Solo Barbarossa 1941 Game in 28mm

 I got some of the new terrain pieces together for a quick skirmish level game on Thursday evening, pitting the advancing Germans against hastily assembled local militia and some AT gunners defending a river crossing somewhere in Western Russia in June 1941. Rules were the usual home brew AS9 ones I generally use.

AI image of the Bridge at Svislach in Belorussia, over the Berezina River

My version, including the 3d printed stone bridge and church.

A bellicose local girl resisting the German advance

The church - a very nice model

Germans advance - the ruins are locally purchased mdf "bits"

German recon arrives to support the Landsers

Amongst the Soviet defenders is a small engineer unit

The Russians spring an ambush! Peoples Militia open fire on the German infantry while a "Sorokapyatka" (Little 45-er) opens fire on the SdKfz 221.

The Germans react quickly and professionally to the surprise attack and put hits on the militia. The MMG on the armoured car peppers the AT gun crew with 7.96mm rounds

Gott in Himmel! The AT crew brew up the 221 with a direct hit

A third squad of German infantry has arrived to bolster the attack

The Russian engineers sprint from behind the cover of the church

The first tank from the supporting panzer column arrives, a PzKfw III with 50mm gun.

The Germans continue to add hits to the militia who now carry 3 of a possible 4 before they have to fall back.

Without Order 227 No Step Back (which is still a year in the future) the militia retire to cover to attempt to rally off the hits they have already suffered

Turn 7 was a German event (they have 2 the Russians none) A Stuka dived into the attack, targeting the AT gun, and made a huge splash in the adjacent river!

The AT gun crew let off another 45mm round. to hit a medium armour vehicle, they need at least 10 on 2 D6

That will do it! The Panzer III is knocked out!

All the German infantry units head for the bridge - they are going to have to do this the old fashioned way!

Meanwhile, the Russian engineers roll a success for their demolition task (I decided they had to stand by the bridge and roll each time the Russians activated - a 9+ was a success and they needed to achieve three of these to set off a demolition explosion)

The Commissar attempts to rally the wavering militia squad

A second unit of militia appear on the Russian bank and open fire at the German infantry. The AT gunners, with no vehicle targets, switch to HE rounds and also fire at the Landsers.

Happily, for the Germans, two more Panzer III's arrive to bolster the assault

The tanks combine their MG fire with the infantry small arms and sweep the far bank of the river

Nothing much happened on turn 11 except the Soviet militia rallied

Turn 12 - a second Stuka strike and this one scored a direct hit on the Russian AT gun!

The German infantry press forward, supported by the MG fire from the two panzers

But the Russian Engineers, despite suffering several hits from German fire, have heroically completed their mission!

Now impassable to vehicles, I allowed the German infantry to advance at the rate of 1 D6 cm per action

The engineers, now on 3 hits, but their mission completed, fell back before they were overwhelmed

The Commissar led the re energised militia unit forward to drive the Fascist invaders back!

But on the open road, the combined fire from German infantry and panzer small arms and MG's tore into the hapless Russians and their morale plummeted again

Once again, the commissars appeal to the Soviet citizens inspired them to selfless courage (a double 6 removes all hits in the rally phase!)

But in the last turn of the game, the German fire power again proved a battle winner, with both militia units on three hits and the engineers carrying 4.

The German invaders were slowed down and they will have to rebuild the bridge before their panzer and motorised units can continue the advance on this route, but ultimately, the heroic Soviet defence has been insufficient.

A good little game that took about two hours to set up, play and clear away again. I took some more images of the 3d terrain plus some enhancements I have done to some of the mdf ruins, but I will save those images for a later post

Just to keep my end up with the tourist board, here are a few images from our coffee this morning taken al fresco at a local park at the top of the main street in Pukekohe

That's all for today - we are off out to a local vineyard shortly for a lunch to celebrate my wife's sixty aherm birthday, so no doubt a few nice images of the venue etc will appear in my next post!