Breakout from Konigsberg - Game 6

The sixth of the Konigsberg campaign games saw the Germans attempting a break-out scenario during a nightfight, with the top Nazi and SS officials, and a lot of other men too, trying to escape the surrounded city. The game would take place in the industrial district of Kosse, on the banks of the Pregel river and along the main road west, the Holsteiner Damm (where 2nd Panzer Division are not too far away).

The German force was very infantry heavy, 2 platoons, plus an extra auxiliary squad (civilian staff), a veteran SS grenadier squad, pioneer squad and bicycle fusiliers too. They were supported by a StuG, a 37mm cannon on a heavy truck and a SiG33 for artillery fire. The Goliaths were back, 2 of them with their controllers, sneaky! They also had +3D6 to their BR (9 was rolled) for ‘Backs to Berlin’, ‘To the Last Bullet’ and an SS field police team. These would be very determined (read desperate) Germans.

My exact Russian forces are listed below.

FHQ in Gaz Jeep            23    3-r    senior off, art spotter
FSU - truck                     18    1-i    comms
Rifle Company               188    16-i    4 x officers, mortar spotters
3 Platoons + CHQ
MMG team                     18    1-i
AT Rifle team                  14    1-i
T34/85 Platoon (3)          138    9-r    officer
2 x 82mm mortars           64    2-i    on-table
+ loader teams
2 x Zis3 76.2mm guns     55    4-i
Fortified Building            30    0
Minefield                         20    0
2 Snipers                          20    2-v    sniper-scout
Jeep recce team (3 men)         18    1-r    scout, mortar spotter
37mm AA gun + truck tow     40    1-i
Timed Katyusha strike            25    0
PRTP                                       15    0
1 counter battery fire mission  10    0    4+
Timed PO-2 air strike               5    0    2 small bombs   

Totals                    701pts    41 BR    6 off, 3 scouts


With the night fighting rules in play, the game was a different one, with everything out of range and LoS to start with. Good job, my entire deployed force was 2 units (on 2D6), both the Zis 3s (lacking tows otherwise Id have to drag them into positons). The rest would slowly arrive from turn 3 onwards.

The plan was to have 1 platoon and support on the right blocking the buildings and Holsteiner Damm, with a second on the left, covering the open grass area. The third platoon would be in reserve in the centre, on the table edge, a last line should the Germans get through. Each platoon would have a sniper, a Zis3 gun and a tank (or 2) in support.

The German advance was swift and their reinforcements arrived in good numbers. The leading infantry squads made their sneaky way through the tangle of rubble and buildings to close in on their objective, escape off my table edge.

Game on.

Well, the first Germans crept forwards and the Russian infantry did likewise, a few leading infantry squads that got the jump on the Germans and as the DPs, rifles and PPSHs blazed, caused a few losses and got the Germans well pinned down. The leading veteran SS guard squad, super-aggressive, immediate unpinned (with tactical co-ordination) and assaulted one of my squads, only to be fought back, with strangely few losses on both sides. Trapped in alley, a second Russian squad then wiped the Nazi’s out.

With LoS so short, artillery and mortar fire was difficult. My PRTP came in very handy, throwing harassing fire down onto the German lines and causing random pinning, that slowed the German attack down and broke it up, they could not bring large numbers to bear, good job, because my troops were taking their sweet time turning up and getting into position. I did get a squad and the Maxim MG into my fortified building, and they would hold out most of the game, even attacked by 2 Goliaths, which almost brought the building down.

The initial exchanges favoured the Russians, the PO-2 swooped in, engines-cut, to silently drop its 2 small bombs (no effect!), but it was a counter for under air attack. After 6 turns I had taken 1 counter the Germans 7. It didn’t get much better for the Germans, as more Russian reinforcements arrived to thicken the line and I built-up the forces on my left for their spoiling counter-attack. The plan was to force the Germans to react, spend their orders fighting-off the Russians rather than keep advancing, but the slow rate of reinforcements arriving was delaying me… time to be patient and not attack too soon.

We had a brief break for lunch, the now traditional bacon butty and a cup of tea… time to reflect. It seemed bad for the Germans, their counter stack was at about 12, the Russian just 3, and the Russian’s armour had now arrived, I was warily keeping it back though, fearing all those Panzerfausts. The main German thrust through the buildings (the centre), had stalled and bogged down, to be abandoned until more troops could get forwards. Their Goliaths had finally gone off (3rd game lucky) but failed to bring down my fortified building. My mortar fire was a constant pain, with nothing coming back in return. (historically there was little German artillery fire, with most of it being on tow for the break out or already lost).

After lunch the Germans changed attack-plan, and decided to try and press directly up Holsteinner Damm, along the river bank, sending pioneers, the StuG and AA truck forwards. At 20” range all hell broke loose… the StuG was missed by multiple waiting AP shells (frustrating), and then its return fire hit and bounced off my guarding T34/85. Next turn its hit didn’t bounce and my tank was wrecked, lost that duel!. But the Zis3’s fire kept the Germans back, and narrowly missed the AA truck, which then scooted away. The pioneer squad, flamethrower-and-all, got pinned down in a building, and so couldn’t get forwards either. I made sure I kept it that way with infantry and sniper fire ever turn. That little crisis dealt with, my own counter-attack started, sending infantry to clear the first building, with tank and mortar fire to shoot them in. Raked by MG fire the infantry squads took heavy losses and fell back, leaving my two T34/85s to pound the buildings until their HE bins were empty, then turn to MGs. The building was under very heavy fire, and the Germans within (including the civilian staff) all pinned down. That prevented the second wave of Germans getting forwards and so I judged the counter-attack had done its job, even if it did cost be some BR counters (I could spare them).

The Germans weren’t making any progress now, along the front line the firefight continued, building to building, and the attrition was mostly still in the Russians favour. The loss of another squad saw the final BR counter draw break the German escape attempted. It had failed. Victory to the Reds, much needed in the terms of the campaign, but the score is now 8 to 4 campaign VPs to the Germans.

The final battle of the series now awaits, the last assault on the Konigsgarten and the HQ bunker in the city centre. I still need a big win in that one, but it can be done and I have my heavy weight forces to field for the first time, JS-IIs, flamethrower-wielding assault pioneers and some big guns for house demolition work.

The tabletop, Germans at the top, Russians at the bottom, Pregel river on the right.

 German end of the table, deployng into the factories

Russian end of the table. These houses would see the heaviest fighting of the breakout battle.

Kosse... 

On the waterfront. 

First Zis3 has Holsteinner Damm it covered

Second crash-boom watching the open ground on my left

German scouts come forward

SS squad leading the way, into deep trouble...and death. Sometimes an irrational belief in the Fuhrer 

just isn't enough. 

Russian infantry begin to arrive to block the German advance

Reinforcements on Holsteinner Damm

PO-2 silently glides in. 

Russian mortars deploy, new AB miniatures, painted for this battle, and they all survived. 

Holsteinner Damm attack force on the way forwards.

Here is what is waiting for them. 

StuG gets into range (20" in the darkness)

 Ahh.. well that could have gone better!

 My little counter-attack building up, tanks now in place for fire support

 Ura! Bold infantry dash, MGs within soon put an end to that though. So much for the support fire!

Konigsberg Game 5. Defending Wilhelm-Friedrich Platz

Game 5 of the Konigsberg campaign,and it was time to drive into the suburbs of Konigsberg itself. The game would be a Urban Assault scenario, fought through the Rathshof suburb, round the Wilhelm-Friedrich Platz, along Lawsker Alle (main road into town from the west) and an area called Schrebergarten on my map, which I think is allotments, well, an area of open(ish) grass/park anyway.

My Russians would be continuing the drive into the city centre, defended by the last remnants of the battered Volksgrenadier and any available extra man that could stand having a rifle shoved into his hands. Having won the previous game the Germans still had their 50 point advantage, so it is 700 points for the Reds, vs 750 points of Germans.

My force is listed below;

FHQ in Gaz Jeep            23    3-r    senior off, art spotter
Rifle Platoon                   58    5-i    off, mortar spotter
Rifle Platoon                    58    5-i    off, mortar spotter
Pioneer Assault Platoon        178    10-v    off, mortar spotter, engineers, assault troops
‘Razvedka’ Patrol                   56    4-e    scout, art spotter, air spotter 4+, BEL
Sniper                                     10    1-v    sniper-scout
ISU-152 Battery (2)              145    6-r    off
Supply trucks x2                     16    1-i    re-supply
Hvy Mortar Battery                 58    2-i    2 x 120mm mortars
OT-34                                      52    3-r   
Timed Katyusha strike            25    0    Turn 3, on centre of platz.
Timed PE-2 air strike              20    0    8 small bombs. Turn 4, on hotel/casino/bunker

Totals                                      699    40 BR    5 officers, 2 scouts


The enemy were a Volksgrenadier platoon, an Auxiliary platoon (armed civilians), supported by a Pak-40 in a concrete bunker (under the hotel/casino overlooking the platz), a 20mm Flak truck, a SdKfz 251/22 panzerjager and a unit of veteran assault pioneers mounted in the last moving half-track in Konigsberg, with a recon fusilier patrol dug-in across the Platz, supported by a Goliath demo-team (weird, but desperate times I guess). As Defences, the Germans had some foxholes, a fortified building and the PaK bunker. So, an infantry fight then.

My plan was to use my infantry to lead the attack as a screen, behind their screen the assault pioneer squads would closely follow, hopefully using reserve move and close assault orders to clear buildings by bursting through the bullet-screen very quickly. The ISU-152s would hang back (beware the rooftop Panzerfaust!) and target lynchpin buildings to bring them down. The OT-34, well, he’d be a rude surprise and lead the attack across the allotments, were there were no AT guns deployed. Meanwhile, the hiding scouts would be calling in my mortar fire and hopefully guiding the VVS onto targets too (so they’d have to avoid getting killed early in the battle this time).

Time for the off. After deployment the Germans were occupying 3 objective buildings and had out-scouted me too - 4 counters - ouch, I had 2 objectives (thanks to the scout’s Behind Enemy Lines deployment ability). My BR total jumped to 10 straight away, but I did get a Air Attack chit (which then failed to show).

To start with the Germans dug-in and got onto ambush fire, expecting the Russian onslaught. It didn’t come, I hung back, called in mortar fire and awaited the reserves… more infantry, pioneers and the ISUs. I didn’t want to attack piecemeal. I also withdrew the scouts and FHQ’s jeeps, no point in getting them mortared. Still, the German MGs covering the Platz, (3 MG-34s and a HMG-42 with loader team), began their work, pinning down my leading infantry and platoon HQ in a blaze of bullets, and my sniper got killed. Incoming 105mm artillery hammered my forward buildings and added to the carnage, 2 squads broke (morale rolls failed me this game, the number of 1 and 2s for pinned squads saw me lose at least 5 to routing!). It was one way traffic, as my mortars made little bent on the enemy. Then the ISU-152s rolled in, targeting the HMG teams building, 3 152mm hits scored 2 structure points, it was almost down after the first turns of firing. The MG team was pinned inside too, so doomed to a messy end in the collapse (I thought).

My infantry headed out across the parkland/allotments, with the OT-34 amidst them and hammering away with MGs to keep heads down (and failing). By turn 3 most of my reserves had arrived, including the 2 resupply trucks to re-arm the ISUs (ammo 2!). Then my timed Katyusha strike hit, get in! 12 dice, 6 6s, right in the middle of the Platz, and it was carnage, 3 wiped out German units including the Goliath team (to many boos, they hadn’t had a chance to go-off yet - thankfully). A lot of pinning also, including the PaK-40 in its ‘bunker’, well given the cover saves it made, that bunker was not reinforced concrete… unerringly rolling 1s, jerry build! When another PaK gunner was killed by 120mm mortar shrapnel the jittery crew abandoned the fight - good, the ISUs had free rein over the Platz. Their continued fire into the building hammered it, but in 11 dice I rolled not one 6, still the building stood!

Reeling from the Katyusha pounding the German’s orders failed them, with just 5, the artillery stopped and the hellish MG fire was reduced, my infantry might actually now get moving… a few reinforcements arrived, including the pioneer squad in their half-track, looking to counter-attack just north of the Platz. In the allotments, the Russians kept coming, with little to stop them at the moment. An auxiliary squad tried to engage them with rifle fire and pinned themselves in fear - just can’t get the recruits these days!

Gotterdammerung continued on turn 4, as my PE-2 timed strike dived in and hammered the hotel/casino strongpoint, 3 bomb direct hits later and German senior officer was dead and the auxiliary squad within smashed and pinned (2 men still alive). The incoming ambush fire from the 20mm Flak truck was ineffective and the PE-2 climbed away, job done! The German counter stack had raced up and the picture was glum, already I guesses they were at later 20s, on average chits, and his total was just 36… the punishment was horrific. I was still at just 17 from my 40 total, plenty of breathing room… it was in the bag! Or not…

How luck turns, from a bad start, to great recovery, to a disastrous few turns. My ISUs continued to fail to score the last vital six they needed to bring the building down (unreal the odds on this by now), I lost another infantry squad to MG fire and, the Luftwaffe showed up, a FW-109 buzzing in… the last aircraft over the city. Its accurate bombs smashed my attack in the allotments, destroying a infantry squad with a direct hit (large bomb!) and my OT-34 with another, it pealed away in triumph, and my right flank attack was over, the last few men I pulled back to save the chits.

The Germans now counter-attacked, the pioneers attacking a vulnerable pinned rifle squad north of the Platz, only they failed to spot and the red riflemen were saved from a horrid death-by-flammenwerfer. The pioneer's MG team did score 1 casualty and my riflemen got a ‘Beyond the Call of Duty’ morale roll. 2 spots later and their return fire with rifles and DP LMG destroyed the pioneers and pinned their MG team. So much for that counter attack… 1 pinned enemy squad showing true Russian grit. Notable, the Germans had now stopped unpinning, the game would surely be up soon.

It was my turn to assault, pinning the 3 man rifle team with DP fire, my pioneers then assaulted them. Straight in with 11 attacks, 8 hits scored… and 7 hard cover saves then made! What, 1 man dead!  The return attack killed 2 of my men… grr! The German morale test was… Beyond the Call of Duty… the 2 survivors opened fire and killed 4 more Russians, leaving the last man pinned, so he ran… my veteran assault troops had been wiped out by 3 pinned Volksgrenadiers… err, how? Now I knew how the German pioneers felt. I wouldn’t be the last time either.

To add insult to injury my ISU-152 again failed to bring down that tottering building, now 24 dice rolled and no sixes! The other ISU was pinned by artillery fire last turn, so was useless to me. Then, in the German turn, the FW-190 returned and strafed my 120mm mortars with twin 20mm cannon fire, wiping one out, another chit… and a big one, a 5! I was now just 3 points off breaking… it was all going wrong… more German artillery fire, more pinning… but now I couldn’t unpin either.

This was it, next chit would surely win it one way or the other, and it was my go, having moved some troops out of the line of fire, and managed to pin his Volksgrenadier platoon HQ, and sent my Ravzedka team (elite) to assault them. Throwing grenades they scored 5 hits, and again 4 were saved. 1 man dead and a morale test, and.. again. BtCoD! Hell, the Lieutenant and his men automatically unpinned and opened fire. MP-40s blazing my elite scouts were wiped out (not again!), and that chit was a 4… end of game, Russians broken.

The Germans had somehow survived everything I’d thrown at them. They were on 35 from 36 BR, and had been for 4 turns! I just couldn’t force a single chit on them… everything deserted me in the end, dice, chits, hope!. Oh the frustration, but oh the fun!

Another defeat, and one snatched from what looked like a solid win. My men pulled back and regrouped to try again in the afternoon. More artillery support needed I think (and bigger guns).

It was an ace game, close, so, so close, and with twists and turns and odd events. 3 times assaults had been countered by good morale tests, and the Luftwaffe had shown up on a 6 (scenario has Russian air superiority, so a 6 was needed). That awesome Katyusha hit will be remembered for long time…6 direct hits - take that Adolf!!

Here are some shots of the game in action. The campaign is a Russian disaster, the Germans now lead 8-3 in VPs, with 2 games to play, I’ll need 2 big wins to save the day. Next time, the SS police units in Konigsberg try to make their escape in a nighttime Breakout scenario… the cowards!

 Aerial recon of the Platz, and the far end is the schrebergarten and the church. Russians attacking from the left.

Russian view from the rooftop over the Platz.

Fusilier squad in foxhiles across the gardens. 

That statue is the target point for a timed Katyusha strike. 

Volksgrenadiers holding a apartment block north f the Platz, I could not shift them, now many failed pinning attempts?? About 9 or 10... good grief!!

German view from the church tower across Lawsker Allee.

The church is designated a field hospital and no go for any troops. I did mortar it slightly, by accident... such is war on the Eastern Front.

The men responsible, my 120mm battery in the allotments.

OT-34 heads across the allotments with the infantry platoon.

...and draw artillery fire, which failed to do much to slow them down.

The sneaky Goliath negotiates a crater on its way its target, the objective buildings currently held by my infiltrating scouts.

FHQ watches the battle for the Platz unfold, and directs in my 120mm mortar fire. In the distant the hotel/casino and its PaK bunker.

Awesome Katysha strike... clears the ornamental gardens.

ISU-152 rolls in, much needed ammo truck closeby.

'Peggy' drops in to bomb the hotel, another big hitter, seeing the German FHQ blown to bits by a direct hit through the roof.

Second ISU-152 moves up to engage buildings across the Platz.

Counter-attacking pioneers roll in to hold a key building north of the Platz.

...and lose the close assault and firefight with a rifle squad... oops!

the OT-34 almost in flamethrower range, MG still doing useful pinning work.

the last of the Luftwaffe, a fluky FW-190 buzzes the allotments and bombs my attackers.

OT-34 direct hit - dead, rifle squads blasted and pinned too. That attack is over.

An oddity, special out of fuel played on the FW-190, so only 1 turn more of strafing before he needs to head home. It didn't matter anyway, but was characterful event and would have saved me from 1 strafing run at least.

KONIGSBERG, GAME 4

Following last time’s German victory, this game would be another of 5th Panzer Division’s afternoon counter-attacks to hold the Pillau corridor along the Pregel river (just south off the map) open against the Russian advance west of the city. This time the scenario would be a meeting engagement, Recce Screen, with 5th Panzer moving east to block the Russian vanguard as they move south to the river. The two forces would clash close to a small hamlet and inn/tavern called the Spittlekrug.

Map of the battlefield and entry points, Germans in the south-west corner, Russians to the north.

With the map and scenario in hand we both picked our forces. Russians were chosen as 700 points from the FotR lists. Germans 750 points (bonus 50 pts as they won last time) from the 1944 Panzer lists. We made a few alts, to better represent the perilous state of the German armour, allowing them to form an ersatz armour platoon from a Pz IV, StuG and Jagdpanzer IV (L70), with the tank as the officer. They also had a 251/22 in support, not available in ’44 list, but fine for this late in the war. 

My forces were as follows:

FHQ in Gaz Jeep         23    3-r    senior off, art spotter
Comms Relay Team    13    0-i    comms
Dispatch Rider            12    0-i    dispatches

Motorised Rifle Platoon  106    9-r    officer, mortar spotter
in jeep and 4 trucks

2 x 82mm mortars    44    2-i

‘Emcha’ Tank Platoon (3)  145    9-r    off

SU-76 Battery (3)     75    6-r    off

SU-85 Battery (2)    100    6-r    off

2 Snipers    20    1-v    2 scouts

‘Razvedka’ Patrol    56    4-e    scout, art spotter, air spotter 4+, bel

T-70 light tank   35    2-r    scout

supply truck   8    1-i    re-supply

3 x 1st Priority Req   60    0    2+

Totals   697 pts    43 BR    (5 off, 5 scouts)



The game got underway with the maximum 6 turns for the recce phase, which didn’t go well for me. I lost one of my Razvedka teams to MG fire and both my snipers got pinned down and unable to return fire. My ace-card (the T-70, not often you can say that), came forward confident of taking on his light armoured car, only for a heroic action and a Panzerfaust hit from his Fusilier patrol (men on bicycles again!) to interrupt. The T-70 went up in smoke… drat. To make matters worst his recce commander was an arty spotter and he had 2 off-table Wespes to fire their 105mm guns from turn 1… my poor recce couldn’t live with that firepower and by turn 6 there wasn’t much left, just a hiding Razvedka team in the hamlet, pinned, but still in place to call in some artillery fire when we got the reserves and targets showed.

And so, having won the recce phase the German’s reserves began to arrive, at speed, the armour moving across the pastures, right to left to my front. Not to be out-done, the Russian also arrived in numbers and got the SU-85s into firing positions and on ambush fire, awaiting that armour. My infantry arrived in trucks and began to de-buss, only to find themselves directly under a German PRTP… ouch, the 105mm shells rained in and I lost a truck and most of the infantry was immediately pinned, that artillery was already causing me a big problem, oh for a counter battery fire mission or two!

My bad start continued, the fusiliers sneaking up the hedgerows continued to be a pain in the backside, I failed to spot them and HE failed to pin them, and they got to 10” away from my leading SU-85, to unleash their second Panzerfaust… another hit, another kill… Lord! Who were these men? Some hardened veterans of the eastern front, they had 2 tanks killed already. The SU-85s really missed their machine guns, was I supposed to fire AP at them? Because its all the ammo they had left!

The Germans advance continued, grabbing an objective (another counter, my stack building way too fast!), and their FHQ arrived to add more 80mm mortar fire to my woes. My force was almost fully pinned down. I did get a break when 6 more reserve units arrived, and on came the last of my infantry and the SU-76 battery, heading to my right, to where the open ground offered good fields of fire at soft German targets (his distant mortar team, SdKfz 251/22, supply truck, etc). First, the ‘bitches’ had to get to the wood-line, which would take a turn or two. So far the misery and punishment had been all mine… that was about to change.

My FHQ was in place and called down a 1st priority request, sending his dispatch rider off to army-level support. In came 4 x 203mm guns, a huge barrage. And it was also accurate, smack on his objective. The shattering impacts left his recce commander’s armoured car wrecked and his Pz IV officer KO’d as well. 5 more pinned units could be added to the tally… woo-hoo, big artillery smack on target, eat that! … the Germans knew they were in a fight now. To add to that, my counter draw to unpinned was an aircraft. An IL-2 with rockets was incoming, and thanks to the Razvedka team, it would arrive next turn. I was back in the game.

The Germans long drive across the fields from left the right continued, grenadiers on the backs of the StuG and Jagdpanzer, and a pioneer squad in 251 just behind them. My last SU-85 got a bead on the Jagpanzer but missed, the duel between assault guns was on. In an exchange of shells, both scored hits and failed to penetrate, my SU-85 then withdrew and re-armed, came back, scored 2 hits, both of which bounced off and then took a return hit from that monstrous gun that ended its battle - good fight though. By now my armour, a lend-lease ‘Emcha’ platoon had rolled on, and my own on-table mortars had deployed. The Rifle platoon HQ was now calling in their harassing fire and laying down more pinning. The German counter stack had risen suddenly. My IL-2 dived in, missed with all its rockets, despite taking damage from 20mm cannon fire whilst inbound (obviously the pilot was put off by the big holes in his wings), but he’d be back to strafe with MGs next turn.

The German armoured attack kept coming on my left, up the lane to the river, but another lucky counter for me saw his StuG breakdown and become immobilised. Only his Jagdpanzer IV was still in action, and it must be low on ammo. Another artillery request from me saw Front command provide a battery 4 x 152mm guns this time, and this landed smack-on again. His Flakpanzer 38(t) (busy on ambush fire at the IL-2) was flipped sky high and his FHQ pinned and lucky not to be killed too.  Those extra chits made it close again… and as I unpinned I drew another aircraft and a second IL-2 arrived to bomb the Germans behind their hedges. Go the VVS… the German commander was worried now, his good start was long forgotten. 

So to the denouement of the game. My aircraft were circling and strafing (a third then arrived as well, my God, unheard of for me), my SU-76s where in place and firing HE into his mortar team and at his supply truck, which had to run off to avoid being blown up. One SU-76 was destroyed by very long range return fire from the 251/22 though with a lucky hit. I was just 6 points from breaking now, but he was close too. For the Germans, knowing that the 3 Strumoviks would break him soon, desperate times times called for desperate measures, he had 2 objectives (on his side and in the centre, where a lone MG team were hiding and not firing for fear of being strafed to death), and his attack up the lane was close to the third (and last) objective. It had been held by my Rifle Platoon HQ, but they had been wiped out by MG fire, leaving only a supply ruck and a jeep holding it. So, do or die, the German pioneers attacked, 251 racing up the lane they de-bussed, fired a Panzerfaust into the supply truck and blew it sky high (very high), and their MG team riddled the Gaz jeep full of holes too. He was also on the objective and claimed it… 3 BR counters for me, and he had all three. And with that I was done, the counters broke me before the all objectives secured victory mattered. Beaten again. But it was close… the Germans were only 5 from their breakpoint, so 2 counters most likely would have done for them, and my aircraft would have strafed me up those next turn, I’m sure. Soft-skinned vehicles make easy targets, and mine had cost me the game, should have withdrawn them, but i had nothing to hold the objective then. So, it turns out, you can’t hold an objective for long with a supply truck and an unarmed jeep!

The German pioneers had moved from the far table corner the long way round to my table corner and lost not a man, such it is to be mobile, armoured infantry, and they had risked all to win it, because my tanks would have responded next turn with everything they had. Fortune favoured the bold - as it should.

Another great game. Another German win though (if narrow), the campaign VP score now stands at 5-3 to the Germans. Need a win next time, game 5, when its into the suburbs of the Konigsberg for some house-to-house fighting. 

Only a few quick snaps this time… the game was too absorbing.

First game out for the Zvezda Razvedka teams. Deploying into the hamlet.

T-70 recce tank catches a Panzerfaust from the bicycling fusiliers squad.

My lead SU-85 gets into firing position early, on the lane down to the river only 

to become another Panzerfaust victim of the fusiliers. 

Motor Rifles deploy into the buildings, right under the PRTP, incoming 105mm shells cause havoc.  

My senior officer in place to return the favour, only with more, far bigger guns. The 203mm stonk won't be forgotten by the Germans soon.

Razvedka's Gaz jeep left to hold an objective (the crater). Should have withdrawn off the table, but it'll be safe behind the woods! Err, no...

 SU-76 and supporting rifle squad make their way into firing position at the edge 

of the woods on my right (around the lake).

Jagdpanzer IV (late war ersatz one), StuG and pioneers conduct the attack up the lane. 

Here, The jagdpanzer is exchanging fire with my last SU-85, a duel it won.

 'Emcha' roll on, passing the SU-76 that got hit at very long range. 

There return fire failed to find targets.

 Last 'Emcha' arrives, to cover the objective on my left, but no time to get on ambush fire before the Germans arrived. Behind is the supply truck (soon to be another Panzerfaust victim), and beyond, the burning SU-85.

 

Pioneers rush in and take the last objective in blaze of fire.