In May 1939, a dispute broke out over the boundary between Soviet-controlled Outer Mongolia and Japanese-held Manchuria. After a Soviet and Mongolian combined-arms force virtually annihilated a Japanese recon party, the heavily reinforced 23rd Infantry Division mounted a full-scale offensive in July.
The first rate but untested 2nd Battalion of the 28th Infantry Regiment pushed forward against scattered Soviet opposition. But the next day its advance was slowed by the appearance of Russian reinforcements and heavy defensive artillery fire. By noon the battalion was pinned down, and orders came in to dig in and hold until nightfall. Even as the orders were being received, the Soviets counterattacked. . .
A slog between both sides with intense fighting on all sides. The Russian side made good use of their tanks, and the dust made a mess of shooting. The AT Guns were deadly accurate, ESPECIALLY when changing their covered arc, sealing the fates of many a tanker. Those that survived managed to kill a number of squads in CC (unbelievably!) but at the cost of being immobilized, typically. By the end of the scenario, the Russian side was short on VP and had to concede. Fun scenario, though probably more of a hassle with dust in a face-to-face setting.
2021-09-18
(A) John Garlic
vs
Mike Grogan
Japanese win
[Imported from ROAR]
2020-07-05
(D) Dan Best
vs
Paul Works
Russian win
2020-07-05
(A) Paul Works
vs
Dan Best
Russian win
With an expected Japanese setup (primarily back along the edge of the "VC-Board (Board 28)," to force the Russians to come to them and deal with their own barrages, the scenario develops slowly. First 4+ turns have the barrages creeping and the Russians moving with little to no Japanese firing. As the Russian, I planned my barrages to just lead ahead of my infantry/tanks; but I was also a bit concerned that the timing would be off on one or both, so I cut it close for the initial Pre-Registered Hexes. As the scenario played out, my barrages did not creep at the expected ~2 hexes per turn; it ended up as more like 1.5 hexes/turn - for both, I had them correct only in my PFPh. they worked perfectly to screen my infantry and tanks until the late-game, but I was bunched up behind the exploding shells for several turns. I made my main effort to my left to put all the pressure on that sector. I used some interdicting forces to keep his head down on the other side. On the last turn, both barrages landed right on the edge of Board 28- doh! This meant that to get onto the board I had to go into my own OBA!! Except... on the far left, one hex on the board edge was left without 16FP OBA hitting it. I moved as many infantry as possible to get through that hex. Dan was able to place several residual FPs to cause issues. However, I sneaked a few squads and my commissar through, then shoved a bottleneck of five (!) squads and an 8-1 leader on that single hex (on Board 28). I was also able to get all my tanks through that hex and onto Board 28. With my infantry that would not make it to the safe" hex, I did jump into CC into the OBA in hexes with several of Dan's Japanese squads in foxholes. In two hexes, some of my infantry withstood the barrage attack and were able to kill the Japanese (or lock them) in CC (!). Dan revealed one of his AT Guns right by all my tanks, but he had to change his CA to get more than one shot and did not make rate. That one hex allowed me to slip by and get the victory. Russians had ~40 VP on Board 28 on turn 9. Scenario is primarily about timing and using the barrage LV hindrances to keep the Russian infantry somewhat intact until the end.