There are six scenario's in total with the Soviet aim being to delay the Germans as long as possible.The Soviet force consists of a single platoon of the 3/199th Guards Rifle Division which has to fight through the first five scenarios against three Panzer Grenadier platoon's from the Grossdeutchland Division (though the Germans can only use a single platoon in each game).
Having a single platoon to play five games against Panzer Grenadiers is a tall order for the Soviets. The massed firepower of the Germans means they can inflict heavy losses quickly so the Soviets will need to be very careful to husband their men and minimize losses in each scenario.
The first scenario, 'Eye's Down', sees the Germans attempting to destroy Soviet observation posts placed on a gentle slope with few areas of cover. The winner of the scenario gets to have a pre-game barrage in Scenario three which would be very useful for the Soviets. Looking at the map I felt it would be hard to hold back the Germans so my aim was to inflict as many casualties as possible while taking few losses before withdrawing to the next battleground.
Having only a single SP I chose an entrenchment for the Soviet's, hard cover is essential on a relatively open battlefield with little cover if I want to minimize losses.The patrol phase went well for the Soviets giving them some useful JOP's while the Germans were restricted to a couple of JOP on their left in cover and one in the open on their right.
Soviet observers move in to take up their positions. Two of the observation points are decoys, the real observers deployed on the left:
Two German squads deploy in light cover on the Soviet right on over-watch:
The third German squad deploys on the Soviet right in the open:
The Germans lose men and take shock from the 4th Squad. As the Germans have divided their forces leaving the squad under fire isolated from the rest of the platoon Kravtsov deploys the 1st Squad next to the 4th and together they pour more fire into the Germans. A senior German leader is killed and the squad leader injured:
Under heavy fire the Germans retire to try to rally:
One of the German squads on the Soviet right rushes forward to support their comrades. The other squad remains on over-watch:
The German's continue their advance, the Kravtsov now needs to decide if he wishes to continue the fight and deploy more men or retire having inflicted some losses:
Kravtsov decides to fight on for now. The men in the gully come under fire from the German squad advancing through the scrub towards them:
Return fire inflicts heavy losses on the Germans in the scrub:
Hoping to finish off the Germans in the scrub Kravtsov places the 2nd Squad in entrenchments in the centre. Opening fire more Germans fall though the 2nd Squad also takes hits from the final German squad which had been on over-watch since the start of the game:
With two squads in deep trouble the Germans decided to withdraw without destroying the Soviet observation posts. Leytnant Kravtsov has carried out his orders successfully!
This is the first game of CoC I've played in a linked campaign and it certainly made me think more about how I used my force.
Normally I've been very aggressive with the Russians but in a campaign I need to husband my resources for the future and it certainly made me more cautious in this game. Jerry went quickly onto the attack with the Germans, with three platoons available to him he can afford the losses more than I can.
I did consider withdrawing myself just before Jerry did but gaining a free pre-game barrage for scenario 3 was worth hanging on for. It ended up costing me three casualties (only one of whom was actually killed) but I think it was worth it having inflicted serious losses on the Germans and obtained the barrage for scenario 3.
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