Following the encirclement of 6th Army at Stalingrad, the Germans launched a relief effort from their bridgehead at Nizhna Chirskaya, 25 miles from the nearest troops of Sixth Army at Marinowka. The Chir River was to provide the left flank for the operation, and consequently, had to be held. Attempting to foil the German relief effort, the Russian 5th Tank Army attacked across the Chir and forced it's way past the left flank of the defending 336th Infantry Division, and on to Sowchos 79, a collective farm deep in the German rear. General Balck's 11th "Ghost" Panzer Division, just arriving in the area for Rostov to take part in the Stalingrad relief, was detoured to attack Sowchos 79 and restore the situation.
Attacker: German (Panzergrenadier-Regiment 110/Panzer-Regiment 15/Panzergrenadier-Regiment 111)
Anyone I talked to who played SL back in the day seemed to have fond memories of this one, and since it was very little changed since those times it should play more or less the same. I was very skeptical of the Russians' chances however, having to set up without concealment with a strong German force ready to assault them. The truck reinforcements just felt like pipe dreams, what with the German armor ready to hunt them down and the distance they'd have to cover. So my toughest decision was do I set up strongly upfront to oppose the Germans, or do I set up "reverse slope" and try and cling to concealment until my tanks arrived. I chose the latter. I was relieved when Scott opted to loop around the northern end of town behind the hill and hedges, as opposed to the more straight-on frontal assault I would've enacted. In the far north I lost a truck and a squad, but my gun was able to extract itself and set up shop behind the hedgerow. Turn 2 saw two more trucks fall, but not before unloading their passengers, and they served a purpose of clogging up the road. Scott managed to sneak a couple tanks and a HT away before my gun beaded in on a crucial spot of the 4-I road causing him to divert the others. Meanwhile I tried sneaking as many guys up into the hills as I could, though it was obvious he was just going to drive his reinforcements straight to the front. Bad luck struck him when my sniper recalled his Marder. My guys in V3 held tougher than I would've expected, and then even generated a hero when they tried to extract themselves. Not sure when his radio broke down, as it was carried by a concealed unit, but I know it was early, and I know it was lost for good at the top of Turn 3. The Germans lost two squads in their initial assault of the town, though they did manage to sneak one squad over to grab R3. I lost one more truck but, between these wrecks and my gun guarding the road, his going was slowed, with only the above-named three vehicles and the AC making it to the edge of town before my substantial armor reinforcements. Turn 4 saw him lose the AC to an ATR when it tried to crest the hill, and we had our first of many flaming tanks when one of my T-34s was fried entering town. The tanks sent in on this first wave must have been rejects, because a MA and CMG both broke. My gun overheated and broke in trying to lay fire up on the hill, but he had done a great job of delay. My hero fell on Turn 5, but not before valiantly holding the Germans at bay for a good turn or two, but the MA on my T-34 was repaired. I was very pleasantly surprised to see my latest round of reinforcements had radios, so they moved in the protect the hill and roads, while my first batch moved up to protect the buildings. Turn 6 was a wild one, and all sorts of German equipment malfunctioned: 2 MAs, a CMG and, not least of all, their other radio. Three tanks went down that turn (2 German/1 Russian), and the Russians declared NQ when a large band of Germans was eliminated with a rogue Russian tank cutting off rout paths. The Germans were still at nine buildings, but the Russians were already starting to counterattack. Meanwhile their truck reinforcements were making their presence known in the western woods, burning up a guarding HT. Turn 7 saw more mass destruction: three HTs, two Panzers, the radio, 2 KV-1s, a truck, and a smattering of infantry. There was almost an uninterrupted line of burning wrecks on the north side from one end of town to the other. This would've been an absolute counter clutter nightmare in real life; it was hard enough to keep track of where everything was on VASL! Turn 8 saw even more devastation for the Germans, with another Panzer, HT, AT gun, LMG, 8-1, and three squads lost, while the Russians lost two squads. Of greater importance the Germans were knocked down to seven buildings, and the writing (which had been on the wall for some time) was clearly visible at this point. The Germans played one more half turn to see how many more Ruskies they could take down (a HS), but when they lost their stellar 9-2 AL there was no more wind in their sails. I really wasn't looking forward to playing as the Russians in this one, but I'm glad I gave it a chance as it played much more excitingly than I would've imagined. Both German radios breaking before they could even call in one mission really hurt. All-in-all a fun experience.
2024-10-10
(A) John Garlic
vs
Chad Cummins
Russian win
Excellent scenario. Initial German ambush poorly executed and delayed German entry into village. Good OBA strikes, but unable to overcome the hordes of supporting Russian tanks. Great time!
2024 ASLOK XXXVII
2020-05-19
(A) B-E Karlsson
vs
Russian
Russian win
2019-11-21
(A) patrick palma
vs
Jack Boyle
Russian win
2018-07-17
(A) Shane Pask
vs
Russian win
This scenario prompted me to buy Turning the Tide. I tried to convert my old SL scenario myself and botched it. Cannot blame everything on the conversion - my tactics also sucked.
Gave up on turn 5 with the streets full of Russian tanks and no Germans even close to town.
2016-01-17
(A) Andy Beaton
vs
Richard Hooks
German win
Russians held their own in the armour battle, largely because I was sacrificing tanks to kill off Russian infantry, which I did. Russians conceded when they couldn't retake enough buildings with remaining infantry.
An awesome monster to play.
2014-08-19
(D) Lee Bray
vs
German win
My plan as the Russians was to give ground slowly in the village, preserve my force and counter attack when the tanks arrived. On board 4 I entertained no possibility of reaching the village, but wanted to keep my force in being and tie down some Germans to keep them out of the main fight. I didn't contest the German seizure of the hill west of the viallge on Bd 3 on the theory that I could make it very unhealthy for him to try to use it. At first I thought this would be the case as I quickly knocked out one PzIV that took up residence on the crest, but the other hull down in hex 3W6 just would not be killed. I tried throwing large numbers of my tanks at it (there were 6 acquisition counters on it at one point!) and Shocked it three times in 1 phase, but it would not die and was still there (with a -2 AL) at game end. On board 4 things went rather well, my force dismounting from their trucks immediately and keeping the Pz IIIs and an AC occupied. In the end I pushed the AT gun onto the wide open space of Board 4, knocked out a Marder on hill top and started taking pot shots at 3W6 which broke the stalemate and made the Germans attack. In the end all three Pz IIIs died, but I still didn't nails the 3W6 tank and the Germans gradually ground forward breaking pretty much all my infantry by trun 9 when I conceded. Thoroughly enjoyed the scenario though, a real blast from the past and a nice antitode to the fashion for short, snappy scenarios.
Eoin blasted the Russian reinforcements on Turn 1, with only a few survivors and then directed almost all tanks against the village. A couple of tanks attacked the column survivors and another couple took high positions to wait for the Russian tanks. In the village the German HMG blasted away the Russian defenses with I think 8 or 9 ROF in a row and he slowly crawled inside the village. When the Russian tanks appeared the German tanks simply blasted them away with one APCR round apiece, hitting every round, even against moving, < 3MP vehicles. Two turns after their entry there were no more Russian tanks and I conceded.
2011-07-27
(A) Dan Best
vs
Mike Bistodeau
German win
2011-06-24
(A) Ian Willey
vs
Jon
German win
As Dave said above, the battle of reinforcments was a blow out. I think it is important for the German to disengage as much as possible from this battle as early as he can to help in the main attack. My experiance from here could not have been more different as I forced my way through the village and as the Russian fed tanks in too slowly was able to deal with them. For the time required I would say other scenario's are better but still enjoyed it and glad I played it, went through the whole ten turns.
2010-11-20
(A) Jesus Pie
vs
tozesantos
German win
2010-10-29
(D) David Ramsey
vs
Martin Barker
Russian win
Wasn't as good as we were hoping. The battle of the re-inforcements was a bit of a blow out but the russian defenders were too strong for the Germans. We called it half way through.
