DAR - Russian Winter Woes

[Lt. Ketch]

I'm on battle 4 of a 60 battle LC as the USSR. Current Date is 11/42 and I already hate the Russian winters, and I'm the freaking Russians! I'm going to try to update this periodically through out the battle as it's 57 turns long and most of the first 12 turns were spent walking my infantry through the trees at 50 meters a turn.

Details:
Core Force
Rifle Company +
HQ
12.7 HMG(2)
82mm Mortar (upgraded in last battle)
9xRifle squads
3xLMG squads

Mountain Company
HQ w/ Mountain Squad escort
Mountain Sniper
9xMountain squads
3xMountain scouts

Additional Infantry
6xMarine Engineer squads

Tank Company (Cobbled together)
HQ T-34/76
3xT-4/76
3xKv-1 (can't remember exactly)
3xT-34/57

Additional AFV
4xZis-30 TD
4xGaz AAMG

Recon
2xScouts w/ konsomolet transport
2xBA-6 AC
2xPara scouts w/ konsomolet transport
AOP w/ konsomolet transport
BA-20 AO AC

Artillery
4x122mm on board howitzers
4x76mm on board inf guns
5x107mm mortars
attached - 4xAmmo trucks
attached - 4xGaz trucks

Support forces
8xKatusha Rockets
5x120mm mortars
3x57mmL71 ATG
4x122mm off board art.
152mm off board art.
2xPlatoons Motorcycle Sections w/Motorcylclex3 transport.
4xAmmo trucks

I'm advancing on a German Delay. Size- 100x100, visibility- 30. The map is consist of winter forest, cut at the north, south and from NE to SW by roads and Rail (think a big "Z") with both a secondary and main road running NE-SW. Villages and groups of buildings are fairly thick along the roads, particularly on the NE to SW section with the SW corner of the map laid out like a small city. Objectives are in that city and in a small, more isolated village in the NW along the road. The Small city is build up on a hill (level 5+) and there are hills dotting the area (~level 3) There is not much open ground, maybe clearings ranging in size from 200m to 800m, most of it around to the very south and north of the city and in the center south. Most of these are taken up by fields.

The plan was flawed to begin with (and has already been changed), but it was to advance my troops across the center and come at the city from the north and the northern village from the south while the support inf company would advance west along the southern road to draw the enemy's attention. Since I don't anticipate much armour, My reserve is made up of the T-34/57s and T-34/76s and a section of Gaz AAMG with the Marine Engineers riding. My Mountain troops would lead with their scouts in front while the rifle company followed close behind (this is also because in the last battle, I held the mountain infantry in reserve and they didn't get much action. I wanted them to get some experience this time.) The Kvs would accompany them as close support. The Support Rifle Com was deployed with the Zis-30 TDs and the other section of Gaz AAMG. My recon forces were split between the two groups with the infantry in the konsomolets to the south of the main group but north of the support and the ACs south of the support groups riding the boarder. The Motorcylce plattons were given road duty, One in the north and one in the south. I consider these units helpful but their main job is to spot things, even if it's by drawing their fire. Artillary is spread out amoung the trees withe the 76mm inf guns and 57mm ATGs overlooking the south flank of the park where there is more open space.

Mistakes already made. 1-No transport. After the first turn I realized that my infantry could possibley spend the entire game walking and never make it to both objectives. I'm now heading for the NE/SW road and after I've found the enemy will use one platoon of tanks to ferry grunts up to the line. 2-Bad placement of troops. Relates to number 1
And Changes to compensate. I'm focusing my efforts on the southern objective, moving my main body down the NE/SW roads and will try to move the southern force, which was originally designed as a "hey we're over here" effort into a position to make some advances.

Game so far – the first 12 turns or so were spent moving my foot infantry up to the roads and getting them pointed SW. The Motorcycles to the south ran into some resistance as they began to examine one of the little villages along the road, and 120mm mortar fire was called in to try to soften up the position before the rifle company arrived. The northern motorcycles left the road and began to flank around the north side of a hill in order to try to get a good view on the northern village. The most exciting news is that my infantry scouts that were deployed with transport to the south of the main body had contact with the enemy in the path of the main body. One squad was reduced to a single man and one other squad has since been eliminated (turn 15). Thanks to some well explained procedures from Cross, I was able to deploy my AOP just out of range of the Infantry waiting in ambush (Well, waiting in a sprung ambush that cost me three men) and they redirected the plotted 107mm mortars right on top of the offending squad. The AOP added all four of the 76mm guns to the area as well. I didn’t want to use the 122mm because I didn’t want the craters slowing me down. The artillery was very effective and despite some LMG fire and the enemy calling in 75mm artillery down on his position, my AOP survived and is still directing fire down against the enemy units in the area (but from a different position).

At the end of turn 12, one of my BA-6s took fire from a Pz-IIIj that is stationed on a hill overlooking the south area of the south road. The Panzer missed every shot (much to my relief. It seems I always lose at least 1 AC early on in the game), and some infantry was able to pop some smoke to cover the AC’s escape. A section of Zis-30s was moved into position to deal with the threat. The two TDs have been alternating taking moving and still shots at the panzer, and while five or six shots have landed on it, they haven’t been able to penetrate the armor. TDs are working their way forward in order to get better penetration. They haven’t drawn any fire yet, but it may be because the tank knows he can’t hit them at >1000 meters. Artillery will soon be plotted if the TDs can’t take him out before he starts to return fire. Also in the south, the two of the support rifle company’s platoons are ready to enter the village and forest where the motorcycles encountered enemy mountain infantry. The 120mm mortars have been used to prep the area and at least one squad is already in retreat. I’m also sending Ammo trucks to the 120mm as at least three of them are getting low on ammunition. The latest action in the north is that the motorcycles have come under fire from some more German mountain infantry. They will continue to annoy the enemy (I don’t think they could “harass” them even if they wanted to) to try to keep enemy resources there and out of the main body’s way.

The plan for the upcoming turns – The south will continue to press forward, hopefully drawing a few resources their way (if I was playing a human player this might work a little better, but I might get lucky). One platoon of support rifles is going to try to take the hill where the Pz-III was located, proceeding 122mm bombardment. The Main body will continue to advance. In the next two turns the first platoons of mountain infantry will hit the squads that the scouts have found (again, proceeding some more bombardment from the 76mm and 107mm mortars. Once we’ve neutralized the crossroads where one of the NE/SW roads meets the south road, I’ll reform the line and begin my advance into the city. During the reforming, the scouts will try to flank to the north of town to see if the tanks with riders can break through and provide flanking support. While I am a little concerned about bombardment during the reforming period, I don’t think the enemy has many guns and possibly only ~75mm at that. I’ve received bombardment from at least 2 guns, possibly 4 and all of it has been small stuff. I’m saving my Katyushas and heavy off board stuff for the city as I know that it will be slow going and full of Infantry and ATGs. We’ll see how it goes.

I know it's a long read, but any further reports won't enclude all the background stuff.