37 replies to this topic

[Sacha]

Everyone joins in for the fun.

[Sacha]

Germans take the first casualty, but not for long....

[Sacha]

T-34 tanks break to assist...as they should.

[Sacha]

Soviet troops in the woods Close Assault the Germans in the woods

[Sacha]

Enjoy the rest of the show...

[Sacha]

[Sacha]

And so the battle ended, primarily because our brains were fried by this time. The Soviets hadn't chewed up the German armor which was their main goal. The 8th Panzer Division did move forward one spot to Narva, ahead of the 1st Panzer Divison....lucky roll.So what's next?The 1st Panzer Division is back on the offensive at Luga. This time it is to take a rail station, with small industrial plex and road net.Should be awesome.

[Sacha]

Brought to you by.......

[Sacha]

ahem....

[Trotsky]

Thanks for the write-up - photos are great.I envy you guys having a referee for all your games - can't see us ever having anyone to do that job. We have been using a set of house rules for hidden movement - use of dummy counters and such like - not as good as having a real ref.I am curious why the T34 set up in the woods? Was it fear of German airpower? The T34's could have outgunned ever other tank on the board and their objective seems to have been to kill as much German armour as possible.Good to see those Cossacks again – must get mine painted!

Post edited by: Trotsky, at: 2006/04/04 14:51

[gregoryk]

Trotsky wrote:

Thanks for the write-up - photos are great.I envy you guys having a referee for all your games - can't see us ever having anyone to do that job. We have been using a set of house rules for hidden movement - use of dummy counters and such like - not as good as having a real ref.

Photos courtesy of Sacha. He and I switch referee duties back and forth, and currently have two guys we are hoping to bring in to the referee fold so that Sacha and I can square-off, mano-a-mano, for the title of the west coast's worst Mein Panzer player.

I am curious why the T34 set up in the woods? Was it fear of German airpower? The T34's could have outgunned ever other tank on the board and their objective seems to have been to kill as much German armour as possible.

Sacha?Gregory

[Sacha]

Call it a poor tactical decision.Thats all I will say for now.

[Bob Benge]

FEAR the STUKA!!!! :laugh:

[Trotsky]

What is next for this campaign - could you post a short overview?

[Sacha]

So this ends Round 2 of "Race for Leningrad".The German 8th Panzer Division took the lead by advancing to Narva. The next Battle, 3A, will go back to Luga where the 1st Panzer Division stalled. They will be back on the offensive where they must assault a small industrial complex at a rail and road net junction.

[gregoryk]

Maybe what we can do is post both pre-battle info and AAR's. The planning for some of these games usually involves several phone calls from the regimental or battalion commanders prior to each game. As Sacha noted, and as can be seen from the map located in the Photo Album section, the First made no progress away from Luga due to bad luck after its drawn battle, but the Eighth managed to progress one city forward to Narva.Have you been able to download the rules for the campaign?Gregory

[Trotsky]

Hi guys, yes I have downloaded the campaign - well put together.It would be good to read pre and post AAR if you can manage it. look forward to reading the account of the 1st Panzer's attempt to take the next objective. I guess if they stall again it might be all over for them!

[gregoryk]

Indeed - the original and revised rules state that No advance or Pushed Back results are disasters. I think that overstates the negative effect of a No advance, which is nonetheless not good. However, given its attrition effects - same as moving three spaces! - a Pushed Back result is a real catastrophe. As it was, both German kampfgruppes were punished by attrition on the early three area advance from Schaulen. After two rounds of combat plus attrition, neither German may be able to field full-strength units any more. I know both KG commanders are concerned with how they will maintain sufficient forces for the huge battle when (or if!) they arrive at Leningrad.Sacha undoubtedly had the most powerful Soviet force so far in the last battle. Lucky die rolls gave him a Regular TQ tank battalion, in '41, no less! But horrible die-rolling plagued that game. As mentioned in the AAR, we started calling for attack rolls with "Roll To-Miss!" Then Sacha as the Soviet player boosted Kampfgruppe Loräburg when he rolled a variable die of '5.' This gave Victor's roll a +1 in addition to the +1 advance modifier for the Luga space. He needed it, since he rolled a '1!' It has been that kind of campaign. I think real-world tactics lessons were learned in each of last round's battles by both players, and we are unlikely to see as much armor in the woods again.Gregory