Wednesday Wargame - Another 28mm Barbarossa Scenario

 Last night I got a few Blitzkrieg Germans out of their cardboard Kaserne and pitted them against some Russian infantry in a scratch scenario of 25 turns - 15 German, 10 Russian. The Germans had two "special event" cards and the Russians only one.

A German reconnaissance unit on motorcycles entering a small Russian village

A shot rings out ....... 

....... followed by another ..... 

.... then a whole squad of Russian infantry open fire on the leading elements.

Three hits were scored as the Kraftradschutzen hurriedly dismount and take cover.

The Germans had the next three turns and reacted by moving to cover either side of the road and returning fire on the Russians, putting a hit on them

Turn 5 and the first German event card resulted in an SdKfz 221 arriving in support

The very next turn, the Russian event card came up, a mortar strike. Add 3 to the dice roll and ignore cover - and of course, this happened!

Well, that did not last long.

The Wehrmacht advanced on their right flank into a seemingly empty area

The Germans rolled well and put two more hits on the Soviet ambushers

They reached a total of four and were obliged to fall back

"Advance tovarichi, Urrah!"

A second Russian squad sprung into action, opening fire on the adjacent fascists

The sudden surprise caused panic as the Germans fell back across the road in disorder (the Russians rolled 12 and scored two hits!)

But the steady hand of their Obergefreiter soon had the Germans back in hand (they rolled a good rally and removed all 4 hits - I was allowing the Germans to add 1 as superior quality troops)

And they renewed their advance against the Soviet foe.

On turn 13, the second German event card was revealed and on came an SdKfz 251 to support the Landsers.

The Soviet infantry on the German left had rallied back to 3 hit points and moved forward again.

The MG34 sprayed 7.92mm rounds into the Russians as it rolled forward down the village road.

And they were forced back again!

I decided the snipers could engage the halftrack but would need a straight 12 to knock it out - needless to say....

German vehicles are not having much luck in this game!

But the Soviets on the German right flank were now also at breaking point and retiring

The other flank was driven forwards again by their NCO's....

But the Germans piled on the pressure, and they broke for a third (and final) time.

As soon as the squad left the board, I removed the relevant sniper. The Germans were allowed to "return fire" when shot at by one of the two snipers, but they needed a straight 12 to get a hit - this never happened in the game.

With the Russians driven from the village, the German advance can resume

The Kraftradschutzen head in different directions

As the Russian medical teams recover their casualties from the battlefield

I have assembled all three IS II now - my friend Andrew asked a question re the 3d printed T34 in respect of whether it is in scale. I Googled the dimensions and basically, the two vehicles were the same width and height, with the IS II roughly 50% longer - so I took these images, and I think the relative sizes are about right?

Now, we have had a few "proud dad" moments here regarding our daughter Amy, so this time, it's our son Michaels turn, as he is now a fully qualified builder - and has a piece of paper (in a frame) to prove it!

Thanks for you visit - hope you enjoyed the game and other images. I am off to mate Julians tomorrow for a "game" - hopefully a wargame rather than a boardgame, but we shall see when we get there!