AAR VotG CG II Drive to the Volga Sept 15th Part II

Joe and I got through the end of turn three on Saturday as the wonders of central air protected us from the sweltering New Jersey heat.

It was bad.

Everything is coming up Russian. Joe ONLY rolls threes. I ONLY roll nines. Turn three saw the loss of a StuG IIIB ,at least 9 German squads, an 8-1, and a 9-2 leader. It was truly one of the most incredible two way dice runs I've ever seen.

It all started in the CC phase of turn three. There was a H-T-H melee near the center of the map where two German 467 squads were grappling with two Russian 527s. I reinforced the melee with another 467 and an 8-1 leader to improve my odds.

Joe rolled a three. I rolled a nine. It's what we do.

Not far away, two German squads were broken by piddling small arms fire, then eliminated for FTR as the Russians moved in to cut off their retreat. Anger.

(Above) Here is the center of the map being held down by a lonely German crew after after massive casualties were inflicted in turn three.

(Above) Hex S25 was the scene of the melee that wiped out an entire German platoon and their 8-1 Lt. After we win the war, we'll have to build some kind of memorial here. It'll be very tasteful.

A little farther south, a major German MG position is in danger of being encircled, while a Russian AE squad waits for his chance to street fight a Stug.

Meanwhile, the big trouble is again on the northern flank. The heavy artillery I tried to bring down on the Voentorg was slightly off target, and caught a couple of my squads, breaking one of them. Of course, it also caught some Russian squads, but when I rolled 9s on the IFT DRs, I got mostly simple MC results. Since Joe rolls threes, he passed them all easily. (bitter? me ? Nah.)

The Russians launched another push up the extreme Northern edge with good success. There are a lot more German casualties waiting to happen unless i can make something happn quickly up there.

(Above) The Russians apply pressure with a strong local counter attack. The trench holds a broken German 75* INF gun. (When I said I roll nothing but nines, that wasn't really true. Sometime, I roll twelves!)

I bought an INF gun battery during the refit phase because I wanted some ordnance to fire on the fortifed buildings on the east end of the square, especially the 150mm. Unfortunately I rolled up a depleted battery. Instead of a 150mm and three 75s, I get two only 75s and NO 150. That's hard to swallow. Grrr!

(Above) The German push to flank the Voentorg is cut off and beaten back as the Russians cross back over Smolenskaya St.

Only in the deep south are the Germans holding their own, as they push the Russian line back. In the photo below, a German 7-0 stands atop a burning StuG flamed by a critical hit advancing fire shot form the KV-1, standing like a colossus. ( When I said that Joe only rolls threes, that wasn't really true. Sometimes he rolls twos!)