At 0530, the German 1/204th Tank Battalion moved north to the right of the minefield while the 2/204th Tank Battalion, with the 1/29th Antiaircraft Company attached, moved to the northeast, towards the Soviet entrenchment south of Korpetsch. Visibility, which at battles start, was only 100 meters, increased, by 0700 to about 800 meters. The Soviets undertook no activity, waiting for the Germans to come.

By 0730 the fog had burned off and things began to heat up. The 1/204th turned east, advancing on Korpetsch and the west end of the entrenchment, while the 2/204th attacked the Soviet 1/263rd rifle regiment in the entrenchment. The Soviet 45mm AT and 76mm regimental gun batteries in the southwest edge of Korpetsch now engaged the 1/204th as it approached. By 0730 the Soviet forward observer managed to call his artillery in on the 1/204th catching the 1/129th Armored Infantry Company as it deployed from its halftracks. The Soviet 1/15th Tank Battalion, receiving word of the attack in Korpetsch, moved from Tulumtschak south on the road to Korpetsch. The 2/15th Tank Battalion, in Tulumtschak, was unable to activate.

The 1/204th continued its assault on the town between 0800 and 0900, trading losses with the Soviet antitank and howitzer batteries deployed there. The 1/15th stopped on the road, waiting for the 2/15th (which finally activated) to catch up (actually, this time, the 1/15th was unable to activate!) The 1/204th and 2/204th continued their assault on the entrenchment, gradually rolling up the west end of the works. Losses to the 2/204th and the 1/263rd were severe. The Soviet artillery continued to pound the 1/129th, inflicting serious losses and driving them from the battle line in rout. At 0830, the German 7/140th Rifle Company, deployed with the 2/204th for an attack on the east end of the entrenchment, badly shot up the Soviet company facing it but was unable to penetrate their position. Losses to the 1/263rd were, by this time, becoming serious as the 2/263rd Rifle Battalion tried, slowly, to redeploy to the south edge of town. German artillery finally arrived, shelling the Soviet positions in southwest Korpetsch.

At 0900, the 1/15th and 2/15th, in sight of the 1/204th but out of effective gunnery range of them, sat on the road to Korpetsch while their officers tried to figure out what to do (they were unable to activate). The 1/204th silenced the Soviet antitank battery at 0930 and advanced into the southwest edge of Korpetsch - without, unfortunately, its infantry support. The 1/263rd broke and fled, with its few survivors, back into Korpetsch, allowing the 1/204th and 2/204th to occupy the entrenchment, but not before routing the 7/140th For the first time the Soviet artillery fell silent. The German artillery lifted when the 1/204th occupied its target area. The 2/263rd redeployed its ATR company to fire into the 1/204th flank from the northwest corner of Korpetsch, trying to pick up the slack from the lost 45mm AT company.

The 2/15th managed to get moving again, arriving at the north end of Korpetsch by about 1000, while the 1/15th attempted to regain some semblance of organization. The 7/140th, rallied by the 204th regimental headquarters, moved back up to the entrenchment. The 1/204th consolidated and redeployed to face the 2/15th. The 2/263rd managed to redeploy one company to face the Germans in southwest Korpetsch.

Sometime between 1000 and 1030 the battle ended as both sides licked their wounds and tried to reorganize their troops for the next round. The game was called a draw because both sides met their victory conditions.

The overriding controlling factors in this game were command control and leadership. The Germans had better leadership ratings (+3 to +4, versus + 2 to + 3 for the Soviets), better command spans (3 to 4 versus 2 to 3 for the Soviets), and better activation numbers (4 to 5 versus 2 to 3 for the Soviets - except for their artillery). Remember that in CoA, companies determine their eligibility to move, fire, and just about everything else, by casting 1D10 less than or equal to their activation numbers. A leader can modify a company's activation number by adding his leadership factor to it, but can do this only within his battalion and can modify, per turn, only as many such die rolls as his command span. Further, while a leader-assisted activation roll can be repeated if failed (with certain penalties), a company that fails an unassisted activation roll is finished for the turn.

Larger version of map at right: (Warning: big file--slow download)

This is where the Germans shone. In a given turn, they could expect most of their companies to do something, while the Soviets could expect half or less of their companies to act in a turn. Add in some lousy die rolling (as the Soviet player did) and things quickly got frustrating. The 15th Tank Regiments battalions, commanded by an inept RHQ with small command span, proved largely ineffective, though it tried to move its tanks for most of the game. The best Soviet formation, the 1/263rd rifles, became engaged early in the battle, costing the Soviets much of their maneuverability.

I mentioned that at around 1000 the 1/15th Tank Battalion tried to reorganize. This was because, by this point in the battle, they'd accrued several fatigue points (FPs). Each time a company activates - moves, shoots, etc. - there's a chance it will accrue FPs. These only go away (in part or in whole) after a company undertakes an action called recover. All FPs after the first one are negative activation number modifiers for a company. Both sides accrued a number of FPs during the game but, due to the disparity in command control, it hurt the Soviets much more than it did the Germans.

A more experienced Soviet player would've tried to rotate troops out of the line to allow them to recover, thereby allowing them to be a bit more active later in the game. By the way - the recover action also allows companies to shed hits, but at the rate individual stands took hits, this might not have helped the 1/263rd.

Command control with an attitude is what made playing Clash of Armor enjoyable! One really appreciates the difference good leadership and communications makes when one cant get ones troops to pay attention

On the down side, normal combat seemed more complicated than it needed to be, for little gain in perceived realism; certainly more so than SH or CDII.

The Comparison

WWII Rules Comparison Introduction
Rules Overview (all three sets)
Assault on Korpetsch (historical overview and order of battle)
Command Decision II replay
Spearhead replay
Conclusion

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