The battle of Western Gordinische
In many ways this was the culmination of the campaign so far. Western Gordinische had the main tarmaced road and railway that was vital to make it a logistics hub.
Unlike the built-up industrialised east of the town, the western side was more genteel, with wooden houses for senior railway staff.
As well as the station building and goods shed which stand on either side of the rail track, the railway administration building is the only brick-built structure in this part of the town.
At this point of the campaign, Soviet platoons are short on support weapons but have lots of inexperienced infantry. German platoons have lots of support weapons but are very short on infantry, their five squads (in the two platoons) ranging from 4-men to 8-men strong.
In most of my assault battles the defender starts 12" in and the attacker arrives as a first wave.
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Western Gordinische at the start of the battle.
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Soviet Platoon 2 defended the right flank, with two squads, the FAO and HQ going for the brick building in front of them. A six-man squad and an anti-tank rifle defended their flank.
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The Soviet Main platoon, the Gordinische garrison, defended the railway buildings.
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The left flank was defended by a 12-man squad, the Commissar and an anti-tank rifle.
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The Soviets decided to advance across the railway line and use the platform for cover.
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Defensive lines are forming.
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On Turn 1 the Germans sprinted across the open ground, using the buildings for cover. As the truck went to deposit the Flak 88 it was hit by a BA10 armoured car but the truck survived. The houses were originally supplied by Blotz as Dutch buildings, but I suplied a miscellany of roofs to make them "Russian".
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Soon a brisk fire-fight is going on across the railway line. Note the BA10 armoured cars. They are rapidly becoming the darlings of the Soviet army.
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The 88 had poor dice rolling, although the Soviet vehicles were in hard cover and hard to hit.
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Few casualties are caused as the battle settles into an impasse.
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Trying to break the deadlock, the Germans push up to the railway station. The German flamethrower team sprayed the station building with fuel, destroying the Soviet squad inside. I rolled the dice - the wooden building did not catch fire!
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Soviet and German squads move towards the railway building. On their left flank the Germans are pinned by the two squads in the Railway Administration Building. A BA10 armoured car is also shooting them from the rear. Note the two D10 dice. The Soviets have called for an artillery barrage and the Germans for an air strike.
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The Soviet HQ and squad tried to kill the flamethrower team. They failed. But next turn the flamethrower missed!
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Germans move up to assist the flamethrower. The German 6-man veteran squad is currently their largest squad!
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On Turn 5 the Soviet artilerry barrage arrived and wiped out the 6-man German veteran squad.
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The Soviet reserve squad moves out of the Goods Shed and shoots at the station building. The Soviet T-34 destroys the German 8-Rad armoured car.
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The last survivor of a squad and the HQ rush to support the attack on the Station Building. The air-strike, when it came, was a bit underwhelming. The straffing run killed two Soviet troops and that was it.
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The German flamethrower hit but only scored one kill and the Soviet squad survived. The Soviet BA10 armoured car shot the German Panzer IIIE which caught on fire. The crew abandoned it.
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The Germans have wiped out the Soviet squad and HQ, and are pushing towards the remaining Soviet squad by the railway line. The Soviet medic draws her pistol but fires to no effect.
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The Soviet HQ venture out to help. The German veterans are constantly pinned but not killed.
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On Turn 8 the Soviets start to get the upper hand. Two BA10 armoured cars have now joined in.
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Away from the fierce fight, the Soviet Commissar and anti-tank rifle team attack the German mortar team. The German machine-gun team destroyed the 12-man Soviet squad but then succumbed to the Commissar.
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The Gemran Medium machine-gun team move forward, free from the attention of the Soviet BA10 armoured car, In the far distance, the T34 tank was hit by the 88 and set on fire. The crew put the fire out.
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The Soviet forward artillery officer joins the fray.
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On Turn 10 I called the battle. The Soviet squad left the Railway Administration Building, whilst the reserve squad moved up. The squeeking of tank tracks was the final straw and the two Germans surrendered. All other German forces fled.
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The German two-man squad, five -man squad, sniper (who lost his spotter for the second battle in a row) and the FAO retreat. The MMG, mortar and 88 gun also got away.
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