Battle for Tula - Drive on Moscow

 Next up in my late 1941 'Battle for Tula' mini campaign is Guderians drive for Moscow in November 1941. 2nd Panzer Group was halted for much of October and early November by the autumn rains and bottomless mud, but eventually the ground hardened as winter proper set in.

By this time the German supply lines had largely collapsed and battalions had been reduced to company strength. Tula was by now too heavily defended for a frontal assault, so Guderians main attack bypassed the city to the east and pushed up a secondary road axis to Moscow. His attack hit the boundaries of the Soviet 50th and 3rd Armies, we join them on November 18th, 1941. 

Battlefield from the south. Tula is off to the west and Moscow is to the north. The rivers are all frozen over and the ground is covered in deep snow. This renders all the woods very bad going and offroad movement is difficult for German units. The one useable road runs up the west side of the table via the fortified town of Venyov. In the far right corner is the 'Suchuye Mound', a terrain feature which has been fortifed since Medieval times as it covers the River Osetr. There are various other villages scattered around.

The Germans need to capture either Venyov  or the Mound. Afficianados of One Hour Wargames will recognise this as a hacked around version of Scenario 14 'Static Defence'.

And here is the mighty horde of 24th Panzer Corps! Albeit at around 30% strength. Irl the Corps was commanded by Geyr von Schweppenburg iirc, but here it is commanded by John A, who also runs one of its divisions.

The main fighting elements are 4th Panzer Division (Terry) and 17th Panzer Divisions (Russell). Each has a single panzer 'regiment' and a schutzen 'brigade' each of battalion strength. Both units of 4th Panzer and the 17th Panzer Regiment are veterans. 4th Schutzen Brigade is entirely mounted in halftracks. Each 'division' also has a command element, a Kleinepanzerbefehlswagen for 4th PD and a Protze Radio truck for 17th PD.

The Corps also has 10th Motorised Division, with two motorised infantry 'regiments' each of battalion strength. All cross country movement is treated as bad going for German units due to their high vehicle losses and the unsuitability of much of the remaining transport for movement in deep snow.

The support elements are Corps HQ (the Unimog radio truck) and a single ambulance/supply unit. The German logistics had essentially fallen apart by now. There is a also a Corps artillery regiment (150mm) to provide indirect fire support.

The Luftwaffe contribution are Stukas and He 111s for close support and interdiction respectively, although their sortie rate is severely curtailed. There is also a wing of Ju 52s with three supply missions, which can attempt airborne resupply. irl the Luftwaffe conducted a number of supply runs to Guderian. 

And the Russians dug in waiting for them. 50th Army on the left and 3rd Army on the right. The Russians have to keep at least two units within 3 hexes of Venyov and Suchuye respectively at all times to simulate their C3 difficulties. I'm going to run each Army as a separate command, although for coordination purposes Mark will play 'STAVKA' and managed the artillery, air and LOG.

There are also no less than six Soviet commanders, which will no doubt generate some confusion... as you can see, 50th Army has gone for a close defence of Venyov, while 3rd Army has dug in some way south of Suchuye. All the mobile units are available to intervene on either flank.

3rd Army has 340 RD (two units) commanded by John B on Tuesday and Simon on Wednesday. They are dug in side-by-side. The Army also has the 31st Cavalry Division and the remains of 112th Tank Division, both commanded by Jerry who is also Army CO. The cavalry unit with the big flag is Jerry's HQ.

31st Cavalry Div is supported by Lend Lease Valentines (which started arriving in August 1941) and 112th Tank Div has T26s and Lend Lease Matildas (which also arrived in significant numbers for the Battle for Moscow). In testing, the Russians found both I tanks had quite good snow mobility, although the Valentine was better than the Matilda. Presumably because of their low gearing as infantry tanks.

Venyov is defended by 413 RD (Tim on Tuesday and Ian on Wednesday), reinforced with 85mm AA guns, which featured prominently in the defence of Tula. They also have 32nd Tank Brigade equipped with T34s, and commanded by Mark, who is also Army CO.

The 413rd is stiffened by both a 'heroic leader' AND an NKVD detachment. Both aid morale, although the NKVD may shoot some of their own troops... 

The Russians are generally rated as Green (5 hits) but the 32nd Tank Brigade and 31st Cavalry are Regular. 

In support are a Guards Mortar (Katyusha) brigade, a wing of Sturmoviks and some IL4s for interdiction. There are also two supply columns as the Russians are back on their main base. They are going to have a big supply advantage over the Germans.

The FAC is allocated to 340 RD in 3rd Army, while the FOO is with 413 RD in Venyov.

Close up of the defence of Venyov. The town is fortified and packed with extra stuff including the AA guns, SMG assault troops, the leader, FOO and NKVD! The other towns are just landmarks and confer no defensive benefits.

Right, to battle!

Everyone made a big effort on the hat front! I was particularly impressed with Russells 'panzer beret'.

24th Panzer came rolling on, both panzer divisions in column up the road with 4th Panzer in the lead, and 3rd Motorised on the right also in column. The Germans seemed pretty gung ho, despite knowing there was a  fortified region directly ahead.

The Heinkels turned up and bombed the Russian supply lines.

4th Panzer Regiment was now in view (and range) of the Venyov defences. The Russians just rolled 32nd Tank Brigade forward a bit to provide flank support. 413 RD engaged the leading German tanks with their 85mm AA guns and completely missed!

While IL4s bombed the German supply lines.

4th Panzer shook out into line and rolled forwards towards the Russian defences covered by artillery and Stukas. 17th Panzer and 3rd Motorised were still moving up. I can't help thinking that the Germans are being a bit optimistic here, attacking a fortified position while outnumbered 3:2.

Over near Suchuye, frantic calls for help from 50th Army result in 31st Cavalry being despatched to aid the defence of Venyov, while 112th Tank Div takes up a reserve position behind 340 RD.

While the cavalry take up positions on the hill NE of Venyov, 1/413 engages 4th Panzer again and this time scores some hits, but 2/413, 32nd TB and all the Sturmoviks and Katyushas pound 4th Schutzen Brigade, inflicting no less than six hits on the unfortunate German infantrymen! Good job they are veterans, they become disorganised instead of destroyed.

4th Panzer Regt continues to attack 1/413 and inflicts enough hits to disorganise it, if only it had infantry support close by to assault - but 4th Schutzen Brigade has to fall back to safety. 17th Panzer Div is arriving but still deploying, and forms up on 4th Panzer Regts flank. 3rd Motorised is now creeping up along the edge of the dense forest.

To attack a position frontally like this, you need to be deployed in depth so you can rotate units in and out, not feed each formation in piecemeal.  

3rd Army now redeploys to meet the German attack. 340 RD shuffles east a bit, but 112 Tank Div moves to join 31st Cavalry. It ends up in a spot where it is hemmed in by terrain and friendly units but can't see anything! I think both sides are struggling with the constricted terrain around Venyov.

In a repeat of last turn, the Russians simply concentrated all of their fire on 17th Schutzen Brigade, and it too vanished in a hail of fire. Both panzer divisions have lost their infantry component now. 1/413 was reorganised which brought it back into good order but still weakened.

The Germans now concentrated their efforts, 4th Panzer Regiment supported by the artillery and fire from 17th Panzer Regiment assaulted 1/413 RD! The support fire had inflicted some loss and disorganised the Russian infantry again.

4th Panzer made no mistake, rolled up the required hits (disorganised units are hit as if in the open) and overran 1/413, advancing into the west half of Venyov. The Russian leader and FAC survived the rout but fled, so would be unavailable next turn. 

31st Cavalry division moved up to the north side of Venyov, preparing to counterattack while 112th Tank Div occupied the hill. 32nd Tank Brigade engaged 17tgh Panzer Regiment ineffectively but 2/413 managed to chip another hit off 4th Panzer Regiment.

In turn 4th Panzer Regt shot up the Russian cavalry in front of them, while 17th Pz Regt engaged 32nd Tank Brigade, inflicting minor losses. 4th Schutzen Brigade now motored back up to the front having reorganised, albeit still carrying three hits, and 3rd Motorised Div deployed to support 17th Pz Regt.

The Russian airforce and Katyushas had resupplied and 31st Cavalry attacked behind a withering barrage of fire supported by 2/413 RD. This succeeded in overunning 4th Panzer Regiment! Unsupported tanks aren't very good when close assaulted in built up areas.

32nd Tank Brigade had a good turn against 17th Pz Regiment, which suffered enough losses to become disorganised.

The Germans now had a choice, pull everyone back, reorganise and resupply then attack again, or to go for broke.

The Germans went for broke. All their remaining units were committed to the line, although the battered 17th Pz Regt stayed in place to reorganise. 10th Motorised split its Regiments between the east and the west, but the Germans failed to inflict many losses with their firing units. 

The Luftwaffe was called on to resupply the Stukas, which it managed successfully!

Heavy fighting continued south of Venyov. I think I must have missed a photo as now 4th Schutzen Brigade mysteriously only has two hits, while 17th Panzer Regt is disorganised again. 

Anyway, the Russians had a big turn, concentrated fire from 31st Cavalry, 2/413 RD, 32nd Tank Brigade and 112th Tank Division plus their aircraft and MLRS destroyed both 4th Schutzen Brigade and 17th Panzer Regiment. Ouch! That really isn't looking good for 24th Panzer Corps.

The situation at Venyov as we ended for the evening. The Germans only have 10th Motorised Division left now, and while the Russian units are in various states of disrepair, they've only actually lost 1/413.

And back at Suchuye, 340 RD has finished digging in and is bravely holding the front. The Germans to the southwest are concealed by the dense forest.

We broke for the evening at that point, but I can't help thinking that it is going to be a short game tomorrow.

Ian and Simon took over on Wednesday from Tim and John B. To keep things rolling John A launched a quite heroic assault on Venyov with 10th Motorised Regiment, which inflicted heavy losses on 31st Cavalry Division but was repulsed. The NKVD shuffled over to the 31st to give them 'moral support'.

After much urging from Stavka, Simon moved 2/340 northeast of the dark forest, and it was promptly hammered by German artillery  and direct fire from 11th Motorised Regiment. It became disorganised and once again demonstrated the vulnerability of infantry units in the open.

The battered Russian infantry fell back through the barrage out of sight towards the Suchuye Mound. The Russians suddenly realised with horror that if they were destroyed, they'd have to pull one of their mobile units out from Venyov to defend the hill.

Back at Venyov, every Russian unit in range opened up on 11th MRR, which took enough losses to become disorganised (this actually took a couple of turns as the Germans had decent cover in the forest).

The Luftwaffe rustled up some Stukas to help them, who managed to suppress 32nd Tank Brigade, greatly reducing their firepower. Ideally 11th MRR would have reorganised but the Germans were out of supplies.

In its battered state, the remaining good order Russians were sufficient to finish them off. So the Germans were reduced to a single Rifle Regiment.

2/314 RD made it to the safety of the hill where it reorganised.

The Russian airforce had hit the German lorry supply column, but the Ju 52s managed to drop their last supplies on the German artillery.

It was all up for the Germans though, and their last operational unit fell back down the road, and we called it a day at that point. In fact we'd managed another four turns, so there was clearly a bit of fight left in the Panzerwaffe. 

We had plenty of time for a good washup session, and both sides outlined their deployment and operations strategies. That is actually a very interesting scenario, and although I've played OHW Scenario 14 as part of a linked scenario WW1 campaign, I've never done it for WW2. Ironic as it is based on the Utah Beach paratrooper scenario from Panzer Leader. It certainly warrants some replay and a couple of the players requested we run it again at some point. I've very inclined to try it solo and see how I get on.

irl the 24th Panzer went right flanking, fought a big encirclement battle south of Suchuye and destroyed much of the Russian forces there including defeating their mobile reserves. 4th Panzer and 10th Motorised then advanced over the Osetr northwards while 17th Panzer marched west and attacked Venyov from the rear. The latter failed to take the town but did cut the road northwards. The German advance eventually ran out of steam about 30km north of Suchuye over the next few days - a combination of continued resistence and major supply difficulties. By the end the Germans were almost entirely dependant on air drops, and Russians had more reserves to throw in their way once the main axes of advance were identified.  

I really enjoyed running that, and many thanks to the players for their enthusiasm. Very predictably, the combat debut of both my 85mm AA guns and Sdkfz 251/10 resulted in their destruction, however my dodgy Lend Lease Matilda survived - no doubt too appear again in the next instalment!

Walcourt 1689 and Fleurus 1690

 Well, you learn something new every day. The Duc de Gobin on his excellent blog https://warfareintheageofcynicsandamateurs.blogspot.com/2025/12/neerwindenlanden-1693-with-battle.html recently fought the battle of Neerwinden, in the Nine Years War. I'd never heard of either before! Now, when I studied Renaissance history it all sort of petered out after the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, while the European and Military history I studied at University was far more interested in the transition from the the Renaissance to the Enlightenment (and the various Wars of Spanish, Austrian etc Succession) along with the Revolution in Military Affairs so we rather skimmed over the late 1600s.

Anyway Louis XIV, decided to declare war on the whole of Europe by attacking the Rhineland in late 1688, and contrived to end up at war with Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire in what is apparently called The Nine Years War.

The campaign in 1689 ended up here at the Battle of Walcourt, which is in the vicinity of Charleroi, a popular place for battles. More details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Walcourt

Battlefield from the north, Walcourt is the fortified town bottom right at the confluence of the rivers. The Allies are closest to the camera having formed up for battle after their foragers encountered the French near the mill (top right). They are under the command of Prince Waldeck.

Fairly obviously this is yet another Dominion game. I bought this a while back to cover the Great Northern War and War of Spanish Succession, but it also includes no less than four battles from the Nine Years War.

This is an interesting period as armies are transitioning into proper 'lace wars' armies, but still have anachronisms like pikes hanging around. The rules themselves are very tailored to the period with very specific troop types and matchups, far more focussed than some of the much broader sets, and much better for it. It does mean you have to read them quite carefully to get your head around the differences from other sets, pistoleer cavalry in particular have some special rules.

Anyway, I'm using the battle scenarios from this, with the terrain modelled on the wikipedia articles and using my 2mm stuff. 

Waldecks army, a right mish mash. The front line (L to R) we have Dutch/British charging cavalry including the Blues and Royals, rated as disciplined. In the centre are British infantry (elite, disciplined and commanded by John Churchill himself), and on the right are Dutch infantry (disciplined) while in reserve we have normal German/Imperial infantry.

Infantry units mainly fought with firepower in a linear fashion in this period, but many still had a contingent of pikes, so I did the infantry units with a front rank of musket elements and a single pike and shot element in the rear rank. These are all from my 2mm WSS collection, the Dutch and Imperial units haven't been out of the box for years. (You can just make out the orange and yellow rear bases of some of the Dutch and Imperial units).

The French under the Duc de Humieres, although Villars is also in attendance. Front rank L-R is three line infantry. Line infantry which start in the line get a bonus against cavalry, units which move up from reserve lose it. The reserves are pistoleer cavalry (fire first but at a disadvantage in melee, curiously they get a +1 on rallying, which makes them quite handy). Elite infantry (the Garde Francais) and then unreliable artillery. I mark elite units with attached light artillery and disciplined units with a small leader group. I haven't quite figured out how to represent unreliable units, I'll have to remember!

Both sides have an army HQ, camp with tent lines and a wagon element which I'll use to remind if they have used their rally attempt.

The French are rather up against it here as although they have a larger army none of the matchups are very favourable. Their infantry engage the Anglo/Dutch cavalry, their combat bonus vs cavalry negates the 'disciplined' characteristic.

Sadly they miss and are promptly ridden down by the Allied cavalry! They are replaced by the Garde Francais. I've pulled the bases apart a bit to remind me that they don't get the deployed bonus vs cavalry, having moved up from reserve.

Churchill and the British roll into the French centre now, routing them as well! The French didn't stand much chance against the elite, disciplined British.

The French cavalry reserve moves into the gap. These are pistol cavalry, who get a bonus against line infantry, as well as being easier to rally. I figure the French may as well use them.

Faced with their army collapsing, Humiers rallies one of the routed infantry units and puts it in reserve.

The French cavalry attack the British in the centre. This isn't actually a bad matchup given their bonus against line infantry, if only the British weren't disciplined as well... 

Sadly they are, and the French horse go down in a hail of musket fire. The recently rallied French infantry take their place.

The Garde Francais try their luck against the Allied cavalry.

And are routed for their pains. Oh dear!

The French are forced to commit their final reserve, the unreliable artillery. I'm marking the unreliable status with some skirmisher figures (stragglers). If they pass their reliability test I'll take the skirmishers off.

The gunners open and fire and stand and fight! The Allied cavalry counter charges through the barrage.

The gunners miss and are ridden down. The French flank is turned now.

The French take their best shot and engage the Dutch on the Allied right.

Which results in mutual annihilation!

The Allies have reserves though, and the Imperial infantry fill the gap. The French are down to one unit now.

And on the Allied turn the cavalry rout them (with outflanking bonuses etc) and that is the end for the French.

That was pretty much a historical result, the French launched numerous futile attacks and were eventually driven off with the loss of 2000 men to the Allies 300. I really liked those rules, they had a very, very different feel to the Pike and Shot set. It was a bit slow as I was looking things up but it very much felt like a WSS type battle, all rather cumbersome.

Having done it once, I gave it another shot, much quicker this time. The French attacked the Allied left and both sides bounced, while the British routed the French centre, who were replaced by the Garde Francais.

On this run the French managed to rout the Allied cavalry.

Then there was an inconclusive infantry pounding match for a few turns which felt very period correct!

Eventually it was the French right which cracked first. This matchup was 50:50 as both sides were evenly matched,

The French had already rallied one infantry unit and put it into the gap, but the Dutch routed the French left and they were forced to commit their artillery. Once more the French gunners stood and fought and both sides blazed away at each other. 

The gunners didn't hang around for long though, and soon headed for the rear, their place taken by the French cavalry who would have to hold off the Dutch. The Imperial and French infantry on the other flank were meanwhile engaged in an inconclusive firefight.

After a while, the Imperials cracked, but Waldeck managed to rally them (indicated by the wagons) and they reluctantly marched back into the line, albeit disordered now. Shame the French cavalry are committed on the other flank....

After repeated charges, well, caracoles, the French cavalry had enough.

Rapidly followed by the French centre and it was game over.

That was a much more even fight, and I particularly enjoyed the firefights (I skipped over a few turns in the photos) as they were quite nail biting. I'm getting more familiar with the modifiers now too. Despite the armies supposedly being 'balanced' that was a good historical scenario. I can see how the French might win, they need their superior numbers to overcome their unit by unit inferiority.

Having done Walcourt, it was on to Fleurus in 1690 as Louis once more sent his armies into the Spanish Netherlands. Details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fleurus_(1690)

Battlefield from the north. Fleurus is off the top of the map, the Allied army under von Waldeck (again) is drawn up behind the stream near the chateau of St Amand in the centre. Top left is some place called 'Ligny', I cant imagine why anyone would want to fight a battle here... the villages of St Brice and Hippignies are on the left and right flanks of the Allied line respectively.

The Allies were in a strong position so the French army under the Duc du Luxembourg pinned them frontally and conducted a double envelopment on each flank, which rather took the Allies by surprise. 

The Allied army, this time a mixture of Dutch troops and actual Spanish soldiers, defending the Spanish Netherlands.

L-R we have unreliable Dutch cavalry, disciplined Spanish infantry (getting the defensive benefit of the stream) then disciplined Spanish Cavalry. In reserve are another unit of Spanish infantry and some disciplined Dutch infantry. The cavalry on the left are unreliable as the terrain was much more conducive to Luxembourgs manouvre here and they were surprised by the arrival of the French.

And the French under Luxembourg. L-R disciplined cavalry (Maison du Roi etc?), unreliable artillery and then cavalry. In reserve we have more cavalry and two line infantry units. The French cavalry are all pistoleers.

Both sides have their camps and wagons, I'm using leader figures for the disciplined units and a stand of skirmishers for the unreliable ones.

The action opened on the Allied left as the French cavalry routed the Dutch in short order! The unreliable cavalry did stand and fight but were defeated by the better quality French.

Their place was taken by the Dutch infantry although they would count as unformed against cavalry having moved up from reserve, that was negated by them being disciplined.

The cavalry matchup was more favourable to the Allies on the right so the Spanish took on the French but the action was inconclusive.

The French cavalry went for the Dutch infantry while the Spanish and French fought it out (again) on the right.

The French routed the Dutch infantry too! There is something wrong with our Dutchmen today...

Their place was taken by some Spanish infantry. The cavalry battle on the Allied right puttered on inconclusively, neither side seemed capable of rolling higher than 4.

Now the French cavalry routed the Spanish infantry! A hat trick of victories. Once again the cavalry battle on the other flank was ineffectual - I imagine lots of riding back and forth loosing off pistols with plenty of smoke and fury but no actual result.

The French duly rode down the well defended Allied centre with a flank attack, and the cavalry battle on the right flank was again inconclusive. Reduced to one base, Waldeck withdrew and Marshal Luxembourg was the victor, as in real life.

That was another tense battle, but I didn't feel any great inclination to fight it again as I felt a bit drained by learning the new rules and playing three quite thought provoking games in quick succession. I may well come back to it again in future.

Well, I thought that was great. They were excellent games with a real period flavour and once again taught me something about a conflict I know absolutely nothing about (although Tim claims we have done at least one Nine Years War battle already with Table Battles). I'm looking forward to playing more of these and also the WSS and GNW scenarios. I was also really pleased to finally use the right troop types and nationalities for the various units instead of a load of stand-ins. I thought the three base infantry units looked quite good and the absence of woods on the battlefields (there were none marked on the wikipedia maps) wasn't too jarring as there were other features. The first combat use of my new 2mm fort as well!