Up the Dniepr

[manchildstein (ii)]

To be played as Allies against Axis AI

Default Computer Setup

July 1941, Soviet Mech Units counterattack against bridgehead held by Hungarian Motorized Units

Huge 2.4k x 2k Map, ~4200 points per side

Hot, Overcast, Dusk, Very Dry

Soviet: Mech

Hungarian: Motorized Infantry

30+ Turns

This afternoon the 2nd Hungarian Motorized Brigade seized the bridges over the Dniepr at Dnieprol and Dnieprov, and they took the high ground and nearby town of Nikolinaev. In so doing they also wiped out most of the Red screening force while scattering the rest of it. The Axis now hold the high ground and the bridges and there are Red Army units trapped on the other side.

In any case they've had some hours to prepare a defense.

So it is dusk as your "Soviet Armored Brigade" attacks.

Soviet 9th Army HQ has said other forces from divisional, along with other friendly elements - all of them now trapped behind Axis lines - will assist you from the other side of the river.

They are set to time their attack with yours.

As it is you have:

4 Sharpshooter (left in Axis-controlled territory after the earlier battles)

1 Battalion with 3 Platoons of Recon

15 T-34s with cast turrets

10 T-26

10 BT-7

4 KV-2

The plan is to sweep in and take Dnieprov, then storm the bridges and take Dnieprol. Once you have the towns, you can wheel about on the riverbank and seize the high grounds - "The Manor" itself. If you can clear the area of enemy units then perhaps you can buy more time for STAVKA - Red Army High Command - in this area of the front.

You have some of the best tanks in the world and yours is a vanguard outfit. This evening you show the Axis a first glimmer of Soviet-style lightning war; a flame which will grow into a fire a few years hence and in the end consume the armies of the Axis powers in "the East."

The plan is to move fast and in force. Research has shown the the T-34s should be the vanguard, followed up by the BTs and T-26s. It might also be wise to time your first contact so that the KV-2s are involved. The KV-2 is arguably the best "slug it out" tank of 1941. It may not be fast but it is great for engaging targets and more often than not, absorbing enemy fire without itself being put out of action.

Notes: This uses a part of the map from "On the Dniepr" where Hungarian Fast Forces earlier took, "The Manor," while other elements of the 2nd Mechanized Brigade seized the river bridges. The Russian forces in the area were either wiped out, surrendered, deserted, or retreated in good order. The ones who managed to retreat then are now "part of your counterattacking force." So while your main force here is mostly Green tanks, the forces you are to link up with are already rated "Veteran" because they were the ones fought earlier today and managed to remain intact.

Look for reinforcements from all over the map on the other side of the river; you have a Company of Infantry from the SE, a group of BT Tanks from the West, and recon elements from the SW.

Spoilers

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It does indeed appear best to lead with the T-34s. Experience has shown that the BTs get toasted if they lead the way. The combination which worked best for me was to attack with the T-34s in the lead, hopefully coming into contact with enemy units at about the same time or just before the KV-2s do. Once thus engaged I run the BTs and T26s across the smaller bridge.

On the other hand, when the lighter tanks have led I've found my force chewed up pretty badly by the time the T-34s and KVs have arrived.

With mechanized reinforcements appearing across the river, you have time to 'squeeze' the bridges from both sides, then 'wheel around' and take the 'manor.' Generally I leave the KV2s on the riverbank by the heavy bridge and pummel everything which pops into LOS from there.

On leading with light tanks versus leading with heavier tanks: Someone once said that some battle between Alexander and Darius would have gone against Alexander if Darius had put his own "fodder" up front. I tried to apply the same thing to this tank assault and it doesn't work here. Later, I read somewhere that when the Germans would do an armored attack, that the heaviest tanks were on the front of the wedge, and on the flanks, and that the weaker tanks were brought up second. That is what appears to work here - at least from my experience.

Let me put it another way - there is a world of difference between roughly 15 T-34s making first contact around those bridges, as opposed to when the T-26s and BT-7s make that same first contact.