Chain of Command 'Storming the Citadel' Scenario Two 'Clear The Way'

As the first scenario in the campaign didn't take that long to play Jerry and I moved on to the second scenario, 'Clear The Way'. In this scenario the Germans have to clear 4 minefields to claim victory. If they win they get an extra patrol phase move in scenario three, if the Soviets win they get a free minefield for scenario three.

Jerry elected to use the same platoon he used in scenario one. The Soviets had two SP this time and again used them on entrenchments.

The patrol phase didn't go so well for the Soviets this time and they ended up pinned in one corner of the table defending a hill and a patch of rough ground:

A weakened German squad takes up over-watch in some rough ground:

Two more squads deploy near the minefield. One of them is down to four men but has two LMG so is still a threat firing:

Leytenant Kravstov deploys the 3rd squad in entrenchments to open fire at the Germans on over-watch:

The 2nd squad deploys on the hill again in entrenchments and attempts to wipe out the small German squad on their left:

One German squad cautiously advances through the gaps in the minefields. In the background a mine-clearing team attempts to clear one of the fields:

Both the weakened German squads open up on the 2nd squad. Despite being low in numbers having two LMG per squad gives them a lot of firepower. Serzhant Grekov, commanding the 2nd squad, is wounded and four of his men are down. They are forced to abandon the position:

Leytenant Kravtsov rallies the 2nd Squad:

Now Leytenant Kravtsov had to make a decision: withdraw now without having suffered many losses or fight on and hope to effectively wipe out the German platoon which had been further reduced in numbers in this fight while risking taking more losses which he could ill afford. Deciding to fight on for now Kravtsov deployed the 4th squad in the entrenchments on the hill:

The firefight went badly for the Sailors though with Serzhant Vaskov being wounded and then killed and three more of his men being hit:

At this point Leytenant Kravtsov decided to pull back. Having lost seven men and Serzhant Vaskov already he didn't want to risk further losses.

German losses in the two attacks would probably mean that their platoon would have to be replaced for the next scenario while the Soviets have not lost that many men from their single platoon.

This game showed the difference between a single game and a campaign game. When I withdrew my platoon was still in reasonably intact. I had one section left to deploy and two of the three German squads were in poor shape. If I'd fought on there was a good chance I'd have won the scenario but, having won the first one, I didn't think the extra losses would be worth it for a minefield and the German platoon was probably unusable for a while anyway.

Looking forward to scenario three where Leytenant Kravtsov and his men will be defending the village of Butovo.