Fictional Citadel : July 6, 1943 PanGermania clashes with the 3rd Soviet Guard Rifle Division

General Blavatsky  (2nd SGRD) was eager to chase the German 1st Panzer Grenadiers but his superiors ordered his move northward to support Gurdjieff's 3rd Soviet Guard Rifle Division which was maneuvering to engage PanGermania but now found itself flanked by Phantom division. 

Map positions after movement phase of Campaign Turn 2

Soviet General Gurdjieff set the objective for 3rd Soviet Guard Rifle Division (SGRD) to deny access to the Germans to the fork in the main road leading north from Cherkasskoye and further into the Soviet Union. 

Unbeknownst to him, General Fichte (PanGermania), with his sights set on Berezovka and Systeveo, had decided to concentrate on capturing the fork as well, with particular emphasis on the NW roadway, thereby setting the two divisions on a collision course.

Map of Battlefield

Overview

7th Rifle Regiment advanced using the woods for cover.

3rd SGRD’s 7th Rifle Regiment saw worst fighting of the day - after leading the advance they faced off against the majority of PanGermania’s force over the course of the fighting. Repeated attacks by 1st Recon, 1st Panzer, 1st StuG and 1st Panzer Grenadier left the regiment battered. Gurdjieff’s insistence at sending the artillery forward with 7th RR proved to be disastrous - PanGermania’s recon battalion easily overran their position behind the hills, once 7th RR was driven from the field.

1st Recon Battalion captured the fork and opened fire on 7th Rifle Regiment.

Once again, the part of StuG battalion is being played by a Solido Jagdpanther .

The 8th and 9th Rifle Regiments fared better, but marginally.

8th Rifle Regiment is on the hill to the Soviet left, and 9th is to the right of the bridge.

3rd AT battalion advanced to join 8th Rifle Regiment on the hill east of the PanGermania positions. There they would harass if not actually cause damage to 1st Panzer Grenadier.

Significant losses on the day forced Gurdjieff to retire his force eastward beyond the hills. Fichte’s division secured the NW road and PanGermania’s fusiliers and grenadiers moved out under protection of the division’s tanks and StuGs.

The Soviets reached exhaustion and could not longer afford to advance to try and capture the fork. Hopelessly outgunned by the more mobile Germans, there was little reason to continue the fight here.

A view of the retreat from behind the Soviet line.

***** 

Campaign Notes

Once again, the battlefield map was generated using Bob Cordery's Terrain Generator V2.

Both sides had different plans that I diced between. To my surprise both  ended up concerned only with the fork in the road.

I became fixated on the idea of getting the Soviet artillery behind the hills for their firing position. This was unnecessary given their range. Although I use a a house rule that requires a an artillery target be within 3 spaces of a friendly unit, with their range they could have used the woods on their side of the river for cover and left it at that. Instead they were destroyed. Lesson learned.

I Nerfed the armored car and preferred the result - they roll 3 dice to hit, but still can only inflict one SP loss at best.

The Soviets inflicted a total loss of 1 SP (to 1st Panzer Grenadier, which they got back) while losing a total of 9 SP, including the entire 7th Rifle Regiment and 3rd Artillery Battery. They got 4 SP (3 automatically and 1diced-for), with 2 SP going to the hospital. They lost 3 SP outright. 

Next up, Phantom Division vs. 2nd Soviet Guard Rifle Division