Due to lack of time I have halted this campaign and may start it back up later. I believe I got burned out since I was trying to develop a WinSPWW2 campaign along the same theme. It seems the eastern front is getting old and I am moving on to another theater and theme for an SASL Campaign.

I will post more once that project is put together.

I managed to get a 5 more turns done of Mission #2 of the SASL MOSKVA Campaign.

Mission 2 : Counterstroke. Kryokovo, Russia, December 8, 1941

Starting on December 5th the Soviet Counteroffensive hit the tired and cold Germans hard. 7th Guards Rifle Division was thrown into the fight and ordered to widen a gap in the German lines. At the end of the first week German troops were thrown back along the entire front.

• Type : Take the Highway (5)
• Mapboard selection : Roll directly on the Farmland table
• Initial mapboards : Weather : EC are Snow with a Mild Breeze from the Northeast
• Mission End : Divide the total Road Network by 4 (four) to determine the number of turns.
• Enemy ELR : 2
• There is an additional +2 DRM on tables G2, G5a G7 and G8

MISSION SETUP
My 2nd mission is to clear a 1700 meter section of road of all enemy forces so that follow-on forces can exploit the gap. The company will start the mission off-board to the East (top of map image). Weather is ground snow which may slow my advance but fortunately my men are equipped with winter camouflage. As a benefit, this should help prevent them from being identified too early allowing them to close on the enemy without being hit with long range fire. With the death of Kapitan Demochev, Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin has taken command of the company and Lejtenant Orlov has been newly assigned to the command.

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TURN 1
As the majority of the company advances on line through the snow towards the objective 1st Platoon follows the road making sure it is clear of any enemy forces. Interestingly, both Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin and Lejtenant Orlov are noticeably absent from the front line. Perhaps they are busy trying to round up any stragglers. As the main force advances across the open a large row of wire is spotted about 80 meters to their front. Fortunately, it appears no mines are part of this obstacle. As the men approach the wire, German scouts open fire and one of our Rifle Squads is cut down. There are no survivors. Return fire from the rest of the Company manages to drive the Germans from their positions and they are forced to fall back.

TURN 2
On the right flank, 1st Platoon continues to clear the road while on the left flank 3rd Platoon has become hopelessly entangled in the wire. It appears that 2nd Platoon has managed to skirt the wire and keep moving with Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin finally arriving on the field to direct their advance. Lejtenant Orlov has still not shown up. Where is a Commissar when you need one. The German Scouts continue to fall back but other than those, no more enemy forces have been spotted.

TURN 3
On the right flank Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin continues to lead efforts to clear the road without meeting much resistance. In the center, only some of our forces have managed to get through the wire. Lejtenant Orlov is still absent.

TURN 4
The advance continues and Lejtenant Orlov finally shows up, just in time to try and assist the mortar team who has managed to get entangled in the wire. On the far right, Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin deploys 1st Platoon (including the Company’s HMG) to overwatch the main road as it winds through a small walled village. 2nd Platoon follows behind to make sure the road is fully cleared. A small force of Germans continues its retreat in the center after having been routed by an advancing Soviet Rifle Squad.

TURN 5
After much effort, Lejtenant Orlov is still unable to get the Mortar Team moving though the wire so he decides to move forward without them. Along the way he rounds up the Company MMG Team and a lone Rifle Squad who recently managed to get through the wire. On the right flank, Germans troop open fire on Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin and his men from the village. During the firefight, Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin is wounded and also becomes Heroic. It looks like the Germans have decided to block our advance from this location.

TURN 6
The retreating German forces manage to fall back to the village and quickly rally around the HMG position. Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin orders the men accompanying him to advance in line on the village through some nearby brush. Lejtenant Orlov leads the rest of the men from the center. Heavy fighting ensues and another Germans squad is eliminated. On the far left flank more Germans are spotted coming to the defense of the village.

TURN7

Our Mortar Team finally manages to get through the wire and resume their advance. Heavy enemy sniper fire forces Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin to abandon his defensive position and so he begins to relocate it to the center where he can better coordinate the advance. As the main body of the Company moves into position opposite the village they come under murderous MG fire and 2 Rifle Squads become casualties. Fortunately, in the exchange, our forces manage to rout most of the Germans defending the front of the village but there is still a sizable force holding on.

TURN 8
Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin, though severely wounded, moves to the front to personally direct the attack on the village. Ordering his men to concentrate their fire on the enemy HMG position, they manage to rout the remaining Germans there. While enemy resistance seems to have been broken a direct assault on the village may not be a good idea at this time especially as the Company has taken significant casualties. Just in time, our Mortar Team arrives and sets up the mortar in a position where they can fire on the village.

TURN 9
Coming Soon!

Mission 1 : Repulsed ! Chimki, Russia. December 1, 1941

By December 1941 the German 9th Army was making its last effort in trying to reach Moscow from the northwest. Some motorcycle elements of the 62. Panzepioniere Regiment reached Chimki within a mere 23 km’s northwest from the Kremlin. Different units of Rokkosovsky’s 16th Army were thrown into the fray in order to stop this last desperate effort. The exhausted Germans were stopped cold in their last attempt to take the capital.

• Type : Enemy Offensive (9)
• Mapboard selection : A8d
• Initial mapboards : On a dr <2 the easternmost board (only) uses Table 8b with a +2 DRM
• Weather : EC are Snow with a Mild Breeze from the Northeast.
• Enemy ELR : 2
• There is an additional +1 DRM on tables G2, G5a, G7 and G8

MISSION SETUP
My 1st mission was to defend against an enemy attack from the bottom board edge (West). Fortunately, I was provided a single 45mm ATG along with some Mines and Wire from Battalion HQ to add to my defensive line. Not much but it would have to do. Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin and 1st Platoon take up positions on the left flank directly behind Hill 498. Kapitan Demochev and the rest of the Company along with the ATG deploy in the center. The HMG and crew take up a position to the rear overlooking the defenses from the 2nd floor of a wooden building.

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TURN 1
Turn 1 sees 3 preparatory German artillery attacks (of 80mm, 100mm and 150mm) but luckily miss all of Kapitan Demochev’s men. In another stroke of good luck 11x 5-2-7′s with limited Support Weapons and led by a lone NCO (7-0) show up to bolster the defenses but they are far to the rear and it will take time to get them into position. Their short weapon range will also be a disadvantage in this open terrain. To the west enemy activity is already starting to be detected.

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TURN 2
The Russian reinforcements slowly stream into position on the right flank as German artillery continues to fall. Luckily again there are no casualties. So far, so good.

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TURN 3
On the right, German infantry is spotted as Kapitan Demochev’s reinforcements continue struggling to get into position when they are forced to cross a small gully. In the center, more enemy infantry is spotted and these are bringing along an HMG and and are led by a veteran officer (10-3). Some long range MG fire is exchanged but there are no casualties on either side. The German artillery has fallen silent.

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TURN 4
german infantry begins to appear all long the front, many led by veteran leaders and bringing along more MG’s and a mortar. Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin and his men come face to face with the enemy coming over Hill 498. All along the front, long range MG fire is exchanged again with no casualties. Not only has a large force of enemy infantry arrived on the battlefield it appears that a PzKw 38(t)E is operating near Hill 534. On the right, the Russian reinforcements seem to be milling about without effective leadership, not a good sign.

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TURN 5
Both Russian leaders are broken this turn basically leaving the company without any direction as the German’s continue to press their attack. The ATG manages to score a lucky shot destroying the PzKw 38(t)E before it can enter the fighting. Sniper fire near Hill 498 manages to wound the enemy leader. Our lone 50mm MTR crew is killed by HMG fire from the 10-3 and his men advancing in the center, but fortunately one of our rifle squads was nearby and able to take control of it. Another 50mm MTR on our right flank brought up by the reinforcements begins to open up on the Germans but does no real damage.

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TURN 6
A pretty good turn although we lost a Rifle Squad in the center defending the large wooden building. In the heavy exchange of gunfire our men did manage to kill the 10-3 and his men manning the HMG. On the left, the wounded German leader (8-1) and his men charge Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin’s Platoon and manage to make it into the lower floor of the building. After intense hand to hand fighting the German infantry is eliminated and their leader taken prisoner.

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TURN 7
A very bad turn. Kapitan Demochev is severely wounded and then is later killed. Many of the men with him are broken. With no leader, in the center, there will be no way to rally the men to have them continue the fight. There may be no choice but to withdraw. On the left flank, Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin (now temporarily in command of the Company) sends a squad out to recover a dismantled 50mm MTR dropped by the Germans as they assaulted into the building. He also recalls B Squad into the building from their position in the woods. On the far right, one of the Russian squads goes Berserk and charges the Germans closing in the on the village. They are cut down before they can close with the Germans and engage them in close combat.

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TURN 8
A late surge by the Germans failed to dislodge the Russian Defenders and cost them 3 more squads. While helping fight off the attack our 45mm ATG malfunctioned as did a 50mm MTR.

END GAME

2^nd Company managed to win a victory in this battle although if it had gone on another turn or so things could have been very different.

This is an SASL Historical Campaign recreating the 7th Guards Division’s part of the Soviet Winter Offensive against the German spearheads threatening Moscow in December 1941.

My command is the 2^nd Company/1^st Battalion/20^th Guards Rifle Regiment/7^th Guards Rifle Division which includes the following units;

• x1 8-0 (Kapitan Demochev)
• x1 7-0 (Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin)
• x9 4-5-8
• x1 2-4-8
• x2 1-2-7
• x1 HMG
• x1 MMG
• x5 LMG
• x1 50mm MTR
• x1 ATR

As you can tell we are short on leaders, a common thing when playing the Russians. But fortunately my squads are rated as ‘Elite’ for the campaign so that should give them a little more staying power under fire.

For this campaign there will be 5 weekly missions played using the following ‘Special Rules’.

• All Company units are considered Elite and have Winter Camouflage.
• No German units have Winter Camouflage.
• All Missions are played in Snow Conditions.
• FBE is East unless stated otherwise.

As I play each of the 5 missions I will start a new post for each of them with more details on the mission and an AAR with VASL screenshots. The missions for this campaign are;

1. Enemy Offensive (9)
2. Take the Highway (5)
3. Pockets (2)
4. Bunker Busting (4)
5. Recon (3)

. . Read Mission#1 AAR Here . .

MOSKVA SASL Historical Campaign
© 2002 By Hans Mielants
Sources : Geoffrey Jukes “The Defence of Moscow” 1970.
Charles Sharp “Soviet OoB WWII. IV” Nafziger, 1995.