This month's scenario was inspired by my recent reading of Max Hastings' excellent book, Armageddon. Armageddon details the final battles to defeat Germany during World War II. Generally, a book like this does not provide enough tactical detail to result in a scenario. But Hastings does give some rather detailed descriptions of various combat encounters on both the Western and Eastern Fronts. In fact, the amount of detail was one of the things that made this book such a great read.
The scenario sprang from page 449 as Hastings describes a Soviet Lt. Krulik's desperate defense during the German Operation Spring Awakening in March of 1945. Krulik's motorized infantry have no tanks and almost nothing in the way of anti-tank weapons. And yet, they are in the path of the German 23rd Panzer Division (speculation on my part). But then a Soviet 85L AT Gun just happens along. The leader of this miracle weapon is a highly decorate veteran who agrees to help Krulik hold the line.
Once the gun is properly situated, the Soviets see the Germans beginning to advance towards them led by three Panzer Mark IV's. The decorated Soviet veteran simply laughs and shouts "Oh, it's only those old things!!".
And with that a scenario is born! Now, unit detail was absent regarding the German force. So a little side research of my own led me to choose a battle fought in the 23rd Panzer Division's sector and which is noted in their history printed by Stackpole Books. Since, Krulik's recollection made no mention of Waffen SS troops, it seemed logical that he faced the 23rd Panzer Division.
Now the map above does show the relative position of Krulik's 6th Guards Tank Army, but more granular detail is of course absent. So...this scenario, while based on actual event is a composite of that event and the fighting around Sar Egres, Hungary which included units of the 23rd Panzer Division. I selected Board 11a from the new Winter Offensive Pack for this scenario. Hopefully, most of you will have it or will soon have it. It's an awesome board!
I added an SSR to give the Soviet 85L a rate of fire of 3 and a successful repair on a 1 or a 2 to reflect the high quality of the veteran led crew. And it's the only significant anti-tank asset the Soviet Player has at his/her disposal. Of course, a successfully rate of fire tear and all three German tanks could go down like dominoes. The Soviets also get a few mines and up to 3 Panzerfausts. So all in all the Soviet force has just enough to hold off an armored assault.
...or not as the case may be!!!
The German force reflects the weakness of the Wehrmacht at that time with most of the Germany infantry showing up as 4-4-7's and with a '3' ELR. Couple those facts with trying to cross a large swath of open ground and the Soviet defense looks pretty strong.
As always, with these "for fun only" I strive to capture the flavor of the event described and hope the fleas are few and far between!
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 these scenarios can be downloaded from The ASL Scenario Archive
(just search on Grumble Jones).
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