Operation Citadel : Verkopenye

"The village of Verkopenye was another important objective for Gross Deutschland as the town had one of the few bridges over the river Pena so it was critical that it be captured to open the way to Oboyan." (Axis of Attack: Kursk)  

For the actual scenario, rather than historical research, I used my favorite Table Top Teaser (and one of the only one's I've played), "The Bridge Demolition" 

The Soviets had a rifle regiment supported by two tank battalions and divisional artillery. Gross Deutschland had a recon battalion, two PZ IV battalions, the Panzer Grenadier regiment, the Panzer-Fusilier regiment, a PanzerJaeger, an on-table battalion of of howitzers/field guns, and off-table artillery.

A view of the Soviet defenses. Aufklarung Abt. can be seen on the hill surveying the field.

Gratuitous close-up.

Turn 1. PZ IV and PanzerJaeger units advance.

German right flank. Panzer-Fusiliers on the hill preparing to advance on the Soviets in the woods

Initial contact between the tank units went quickly in Gross Deutschland's favor.

The Panzer-Grenadiers arrive and advance up the road towards Verkopenye.

The battle for the woods is fierce, but the Fusiliers gain the advantage. The Soviets opted then to abandon the position to get the battalion over the bridge before detonation.

Gross Deutschland closes in on Verkopenye but not without some losses.

With the second tank battalion eliminated, the last Soviet infantry battalion abandons their hold in the part of town South of the river.

With the Germans hot on their heels, the plucky Soviets fight hard for Mother Russia and force the Gross Deutschland armor to break off.

The Soviet engineers are ready to blow the bridge but they opt to wait for infantry to make it across.

As soon as they cross, the command is given. The bridge goes up at once. A Soviet victory.

*******

Rules used were my own Division Squares, which are now on their 6th iteration and have proven themselves in the last two games. 

The German advance was hampered by my playing around with limits on unit activation. This was a terrible idea, given the piecemeal arrival of units already due to the scenario. Lesson learned. Around turn 8 or so I opted to switch back to a more traditional, all units can be activated method. 

Per the scenario's advice, the Soviet engineers would need 12 turns to set the explosives. I used a variant of the suggested die roll to determine what happens when the Soviets try to blow the bridge. In this case, I rolled and it blew up immediately - snatching victory away from the Germans who were so close they could taste it.

The Soviets lost 44% of their force, Gross Deutschland lost 25%.

With the 2 points for the win, and 1 point for damage inflicted, the Soviets scored 3 points total. Gross Deutschland earned 2 points for damage inflicted.

The campaign score is now Gross Deutschland 11 to the Soviet's 8.

And just for giggles, here's my conversion of the map to my 8 x 6 grid: