This after-action-report concludes the 2nd part of our Battlegroup scenario ‘Forlorn Hope at Sachsendorf’ (Part 1 of the Sachsendorf AAR report can be found here). We continue with the 3rd turn for the Russian invading force.
Russian Turn 3
The final 3 coordinated 120mm timed barrages arrived at the start of the turn. This would likely be the last explosive push of Russian miliary strength, so fingers were crossed.
The first barrage, aimed on the central forest, drifted some 10″ to the south. Not ideal, but it took the shells towards the German StuH and plenty of Volksgrenadiers.
Two direct hits caught the Volksgrenadiers fairly badly. The 1st squad, in a reinforced building lost 3 men – however the remaining 2 soldiers held firm.
The MG squad lost 2 men too, however the slaughter was too much for the remaining gunner and he fled. Andy drew a BR2 token for that one.
Despite the StuH and StuG both passing the pinning rolls against them, two further squads of men and the nearby Pak40 both took cover! Not a terrible result from one 120mm barrage.
The 2nd barrage, aimed on the forest to the South of Sachsendorf, drifted off the table and didn’t get resolved. At best it would have caught a single mortar squad. So I wasn’t too bothered by losing that strike.
The 3rd barrage landed squarely in the Northern trench. Just like in Turn 1, the shell drifted nicely up the trench, catching multiple units dug in there.
The Flakpanzer took a direct hit, burst into flames and forcing Andy to draw a BR3 token.
A whole bunch of units, some pictured in the graphic above, took significant hits. A total of 5 men were killed, but 2 whole Volksgrenadier squads and 1 MG squad were successfully pinned.
With the ground still shaking and ears still ringing, the best part of 100 Russian infantrymen entered the fray.
Amongst the hail of bullets and shellfire, they charged Westward, passed tanks and through flooded fields. With over 18 orders at my disposal, it meant I could move the majority of the men closer to the town.
The SU-76s to the South began covering fire while their comrades pushed closer. Unfortunately one immediatelly bogged down as soon as it entered the flooded field, but it still got a shot away.
One SU-76 stayed stationary, firing off shots at the StuH and StuG that were both in view. Sadly, both missed, a reoccuring situation that happened this turn!
The central road full of T-34s quickly became vacant as the tanks peeled off and fired upon the nearby German armour. Sadly out of nearly 10 shots, only 1 hit home (against the StuG in the forest) – but even that turned out to be a glancing hit.
If it wasn’t for the timed barrages, the Russian turn 3 would have been a complete right-off. Look at all those missed shots!
German Turn 3
The start of T3 for Andy saw a big boost, the arrival of 3 Panthers!
They arrived behind his Flakpanzer but swiftly pushed forward into Sachsendorf. 2x Panthers managed to fire their super long range guns – however thankfully both missed the T-34 down the road.
A tactical coordination for one of the recently pinned Volksgrenadier squads failed, meaning Andy picked up a BR2 for nothing.
This is however, where things turned nasty.
The StuH, standing in the entrance to the town, returned fire upon the SU-76 that just bogged down, blasting it to pieces! I drew a BR4 for the loss of that piece of armour. A 2nd shot against a T-34 missed.
The two StuG’s in the forest then fired a salvo of 4 shots, pinning one advancing T-34 and destroying another. A BR1 token was drawn for that exploding hull.
This is where part of Battlegroup’s mechanics then came into effect – those two central StuG’s that were causing me so much grief – both of their turrets were now empty of ammo!
Not letting up however, Andy’s entrenced Pak-40 opened fire and destroyed a 3rd piece of armour.
With more Russian armour destroyed this turn than the previous turns combined, Andy rallied and ended his turn.
The rally cost a painful BR5 token, only freeing up his Pak-40 at the T-junction.
The Germans dealt a small but deadly barrage of fire. 7 shots resulted in the destruction of 3 pieces of Russian armour.