July 1944, while fighting in southern Poland, Soviet forces have come up against a mountain range, where the German positions on the high ground dominate the ground below, bringing accurate artillery fire onto anything that moves. Looking for a way to break through, 1st Brigade have been ordered to advance into a mountain pass. Their objective is to probe west and take the town of Krosnogord at the far end of the valley. To reach it, they will have to cross the River Wislok, which could be well defended. If they can push beyond Krosnogord, the break through will be complete.
I will be using the tactical WWII boardgame, Old School Tactical published by Flying Pig and designed by Shayne Logan, to fight the various actions, but with a figures system to manage the campaign.
The final chapter in Charles Grant’s book ‘Programmed Wargame Scenarios’ (2nd Edition) has a generic campaign called Reconnaissance in Strength and essentially works as a ‘ladder’ campaign.
It is actually a reconnaissance in strength type scenario that deals with an advance along a mountain pass / valley by the Blue Force (Soviets for us), which will fight over eight game tables, before reaching the final table - the town. We shall replace the individual tables with the small maps that come with the boardgame’s various support modules.
Red Force (Germans for us) is defending the main town at the end of the pass, but they also have detachments further forwards in the valley, with the intent of delaying and disrupting Blue Force.
I will run this campaign with a series of short After Action Reports, so that the reader can follow the progress from map to map. All reports will be added to the campaign folder on my COMMANDERS site (link below). It will probably be played over several weeks or months and will be posted in chronological order.
The order that the paper maps will appear in the chain of advance will be chosen randomly. The final map is fixed and will be map number 1 from the ‘Phantom Division’ module, as this has concrete type building structures that will represent Krosnogord.
There are various mechanics in Grant’s book that will be used in the background to manage the campaign. Red Force can be ordered by the system and accordingly although I am handling both sides in each battle, for the German forces, the programmed system will be used as I sort of ‘Game Master’ things along.
The record will be written mostly from the perspective of the Soviet attacker, so that the reader gets a vague idea as to the German player’s intentions and strengths, which are only revealed as the campaign unfolds.
The order-of-battle here reflects ownership of mainly 1st Edition OST Vol I upgraded to 2nd edition (east front) and the Red Blitz module, hence there is something of a hodge podge collection of unit types in the Soviet Infantry battalion, with companies of standard rifle sections, Irregulars and Guards, which is an unrealistic mix at this formation level, however, the game’s counter mix is what it is and those variables should give the Soviet player some interesting choices as to which troop types should be used at any one time and place. Just think of them as green or veteran etc.
Here are your available forces ……….. Captain Voronin
Soviet Order-of-Battle
Commander of 1st Brigade - Captain Voronin (You the player)
1st Infantry Battalion
Captain Sokolov
1st Company
Lt. Grenko
9 Rifle sections, 1 sergeant, 2 LMG, 1 Molotov, 1 ATR
2nd Company
Lt. Balakin
1 x Commissar
9 Guards Rifle sections, 1 sergeant, 2 LMG, 1 Molotov, 1 ATR
3rd Company
Lt. Aliyev
9 Irregular rifle sections, 1 sergeant, 2 LMG, 1 Molotov, 1 ATR
Heavy Weapons Company, 2 HMG, 2 x 57mm A/T guns with 2 trucks to tow
1st Tank Battalion (understrength)
Lt. Ivashin
1st Company - 10 x T34 / 76
2nd Company - 4 x T34 / 85
3rd Company (attached) - 5 x JSII
1st SMG Company (attached) 7 Shock sections, 1 Lt. Chekov, 1 sergeant, 3 satchel charges,
Reconnaissance Company 1 x Lt (spare), 2 BA-10 armoured cars, 3 trucks, 3 x 1st line rifle sections, 3 x sapper sections, 2 LMG 1 Sgt 1 flamethrower (sapper only)
Artillery support is randomly determined at the start of each battle.
All Gut Check ratings are 7 with the following exceptions.
Guards and Pioneers are 6, while Irregulars are 8.
Impulse Points - For each battle, the Soviet army gets a basic 4D6. After the first battle, this is always modified. At the conclusion of each battle, check how many casualty points the force lost during that battle. If it has been 12 or more then in future battles the Impulse allowance is permanently reduced by 2 points. These are cumulative modifiers, so if the Soviets have taken 12 or more casualties in two battles, their Impulse allowance for the fifth battle would be permanently lowered to 3D6 +2. Note in the final battle, regardless of any loss, Soviet Impulse Points are always returned to the full 4D6.
LINK TO COMMANDERS
