Konigsberg 1945: Scenario Two

Scenario Two – Flank attack on the Girls School

The most notable feature of this table is the large drainage ditch at the South‐Eastern corner of the table (represented by two parallel stone walls and providing hard cover). The small building with a red roof next to this is a small pump house. The main grey roofed buildings are two storey in height. The ground to the west is water meadow and is slightly lover lying than the bulk of the table. The Germans use the Northern and Eastern table edges as their friendly edges.

To win a victory, the attacker (in this case, the Germans) must force the defender to withdraw from the table, either voluntarily or due to a reduction in his Force Morale, but keeping his own Force Morale at 3 or more. If he fails, the defender will win.

The Soviet JoPs ended up restricted to the south west corner of the battlefield and the German JoPs along both base edges for the flank attack.Unfortunately for the German commander (me), the Soviets had deployed two minefields in the drainage ditch, nullifying most of the potential deployment advantages for the Germans there (dastardly Soviets!).

And off to the races! A German section deploys from the drainage ditch and starts to move towards the pump-house.

The Soviets counter by moving a section to counter the German run.

A Pzkpfw IV appears (prematurely, as it turns out) to rake the advancing Soviet section with HE and MGs.

Next phase sees a Soviet 45mm AT gun unveil itself and fire on the German armour (this was the first fielding of this new Soviet support unit and its first ever die rolls).

And the result of the AT gun's first ever shot!! As the German commander, only I can take responsibility for deploying the Pz IV without supporting infantry and/or threatening the Soviet JoPs first.

Back to the left flank... the Soviets have withdrawn form the race to the pump-house and the German section begins looking for suitable targets (unfortunately, the cowardly Soviets are hiding in their buildings). Unseen here (for obvious reasons), the Germans begin taking fire from a hidden Soviet sniper.

Belatedly, a German section deploys and begins working its was along the low-lying marsh toward the Soviet AT gun.

Another belated German move... an assault on the central building. The photo above shows the result after the Germans had chucked in some grenades and engaged the TWO  Soviet sections inside the hard cover building: pushed back, decimated, pinned, and wounded leaders.

After this last failed assault, the German commander decided to withdraw and try again later. As noted, as the German commander, only I can take responsibility for the disjointed attacks and lack of coordinated movements. I'll chalk that up to playing two games in one day and being tired (yes, that's it... i'll stick with that). On Michael's side, this wasn't a difficult battle for the Soviets. They simply sat back and watched the Germans blow up their own chances.

The German platoon will go into the next battle (on the same battlefield) eight men down and the men's opinion of their commander continues to slip, and rightly so (such that they will receive a -1 Force Morale modifier moving forward).