mattman2000 Posted December 16, 2002 Share Posted December 16, 2002 Magnuszew Bridgehead #2 I described the map in the previous AAR. Reinforcements At the beginning of the battle, I receive a pair of SU-85s, along with two platoons of T-34/85s. Infantry comes in the form of another rifle company, along with a pair of independent pattern 44H rifle platoons. Deployment This bunch of new troops allows me to concentrate all of "B" company at Miriampol (along with a 76mm FO) and "A" company at Objective B and Grabnowola. The SU-85s are placed in the scattered trees near Objective B and the wooded terrain edging the north side of the road. Lt. Durnov's recon platoon is kept at Dobieska (padlocked in its five respective buildings). They are reinforced by Lt. Kharitonov's four T-34s, and the two independent infantry platoons. The second T-34 platoon is situated in dead ground NE of Grabnowola. They'll attempt to reinforce that area if things turn ugly. The idea is to contain the Germans along the Objective A-Objective B/Grabnowola road and kill everyone I find in Dobieska. This is my first REAL attempt at using Russian armor (against late war German tanks), so we'll see how it goes. Turn 1 (orders) - At the beginning of the turn, I see that the Germans have a gaggle of SPWs (near a church cemetery), two Panzer IIINs (inside a wheat field) and a Panther G (wheat field) situated around Dobieska. My 76mm FO doesn't need to see the halftracks to plot arty on top of them from his vantage point in Miriampol, so that's what he does, in hopes of bagging open top vehicles and infantry. Lt. Durnov's recon platoon is ordered to buckle down and hide, as is one independent platoon oriented in cover east of town, and a second platoon that's been plunked in a patch of woods 100m+ from the church. Lt. Kharitonov's tanks start just east of that wheat field, so they have nice flank shots at least one Panzer IIIN and the Panther. Along the Grabnowola Road, I can see a bunch of German armor, including at least two Panthers and a ton of light vehicles. The SU-85s are given "Cover-Armor" arcs and told to wait as I'm hoping they're concealed. Everyone else stays put. (Start) I'm happier than hell with the first Turn, as Dobieska is suddenly heaped in dead German tanks and halftracks. Lt. Kharitonov's platoon brutalizes the Panther, kills one Panzer IIIN and is poised to bag the second. 76mm arty shells have scrapped at least two SPWs, and a 251/16 is killed by a pair of ATR rifles I have attached to Lt. Glovatskii (that independent platoon hiding about 100m south of the church). What's even better, all those booms and zowies have scared a full platoon of panzergrenadiers out of cover and they're running like headless chickens towards my waiting Guards infantry. Along the Grabnowola road, the Germans start rumbling forward. It becomes clear that 4 Panthers are heading down that stretch. Turn 2 - Kharitonov and his pals cause the second Panzer IIIN to suffer a catastrophic explosion that sends bits of steaming ubermensch flying across Dobieska. They also bag a SPW that's bugging out of the cemetery. At least one crew spots a Wirbelwind near the west end of town, and the whole platoon turns its attention thattaway. Meanwhile, Glovatskii's men sit up and wipe out a full panzergrenadier platoon in the space of 40 seconds. Those HG Division soldiers not sprinting towards their deaths are being pummeled by 76mm artillery. Unfortunately for me, I've lost one of the SU-85s along the Grabnowola road. Both opened fire at the same Panther, which suffered a hull penetration to no effect. Within seconds, a pair of high velocity 75mm shells have kicked the holy hell out of one of my tank destroyers, and now the second (situated in the woods alongside the road) is in deep doo-doo. Turn 3 - Glovatskii and his squads have now eliminated 5 German infantry elements without suffering a single casualty. The ATR rifles bag another SPW. Durnov and his recon boys sit tight, while the second independent platoon - situated just East of town - begins inching out from cover. Sadly, one of the nearby T-34s gets spanked by a Panther along the Grabnowola road, which makes one hell of a 680m shot (jeesh). Also along Grabnowola, the second SU-85 is now toast without making any further contributions to the war effort. Turn 4 - One of Kharitonov's tanks has killed that Wirbelwind and another SPW has been cremated. Glovatskii and his men are now ankle deep in German corpses, and I'm thinking about moving them into town once the barrage finally peters out (it's almost done). Durnov and his recon troops have bravely exterminated the surviving crewmen of 3 German tanks as those poor dopes try to crawl into nearby buildings. The only downside is the second independent platoon has run into a wall of small arms fire from German machine guns and damaged infantry squads that have set themselves up in structures along the E-W road into town. The T-34s are ordered to take them out with DF HE. On Grabnowola road , a flippin' sea of German vehicles begins to divert back to the North towards Dobieska, while some infantry squads continue slogging their way towards Objective B. Turn 5 - The barrage around Dobieska's church is just about done. Glovatskii and his men will make their move soon. The second independent platoon has collected its wits (after suffering 6 casualties) and is once again moving west into that battered little hamlet. One of Durnov's squads assaults and immobilizes a SPW, which is then polished off by one of the nearby T-34s. The town is well on its way into falling into my hands, so Kharitonov will now "Hunt" towards the Grabnowola road. Nothing new in that sector except a few Maxims situated in Grabnowola start to fire on German infantry from about 300m out, slowing their advance. Turn 6 - Kharitonov bags a Panther! It takes three hits from his 85mm before the bastard is labeled as knocked out, but it happens all the same. Seconds later, one of his accompanying tanks kills anotherPanzer V G on the open ground between the Grabnowola road and Dobieska. Feeling full of themselves, the gunners then begin to pick on a handful of Pumas which either die, or make themselves busy by reversing out of sight. On the downside, Glovatskii and his men bolt for the church, only to be mauled by machine gun fire from at least 4 AFVs that can see them from the Grabnowola road. I lose 5 men in a matter of seconds. I now make one of the DUMBEST mistakes of my life by ordering my platoon of reserve T-34s forward in an attempt to catch the surviving Germans on the Grabnowola road in a pincer maneuver. Turn 7 - Kharitonov and his gang of butt-kicking T-34s have now killed a fourth Panther along the Grabnowola road, and at the end of this turn, are ordered (for some insane reason) to turn back towards Dobieska to help secure that VL. The last Panther is out of sight, and I have a feeling that if I go winding around too much terrain to try and get it, it's gonna make me bleed. The reserve T-34s keep rolling forward. To their doom (cue rumbling thunder). Turn 8 - Glovatskiis men are back in fighting shape after Kharitonov's tanks scare away the surviving German vehicles. Crippled German squads scattered throughout Dobieska are killed, one by one, by what amounts to a mixed company of Soviet rifle infantry. Turn 9 - The reserve platoon of T-34s gets its fanny handed to it by a pair of German ATGs placed within sight of the Grabnowola road. Two tanks brew up, the survivors soil themselves. On the other hand, Dobieska is now mine. All that remains is a little mopping up. The remnants of three German elements are cowering inside the church. My infantry begins to bound towards them, cutting down the few stragglers they find in their way. Turn 10 - The 3rd tank in my poor doomed armored platoon is bushwacked by that last surviving Panther. I convince myself that my orders for the last T-34 to hunt around behind the Panther will pay off. Scattered trees shield it from those Paks, after all, and the Panther is facing the opposite direction. Rifle infantry situated at Objective B are now in a full-fledged firefight with panzergrenadiers caught in the open. That IS one highlight of this battle. The Hitlerite PBI has suffered tremendous losses. Turn 11 - Unbelievable. The last T-34 from that platoon hunted its way to within 70m of that last Panther, without seeing it, only to start traversing its turret moments AFTER it was targeted by the German crew (this may be explained by two things - it was coming through scattered trees and small arms fire had caused it to button seconds earlier). The result, or course, is that the Panther turns the Russian tank inside out. I have now lost 7 of my original 10 T-34s and SU-85s (although I will later count 19 killed German AFVs including 4 Panthers, 2 Panzer IIINs, 2 Pumas, a Wirbelwind, two 251/16s, an assault HT, and 6 SPWs). Nothing else will occur near Grabnowola as the German forces are too battered to really affect anything. The Panther will pound at a few squads near Objective B with DF HE, but I will only lose 1 man. Shortly thereafter, the tank will move on towards the village (without infantry support, it achieves nothing). In Dobieska, the following 6 turns are spent solidifying my gains and insuring my tanks are well positioned for the upcoming Round #3. Losses this Battle Russian 46 total casualties (20 of them from my tanks and tank destroyers), 23 of whom are KIA. 5 T-34s 2 SU-85s German AFV losses spelled out earlier Oodles and oodles of dead panzergrenadiers and crewmen (I'm not kidding, Dobieska looks like a big, bloody Fritzburger). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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