The Czerniakow Bridgehead - T8 - Desperate times

The scenario is clearly won by the Russians. However, I decided that I'd try to do the right thing and pull out the Germans so that they can fight another day. Their ELR is down to 2 due to Battlefield Integrity.

The russians figured out that coming from all sides will seal the SPW 521/1 in place for the kill in the following turn. The Germans are dismounted. The halftrack is pointing in the wrong direction. And yeah, the 3-3-7 have MOL.

Strangely, I can't recall of any rules which makes it dangerous to engage with fire when there is a friendly unit right on the other side of the target. Any such thing?

What course of action is the most likely to save as many Germans as possible? If and only if they are almost certain to die, how would you make the russian pay the highest price for their kill?

I can think of lots of fun things to do...

With the stack exploded.

Same situation, with neat stacks.

With neat stacks.

The Czerniakow Bridgehead - T8 - The last stand

The scenario is clearly won by the Russians. However, I decided that I'd try to do the right thing and pull out the Germans so that they can fight another day. Their ELR is down to 2 due to Battlefield Integrity. 

The russians figured out that coming from all sides will seal the SPW 521/1 in place for the kill in the following turn. The Germans are dismounted. The halftrack is pointing in the wrong direction. And yeah, the 3-3-7 have MOL.

Strangely, I can't recall of any rules which makes it dangerous to engage with fire when there is a friendly unit right on the other side of the target. Any such thing?

What course of action is the most likely to save as many Germans as possible? If and only if they are almost certain to die, how would you make the russian pay the highest price for their kill?

I can think of lots of fun things to do...

With stacks exploded

Layout with neat stacks

The Czerniakow Bridgehead - T6.5 - Something snapped

The russians are handing a well measured but still contested defeat to the Germans. 

The Germans were about to pull a victory by a thin margin as they broke through the Polish/Russian defenses. However, a HIP LMG opened up on the HMG crew which assumed the open R10 to be safe. The result: 1KIA. This loss of the crew/HMG made victory impossible without bringing more troop from the rear.

The Russians counter-attacked and destroyed a MMC/SMC stack in R8. The thin line of Germans screen, including a guard unit, moved in for a counter-counter-attack on the next turn but the Russians didn't wait. The German defensive fire was fierce and broke the stack. Final fire from F9 broke them again. The russian MMC made the NMC, but the leader went berserk.

Here we are, S8 is such an entertaining hex right now. This is a euphemism for "I had to re-read a buncha rules to keep going".

Behold, the most colorful stack of counters on the board so far. 

The Czerniakow Bridgehead - T4 - The germans have hit a wall.

Private Kaminski's antics in the North have been for naught. The Russians have figured out that they could interdict the bridge without exposing themselves to the German's base of fire. Meanwhile inthe center and against the main effort, the stalwart Russians held strong positions keeping the Germans from moving around freely once passed the bridge. As a result, the forces from the North have been diverted to cut the flanking of the german bridgehead across the deep stream. 

Stalled in the North...

Early success in the south encouraged the germans to be bold over there too. They slipped into good positions, broke a bunch of russian squads and pinned in the open russian reinforcements. The missing piece of the puzzle was a pincer from the main force coming from the north.

In the south, the germans have carved a good position, but it is tenuous... The Russian LMG in K7 is broken and downgraded... it isn't going to rally in a long while. 

The russian counter attack was swift and effective. They came from down the street through buildings, weathered the german defensive fire like big boys and finished them off in close combat. Thus ends the half-hearted diversion on the southern approach. The germans have learned to rejoice when prep-fire works well and not blindly jump in everything that looks like a hole. Granted, the main force should have cleared the way already and this hasn't happen yet.

The tiny stack on H5 now has to make a tough choice.

What turn 5 has in store? I think that the germans will have to wheel in the MMG in the SPW 251/1 in order to support the retreat of the beleaguered MMC/LMG/8-0 stack: reinforcing defeat is generally a bad idea, but here we're talking about 3 CPV that could bloat to 6 CVP if the Russians capture them alive.

Oh, and yea, the main force as a side show has managed to clear the worst of the russian base of fire overlooking the bridge. We'll see where that takes them. Diverting the SPW 251/1 and the MMG to the south bridge may help in rescuing a bucket full of CVP still to lose, but there remains that it still is a diversion of the main effort which is in need of a boost.

The russians O10 and N9 gummed up the German advance for 4 turns! This was caused by a mixture of good dice and a lack of focus of the Germans. Lesson learned here too.

The Czerniakow Bridgehead - T2 - The Ballad of Pvt. Valery Kaminski

The scenario is "The Czerniakow Bridgehead", played solo. After consulting ROAR, I decided to give the White Russians (Germans) a SPW 251/1 halftrack. The story that follows is a sideshow to the main push. 

Private Kaminski was the only White Russian (Russians fighting for the Germans) excited about the assault on the bridgehead this morning. His company slipped North in order to fix a matching body of "Red" Russian troop from their 9th Infantry Regiment.

Lt. Schmoe explained that the objective was to fix the Russians while the main body down-canal pushed to the Vistul and hopefully flank the men across the canal. The base of fire was effective, maybe too effective because Lt. Schmoe decided to go for an early assault. The defending russians kept quiet until they got on the other side.

A flurry of fire coming from the building on both sides broke the assaulting squad and Schmoe. The white russians were falling like flies when the last straw was pulled: some Polish Home army peeps opened with a LMG from down the road.

Bridge Absolut and Smirnoff at 1000: A few seconds before the storm.

The white russians dropped their weapons and surrendered to the russians nearby while Private Kaminski decided to pick up the LMG and make a run for the bridge in a low crawl.

Private Kaminski split from his surrendering friends and made it to the bridge while dodging bullets coming from all sides.

The fire came from many sides, but the Polish LMG was noisier than dangerous. While his friends on the West bank called for him to pull back, Pvt. Kaminsky slipped from the bridge into the canal underneath. He thus fell out of sight: wet but safe for now. While struggling to keep from sliding into deeper waters, Pvt Kaminski witnessed his colleagues getting a bloody nose on their attempt to cross Bridge Absolut: The Russians on the far side were pinned, but obviously not pinned enough.

Pvt Kaminski has slipped under the bridge and into a deep canal. Everyone is holding their breath.