainly forced a German withdrawal, but it failed, leading to a mutually agreed draw.

The wounded Shlepin manages to crawl back to his lines under cover of darkness

As both sides withdraw, their positions are already being taken by fresh platoons who will try again to take control of Fallen Heroes Square!

So a rather good game - we still have some homework to do - decide on post game results, possible medals etc. I was lucky enough that my platoon from Pio Abt 305 was not involved, but orders have just arrived, and it looks like were off to Fallen Heroes Square to see if we can succeed where the Panzer Pioneers failed.

  

Stalingrad Campaign Phase 1 Day 1 Part 1 - Ok not THE Fallen Heroes Square - A Fallen Heroes Square

We finally kicked off our Chain of Command Stalingrad Campaign last week. It has been about 8 months in the preparation, building forces and terrain - and we are probably 4 months behind schedule and still not ready - which is not bad going considering the OCGCs (Old Codgers Gaming Club) previous efforts.

First crack went to Paul D commanding a German Panzer Pioneer Platoon, opposed by Andy P with his Soviet infantry.

We were playing the initial Patrol \ Encounter scenario, which will determine for now who has the campaign initiative.

The table was set us as a 4x4 at Asgard Wargames, which is convenient for us all and has plenty of space.

So here is the table after the Patrol Phase. As you can see, the front line has skewed slightly, running roughly across the diagonal of the table.

Before we go further I should explain a couple of points.

Firstly the pics are in monochrome. This is because my photography skills are challenged and I was using my phone rather than my proper camera. This helps disguise my pathetic lack of understanding of such things as lighting and exposure. I also like the effect, which looks "cool". Lastly it helps hide the fact we still have not finished all the terrain......

Secondly we are using the Haus \ Dom system to identify buildings. This is pretty authentic. Both sides in the battle adopted a quick code to identify buildings on maps of Stalingrad. On the Soviet side few of the defenders had local knowledge, so saying "the enemy is massing near 15 Lenin Prospect" was not going to help, and the Germans were resorting to trying to identify landmarks by interrogating prisoners in a foreign language, which lead to all sorts of confusion. Both sides therefore settled on a system of numbering buildings sequentially - the Germans using "Haus", the Soviets "Dom" (both meaning house) followed by a number. There is a great diagram of this in Jason D Mark's epic history of the battle in the Barrikady "Island of Fire" if you can get a copy - brilliant book, highly recommended!

This resulted in the Sovs placing their Jump Off Points (JOPs) in the trenches between Dom 3 & 4 and the corner house Dom 1.

The Germans had pushed forward with their JOPs in Haus 2 & 4 and the trenches next to the downed HE111 between Haus 4 and Dom 1.

  Deployment and first turns next