Moscow '42 AAR: Sukhinichi II : We Will Rescue You

[Strela]

End of German Turn 5: January 22 1400 - 1600


Here are the victory conditions at the conclusion of turn four. Pretty static with no more objectives taken.



The morning fog has not dissipated and the visibility is unchanged at two hexes. All HQ's are in command and only two artillery pieces are unavailable - the best result since the start of the scenario.



339 Infanterie Division continues to prepare to assault the town west of Khludnevo. The Soviets try to threaten the flanks of the German thrust with two battalions emerging from the forest to the north and one rifle battalion using the low visibility to threaten the German held objective on the highway. Long range artillery and small arms fire disrupts the battalion before it could assault the defenders. The German infanterie battalions have not broken down to cover more terrain so they are vulnerable to flanking maneuvers.



At Vertnore, 208th Infanterie successfully clears the two victory point locations in the village. The defenders are all disrupted and the German battalions will continue to try and push them back while using their superior fire power to inflict as many casualties as possible.



Hurrah!!! The siege at Sukhinichi is lifted. The two regiments of 216th Infanterie Division are now back in supply and in a position to be used more aggressively. 18th Panzer continues to push 328th Rifle Division back, but casualties are beginning to mount with many units now at 20% of their approved strength. The push up the hill has been successful, but has robbed the panzer grenadiers and motorcyclists of their mobility due to the heavy snow.


With only one more light turn (dusk) to go it is now time to work out where to set up for the night. I prefer to be very passive at night as the fatigue and strength recovery (particularly for the Panzer Division) is the key for sustained operations.

[Dog Soldier]

Russian Turn Five
14:00 22 January 1942 Visibility 2km

The German 18th panzer grenadier troops continue to inflict a lot of damage on my 328th rifle division. A hole is now in the encirclement of the Sukhinichi garrison. My troops are being hammered pretty hard by the 18th panzer troops. I have to give up more ground than I would have liked near the village just to prevent a sudden German assault cutting off a Russian unit or two. The 328th rifle division’s recon element holds the Germans in their trenches, allowing their comrades to retreat to safety. They pay a high price. Only a dozen survive.
The opening of Suhinichi will now allow the Germans better supply in the village. There is a dilemma. To abandon all those VP locations in the village will be costly to winning the game. Continuing to hold those VP locations leaves the Germans weaker. I had hoped some of the garrison 216th ID units would come out of the trenches this turn to give me an indication of what the Germans are planning to do with them.

The cavalry advance with the T-40 light tanks sniffing the way. Keeping the cavalry hidden today is driving my opponent to tie down units rather than moving aggressively against the spread out Russians. It has left me with more freedom of movement except where the 18th PD has been attacking.

In the NW, other Russian units are being systematically shredded. Only 177 men remain in the village VP location at hex (13,15). The ATG unit has one gun left when it makes its escape. The German corps artillery has been particularly effective this game. All my moves in the NW were stopped dead as soon as my units were spotted by intense artillery bombardment causing the Russians to disrupt.

In the south, Vertnore falls in the SE. The Russians move away to the SE to lure the Germans from the fighting up north. Now the Germans have excellent interior lines with the road running north from Vertnore secure. My cavalry has to look to their left flank for German infantry on day two coming up from Vertnore. That will weaken their impact eventually. I do not want the hunters to become the hunted.

Dog Soldier

At Suhhinichi we can see the Russian recon unit in the center of the Russian position NW of the village on the hill where the 18th PzGr have been attacking steadily all day. The 12 on the upper left hand corner of their counter represents the dirty dozen who survived the last turn and held open the escape route for the battalions south of them.
The cavalry make their move. If undetected, they can settle in next turn using the low visibility of dusk to consolidate their jump off positions for the dawn jack-in-box attack on the rear of the 18th PD.
Then I can pay back the Germans for the damage they have done to the 328th RD.


In the NW, the 10 VP village NW of the main road will fall. My division has probed the Germans flanks to find no weaknesses. In a previous play test game I was able to surround two of Strela's battalions and really maul them on this front. The Germans are being more cautious this time out. No such opportunities have developed. I should note, in that previous game the Russian cavalry came in using the north S/O. Thus the threat to the 18th PD was between the 18th PD and the 339 ID. This caused the Germans to stretch the 339th ID further east allowing such opportunities.


Here is the situation in the south. I met my first goal on this front. The defending units in Vertnore have escaped and broken contact with the German infantry of the powerful 208th ID. It would have been nice to have held the village through the night. In that way my division could rest and recover troops from the fighting that occurred before this scenario opened. The cost would be only two battalions while giving the Germans no rest.

[ComradeP]

Strela, I'm wondering about the reason for placing the, presumably, Krad company and HW company in hex 45,13. They can't see - or be seen from some of the surrounding hexes and there's nothing in the objective south of there at the start of the scenario. Even though I don't know what happens after turn 5, you would at the least have seen his flanking move coming for what seems little to no additional risk.

[Dog Soldier]

FWIW,
I can say that from Strela's point of view, he has no idea at this point in the game which of the three strategic options I chose for the Russian cavalry. They do not appear on his screen shots. He does not know if the Russian cavalry is in the north, east or south. I am purposely trying to keep him in the dark for as long as possible.
This will lend the Russians several advantages to offset the more powerful German forces and their advantage of interior lines of communication. Effectively I am trying to freeze them in place to deliver a coup de main.

• Freeze the more powerful German forces.
  
• Perhaps keep them from spreading out too much making flanking them more effective.
  

The Russians cannot win this one by going toe to toe with the Germans. I have to do everything I can to get them in a bind. The biggest obstacle to the Russian plan in this game is the effectiveness so far of the German artillery. It has been consistent every turn. It has disrupted my units as soon as they appear on Strela's screen. This has made attempts to out flank the Germans and use Finnish motti tactics on their superior but more road bound force very difficult.

Dog Soldier

[ComradeP]

OK, but wouldn't him not knowing which strategic option you chose make it all the more crucial to try to remove possibilities from the list?

Strela presumably does know that there is nothing in the objective to the southeast of 18th Panzer's starting position, so sending some units that he doesn't intend to use there for early warning of a flanking attack seems like an economical way of removing one of your strategic options from the list if nothing happens, or responding to it if it does happen.

[Dog Soldier]

I will leave Strela to give the answer to your query.

For those of you who do not have the game yet, below is a composite image I created to show the three possible entry points for the Russian 83rd Cavalry division.

Dog Soldier

[Strela]

OK, but wouldn't him not knowing which strategic option you chose make it all the more crucial to try to remove possibilities from the list?

Strela presumably does know that there is nothing in the objective to the southeast of 18th Panzer's starting position, so sending some units that he doesn't intend to use there for early warning of a flanking attack seems like an economical way of removing one of your strategic options from the list if nothing happens, or responding to it if it does happen.

ComradeP,

I made the decision to hope (pray?) that Dog Soldier would take either the North or Centre option. As Brian mentioned he caused me huge grief by coming from the north in one of our prior games and I though that he would either repeat that or reinforce the siege around Sukhinichi and try and bloody the Panzers who are actually quite weak.

One thing to note is that I put flank guards out on the left (to counter the north option) and considered that recon units on the right would have to do. I had also been edging 208th Infanterie's recon units up the road towards 18th Panzer in the hope that I might see the Cav if Brian had decided to go with the South option.

Finally, I have been very aggressive with the 18th Panzer. They really are very weak and the reserves/flank guards are all companies or battalions with less than 100 men bar one. Not ideal for facing 300+ men cavalry squadrons. Breaking the siege and freeing 216th Infanterie as quickly as possible is key for getting some decent infantry to handle whatever the Soviets throw at me next.

[Strela]

One thing to note is that I put flank guards out on the left (to counter the north option) and considered that recon units on the right would have to do. I had also been edging 208th Infanterie's recon units up the road towards 18th Panzer in the hope that I might see the Cav if Brian had decided to go with the South option.

Here is a screen shot that shows the 18th Panzer forces that were allocated to covering both flanks and what was being held in Divisional reserve. Pretty clear how understrength and thinly spread the German's were. This is typical of the winter scenarios where scratch forces of company size have to hold out against numerous Soviets hoping that superior morale will work in their favour. The screen shot also highlights how successful Brian's cavalry raid could be with most of 18th Panzers combat elements engaged up on the hill.

[Strela]

End of German Turn 6: January 22 1600 - 1800 Dusk

At the end of Turn 5 the victory conditions have edged up with another location taken and heavy Soviet casualties relative to the Germans.



As a habit, I always watch the replay function to make certain that I don't miss anything. This can be onerous in a big campaign but is manageable in a scenario of this size. While watching, suddenly an armored recon unit appeared.



This was quickly followed by what was clearly the bulk of 83rd Cavalry Division.


But by the start of the German turn, the visibility dropped to 1, in the main due to it being dusk. If I hadn't watched the replay I would have missed the Soviet Cavalry momentarily appearing in my line of sight and then subsequently disappearing. If the Soviets had moved forward this turn with the lower visibility I would never have seen them. Here is what was visible in the same sector at the start of turn 6.



At the start of the German turn 6, only 216 Infanterie HQ was out of command, but a massive 10 artillery pieces were unavailable. This was less than ideal with it heading into the night and the position of the Cav now evident.



Over in 339 Infanterie sector both the objective in the town west of Khludnevo is taken and the Soviets definitively pushed back. The AT guns defending the objective are overrun and destroyed. It feels like we have countered the most dangerous thrusts and can be confident as night falls. Importantly, two corp units (military police company & bridge battalion) are heading towards 18th Panzer with the aim to either assist that unit or close the gap between 339 Infanterie and the Panzer formation.



208 Infanterie continues to push the Soviets away from Vertnore and attempts to engage them at every opportunity. While advancing in the clear the Germans are able to advance a hex and shoot creating casualties as high 20+. Once in the forest though, all movement points are used moving a single hex and the Soviets are able to retreat without fear of loss.



At Sukhinichi, the appearance of 83rd Cavalry Division has resulted in a flurry of activity. The reserve units (weak as they are) are moved to protect the Panzer Divisions HQ. A successful recon flight (the only German air available in the scenario) confirms that the Cavalry are where they were seen last turn. More importantly, two Panzer Grenadier battalions are pulled back from pushing the Soviets off the hill, but they are not very strong relative to the Soviet squadrons. Finally, one of the freed 216 Infanterie battalions along with the few tanks from 19th Panzer look to tie up any Russian units that could support the 83rd Cavalry. Panic and improvisation are very appropriate words at this time....!!



On the hill at Sukhinichi the remaining battalions continue to cause as many casualties as possible while keeping a wary eye behind them. The engineers are surprised to find the 328th Rifle Division HQ in the front line and try to shoot it up. The remaining two Panzer Grenadier battalions are in position to possibly even pocket a Soviet regiment unless they continue to retreat, but with the pull back of German forces any further advances are looking precarious. With the coming dark and the move by 83rd Cavalry, the 324th Rifle Division is committed to probe the Sukhinichi defenses - probably as a diversion for the stealthy move south of the town.



Wow - this game has become more exciting than the Germans would like. The revealing of the Cavalry has given the Germans a chance to deploy, but with forces so flimsy that the advantage has to be currently the Soviet way. With 6 x 300 man squadrons it is evident that the Cavalry could crush the weak German companies if they can just get adjacent, stay undisrupted and assault the enemy. From a German perspective, night should stop the Soviet move due to the disruption risk and hopefully the corp reserves already on the road can move quickly forward to assist the threadbare Panzer defenses.

[Dog Soldier]

Russian Turn Six
Dusk, 16:00 22 January 1942 Visibility 1km

Well there goes the neighborhood. Looks like there was one more German unit to the south of the ones I could see in front of my cavalry as they made their move last turn. They just caught a glimpse of my movement and set off the alarm. I still have the advantage of surprise. The German units responding from the 18th panzer division are very weak indeed. If I can keep them in contact, a night assault might wipe them out. I move the T-40 unit south to block the road from Vertnore. They are no use against even the small German panzer units. Might as well use them as a picket line.

German infantry from Sukhinichi have moved out to the south to try to attack my position along the road leading out of the village to the SW. An intense artillery barrage has hit my troops of the 1105th rifle regiment entrenched on the road. They will need to hold out tonight as I can not afford to reinforce them in case this is just a probe. The real attack here may come at dawn. Thus I move up a rifle regiment along the railroad into the village to join the engineers. Another regiment of the 1107th rifle regiment continues to plod toward the village too to help tomorrow.

To the south the Germans move out of Vertone seeking my troops. I continue to back away from their fire power. The western half of the 322nd is in position for the night. They will attack the Germans in Duminich at dawn.

In the NW the 323rd rifle division is fighting to stay alive. Only 80 men make it back to report to HQ the VP location village in their sector was over run.

Dog Soldier

Russian view of the NW area. Russian units are disrupted, yet in pretty good shape for fatigue. Exception would be the ATG and infantry which retreated from the VP location village.


The southern area.


Around Sukhinichi. Only light German forces to face my strong cavalry squadrons. One good assault on any of these German units should clear them out. I will not wait to disrupt the German units. If there is a chance to assault them I will take it.