The Battle For Bialystock & Bloom Farm

This game has been in the making for over a month now, but as intimated in my last post, life had put various obstacles in the way of my getting it onto the table to play. The inspiration was once again from Featherstone's  'War Games' and was based upon the 'Tank and Infantry Action on the St James Road' scenario. Initially I had planned to set this in Normandy '44, as per the original, but whilst pondering things during the enforced delay, I thought of switching it to somewhere in Russia during Operation Barbarossa.

With a new setting I began to flesh out some basic OOB, but in the end due to real life incursions, I kept things pretty basic and went with a Russian Conscript Battalion supported by some tanks in defence, with a German Tank & Infantry Battalion for the attack. As it was a solo outing and a sort of trial run for some more Russia '41 games, I wasn't too worried about points, balance etc.

The original map upon which the scenario is based.

The Game

I tried to keep things as close as possible to the map, but one change I did make was Fir Tree Hill was no longer a hill, just a wood. A few points to note:

• Turn 1 would be Dawn and so visibility was only 50cm and a -1 to the CV of all units.
• The Russians counted as Conscripts, with a CV 7 for HQs and CV8 for the CO.
• The Germans had a CV9 for HQs and CV10 for the CO.
• All sides had Company Commanders as I find this makes for a more fluid and involved game.
• The Germans had one Scheduled Air Strike to arrive on Turn 2 to attack Copse Hill.

As normal, I'll try to give an idea of how the game playerd out using the captioned photos (apolgies for the poor quality of the pics. I need to replace the light bulb to make things brighter which will hopefully reduce camera shake somewhat). So without further ado...

An overview of the table, which was 6' x 4'. The Germans enter from the right hand edge.

The German Kampfgruppe Liebkind deployed along the railway embankment ready for the attack.

A Russian Company is dug-in on the reverse slope of Copse Hill. Another Company is dug-in in Fir Tree Wood.

The final Company is defending the Bialystock & Bloom Collective Farm. A T-28 and T-35 are in reserve (top left).

The view from the Farm.

The end of Turn 1. The Germans got off to a patchy and slow start, with about half the units failing to move, leaving the Panzers leading the attack. Oh for some SdKfz 251's to help keep the infantry in support! The Russian heavy tanks moved slowly forward and a Russian ATG suppressed a PzIV near to The Plantation.

The Panzers out on their own. The Russians can only just see them in the Dawn light.

The 45mm ATG suppresses the PzIV.

The Big Beasties move forward slowly to avoid breaking down.

At the start of Turn 2 the Stukas arrive...

... and Suppress all the Russian infantry on Copse Hill.

The end of turn 2. The Germans make up for lost time, with the infantry moving swiftly up in support and some Pz I's push forward on the left flank by Copse Hill. The Pz IV's move back to await infantry support to avoid falling victim to the 45mm ATG.

For the Russians little happened due to their infantry being Suppressed on Copse Hill along with some failed command rolls, but once again the Big Beasties continued their steady move towards the Germans.

A lone T-26 halts the Pz I's in their tracks. MG's versus a 45mm gun: what could possibly go wrong?

The Germans push towards Copse Hill.

The Panzers move back as the infantry move up in support.

The Big Beasties move forward but are just out of range to be able to engage the German tanks.

The end of Turn 3. The German FAC failed to call in another Stuka strike, but a combined arms attack cleared Copse Hill of the enemy. Elsewhere the Pz's move forward with the infantry trying to keep up for support.

Another Turn of limited options for the Russians, but the Big Beasties with the 45mm ATG get a morale boost by KO'ing a Pz IV.

Pz II's move forward to support the Pz I's, who manage to Suppress the T-26 with MG fire.

Pz III's (37mm gun) engage the Big Beasties, but to no effect, as the infantry move up in support.

The Pz IV brews up as the infantry move up in support.

Turn 4 and the FAC calls in the Stuka on Fir Tree Wood...

... Suppressing many units.

Not to be outdone an I-16 'Rata' makes a welcome appearance for the Russians...

... catching a German Company in the open and Suppressing most of the units.

The end of Turn 4. There was little movement as both sides engaged each other. The Germans KO's the T-28, but the T-26 KO'd two Pz I's and suppressed another.

The advantage of a 45mm gun is plain to see.

The Germans move into and around The Plantation as the T-28 burns (top left).

Turn 5 and once again the Stukas arrive and Suppress all bar one of the Russian units in Fir Tree Wood. 

The end of Turn 5. The German attack really got going, as another combined arms attack saw all bar one unit KO's in Fir Tree Wood. The Pz II's managed with some difficulty to KO the T-26 and the Pz III's KO'd the T-35. With so many units gone and all the armour, the Russians had no hope of stopping the Germans and so began to withdraw from the Farm.

The Pz II's get their revenge.

The German view from Copse Hill as they attack Fir Tree Wood.

The Pz III's finally KO the T-35.

The Germans hold their position by The Plantation.

Isolated at the farm, the Russian troops withdraw to prevent being out flanked.

Post Game Thoughts

After the months delay it was great to finally get this game played and as always, I really enjoyed using BKCII, with some BKCIV add-ons. In the end not a surprising result, but one that felt right and historically accurate, given the qualtiy and quantity of the troops and AFV's involved. So, given what happened, some thoughts on the game etc in no fixed order:

• The difference in the CV's really did make a big difference in the game, but this did feel right and reflected quite well the initial German superiority at the start of Operation Barbarossa.
• The German AFV's, even though more numerous, certainly felt quite weak compared to the T-26 as well as the Big Beasties of the T-28 and T-35. You can see why the Germans suddenly had to up gun their Panzers, ditch their Leichte Panzers and what a shock it must have been to encounter the T-34 and the KV2.
• Even though the Russian armour wasn't too bad in comparison, the Penny Packet approach and poor mechanical reliability meant that they could be out manouevred by the German Panzers.
• The Russian Conscripts worked well and reflected the rushed nature of their Reserve units and their general lack of equipment, training etc, in comparison to the German Heer troops.
• The Stuka support really gave the Germans a marked edge in the game, from the first scheduled attack and on. The Dice Gods were certainly on their side and provided that mobile artillery support that you read about on this and the earlier French and Polish Campaigns.
• The I-16 Rata making a brief appearance was good and I simply allowed it to arrive at the start of the Russian Turn on a '6' on a D6 roll.
• Having very open terrain was a nice change from Bocage style Normandy games and certainly gave a very different flavour to the play. The Early War tanks and their general lack of range and 'Big Guns' added to this too, giving much more movement that I would normally see.
• The Unreliable rule for the T-28 and T-35 tanks was good, meaning that they could only half-move each Turn without risking the chance of breaking down. Also the Pz I's being able to Suppress the T-26, as per BKCI, was good to see and a welcome return.
• Playing on a 6' x 4' table brought its own challenges on several fronts. Firstly it is a tight squeeze to fit it into my normal gaming area of the dining room. This means I have to move some stuff around to be able to access all table edges comfortably. Secondly with quite a few units on the table and many commands, keeping track of things was a bit tricky for solo play. I certainly wouldn't want anything bigger as it would become too unwieldy IMHO.

So there we have it. For a trial game it worked a treat and now I'm keen to paint up some more German units and AFV's as well as some Russians, to play a linked campaign based around Operation Barbarossa. The Germans will have to manage their resources so that they don't 'victor themselves to death' early on, as they will have limited replacements and reserves. for the Russians even though they have seemingly limitless infantry to call upon, the armour will be hard to come by, certainly in the initial stages. 

As always I have plenty of ideas to mull over and hopefully firm up over the Xmas period. With luck I'll even get some painting in. Unless of course I get distracted by another shiny project that lures me away!

So until next time stay safe and keep healthy.