Olita 1942

 This game was played 1/8/10 in my conservatory. I was the Germans and Chris played the Soviets. Most of the kit on display is mine but the T-34's and some of the obscure Soviet stuff belongs to Chris.

The SU-100Y of the 1st battalion 9th tank Regiment guards the clearing next to the main road east. In front is the BA-FAI of the Regimental staff. On turn one it would retreat to the rear. The SU-100Y is an old Ostmodels model. The BA-FAI is from Liberation

T-100's in the woods guarding the trails north to the railway bridge. The nearest is from US Casts (painted by Chris) the further from Ostmodels

T-100 in close-up (Ostmodels) flanked by stragglers from the 126th Rifle Division

Soviet second line of defence. the T-34's of the 2nd Battalion guard the main road east. Fujimi T-34 M1941's, Cromwell T-34 M1940's, Cromwell T-26T and PST guns and truck

The remaining T-34's guard the point the railway exits the woods

5 Kompanie 25 Panzer Regiment advances. Pz-III from left to right: SHS, MMS and Matchbox with a matchbox Pz-II coming up the rear

The panzers advance on the SU-100Y

8 Pz Kp supports the advance of the 5 Pz Kp. The SU's shooting was poor the Germans shooting was spot on, killing the SU-100Y. The road to the east was open

The Panzers advance over the Nemen to be confronted with a Soviet pioneer stand. Unfortunately for the Germans the pioneers were rather handy with their Molotovs destroying the lead tank.  Vac-u-Cast Pz-IVE and Airfix Pz-IVF2

A traffic jam soon builds up behind the lead panzers. Matchbox (mostly) 251's with a Milicast 10/4

10cm auf PzKfw-IV (Milicast) guards the flank of the advance against a possible counter attack

The Germans forge forward in to the Soviet kill sack. Not that they have much choice in the matter as there is only one way forward and no cover to speak of (recall that the woods are dense and tanks can't enter them). Luckily the Soviet deployment restrictions mean only a pair of T-34's and a 57mm face the Panzers. Its enough. by the end of the turn all the Panzers will be burning or cowering shaken

German reinforcements enter the battlefield

The Soviet divisional commander arrives to oversee the engagement. Alby Gaz-AAA with SHQ maxim. The staff car is a die cast the provenance of which escapes me.

The Germans bravely push through all the burning wrecks. Pz-IF by Cromwell

In the rear German reinforcements continue to struggle up to the front. The German commander retreated the halftracks to get them out of the way of the panzers.

Neither side's air was much good during the game. The Luftwaffe entirely failed to find the enemy or was blasted out of the sky by the Soviet 37mm. The VVS made but a single appearance and promptly strafed its own side

The PaK-41 (SHQ) from the Kradschützen takes over the role of flank guard

The Soviet 4th Battalion makes an ill fated attack from the south (in the game we swapped arrival locations of the 3rd & 4th bttns). The T-50's took one shot at a panzer, missed, then promptly fled the field shaken. SHQ T-50's the lead pair painted by Chris

The Germans push forward again. They are gradually eroding the Soviet defences but are also running out of tanks themselves. In the top left of the pic the T-34 battalion commander has finally arrived to order the other T-34 company forward.

The Germans needed to remove the T-100's west of the Nemen if they were to win. However resources were tight. With 2 hours to go the German panzer battalion commander took command of an assorted group of stragglers and send them in to battle. Here the lead elements duel with the first T-100. However time was running out...

The Germans most successful tank - without a doubt - was the PzKfw-IF, it being the best armoured tank on the German side. Despite being shot at many times it survived all the hits. Shame it only has a pair of MG's. Here it pushes in to the depth of the Soviet defence in order to trigger morale checks amongst the Soviet infantry.

Last of the German stragglers moves up. Unfortunately for the German at this point they've run out of commanders to take command of them.

After the Pz-II fails to dislodge the T-100 the Germans try something bigger: PzSfl-V (Milicast). Bit of a waste using it in a wood but time is short and the Germans are starting to get desperate.

The Soviet 3rd Tank Battalion enters the fray and forges towards the battle. Fujimi & SHQ KV's

In the rear of the column are a pair of KV-2 107's (one has the wrong turret) and the KV-9, Vac-u-cast turrets in Fujimi hulls. MR Modelbau BA-20

Its a long column of tanks!

The PzSfl-V's shooting is lamentable. Its hit by the T-100 and falls back. It's left to the battalion commander to finish off the T-100. Luckily for the Germans the T-100's have also failed their morale and gone shaken

Last of the German Panzers manoeuvre for the Flank of the KV's. Ready for a lunge across the railway in the dying minutes of the battle

T-100's in the woods finally defeated. However there is still a BA-10 on the "German" side of the river

This was a tricky game for both sides. Both sides are hurting for command units. The spread-out nature of the Soviet deployment and the fact that the German stragglers enter the table not under command exacerbate the difficulties of both sides. In this encounter the Soviets got the better of the Germans 6VP's to 3VP's but it wouldn't have taken much for the Germans to have won. I was far too reckless with one of my commanders and lost him early on which was an error. However it was a very good game and one of the best I have played in a long time

Back to Sceanrio