Lads,
Second act of the Tarnopol 1944 campaign, this time set in during the night of 24 to 25 March, with some soviet scouts units doing some recce & probing german defensive positions, on the outskirts of Tarnopol.
The Tabletop, now with 1,2x1,8m size (the white bands are DBx/FoG rivers upside down just to mark the limits of the actual table).
A global view of the tabletop, from the german side (I follow Steve “Balagan” Thomas table proposal for this one)
The eastern outskirts of Tarnopol – a «city with well build buildings». The ones on the forefront are from Artur’s brother (Carlos) production, specially for our Stalingrad project, but also useful for these one (I believe Mausman and Gunbird got some of them)
The table from the soviet side – the railway track (a basic H0 affair) marks the start line for the scouts
The railway crossing – building by Miniart, one swamp by GF9, other scratch. Roads by Fonzie’s. Being late march, some snow still on the ground, particularly under the woods trees.
Another view of the Tarnopol outskirts, late Scenics Effects buildings (now Monday Knight) and an OOP Fieldworks. Fields by JR Miniatures and orchards trees by The Model Tree Shop.
The Game:
First the German player (defending) Artur, sets his Blinds (part of the which where dummies)
Following that, Soviet players – Pargana and Luis – set their forces (around a reduced strength company) and start to activate theirs units.
First moves will see some cautious moves – remember….it’s a night game, so poor visibility.
First position ID – an IronClad position
Soon followed by another IronClad item: a Log Bunker. Artur didn’t read the scenario rooster carefully, so set their forces too forward, giving the soviets easy VP
On the crossroads, soviet command elements tried to figure out German road signs
Some more activations…
And another position detected – a barbed wire line (scratch), and a fortified position behind (IronClad)….
…and that one was occupied: Pegasus and Italeri Waffen-SS, painted by Artur, representing elements from III/4.Freiwillegen-Regt “Galizia”.
More moves, more positions detected and ID – things were going well for the Soviets.
On the right flank, soviets were preparing for some firefight…
And time was passing – I also adapted the «Moving Clock» concept for this scenario, and it worked flawless.
Soon the firefight started, not a very close range, and first casualties in the night for the Soviets
While that, some mine fields were detected on the flank of the occupied position – markers from a very old Bandai 1:48 set, more 1:72 than 1:48.
And another position detected (also IronClad)
On the right flank, the firefight keeps on, with a slight advantage for the germans….
As things were looking bleak for the soviet scouts, a soviet FO manage to call some support….. an smoke barrier was put on the area, to permit scouts to sneak out
On the center, a small attempt to outflank the firefight zone, was soon blocked by the discovery of other german positions….
Also to be followed by some pesky snipers (one of them from a Fog of War card)
And another.,,,,
While casualties were very light for the soviets, they decided their mission was out, even if they have around 01:30h of gaming (in the end of each turn one player roll a D6 and in a 4-6 the clock advances 30min). The german player (Artur) didn’t understand well his victory conditions and formally agreed with end of gaming.
In the end, counting the soviet unit and position detected (VP) and subtracting German units not detected, the Soviets discover they not only manage to pinpoint the german fortifications and to win with a minor victory….
So the next scenario will see the germans defending Tarnopol with his lives, against all odds…
A well spend afternoon very enjoyable and fun – in reality the goal of any game.
Stay tuned for the next scenario
Thanks for looking, comments welcome, as always
Faustnik
