War of the Rats ASL Scenario S2 Allies: Major E Germans: Ireland94 Apr 21 – May

Battalion Commander Orders Gentlemen, we must hold the Germans back. We must hold here. The Germans are expected to assault within the next hour or so. He is marshalling his forces north of this road here (F6-K4) and here (K4-P4). He also took possession of these buildings here during their last attack (buildings north of the Z label on the board). He has about a company of normal leg infantry, and our snipers have spotted elite engineer units as well that will probably participate in their attack. As such we need to be wary of the cowards use of flamethrowers, as well as demo charges. Do not bunch up your forces such that one demo charge or flamethrower attack will wipe you out all at once. Spread your men out, but keep them in cohesive units so that you can direct their fire. We must hold at least one of these three buildings at the end of their attack so that we can reconsolidate our line and retake the lost ground. If we lose all three buildings we will have to retreat to our battalion fallback positions which will negatively affect the entire the battalions defensive line, and hence the regiments as well. We do not want the political commissars breathing down our necks anymore than necessary, so do not give ground lightly. Charlie company (conscripts) you are to hold this building Foxtrot (F8) if possible, and be prepared to fallback to building Kilo (K9) if your situation become untenable. Bravo company you are to prevent the capture of buildings Lima and Oscar. You are also to keep the back door open near the woods here (N9) to allow for expected reinforcement arrival shortly. I will be in touch with the reinforcements as they near, and will tell them what their objective is – either Objective Foxtrot, Lima, or Oscar. Once I have determined that depending on the situation, they will become the battalion Main Effort and their focus will be taking and holding the objective I name for them until the battles end, and everyone, and I mean everyone, will assist them in their mission. Final result desired is at least one objective among Foxtrot, Lima, or Oscar, secure and in our hands by the time we have stopped the German assault in our area. Reinforcements specific orders (via courier): Once I tell you which objective to hold, see if you can make your way to the objective or securing the objective in such a manner as to put the enemy in a dilemma, and especially focus on taking out their leaders if possible while doing so.

Company Commander Orders Charlie Company OK listen up, peasants. I know you just got here from the river crossing behind us and I know your journey from home was long and hard. But here you are and now is your chance to prove your loyalty and worthiness to Mother Russia. I want one squad in each of these buildings to our front along this road, and one squad back here with me in reserve to plug any holes. I know ammunition is short, so give the bulk of the rounds to your best shooters. Move out! And better damn well not see any of your faces back here until the battle is won! Or I’ll shoot you myself! Bravo Company We don’t know where the Germans are going to make their main attack, so I want to remain flexible. Be prepared to pivot on our east-west axis to turn north to south. If the attack comes from our direct front then Lima is our fallback position where we will either die or hold reinforcements come. If the Germans attack the conscripts directly over there north of Foxtrot, then we must assume they will give way quickly and will pivot our axis north to south, and switch our fallback position from Lima to Oscar. Get that? If they wisely attack the peasants straight on, we will quickly pivot and Oscar will be our fallback position and rally point if we can’t hold Lima. If that occurs, then 2 nd Platoon, I want you to sprint across that road to your direct front and use the road as a fire-lane to make it hard for any remaining Germans to cross it. If they all get across it, be prepared to circle around them and take out their leaders who will be in the rear of their formations, just like the cowards that they are, and if possible recapture objective Foxtrot that the peasants will most surely have lost. Also, 2 nd Platoon, you will have the medium machinegun. I want you to detach a squad with that machinegun and sit back in these woods to the south and establish a fire-lane up this road here (N8-N4), and hold those woods for our reinforcements who should be arriving shortly. Once the reinforcements get here then attach that squad and machinegun to 1 st Platoon in defending either Lima or Oscar as the situation dictates.

AAR The German’s chose to attack Charlie company’s direct front. The Russian Conscripts collapsed quickly. The Germans pushed through them and enveloped the Russians to the south, while at the same time they also pushed across the east-west street that was the front lines into the two buildings left vacant in Bravo companies front. See the picture following.

AAR The Germans moved quickly, too quickly, from the south and directly into the Objective Lima. By this time the Russian reserve forces had already arrived and the Russian commander had moved them into Objective Lima. This considerable force managed to destroy the attacking Germans in close combat within Object Lima itself before the Germans had a chance to use their special weapons designed for house to house fighting (the demolition charges). Objective Oscar was designated a regrouping are where broken Russian units could go to rally, and once rallied would in effect then be defending Objective Oscar, from which they could provide a base of fire onto attacking German forces as well as function as reserve forces to be thrown back into the main battle occurring for Objective Lima. 2 nd Platoon broke while attempting to envelope the Germans from the north, but a leader managed to make his way to them to rally them, allowing them to counter attack behind the German forces and re-take Objective Foxtrot.

SETUP – Prior to German Attack

End of German Turn 1 German’s Reduce Charlie Company by Fire

End of Russian Turn 1 Charlie Company Retreats, attempts to rally. Bravo Company Pivots Defensive Line per Plan. 2 nd Platoon Bravo Pivots North per Plan.

End of Russian Turn 2 Charlie Company Pushed out of Objective Foxtrot. Bravo Company Braces for Attack. Reinforces Objective Lima.

End of German Turn 3 Germans Aggressively Move into Objective Lima from the South.

End of Russian Turn 3 Russians Counterattack Inside Objective Lima. Interlocking fields of fire.

End of German Turn 4 Germans Execute Pincer Movement. Russians regroup on Objective Oscar.

End of Russian Turn 4 2 nd Plt Cmdr Makes it to 2 nd Plt. German Attack Repulsed.

End of German Turn 5 German’s press the attack from the north.

End of Russian Turn 5 German’s defeated in close combat. 2 nd Plt Bravo Co. attacks from the north per plan.

End of German Turn 6 German’s Retreat. (Bravo Co. with captured German weapons).

End of Russian Turn 6 & End of Game All Objectives Re-captured or held. No Germans in area.

Final Results &Lessons Learned End State: Objective Foxtrot recaptured by Russians. Lima and Oscar held by Russians. No Germans left in the Battalion’s area of operations. German Lessons Learned: While the attack was well coordinated and planned, the Germans entered Objective Lima prematurely and exposed their elite units to close combat before they had the chance to use their special weapons (demolition charges). Thus the tide had turned by the end of Turn 3, with momentum remaining with the Russians from that point forward. The Germans need to use their special weapons (demolition charges and flame thrower) to reduce the Russians before making their final assault. Russian Lessons Learned: Since the Germans may attack from different directions, the Russians need to prepare for a fluid defense, giving ground at first to fall back to a strong defensive position where they can mass their forces. They should attempt to have a counter attack force that can circle the enemy to recapture objectives that were given up as defenses collapsed, thus putting the enemy in a dilemma of having to recapture what was lost later in the game.

Final Numbers based on units remaining on the board, with distinctions of broken or reduced quality units ignored. Casualties: Russians:52 (five squads, and two leaders) Germans:114 (11 squads, and 4 leaders) End State: Russians:82 Available of 134 Unitgood order / broken squad7 / 0 1/2 squad1 / 1 leader2 / 0 Germans:0 Available of 114 squad0 / 0 1/2 squad0 / 0 leader0 / 0