Tigers at Minsk - The Road to Beaumont, 15 May 1940

 Time for some more TaM, and yet another Fireball Forward scenario converted to TaM. Once again the map looks identical in style to a Skirmish Campaigns one, and I imagine the original scenario was based on that and scaled up. I dimly recall a Squad Leader/Crescendo of Doom scenario covering the same engagement, but possibly I'm misrembering and I cant be bothered to look in the SL box to find out.

Anyway, this engagement features a clash between 1st DCR and 7th Panzer Division in the vicinity of Beaumont. 1st DCR had lost almost all its heavy tanks (Char B) in the previous days fighting but the 2nd Demo-Brigade with H39s had far more operational vehicles. Rommels advance had cut the French off so on the 15th, 1st DCR attempted to break out of encirclement to the west, handicapped by fuel shortages.

Battlefield from the north (confusingly) - if I'd realised it would end up this way around I'd have reversed the setup, but never mind... there is a very obvious road running down the centre, a couple of hills and various open woods. There are also two boggy fields which don't block LOS but do force a mobilty test on vehicles trying to enter them.

Two of the fields have tree lines at one side which block LOS, there is also a hedge running north-south behind the top hill, and a pair of buildings (a farm and a barn complex).

The French enter from the left (east) and to win must gain 3 VP. They get 1 VP per AFV or squad exited off the right (west) side and 1 VP per building controlled. The original scenario lasts six turns, so in TaM terms that is 12 turns or 85 minutes. Given the distances involved, getting even one unit off the far side is going to be a struggle, assuming the Germans manage to maintain LOS and restrict the French to one hex move per turn.

Here is the French horde, two platoons of motorised infantry with six sections and a pair of lorries. The lorries are just for colour as no-one in their right mind is going to drive these onto the table. They also have a motorcycle section and no less than six(!) H39s. Now, I dont actually own six H39s, so they are actually two H39s, two R35s, a gun armed FT 17 and a 25mm armed armoured car. I'm using the Spearhead stats for armour and gun performance, and wierdly these are all identical, 3/2 armour and AT 3 guns. If any vehicles get knocked out I'll swap the models around to remove the anachronisms.

A pair of the H39s enter on turn two which becomes after 15 minutes in TaM terms. I'm going to give the French poor command (so only the leader hex plus one other), average morale and round down their breakpoint. So with 13 elements that is a BP of six.

The Germans have one Schutzen Platoon with three high firepower sections plus a lorry and a Horch to ride in. The KG HQ has an anti-tank rifle section riding in a kubelwagen and a tank 'platoon' with a pair of Pz 38. Very similar rating to the H39s in Spearhead terms. but I'm going to make the German veteran with good command.

Arriving reinforcements are a pair of Panzer IIs (only AT 2 with their 20mm cannon) arriving after 20 minutes, and a towed 75mm infantry gun (AT 3) arriving after ten minutes. All of these arrive from the northern edge.

These guys have a break point of five.

I set this up in the afternoon so I'd have time to think about it as it is a quite tactically complex scenario due to the force density and terrain configuration. Those tree lines and hills are a complete pain! In this iteration I'm trying to keep the forward area under observation to restrict the French movement, but it necessitates a very forward defence due to the terrain. A more cautious approach would be a defence in depth  but obviously that gives the French freedom of movement in the early game. Choices, choices...

So in this sector I've occupied both the buildings with infantry and put the ATR team in the forward building. The tanks are split onto different ridges to try and produce interlocked fields of fire across the whole front while protecting their flanks from AT fire. Complicating factors are the tree lines and a dispersed defence like this is going to be hard to control.

On the rest of the front I've parked up the transport in cover and Pz IIs and towed 75 mark the boundaries of the reinforcement entry area, which will nicely shore up the left flank. I considered keeping one section in reserve, but in the end I put it in the field at the top left to lock down that flank more - I'm terrified the French will just use to tree lines to dash forwards under cover otherwise. The field provides cover from direct fire to infantry so it isn't as daft as it looks, and they can always pull back if needs be, using the tree line to cover their escape.

I just lined up the French horde on the table edge. There seem to be an awful lot of them!

Final bit of admin, break point counters and the turn counter set to 0 minutes. I'll leave that overnight and re-visit it from time to time to consider different deployments and a viable attack plan for the French.

I re-visited the German setup overnight but didnt make any changes apart from to downgrade the Germans down to average morale. I think the French task is quite hard enough as it is (in the original scenario both sides have the same morale). I kept the more restricted French command though.

For the French faced with attacking over mostly open ground I opted to overload the defence by simply swamping the front. I spread the infantry out to minimise losses from bunching, and deployed the tanks along the front, focussing on the right flank more. There were two squads stacked up in the woods, but I think the time and distance constraints are such that the French don't have any time for fancy tactics. Essentially this challenged the Germans to stand and fight or run away, but like the Germans, the dispersed deployment ran the risk of C2 problems.

Naturally one of the Pz 38s went out of command, but the German CO focussed on the forward infantry positions and the German infantry managed to pin the three left hand French squads. The other Pz 38 managed to hit an H39 but it bounced off.

The French suffered C2 problems of their own and two hexes went out of command, including the tank/infantry team in the wood. The other two squads in the wood advanced as did the motorcycle section, while the two H39s blazed away to cover the infantry rallying.

The German response was fairly ferocious, and they gunned down one of the French rifle squads and the intrepid motocyclists. Ouch! German anti-tank fire remained ineffective. Looks like the German had committed themselves to fighting, whereas I'd originally planned to pull the left hand squad back after delaying the Germans.

And of course the following turn every single French tank was in command and a wall of steel fire spitting monsters managed to destroy the Germans in the field and pin the ATR team in the building. The only bright spot for the Germans was that two of the French infantry failed their command rolls and a third failed to rally.

The German 75mm gun now came on, but I wanted to unlimber it in the wooded hill hex, so it just parked up out of sight at the base of the ridge so it could dash forwards and unlimber next turn.

Now it was the turn of the French reinforcements arrival, and both tanks just moved onto the vacant road hex. The French infantry in the wood managed to fail their command roll again (I guess those woods are really thick!), but one squad made it into the field behind the treeline.

All four H39s were in command so opened up on the building inflicting two hits. The Germans removed the already pinned ATR and the rifle squad was pinned. With French infantry closing in, I figured infantry would be more useful.

The Germans pulled the battered squad back into the field to rally next turn and the Panzer IIs rolled up, parking in the field just in front of the tree line to set up flank shots across the table. The 75mm gun managed to fail its command roll but the Panzers finally stunned one H39 and destroyed another, which burst into flames.

With the German withdrawal, the French were able to push up the newly arrived armour, and the French infantry in the woods finally got to move forwards as well. One of the surviving H39s went out of command and the other fired ineffectively on one of the Pz 38s. 

In all the excitement I'd managed to push the H39 in the woods too far forwards, and the Panzer IIs duly blew it up with flank shots. The 75mm gun also made it up onto the ridge and unlimbered. The French now only had two more losses to go before their break point. The Panzer 38s hit the two H39s on the road but only managed to stun one of them. The German squad in the field rallied.

At turn end I rolled a double, so random events. The Germans got 'tank fright' (very appropriate!) while the French got 'men of action' which allowed one unit to move and fire.

In a huge turn for the French, concentrated fire from the French infantry destroyed the Germans in the field behind the building. The H39s on the road then knocked out a Pz 38, while a third H39 used the 'men of action' to advance to join them and knocked out the second Pz 38! That took the Germans to their break point.

This triggered a series of morale tests which led to all the surviving German unit falling back a hex, the only unit to stand was the 75mm. The last German infantry abandoned their building while  both Panzer IIs retreated behind the tree line.

The French infantry in the wood now advanced to the eastern edge, poised to move across the ridge in future turns, while the last H39 advanced into the fields behind the first tree line.

The Germans dare not move the Pz II back into the field as they would be in the arc of fire of four French tanks, so instead they moved back towards the ridge while the 75mm shelled the French infantry in the wood. The last German infantry squad reoccupied the building. 

Next turn the French essentially pushed forwards under cover as far as possible, French infantry took the building in the centre and two H39s drove up the road to join them. On the German left, the lone H39 and French infantry just advanced one hex to keep behind the tree line and out of LOS.

The Germans engaged the H39s by the building, stunning one and destroying the other. The French were one loss away from their breakpoint.

But it was the Germans who broke first. The stunned H39 rallied and combined with the other H39 in the wood, knocked out one of the Pz IIs. The German morale failed and they all fell back again. The 75mm ended up on the reverse slope, the German infantry abandoned the building again and the last Pz II headed up the hill.

Taking advantage of the confusion the French pushed forwards, with two squads cresting the ridge near the last building, and another squad and H39 pushing up to the last tree line.

In their turn, the Germans reoccupied the building while the Pz II fired ineffectively at the nearest H39. The 75mm limbered up prior to relocating.

Too late, the H39 in the tree line despatched the last Panzer II and another wave of German morale failures saw the 75 retreat off table and last German squad abandon the building once more. On the French left four squads and two tanks pushed forwards as far as possible, occupying the hedgerows next to the building.

All the Germans could do was double time back into the building. On the French right the tank and infantry made their way over the open ground towards the ridge, and on the left, the French tanks shot in....

A mass close assault! Three French squads vs one German. The German troops were better and occupying a building, but they were outnumbered 3:1.

In the ensuing melee, the Germans took three hits and were wiped out, the CO ran away over the fields as the jubilant French occupied the buildings and searched the dejected prisoners.

After all that, there was 82 minutes on the clock, only three to go!

Most of the French units could only advance two hexes cross country on the last turn, but one H39 was on the road, and simply drove off the table giving the French their third VP. A hard won French victory!

That was really good fun, very enjoyable and well done to the French for pulling it off even though I doubted their chances. In the end they managed to concentrate their fire against single German units to destroy them, and although they lost half their armour and a third of their infantry, they just managed to pull it off. It was a high risk strategy as it relied on blasting a hole through the Germans so they could charge off in the last few turns, but tbh the alternative of a more step by step approach risked just handing the Germans advancing units piecemeal.

I didn't make any changes to the rules, just plugging in the relevant Spearhead armour/AT factors, so they seem to have settled down. That was also quite a complex scenario to solo play with a lot going on and a lot of decisions to make, so I didn't feel any great inclination to replay it either. Combat debut for my new 3D printed Panzer IIs though, which of course led to their inevitable destruction.

The Red Cavalry - Ukraine 1941

 Time for another trip to Tigers at Minsk, slowly playing my way through the scenarios in the Fireball Forward rulebook. I've had  a bit of gap from TaM, partly due to focussing on the ACW and Unconditional Surrender, and partly because the next scenario in sequence wasn't very appealing - yet another mass infantry night assault against dug in defenders, albeit Japanese vs US Marines. I'd had enough of that with the Volkhov Crossing.

Anyway, I skipped ahead to this one, set in late June 1941 in Ukraine, near the town of Sitmoye. A Russian counterattack by 8th Mechanised Corps had been repulsed but a gap had opened up between the panzer divisions and their supporting infantry divisions. Into the gap went the Soviet 14th Cavalry Division, while the German 75th infantry division also tried to make contact with the panzers.

Battlefield from the west. There is a marsh and gully in the top left, various corn and sunflower fields (the latter being the first outing for my recently made cornfields), a low hill and some scattered open woods. The sunflower fields block LOS and all fields are boggy going for vehicles.

Victory goes to whoever controls all three of the small buildings scattered above the road. The Russians come on from the right (south) with flank marchers on the bottom (west). The Germans come on from the left (north) with flank marchers on the top (east). This is a 70 minute game and the table is a bit bigger than usual to accommodate the quite complex terrain.

The Germans from 75th Infantry Division. The written scenario has a very odd OB, essentially a motorised infantry company and a mechanised recce platoon in halftracks! Very unlike any 1941 leg infantry division I've ever seen, so I changed the troop types to something more historical but kept the overall balance of forces.

The leg infantry component are two rifle platoons of three sections each, plus a company HQ with a tripod MG team and an anti-tank rifle team. I've rated all the Germans as average, but with good formation cohesion. I also gave the Germans two activation dice re-rolls (as the original FF scenario gives them a single use activation chit).

These guys are all coming on from the north.

The recce element has been modelled rather more on an infantry division. There is a small armoured car platoon with two Sdkfz 222s, and a rifle platoon of three sections riding bicycles (!). The heaviest anti-tank weapons the Germans have are 20mm autocannon and their ATR.

The German breakpoint is 7 units and they will move first. They have the option to send the recce units on a flank march but it could take anything up to six turns for them to arrive, so they will march on with everyone else.

Opposing them is a cavalry squadron from 14th Cavalry Division, supported by armoured cars and tanks. 14th Cav was a pretty good division (it was later uprated to Guards status) so I made the cavalry average and with good force cohesion. The tanks and a/cs I rated as poor due to the all the various well known problems with the 1941 Soviet armoured force, I also gave the Russians poor C3.

The cavalry component is three platoons (troops?) of two cavalry sections each, plus another section in company HQ plus a mule packed Maxim MG section.

One platoon of cavalry elected to flank march and got lucky, arriving on turn 2.

There is a tank platoon of two x BT-7s. These are vastly better than the Sdkfz 222s,  but obviously handicapped by poor quality crews and C3. The lighter German guns can have some effect on them though.

Plus a pair of heavy armoured cars. Like the BTs, these are also armed with scary 45mm guns, but are more lightly armoured than the tanks. The armoured cars elected to support the cavalry flank platoon and also managed to roll 2 for their turn of arrival.

The Germans advanced on a fairly broad front, partly to take advantage of the available cover and avoid over stacking, but also to put lines of sight on as much ground as possible to impede Russian movement. Unopposed all these units could move at maximum speed, although the marsh constrained some movement options.

The Germans main weight was in the centre, as that was where the objective was.

Over on the extreme flank, one 222 supported by a section of cyclists flanked the marsh. This tiny force would prove to be invaluable.

The Russians were largely screened by terrain so made good ground in the centre, occupying one of the buildings in the village with a section and the Maxims, while two more sections headed for the eastern building with a third in reserve.

The BTs supported by a fifth section advanced in the west, but were constrained by LOS from various German units so ended up halting after only two hexes. One of the BTs braved not one but two bogging rolls to move through the sunflower fields.

The Germans aggressively pushed forwards in the centre, occupying the woods line next to the third house, while another section plus the ATR moved on the hill. The section on the right stayed in the field as its LOS seriously constrained Russian movement - that is such a clever mechanism.

The armoured car detachment on the far side of the marsh had only been able to advance one hex due to Russian LOS, but it blazed away with opportunity fire as the Russians moved up to occupy the second house. The Germans had to use one of their one time chits to activate these guys.

The Russians were firmly in control of two of the building snow, despite losing a cavalry section to German fire. The Russian CO stayed here to maintain command. With poor C3, he can only command two hexes.

Predictably the entire Soviet left wing went out of command! They cant do anything this turn except conduct opportunity fire.

However the flank marchers now put in an appearance, the two BAs and two more cavalry sections.

The centre quietened down as both sides spent most of the turn rallying or removing opportunity fire markers. The Germans finally occupied the third building though, covered by fire from a 222.

In the west though, things hotted up, the Germans pushed a section onto the hill which was promptly cut down by massed opp fire from the Russian left wing. Another section and the ATR took up a rather safer position on the reverse slope.

More ineffective firing in the centre. I had to come up with a method to indicate which units had opportunity fired and which had just shot normally, so I put smoke on top of the opp firers and next to the others. Both sides armour was being very, very careful to keep out of LOS of each other.

In the west the opp firers sorted themselves out and the Russian cavalry charged the hill! Well that has put the cat among the pigeons.

Back at the village the Germans managed to rout the cavalry holding the eastern building, and the bicycle section from the bicycle/ac detachment hastened forwards to occupy it. They managed to make their roll to cross the gully but were pinned by Russian defensive fire as they occupied the buildings. I'm so glad I sent that detachment around the marsh!

Back at the hill the great cavalry charge bogged down in an inconclusive firefight. Both sides had units our of command which limited what they could do. The Russians did manage to pin the ATR team, but the BTs and BAs were so busy firing they couldn't take advanatge of it.

The Germans in the village managed to rally but a section of Russian cavalry charged them anyway.

The Russians managed to inflict one hit on the defenders pinning them, but they themselves also suffered a hit and fell back, only to be gunned down by MG34 fire in the sunflower fields.

In an interesting development you may notice that one of the BTs has advanced next to the village, hoping to duel with the armoured car across the stream. With better armour and a considerably better gun, it just has to survive the German defensive fire next turn...

More units going out of command in the west, including BOTH BAs and one of the cavalry on the hill. The other BT changes arc and scores a hit on one of the 222s, and promptly rolls a '1' for effect. The German armoured car survives.

The Germans instead concentrate their small arms fire on the last building and both armoured cars on the leading BT. Both hit it, and one has no effect but the other manages to roll a magnificent 6 for effect, the only score which would be enough to destroy it. BOOM. scratch one BT. My experience of armoured combat in TaM is it fast and lethal.

Naturally on the other flank the other BT goes out of command so can't fire at all. The armoured cars are up and running again, so one advances covered by the other. The Russian cavalry assault the German section in the woods who had been pinned earlier, but both sides manage to annihilate each other. There so many corpses on and around the hill now it is starting to look like a Greek Tragedy.

All the remaining Russian armour goes out of command, and the Germans manage to finish off the last Russian cavalry on the hill. The Russians are at their break point now, but time is ticking down.... a number of Russian units retire as a result of this break test but none leave the table.

The Germans in the far village had moved out into the sunflower fields now, concealed from view. I need someone who can move into or assault that last village hex and everyone else is a bit stuck at the moment.

The Germans push their anti-tank rifle team (and infantry support) into the woods on the forward slope of the hill to threaten the Russian armour. They survive a hail of opp fire from the dithering Russians, and to add insult to injury, the German armoured car behind the gully manages to hit the last BT and roll a 6 for effect, destroying it.

All the other Russian units here have retreated one hex after failing their break test, but the last village defenders are hanging on. Sadly the Maxim team retreated and was cut down as it moved into open ground.

With so few effective units left, the Russian CO joins the BAs to keep them in command. The village goes out of command. 64 minutes on the clock now, only six minutes left....

The Germans managed to stun one of the BAs with the ATR, while one of the 222s (which had sneakily advanced past the wreck of the BT), knocks th other one out. Another break test for the Russians and the last Russian cavalry section in the south retreats off the table.

Massed German fire overcomes the last village defenders, leaving one German unit able to move in just as time runs out! A German victory, but the skin of their teeth.

Historically 14th Cavalry Div repulsed the first German attacks, something which contributed to its elevation to Guards status, but that was a very tough fight for both sides and the Germans only just made it. That was a very enjoyable scenario and has a lot of replay value, I think next time I wouldn't bother with the flank marchers for the Russians and concentrate instead. As it was they were lucky they came on when they did, but the dispersed Russians suffered terrible C3 problems whereas the Germans could afford to spread out a bit more.

I was a bit rusty with TaM after a prolonged break,  but it came back quickly enough. That is probably about the largest engagement I'd be happy doing, and even then I extended to playing area to 8x9, which was perhaps a bit too much but I needed to model the gaps between terrain items as well as the terrain itself. I rather enjoyed the cat and mouse armour combat, but the Russians suffered very much from their armour arriving in piecemeal dribs and drabs, just like real life in 1941 I guess,