The Russians advanced their infantry and cavalry into Mogilev an...
The Russians advanced their infantry and cavalry into Mogilev and trhe neighboring forest on their first turn, hoping to plaster me to the back wall, but I came back with a Close Assault, ordering three infantries there (5 hits) and a tank on my left (killed the infantry). However, my infantry lost 3 figures to an Ambush, too -- and this led to two Russian medals there on the next turn, as the cavalry scored an kill and got an overrun. 4-4 after 3 turns.
With a 1-1-1, I finished off an infantry on the Russian Right on turn 4, then with another 1-1-1, I moved my Right tank into Smolensk. Though I got flagged out of the town twice, it kept the Russians from other pursuits.
With a Firefight, I finished off a third infantry on the Russian Right. The Russians Counter-Attacked, and I Countered that. The Russian defenders chose to abandon their sandbags when they got down to 1 figure, and the Panzers rolled in for the medal.
9 turns, 7-3 medals, 26-16 figures. Railrodder didn't hold a Center card the whole game, and I didn't touch my first one until my 7th draw. The train didn't move during the game.
German Assault Left and 1-1-1 killed my lead infantry and tank i...
German Assault Left and 1-1-1 killed my lead infantry and tank in that neighborhood on the first two turns, while a Messerschmitt whiffed on four swipes at my artillery. (Air rules.) Then, they went after my infantry in Smolensk, time after time, but they were unable to finish off its last figure. (Only 3 hits out of at least 16 dice.)
Meanwhile, I finished off an infantry on each flank. (Both had been weakened earlier by a Close Assault.) Then, the Panzer on my left pushed my cavalry out of the woods, but with a Pincer Move, I was able to gallop around to cut off its retreat and eliminate it.
Finally, using Right cards and with a little help from a plane, I managed to fniish off the infantry that was trying to enter the medal city.
In addition to his disc problems in the center, Railrodder had some card problems.
11 turns, 5-2 medals, 20-17 figures. Fascinating scenatrio. I look forward to playing it again.
Après victoire seulement 5-4 sur Bug on arrive a Smolensk. Les R...
Après victoire seulement 5-4 sur Bug on arrive a Smolensk. Les Russes sont finalement plus nombreux, les allemands s'enlisent. 0-1 dés le début car j'ai Smolensk. 0-3 sur action héroique alors qu'il est sur sa ligne...1-3 sur mes chars qui étaient sur la colline du centre. Je mets un assault d'infanterie au centre : 1-4. Il riposte au centre 2-4 mais ne peut éviter le tir de barrage 2-5 pour une victoire trop facile qui vient trop vite.
La campagne accumule les déséquilibres en fait. Pas terrible.
PBEM Grand Campaign
After struck by VE rolls, Russian suffere...
PBEM Grand Campaign
After struck by VE rolls, Russian suffered with 1-fig tank at the frontline and German's elite panzer took it out in the first turn and overran another infantry for 2 damages. In the next turn, Germans killed it off and the game is now 3-1 for the Germans.
Russian suddenly started chasing the Germans and after Germans took out an infantry at Rzhev, Russian played BEL but an unlucky dices unable to kill a German unit. This resulting in a Counter-Attack and another Russian unit was down.
The Russian Cavalry bravely marched forward with an order from TFH, but still failed to grab a kill when he's eventually died trying, and Germans close the game after in two turns, the defender of Smolensk finally knocked out for good.
Les allemands avancent mollement sur tout le front le temps de s...
Les allemands avancent mollement sur tout le front le temps de se constituer un deck de carte offensif. Cela permet aux russes de faire mouche et détruire 2 unités allemandes du flanc droit.
Dur pour les russes de prévoir à quel moment l'attaque allemande centrale va être lancée. Ils lancent des bonnes cartes en prévision mais les allemands se font attendre et font parler l'aviation.
A 3-3, l'offensive au centre est lancée (avec de bons dés) et c'est à ce moment que les russes n'ont plus de cartes pour répondre. Smolensk est pris par l'axe qui élimine au passage 2 infanteries russes. Une dernière infanterie affaiblie et isolée est éliminée par les panzers.
Dur pour les russes de devoir prévoir l'attaque et de ne pas avoir le jeu pour répondre!
Bitter contest with the Russians barely holding on the the town ...
Bitter contest with the Russians barely holding on the the town of Smolensk. The Germans would have experienced better and quicker results. However, the Russians had two Infantry units in reserve and they rushed to support the town at the eleventh hour. With the Germans needing 7 and Russians only 5, the game went down to the last card.
Grande campagne avec Airpack, 1 sortie aérienne de Yak en appui ...
Grande campagne avec Airpack, 1 sortie aérienne de Yak en appui aérien.
Réserve : 1 artillerie pour les russes et 1 unité de chars pour les allemands.
Les russes placent des sacs de sable sur les unités à découvert. Les allemands tirent sur ces unités au centre, les russes résistent assez bien et parviennent à répliquer, laissant le temps aux chars et aux fantassins de s'abriter. Sur l'aile droite allemande, la cavalerie et le bataillon d'infanterie sont rapidement éliminés. Les allemands tergiversent laissant aux russes le temps d'obtenir 2 victoires sur des bataillons d'infanterie, d'endommager des panzers et d'obtenir les renforts du train. Ensuite, les chars allemands convergent sur Smolensk, ils parviennent à prendre la ville malgré la perte d'un escadron de panzers. Un objectif est donc atteint et tenu. Les russes ne pourront tenter de reprendre la ville faute de cartes. Ils arracheront une dernière victoire grâce à leurs chars, qui seront détruits ensuite. Dommage !
Fin de 1ère phase Barbarossa Centre : allemands 11+1 / russes 9+6
Germans actually had 6 medals but AAR would report this as a los...
Germans actually had 6 medals but AAR would report this as a loss to the Allies since it doesn't follow the fact that you can have less medals and still win the scenario.
The German infantry on the left flank had a tough time dislodgin...
The German infantry on the left flank had a tough time dislodging the Russians from the woods & marsh. Advance on the right flank was steady & solid, esp. after air support weakened their defenders.
In the center, Russian air strafed our lines & softened up the tank units in the area. The Germans managed to plunge ahead & take Smolensk, only to lose it in a counterattack, thanks primarily to the supply train reinforcements.
The battle was lost even though the Germans had more medals, due to the greater ability of the Russians to absorb losses.
This was the second battle in an Operation Barbarossa grand campaign. With objectives, the score in the Center following the first phase is:
Air pack utilisé et 2 jetons utilisé pour les allemands et 1 pou...
Air pack utilisé et 2 jetons utilisé pour les allemands et 1 pour les russes!
Le joueur russe à eu beaucoup de mal à gérer son commissaire politique, j' ai eu quand à moi une bonne succession de carte et un bon mitraillage avec mon avion...
A rematch w/ a changing of sides.
I played a DHQ but my roll...
A rematch w/ a changing of sides.
I played a DHQ but my rolls vs the Russ Inf were bad. Steve then played Counterattack (DHQ) and did some damage. I play Conuterattack (DHQ) and once again my Inf rolls were poor. What could have been a good start w/ 2 to 3 medals went south. Luckily for me, Steve could not respond to my moves in the center and on my right. I was able to kill off the Russ Inf and Cav on my right. I also finished off the forward Russian tank and reduced another Inf to 1 fig. But Steve fought back and held a 4 to 3 lead. I then killed off a Center Inf and reduced another to 1 fig. Within a few turns I had reduced the Inf in Smolensk to 2 figs. On my last turn I killed off a 1 fig Inf in the RR station and then finished off the Inf in Smolensk - this reduced the Russian medal total to 3 and boosted mine to the winning 7.
My early attacks did not fare well. I killed off the first unit ...
My early attacks did not fare well. I killed off the first unit for a 2 to 0 lead. But then I could not get any critical die rolls. I just could not finish off units for the medals. Steve chaulked up 5 medals in row. Finally on my last turn I killed off a 1 fig tank on the boardedge (1 die), another 1 fig panzer in the center (1 die) -- I had missed both twice before -- and 2 more shots finished off a 2 fig panzer on my left. A 4 for 4 vs the panzers when I needed it the most.
Soviets - Inf res., Germans - no res
Soviets luck and craftin...
Soviets - Inf res., Germans - no res
Soviets luck and craftiness gave them the win here! Interesting note; Win was by evicting some German armour from Smolensk giving back the medal for the objectives to the Soviets for the win.
Soviet artillery deployed directly to the board. Axis made use of the blitz rules to call in some Air Strikes with some effectiveness.
Axis reserve played a pivotal role in helping clear the Allies right flank.
After some preliminary attacks, the Axis infantry made a daring rush into Smolensk only to be ambushed by the Soviet infantry there. In the end though the Soviets couldn't hold the town.
Russians took out German armour in the middle after lucky die ro...
Russians took out German armour in the middle after lucky die rolls. Germans countered on their right flank but could not wipe out retreating cossacks. No chance to stop train with reinforcements. Gambled on all out attack on Smolensk last turn but lost. Great scenario!
The German centre opened the battle and this was quickly support...
The German centre opened the battle and this was quickly supported by its left flank. The Russian units near to Vitebsk were quickly destroyed or forced to withdraw.
Next on the German hitlist was the weak cavalry unit. This was swept aside as though it wasn't even there and things were looking bad for Mother Russia. Could Hitler be in Moscow for Christmas??
Not if Mr Monks had his way. He quickly got his reinforcements into the battle and Smolensk was fortified. His units here were putting up quite a fight and the Germans suffered a couple of casualties but still held the initiatve. A swift infantry assault on Smolensk led to its capture and the Germans held on to win the game more easily than at first seemed possible.
The weak russian left flank is destroyed by the German player in...
The weak russian left flank is destroyed by the German player in the first and second moves when, with an armour assault card, the Axis starts also his attack against Smolensk. The fighting is hard and the russian player is forced to retreat toward the Dnieper. The pressure of the german infantry units on the left flank, even if under the fire of the guns of Vyazma, will become too strong for the russian player. The lack of movement cards in the center for the russian player will make the difference, driving deservedly the German player to a clear victory.
Incredible cards for the German player! An early armor assault ...
Incredible cards for the German player! An early armor assault cleaned up four Russian units after only several turns.
Subsequent lucky cards were another armor assault and a close assault card which enabled the panzers to keep charging forward and almost take Smolensk. The city fell after the arrival of a mechanized infantry unit. By then, although severly weakened, German armor started pounding at the Russian units on the other side of the river. With such an advantage in medals, the Germans could afford to take some risks. The Russians were never had time to retreat their units to defensive terrain and had to defend themselves in the open against the charging panzers.
Although the supply train did make it to the station, the troops were never able to play a significant role.
Despite the clear German victory, this scenario was entertaining as the terrain is challenging and the use of the train a novelty. The battle felt like a blitzkrieg.
A very close battle. The only mistake Ziggy made was trying to f...
A very close battle. The only mistake Ziggy made was trying to frontally assault Smolensk with panzers and no infantry support. Hoth's pazergruppe got badly mauled. No hex of Smolensk was taken, and the train made it to Yelnya to bring some badly needed reinforcements. The central panzers might be better employed trying to stop the train while the infantry take Smolensk. Predictably, the retreating Soviet armies were badly mauled before they could get to defensible terrain.
