This game was run at a Warhammer 40K group meeting in Lake Orion, MI. It was an introductory game for most of the players. For this reason, the Germans received an AFV each. If the Germans prove too strong, either reduce the German armor and substitute infantry squads or have the German armor start off-table and arrive at the bridge instead of start on the table. Also, the armor mix in the armor table is based on the models I have. Feel free to change that table to match the models you have.

The Forces

The Germans had the following forces after rolling their dice:

• German Veteran Panzergrenadier Squad with 251/1 half-track.
• German Regular Engineer Squad with 251/1 located at the bridge, laying demolitions.
• German Tiger I tank with Elite crew.
• German Panther tank with Veteran crew.
• German Mark IV/H tank with Veteran crew.

The Soviets had the following:

• 1 T34/76 w/radio (Battlegroup HQ)
• 2 Recon jeeps each with four men and a M2 .50 cal HMG
• 1 3/4 ton truck towing a 45mm ATG, with crew
• 1 SU-85
• 5 M4 Sherman (75)
• 1 half-track with HQ Team (LT, Radioman, medic, two runners. LT has SMG, runners have rifles).
• 3 squads each: 1 NCO with SMG, 1 DP LMG gunner, 1 assistant gunner with rifle, 6 riflemen with bolt-action rifles, all with 2 hand grenades (LMG gunner none) and 1 rifleman with Molotov cocktail. Each squad is in a half-track.
• Commander's half-track has a M2 HMG, others .30 cal LMG.
• 1 off-table battery of 82mm mortars with 3 salvos of smoke. FO team is in the command half-track.

The Battlefield

The bridge is at one end, the Soviets start at the other. There is a road running down the length of the table. The town consists mostly of ruins. The Germans may start anywhere up to halfway in from the bridge side of the table.

The German defense was based around the Tiger I which was placed on the road in the middle of the table behind a large tank obstacle. The German grenadier squad hid in the building next to the Tiger I in order to protect it. On the right flank, the Panther was partially hidden behind a building covering the open area and ruins to its front. The Mark IV/H was hidden in the rubble on the left, back by the river, to cover the open approach on the Tiger's left flank. The Panther and Tiger had AP ammunition loaded, the Mark IV HEAT. The 251/1 was located behind the building the grenadiers were in. The engineers were under the bridge laying demolitions with their half-track off the table.

The Action

The Soviet attack started with the movement of a truck along the left side (German right) of the road up to and behind the first building. A half-track moved with it. The German Tiger, on opportunity fire, fired on the half-track as it moved up. This shell tore into the half-track which burst into flame. The Soviet HQ and FO team hastily abandoned the half-track, with the radio-man and Commander injured when they jumped from the moving vehicle. The Commander would fail his morale check, becoming a "craven coward."

The remainder of the Soviet command moved on. The T34/76 and SU-85 (SU-100 model) moved onto the table on the Soviet left flank, moving into the ruins on that side and spotting the Panther partially hidden to their front. The SU-85 fired, and missed. The Panther fired back, hitting the SU-85 just under its gun, knocking it out. The T34/76 also fired and hit the Panther. The Panther commander, to his astonishment, had his gun barrel damaged. The Panther was now a 45 ton machinegun carrier.

The Shermans came in with two on the left flank and two on the right. The right hand pair moved behind some obstacles on the road directly in front of the Tiger. The other two moved rapidly around to the left to take advantage of the hole created by the damage to the Panther. The infantry tracks also moved on, using the large building in the center for cover. The Recon jeeps moved up to unload a man to clear the wire obstacles with wire cutters.

The German reaction was to pull the Panther back over the bridge to the "repair shop." A reinforcement was allowed by the judge and a 251/1 half-track with a Veteran HQ squad rolled over the bridge and headed for the building the Panther had abandoned.

Meanwhile, the T34/76 had moved to the center, supporting the movement of the two Shermans. It opened fire on the Tiger. The Tiger fired back knocking it out. The Shermans opened fire on the Tiger as well, as the Shermans on the left advanced. A round bounced off the cupola of the Tiger, suppressing the tank commander. The Tiger fired and still hit and knocked out a Sherman. The Tiger then switched to the right to engage the two Shermans moving up there, the commander recovering the next turn. The remaining Sherman in the center moved to the right.

Gut Check

The Soviet successfully rolled a gut check for one of his infantry squads whose half-track charged down the road to surprise the Tiger. Frag Grenades and a Molotov cocktail flew from the half-track to explode around the Tiger. The Molotov exploded on the front of the Tiger. The commander again was suppressed. Mortar rounds thumped in. Smoke. A large screen built up in front of the Tiger, screening the center and some of the Soviet units on the Soviet left flank.

In the building next to the Tiger the German infantry tensed. Fingers gripped the hand grips on two machineguns and three assault rifles. When the Soviet infantry came out of their half-track the German squad would open fire. Meanwhile, the Sherman remaining in the center fired at the 251/1 with the German infantry HQ unit. The 251/1 moved across to the building on the German right and unloaded, the German infantry diving into the building. The Sherman's round missed.

The Tiger was temporarily out of action. The tank commander and gunner had been suppressed, and most of its field of fire had been smoked. Now was the time for the Soviets to advance! The Sherman which had moved to the right continued that way. The two Shermans on the Soviet left pushed forward.

The jeep crews had cut the wire and were getting back in their vehicles. The Soviet 45mm anti-tank gun had unlimbered and was setting up to engage the Tiger. A Russian half-track had moved up to threaten the German held building on the right flank, with another half-track ready to join it. In the half-track in front of the Tiger, the squad decided was not a good idea to get out. Instead, it moved to its left to join the other two half-tracks on that side. The only unit holding the right was the German Grenadier HQ team, their half-track, and the anti-tank team with them. That team had several MP-40 sub-machineguns, a SG-44 assault rifle, a panzer Faust 100, and a panzer schreck bazooka team. Their first defensive action was to take out the lead Soviet half-track with a bazooka round. The track burst into flame with no one getting out. This gave the follow on forces pause.

"Wham!" The 45mm anti-tank gun was set up and firing. The first round bounced off the flank armor of the Tiger. The Tiger fired, then rotated its turret towards the gun. The Tiger's round hit a Soviet half-track. That track also burst into flame with a couple forlorn figures jumping out and moving to the rear. Rounds spattered off the 45mm gun's gun shield. The crew ducked but not fast enough and one went down. Screaming, another Russian jumped to the gun, ignoring the machinegun fire. He didn't get a round off. Three Germans, from the second floor of the building, opened fire. A German assault rifle and two MP-40s fired down into the Soviet gun position and the two surviving crew members dropped, seriously wounded or dead.

The jeeps, meanwhile, found themselves in a gauntlet of machinegun fire as they tried to move past the Tiger. The German Panzergrenadier squad to the Tiger's left was firing both of its weapons at the jeeps. The jeeps continued forward to get behind the cover of the building the Germans were holding, but several of the crew were slumped in their seats. They fired their vehicle machinegun and rifles at the Germans holding the building they were attacking, forcing the Germans to crouch down to escape the fire.

A Sherman tank had moved down the Soviet right to try and get on the Tiger's left side. A German Mark IV was hidden in the rubble of a building back by the river. It had fired at the Sherman when it moved into sight. The Sherman fired back and also missed. Then the flame flew out of the Sherman's open hatches. They had been hit. Indeed, the German Mark IV/H had been waiting in ambush, sure that the Soviets would eventually try and work their way around the Tiger's left flank. The German tank commander's patience had paid off.

To the right of the Mark IV, a German SGIII/long barreled assault gun was advancing over the bridge, the loader up and manning the MG 42 on the top. The Mark IV/H lurched forward, up and over the rubble in front of it. The gun was reloaded. On the second action, the Mark IV moved up.

In the center, the Tiger fired again. This time one of the two Soviet Shermans on their left went up in flames as the 88mm armor piercing round slammed into it. The Soviets hesitated. Their jeeps were out on their own, with almost half of their crews dead or wounded. One Soviet tank was left. The Commander was gone. He had run away early in the battle after the command vehicle was hit by an 88. Two squads of infantry were gone. Their sniper had been ineffective. The Germans were being reinforced and another German tank had appeared. It was time to stop the attack and try to hold onto the ground they had taken.

Final Thoughts

This was our second game. For the Panther and Tiger commander, it was their first. The Tiger commander is now enthusiastically looking forward to running a Royal Tiger.