Russia, January 1943.
A description of scenario 8 : Breakout Dance from the GMT Games board game Combat Commander : Europe
www.gmt.games
Lt.Schrader and his men had spent the day concealed in their slit trenches, trying to keep warm while staying out of sight of Russian patrols. The men knew that the Russians were very close by, partially hidden in the brush. Orders had come through to effect a breakout that night. The good news was that reports received indicated that there were no heavy weapons to their immediate front and no officers had been observed . The nearest medium machine gun was positioned on the hill to the German left and had no view into their slit trenches. That was also where the nearest Russian officer was located. The Germans were facing a line of Russian rifle squads, one group with a light machine gun. So the Russians Schrader and his men were facing were leaderless for the time being.
Recon reports also indicated that the Russians were spread in a line extending all the way to the left of the German position. The bad news was that there were no gaps in the line, but the good news was that once the Germans were through the Russians lying immediately to their front the route to safety would be open. More good news was that the bulk of the Russians were therefore quite far away from where the action was about to occur.
The plan was that after darkness fell, fire would be focused on the Russian squads immediately facing the Germans. The Russians would be broken or eliminated, clearing the way for movement through the Russian lines and off to safety. This had to happen fast, before any Russian heavy weapons, reinforcements and leaders arrived from the (German) left flank, and before dawn.
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| Setup |
At the signal, the Germans opened up, firing repeatedly at the Russian squads, with spray fire and MG fire bonuses. This had remarkably little effect; the Russians were hard to see through the brush compounded by the dark of night. Alerted by all the noise the Russians started dragging their machine guns from the far side of the hill toward the sound of gunfire and moved in Sgt.Maisky to organize the defenses immediately to the front of the firing Germans.
After pounding the Russian squads relentlessly, Schrader was disappointed to see absolutely no effect. The situation was deteriorating with Maisky directing the Russian light machine gun equipped squad and bolstering their morale. But the good news was that the Russian return fire had been similarly ineffective. Sniper activity had slowed down the team moving in the Russian machine gun. However a change of tactics was required by the Germans before the Russians were able to concentrate or organize a defense in depth.
Fortune Favors The Brave
Leaving Sgt.Ganz and a squad in the slit trenches on the left flank to keep on shooting as they had the clearest view, Lt. Schrader and two squads started moving forward. They moved in to the cover of the brush and toward the Russians. The combination of the darkness and the limited visibility through the brush was too much for effective fire. The range had to be closed. This triggered some opportunity fire from the Russians, but this was ineffective as the Germans swiftly recovered.
Shooting from closer range and adding in hand grenades to the mix still did not cause the Russians to flinch, but did fortuitously did cause one of the German squads with Schrader to deploy into two 2 man teams.
With the Russians reinforcements inching toward the area, Schrader decided to force the issue and advanced to melee with one full squad and one team. He didn't have time to wait to setup an ambush, but he did have the initiative.
Fortune favored the brave and the Russian squad was not able to organize an ambush. The Germans with a hefty advantage in firepower eliminated the Russian squad, forcing a hole in the Russian line. The German team left out of the melee moved forward into the area of the melee, brushing off some opportunity fire from the Russians and moved off into the night. The Russian line was broken!
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| Breakthrough! |
Throw in a freak event where the Russian high command rewarded the Russians for the objectives they had in their possession, the fact that dawn was nearly breaking (one sudden death roll had already occurred) and no Germans had actually exited the arena, it all meant that the affair hung in the balance even with the line shattered. If Lt. Schrader and his group could be eliminated before dawn came, perhaps the Russians could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
So Maisky moved his Russians off in pursuit of Schrader. He needed to close the range for fire to be effective, but that was not what he had in mind. He had a more desperate plan.
Sgt. Ganz, seeing his opportunity, moved out of his slit trench and into the brush recently vacated by the Russians. Some wounded Russians showed up to the rear of Sgt.Ganz but they were to have no impact on the battle.
End Game
Lt. Schrader advanced his men , including the broken team, into the cover of some trees to give the broken squad some relief, and there they lingered as Maisky led his Russians toward them from the night. Sgt. Maisky, knowing that it was not going to go well for him if he had to report the Germans had escaped, advanced on Schrader in a do or die attempt at saving the situation. If he could eliminate Schrader, and if those MGs ever arrived to engage Sgt. Ganz, he could turn this whole thing around. Dawn was about to break and the battle about to end one way or another. Maisky just needed to win this melee. A little under strength compared to the Germans (6 vs 7) but holding the initiative, Maisky gambled.
Neither side had any ambushes set up, and so the dice were rolled. For the Russians it was not to be. Fortune did not favor the Russian bravery and Maisky died leading his men to their deaths.
This failed gamble opened a huge hole in the Russian line and eliminated the only leader in the area, prompting the Russian side to resign.
Conclusion
Well, this was my first victory in a long time in CCE and I was pretty pleased with the way things went. Things almost went to plan! How often does that happen in CCE? The cards fell quite nicely for me, and I was not really hindered too much by the limited German discard.
The Russian special rule of only playing one command per turn really slows down any response. A Russian defense in depth would have been a possibility, allowing for a reserve to counter any German breakthrough, but that would have led to big gaps in the line guaranteeing a German breakthrough. So the Russians are in a tough spot.
The Germans, only having three units, have to be very cautious about engaging the Russians in melees. But I felt that the deployed squad reduced the impact any ambushes would have and justified the risk of going in not over stacked on the key German breakthrough melee. Something had to be done before the medium MGs and the Russian hordes arrived!
The time marker moved along fairly quickly in this game. At the point of the final melee I think the Germans were ahead by 4 VPs or so, but the Russians held a German secret objective, albeit only worth 1VP. If Maisky had been victorious and eliminated Schrader in that final melee the VPs would have swung back into Russia's favor. There had already been one sudden death roll, and Maisky would have been well positioned to delay Ganz. The Russian MGs would have finally arrived and ...well that was not to be.
All in all another fun, tense game and now on to Rush to Contact!
