Rossienie

This game was played Bank Holiday Monday, 6th April, at the Dunstable Generals' club. Dave N, Dave E and Roger played the Germans and John & I played the Russians. Most of the kit on display is mine but Dave helped with the 38(t)'s. As we have not a single German 35(t) between us we used 38(t)'s instead. They were rated as 35's, not that there is a great deal of difference anyway

The light in the club hall is poor so the pics are not as good as I would have liked

Kradschützen flee before the fearsome KV's

I/76 Artillery Abt in their start positions. Revel guns and Matchbox SdKfz-11 tractors

65 Panzer Abt and II/11 Panzer Abt in reserve positions behind the gun line

III/76 Artillerie Abt was on the German left flank. Closest gun is Britannia, further is SHQ. Closest tractor is the Cromwell SdKfz-7 the further the ubiquitous Airfix tractor

Aerial view of the centre of the German defences. Gruzdiske can be seen in the middle of the picture

1st Battalion 3rd Tank Regiment enters the battle. SHQ and Fujimi KV's

In response to the Soviet thrust II/11 Panzer Abteilung moves forward through the gun line to better positions

The Luftwaffe make their first raid of the game and try to bomb the KV's. The tanks are suppressed but take no casualties

Italeri Bf-109F and Revel Bf-110D

First battalion encounters the remains of the Kradschützen in the farmhouse by the road. The Germans are taken under fire by HE and MG fire

Once the KV's have dealt with the PaK-38, 2nd Battalion 3rd Tank Regiment rushes down the main road. FAA T-28's

3rd Battalion moves to the north of the road. The quick BT's easily overtaking the KV's to their left. The German commander chose to send the FO for the K18 10cm gun forward at the same time - it looks a little outnumbered. Mostly Ostmodels BT's and SHQ SdKfz-254

The BT's continue to push west, followed by the T-28's at Gruzdiske

65 Pz Abt moves north to intercept the BT's. Fujmi Pz-38(t)'s masquerading as 35's

4th Battalion move up. SHQ and Ostmodels T-26's

The first of the Soviet infantry march up the main road. The farmhouse on their right has been long abandoned by the Germans but a kompanie still holds the woods to the left. In the distance the KV's swing north around Gruzdiske to support the attack by the BT's

On the Soviet far right flank the 2nd Motor Rifle Battalion tries to winkle out the last of the Kradschützen from the woods. It would take them several turns to do so, and once finished they were too far from the main action to contribute any further to the fighting

1st Motor Rifle Battalion assaults the Schützen in the wood by the main road. This attack didn't go to plan. One rifle company pinned and refused to move. The supporting tanks morale failed too. Only poor shooting by the Germans stopped the attack being an utter failure

An untidy gaggle of Soviet armour faces the neat Germanic row of Panzers. Untidy or not the Soviets considerably out number the Germans

German Nebelwerfer (SHQ) deploys at Rossienie

The VVS arrives and promptly bomb their own side. Il-2 attacks a KV. The physical damage was not great but the morale effects would be considerable

At least the LaGG-3 finds a German target, though its strafing run fails to hurt the German guns

KV-2's forge forward and make the road, this is enough for a Soviet victory, if the Germans fail to evict them

A LaGG's eye view of the action. Things are not looking too good for the Germans. However to the south (out of shot) 65 Pz Abt is as yet mostly unengaged, and seem remarkably reluctant to join the battle

Where have the KV's gone? John rolled a 10 for morale, with tanks, infantry and an air attack to contend with, plus the loss of one of the KV's to a lucky shot that was enough for them to surrender. Suddenly things don't look too rosy for the Russians

The Luftwaffe continued to make a good showing throughout the game, disrupting the arrival of the Soviet reinforcements. One Bf-109 fell foul of the flak though, being shot down by a quad Maxim. In the background 1st Motor Rife Battalion (to the left) is having morale problems, two of its companies have fallen back. Time is running short for the Soviets and some tough choices have to be made about which units to rally and which to leave behind. To the right 3rd Motor Rifle Battalion push towards Gruzdiske

Finally 65 Pz Abt pushes forward to the south of Gruzdiske

3rd Motor Rifle Battalion charge Gruzdiske while the T-28's move to defend their flank from 65 Panzer Abteilung. The assault looks impressive but the German artillery was to take its toll before the Russians entered the village.

The Soviets make the road again. with the last of the KV's

The gepanzerte schützen attached to 65 Panzer Abt hurl themselves forward to reinforce Gruzdiske. Matchbox SdKfz-251

The end of the final turn. One KV burns but the last is still alive on the road. If it passes the final morale test of the game the Soviets have won. If not they lose as the German reinforcements sent to Gruzdiske have prevented the Soviets from taking the town

John made the final check and the Russians were victorious, but it was very close run thing. It may have gone better for the Germans if they had contracted their armour but it seemed that all the Soviet tanks were only ever facing about a quarter of the German panzers at any one time. Even so a decisive victory (taking Rossienie) was way beyond the Soviet's capabilities

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