AAR 1943 Eastern Front: Iakovlevo by Mark Luther

German entry area

Doug and Brian entered on high ground sloping down toward the village and the river. They had two platoons of 3 sections, an HQ section, three MMG sections, two infantry gun sections, two Pak 38s, a 20mm AAA on a Halftrack, an FO for an offboard 105s battery and two 80mm mortars of the 2nd Battalion, 1 Panzergrenadier Regiment LSSAH. There were four Big men among that group. They also had two Marder IIIs.

The farm on the hill has a great view down to the river. Some tall grassy areas and fields are scattered about.

Their strategy was to come in on the left-east side of the ridge and concentrate on that flank of the village defences.

Village of Iakovlevo

Dennis, Greg and Dave C set up guarding the village and the important bridge over the marshy river. The village is very spread out along the river and slope. They really do not have many units to cover the area.

Southern half of Iakovlevo

Greg was to cover the southern side of the village. The three opted to split up their units and concentrate on the flanks of the village. They began with two infantry platoons and an HQ section, three MMG sections, three 45mm ATGs (M1942) from the 154 Gds Rifle Regiment on the table. They get three Big men among the group.

They also had some sporadic support from up to three 76mm ATG from offboard across the river. Their firing was done on the Blind card based on rolling a D4 to see how many had a shot.

The five M3 Stuarts of the 230th Tank Regiment were also in the village. Dave had them dug in near the centre of town.

Northern half of the village

Dennis took this side of the village for his units. To even out this fight the Soviets were dug in behind some barbed wire and minefields. They had almost enough wire and mines to cover their entire front 1" thick. They also had several FOG-1 flamethrower mines. These had to be placed so that a Big Man could see them to detonate them. They had a 1" X 3" blast area that does 5D6 of damage. They also fail 50% of the time though.

Grenadiers moving along the slope

One of the platoons moves along the southern side of the slope towards the village. Looks like the recon plane didn't get a good picture.

More advancing grenadiers

Another platoon is up on the ridge top. Two MMG sections in between the platoons. The two Marders also in between the grenadiers. HQ section and FO up by the farm. Mostly dummy blinds left unspotted.

Marder IIIs

GHQ models with crew added

Blasting the dug in Russians

The advancing grenadier started receiving fire from the Guards in front and from a MMG fortified in one of the houses. The FO managed to put some very accurate fire on the structure and set it on fire quickly, driving out the surviving crew.

Dug in Stuarts

The M3s wait In the center of the village. GHQ models also. Its hard to see but they do have red stars and some even have slogans.

Germans on the ridge

The Paks guns and AA Halftrack on the top come under fire from Soviet artillery. The grenadier HQ section and FO are back by the farm. The two infantry guns limbered on the road. The closest grenadier platoon moves down towards their left. The Marders have pulled back after taking 76mm fire from across the river.

Red Airacobra attacks

The skys were very active over the battle. In this case the Soviets got some help first. The strafing run did get a few hits on the infantry guns crews. I tend to use the rectangular based models for the HQ squads.

Charging Stuarts

Deciding that the moment was right to pounce on the mainly foot slogging grenadiers, The M3s charge up the slope directly at the Pak 38s. The Paks get three M3s in quick order but the tanks' MGs cut down several of the crew members in the following short range fire on Tea Breaks.

Grenadiers charge the wire

The first platoon moves down the slope towards the wire line. Several of the Soviet postions have already ben silenced but there is still small arms fire coming from some of the trenches.

Duel at the wire

The remaining section of the right flank platoon fires at the advancing grenadier. The house where the MMG was slowly burns. Lots of shock on the pinned Soviets:  they are about to lose their bottle.

Grenadiers discover fire

The FOG-1 mine is set off by the CO. in the dug out and it actually works. Bad news for the grenadiers that made it all the way to the front.

StuGs arrive

Three StuG III f8s come on the table to fight off the anticipated Soviet armor counterattack. CinC models.

Red counterattack

The StuG arrived just in time as the first of the 1st Guards Tank Brig attack the flank of the SS. The Marders are practically overrun and move back up the slope, but not after the tank riders made an attempt to close assault the open top vehicles. The StuGs hit several before they got far on the table. The Red CO's tank also managed to immobilize itself in its initial move out of the off board gully. At this point the tank riders are taking lots of hits from the two MMG teams and grenadiers further to the left of the pic.

Desperate times

This attack took the German players by surprise. The Stugs were sent on the table to deal with the oncoming red armor, but the actual attackers position couldn't be seen until they came on the table. The grenadiers also spent their attention directed at trying to get through the wire and defensive line. But still the Germans were lucky to damage the infantry and T34s. No solid hits though and when the Russians start to return fire they could wipe out the Germans.

Saviour from the air

But luck was with the Germans. Not only did the German airstrike card come up but it arrived before the Russians could exploit their advantage and run over the grenadiers. This strike took out just about all the Soviets. I have to say that this was the most effective bomb run I have ever witnessed. On target-which meant that it hit every Red unit in that group and missed the Germans. The Russian infantry lost men in all sections and only had one unit with any action dice after the attack. The T34s were played out completely due to shock points and hits.