KG Klink in Barbarossa, Fight #2

 All,

Alright, here we go, time for the second fight of KG Klink's Operation Barbarossa.  Following Captain Tausch's failure to 'blitzkrieg' through relatively light Soviet defenses in the last fight, Captain Ginter, commander of the 2nd Grenadiere Company, is now having to deploy his troops against a much stronger and better prepared enemy defense line than originally anticipated.

A pre-game event was "Leaders are on Top Form!" for the Germans, so I threw in another overall commander to help with rallying/keeping the troops moving.  The story is, after the failure of one of his company commander's to get the job done, the Battalion Commander, Major Freitag, is on hand to keep an eye on Captain Ginter and ensure everything goes according to schedule.

Overview, north is up, Germans are pushing west to east, Soviets are dug-in from the center line right.  At left center is some marshy land that slows infantry and can bog vehicles; once again the area is dominated by two hills, Hill 95 (center) and Hill 90 (top right), with fields and hedges strewn throughout.  At bottom right is a Collective Farm.

The opposing forces, Soviets on the left, Germans on the right.

The German force:
Commander: Captain Ginter, 2nd Grenadiere Company Commander, Iron Cross 2nd Class

Observer: Major Freitag, Schutzen Battalion Commander, Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class

2nd Grenadiere Company

1st Rifle Platoon under 2nd Lt Orstens

2nd Rifle Platoon under Sergeant First Class Aust, Infantry Assault Badge

3rd Rifle Platoon under Staff Sergeant Imhofe, Infantry Assault Badge and Iron Cross 2nd Class

4th Rifle Platoon under Staff Sergeant Arndt, Infantry Assault Badge and Iron Cross 2nd Class
*Each rifle platoon is understrength due to coming under intense artillery fire crossing the Line of Departure and is down to two rifle squads

**Each rifle platoon has a 5.0cm mortar and Anti-Tank Rifle (ATR) as part of its command element

Supported by:
Sgt Kapp's Panzer III
Cpl Kroner's Stug III
Cpl Sondland's MG-34 team
Sgt Drexler's (Iron Cross 2nd Class) brand new Pak-38 Anti-Tank Gun (ATG)

The Soviet force consists of:
1 x Commanding Officer

3 x Rifle Platoon (one full strength, two missing one rifle squad each due to German preparatory fires)
*Each rifle platoon has a 50mm mortar and Anti-Tank Rifle (ATR) as part of its command element

2 x BT-7 Medium Tanks

1 x Ba-10 Armored Car

1 x 45mm Anti-Tank Gun

1 x 76mm Regimental Gun

1 x 82mm Mortar

The German starting positions: 1st Platoon is on the far left (left), with Cpl Sondland's MG team below them, then 3rd Platoon, the two armored vehicles, and 4th Platoon on the far right.  Captain Ginter is on the German left (far left) and Major Freitag is on the German right (just below Ginter).

The Germans push forward on a broad front.

The German reserve, one rifle platoon (SSgt Imhofe's 2nd Platoon) and Sgt Drexler's ATG.

The Soviet positions, which are a bit awkward.  They've got a pretty steady line running north south from Hill 90 (top right) down through the fields on the back side of Hill 95 (center), but they've pushed their tanks ahead of their infantry (top center), one one side of the marshy divide (left), and they've put their best anti-tank in front of their infantry atop Hill 95...

The Soviet left, with infantry dug in, the regimental gun dug in near the Collective Farm (center), and the Ba-10 just hanging around, waiting for trouble (bottom right).

The Soviet center, where their CO is sitting with their ATG atop Hill 95 (left).

And the Soviet right, with troops dug in atop Hill 90 and their mortar team set up down below.

The Soviet tanks are visible amongst the trees at top right (Hill 90 is just off camera to top right).

The fight begins with the dug-in Soviets taking the first shot: their riflemen on the north side of the road (right top) open fire on 3rd Platoon (top left) while their 76mm Regimental Gun (bottom right) opens fire...

The fire is devastating: the low-velocity 76mm shell arches over the battlefield and crashes into Sgt Kapp's Panzer III, while 3rd Platoon is pinned down (far left) and is taking casualties!

This is immediately followed by the Soviet ATG atop Hill 95 (bottom left) opening fire on the German armor (top center right)...

Busting open Cpl Kroner's Stug!

Then the Soviet BT-7s (bottom center) open fire with their 45mm guns and MGs on 1st Platoon (center top)...

Pinnning them down and knocking out Lt Orstens' command element!

The Soviet mortar team then goes to work...

Targeting the German far right, pinning down 4th Platoon and knocking out one of their squads!

The German machine gun team (bottom center) and 1st Rifle Platoon (left top, with Captain Ginter at far left) open fire on the 45mm ATG, pinning its crew and the Soviet commander (top center).

As SSgt Arndt gets 4th Platoon's 50mm mortar into action...

Knocking out the Soviet anti-tank gun atop Hill 95!

Major Freitag wades into the inferno in the center and begins shoving men back into the fight.

The Germans take advantage of a lull in the fighting to push EVERYONE forward.

And they bring their reserves on (2nd Platoon on the top edge of the marshes, Sgt Drexler's truck somehow makes it right through the center of the marshy terrain.

The reserves promptly dismount, ready for action.

The Soviet commander (atop Hill 95, bottom left), is getting a bit nervous with two German rifle platoons at the base of his hill, while his tanks move up (top right), playing a game of cat and mouse with Sgt Drexler's anti-tank gun (far left).

The Soviet CO signals his mortar team (top right) to open fire as he falls back (bottom right, from far left).

But the 82mm HE rounds fall harmlessly into the swamp between 2nd Platoon and the anti-tank gun (1st Platoon and Captain Ginter are just off camera to far right).

Back on the Soviet left, the Regimental Gun (bottom right) resumes pumping out 76mm shells.

They bounce a low-velocity HE round off Sgt Kapp's panzer (bottom left), which promptly returns fire, burrowing a 37mm round into the gun's protective sandbags...

But then the Soviet armored car decides to stick its nose into the fight (center, from bottom right)...

And Sgt Kapp's gun (bottom left) roars again...

Rapidly putting several 37mm holes in the Soviet armored car!

Over on the German left, one of the Soviet BT-7s breaks cover and SFC Aust's anti-tank rifle team engages, stunning the crew!

There is another lull in the fighting, and the Germans once again take advantage, with their 1st (far right, with Captain Ginter) and 3rd Platoons climbing over Hill 95.

And 4th Platoon moving up on the far right (bottom right, from bottom left, with Major Freitag at center and Cpl Sondland's MG team at top left).

SFC Aust leads his platoon forward (top left, from center), looking to get into close combat with the stunned Soviet medium tank.

The other BT-7 dashes up to protect its stunned comrade, allowing it to rally...

And then reverse out of trouble!

As the Soviet infantry fall back to consolidate their positions behind Hill 95 in the face of the German thrust in the center (1st and 3rd Rifle Platoons coming down Hill 95).

Meanwhile, the duel in the south between the Soviet 76mm gun (bottom left) and Sgt Kapp's Panzer III (top right) continues...

But it's one 'clang' too many as Sgt Kapp's veteran gunner is finally able to knock out the enemy gun!

The Soviet mortar team (top right) targets the target rich environment of Hill 95 (bottom left)...

But somehow miss!

Multiple Soviet rifle squads (from bottom left to top right) concentrate their fire on the encroaching German infantry atop Hill 95, but it's ineffective (not a single score on 6K 6S!!!)!

But then the Soviet tanks join the fight: the first tank (bottom center right) targets Sgt Drexler's PaK-38 ATG (top left), sending them 'men down.'

While the other BT-7 engages SFC Aust's 2nd Platoon at point blank range, causing them casualties and pinning them down as well.

But now ANOTHER lull in the fighting occurs as the Soviets aren't sure what to do; they're tankers don't want to go charging into the German rear all by their loneseome, and their infantry have proven pretty ineffective so far...

But that's all narrative; in real life, the Germans just rolled their 4th or 5th 'Scurry' of the game.  And the Germans know exactly what to do with this 'lull!'

A series of close assaults by the German 1st, 3rd, and 4th Rifle Platoons absolutely crush the Soviet main line of resistance!  4th Platoon crashes into the Soviet left flank...

Defeats the entrenched riflemen before them, then continues their charge into a nearby suppressed rifle squad in the fields.

They move up (far right bottom) as 3rd Platoon moves into close combat (left)...

They win, then continue their assault on the Soviet commander and one of his subordinate platoon leaders.

Crushing them and moving up.

As Captain Ginter and 1st Platoon move into close combat.

But disaster strikes as Soviet riflemen atop Hill 90 fire into the mass of German infantry below...

Knocking out Captain Ginter's company command element!

Which forces one of 1st Squad's rifle squads to fall back, suppressed (far left, from center right)!  But Corporal Schiff's 2nd Squad remains in the fight, going to work with grenades, submachine guns, bayonets, an entrenching tools!

They win the first fight and advance into a second close combat...

Winning that one as well, but halting rather than attempting to climb Hill 90 and take on fresh Soviet troops!

On the Soviet right, SFC Aust and 2nd Platoon (bottom left) look on helplessly as the BT-7s fall back (top right).

The tanks continue falling back, joined by the last remaining Soviet rifle squad and their mortar team, ending the fight!

So, that was... interesting.  I dunno what it is exactly, but it wasn't all that fun.  I know it's not the rules themselves, I'm certainly not souring on 5Core.  Yes, it was quite a bit flukey with the Germans rolling up four or five 'scurries' (the Soviets rolled four of them in the first game, which is what allowed them to escape), but that's still not it.  I know there's a micro level issue and a macro level issue.  The micro level issue is, I think, that I'm not enjoying 5Core with this many units on the table, and that's my fault, you're not supposed to have that many units on the table.  In this game the Germans had 18 and the Soviets had 17 individual units/stands on the table, and it's just too many for 5Core.  From my perspective, it would be okay if a Scurry affected a part of the battlefield, like left, right, or center, but not the whole battlefield when I've got that many units on the table, it just doesn't feel right.  Similarly, it doesn't feel all that crazy when you've only got five or eight units on the table, all involved in the same piece of the action, it just doesn't feel right when you've got essentially three different fights going on (left, right, center) and all of them are affected by this flukey thing.  But again, that's my fault for putting too many toys on the table, and if I want to have that many toys on the table I need to use a set of rules that's built for that many toys on the table.

The other problem, the macro-level issue, is just the scale of the endeavor.  I'm following a tremendous amount of named characters through what is essentially a war without forseeable end.  It's way too many characters (a battalion of infantry with three companies of four platoons of three squads, with characters all the way down to squad leaders, a company of tanks with four platoons of five tanks with characters all the way down to vehicle commanders, a Recce Company with three five-vehicle platoons with characters down to vehicle commanders, and a Schwere Company with MG, Mortar, Infantry Gun, Anti-Tank Gun, Light AA, Heavy AA, Assault Gun, and Panzerjaeger Platoons, all with named characters down to team/vehicle commanders.  Yeah, I counted 132 named characters, it's just too much, and I'm spending way too much time just trying to keep straight who is in charge of what, what campaigns they've fought in, what awards they've received, and who replaces them when they get killed/wounded...  I'll publish the Kampfgruppe roster so you can see what I'm talking about (if anyone is interested).

And with the Eastern Front, when does it end?  Even just Barbarossa up to the Soviet counterattack (Operation Typhoon) is June to December of 1941, how many company-level fights can/should you get in to represent that?  It's killing me, it's too much, and it's what's kept me from jumping into this for five years, it's like being in quicksand.  I hate to say it, but I think Kampfgruppe Klink ist tot.  The only possible way I see forward with it is if I were to hone in one rifle platoon or company and follow them through the rest of the war.  It's something I shall be pondering, but KG Klink as we've known it just can't go on, I'm sorry to say.

V/R,
Jack