1201_01a Close Call at Kubinka HTH

[Plain Ian]

German Turn 4



The crews of the guns of the 138th Heavy Howitzer Rgt tumble into their slit trenches as German counter battery falls down on them. When they firing stops one of their guns lies wrecked.  The Germans must be using new technology, the guns did not fire last turn due to Ammo Low????

Elsewhere German artillery hammers the front line. Losses are low apart from the 3/787th. This unit is still well manned with 437 men and Fatigue only 48.  The 1/1st Gds Rifle again receive attention.

Action begins in the  west with the 292nd launching a 2 Bn attack which throws the 3/774th back. The 3/774th disrupts but recovers. Losses in the assault are even (-20/-20) with the Germans losing a few more during the approach.

The 1/757th loses out in fire fight and Disrupts.
 
At Myakshovo the 258th do not appear to be in a hurry? The 2/757th which was rushed in last turn resist well supported by Russian artillery fire.

The German 7th Division finally make an appearance. It looks like they will be tasked with supporting the 258th and clearing the woods. They probably have left a small covering force by Yastrebovo. The Recon unit is caught by the 2/17th and loses 15 men. The rest of the Division is heavily engaged with elements of the 32nd Rifle Division.

The 258th launch two assaults both 2 Bn sized I think? Well the first was but I’m not sure about the second?  
The first succeeds and throws back the 1/113th and 2/113th NW onto the 1/322nd. The 2/113th was disrupted from the previous turn and the 1/113th was disrupted by fire prior to the assault. The assault was not overwhelming (-18/-28) but overall losses were high for the Russians. The 2/113th recovered  from Disruption.
The second assault fails. Despite plenty German support fire before the assault the 3/322nd held on and was not Disrupted. The Germans lost heavily. (-38/-16) A final shot from the Germans after the assault did however Disrupt the 3/322nd. The unit has No Morale and a fatigue of 178.

And that was that. German losses were high again. They have risen from 547 to 717. Russian losses went from 633 to 835 and of course 1 203mm heavy howitzer. I’m not sure I'm recording 100% of the losses on my maps so it may not tally with the VP dialogue box. Its pretty difficult recording losses when watching a replay so bear with me.

The big surprise is that he made no attempt to advance on Sememychi ? He might just have been able to move adjacent last turn and it looked definitely looked possible this turn? Its Turn 4 of 19 which means 15 to go? I’ve never played the scenario before but when I looked at the situation I thought the German plan was to race to Kubinka using the obvious gap which meant capturing Sememychi as quickly as possible? Maybe Eldar is pacing himself trying to conserve men and fatigue?

I’ve put Russian and German artillery units on the map for comparison and to fill up the empty spaces. The Russian 203mm is an awesome weapon but the results from the 35th Gds 122mm-155mm Howitzer unit have also been impressive. Not surprising when you they have 36 guns in the unit though.....

Losses and VP’s


It won't take me long to do my turn. Hopefully I'll post in a few hours.