Dule
Mid War 1485 pts
Vlada, German
Pioneer (Afrika) vs. Dule, Mixed Tankovy
Mission Encounter
(Fair fight)
Mission Special
rules: Delayed Reserves, Meeting Engagement and Scattered Reserves
This was my first
game against Vlada. Like all generals, we were prepared for battles that we
have already played (and lost) in the past. So, Vlada was utterly prepared
against Russian tanks because he recently had terrible losses against Milan who
also leads them. He had pioneers with Tank Assault 4, artillery, minefields,
and many AT guns. On the other hand, I have an old complex from Dorian’s nasty
veteran artillery and AT guns, which severely influenced my way of playing and
more or less, my list.
Somehow I though
that this was going to be a quick victory for Vlada since his list was the
perfect counterpart to my list.
Even though the
dice chose a fair fight mission it was obvious that I was going to attack since
Vlada`s list was very static with only one small recce platoon. In this mission
reserves are quite important because we don’t know when and WHERE they are
going to show up. I have put in reserves my T-34s, T-26s and BA-64s and put on
the table KVs, infantry and mortars. So, I have decided to make first move at
the double with my KV and strelkovy platoons and then to stop and wait to see
what was going to happen. My strelkovy were spread across the table to minimise
losses from German artillery and to threaten both objectives since I did not
know where to expect my reserves.
Nothing of note
had happened for some three turns since I halted advance of both strelkovy and
KVs at some point. Strelkovy suffered some losses but nothing significant. They
never managed to dig in but nevertheless survived the whole game, at least
couple of them. I have tried to destroy some PaK 5cm (AT 9) guns with my KVs
but with no succeess. Reserves came neither for Soviets nor Germans at turn
three.
And then
something finally happened at turn four. My reserves did not arrive once again
but Vlada got two of them and just in the right place, so he put four PaK 40
(AT 12) in front of my KVs. At this point things looked very bad for my tanks,
since it was clear that if Germans can handle Russian KVs, the rest will be a
peace of cake. Especially, since Soviet reserves have not yet arrived.
Still, my KVs
suffered no casualties (one was bailed out) and in turn five my reserves (T-34
and T-26 platoons) finally arrived on the opposite side of the table which was
not bad at all. And even better, my KVs managed to destroy two of the four PaK
40 guns! At this point things did not look well for the Germans.
On turn six, we
had all our reserves on the table and the game finally started moving. I
cautiously moved T-34 and T-26 tanks and managed to destroy one PaK 5cm gun
with machine guns! That was pure luck. On the other side, KVs, still undamaged,
managed to destroy the entire PaK 40 platoon. At this point things looked very
bad for Germans and since we had already been playing for more than three hours
we were on the verge of calling the game a draw.
Still, we decided
to play a bit more just to see what would happen. I have advanced T-34, T-26
and BA-64 platoons and managed to destroy another PaK 5cm (should I say, again
with MGs) and Panzerspah platoon. I have decided to save my infantry and return
them to the rear. They deserved it.
Finally, on the
right flank I launched an assault with KVs. They killed nothing (they are
conscripts) but did not suffer any losses either, and German pioneers did not
to pass Tank terror and have broken off. I placed KVs on the objective. I have
played very cautiously but this time I made a mistake that could have cost me a
lot since I left all three of them under artillery template. Of course I rolled
two „1“ for saves and had one bailed and one destroyed tank.
On the left flank
assault with T-34 was much more effective, since one pioneer platoon was
destroyed and the objective was taken.
Generally, I can
be satisfied with a game, although it lasted a bit too long. I did not like the
fact that I had to play cowardly - I had been constantly checking how many
tanks were under the template. Had I not done that, I would have suffered many
more casualties. I have learned that artillery CAN make artillery bombardment
after they try to dig in.
Dule
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Vlada about the game
Every friendly
game, starts, with a "friendly" list. At the moment, most popular
incarnation of friendly list is Russian tank horde. Being German army
list player, learning how to cope with this kind of list, is one of my
top priorities. So far, I played (and lost) several games (in fact, I
lost all of them), and most of the time, I was trying to battle the
horde with mixed infantry/tank list composition, with little success.
Now, I tried different approach. I tried to maximize anti-tank defense
and play without the tanks.
To do that, in mid-war
list, I choose pioneer infantry list, with 5 pak 38 guns (distributed
in 3 infantry platoons) and additional 4 pak 40 platoon, backed up with
light artillery platoon (LefH guns) and recce 8 rad platoon. Being
defender, I put half of my platoons on table (2 pioneer platoons, with 4
pak 38 guns, 2 minefields, and artillery platoon). The opponent fielded
3 KV1 tanks, mortar platoon with 6 mortars, and infantry platoon in
front formation. My idea was to try to neutralize KV tanks, and then
deal with other threats.
For three turns, I had
to lay low (concealed and gone to ground) with my infantry platoon,
since pak 38 cannot harm KV1. Being veteran, he had to come within 16"
in order to shoot at me, so I waited. On the other side, artillery had a
shoot at KV tanks almost every turn, without any luck (Having AT 4 in
bombardment, and KV Top 2).
When my reserves
arrived, I quickly deployed 4 pak 40 AT guns, at left flank, to counter
KVs. Having AT 12 against Front 9 is just a bit better than trying to
put them out of action with bombardment, and in next few turns, I
managed to loose all 4 pak 40 guns, without destroying any KV.
The
rest of the game was a fight for survival. His reserves arrived,
managed to kill 2 pak 38 guns, with MG fire, and then he assaulted me,
on both flanks, chasing my platoons from objectives.
Next time, I will try to play with 2 flak 88 guns with extra crew, instead of pak 38 or 40.
At
the end, It was a great game. And if someone, has any idea, how to
manage defense against Russian tank horde, please share them with me. :)
Pozdrav,
Vladimir
