The Sixth Blow ETO (id:#63513)
Prior Publication: Armies of Oblivion
See Also: The Sixth Blow by Multi-Man Publishing
Skopce, Poland 1944-05-12 ()
Designer: Pete Shelling
Starter kit scenario?:    Deluxe scenario?:
 
Balance:
RussianAxis
61.764705882353%

Overview:

In the Carpathian Mountains, the STAVKA operational plan for 1944 called for successive assaults to retake all the territory lost to the Nazis. While the “fifth blow” of the plan against Army Group Center was winding down, Marshall Konev's First Ukrainian Front assembled near Brody to deliver the sixth blow. The rugged terrain of the Carpathians helped General Harpe compensate for the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Russians. Not to be denied, Marshal Konev reorganized his operational units into Corps-sized Cavalry Mechanized Groups in which the tank brigades supported the horse cavalry in the deep penetrations.
Attacker: Russian (Cavalry Mechanized Group Pilev: 30th Cavalry Division and 219th Tank Brigade and local Partisans)
Defender: Axis (German 35th Panzer Regiment, 4th Panzer Division and 4th Cavalry Brigade and First Royal Hungarian Cavalry Division)  
8.5 turns
    Players: 2     OBA: None     Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:23.5 D:26.0
AFVs: A:8
SU-85 x 2
Sherman III(a) x 4
M3A1 SC(a) x 2
Horse x 12

AFVs: D:8
PzKpfw VG x 2
PzKpfw IVH x 2
FlakPz IV/37
SPW 251/1 x 2
39M Csaba
Horse x 17
Wagon x 3

Guns: A:0
50mm RM obr. 40 x 2
PTRD-41 ATR x 2
D:2
75mm Skoda M15 ART x 2
Ur wz. 35 ATR

Victory Conditions:

Exit VP: Building Control VC: Area Control VC:
Unit Based VC: LOS Style VC: CVP Cap:
Misc Rules: A: Air Support (E7). Partisans may not Deploy or form allied Firegroups.
Overlays: NONE
Errata (source)
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Scenario info

Last Played:
DateReporterOpponentBal.ResultTimeComments
2022-09-04(D) John Gorkowski vs Stephen F. Axis winThis one’s a bit of a slog owing to a mismatch between the terrain and the order of battle. Both sides have highly mobile forces, but the battle field is choked with obstacles that significantly impeded movement. This frustrates the attacker, entering along the east edge of board 2, who must trudge forward along narrow avenues between boggy thickets, on board 47, to cross board 50 and then exit westward. The terrain essentially channels the attacker into three avenues of approach, each about two hexes wide, one along the north edge, one in the middle, and one along the south edge.

The Russians set up five concealed stacks (partisans and dummies) at mid field (board 47) throughout the thicket/quagmire.

As the Axis defender, I set up most of my dismounted Hungarian cavalry dispersed and in holes on my right, the smaller hill on board 2, with a few on the larger hill. Further west, on board 50, I actually put both Hungarian artillery pieces in the brush atop the level four ridge, ready to take long range area target type shots, rather than tuck them safely in orchard or woods along the west board edge for less risky exit. Also on board 50, I placed one trench on the small wooded hill mass very near the north edge (50C3), one at level two on the north slope of the level four hill (50H3), and one at level two on the smaller hill mass just south of the big hill (50X2). My Hungarian heavy machine gun (which broke on its first shot) served by a crew occupied this last trench, the other two started empty.

Russian rocket artillery opened the battle by landing on the smaller board 2 hill to smash one Hungarian squad and AT rifle, but everyone else was far enough away to limit the damage. Then the Red Cavalry raced in from the east and started up the slopes. My Hungarians fled at the first opportunity, about half mounted and half afoot, streaming westward off the hill along the south edge of board 47. At the same time, from board 50 two Hungarian half squads struck east along the south edge of board 47 to probe for mines and link up with the cavalry coming their way. These clearance operations went well since all the Russian mines were on the north edge of board 47 and most of the Russian partisans were there or at mid field. German Panthers entered from the west and started ascending the big hill on board 50. German infantry rode halftracks to the empty trench on my left (50C3) and doubled-timed toward the other two (50H3) and (50X2).

Russian rocket artillery again found its mark by clobbering the Hungarian 8-1, MMG, and squad which had reached the small hill on the south edge of board 47 (47DD2). Russian armor entered along the east edge of board 2 with one half moving along the north side (my left) and one half along the south side (my right) of the battlefield. German Panthers reached the summit of the big hill on board 50 where they exercised commanding views over most of the field from hexes 50K4 and 50O5. German infantry slid into waiting trenches.

Here's where the scenario bogged down. Given the Panthers on over watch, to get across board 47 the Russians had little choice but to stick to blind zones. That meant advancing along the north board edge and south board edge, both of which required moving through a woods hex and thereby risking bog. Running up the middle was suicide. Everywhere else (left of center and right of center) was clogged with almost impenetrable concentrations of woods, marsh, stream, and water obstacle.

One Russian remedy MIGHT have been to move Red Armor up the bigger board 2 hill as fast as possible and from there rain SMOKE down on the board 50 ridge to blind or at least hinder those German Panthers. That’s not risk free, the Panthers might have picked off a Sherman before they could fire their smoke and maybe even one or two more through smoke, but a SMOKE screen (conveniently aided by the wind direction) could have diminished the dominant German hill position.

What actually happened is that the Russians rightly avoided a thrust up the middle – into the Panthers' muzzles – and instead picked though their own minefields and forests along the north edge. Along the south edge, a waiting Panzer IV in 47CC8 killed an SU-85 who poked out of the woods-road at 47Z2. German cavalry came in along the south edge to try and salvage what was left of the fleeing Hungarian cavalry. But Russian infantry and Scout Cars had done their work. In the end, I think the Axis saved only two Hungarian squads of the original nine that began on board 2. And, in a final slap, the Russian rocket artillery killed the Hungarian armored car waiting to exit while under concealment in the orchard along the west edge of board 50 (50Q10).

By now the Hungarian gunners were pushing their 75mm artillery pieces down the board 50 hill to waiting wagons (at level 3) in preparation for exit on turn 6. Those guns had fired area target type at several targets of opportunity, but managed only to break two Russian squads before running out of ammo!

One of the Panthers left the board 50 hill to go north and intercept the Russian horde breaking through the trees up there. The Panther stopped among the hedges at 50B3 and exchanged fire with an SU-85 which had reached 47A8. After a second fire phase, the Panther won and the SU-85 went up in flames. Meanwhile, entrenched 5-4-8s at 50C3 and 50H3 held back the Russian infantry.

Russian planes entered on turn 5 to knock out the German FlakPanzer in the brush along the westward slope of the big board 50 hill at 50L6. The next turn one Sturmovik’s bomb load missed the hill top Panther while the other’s scored a critical hit! Meanwhile, about 19 VP of Hungarian units exited the west edge.

Although the Russian rockets and planes had done well, the Russians had lost both SU-85, several squads, and further progress required driving head on into waiting German armor and Panzerschreks along the north or south edge so the Russians conceded.
2022-07-10(D) Jonathan Kapleau vs Duenskie, Ron Russian win
2019-02-13(A) Rich Weiley vs Dave Wilson DrawRan out of time to fininsh what was an epic struggle. Too close to call.
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ActionDate
Hutch Modified the Defender's Guns2024-08-26 14:17:33
Hutch Modified the Defender's Guns2024-08-26 14:17:13
Hutch Modified the unit counts2024-08-26 14:17:13
Hutch Modified the misc. rules2024-08-12 15:32:30
Hutch Modified the unit counts2024-08-10 00:37:13
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Statistics:
Avg Rating: 6.50Votes: 4
Views: 3915
To-Play list count: 1
Estimated Play time: 15.5 hours
Recorded Games: 3
Archive recorded plays:
Russian1
Axis1
Drawn:1

ROAR Data: (as of today)
The Sixth Blow [Confirmed]
[A] German/Hungarian 20
[D] Partisan/Russian 12
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