“The Factory” AAR

By James Copland

Today, Soviet hordes swept into V4 in my man cave. Pulling together opponents and rubble terrain, my friends Ian and Challice played a game with lists from the new sourcebooks Enemy at the Gate and Iron Cross. The commanders had never seen the books before the game, so were given 20 minutes to put a force together. Both choose to run infantry formations, and both choose to run a single formation.

They played a new mission from the Iron Cross book.,The Factory. It is played on a smaller table, 2’x3′ and with a mixed deployment zone means, just like in Stalingrad, you could find yourself on the other side of a door of your enemies. Another interesting aspect of this mission is all terrain other than the building is rubble.

This means moving infantry is fast, and assaults are required to get anything done.

The Soviets won the dice roll to choose a side to attack from, as well as the first of the smaller rooms in the center. The win condition of the game is not objective based unless you count clearing the center building an objective. The Soviets chose the bottom left corner, leaving the Germans with the top right. After reading the rubble rules and knowing that bulletproof cover was plentiful, the Soviets chose to commit a Hero Infantry formation, with Strelkovy support, (we wanted to test the 4+ save mechanic.) in addition to the small (13-stand strong) Hero Infantry.

The Soviets:
1pt HQ:                         2x M1891 Rifle teams
7pt Hero Rifle co:     10x DP MG and 1891 rifles
1x Komissar
1pt Maksim HMG:      1x HMG
7pt Hero Rifle co:     10x DP MG and 1891 rifles
1x Komissar
1pt Maksim HMG:      1x HMG
3pt 120mm Mortar:   3x 120mm Mortars
SUPPORT:
24pt Rifle Co:            28x DP MG Rifle teams
1x Kommisar
16pt OT-34:                 3x OT-34
Total: 60pts

An overbearing infantry force, for an infantry-friendly table. When he saw the Soviet horde opposing him, the German commander choose an equally heavy infantry force. This was a good opportunity to test those Germans Assault Pioneers who hit on 2+ in assaults… Also, flamethrowers, and Snipers.

The Germans:
2pt HQ:                               2x MP40 SMG
12pt Grenadier Platoon:  9x MG34 and K98 Rifles
2pt sMG34 HMG:             1x sMG34 HMG
14pt Assualt Pioneers:     7x MP40 SMG
2x Flame Throwers
2pt sMG34 HMG:            1x sMG34
14pt Assualt Pioneers:     7x MP40 SMG
2x Flame Throwers
2pt sMG34 HMG:            1x sMG34
3pt Sniper:                        1x Sniper
6pt 8cm Mortars:            4x 8cm Mortors
3pt sMG34 HMG             2x sMG34
                                                                                                                      Total: 60pts    

Deployment began with the Soviets choosing their Rifle Co as their Outpost reserves, (new reserve rule where you can only have 40% on the table) and lovingly dumped 30 stands of infantry onto the table. having to leave their HQ and everything else off-table.

The Germans were able to squeeze the HQ, assault Pioneers and the Sniper into the 40%. Both sides deployed completely in the center building. After the obligatory handshake and well-wishes of a “good game,” the dice began to drop.

Soviets won 1st turn and promptly decided they didn’t need any reserves on turn one. So the commander moved his infantry to maximize the new Soviet 6″ assault range. After an impressive first round of shooting, the Soviet rifles managed to pin the German SMGs. The situation looked grim for the Germans in the ensuing assault.

With a shout of URRAH from the Kommisar, 30 stands of Soviet Strelk surged forward to get in knife range. The brave Germans shot over rubble with the pinned soldiers managing four hits on the fast-moving Soviets. The commander grabbed his two teams of flamethrowers and told them to repulse the communists. The brave men stood in the hail of bullets and lit the pilot lights. Flame belched forth and wrought a burning carnage on the rubble, scoring the needed 4x hits to throw back the assault6. The Soviets with 4+ saves lost 5 stands of infantry and were repulsed.

The Germans, after awakening to a Soviet assault, sprung into action, radioed upper Chain of command and requested reinforcements due to the overwhelming numbers they faced.

Fortunately, the German SMGs were able to unpin, but the reserves were unable to make it to the battle this round. The German commander prepared his defenses for the inevitable follow-on assaults. The Germans chose to go to ground (GTG) to benifit from the increased to hit values.

But, the German command was able also to spring the ambush that Snipers get.  The stealthy German sniper had crept into no man’s land, behind the Soviet horde. The daring German sniper crawled to an opening in the rubble, surveyed the horde of men. He had a clear order on his target and he wasn’t going to fail. He opened fire, and due to no Mistaken Target rule, was able to hit and kill the Kommisar,

Soviet Turn 2: The death of Sven the Kommisar was a blow to the Soviet morale. He was apparently popular among the men. The Soviets spent the next turn mourning their loss.

They failed to unpin due to their new motivation, (falling to 4+ with the death of the Kommisar). Soviet reserves were also delayed this round. Their shooting was also ineffective and failed to pin their opponents. The Soviets conceded turn to the Fascist.

German Turn 2 was just as eventful as the Soviet turn two. with no reserves making it on, and even with flamethrowers and SMGs failing to kill a single Soviet!

Soviet Turn 3 found the Strelk still mourning the loss of Sven. They failed to unpin again, (the choice to leave the HQ off-table was beginning to make the Soviet CO fret) But, Stalin is merciful and sent three OT-34s to motivate the troops. They trundled blazingly fast, (as  Ot-34s do) towards the fight. Even with Overworked, the Ot-34s were able to land three hits on the German sniper, however, they failed to kill. The Sniper was very good with his saves.

As the Flame tanks making their way toward the lines, the German HQ dispatched orders to hold at all costs, and that men were on the way.

German turn 3 saw the arrival of the other Assault Pioneer unit. They rushed through the rubble-strewn streets. Their motivated platoon commander issued a follow me order and rushed his men into positions before the tanks could arrive. The lone sniper shot and missed. Maybe next time Fritz!

Soviet Turn 4: They needed a big play to turn the battle back in their favor but this turn wasn’t that game changer.  rolling 3 dice for reserves, the Soviets received their pity platoon, and choose to send in a Hero Rifle Co.

The Strelk shot and were able to pin the Germans in the adjacent room. Because they were also pinned, the Strelk were unable to capitalize on their successful shooting with another assault.

German Turn 4 was a good one, the commander was able to muster all remaining forces in the area, and brought all three remaining reserves on-table. HMG, 8cm and the last Assault Pioneer platoon.

The platoon in the building was able to unpin and decided to shoot. Even with the flamethrowers, a sniper and rifle/MGs only one Soviet team was killed this turn. The German commander realized he faced a pinned platoon without a Kommisar and decided now was the best time to attack. They rushed forward and avoided the Soviet defensive fire. Their attack killed three stands.

In the face of such aggression, the Soviet commander felt inclined to fall back. However, I, your intrepid correspondent, believed he should attack back. When the Soviet commander saw the news cameras rolling, ready to report back to Stalin, he decided to follow my sage advice. With a yell of “Urrah!” the counter-assault-of-death began.

Because Soviets are able to move 6″ in assaults, he was able to bring an impressive number of infantry into the fight. The German squad was at a two-to-one disadvantage. He swung back and even with a poor assault rating. Was able to eradicate the entire assaulting force with dice to spare…

The Germans were forced to break off 6″ and had to move out of the building entirely. The Soviets moved into the new room. If they could hold out next turn they would win the game!

Soviet Turn 5 brought the remaining Soviets to the fightt. The Soviet commander elected to have his infantry go to ground. He ordered the OT-34s to move up to support the left flank. The closest Hero Rifles made their way into the back of the building.

German, Turn 5 was a do-or-die situation. They had to get troops into the objective area for turn 6. If not, this would result in Soviet victory.

Two platoons moved into assault range. The 8cm mortar fired and was able to kill a stand, and subsequent small arms fire took out two more stands from the Hero Rifles.

The first assault went in. They needed to score five hits in defensive fire to throw back the German wave. In all, they achieved nine hits. All the 6s that the Soviets had been saving finally showed up.

The first assault fell back. The assault pioneers would have to shoulder the burden of the fight. They surged forward with a shout, and the Soviets shot every gun they could muster to through back the devils. With a total of 23 Rifles able to shoot, needing 5s to hit, the Soviets were able to score 8 hits a second time, repulsing the attack.

Soviet turn 6: With no Germans in sight, the Factory was captured, and the radio signal went out, for phase two to begin. The Fascists were beaten. The Soviet commander ordered his brave troops to dig in. The next building wouldn’t be so easy to take.

After Action: Soviet assaults don’t seem to be too deadly, however, any player opposing them should be aware that the counter assault could be final. Small assaults are basically going to end in wipes, so any attack must be large, or able to be supported with an additional assault after.

German Snipers will be a necessity to pick off COs and Kommissars. This will help to Nerf Soviet morale ratings. Snipers are very good at doing just that.

Flame tanks, while they didn’t play a huge role in this game, may be the best tank in the game. it forces the Germans to think about bringing some form of AT assets. This forces them to make tough choices in force composition: bring AT, or bring more infantry to counter the horde.

All told, Ian, Challice and myself had a great night of gaming, with nice looking rubble, and nice looking minis.