Soldiers of the Rearguard or, The Social(ist) Network

Only three weeks after Karpov’s return to grace comes another opportunity to distinguish himself and the First Company.  This time, the men would have to be the rearguard, and hold a route through the city open so that a truck convoy could escape.  With the close quarters of urban combat, there would be plenty of opportunities for heroism.  The problem with that is, heroism comes with a price.  This would be a wild ride, full of random events that no one could have predicted.

Even by rearguard standards, this was a bit of a scratch force.  Other than the rifle company with 54 men and three officers, there was only an MMG, a 45mm ATG, and a couple of 50mm mortars.  There was also an engineer/SMG platoon with an officer attached to the force.  The rifle company had high morale though, so there was an Allied Rally card in the deck.  The layout was urban, and for once the map and the board didn’t quite match up.  According to the map as rolled up, the layout should be:

2 buildings	2 buildings	Stream
Park	Hill	Key building
2 buildings	2 buildings	Boulevard

Well, everyone knows how inaccurate Soviet maps can be, so the area wound up looking like this instead:

Basically the same, but with a bit more construction; maybe the map was from the Tsarist period.  The large gray ruin closest to the camera is the key building, and it would indeed play a key role in the coming battle.

         

            

          Not knowing where the Germans would mass their forces, Karpov tried to defend a little bit of everything.    The next picture gives an idea of the general setup for the defenders:

               

          Expecting the German assault to come up the center most of 2nd Platoon and its Jr. Lt. was dug in on the hill, with the engineers and ATG protecting the left flank.  1st Platoon was in the rear as a reserve, as was one squad of 2nd Platoon under command of the new replacement commissar from Regimental HQ.  The mortars were safely back to provide support where needed, and the MMG was anchoring the right of the position with a squad of engineers in the building next to them.  Overall, not a bad plan, at least not until the Germans started their attack.

               

          The German force consisted of 5 A, 2 B and 1 C type blind.  The expected attack in the center didn’t materialize; instead most of the German forces wound up at the river’s edge, with 2 blinds coming up the center and the C blind coming in as reserves on the Red Army left.  While they hit the least defended part of the position, it did at least have the advantage of putting the bulk of the attack on the opposite side of town from the truck convoy’s entrance.

                

          When the German force entered, it started what could only be described as “The Great Footrace.”    Karpov took the first platoon, Commissar Bodmachin (another replacement from Regimental HQ) took his squad from second platoon, and both commanders headed for the key building.  Obviously, they were hoping to cobble together some sort of defense that would last long enough for the trucks to get away.  They made it, but were undoubtedly helped by the fact that the Germans seemed to be fascinated by the river.  They were so fascinated that, for two turns, they didn’t move at all.  The truck drivers in the convoy realized what a reprieve they had been given, so were going hell for leather to get out of town.  There was a brief traffic jam, but the infantry managed to stay away from the fleeing trucks.

The Commissar and his squad took up a position in the back of the key building, ready to hold off whatever might come their way.  About this same time, the officer in charge of the engineers on the left flank decided it was time to strike a blow at the enemy.  Since everyone seemed to be headed for the other side of town, he decided to join in the fun.  By pulling his men out of position, he insured that the left flank was covered only by the 45mm ATG.  Meanwhile, Jr. Lt. Chernikov with the second platoon had spotted the blinds in the center, and they turned out to be fakes.  He decided to stay where he was though, since orders were orders and all that.  The left flank is dangling, the right is threatened, and the shooting hasn’t even started yet.  What fun!

Then, German reinforcements arrived on the left.  It turned out to be a platoon of Panzer Grenadiers, advancing slowly and cautiously in their half-tracks.  The lead track wasn’t quite cautious enough, and the ATG punished him for that, knocking him out of action and killing the crew.  Back on the right, Commissar Bodmachin and his squad were ready for anything except what they were confronted with:

While not all the German platoon could get in on the close combat, there were enough of them to send Badmachin and the remnants of the squad fleeing the building, and the edge of the board.  Now it was time for Karpov to enter the building.

Unfortunately, there are no pictures of what happened next.  Karpov took one squad upstairs, while the other stayed in the front of the building.  The three German squads that assaulted the building consolidated their position.    One squad moved into the corridor in the center of the building while a second squad provided overwatch and the third squad got caught in the rubble, with almost no movement.  Then, Karpov and the squad on the second floor fired on the overwatch squad, distracting them into shooting back.  This gave the Russian squad on the first floor the chance to move into close combat with the German squad in the corridor.  After the combat, that German squad ran out of the back of the building and was useless for the rest of the game.

Now, the flare went up that signaled the trucks were away safely.  This switched the focus from being the rearguard to mere survival.  The second platoon under Chernikov left the trenches and headed towards the edge of town, with the engineers following them.  The ATG limbered up and left, just before the remaining German halftracks put on a burst of speed using their dead comrade as cover.  This carried them to the base of the hill, and they unloaded their troops behind the hill and prepared to storm the trenches.  Karpov and one squad got out of the building and onto the sidewalk, but one squad was trapped inside by German movements in the other rooms.  One squad of engineers in a building next to the key building was also cut off by the Germans, as they couldn’t move without being seen.  Having been under accurate close range rifle fire for some time, the MMG decided it was time to leave as well, and started heading downstairs.

Having contributed nothing to the proceedings up to now, Jr. Lt. Chernikov suddenly decided that the enemy was crumbling, and decided to launch 2nd platoon at the nearest German unit he could find.  It took about five Red Army KIA to convince him that he was wrong in his assessment, and he continued to retreat towards the edge of the board.  Karpov’s other squad managed to get out of the building, but the Germans inside raced to the windows and began to shoot them down like dogs, as they were moving in the open and at close range.  One of the German squads inside the building was close enough for Karpov and his squad to launch a close assault against them, trying to take some of the pressure off of their comrades in the street.  The close assault was a success, forcing the Germans back and costing only one Russian casualty.  Unfortunately, that casualty was Karpov himself.  His squad was still in good order though, so they picked up his body and began to retreat.  There was nothing else they could do to save the rest of First Platoon, and the other squad was killed to a man.

All these heroics must have impressed the commander of the engineers, as he suddenly decided he could not leave the one isolated squad of his unit to their fate.  Ordering the rest of the platoon to retreat, he headed into the building where his squad was located, intending to rally them and then cut their way out of the trap they were in.  A noble sentiment, but ultimately futile; he had just enough time to rally them before he was killed.  They were then close assaulted by a German unit, and the survivors were captured.  A similar fate awaited the MMG crew.  Although they were able to destroy one squad of Panzer Grenadiers, the combined fire of the other squads killed the last of the valiant Soviet defenders.  By now, everyone else had retreated off the board and the game was over.

Another victory, but another heavy butcher’s bill as well.  First Platoon started with 24 men, and ended with 12 (12/0).  Second Platoon started with 30 men, and ended up with only 18 (5/10/3).  Karpov was lightly wounded, so will only miss one engagement.  Overall, the units under Karpov’s command took almost 40 percent casualties.  They did achieve their objectives though, so that is good for something.   However, it is beginning to look as if the unit may have to be withdrawn for reorganization.  Before the post-game events are considered, there are barely enough men left in the company to make up one full-strength platoon.

Post-game events prove to be very interesting as well.  First, Karpov is recognized by the Battalion CO, Major Goryunov (Cheap/Arts/Military).  This proves to be another negative encounter for Karpov, even with a shared military background.  Looking at some numbers though, it’s easy to see why Goryunov might not like his subordinate.  Given Goryunov’s background, he wants maximum results for minimum expense.  Karpov has won 4 out of 5 battles.  However, two of the wins and the loss incurred heavy casualties.  Karpov might be the battalion’s ‘go-to officer,’ but don’t expect any elegant results, even by Soviet standards.  This almost certainly offends Goryunov’s cheap and artistic nature.  While recuperating, Karpov met Captain Lesovaya (Pleasant/Hedonist/Ranker), the battalion mortar company commander.  For some reason, they hit it off together.  Lesovaya isn’t really a friend in a high place, as he is a company commander just like Karpov.  However, being on good terms with a man that controls six 82mm mortars could be handy at some point in the future, particularly on the defensive….

Since Commissar Vlasov will be back for the next engagement, that means that Commissar Bodmachin (Glum/Hedonist/Military) will be going back to Regimental HQ.  Oddly enough, he has taken a shine to Captain Karpov.  Perhaps it is their shared Military background, maybe it is because Karpov didn’t say anything about Bodmachin’s running away from combat, or maybe it is something else.  For whatever reason, Karpov now has a friend at Regimental HQ, and that will undoubtedly help offset the negativity that Karpov somehow creates for himself.  

A new crop of replacements came in, and Karpov’s lack of friends is finally starting to show.  Because Goryunov and Klimkinov don’t like him, Karpov’s company got the lowest number of replacements it has ever received: only 12 men this time.  Now, some hard decisions have to be made about company organization, as this will give a total of only 42 men on the books, not counting officers.  That is barely one pre-war platoon.  In short, the unit is almost burned out.  I suspect that they probably have one good fight left in them before they are withdrawn for refitting.  This would keep them out of action for about 3 months.  There is something to be said for even surviving the summer of 1941 if you are in the Red Army, though.  

Captain Karpov Rides Again!

After taking a break over the summer (my game table is in the garage, and in Texas that means it is basically unusable during the summer months), it was time for the next installment in the adventures of Captain Karpov and the 1st Company of the 537th Rifle Regiment.

As you may remember, Captain Karpov had a regimental Commissar assigned to him, and was looking over his shoulder waiting for the NKVD squad to show up after he lost the last battle. This was not the case; in fact, Commissar Klimkinov thought that the two of them might actually hit it off together, since they both had a military background. Karpov, on the other hand, thought that he had to prove to this headquarters interloper that he was not a coward or traitor. It turns out that Karpov did prove something, just not what he set out to prove.

The company’s mission was to provide cover for a group of engineers doing some roadwork just off the table. The company is barely able to field two platoons right now, and so it was probably a good thing that the terrain turned out to be heavy. There was no artillery, no armor and no light support, so this would be a straight up infantry fight for the Red Army. The second platoon was looking for a fight though, and so would be rated as aggressive (pre-game event).

In August 1941, this was a full strength rifle company.

The terrain was heavy, as can be seen from the map below. While I thought that would be a good thing at first, it turned out not to be as helpful as I had envisioned.

Hill	Open	River
Wooded Hill	Light Woods	Heavy Woods
Open	Light Woods	Crops

As luck would have it, the company entered on area 7 (the open area at bottom left), and the German blinds entered between areas 1 and 2. The two forces advanced towards each other, but suddenly the Germans stopped in the woods at the edge of the hill and just waited. This was just fine for the Soviet force as the clock was still running, but Karpov was intent on showing that he wasn’t afraid of a fight. At this point, the Commissar was incapacitated for two turns on the random event card. The company pushed on without him, and as both platoon neared the base of the wooded hill, the Germans decided to move. This made them easier to spot, and the leading blind was quickly revealed to be the real force, consisting of 4 A blinds, 1 B blind and a C blind.

The B blind was spotted first, and turned out to be a tripod mounted MMG. Some amazing shooting from second platoon severely hurt the gunners, and first platoon wiped them out before they could respond. The other blinds turned out to be three squads of German infantry, and a 222 armored car. The German squads took up a firing line, and the fight was on. The German return fire caused only one casualty on second platoon, but unfortunately it was the brand new Jr. Sgt. Zinoviev who went down.

The flare went off saying that the engineers were finished, so now it was time to withdraw. This was not so easy though, as both platoons had taken enough shock to make moving difficult. One squad from second platoon had taken enough shock to lose its bottle and run off the board. The second squad retreated in good order carrying Zinoviev. First platoon was occupied with the German armored car that had moved down to the base of the hill and was trying to shoot them up with its 20mm cannon. Both squads from first platoon assaulted the A/C, with one of them getting two hits and knocking out the main gun. This was enough to convince the armored car that it needed to be away from the fighting, and rather quickly too.

The commissar had recovered by this point, and so he and Karpov were able to take enough shock off of the squads to let them move out of effective rifle range fairly quickly. The German infantry pursuit was half-hearted at best, and first platoon retreated off the board, ending the battle. By Soviet standards, the butcher’s bill was fairly light. First platoon took 6 casualties out of 22 engaged, and second platoon took 6 casualties out of 18, plus Jr. Sgt. Zinoviev. German casualties were estimated as 8, plus the damaged armored car.

Post-game events were almost as interesting as the battle. For the freeform event, first platoon attempted to go from poor troops to good troops and passed the roll! Finally, those months of being hammered on are paying off. Another roll determined that Jr. Sgt. Zinoviev was KIA, not just wounded. So much for being aggressive in your first command. For the first fixed event, the replacement commissar was transferred out of the unit. Apparently, Regimental HQ is convinced that Karpov is not a traitor. However, Commissar Klimkinov does NOT like Karpov; in fact, even with the modifiers for complimentary backgrounds the roll was a failure. Maybe Karpov made some sarcastic remark about Klimkinov “turning his ankle right before the battle started, and healing in time to leave.” Something like that would be consistent with Karpov’s character. At any rate, there is now one ‘enemy in high places’ for the company to deal with later on. The second permanent result was replacements, and enough were sent to bring one platoon up to 2 men over full strength. The die roll showed this to be second platoon, so that meant that 20 replacements joined the company. Now, that many replacements will get you an officer to shepherd them along so now Jr. Lt. Chernikov has joined the outfit. He is optimistic, with a religious motivation. He’s a Level II commander, so is either well trained or has some combat experience. He is of average background, and will be of Bold temperament for his first engagement.

Chernikov will take over the newly constituted second platoon. First platoon is down to 24 men (10/4/8), so second squad is broken up and the survivors divided between the other two squads. The two leftover new replacements are put into third squad, which gives first platoon two squads of 12 men each. At last, first company is finally starting to fill back out again. Who knows how long this will last though?

Interlude and Paranoia

Suffering over 50% casualties in one battle is enough to take the stuffing out of any unit. So, it was not surprising when the dice told me that it would be about 3 weeks before the next engagement. That should be enough time to get the replacements in, and at least teach them which end of a rifle to point at the enemy. Once again, it was consolidation time within the company. As each platoon is now down to basically one squad each, it only made sense to group the survivors together into the new 1 Platoon, and send the replacements into 2 Platoon. That gives 1 Platoon almost a full strength TO&E, with 2 squads of 10 and one of 8. 2 Platoon now has a squad of 10 men and a squad of 7, all of which are replacements. While going through the casualty figures, I discovered that the 50mm mortars had not been completely wiped out. There was 1 soldier left alive out of the two crews, so he went into 2 Platoon. That gave the second squad 8 men. 3 Platoon has ceased to exist. Oddly enough, this might benefit the company, as the attentions of the (too few) leaders will not be as divided among the company subgroups.

Since this is September 1941, there is a definite shortage of Junior and Senior Lieutenants out there to assign to the company. So, it is time for Captain Karpov to reach into the ranks for another big man. He does just that, and comes up with Junior Sergeant Zinoviev. Zinoviev is a scholarly type, whose motivation is religion. Maybe his family wanted him to go into the priesthood, or maybe he comes from a background like Jr. Lt. Lobachevsky did. Either way, it’s not something that is going to help him go far in the Red Army. As a squad leader, he is only a Level I leader, but has a D4 ability, which is better than both of the officers he is replacing. Apparently that scholarly personality, combined with some practical experience, has taught him a little bit about handling troops. He has an even temperament, and comes from an average background, so it seems obvious that Capt. Karpov has chosen him for his ability. Surely this is a relief instead of having to deal with what he was given, as was the case with Bartov and Lobachevsky. Since he is a Junior Sergeant, Zinoviev can only influence one squad within the platoon; however, that is all you can do once the shooting starts anyway so it shouldn’t be that much of a negative.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the 1941 RKKA without the paranoia mentioned in the title. Captain Karpov might not be in disgrace, but he is surely under a cloud. It doesn’t matter that he was outnumbered, undermanned and in a bad position. What matters is that he did not carry out the combat task assigned to him. While there is no evidence (yet) that he is a traitor to the Motherland, it seems clear to the upper echelons that the reason he lost this last engagement is that there was not a Commissar to provide the men with the proper fighting spirit. So, regimental HQ has sent one of their political officers down to ‘assist the Company Commander until Comrade Vlasov returns to duty.’ Enter Regimental Commissar Klimkinov. He is a generous type, just like Vlasov. However, he is motivated by the Government, so this political officer is one of the ‘true believers.’ He is a better leader than Vlasov, being a Level II officer but that is probably expected since he is higher up the political chain of command. He has an even temperament, and comes from a military background just like Karpov does. Klimkinov probably thinks this will help him get along with Karpov, since they have something in common there. I don’t think that is the case, though.

Let’s look at things from Karpov’s view. He lost half his command in the last battle, and lost the battle. He got reinforcements, but instead of more leaders he got a commissar from regimental to ‘assist’ him. For Karpov, there is no way this could be good. The flip side of this is that if Karpov can get past his paranoia, he might realize that having a contact on the regimental staff could be a good thing, even if it is on the political end. Since Klimkinov’s assignment with the unit is a short one, it will be interesting to see if Karpov comes to this conclusion, or continues to look for the NKVD squad to show up.

The next mission will be a screening of friendly engineers while they do some roadwork. Karpov will probably see this as a slight against his unit as well. After all, a regimental commissar looking over his shoulder AND a ‘milk run’ type of mission for the company’s return to combat can only add up to one thing. The obvious conclusion is that regimental HQ doesn’t trust him or his men. Given that he is an aggressive, revenge motivated type, there is no doubt that he will drive his troops hard in the next engagement. That way, he will get his revenge against the Germans, and prove to the new commissar that he is not a traitor. October 1, 1941 (the date of the next action) should be an interesting day for all concerned.

…but Defeat is an Orphan

After two winning scenarios, I was feeling pretty good about my rifle company. With a loss rate for the unit running at about 32 percent, I was bumping up against my self-imposed ceiling of high casualty rates. If this were an American or British rifle company, those kinds of losses would be barbarous. Indeed, 25 percent losses over such a short period might be considered high for them. By 1941 Red Army standards however, the unit has two victories AND they have roughly a 1:1 loss ratio with the Germans that they have faced. It might sound harsh, but in the summer of 1941 a 1:1 loss ratio is a win for the Red Army. Clearly, the 537th Rifle Regiment is part of the broom that will sweep the Soviet Motherland clean of the Fascist invader:

The problem with a winning streak is that eventually it will end. The next mission that I rolled up was Scenario M, “A Hasty Defense.” The dice told me that I had only hours to prepare. Obviously, this would be the German counterattack to try and retake the village. Although I had rolled up 15 replacements after the attack, I decided that they probably would not have arrived in time so I would do without. Consequently, the map is the same as before, except that this time I was the one defending.

Open	Open	Road
Light Woods	Village (with road)	Light Woods
Light Woods	Open	Road

Since Sr. Lt. Bartov got himself killed in the assault, and Politruk Vlasov was wounded, that left only Jr. Lt. Lobachevsky on the field. I decided that it was now time to bring in Captain Karpov, as he was the only other Big Man available to the company at this point. Interestingly enough, the pre-game event roll gave me High Morale, so maybe the Captain is not as unpopular as I thought he might be. Or, maybe the men were just a little more confident with a more experienced officer than Lobachevsky at the helm? With the reinforcements rolled up, my force was:

Platoons 1, 2, 3 (only 2 squads each due to losses)

Captain Karpov, Jr. Lt. Lobachevsky

2x 50mm mortars

3x MMG

2x 45mm ATG

3x T-26 (these would come in later, as reinforcements)

Since I knew the general direction the Germans would be coming from, I placed an ATG in the woods on either flank, and put the MMGs and men throughout the village and woods. My hope was that there wouldn’t be too many German vehicles, and that we could hold the attack at bay until my armor arrived. As it turned out, a defense plan with the word ‘hopefully’ is about as good as a financial plan that starts out, ‘When I win the lottery….’

The game started with two German stonks that killed some infantrymen and both of the limbers for my ATGs. Then, I watched in horror as a wave of German blinds rolled onto the board. One of my ATGs spotted tanks, and drew first blood, but it was mostly downhill after that. As the spotting rolls revealed the German force, it was very clear that they wanted this village back. I was facing:

3x infantry platoons (all at full strength)

2x HQ infantry squads

3x 50mm mortars

6x Leaders

1x MMG

1x ATR

4x Pz III

3x Pz IV

2x SiG 150mm Bison/Pz I SPGs

It was a large force, and a true combined arms assault. The tanks took on the ATGs, the light mortars smoked in the village huts so that the German infantry could advance, and the 2 SPGs fired on whatever the mortars couldn’t cover. While there were some small successes in the woods on the left, within minutes the Germans were in the village and a series of close combats broke out in the huts. Lobachevsky went down, and since his squad lost the assault, they didn’t stop to see if he was dead or wounded. Captain Karpov fought off one assault, but then was isolated, with Germans on his left and right. At this point, he decided to pull what was left of his command out of the village. At this point, things were so crazy that he and his squad were close assaulted in the street by another German squad. After he fought them off, the survivors streamed out of the village closely followed by the Germans. Things were so bad that the squad Karpov was attached to was machine-gunned, leaving him as the only survivor. At this point the T-26s arrived, only to be shot down by the Panzerwaffe. Two tanks were destroyed, and the other was abandoned due to damage. The game ended with the survivors running off the board, and the Germans re-establishing themselves in the village.

Soviet casualties were almost as bad as the combat results. 1 Platoon started with 19 men, and ended with 10. 2 Platoon started with 20 and ended with 7, although 5 of the 13 casualties were actually captured. 3 Platoon started with 20 men and ended with 11. Jr. Lt. Lobachevsky is MIA, presumed dead. That makes a total of 32 casualties out of 61 men in the company, and we haven’t even discussed the supporting units yet. Both of the ATGs were wiped out, as was one of the MMGs and both of the 50mm mortars. All 3 of the T-26s were lost, although only two were destroyed. German infantry casualties were light, only about 20-25 men. They did lose two Pz-IIIs and two Pz-IVs, and both of the SPGs were damaged, but there is no way this could be considered a Soviet victory, even a minor one.

The after game events were almost as bad as the battle. For the free-form event, I tried to get the survivors to improve to Good quality, but that was a spectacular failure. Obviously, the survivors knew they had been whipped. For fixed events, I got Manpower and Player Choice. The manpower result took away one of the MMG teams. For the player’s choice I took replacements. The die roll let me bring one platoon up to six men below book strength, and another die roll indicated that would be 2 Platoon. So, 17 replacements joined the company. That will boost the company roster from 28 men to 45. Of course, the company is so badly cut up right now that even if the designated platoon had been 1 or 3, the number of replacements would have been 14 and 13, respectively.

Right now, the campaign is on hold while I follow up some other projects. I am looking forward to getting back to Captain Karpov and his men. After all, it’s only early September 1941 in this campaign so there is still lots to do. Joe Legan has also said that he will be developing the “Middle of Nowhere” asymmetrical warfare expansion sometime in the future. That will be good, as I have some US miniatures eager for a campaign against Victor Charlie!

The Opening Battles

Stalin is supposed to have said that it takes a brave man to be a coward in the Red Army. After the first three scenarios of my campaign, I would say that it takes an even braver man to be an officer in the Red Army. After three battles, my company is down to about platoon size, and only one of the original officers is left in action. Although I didn’t have my camera available for these actions, I’ll try and describe them.

The first action was a little one, to welcome Lobachevsky, the new Jr. Lt. It was a Raid scenario, which the dice decided would be a POW Snatch/Listening Post raid. The terrain was mostly open, with fields on the Soviet entry edge, and a ruined factory in the middle of the board to serve as a main objective. To make it even more interesting, I decided that this would be a night scenario. After all, even a brand new Lt. knows that you don’t try to snatch a prisoner in broad daylight. In practical terms, this meant that I never really knew what forces the Germans had arrayed against me, as I never spotted all of the German blinds. There were, however, 4 A type blinds and 2 B type blinds. The good Lieutenant had a force of two platoons, 2xMMGs for light support, and 2x82 mm mortars off board. The Soviets won the scenario by bringing back a prisoner, and inflicted 21 casualties on the Germans. However, 1st platoon took 18 casualties and 2nd platoon took three casualties, for a 1:1 exchange rate. After battle events gave me 2 replacement rolls, for a total of 16 men. Given their light losses, 2nd platoon did not get any replacements. I arbitrarily decided that the start date for this campaign would be August 1941, so the date of the first engagement was August 17. Using the time progression method from TFL’s Charlie Don’t Surf campaign rules, it would be about two weeks until my next battle.

The second action took place on September 3, 1941 and was a full-scale company attack on a German held village. This time, the terrain was moderately heavy and the board looked like this:

Open	Open	Road
Light Woods	Village (with road)	Light Woods
Light Woods	Open	Road

The village only comprised about 6-7 huts, but higher command must have wanted it badly. I say this because every support roll for the Russian forces came up positive. The attacking force was:

Platoons 1,2,3 (1&2 have a 50mm mortar)

Commissar Vlasov, Sr. Lt. Bartov, Jr. Lt. Lobachevsky

4x82mm mortars for off board support

3x T-28 tanks for armor support

3xMMG for light support

1x Engineer platoon consisting of 3xSMG squads with an officer

2x 45mm ATG.

These went up against a defending German force composed of:

2x Infantry platoons,

3x leaders

3x MMG

Off-Board Artillery and an FO team

1xStG III

1x Pz III

The battle plan was tried and true 1941 RKKA. Engineers on the left in the woods, infantry and tanks spread out and making an assault across open ground to get into the village. It was truly a battle of extremes. Commissar Vlasov went down in the very first exchange of fire, and Lobachevsky led at least four successful close assaults with 3 Platoon to bring the right wing of the attack into the village itself. Bartov got his platoon to move into the village later in the attack, and the company pushed the Germans out of the village and won the scenario. In the last shot of the game however, the retreating Pz III fired into one of the buildings, got one kill, and that was Sr. Lt. Bartov. While losses among the officers were bad, the losses among the men were as severe. 1 Platoon had 11 casualties, 2 Platoon had 6, and 3 Platoon had 9 men down. The support units were hit heavily as well, with 2 T-28s and 1 MMG lost. We counted 31 German bodies, and 1 StG III killed.

Die roll results for after the battle proved to be interesting as well. One of the officers improved his skills, and a die roll determined that would be Commissar Vlasov, who was not dead but only wounded. One of the officers won notice from the Company CO, and once again the die roll determined that the lucky man would be Vlasov. Captain Karpov put him in for the Combat Service Medal, but that was turned down by battalion HQ. The company was scheduled to get 15 replacements, but events would negate that result, as I will explain later. Nevertheless, after two hard battles there were two victories, even with my poor quality troops. Clearly, On to Berlin! was our rallying cry. Unfortunately, reality was about to visit the 537th Rifle Regiment via our third battle, which I will describe in the next post.

Greetings from the 537th Rifle Regiment!

Or, to be more accurate, the 1-Й РОТА, 1-Й БАТАЛЬОН, 537-Й СТРЕЛКОВЫХ ПОЛК. For my Platoon Forward campaign, I have decided to run an early war Red Army rifle company. Using a Red Army unit poses a rather unique set of challenges, both tactically and in the Platoon Forward context.

The biggest challenge is a lack of Big Men to get things done. Under the IABSM rules, a Soviet rifle company in 1941 only has 2 Big Men, plus a commissar. To make things worse, neither of the Big Men is the company commander. So, the company commander becomes an NPC in PF terms, and the player becomes a platoon commander similar to unmodified PF. Of course, in this case you are not in overall command. Given the dearth of leaders, Red Army officers have to be a lot more aggressive in leading assaults (and taking risks) than their western counterparts. From a storytelling point of view, there is a good thing about having so few Big Men: Fewer characters to keep track of. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the 537^th’s dramatis personae.

Company Commander: Captain Karpov is the company CO, and will be considered an NPC until/unless one of the Lieutenants is KIA. He is an Aggressive personality, whose motivation is revenge. He is a level II commander (DAv) who has a Bold temperament and a Military background. From this, I take it that he is a long-term officer who wants results (the Aggressive personality) and will take defeats or slights VERY personally thanks to the Revenge motivation. He is a competent enough officer (Level II), and his father was probably an officer in the Revolution, given his military background. His background also means that he probably does not care too much for all these amateurs that have flooded his beloved RKKA.

Commissar: Politruk Vlasov is a very different man from the CO. He is a Generous personality, and his motivation is wealth. He is a level I commander (D4-2) with a Reckless temperament, and his background is that of a ranker. His generous personality makes him more popular with the men than Captain Karpov is, and his ranker background contributes to that popularity. The relationship between a company commander and his political officer would be strained at best, and Vlasov’s ranker background does not make this any easier. Vlasov’s ability and temperament means that he is not as good a military leader as he thinks he is, even if the men do like him. He is not above finding ways to line his pockets with some extra rubles if the way is legal, and so is probably not a particularly zealous Commissar.

Big Man 1: Senior Lieutenant Bartov is an Optimist whose motivation is government. He is another level I commander (D4-2) with a Reckless temperament who comes from a privileged background. Clearly, he is a happy-go-lucky type who believes that things are always getting better thanks to the Communist Party and Comrade Stalin. Sometimes, it seems that he should be the Commissar and not Vlasov. Perhaps part of the reason he is such an optimist is because his privileged background (family connections, maybe?) got him where he is today. Whatever got him his rank it clearly is not his military ability.

Big Man 2: Junior Lieutenant Lobachevsky is the newest officer in the company. He is a Conformist whose motivation is religion. He is also a level I commander (D4-2), but with an even temperament he is under no illusions about his lack of ability and his average background gives him none of the advantages or disadvantages that the other characters have. Overall, Jr. Lt. Lobachevsky is a bit of an enigma. He has learned not to stick his neck out for anything, perhaps because he lost some friends in the purges? Or maybe it is because of the religious background his parents imparted to him. No matter what, this religious bent is a side of his personality that he will NOT let show in his present assignment. Due to his conformist nature, he will do whatever it takes to carry out his orders, just so he doesn’t have to face the wrath of Captain Karpov.

I am already two games into my current campaign, but did not take any pictures. I will sum them up in another post.

Gung Ho!

"Listen up Lieutenant!" Captain Middlebrock was irritated. "I'm not really sure what you 90-day wonders know, but you have your stripes and it's time to prove you deserve them! I don't care if you got off the boat yesterday, the rest of us got off our boat the day before that, and the germans didn't give us any time to catch our breath. I have a leaderless platoon and a section of french land I need patrolled! You can do it, they are good men and they long to get some revenge for Lt. Ingram. Oh, yes, he's your predecessor.Unfortunately I can't give you any transport, the last patrol got their halftrack strafed by our own flyboys, and I can't afford to lose any more vehicles. Now get to it!"

The table and entry points.

My second mission in Platoon Forward was Patrol. The mission, naturally, is about patrolling an area, which basically is all of the board. Somewhere along the way you will encounter the enemy.
I rolled up the board and got the outskirts of a village, a small stream, a big area of light woods and a smaller area of heavy woods. I also got an empty area so I put a stone wall in their to create a field. I placed a burning M3 on the road through the village for some flavour.

I planned to advance through the heavy woods, skirt around the field and then sneak along the river. I would try to sneak at the edge of the village and then through the light woods back to my own lines. Hopefully I would avoid detection and get the drop on any enemy troops I encountered. I decided to use both squads so one could support the other if they ran into a problem.



1st squad on the left, Lt. Caulfield and Sgt. Sipowitz  in the middle. 2nd squad on the right lack in camoflague skills!

So my forces are as follows: 2nd Lieutenant Caulfield, grade 1.
Staff sergeant Sipowitz, grade 3, reckless.
1:a grupp, sex man ledda av Private 1st class Dimitriou, grade 1.
2:a grupp, åtta man ledda av Corporal Dever, grade 1, brave.

I got the pre-game event Gung-ho! which means one squad got a bonus in close combat and decided that 1st squad is out for revenge. Since they have lost two men I attached Sgt Sipowitz to them, while Lt. Caulfield went with Dever and 2nd squad.

This time I had some new, american, patriotic dice!

Replacements

Well, time to see who will replace Lt. Ingram who was badly wounded during his first mission. A few rolls of the dice later...

Lt. Gary Caulfield is a Conformist motivated by Wealth. So he's a yes-sayer who doesn't stick his chin out. His temperament in combat is even (neither takes unnecessary risks nor is overly cautious) and he comes from a normal background. Unfortunately I roll low for his skill and he turns out as only a grade 1 leader. I draw the conclusion that he hasn't lead a platoon of his own before, either earning his stripes behind a desk or coasting along on another officer's merits. In any way it is not good for the platoon.

I then rolled to see if anyone from Jenkins' squad will step up while he's away. Hooray, yes indeed! Private 1st class Jeff Dimitriou shoulder's the responsibility. Since Jenkins is grade 2 Dimitriou automatically becomes grade 1, but it's better than nothing as otherwise the platoon sergeant would have had to take charge. (This roll was not a function of PF, but of the rules I play, the WW2 variant of M&B, which specifies the chance of "battle-field promotion"). His personality is Cheap and his motivation is Position just like Jenkins, which I figure is the reason he's stepping up to command the squad. In combat though he's cautious -- a bit understandable after what happened to Ingram and Jenkins!

Finally I roll for the next scenario: Patrol it is. I have to move through all nine parts of the board and if I encounter any opposition I have to drive them off, preferably without too many casualties. Unfortunately there is no support available. I also roll for a pre-combat event and gets Gung-Ho! One squad get a bonus in close combat, and I chose Jenkins old squad now led by Dimitriou. I reckon they want to give the hun a bloody nose as revenge!

So the composition of my little patrol is:

• 2nd Lieutenant Caulfield (grade I).
• Staff sergeant Sipowitz (grade III).
• 1:st squad, six men led by Private 1st class Dimitriou (grade I).
• 2:nd squad, eight men led by Corporal Dever (grade I).

I need to get some more figures based up and do some terrain building before I play the mission. Stay tuned, folks!

FUBAR!

"I have a problem, Lieutenant!" Captain Middlebrock said, "We have taken the beach and the nearby villages, but we must drive further inland before the hun has time to gather his defences. There's a bunker covering some fields I want you to check out. The navy boys claim they have knocked it out with them big guns of theirs, but I'm not so sure. This goddamn country is too flat and open for my taste, so it can seriously hamper us if it's still occupied. The question is wether Fritz has run away or is still hunkering down inside it!"

"Don't look so alarmed, I'll lend you a .50 as cover. And you don't have to knock it out, just check if there are any germans in or around it. I suggest you go tonight, questions? Good, dismissed!"

My first mission turned out to be Point Reconaissance. I rolled on the relevant tables and got a bunker, yay! Each mission has information about what your objectives are, any opposition and so on. There are also tables for laying out your board if you don't want to decide yourself (perfect for lazy unimaginitive games like me). Unfortunately for Lt. Ingram I managed to roll three completely empty fields on the side his little force would enter the board. I added some hedges to the fields to break them up somewhat and a road between the buildings seemed logical. I also turned a light woods into an orchard as it fitted better in the area.

The board as decided by the dice. Note the bunker in the middle of the board, covering the road and fields, and the entry point of forces.

Platoon Forward specifies how strong the enemy forces are through a number of blinds. Each blind can either contain troops or be empty, so you don't really know where the enemy will be. Objectives tend to have troops though :-) In this case there were nine blinds: four type A (infantry), three type B (support) and two type C (vehicles). When spotted or when they wish to fire you roll on a table and see wath, if anything is there. For this scenario specified an A blind in a shell crater in the field in front of the bunker and an A blind on the hill directly behind the bunker. I then placed a B blind inside the bunker and a pair of A+B blinds in each of the built up areas on the sides. The C blinds were placed in the orchard and behind the bridge respectively. The objective is to spot at least half the blinds (so five) preferrably including the bunker. 

Lt. Ingram only took one squad accompanying him, led by Cpl Jenkins. As it was a recon mission he didn't want to get into a firefight anyway. The .50 was a random addition and I decided to let it cover the bunker hoping it would be able to supress it a little bit if needed. The squad would advance on the other side of the hedge, hopefully without being detected. (Apologies for the unpainted lead...)

The game begins with the squad sitting tight while Lt. Ingram tries to spot the buildings on the left side. No luck, so he decides to advance carefully along the hedge. But disaster strikes, one of them trips in the dark and goes down wildly cursing! The german listening post in the field realises something is afoot and starts to run towards the german lines. Alarm! Alarm! Der Feind kommt!  (I rolled box cars for their spot.)

Deciding that the game is up anyway the Browning team opens up and cuts down two of the fleeing germans. Hopefully they will draw attention away from the squad.

Move! Move! Move! Hit the dirt! Cpl. Jenkins urges the squad forward and they all hug the ground at the end of the hedge. Nervously Ingram pops the lens caps off his field glasses and manages to deduce that the nearest house is empty. Two blinds spotted, three to go. Maybe there aren't so many germans here after all?
(Note that I'm using german markers and dice, I didn't have a US set...)

The german card comes up. The B-blinds at the intersection and the bunker are both within medium range and they have LoS to the US squad. The bunker has a worse field of fire since there are lots of hedge in the way, but they will try to fire anyway. To my horror both blinds turn out to be Medium Machine guns. The bunker had a 50% chanse of being real while the one at the intersection only had 20% chance. Before resolving the fire I move up the C blinds and one of the remaining A blinds to better positions. Note the card on the bridge which is one of the C blinds. (I do try to play both sides to the best of my ability.)

Two americans go down, caught in the murderous crossfire. I also recieve a shock point (the round marker). Since it was dark and the squad had gone to ground earlier they came off relatively unscathed. Unfortunetaly Lt. Ingram was one of the hit! Rolling for damage he was Badly Wounded and out of the game. His men would have to carry him off the board -- unliked leaders get left where they lie though.

Next, Jenkins card comes up and I have a choice. Retreat, mission unaccomplished, or try to carry on. Since the MG's had revealed themselves I only had to spot one more blind. And Jenkins is Reckless and motivated by Position so it would be in character to try and continue. Furthermore, retreating backwards would not take the squad out of fire from one of the MG's, but advancing behind the ruined building would shield them from both MG's. From there the squad could try to flank the MG and spot the C blind on the bridge. It would be a bit risky since if the blind turns out to be anything heavier than a halftrack I have nothing but guts to throw at it, literally! But then again, Jenkins is reckless. So the US squad leaps up and tries to sprint across the field, dragging Lt. Ingram with them.

Again the dice gods laugh at me. I didn't roll high enough to get across the field. The squad is out of range of the bunker (because it's night) but recieves more shock from the other MG. Luckily no hits, this time. The "Heroic Leader" card comes up, and I decide that Jenkins will try to lob a grenade at the MG. The card is a double edged sword which lets you try something ridiculously dangerous and heroic, but if you fail you have to pay the price. I give Jenkins a whopping 70% to succeed (because I'm biased, so there), having to roll four or more on a D10.

...naturally I roll a one!!! Jenkins leaps down into a crater, frantically unpins a grenade and leaps up again, just to be struck by a burst. Jenkins collapses back again and the grenade explodes harmlessly on the road. Turns out he is only lightly wounded, but it's still enough for the wind to go out of the american GI:s. They manage to get in behind the building and out of the fire, and then slink back to the US lines.

After the game I rolled for replacements and random events. Turns out that I won't be getting any replacements this time, except for a new Lieutenant. Ingram will be travelling back to england on a medical ship, who knows when he will be back? To add insult to injury Jenkins will be away resting for the next three scenarios. Punishment Jenkins calls it, but it's the captain's orders. I dice to see if anyone in Jenkins' squad steps up to replace him; and it turns out that indeed, someone does. So next time I will generate another Lieutenant to replace Ingram and Jenkins' squad won't be leaderless, just two men short.

Big Red One

So okay, I got Platoon Forward and have been reading it thoroughly several times now. I am intending to use it with "Chain of Command", the WW2 version of TooFatLardies "Through the Mud and the Blood". The game is still in it's playtest stages but this will be an excellent method of generating games for testing the rules.

I was procrastinating a bit before I decided I would play a US platoon from the 1st Infantry Division in Normandy. They were called the Big Red One, and landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day, taking some 30% casualties. To reflect that, and because I don't have many US figures (yet!) the platoon will start with only two squads. Any support weapons heavier than a BAR they will have to get from the company or batallion assets which means they will be rolled for on the appropriate tables in Platoon Forward.

• The platoon is led by 2nd lieutenant Charles Ingram. He is liberal and motivated by wealth, from a privileged background. He turned out to be a grade III leader (on a scale of one to four). He is basically a good guy who wants to do his duty, but his family's connections got him into West Point and he is destined for a career as a lawyer after the war.
• Second in command is staff sergeant Andy Sipowitz. He is corrupt but has the motivation government, which means he believes in the system but thinks it's ok to earn an extra buck here and there. He too is a grade III leader and is reckless in combat. So he's a good leader but takes risks. I decide his parents immigrated from Poland at the beginning of the century but he is born and raised in Ney York with little feelings for his old country.
• Corporal Richard Jenkins is leading 1st squad. He is idealistic and motivated by position. He is grade II and reckless as well.. I'm starting to see why the platoon has suffered a lot of casualties, maybe he and sergeant Sipowitz are trying to outshine eachother?
• Corporal James D. Dever heads up second squad. He is haughty and motivated by religion. Only a grade I leader but bold (the Lord is his shepherd after all). He is the only leader in the platoon who recieved a negative trait which will affect his interactions with other people. I decide he's from the bible belt and has -- according to himself -- high standards and morale. He'd rather preach about his men's faults than listen to their needs and looks down upon those who cannot live up to his standards. He is not particularly liked by his men.
• Finally I rolled up the company commander since he's the person the platoon has to deal with. Captain Keith Middlebrock is generous and hedonist, which is quite an odd combination. He is also from a privileged background so I decide he's quite an adventurer and mercenary who has seen a lot of action around the world before the war and totally lives for the moment.

So, our actors are ready, and the scene is set. Our saga will begin on june the 8th, 1944.