Hero of the Soviet Union, Captain Nikolai L. Nikolaichuk (10-3) leads the 659th Rifle Regiment supported by tanks and OBA in an attack against Hungarian and German units. . .(Historic recount from "Battle of Budapest: 100 Days in World War II": "On the morning of 30 December, the Pest front lay east of a semicircular line that bulged along the edge of the suburbs of Rakospalota, Rakosszentmihaly, Matayasfold and Soroksar. During that day, the Soviet offensive gained a significant amount of ground in the eastern and southern sectors, where the front of the Hungarian 12th Reserve Division was repeatedly overrun and the Hungarian 10th Infantry Division, with only three fighting battalions left, found itself in a critical situation. Soviet infantry supported by tanks stormed across the fields bordering the Szilas stream west of Matyasfold, continuing the attack. The Hungarian 18/I Battalion took up new positions alongside the detached houses in Rakosszentmihaly, but by evening had been practically annihilated near the local church, although the Soviets also suffered significant losses. A group of Soviet soldiers who had advanced as far as the church were encircled as a result of German and Hungarian counter-strikes, and could break out only after asking their own artillery to fire at them and continuously adjusting the direction of fire as the battle progressed. Captain Nikolaichuk was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal for organizing this action.")
Attacker: Russian (659th Rifle Regiment with armor support)
Defender: Hungarian/German (Elements of 18/1 Battalion,10th Infantry Division)
6.5 turns
Players: 2 OBA: Russian Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:18.0 D:17.0
AFVs: A:5
T-34/85 x 5
AFVs: D:5
PzKpfw VG x 2 SPW 251/1 x 3
Guns: A:0 D:2
7.5cm PaK 40(g) Brandt M27/31
Misc Rules:
GS. A: Russian 10-3 leader Heroic but wounds as Leader
This late war action pits a tough Russian force supported by 5x T-34/85, 80mm OBA, and led by a heroic 10-3 leader which wounds as a leader against Hungarian defenders that receive some armored German reinforcements in the form of 2x Panther and 3x SPW plus infantry. The difficulty for the Russians is to cross the Open Ground before they can reach more protective terrain and finally the two victory buildings. As so often in Schwerpunkt scenarios, they have no time to lose. My Hungarian defenders set up their German 75mm PaK up front on their right flank counting on at least some Russian tanks crossing the OG with Armored Assault and thus providing their infantry some cover. In flanking fire, it might take out a tank or two before it would go down. My Hungarian infantry set up in a way which would center on the victory buildings and to allow the forward elements to fall back with some chances of success. As foreseen, the Russian came on across the OG. But the first Russian unit that entered the board was a lone squad that ended its move ADJACENT to my yet HIP ATG. So I thought it would go down faster than expected and decided to fire it for what it's worth. First shot. Hit. Tank destroyed. Yay! ROF. Second, more difficult shot. Hit. Tank destroyed! OMG! I thought rather than letting the Gun get captured and turned against me in the CC at the end of the turn, I'd rather try to break it by Intensive Fire. So third shot. CH. Burning wreck and three out of five Russian tanks destroyed. That was, of course, a severe blow to the Russians right at the start. But it became worse... The CX Russian squad went into CC with my yet Concealed Gun. The crew survived the CC and Melee ensued. This I reinforced with a 347 which I rushed there in my first turn. The Russians attacked the crew alone and killed it - just. But my Hungarian rolled Snakes, created a 6+1 Leader. Which tilted the odds. Which had my Gun survive and let the Russians die to add insult to the injury. The Gun continued to be a menace to the advancing Russian infantry. I was pretty successful to put some harm on the advancing Russians and to slow them down while they had bad luck and could not establish contact for their arty. The German reinforcements arrived in time to provide flanking protection from a middle position to both VC buildings with the Panthers covering the other flank of the Stone VC building from positions behind the wall. The Russian leader tried to charge it with infantry which shrugged off several -2 attacks. But then on yet another -2 attack this King Kong rolled boxcars on his MC which effectively stalled the attack and broke everyone. PMC of my opponent also broke at this time and he conceded. It would have been an extremely tough job to turn that one again. Undoubtedly, luck was decidedly on my side in this game.
2017-10-22
(D) Michael Augustine
vs
Paul Schaeffer
Hungarian/German win
Mike Augustine's Hungarians/Germans beat Paul Schaeffer's Russians in RPT103 Nikolai's Star. Paul's OBA, 10-3 w/ .50 HMG, infantry horde and T-34s were really pressing the axis VC buildings, but an immobilized Panther (labeled "Dieter") decided to roll 4 snakes and a couple 3's. The result was 3 destroyed T-34s and a few less Russian squads. Paul is a good player, and if Dieter was not so accurate, the axis would have likely crumbled against his attack.