West Of Butovo A Difficult Affair - Advance of the Reich

Adapted from HOB FF9 scenario.\\West of Butovo, Russia, 4 July 1943\\On the afternoon of 4 July, as part of preparations for the German offensive at Kursk, units of the 4th Panzerarmee conducted several reconnaissance in force missions. The objective of the attacks was to eliminate Russian forward outposts. PzD Grossdeutschland's Fusilier Regiment was assigned the task of securing the western end of a low, treeless ridge west of Butovo. At 1500 hours, elements of the 3rd Battalion moved forward.\\The western end of the ridge was defended by a reinforced platoon of the 3rd Battalion, 199th Guards Rifle Regiment. After a brief artillery barrage, the fusiliers moved forward. In addition to mines and other fortifications, the Russians responded with mortar fire from the villiage of Getsevka. In a bloody assault that lasted two hours, the fusiliers finally captured the ridge, but had sustained heavy casualties. It was a harbinger of things to come.\\NOTE: This scenario is set in 1943, but due to game constraints, the game time is set to July 42. It has no effect on play.\\The German 81mm mortar module represents a one-turn smoke barrage; there is no 81mm HE. The smoke should not be shot via 120mm; there is no 120mm Smoke. Scenario SM updated by TheBigRedOne. 2 is more in line with the actual scale of the scenario. The OOB is abnormally large for a scenario of this size.