Grumble Jones April Scenario - GJ056 Lucky 313

For this month's scenario, I chose to do a hypothetical engagement based on a single German Ferdinand's attempt to escape the carnage of fighting at Kursk. In this scenario, a surviving Ferdinand, #313 from Panzerjaeger-Abteilung 653 is returning from the fighting on July 5th. It's path home to the north takes it through the battle area of the morning's engagement. A cleared Russian trench with strongpoints is the main feature on this portion of the battlefield. German and Russian wrecks litter the battlefield and a burning house has set a neighboring grain field ablaze. Heavy smoke covers the battlefield. Another Ferdinand, #311 is still on the field after being disabled by a mine. It's crew has spent the day awaiting recovery and are thrilled to see #313 coming from the south. Additionally, German survivors of Regiment 184 are also moving through this area to return to the German start positions. 

The Germans are weary and looking forward to a night's respite from the savage days fighting. But they do not realize that Russians have survived in the trenches and even as the Germans make their way north, the Russians are moving to stop them from reaching safety.

Another added element to the scenario was a platoon of SU-76's moving into the area to finish off any recoverable German armor. And lastly, a lone Sturmovik, which having escaped from an ME-109 is flying low over the battlefield with a full load of 37L rounds. So this last moving Ferdinand presents an appealing target to Russians on the ground and in the air.

Fortunately, the Ferdinand is an armored beast and should be able to shake off the Russians...if it's luck holds out. Here's hoping this small scenario captures the flavor of such an action. My apologies for all the SSR's, but I was trying hard to create a specific type of action. 

As always these monthly "Basement Quality" Scenarios are offered for fun only and as a thank you to the readers of this blog.

Remember to open pictures in a new window in order to maximize the size. 

And as always, the PDF's for this scenario can be downloaded from The ASL Scenario Archive (just search on Grumble Jones).