AAR 1943 Eastern Front: Mius River Part 2 by Mark Luther

The Tigers lead the PzIVs towards the Russina frontline. They were suppose to be accompanied by a grenadier platoon, but it seems to be lagging behind. The tanks need to get out of the open ground as it is in the sights of guns offboard to their right, so they can't wait around for the tardy support.

Panzers start to take some hits from their front and from offboard as they move toward the hidden enemy.

They don't enter the sunflower field without some close support, but advance right up to the edge.

The center grenadier platoon prepares to close assault the Russkies under fire as the Panzers keep up the fire to their right.

The assault is thrown back with heavy losses. Two out of three squads are now at half strength.

The Panzers are taking hits from the ridge and offboard as they wait for their infantry support to show.

While the Panzers were focused to their front and softening up the dugin infantry, this platoon of T34s appeared to their flank.

This platoon thought it could dash around the flank of the Panzers but had terrible movement throws. It would cost them two out of three tanks as the Tigers picked them off quickly.

Not content to engage in a waiting game, a Soviet platoon with ATRs, MMGs and a couple of tank hunter teams storms out of their postions in the sunflower field. The Germans weren't expecting that.

The T-34 company decides to swing around the side. These tanks were dug in around the back of table but got tired of waiting for the Germans to move up. A bold move.

The Russian infantry is stopped in the gulley by the Grenadiers as both units grind each other down. The Russian Platoon CO is hit, but the leader of the tank hunters takes over and dashes from squad to squad to maintain the pressure.

Seeing their comrades getting pinned on the slopes, the T-34 company decides to hold back and shell the Germans from a safe distance. This was a fateful decision that cost the Russkies the game. The Germans had nothing on this flank to stop the tanks and the center PzIV platoon was too tied up to move over to stop any advance. The Germans did have several blinds left (mainly FOs and infantry guns) but the Russians were sure they had to be something more potent back there A not so bold move.

The platoon finally gets to the sunflowers. They haven't taken any losses at least, but the tankers were wondering what was taking so long.

After clearing the initial front line, the Germans start moving forward again. Visibility through the sunflowers is 4 to 6 inches, and even that has to be rolled for.

A last minute minefield(unknown to the Germans), manages to immobilise two PzIVs, while the other two engage a pair of 45mm ATGs.

The Russkies are pinned down by the MMG team that seems to be shot proof. The T-34s continue to shell the Grenadiers and not advance.

This was a pretty ineffectual attack, but the Russian armor CO lost his nerve after this and turned around to protect the HQ area.

The models are incorrect (JU87Bs) but all my later model Stukas are in snow camp.

The Grenadiers were already spent before the mortars started landing. The Russians are also down to no initiative dice. This was pretty much the end of the battle on this flank. The combination of Stukas, few surviving infantry and the threat of panzers on the other side of the ridge was enough to call off this assault.

The Tigers hang back while the Grenadiers move up to clear out the lurking Red ATRs and tank hunters.

These IL-2s try to nail some Tigers, but they come much closer to blowing up the sole surviving T-34 of the right hand platoon.

The German infantry keeps the Russian tank hunters from getting close to the Panzers, but its slow going.

Two of the Pz IVs have been immobilised in a minefield. The other two charge ahead. The German infantry unit is a pioneer platoon that is engaged with some Russian infantry and tank hunter teams and attempting to clear the minefield. A bit too late on the latter.

The first of the 76mm ATGs starts to open up on the advancing Panzers.

The Pz IV commander takes the lead and becomes the main target. Outrunning the infantry support in this terrain leaves the tanks blind. The seeminly empty spot to the right of the Panzers is actually full of more dug in Russian infantry and support weapons.

Just as the Panzers think they neutralized a pair of 45s by running them over, another pair knock out the running gear and engines.

A couple of ATRs and 45mm ATG halt the rampaging PzIVs as they overrun another nest of 45s. This meant that the right side platoon was completely spent.

This 76mm had been waiting for a nice side shot.

The Germans once again get through the initial line, but the infantry is thinning out, the panzers are taking side hits from the top of the ridge and offbd . Time for the artillery to start clearing the front.

This angle shows to advantage the positions held by Soviet ATGs on top of the ridge. With the right side PzIV platoon immobilised, it would take too long to silence the positions along the road. There is still an additional Russian infantry platoon dug in to the front of the Germans. At this point, everyone decided that it was time to head for unexposed positions and wait for the artillery to soften up the enemy. The Germans had started to register 105 and 150mm guns, while the soviets had their Medium and Heavy mortars coming in.