Sunday saw me running two demo-games of Battlegroup Kursk at Stafford Games West Midland Wargames Centre. A fine day of gaming it was too, and a big thanks to everybody at Stafford games, there seems to a thriving small gaming community gathered about the store and centre, and everybody made us very welcome and showed much interest.
We ran a game in the morning, took a break and then re-set and ran a participation game for those interested in taking part. The first game was something of a cracker, a 500 points meeting engagement on the table above. Russians entering via the road in the bottom right. The Germans entering via the opposite corner.
The Soviet recce foot patrol move up through the woods, to draw a line of sight on the railway embankment and spot for the off-table 120mm mortars.
The Russians arriving, under long range fire. The first T-34 brew's up from a Pz IV hit, its infantry riders leaping clear (and being pinned).
The two Panzer IVs, hull down and covering the road. Just ahead the panzer grenadier platoon HQ are advancing into the woods, to imminent disaster.
More panzer grenadiers sweeping the road with MG fire, it wiped out the bold recce troops in the cornfield.
German HQ and radio AC at the rear. By the end they both entered the fray with small arms and MGs.
The 120mm mortars open fire to reap a heavy harvest. The road junction was the target of pre-registered fire, and turn after turn the Germans were hammered, with much pinning and the loss of 2 MG teams.
The German platoon HQ is suddenly rushed by two russian infantry squads, and assaulted. Overwhelmed it was wiped out in the assault as the woods rang to the Ura! of the charge. Suddenly the Germans looked in trouble.The Russians pushing forward wrecklessly had outflanked them on the right.
The Germans on the railway embankment under heavy fire. The Panzer IV was unluckily destroyed by a T-34. The StuH F is in need of re-arming.
The Panzer IVs push over the railway, and destroy a T-34 in the flank.
A flanking T-34 advances along the railway line, Maxim MG team onboard. It's rampage consisted of detsroying the 251/10 ahead, a 20mm FlaK halftrack, a Panzer IV ), an infantry squad and then the radio armoured car. Hero of the Soviet Union!
A T-34 burst from the woods to destroy a second Pz-IV at point blank range.
Creating havoc, the T-34 lines up a last Pz IV, and plugged it. The German infantry on the embankment ran out of ammo on a special chit. The Maxim MG team are now hiding inthe embankment undergrowth.
The last of the 251s join the carnage as more burning wrecks, victims of the rampaging T-34s.
In desperation, the last German armoured vehicle - the StuH 42, was reduced to using it last 105mm HE against a T-34, and lost its duel when a T-34 appeared around the building and destroyed it. Now the Germans had no anti-tank weaponry at all, with 2 T-34s on the rampage. The writing was on the wall, except the Russians were only 1 point from breaking. For 5 turns the Germans fought on, but failed to inflict any damage, and their morale total continued to rise. In the end the Germans broke, fighting to almost the last man to hold back the red tide. In the end, the narrowest of Russian wins... and an amazing (and odd) game.
