This game was not, surprisingly, played yesterday, but rather a week ago, on the Thurs just prior to the game at Julians place.
I laid out a small area of a heavily damaged city using my Australian mdf ruins and a couple of the Temu 3D printed bridges. Three Red Army infantry units are attacking and two German units defending. Both have a couple of supports that arrive on a face card - a T34/85 and JS II for the Soviets, a Tiger I and artillery barrage for the Germans.
The passing week has probably faded some of my recollection, so following will be the kind of "personal recollection" of the battle that old soldiers provide historians with!
A couple of "Stuka" eye views of the battle space
The cloth, by the way, is a metre of grey marl sweatshirt fleece purchased specifically for the game!
The Red Army squads advance cautiously through the ruined buildings
Meanwhile, the two German squads remain concealed in the ruins on the other side of the river
The Red Army took the early initiative and quickly advanced towards the two river crossings
By turn three, they were crossing onto the far side of the river - perhaps, the Germans have already fled?
Views from the adjacent buildings
Turn four and the Germans open fire, causing casualties on the exposed Red Army men
The next card is a black face card - and the Tiger grinds menacingly onto the table
The Soviet infantry decide discretion is the better part of valour, despite Order Number 227!
The very next card balanced the books, with a Red Army IS II rolling down the road
The third Red Army infantry squad advanced alongside the tankers
The leading infantry occupied a building just over the bridge, as the IS II moved forward
The IS II prepares to engage the Tiger as supporting infantry move up
Meanwhile, a street to the north, the Red Army squad occupies the ruins just east of the bridge covered by the Tiger
A room with a view!
The tanks exchange fire - but to no effect!
Obviously not much happened in turn 11!
Another ineffective exchange of fire
And then the Soviets received their second support as the T34/85 arrives on the other road.
And with that, to even the odds again, the Tiger scored a direct hit on the IS II and destroyed it!
Looks like the Red Army infantry will have to do the hard work themselves!
Next turn the Tiger puts a hit on the T34!
The Soviet infantry moves against their German counterparts
The German squad to the left of the Tiger begin to redeploy to support their comrades on the right flank
Accurate Soviet small arms fire has put two hits on the German squad defending the three-story ruins
The Red Army squad puts in an assault - Urrah!
But they are repulsed by the Wehrmacht Landsers
The T34 manages to rally its hit marker but fails to cause any damage to the Tiger
Massed Red infantry put in a second assault on the German positions
This time, they drive the Germans back and take possession of the building
And the Tiger gets another hit of the T34!
Despite this, the Commissar decides its time that the third Red Army infantry unit advances again
On the other flank, the fierce hand to hand fighting in the rubble strewn ruins leads to success for the Red Army men.
The Soviet infantrymen close in on the rather exposed Tiger
Next turn, the T34 manages to put a hit on the German Leviathan!
German infantry preparing to defend a multi-story building
The Soviet infantry has driven off one German unit and is moving in on the Tiger
Encouraged by the example of the infantry's gallantry, the Red Army tank crew recover from the earlier hit.
The tank commander lines up a shot .......
...... and succeeds in destroying the Tiger!
With only one German infantry unit still in the fight, the Red Army soldiers launch another ferocious attack
As the losers of a scoreless win, the Germans are obliged to fall back, and as they are so close to their base line, they are driven from the field
A good win for the Red Army and the westward march of liberation can continue!
The game was closer than the final result indicated - the Tiger came close to destroying both Soviet tanks and if it had been successful, it could then have turned its attention to the Soviet infantry. Nice to get the mdf buildings and 3d bridges on the table plus the recently completed IS II and Tiger.
Thanks for visiting and for leaving comments. No games Friday or Sunday this week so I might indulge in another solo effort over the coming weekend - and, of course, there will be more newly minted painted figures to show off, too!
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