From: Barclay, Tom <tomb@b...>
Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 14:06:07 -0500
Subject: SG2 WW2 AAR
Battle of Deja Ville (The town we've all seen before) Date: Sometime in 1944 Place: Deja Ville, Eastern Front Objectives: The Germans want to capture Deja Ville to secure a line of retreat from the oncoming Red Horde. The Soviets want to secure Deja Ville to cutoff one further line of retreat. Meeting engagement as both forces race to control the town. Forces: Soviet: Russian Guards Infantry Company (3 platoons of infantry, one heavy MG platoon with 4 Maxims) 4 x T34/85 1 x SU85 1 x SU152 2 x White Scout Car 3 x Truck/Towed 45mm AT gun German: Wermacht Infantry Company (3 platoons of infantry, 1 large section of pioneers with flamethrowers) 4 x Stug-III 1 x Sd-250 Halftrack with flamethrower (x3) 2 x Sd-250 Halftrack with short 75mm Howitzer 2 x Truck+PAK-40 75mm AT Gun Setup: 10x6 board (1" = 10m) (1/72nd WW2 figs/vehicles) Town starts about 24-30" from each side and fills the middle of the board Crossroads in the town divides town down the middle and Russians advance from one short edge of the board, Germans from the other. River on German side of town dividing town into about 2/3rds on Soviet side, though the Germans can probably arrive at the town 1 turn earlier. Play of the game: Germans and Soviets race onto the board hell bent for leather. Soviets occupy large factory on their side of the map. Germans occupy some houses at their side of town. Vehicles start to get in position to fire on the middle of town down the length of the axial road, but other lines of fire are mostly blocked. Germans race PAK-40 across the bridge over the river (the only place for vehicles to cross) and set it up pointing down the road towards the Soviets. They then try to follow with a Stug, which pans out badly. The Stug is smoked at about 450m by an 85mm AP from the lead T-34. It blows up, blocking the bridge!!!!! German infantry wades the river, and seizes more than half of the town, but the Soviets dig in in the remaining third. The Reds send a platoon with tank support out to advance through an orchard on the right of their axis of advance into the town, and another platoon with support from a T-34, the AT guns, the heavy machine gun platoon, and the two assault guns to force the open left side of the board relative to their axis of advance. The Germans meanwhile are frantic. They've started to take a beating in the front lines of houses from massed infantry small arms fire and close in HE from Russian armour - they don't have tanks to back them up! German's call in an artillery prime mover (half tracked) from off-board and hook cables to the burning Stug carcass to drag it back across the bridge to clear the advance. The one weapon across the bridge, the PAK-40, claims a White Scout car which daringly tried to dart across the main road about 400m out. The Soviet move through the orchard on the German left forces them to scramble to get infantry in position to block. Otherwise, their line would be turned from that end and any hope of victory would evaporate. On the German right, the large soviet force with heavy machine gun support moving against the town was to be held by a platoon of infantry with a fair number of green squads with no tank support. Fortunately, they were dug into a thick woods line near that edge of town and the Soviets couldn't bring a lot of firepower to bear on them without rolling tanks and other vehicles into the woodsline and well within the 60-80m range of the Panzerfausts and well within the 120-160m range of the Panzershrecks. The German artillery half tracks obtained positions with restricted but somewhat useful fire lines and fired from the German side of the river at the centre Soviet platoon covering the advances on the flanks. Casualties were enough to force some withdrawal and a reduction of pressure in the centre. By this time, the Germans had already combat lossed two entire infantry sections. The Germans also scored a coup when a T-34 with a green commander decided to use his 85mm gun to fire HE to whack infantry squads thus allowing a Stug with a long 75mm gun to sneak out from behind a building across the river and nuke the T-34. Obviously, the lesson about tanks being present to engage other tanks was lost (permanently) on that Russky. The Germans finally dragged the burnt Stug hulk off the bridge, allowing another Stug to run the gauntlet (just narrowly being missed by a T-34 overwatching from the cover of the dead White Scout car on the central road. With a Stug and a PAK-40 in the centre of town, and their infantry pretty well set to block turning actions (reinforced by the arrival of the Pioneer section with flamethrowers), the Germans felt they had a reasonable chance of holding the centre of town. The Soviet thrust from the German right with the SU-152, SU-85, and a T-34 would certainly be powerful, but it meant HTH infantry fighting, and the Germans had more veteran soldiers. The Germans blunted the infantry based thrust on their left through the orchard with several volleys of infantry and APSW fire from vehicles which annihilated one Russian infantry section and sent the entire platoon on that flank withdrawing to seek a new line of advance. At this point, we ran one final turn which saw the Russians take several key points in the town, including one of the two churches, but the Germans fortified their remaining positions. It also saw a green German squad blunder out of a woodsline into an unforseen Russian squad of veterans. Apparently, despite being nominally on overwatch, the Russians were into the vodka. They blew a TL1 test to fire on the Greens first (and several other vehicles blew observation rolls to engage) and hence took some wounds from the gutsy squad of Green Wermacht soldiers. This action threw a small monkey wrench into the advance on the right side of the German lines, despite the Russian's superior armour support. The end result - a draw. Neither side could boot the other out of town without some good luck in infantry close assaults or with some key anti-tank shots. A fun game. With artillery and smoke, it would have been even better. As it was Deja Ville ended up contested. The Germans could retreat through it, but it would require the commitment of at least an additional company of infantry to ensure the town was taken. The Russians could have taken the town, but more armour or artillery and at least another company of infantry would be required to deny the Germans the chance to retreat here.