July 6, 1943: Phantom Division vs. 2nd Soviet Guard Rifle Division

 As PanGermania clashed with the 3rd Soviet Guard Rifle Division, Germany's Phantom Division led by General Feuerbach, was met by General Blavatsky's 2nd Soviet Guard Rifle Division.

It should be noted that on the map below, the Germans are entering from the South West, while the Soviets enter from the North East.

The Map.

Feuerbach directed his troops to capture the hills North West and North East of the bridge in order to secure the road for the next wave of the advance. 1st Panzer Recon lead the charge, securing the bridge without any Soviet resistance.

2 SGRD meanwhile brought up as many of their assets as they could to meet the advancing Huns. Having stopped the 1st PanzerGrenadier Division the previous day, morale was high and the expectation was that they would shut down the German incursion before the day was out.

1st Panzer recon captured the first hill objective while 4th Panzer Grenadier Regiment, with 2nd Panzer in support, moved up to reinforce their position. The Soviets quickly deployed their artillery and began bombarding the Germans on and around the hill.

Blavatsky, angered by the denial of his request to pursue the retreating 1st Panzer Grenadier Division, sought to break Phantom Division by not only denying them the hills but crippling their force. He personally commanded the artillery in their relentless bombardment of German units.

Portrait of a Soviet Hero: General Blavatsky.

For their part, 2nd Panzer Regiment and the division artillery hammered away at the Soviet 5th Guard Rifle Regiment who had taken up position in the woods South West of the village, supported by the 2nd Anti-tank battalion. The Soviets proved difficult to dislodge and considerable time and effort were spent driving them from the woods so that PanGermania could approach the hills East of the road.

The fight for the hill north west of the bridge intensified as 4th Panzer Grandier Regiment, along with 1st Panzer Recon, engaged in a tug of war with the Soviet 4th and 6th Rifle Regiments.

Blavatsky's artillery badly mauled the recon battalion. German crews were forced to abandon many vehicles burning on the battlefield with the hopes that they could salvage what they could when the fighting ended. Meanwhile, 4th Panzer Grenadier fought on, doing its best to hold the hill against assaults to it's front and right flank.

Some unpleasantness for 4th PanzerGrenadier Regiment.

Their luck ran out and 4th Panzer Grenadier, under weight of increasing casualties was forced from the field, with 2nd Panzer attempting to capture the hill and cover their withdrawal. The Soviets made repeated efforts for the hills east of the road, with little to show for their effort, staved off by 5th Panzer Grenadier Regiment and the German artillery.

By nightfall, both generals had exhausted the troops under their command, and the fight for the hills had ended indecisively with no one controlling the North West hill and the Soviet Pioneer battalion precariously holding the hills East of the road with 5th Panzer Grenadiers threatening.

Campaign Notes

A nail biter with PanGermania reaching exhaustion first in turn 12. The Soviets tried to capture the NW hill and end it in turn 13, but German artillery fire cleared them from the hill, which coincidentally triggered exhaustion for the Soviets. At the end of the 13th turn both sides had reached exhaustion.

Both sides took severe damage with the Germans losing 9 SP and the Soviets losing 10 SP. Those numbers are prior to recovery - they will automatically regain 1/3 and lose 1/3 permanently.

I fought this battle Friday morning and I'm still not sure how to proceed.

As I see it, I have three main options.

Option 1: Leave the forces where they are on the campaign map with neither unit able to move next turn. Then fight the battle again with the now reduced forces. This seems realistic enough but it concerns me from a long term campaign perspective. It's only day two. I'd hate for one of these units to kneecapped on the third day.

Option 2: Both sides are forced to withdraw away from each other / towards their baselines, as if they lost, on the campaign map. Next turn they can move normally. Since they withdraw two spaces if they lose, they wouldn't be able to fight each other right away. This feels gamey but preserves both forces a little longer.

Option 3: Fight the local battles for the two hills - one between 5th Panzer Grenadier and the Soviet Pioneer battalion and one between 2nd Panzer and the 6th Rifle Regiment.

My thought for the 3rd option is to zoom in a bit, and fight two battles, with maybe a single battalion with support for each side (say, using One Hour Wargames force lists and even an appropriate OHW scenario). I am not sure how or if I would count losses towards the campaign -  not a huge fan of carrying fractional Strength Points forward. 

And, in the event of a split decision, I'm not sure what that would mean for the campaign map - it'd be the same situation. 

It's OK if the Germans get stuck here trying to break through of course. So, if the goal is only to see who ends up controlling the hills/campaign map space perhaps either of the first two make more sense?