AAR 1944 Eastern Front: Korsun Pocket by Mark Luther

The Russian Pakfront is entrenched on the hill to the right overlooking the stream. Weather has been hovering around freezing, so the steep banks of the stream are probably too slippery to attempt.

his area is considered too impassable so not heavily guarded. There is a ford in the center of the marshy area.

The Panthers and grenadiers are suppose to move through these woods and through the stream and head up the slope.

The water is not frozen but still pretty cold. There is still a chance of tanks bogging but the infantry can wade through. The 'water' is clear painted plastic strips, spray glued on the ground sheet and then sprinkled with baby powder and then brushed to the edges. This was a very fresh smelling game.

These are JU87Ds from Geschwader Immelmann. Navwar models. I like these because they come w/o wheel spats.

The Stukas took out a 45 and a 76mm, disabled another couple of guns for 5 to 6 turns and kept the Russians heads down as the Grenadiers headed towards the marsh.

Pietr-Michel, Tim and his apprentice wargamer son Henry prepare to assault the pakfront. I played the Russkies since they didn't have much of a mobile force.

P-M opted to come into the right of the marshy area--it looked like a real bog trap for the panzers. This did delay their involvement for a couple of turns.

The Russian platoon covering the flank engages the grenadiers as they cross the stream. The 2 MMG put down some pretty effective covering fire allowing the Germans to cross relatively unscathed.

The Grenadiers are crossing in 2 groups. One is engaging the dug in Russian infantry and the other (to the left) is going after a 45mm ATG battery in the woods on the left.

The combination of two MMGs and fire from the attacking platoon is wearing down the dug in Russkies.

The left hand Grenadier platoon starts to roll up the 45mm ATG position. The Russian MMG isn't positioned well to hold off the attack and was initially firing at the other German platoon to its front.

The Grenadiers are working their way along the battery. Not much of a contest really.

So far the PzVs haven't contributed much to the attack. Now they will find out if they can negotiate the muddy slopes.

Closeup of the panzers before they popup(hopefully) in front of the ATGs

The forward postions of the dug in infantry taking some fire from offboard 88s.

The Grenadiers close assault the Soviets. After getting thrown back initially they manage to get into the first squads dugouts.

The PzVs emerge into the front of the Pakfront and immediately lose one of their numbers to a 76mm ATG. They didn't have any problem getting up the slope but this direction doesn't shield them from the ATGs. 

Another view of the burning Panther. Second platoon moving up on the other side of the gully.

The platoon guarding the ford is about to disappear. The counters represent 'wounds' or shock points in IABSM. The 2nd Panther platoon is also on the Russian side of the gulch now.

The last squad manages to hold on another turn. Alas, there is no cavalry coming.

4 SU152s come on table to shore up the defenders. A platoon that was on the left side of the table is also moving to the endangered flank. The Grenadiers that overran the 45mm ATG postion in the wood is caught in the open by these newcomers.

The new Russian platoon takes fire from the grenadiers in the woods and from the MMGs on the other side of the marsh. The SU152s decide to engage the Panthers

It's hard not to notice the SUs and the 1st Platoon starts to engage 

The panzers and infantry reform and prepare to move up the slope.

One SU is smoking already and the 2nd platoon is preparing to rush the slope. The grenadiers are moving back to the woods and abandoned Pak positions.

It didn't take long for the Panthers to start blowing up the SUs. The SU on the other hand have trouble hitting their targets.

The grenadiers start to exchange fire with the Russians dug in on the slope as the panzers shoot it out with the Paks and SUs

After getting caught trying to move up on the next Pak position the grenadiers head back to their recently acquired dugouts.

One Panther is forced to retire and the CO tank is immobilized. The hits are coming from the ATGs and not the SU, which can't hit a thing.

Dug in infantry with ATRs in the front line and 45mm ATGs behind. The ATGs are taking fire from off board Tigers (when the 3rd Panzer platoon card is drawn, a 4-sided dice is rolled to see how many Tigers can fire on the Paks).

The Panthers are making short work of the SU152s. Meanwhile two of the Panthers move up to get around the flank of the ATGs.

While one platoon engages the SPGs the remaining mobile Panthers of the other platoon move up under cover of a artillery barrage

The 105 artillery battery lands on target (finally) and does a good job on the 76mm position that is putting a hurt on the Panthers.

The Russian infantry platoon is looking for a good spot to avoid fire from the grenadiers and MMGs. One squad and the platoon CO use the smoke from burning SPGs to disappear.

Lots of targets between the SUs and dug in Paks.

They really stand out against the snow covered terrain.

The last SPG gets taken out by a Pzfst30 wielding grenadier.

The Panther that pulled back after taking hits decided to use the slope as cover to manoeuvre into a better position. Unfortunately it becomes good and stuck at the bottom of the gully.

The 76 battery remains under fire from the 105s

Panthers overrun the 76mm postion. The guncrews and infantry try to run away.

The last SU152 goes up in flames. The SUs managed to totally miss the Panthers with every shot.

The Panthers slow after running through two of the 76mm positions. The 105 fire drifted a bit to the right and caused the Panthers to holdup before charging up the slope.

This gave the 3rd Platoon (Heroic Leader) CO a chance to assault the Panther from the rear. They manage to get a engine fire started.

Two more PzVs move up to overrun the dug in Soviets.

The Russians manage to get some medium mortars to fall on the grenadiers in the former positions of the Russian infantry.

As the Panther's engines starts to burn, the other Panther looks for future victims. 105s continue to rain down on the hilltop.

Another view of the hilltop

Heroic leader goes after another Panther and causes engine damage to this tank.

The two Panthers that overran the 76 ATGs are no match for the heroic platoon CO and decide to head back down the hill.

The heroic leader is not finished. He uses his men to manhandle a 76 around to fire on the retreating Panther. Although he causes no additional damage, both tank crews abandon their Panthers and flee on foot down to the grenadiers.

Other PzVs head towards the other 45mm ATGs and overrun them.

A second Panther overruns a pair of ATRs. The ATR teams manage to get out of the way, and the Panther gets a turret jam hit from a ATG further up the hill.

The Russian infantry looks on helplessly as the PzVs cruise through their positions

Same situation, different angle. Offboard Tigers are still firing on the other Paks.

The rampaging Panthers turn about managing to crush a second 45mm. 105 fire continues to fall on the hilltop and mortars are still pinning down the grenadiers.

TWo Panthers have fallen to the actions of this platoon leader. Next he turns the ATG to the front to fire on the other Panthers

Two burning Panthers and four smoking SU152s

The remaining mobile Panthers retreat to hulldown postions.

At the end of the game there were two runners left of the Panthers. The 2 Pzgrd platoons were down to 60% strength. The Soviets had one functional 76mm and 45mm ATG, but two of the infantry platoons were in pretty good shape. The Germans needed to get some more grunts up and the Russkies some more ATG moved up. Historically, by the end of the day, Kampfgruppe Frank was down to around a dozen running Panzers and the 1st Company of II/Pzrgt 113 had about 12 men left in their platoons.