Old Man River (Crossing)

Nov. 8th, 1941, two platoons of Company G prepared to cross the Volvo, near Village K, where the river is both bridged and fordable. Recon had indicated prepared Soviet defenses North of the river, including a pill box overlooking the bridge. Company G was ordered to take the building and woods East of the road.

Soviets scanning for enemy activity.

2nd platoon, to the East of the road, came under fire upon arrival, and one squad suffered heavy casualties from Soviet fire from the woods north of the river. The German 1st platoon in the buildings West of the road, was pinned by MG fire from the pillbox.

The German force arrives on table.

Soviet fire wreaked havoc on the attackers and it was with great effort that the German 2nd platoon aided by the engineer made the first of repeated efforts to ford the river.

Engineers and a squad from second platoon under fire from Soviet defenses.

Although smoke had been called, it failed to arrive (and eventually the request was outright denied) and with the German attempts to ford the river via the woods on their right faltering, first and second squad from 1st Platoon attempted to cross the bridge to take out the enemy MG.

Soviets in the house opposite the bunker have clear sites to the oncoming Germans.

Soviet MG fire was ineffectual but the rifle squad  in the house opposite the bunker managed to push back the German advance.

At close range, with a target in the open this should have been a slam dunk for the MG. Instead they rolled a 1 and a 2. Disciplinary action will not doubt follow this loathsome performance.

Meanwhile, German 2nd platoon managed to get a squad across the Volvo, but the engineers were held up by Soviet mortar fire which forced them back into the woods south of the river.

What would have been a two vs two now doesn't look like it's going to go so well for the Germans.

The bridge assault ended in disaster - smoke was called again and again, and NEVER arrived -  with one squad force to retreat to the building south of the river and the other decimated in the open on the bridge by the Soviet rifle squad in the building to the north..

Disordered in the open,  and targeted by Soviet heavy mortars, it was just a matter of time before the German squad was eliminated.

A brutal encounter played out in the woods on the East of the battle - the German squad managed to eliminate their opposite number, but the Soviet mortar crew proved a more tenacious lot and were left in control of the woods.

The Germans were outnumbered, but all units were disordered (I removed the dice for the photo op) so there was still hope that they could eliminate both Soviet units. It was not to be.

With 2nd platoon eliminated, the engineers held up in the river, and the remaining squad from 1st platoon forced back south of the river, the Germans abandoned their assault.

An indisputable Soviet victory.

Some thoughts:

Rules were my own G Company.

The scenario is The River from Crossfire Small 2x2 Scenarios. I set  it up on a 3' x 3' square, with 6" grid paces (so, 6 x 6). Game time was an hour and a total of 10 turns. I could have called it at 7 or 8 but I wanted to see if the Germans couldn't swing some kind of miracle.

This was the first game I've played in awhile where the objective was just to play a game and not test rules mechanisms. It was most enjoyable that way. I had almost forgotten what that's like! I also got to field the Soviet MG, the German engineers, and the German FO in their first games (although none did anything worth bragging about - indeed all seemed to function like new recruits, despite being "regular" troops in game terms).

Of course, I still found some things with the rules that need tweaking or clarification.

First and foremost, the artillery rules, which use a mechanism I came up with early on in the process and was rather enamored with, aren't really fun, given the way turns work. Between the uncertainty of when a side's card will come up with and then a dice roll to verify arrival, off-table fire is hamstrung beyond use. I have already changed them to something more fun from a game perspective (meaning it will actually arrive eventually) and will try them out the next time I play - hopefully they'll be ready for the next rules update.

The green chits all over the board are potential minefield markers. I have been at various times satisfied and dissatisfied with this method. Mostly, the aesthetics bother me. I have decided a more toy-like / game-like approach, where the minefield is clearly visible to all from the start is a better approach for G Company which is intended to be a "lite" game. Once played with a few times, I'll add them to the rules proper.

I really need rules for fording a river. - not because I can't make them up on the spot, I did, but because I don't want to have to reinvent the wheel every time I play this scenario.