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!
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