Historical Background:
On January 12, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) launched a mayor attack from the Baranów bridgehead towards Silesia. With tremendous troop and material usage Soviet attacks smashed the german lines after two one hour each lasting artillery barrage. On the first day there were deep penetrations into the german front line done, and on January 15 there was no coherent German front in this area anymore.
German orders:
For hours there was this tremendous artillery barrage on the frontline troops. You are a bit backwards with the duty to fortify the wooden bridge for retreating own troops which are located at the city of Zabno some couple of kilometers away. The small town you made a home during the last couple of weeks is called Wai Ruda. The next german "fortress town" there your staff is awaiting orders is Szczurowa. The bridge is ready to be blown up but instead of doing so after this soviet attack you wait for german refugee units. Your orders are to hold open the bridge as long as possible for retreating german units. If soviet forces try to cross the river blow the bridge up.
Soviet orders:
The attack is going well and the germans are withdrawing. We smashed through their lines and now our spearhead to the west is making fast progress. We just passed through Zabno without encountering any resistance at all and now are approaching the small wood between Zabno and Wai Ruda. Our orders are simple. Try to sniff our more german intruders and punch them into the snow. Any resistance is to be put down. Capture the bridge if it is not blown up already.
Tablesize:
This is a limited table sized 60cm by 120cm. The german deployment is on the southern part of the river. Every unit is entrenched. Pak and SMG are laid in ambush as well as the infantry.
Soviet forces start in the northern part. Mainly on the road with the two T-34 leading.
The river does not support a ford. The only crossing is the bridge. Whoever secures the bridge wins the game
Terrain (table size 60cm wide, 120cm long):
The river Dunajek divides the table into two halves. From the upper left corner a road commences in a corner towards the bridge which sits in the middle of the table. The area in the soviet deployment zone supports some more woods. A small hill covers the advance of the road starting from the corner.
The lower side has some small woods on the left corner. A hill is located on the right corner. Right before the hill two russian houses were build. In one the german SMG Team starts. A bit left you have the entrenched Pak38. The road commences from the bridge in an arc to the left corner. Foxholes for the infantry are dug before the wood.
Specials:
Due to heavy snowfall during the last days the communicationline to blow up the bridge doesnt work properly. To fix the problem the german player sends out one stand each round to fix the problem. This takes one full turn. Means the german player needs two turns in total to find and fix the line properly. The line can only be blown up by the Pak 38 crew. As the missing link is recognised in turn one this specialty starts in turn 2.
The german Pak Stand can only be penetrated by a shell from the ISU-152. However the T-34 shells can force the Pak team to hold their heads down.
Forces:
German Forces:
1 Pak 38
1 SMG Team
1 Platoon Panzergrenadiers (free choice if you agree to use anti tank weapons or not)
Soviet Force:
1 T-34-85 OBR 1944
1 T-34 obr 1942-OT-34 (57mm gun)
1 ISU-152
1 Platoon Strelkovy (Winter) without Komissar
Making the winner:
Victory Points:
Soviet Points:
+1 Capture the bridge
+1 for the soviets if they destroy the Pak Stand before the bridge can be blown up
+1 for the soviets for each stand destroyed who tries to fix and repair the line
German Points:
+1 hold the bridge or blow it up
+1 for each stand of killed infantry
+2 for each tank destroyed
Germans can´t win on points if bridge is secured by soviet forces. Soviets can win on points even if bridge is destroyed.
The Book of Rules of the Game
