Fictional Citadel : July 8, 1943, Part 2

In the predawn hours of July 8, 1943, the 4th Panzer Grenadier Regiment, Phantom Division (under the command of General Feuerbach), took up positions north east of Tomarovka. Their objective was to capture a bridge and the hills overlooking the main road to Yakarlevo,

As the sun rose, the Soviets advanced southward from their position west of Yarkalevo, carried forward by the momentum of their success against Phantom Division on July 7th. Communication difficulties due in part to physical exhaustion of the troops invovled, resulted in the 3rd Artillery Battery and 3rd Antitank Battalion arriving in positions far from their objectives. 

The Germans suffered similar command and control issues. More than once the entire division was forced to hold its position while orders were sorted out.

German engineers led off with a double move special event But the German Division would receive a No Units May Move special event twice!

The 9th Soviet Guard Rifle Regiment advanced through the woods north of the German position behind the river, which brought the German artillery under fire,  before the German crews had a chance to unlimber their guns. It would be some time before the German artillery could relocate and deploy.

"Are ze communists close or is it mein binoculars?"

At the hills, the 7th Soviet Guard Rifle Regiment engaged in a furious battle with the 4th Panzer Grenadiers, before abandoning the position for the protection of the village. The fighting continued and the 7th SGRR was soon no longer a fighting force. 

Meanwhile, the 8th Soviet Guard Rifle Regiment arrived from the north east - it's objective being the hills east of the road. A traffic jam of Soviet units presented difficulties in meeting the timetables set for their assault.

 The Soviet drive for the bridge coalesced around the advance of 3rd Recon Battalion, in support of 9th SGRR. 

Stopped first by the 1st Panzer Engineers and then Feuerbach's division HQ (the General himself was commanding from the front with the 4th Panzer Grenadier regiment), eventually it met destruction at the hands of 4th Panzer Grenadier Regiment.

The final showdown of the engagement occurred when 2nd Panzer engaged in a close range duel with the Soviet AT battalion that saw both sides break from the field.

Sensing the momentum draining from both sides, 3rd PanzerJaeger was able to secure the bridge while 4th Panzer Grenadier held the hill - tenuous though their grasp was. 

Gurdjieff was forced to concede and ordered the withdrawal of the 3rd Soviet Guard Rifle Division north, to an area just east of Systevo. Phantom Division still reeling from the effects of the previous days of fighting, found itself unable to pursue the retreating Soviets.

****** Campaign Notes *****

You will notice I forgot to take a picture of the end of the game. I was too caught up in it to remember and then I ran to take care of the bookkeeping.

This was as small battle. Not just in terms of number of units but in strength points involved.  Both sides had been pretty well beaten up previously and were not near full strength. 

Consequently it was also short. There were six  complete turns - so 3-6 hours of fighting (i figure a turn is 30  - 60 minutes).

The Germans went second on turn 6 and knowing they would be at exhaustion at the end of the turn, and having rolled a No Units May Fire special event, I charged into close combat where I could to push the Soviets to break as well. Was that gamey? Yes. Does that bother me? No. I view it as Feuerbach seeing the Soviets on the ropes and hoping to deliver the knock out blow with the last of his strength.

At the end both had reached their exhaustion points for movement on the campaign map.  As it stands, Phantom Division will need two turns on their baseline to be able to advance.

While the Germans got back 3 of their lost strength points, the Soviets had two points go into the hospital, so it's possible that 3rd SGRD will be ready to advance as early as next turn.

What remains is PanGermania vs the 1st Tank Corps. It is the 2nd time the two have met - it will be a rematch of two armored units. 

Even if PanGermania wins their July 8th battle. am not sure about the campaign going forward. At this point it's almost a guarantee that the Germans won't be able to advance much farther. Is the loss of men and machines worth it?

Operation Citadel-ish

In the mood for getting some kind of game on the table, I flipped, well, scrolled, through, my copy of One Hour Wargames and realized I could treat scenario 8: Melee as a suitable substitute for Grossdeutschland's attack on Cherkasskoye in July, 1943.

Regular readers may recall that I fought this battle as part of a campaign last year.

Panzer and Tiger units from GD advance in front of PzGrenadiers.

Elements of Soviet 199th Guard Rifle Regiment protect the hill, while others advance to meet the fascist invaders.

GD Panzer IVs were completely destroyed but GD recon unit and additional PzGrenadiers arrive to press the attack.

Two AT batteries of the 67th Guards Rifle Division reinforce what remains of the 199th.

Assault lead by Pz Grenadiers supported by recon and Tigers (off camera)

The Soviet left flank collapses under the weight of GD's advance.

Recon foolishly leads the charge to eliminate the last of the defenders.

The Soviets lose Cherkasskoye at great cost, while GD losses are minimal.

I used improvised rules based on my Division Squares: Simple WW2 Combat on a Square Grid but converted to grid-less.  The biggest changes, besides using a ruler, were that I left out leaders and artillery. 

Obviously some of the specifics of the scenario didn't match my original from last year - which I tried to base on research - the Soviets weren't dug in, there was no artillery barrage, and there was no village, but honestly, it was close enough and just as enjoyable.

Another Panzer Kids Deluxe Eastern Front Edition

Tuesday night, my son and I held another game of Panzer Kids Deluxe. This time I set it somewhere on the Eastern Front in winter.

 The Soviets had three T-34/76 tanks, while the Germans had a Tiger I and two PAK-40 anti-tank guns.

The mostly immobile Germans were no match for the speedy Soviet tanks, who also rolled better when it came to shooting.

 

 

At the cost of one tank, the Soviets captured the village.

This one wasn't a nail biter by any means -  the forces were mostly balanced cost-wise, but the lack of mobility and low defensive values for the PAKs was too much of a difference.  I should have given the Germans just one PAK and a PzIV. Still we had a fun time - plenty of sound effect making and dice rolling hi-jinx, and we can't wait to play again.

It was also nice to try out the winter table. The ground cloth is a military surplus poncho I acquired for performing at noise shows - it's far too hot to wear under lights on a stage, but it does make a decent winter landscape I think.

Somewhere in France, 1944 - Panzer Kids!

As noted in my last post, my son and I were set for another game of Panzer Kids. The game took place Thursday night. The scenario: a big cat (Tiger 1) was on the hunt for allied mice (three Shermans), aided by a Panzer IV. 

Both sides made good use of the cover provided by the countryside.

A shoot out - two Shermans engaged the Tiger.

The Tiger took damage quickly and was rendered largely useless.

The Panzer IV on the other hand ...

... scored the first kill of the game.

The Allied tanks again ganged up on the Tiger and this time knocked it out for good.

The young general surveys the final carnage with smug satisfaction.

The cat's eyes were too big for its stomach!. 

Despite the abundance of cover, the Allied commander opted to turn the hunter into the hunted and did so boldly. It paid off, this time.

**********

The optional rules worked quite well The bocage rules also worked as I hoped - allowing the Allies to keep one Sherman in reserve to strike when the Tiger was vulnerable, and the PzIV to advance up the table (with it's weaker defensive value, this was a huge plus).

My son immediately asked when we could play again, which is the highest possible praise for a game.

This is our third Panzer Kids outing I think? I may have said it before, but it bears repeating, I highly recommend Panzer Kids - don't let the Kids part turn you off. There's an enjoyable game here for adults, too.

There's a pay-what-you-want Basic version if you want to give it a go to get a sense of the rules, but the Deluxe edition rules add some of the features older gamers would expect (flank/rear bonuses, damage effects, ATGs, etc.) without adding complexity - plus there's quite a list of tank stats. 

I think this game took 45 minutes start to finish. It's hard to tell exactly how much of it was the game though, because there were quite a few tangents - such as extended sound effects making for shots that hit (or missed for that matter), wild cheering and "end-zone celebrations" for successful shots, random hugs, spontaneous improvised "national anthems" to spur on the sides, etc. - not atypical if you've ever had the good fortune to game with a nine year-old.

The Table is Set!

The table (err, bed) is set for the next game of Panzer Kids Deluxe! This time we'll be "somewhere in France, 1944". If we keep playing this game I'm going to have to expand my collection of 1:48-1:50 scale armor. HAVE TO I SAY!

Tanks not necessarily in their starting positions.

I just like the way this Corgi model looks going into the field.

 Vehicles are Solido / Verem and Corgi.

This game we'll incorporate the optional damage rules, wreck rules, and the flank/rear attack rules. 

For the bocage/hedges, I've decided that the tanks must be in contact to see/be seen and to shoot/be targeted, otherwise it blocks LOS. Tanks may not cross bocage/hedges.

Panzer Kids! Eastern Front Edition

First game of February!

In an effort to get in some mid-week gaming, Tuesday night, I bamboozled my son into playing Panzer Kids again. Honestly, it didn't take any arm twisting once I got the tanks out.

The scenario is based loosely on my own lose interpretation of Berezovka Heights in July 1943. I decided on two victory conditions for the Germans to win - they had to clear and claim at least one hill, and get one vehicle off the board via the road. They had 7 turns to do it and they couldn't leave the table until turn 3 or after (I wanted to prevent a race down the road). Otherwise, the Soviets would win.

Vehicles in three scales on the table together - but that didn't lessen the fun.

Below the young commander (he plays both sides, I adjudicate and provide advice) studies the situation in turn 2 (I think):

He's kneeling on the floor. He's 9 and is getting closer to 5' tall every day.

The Germans managed to clear both hills and claimed one as theirs, but victory celebrations were called off when on the last roll of the last turn, the Soviets destroyed the Panzer heading for the road:

An over view of the carnage.

The last shot.

I really like this game a lot. It scratches the itch to play a game, doesn't take more than a quick skim to refresh my memory, and let's me get out my vehicles that really don't get used that much ordinarily. It's also the perfect level of complexity for my son, who isn't big on games in the physical realm. 

It holds his interest which is a minor miracle.

An aside, if you're familiar with the game then you know Panzer Kids treats hills as impassable for tanks (I suspect because it simplifies things for the intended audience) - and yet the Stug is on the hill. For this scenario I decided I would allow them to do so, because I wanted my son to have to consider who he would relegate that duty to and to realize he couldn't sacrifice his entire force just to get someone off the table.

This time we used two advanced rules: ATGs and the flanking fire rules.

I was excited by the former because I just like seeing them on the table. The latter really made things interesting from my point of view, as several times I was able to pull the commander aside and show him how different moves might expose a tank to more or less fire against weaker side and rear armor. And how he could maneuver tanks to use cover and to construct fire groups to gang up on a single target. Trying to give him a little instruction in thinking ahead and such.

Still, I was careful to let him have the final say and merely offered comparisons of possible outcomes that he could choose between.

Despite the fact that he clearly wanted the Soviets to win (he's studying Russian and Russian history), he made good decisions for the Germans and got excited to score a hit regardless of which side it was for.

It was a great time and he was super excited by the whole thing. I'm hoping to get him to play again this weekend, although I know it's probably pressing my luck!

Weekend Update

Work continues apace on the Russians although they look little different than they did the other day, so no picture. 

My Armies in Plastic order arrived the other day - I was surprised that the package was so bulky given I only ordered two guns. Then I remembered, I wanted two mountain/screw guns (I will use generic infantry for crew) and found the best deal was to get a Northwest Frontier battle pack with 20 Afghans and 20 Indian army figures, plus the two guns.

The Afghans, which will be useful if I want to pursue the Great Game angle, include several figures armed with sword and shield. In spite of cartridge pouches, I think they can be pressed into service as levy figures for my One Hour Wargame, mostly Deetail, Saracen army.

I rather like the Indian officer and think he would make an interesting character - whether I would decide to paint up any of the others remains to be seen.

Do two guns count as a gun park?

Saturday afternoon was a nail biter of a  Panzer Kids game :

The Sherman or the Tiger?

The rules are straightforward, play fast, and there’s plenty of differentiation between tank types. 

We played the basic rules (this was my second attempt with them, my son's first) with an objective (which is an advanced rule although we didn't include the recommended ATG). The Germans had a Tiger I and a Panzer IV, while the allies fielded three Shermans. 

It came down to one Sherman against the Tiger, both with 2 hits (3 eliminates a tank). The Sherman had a cover bonus, which enabled it to withstand the Tiger's onslaught, helped too by a monumental run of poor die rolling. Finally, after some ineffective back and forth, we set a limit of how much ammo remained, and with one round left, the Tiger brewed up the Sherman for a German victory..

For next time, we're looking forward to using ATGs.

Finally, on Saturday night, I played a solo RPG (something I haven’t done in years):

I bought the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic RPG a few years ago during a time when my son was watching the Friendship is Magic TV show. Naively, I thought I might hook him with the game. His interest didn't last the delivery time of the book.

However, I was rather taken by the system which encourages cooperation between player characters via an in-game mechanism called "friendship points". It's also implicitly encourages non-combat solutions to conflict, being it's a My Little Pony theme, but you can ignore that if you choose and the system can handle it. So, point being, I've held onto the rule book and even picked up this starter set - which cost about the same as the dice it included.

The adventure was engaging ,and a little frustrating too, when I was lost in a labyrinth (I realized I had to map it out or I'd be lost a lot longer). 

Oddly, the module is a solitaire game book/choose-your-own-adventure with dice type affair, so although it provides a method to play with others (everyone rolls and if one succeeds they all do, but if one loses a hit point, they all do), the intent is that it's played by one person. Thus, in a game where friendship is the mechanism to overcome difficulty, there's no one around to spend friendship points with. 

If that's not an analogy for the pandemic, I don't know what is.  

Rumors of My Demise and a Developing Set of Rules

I am deeply humbled. I disappeared and did not consider that during the times of the pandemic that this might cause concern.

Just before the US plummeted into lock downs and rising COVID infections, I found myself being called to return to music (I mean my own music. I'm in a band but I don't do much writing for it). Music, like wargaming, can demand a ton of time, but unlike gaming, drains me of energy in all sorts of ways. The creative process, for me, is not an enjoyable stroll in the park but the tearing of some hideous thing from the purple-black tendrils of doubt and pretension, hurling the putrid sputtering mass into this reality, and wrestling it into something less horrible, through the power of blood and sweat and tears, presumably for sharing with the world. The latter opens up gaping dimensions of doubt unknown to those who have never walked that path.

But I digress. The point is, writing and recording sucks up free time and I am terrible about balancing my interests.

I returned to gaming in June however with a handful of G Company games, including revisiting D-Day with the US Army's 1st Infantry Division. Some thinking about what I wanted from my games led me back to company element games, and then some more reading led me to battalion element games with a goal of playing GrossDeutchsland's advance during Operation Citadel (more to come on that, including five scenarios with painfully simple maps made in Google Draw, suggested orders of battle, etc.).

It may be hubris speaking, but this reminds of me of the pictures in older war games books. Please note the card stock buildings are prototypes, and not finished. I wanted to make collapsible Russian style buildings. They work, I just need to make more and finish them.

As an apology for disappearing without so much as a word, allow me to present a draft of what I call Divison Squares (I was calling it Space Wars early on as a joke, because that implies outer space and perhaps even Star Wars, when it's not about that at all. Which tells you all you need to know about my sense of humor.) There is nothing new in there, just an amalgamation of mechanisms that work for me, written for me, but now cleaned up a bit in case anyone else finds use in them.

The Division Squares rules began as Battalion Squares where each unit is a company. I'll revisit those eventually. This picture is an early game using those - hence the mixed heavy weapons company for the Germans.

Although I have played them for at least two dozen games, there are still things missing and it's a living document (for instance air-to-ground rules are missing, as are mine fields. Both of which will be added eventually). These are intended for playing WWII on a grid with a regiment to a division+ per side in a smallish space.

A German divison (GrossDeutschland in the scenario, but could be a generic Panzer Division) advancing against a Soviet rifle regiment (199th but could be any) in trenches- one tank unit has already been destroyed (off camera bottom right). There are three scales of vehicles in this picture, for those following along at home.

They work for One Hour Wargames scenarios as well, at least in my limited tests (mostly I've been playing GD at Cherkasskoye - a table layout and scenario based on a historical battle.) However, expect most OHW scenarios with OHW sized forces to play in about 8-10 turns (not unlike OHW rules in my experience).

From a OHW scenario. I adjudicated the game, but little monkey (he's 8, so maybe not so little) controlled both sides.

 Please accept them in the spirit they are intended.

Skirmish Campaigns: Grandcamp (Bloody Omaha Campaign, Game 3)

Friday night I fought the third and final battle of the Bloody Omaha campaign from Skirmish Campaigns:Heroes of Omaha and Panzer Lehr. The scenario is called "Grandcamp."

The scenario is set on June 8, as the 3rd Battalion of the 116th Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, made its way west of Point-du-Hoc and encountered elements of German 1st Battalion, 914th Infantry Regiment, 352nd Infantry Division.

The battle field. US enters from the right.

The US objective is to move from east to west (right to left in the picture) and either capture the farm or exit a portion of the troops off the west edge. If they can do both, they earn a decisive victory. The Germans win by denying the US their victory conditions, and earn a decisive victory if a certain percentage of their troops survive the encounter.

The Germans, off map, awaiting their deployment. 

The PL and the rifle squad held the farm (I played the scenario twice - this report is the second. In the first game my blinds were too random and the Germans were scattered in ways not logical for winning the scenario. I also forgot a few scenario rules, and that the MGs were light and medium, not heavy).

Converting the order of battle, the Germans have a Platoon Leader, a rifle squad (each man armed with a panzerfaust -8 in total), an MMG team, an independent LMG team, and a PAK38 and crew. Lacking a PAK38 model, I used one of my Britains guns for a "close enough" match.

US advance is underway and cautious.

The Americans had a PL in jeep, one Sherman, an MMG team, a forward observer for an 81mm mortar battery (10 fire missions), and a full platoon of three rifle squads - one with a bazooka.

The US got off to a slow start,with troops taking positions in the bocage trying to see any enemies using the next hedgerow for cover.

German LMG team fires on the American MMG.

On their left, some suspicious greenery turned out to be occupied by the German independent LMG team, who opened fire and pinned the US MMG.

Having revealed themselves, they became a target for the tank, who advanced with the PL in the jeep. A few rounds of HMG fire and the German LMG was suppressed - and then inexplicably I sent the jeep and tank to flank the farm, and moved the MMG up to support the infantry advance on the right (also heading for the farm), leaving the LMG team to try to rally (it took them quite awhile but I would pay for it when they finally did).

PAK crew opens fire on the Americans.

The Germans had a nasty surprise waiting for the American riflemen when they stepped out of the bocage into open ground - the PAK38 crew was pointed straight at them. One of the squads was suppressed (I kind of screwed up my own rules - ATGs can only damage a single unit, they don't damage all units in the space. It wasn't an issue here).

Firing from the safety of the bocage, the US rifles shot up the PAK crew with ease and then moved quickly, and recklessly towards the farm.

Tank assault on farm as infantry move up under fire.

The infantry advanced straight into the line of fire of the German HMG, located in the fields north of the farm. Simultaneously, the American Forward Observer called down fire on the farm - and would do so repeatedly for 8 fire missions.

The Sherman and jeep, far more cautious than the infantry, moved slowly down the road revealing some blank blinds and then set sights on the farm.

A shoot out between the Sherman and the Germans inside the farm began - and while the Germans did manage to score a suppression eventually with their Panzerfaust, it was too little, too late and once rallied, the tank's main gun suppressed them in time for a heavy mortar barrage to rain down and take them out.

Sherman destroys German barbed wire.

 The US infantry got hung up a bit German MMG and the rallied LMG that eventually made it to the fight. Amazingly, the LMG team ended up suppressed and then close assaulted, still won its close assault and destroyed their attacker.

It took some doing, and the US lost two squads and their MMG as casualties, but  once both German MG teams were suppressed, the remaining US squad occupied the farm, while the Sherman cleared the way for the US to advance to the west. The German position became untenable.

The US force continues their advance.

The US made it off the table and I called the game a US victory after 8 turns of the allowed 12.

Since they could not both hold the farm and exit enough troops to satisfy both victory conditions, it wasn't a decisive victory, but it was enough to win the campaign.

****
While playing I found a few problems in my QRS, so I took the link down while I fix those. Also, for the first time I had runs of cards for one side or the other near double digits. This is fine for me,as I play solo, but clearly it's not something that would fly for two player games.I need to think on that a bit.

Overall, the campaign was a lot of fun, my rules gave enjoyable games even though they still need tweaking. The vehicle rules worked well - although I feel like tanks should be more devastating, so there may be more changes there. That said, I'm looking forward to playing the Crossfire 2x2 scenarios some more, and vehicles don't make an appearance there, so it may be awhile.

Tanks a bunch!

Tanks are full of problems when all you originally had in mind was a relatively simple infantry game to play engagements between companies or so per side, where tanks generally would be pretty scarce (think Crossfire scenarios).

Why are they so troublesome you ask?

Because it turns out once you start thinking about tanks, you have to start considering other vehicles that might come into the game and how the rules will work for them. After all, it does no good to have a completely different mechanism for different vehicle types. And, to no ones surprise, there are lots of kinds of vehicles: motorcycles, wheeled, tracked, half-tracked, armored, with and without mounted weapons of their own, those with rotating turrets, those with fixed-turrets, etc.

It's enough to really clog up the brain with options and we still haven't mentioned gun size, armor thickness, penetration depth of anti-tank charges, sloped vs flat armor, etc. And, oh wait, how fast do they go?

This Solido Panzer IV and Deetail paratrooper on this way too small grid have helped me figure quite a bit of this all out.

It should be no surprise that I've gotten lost in the weeds a few times. The weeds being the Internet, where experts and non-experts alike offer opinions, facts, and complete hearsay about vehicles in WWII.

That said,I *think* I am getting there, and with only minimal additions to the existing rules for infantry - well at least in terms of the mechanics involved.

EDIT: Almost forgot, came across this interesting resource German Tank Maintenance in WWII.