My first Rommel game for a long time, against Dave rather than Andy. Dave chose the Mid-War Germans and the 'Breakout' scenario while I went for the Soviets. The Soviets have to cross the entire table to capture an objective on the opposite table edge then get at least 1/4 of their force off table before nightfall while holding on to the objective.
Mid-War Soviets are cheap so I picked a large army consisting of a Rifle Division, two Tank Brigades and a Motor Rifle Division with a lot of artillery support. Dave had an infantry KG and two small Panzer Grenadier KG. As is usual for Rommel I thought up a plan before the game which was basically to rush the objective with the two Tank Brigades and the Motorised Infantry while the Rifle Division defended the artillery and might push up to try to keep a supply line open for the forces taking the objective.
Immediately the plan started to unfold when Dave managed to get 20 (out of a possible 24) terrain choices while I only got 7! Dave then placed his terrain well making it difficult for me to rush forward as I'd hoped. Dave deployed his two Panzer Grenadier KG on table with the Infantry KG arriving later while the Soviets deployed with their armour at the front and the Rifle Division behind:
The Soviets use road movement and tactical moves to almost but not quite get to the objective. It uses a lot of resources but hopefully they will win the race to the objective. The elements of the Rifle Division with armour support have also moved up to try to protect the rear of the advance:
The Soviet artillery has the remainder of the Rifle Division defending it:
The Germans respond quickly attacking the advancing Soviets with their powerful Panzer Grenadier KG:
The attacks are repulsed though the Soviets do take some losses:
The Soviets make a counter-attack on their left following up the repulsed Germans:
On the right and in the centre they press on taking the objective town and surroundings forming a strong defensive line:
The Germans turn their attention to the following up Soviet Rifle Division and launch a series of attacks on them:
On the other flank they attempt to contain the Soviet counter-attack with both sides suffering losses:
The Soviets hold off the attacks:
On the Russian left the counter-attack continues. Being weak the Russian armour won't last long but it is weakening the Germans and buying time:
The Germans have been drawn into a running battle with the forward elements of the Soviet Rifle Division. The Russians are holding on at all costs though but the Germans have now succeeded in isolating the Soviets holding the objective:
The Germans attempt to wipe out the Katyusha's. A Rifle Regiment rushes to their aid though and helps them repulse the attackers:
On the Soviet left the counter-attack has run out of steam and is falling back under heavy German pressure:
Most of the battlefield. With the time approaching midday the Soviets holding the objective have yet to be attacked and a few units have made their way off table. They are isolated though with no workable supply line. One of the German Panzer Grenadier KG has become embroiled with the Russian Rifle Division while the other is slowly pushing forwards after being held up by Soviet armour:
The German reinforcements arrive, an entire Infantry KG. They deploy to support the attack of their comrades:
The battle continues with the German infantry starting to come into play:
The first attacks go into the swamps on the Soviet left:
The Soviets resist but using tanks in swamps isn't ideal, they sacrifice themselves to buy time for their comrades:
On the other flank the Germans still have not managed to defeat the Soviet Rifle Division which is holding on valiantly:
Finally the Germans begin to assault the area around the objective but time is running out, the Soviets are largely undamaged and the Panzer Grenadier KG in the attack is almost spent:
The other Panzer Grenadier KG continues to fail to dislodge the Soviet Rifle Division, there aren't many Russians left now but they have done a sterling job occupying the Germans and distracting them from attacking the objective:
The Germans continue to attack towards the objective but it is becoming apparent that they have no hope of either capturing it or stopping enough Soviets moving off table to achieve victory
With night about to fall the Germans concede and the Soviet breakout has been successful:
A most enjoyable game where the Russians certainly didn't have everything their own way. The terrain outcome was a bit of a shock to me but I decided to continue with my plan anyway though it required the use of a lot of resources that I'd hoped to keep for later.
Dave, as I find is often the case with people who have not played Rommel that often, became a bit distracted from the objectives of the battle, being drawn into a long and indecisive fight against the Russian Rifle Division with one of his powerful Panzer Grenadier KG where the outcome didn't really matter to the Russians (though it did cut the Russian supply line to their forward troops which was of significance) while the other Panzer Grenadier KG took some early losses and, while largely intact, was greatly weakened as a fighting force before the German attempt to recapture the objective even began.
Dave would probably also have been better off starting with the more numerous but slow moving Infantry KG on table and using one of the Panzer Grenadier KG as a rapidly moving reinforcement to commit wherever it would be most effective.
It's also hard to get used to the idea that losses don't matter at all unless they allow or prevent you from achieving your objectives as in the vast majority of rule sets inflicting losses on the enemy is the way to win. I lost around ten bases all from areas that were not significant while Dave only lost a single Panzer Grenadier base but had a lot of weakened units that are little use as the battle goes on.
I'm hoping to give Andy a game in a few weeks so this was a good opportunity to get used to playing Rommel again and employ some of the tricks I learned from Andy against Dave!
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