Minsk we decided, would be the first battle which would be played over a number of evenings across several weeks. This obviously took a lot of the pressure of us to rush through it and get it completed in one night allowing for more prep time and the chance to discuss certain 'house rules' which we could put in place to further aid the enjoyment of the battle (these will be explained during the course of the battle report). The 4' x 4' board was (fairly) quickly transformed into the rubble strewn capital of Belarus and Mission 2: Maximum Attrition was decided upon. However, seeing as this was a Russian military hotspot we mixed in a spot of Hold Until Relieved, allowing Rayner to set-up two of his units to start the game on the board (in Max.Att. no units start on the board). This meant his hard-as-nails NKVD started in the middle of the board along with his Medium Mortar Crew + spotter.

House Rule 1.

We decided that all Russian 'spotters' or 'observers' would start the game on the board. This was to represent the fact that these type of troops would already be lurking in the ruins of Minsk ready to rain down destruction upon the invaders heads. This meant that Rayner's Forward Artillery Observer would also start the game set-up on the board.

This meant that whatever was left of each sides forces, on Turn 1 50% of its remaining units could come on and the rest would stay in reserve.

House Rule 2.

Due to the Germans successes in the earlier conflicts it was felt that instead of rolling for reserves they could use the 'outflankers' rule. This would also represent the fact that the city was indeed surrounded with the enemy swarming in from all sides.

With the small contingent of Russians set-up, the scenario's in place, the game was ready to go.

Next post: The German Army List (and hopefully the Russian).

I really like the house rules. They add a lot of character.

Russian forces

Set up on the board,

Medium mortar team with spotter (reg) 60pts
11 nkvd with LMG (reg) 163pts
Forward artillery observer (reg) 100pts

Entering on turn one,

Medium machine gun, gun shield (reg) 55pts
Ampulomet Anti-tank team (reg) 40pts
light howitzer (reg) 50pts
free rifle squad (inexperienced) 0pts
Commissar +1 extra man (inexperienced) 22pts
Anti tank rifle (reg) 30pts

Reserves,

Second (Junior) Lieutenant +1 extra man (inexperienced) 42pts
LMG squad 12 men, LMG, (inexperienced) 104pts
LMG squad 12 men, LMG, (inexperienced) 104pts
LMG squad 12 men, LMG, (inexperienced) 104pts
BT-7 (regular)

Blimey! That's a lot of dudes!

German Forces At Minsk.

The 2nd Panzer Division Das Reich.

1st Lieutenant with an additional 2 infantry men. 116pts

2 squads of (early war) Waffen SS. Includes NCO's with SMG's, 1 x LMG team in each and all models are Fanatics and equipped with anti-tank grenades. Both units come out at 203pts each.

A medic with an additional infantryman. 38pts

2 x MMG teams. 130pts

A Medium Mortar Team complete with spotter. 75pts.

And finally a Panzer III Ausf H or J at 234pts.

This gave me a total of 8 Order Dice which I wasn't to displeased with, until I found out the Russians had 14!

I played a Panzer III as I thought it was more suitable to the 'time' the battle was set in. Although it would of course be represented by a MKIV model.

With a list constructed my forces prepared to enter Minsk............

Turn 1 with pictures is up next.

Awesome!! Looking forward to seeing how this all pans out!

Nicely done!

Looking forward to the pics

Turn 1.

Set in the North-West of the city, the SS were due to stream into the city. But, due to the slower moving infantry of the German army, gaping holes were left in the encirclement of Minsk meaning the trap was by no means air-tight. As hordes of Russian troops and civilians made for these gaps the fighting in the Belarus capital's streets was fierce, with the red army trying to buy as much time as possible.

The board had a very East/West feel. On my left was the smaller ruins, complete with the NKVD set up right in the centre just to the left of what we named 'Main Street'. Further back, closer to the Russian lines was the Mortar crew. To the right of Main St. on the East (Right) hand-side of the board was the large bombed-out ruins which housed the Mortar spotter and Artillery Observer. Dotted around were trees and other ruined buildings (pictures will go up and you'll see what I mean ).

Aptly, the first 2 order dice out were German as the 2nd picked there way through the rubble of the bombed city. The Mortar team eased on finding some suitable ruins while the spotter ran for the cover of some nearby woodland to the far right of the board. Squad A entered from the left and decided to have a crack at the NKVD. But, under the rules of 'exceptional shooting' you wont be surprised to find out none of the NKVD fell.

The next 4 dice were all Russian, with Rayner bringing on his Howitzer to support the NKVD, the NKVD going into 'Ambush', a Molotov Launcher advancing onto Main Street (these hurt) and an LMG unit moving on to the board Westside. As with all games of this type the first turn is usually about placement, so aside from the splinters of concrete the NKVD recieved, very little happened. We wound the turn down with the German MMG and Lieutenant moving on which left us with an awful lot of reserves for round 2.

Neither player had committed his armour, the russians had 3 LMG squads to come on and an MMG team and I had a 2nd Squad, Medic and 2nd MMG team to enter the fray.

More may have happened which I forgot to write down, it was probably when I got distracted from counting up all the troops Rayner had at his disposal to be honest .

Next up, Turn 2 and first blood is spilt.

Quick correction. The LMG team that came on in turn 1 was actually the free rifle squad which does not get and LMG. Pics will be posted when on laptop. Great turn 1 write up.

Nice work so far dude!

Turn 2.

In amongst all the devastated buildings the sharp-eyed spotter for the German Mortar team noticed the Artillery Forward Observer, this was how turn 2 opened up. Yet again SS shooting was not great and the Observer was unhurt.

The following order dice saw the Molotov Launcher get into better cover along Main St. while the German MMG went into 'Ambush' mode. Another German dice saw the order given for Squad A on the West side of the board to break cover and run for some woodland along the side of the board, this however meant running the gauntlet of the NKVD squad set at Ambush.

House Rule 3.

To represent the fact that the NKVD would be shooting at a fast moving unit running full pelt it was decided to add a -1 shooting penalty. This was to represent those heroic dashes across open ground as the enemy tries to get a bead on you. Therefore the NKVD would need 4's and not 3's to hit and then 5's to wound. When the SS squad stopped in the relative safety of the woods they noticed that 1 of there number had fallen. First blood to Rayner.

On the East side the German Medic now ran to support the Lieutenant but the problems were starting to grow for the invaders as 2 LMG squads now entered play from the Russian lines. The elite, hard-hitting but limited numbers of the 2nd were starting to look very inadequate against the Ivan hordes. More problems grew when the Russian MMG team plonked itself covering Main St. pretty much tying up that route across the city. German squad B came on at the East side using the Outflank rule which allowed the unit to shoot at the Forward Observer, but needing exceptional shots again the pesky Russian survived.

With the Russian anti-tank rifleman and Howitzers staying in Ambush the 2nd German MMG team rushed on to support the Lieutenant who's 2 additional riflemen thought they would have a pop at, yes you guessed it, the Observer. Same result, he survived and I feared the worst as he retaliated and the air was filled with the noise of incoming shells (the Forward Observer puts a dice down representing where he would like the shells to hit, then at the start of the next turn before order dice are pulled the effects of the bombardment are resolved). Trust me, I usually suffer badly at any form of bombardment.

So Turn 2 ended and so far we had just 1 casualty, an SS infantryman from Squad A on the West side of Minsk. Neither commander had committed there tanks and Rayner still had 1 LMG squad also.

I can only give an opinion as to the state of play so far from the SS point of view, but I was massively outnumbered, my shooting was ineffective (though to be fair most of it was going to be difficult shots due to Rayner's clever placement) and I now had to see what the resulting artillery result would be. The Germans crouched down amongst the ruins and prayed.

The prelude to Turn 3 is next, but how would the dice roll?

Seems like that age old problem of not enough bullets!

My job was photos between turn posts but I have failed on this venture, mainly due to working away and Gazzas clearly wanted it out there asap, fair play.

heres the photos of the battle for the first two turns

Set up

Observer and spotter hide in the ruins.


Nkvd wait near the middle of the battle field.


Mortar, nkvd, observer and spotter all in shot.

turn 1


Gazzas SS enter the board


My Soviets enter the board