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SCENARIO: Tigers Forward - Complexity 4

MISSION: Break through toward Korsun and relief divisions encircled in Cherkassy Pocket

DATE: 4 February 1944 - 15 turns

LOCATION: Krasnogorodka, 15 km SW of Medvin and 160 km S of Kiev

FORCES: 3rd Panzer Corps - 12 plt Pz V, 3 plt Pz VIE, 8 plt PSW 234/1 Armor Cars, 10 plt PzGr, 2 plt MG, 12 Halftracks, and 3 plt of 81 mm Mortar Halftracks.
REINF: 3 plt of Pz VIE, 1 company PzGr, and 2 NbW41 Rocket Launchers - Turn 2
2 50 mm AT PAK 38, lelG 18 75 mm Inf Guns, and 1 plt Engineer - Turn 3

There was no air support. No smoke was available.

Enemy forces consisted of at least 24 plt T-34s of mixed design, BM 37 82 mm Mortars, 4 SU-85s, and various infantry companies.

CONDITION: Major Defeat: -100
Minor Defeat: 250
Minor Victory: 350
Major Victory: 700

TERRAIN: There is a deep valley near the southern edge of the map. River Gniloy Tikich runs near Chaplinka. To east of Chaplinka is Poradovka. 5 km north of Chaplinka is Krasnogorodka which is located in another valley. There is a steep hill east of the village. Toolrko River runs through Krasnogorodka and turns northward. Sofiyevka and Zakutintsy are located just north of Krasnogorodka. Neither of the rivers is impassable but there are marsh areas north of Sofiyevka. The hills west of Krasnogorodka are not as steep. The hill south of the village is not very high. There are many unpaved roads connecting various villages. NE of the map is Krasnyy Sayatel. There is a paved road from this village toward Tarashcha. There is an exit HEX near Krasnyy Sayatel. There is slight haze in the air. The mud season has begun in Russia.

Opponent: Philippe Mouledous

Bake's Panther Battalion is located on the hill NW of Chaplinka. The Tiger Battalion is located about 2.5 km West of Chaplinka. Rest of the force is located about 3 km west of Panther Battalion in Poberezhka. I carefully moved my forces in Poberezhka north and then NE to Sofiyevka. Rest of my forces was sent to Krasnogorodka except for a company of halftracks with infantry. This company was sent toward Poradovka. This force was ambushed by T-34s and was destroyed.

There was no action for 3 turns. The Poberezhka forces were sent to attack the left flank. This force started to encounter heavy resistance. My left forces on the left did not break through for 5 turns. By then, most of the units were seriously damaged or disrupted. It looked as if the enemy threw everything toward Sofiyevka.

My Panther Battalion also met some resistance but nothing serious. Surprisingly, there was almost no resistance in Krasnogorodka where two bunkers were located. I was able to capture these bunkers without a fight! I was wondering what the enemy was up to at this point. I started to sense that there is really no way I can win this scenario. I captured the most important city of Krasnogorodka without getting a draw. There were not enough Victory points left in the map to get even a minor victory.

As I mentioned, a company of halftrack was sent east to attack the right flank, but this force was destroyed by a company of T-34s. The enemy started to attack my right flank with a company of T-34s and SU-85s. Fortunately, my Tiger battalion was able to destroy this maneuver easily. However, a valuable time was lost as it turned out.

With Krasnogorodka secured, I sent all my Panzers toward Sofiyevka to capture the village. In conjunction with my left flank forces, I capture the village by the turn 12.

During the turn 13, I was able to capture two 50 HEXs and a company of T-34/85 by assault. Finally, I was able to get draw. By the turn 15, I was poised to break through toward Krasnyy Sayatel. The enemy had some infantry units to block the road toward the exit HEX. Without exiting any units, there was no way to get victory here.

RESULTS Draw.

LESSONS: 1. Recon is very important for this scenario. Because of all the valleys where ambush can be easily set up.
2. T-34/85 can be deadly on Panthers. Tigers are better at handling T-34/85s.
3. Use Panzergrenadiers and their Panzerfausts! This is a great weapon. PzGrs are great on defense.

CONCLUSION: I do not think this scenario is balanced at all. I was able to capture all of the objectives except for 2 - 25 point HEXs east of the map and eliminated almost all T-34 platoons but still was not able to get a minor victory.

Philippe Mouledous could have had an easy victory if he had some infantry units to defend the bunker in Krasnogorodka. As everyone knows, they can be extremely difficult to capture. Major Mouledous will be a dangerous commander soon. He is learning quickly. In my previous battles, he was not ready for my flanking attacks. He was ready this time. In fact, he tried to use the flanking attack. If I did not have my Tiger Battalion ready, he could have wiped out my infantry support early which could have been disastrous.

Yong Park
XVIII Airborne Corps
"Not all pain is gain."

 
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