TSOG Visits Smolensk
July 29, 1941. With Smolensk surrounded, elements of the 7th Panzer division are pressing on towards the ultimate prize, Moscow. Soviet forces have regrouped however and are intent on cutting the German supply lines around the town of Kurtsevo. Tasked with defending the supply depot, the 1st Mechanised Infantry regiment set up a roadblock and a makeshift bunker, deploying on the edge of the town. They were provided with a PaK36(t) anti-tank gun.
The Russians managed to find some armoured support in the form of a BA-10 armoured car and an aging BT7 light tank and pressed the attack across the sunflower fields on the outskirts of the town.
The German patrols were either timid or arrogant (or perhaps had a cunning plan), but either way, they let the Soviets cross the open fields unchallenged right up to the edge of the village. Quickly occupying the outlying buildings and the gully of a riverlet, two sections of Soviets waited patiently until the Germans exposed their position.
Alerted to their presence, German LMG teams hurried into position in the bunker and also occupied the river gully further upstream and around a bend. The Russians opened fire as they saw their hated enemy appear, much to the shock of the German troops.
The MG34 is a fearsome weapon though and it cut through the Russian troops in the gully like a scythe.
More teams arrived on the battlefield from both sides and fire was exchanged without any noticeable gains in ground. But after suffering a few casualties, the panzergrenadiers in the gully withdrew back to the cover of the village enabling a Russian section to advance to the wood’s edge unopposed.
The distinctive rumble of engines grew louder and a BT-7 light tank appeared from around a bend in the road, spraying the German bunker with its machine gun. Combined fire from the tank and the rifle squads ripped through the MG team in the bunker and the last remaining gunner withdrew to make room for another team.
The AT gun, positioned behind the roadblock, let fly a round at the approaching tank. A hit on the front armour shook the crew inside but merely scratched the paintwork. It did cause the tank commander to halt and reconsider his decision to close though.
A BA-10 armoured car also entered the fray and joined its fire with that of the tank, which had moved off into the sunflower fields to make some room. Unwilling to risk the devastating fire of the MG34 teams, the Russians stayed where they were concentrating all of their efforts on taking out the AT gun crew. The gun was unable to penetrate the frontal armour of either vehicle, but it did damage the gun sight of the tank limiting the main weapon’s usefulness.
More lethal fire rained down on the Russians in the gully forcing the survivors to withdraw from the battle. But some enfilade fire and accurate mortar rounds on the AT gun killed the crew and left the Germans unable to defend against the Russian armour. A tactical withdrawal off board was decided and the Germans ceded the battle.
A significant victory for the Russians!
The game was played using Chain of Command, setting up according to Table 1 in the excellent Pint Sized Campaign of Smolensk (by Stephen Philp - link). We weren’t using the campaign rules (not yet anyway) as this was just a training game for the guys and a chance for me to try my hand at refereeing. Plus it gave Pete a chance to finally roll some dice! We used scenario 3 Attack and Defend from the main rulebook.
Pete and George played the Russians and Dave and Maurice played the Germans while I pretended to know the rules, while drinking beer and eating party pies.
The game was fun and we pretty much followed the rules accurately (thanks more to Pete than me), with only one or two mistakes. Playing a campaign though will take a well-rounded understanding from everyone playing and so we’ll try a few more stand-alone scenarios before we commit to the long game. Pete and I will need to seriously expand our respective forces’ support options too before we really get going. I have a shopping list of light tanks, mortars and AT guns, as well as additional troops to reflect the scarcity of SMGs in early war Soviet infantry platoons.
Now I'm off to the shed to paint more Russkies!
Great looking game and AAR Dagster! Was the beer and party pies part of the scenario or just a house rule? :)
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