The Grumble Jones May scenario is set in Hungary in November 1944. The Germans are in full retreat and only the valiant stands of various German forces keeps a complete collapse occurring.
The picture on the left was my inspiration for this scenario. In the course of blogging AAR's I practically live on Google searching for images to compliment the AAR narratives.
This combing through Google often yields up some interesting things. This picture is a scan someone posted on the internet related to the Handschar SS Division. I'm not a big fan of that particular German unit, so had no interest in creating a scenario around it. But this picture depicted a German mountain trooper. And upon reading, I saw an opportunity to create a scenario around the German mountain troops, who played a secondary role in this particular engagement. While SS Kampfgruppe Hanke is the focus of this incident, it was dependent on the actions of the German 118th Gebirgsjaeger Regiment, which helped keep open an escape route for the beleaguered Kampfgruppe. So that was interesting to me and so this month's scenario is an attempt to put my interpretation of that engagement.
I could not located any definitive historical accounting of the 118th Gebirgsjaeger Regiment during this event. So using "frog DNA" I filled in the blanks to create a hypothetical recounting of the event. What we do know is that the 118th did secure the route by which Kampfgruppe Hanke escaped encirclement. What we lack are the exact details of how that went down and why the Russian pincer movement failed.
This scenario puts a smaller German force in an exposed position around a bridge. Level 1 and 2 hills limit visibility for both sides and give the Russians a chance to get in close.
The Germans have the advantages of ranged weapons including an HMG and 2 x mortars. An AT Gun, Panzerschrek, AT Mines and of course Panzerfausts give the Germans a decent chance of combating the Russia armor.
The Russians have good mobility, good infantry assault firepower, but are weak in support weapons and lack range. They have to get in close to put their firepower to good effect. With five assault guns, the Russians have the advantage of long-range fire. The hills surrounding the bridge certainly allow the Russian assault guns to set and rain fire on the Germans. But time is short at 6 turns. The Russian player will need to move with a purpose. And the Germans have the last move and could conceivably retake any lost bridge hexes. So the assault guns will probably have to act in close support of the infantry which will definitely expose them to German AT assets. The SU-76's will also be particularly vulnerable to the German mortars .
So as always....here's hoping this scenario gives a flavor of this contest in 1944 Hungary.
As always these monthly "Basement Quality" Scenarios are offered for fun only and as a thank you to the readers of this blog.
This combing through Google often yields up some interesting things. This picture is a scan someone posted on the internet related to the Handschar SS Division. I'm not a big fan of that particular German unit, so had no interest in creating a scenario around it. But this picture depicted a German mountain trooper. And upon reading, I saw an opportunity to create a scenario around the German mountain troops, who played a secondary role in this particular engagement. While SS Kampfgruppe Hanke is the focus of this incident, it was dependent on the actions of the German 118th Gebirgsjaeger Regiment, which helped keep open an escape route for the beleaguered Kampfgruppe. So that was interesting to me and so this month's scenario is an attempt to put my interpretation of that engagement.
I could not located any definitive historical accounting of the 118th Gebirgsjaeger Regiment during this event. So using "frog DNA" I filled in the blanks to create a hypothetical recounting of the event. What we do know is that the 118th did secure the route by which Kampfgruppe Hanke escaped encirclement. What we lack are the exact details of how that went down and why the Russian pincer movement failed.
The Germans have the advantages of ranged weapons including an HMG and 2 x mortars. An AT Gun, Panzerschrek, AT Mines and of course Panzerfausts give the Germans a decent chance of combating the Russia armor.
The Russians have good mobility, good infantry assault firepower, but are weak in support weapons and lack range. They have to get in close to put their firepower to good effect. With five assault guns, the Russians have the advantage of long-range fire. The hills surrounding the bridge certainly allow the Russian assault guns to set and rain fire on the Germans. But time is short at 6 turns. The Russian player will need to move with a purpose. And the Germans have the last move and could conceivably retake any lost bridge hexes. So the assault guns will probably have to act in close support of the infantry which will definitely expose them to German AT assets. The SU-76's will also be particularly vulnerable to the German mortars .
So as always....here's hoping this scenario gives a flavor of this contest in 1944 Hungary.
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, these scenarios can be downloaded from The ASL Scenario Archive
(just search on Grumble Jones).
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