Test Game of KG Klink in Barbarossa

 All,

DISREGARD, THIS DOES NOT COUNT AS AN OFFICIAL KG KLINK GAME

Drive to Minsk
0600 local time
22 June 1941

Well, here we are, finally, and it's taken me far too long to get here!  I was shocked to discover that it's been three and a half years since Kampfgruppe Klink closed out its campaign in Greece (and that I kicked of Colonel Klink's misadventures all the way back in December of 2014).  Time flies...

But it's time to go, WWII on the Eastern Front.  A heavyweight clash between two tyrants, two of the worst regimes in the history of the world, that could only end with the complete and utter destruction of one of them.  A war without mercy, whose destruction and death has never been matched.  Though we all know they exist, I will not show, game, or even discuss any atrocities; there will be no partisan actions nor death squads nor any other nonsense, I'm simply going to stick to conventional force on force clashes, focused on following a group of soldiers and, in this case, seeing who survives.  I can see myself playing out the rest of WWII for KG Klink right here on th Eastern Front, but I can also imagine myself getting sick of the plain, brutal, relentlessness of the slaughter at some point and so maybe diverting KG Klink back somewhere else, maybe Italy, Normandy, Holland, or the Ardennes, depending on time frame.  No matter how long I do or do not stay with KG Klink on the East Front, I will be careful to keep them from getting completely wiped out, either through attrition or battles of encirclement/annihilation, so don't be surprised/upset when KG Klink gets replacements when there were no replacements to be had in real life, or gets suddenly pulled out of the line to rest and re-fit right before it would be cut off and destroyed (i.e., fighting in Stalingrad but pulled out right before the Soviet Operation Uranus sealed the German 6th Army's fate).

In any case, here we are.  Colonel Klink was awarded the Knight's Cross for his (and his troops') performance in Greece, though he still wasn't promoted (some believe he's being passed over due to his wife having Jewish ancestry).  The kampfgruppe was quickly pulled out of the line and returned to Germany, where it rested, re-fit, re-organized, received replacements, and trained them before boarding trains and heading east.  Regarding reorganization, the kampfgruppe is now structured as follows:

-Command element (CO, XO, OpsO, Adjutant, and various staff personnel)

-Panzer Company (four platoons of five tanks each, one platoon of Pz IIs, one of Pz IVs, and two of Pz IIIs)

-Grenadiere Company (motorized, with four rifle platoons of four rifle squads, a command squad, an anti-tank rifle, and a 5.0cm mortar, each, and a weapons platoon of four MGs and four 8.0cm mortars)

-Motorcycle Company (motorized, with four rifle platoons of four rifle squads, a command squad, an anti-tank rifle, and a 5.0cm mortar, each, and a weapons platoon of four MGs and four 8.0cm mortars)

-Reconnaissance Company (with an armored car platoon [Sdkfz 222], a heavy armored car platoon [Sdkfz 231], an armored reconnaissance platoon [Sdkfz 250] with a command squad and four recon squads, and an armored engineer platoon [Sdkfz 251] with a command squad and four pioneer squads)

-Schwere Company (with an infantry gun platoon [7.5cm guns], an anti-tank gun platoon [PaK-38], a light AA platoon [2.0cm guns], a heavy AA platoon [8.8cm guns], an assault gun platoon [Stug IIID], and a panzerjaeger platoon [PzJgr I])

-Various and sundry support elements/personnel (artillery, supply, military police, mess, communications, etc...) which probably won't be seen directly on the table but can be used as fodder when the line units are eaten up

So, let's get to it.  Initial reconnaissance has been conducted and the assault units have moved up to the start lines; arty is not firing because it's been packed up, ready to move up in order to be able to support the follow on attacks, with supporting fires planned to be delivered by fixed wing assets.  But where are they?  Colonel Klink anxiously glances at his watch for the fifteenth time in the last five minutes; the Stukas should have arrived fifteen minutes ago, and it's nearly time to begin the attack!

Overview, north is up, with rolling terrain broken up by a few small hills, a few scattered buildings and a small village, various uncultivated fields, clumps of trees, and stands of sunflowers, bisected by the River Bug (running north/south), and serviced by two hardball roads (running east/west).  The hills are Hill 135 (left center), Hill 115 (bottom center), Hill 122.7 (right center), and Hill 122.6 (far right).  The river is crossable by a bridge in the south (right center bottom) and a ford in the north (right center top).

Regarding terrain, the fur mat is from The Wargaming Company, the rivers are from... I can't remember but it doesn't matter because they went out of business (but Joe Legan has them and maybe he'll show up and remind me).  The fields are from Terran4Games, the roads are from Fat Frank, the trees and bushes are from Crescent Root, the sunflowers (corn) are from somewhere on Ebay that I can't find anymore (would love to get some more), the hills are from Battlefront/GaleForce 9, the bridge and resin buildings are from the now-defunct JR Miniatures, and the wood houses are from some guy on Ebay (sincerely sorry I don't remember who, but it was about ten years ago).

I'm playing these games solo in 15mm, mostly Battlefront models, but with some Peter Pig, Zvezda, Forged in Battle, and Old Glory/Command Decision mixed in.  I'm using my old standby, 5Core Company Command to play these out.

The opposing forces, which, by 5Core Company Command standards, are massive, with Germans on the left and Soviets on the right.  The Germans are attacking with an understrength rifle company (two platoons, some MGs and mortars, with a third rifle platoon in reserve), reinforced by some Stugs and armored cars, whilst the Soviets are defending with a reinforced rifle company (three full rifle platoons supported by lots of MGs, anti-tank rifles, anti-tank guns, mortars, and field guns).  Colonel Klink himself, as well as the Grenadier Company commander, Major Freitag, are on hand to lead the initial attack.

The German OOB for this fight:
CO: Colonel Klink, holder of the Knight's Cross, veteran of Poland, France, and Greece
XO: Major Freitag, holder of the Iron Cross First Class, veteran of Poland, France, and Greece

1st Rifle Platoon,* commanded by Lt Ost, holder of the Iron Cross 2nd Class, veteran of Poland, France, and Greece

1st Squad, 1st Platoon, led by SSgt Imhofe, holder of the Iron Cross 2nd Class, veteran of Poland, France, and Greece

2nd Squad, 1st Platoon, led by SSgt Lemkuhl, veteran of Poland, France, and Greece

3rd Squad, 1st Platoon, led by Sgt Vigerte, veteran of France and Greece

4th Squad, 1st Platoon, led by Cpl Neumeyer, seeing his first action of the war

2nd Rifle Platoon,* commanded by Lt Haas, holder of the Iron Cross 2nd Class, veteran of Poland and Greece

1st Squad, 2nd Platoon, led by SSgt Nader, veteran of Poland, France, and Greece

2nd Squad, 2nd Platoon, led by Sgt Steinkamp, veteran of Poland, France, and Greece
3rd Squad, 2nd Platoon, led by Cpl Orel, veteran of France and Greece

4th Squad, 2nd Platoon, led by Cpl Tobias, seeing his first action of the war

Weapons Platoon, commanded by Lt Wolf, seeing his first action of the war

MG Team 1, led by Cpl Bonisch, seeing his first action of the war

MG Team 2, led by Cpl Gotze, seeing his first action of the war

Mortar Team 1, led by Cpl Schieffen, veteran of Greece

Mortar Team 2, led by Cpl Romeike, seeing his first action of the war

Armored Car 1, commanded by Sgt Fasbender, veteran of France and Greece

Armrored Car 2, commanded by Cpl Moen, veteran of Greece

Stug 1, commanded by SSgt Kulle, veteran of France and Greece

Stug 2, commanded by Cpl Kroner, veteran of Greece

Sergeant First Class Mader's 3rd Rifle Platoon* is standing by, as reserve for this attack.  Hopefully they won't be needed...

*each Rifle Platoon also has a 50mm mortar and anti-tank rifle with an unnamed leader.

The Soviet force consists of the following:

-Commanding Officer
-3 x Rifle Platoon (Platoon Commander and 4 x Rifle Squad, each)

-Machine Gun Platoon (Platoon Commander and 4 x Maxim guns)

-Mortar Platoon (2 x 82mm mortar)

-Anti-Tank Rifle Platoon (4 x PTRD 14.5mm ATR)

-Anti-Tank Gun Platoon (3 x 45mm gun)

-Field Gun Platoon (2 x 76mm howitzer)

Overview, now with troops.  The Germans are on their start line (far left), getting ready to cross the Line of Departure, still waiting on the Stukas to arrive.  The German plan is pretty simple: MG1 will go in the house at top left, get MG2 up on Hill 135 (center left), 1st Platoon will move up in the shadow of Hill 135 then decide whether to go high, low, or sit tight and support by fire as 2nd Platoon moves up on either side of the bottom road, intent on getting across the bridge (right center bottom), while an armored car and Stug move up each road.  The 3rd Rifle Platoon is off table, standing by should the assault force get into trouble.  The Soviet plan is pretty simple as well, with a rifle platoon up at the ford and a rifle platoon down in the village near the bridge, both supported by MGs and field guns, while their two hills are bristling with MGs and anti-tank guns, with their mortars between.  The only questionable deployment is that of the 3rd Rifle Platoon; all morning long reports have been coming in that the war has started.  The local Soviet commander has gotten antsy so he has sent a rifle platoon across the river to act as pickets, without really providing them any instructions as to what to do or how to get back across the river once the shooting starts...

The German start line, with Lt Wolf and Cpl Bonisch's MG team at top left, an armored car and Stug, then 1st Platoon (left) with 2nd Platoon below them, split on either side of the road, where the other armored car and Stug are waiting for the order to move out.

The Soviet defenses, very formidable.

In retrospect, I made the table a little too long (my favorite 5Core Company Command games don't tend to start with a whole lot of pre-battle maneuver/long approach march, they tend to start pretty much where the shooting begins) AND yet I still managed to cram the table full of too much gear for my 'sweet spot' in 5Core Company Command games (history has shown my best games have had about 30 units on the table; here I've got a whopping 57!!!).  I shall remedy this...

Another admin note: I'm going to try cutting back on how I write my battle reports, they simply take too much time.  Already, just to the point you are reading right now, I've already spent two hours loading the photos and typing out the background, OOBs, and describing the terrain and scheme of maneuver.  So I'm going to try to back off from giving you a blow-by blow account of the fight, and just sort of focus on the higher level issues, albeit with 'zooming in' on some of what I believe to be the key details.

A look at the Soviet right, where you can see pickets across the river, and then the formidable defenses, with plenty of infantry, MGs, mortars, field guns, anti-tank guns, and anti-tank rifles, mostly dug in.

Ditto on the Soviet left.  

And with that, let's get it on!

Germans push ahead.

Red ATG goes to work.

Not a good time for ze Chermans as an Sdkfz 222 and a Panzer III are brewed up.

And then Soviet arty begins to fall...

Germans swarm the hills near the river.

Getting a bit of help from the Luftwaffe.

Which pounds the densely packed Soviet defenders.

Yeah, they're hurting under all those bombs.

German recon pushes ahead and a firefight breaks out near the southern bridge.

But the 20mm rapid fire cannon makes quick work of the Reds hiding in the cornfield.

And here come more Stukas.

Bombs rain down on the Commies again, like fish in a barrel.

The Colonel rallies troops (bottom right) and pushes them towards the bridge (top center).

Soviet troops on the east bank engage the invaders.

A Stug burns...

Those Commies are going to have to learn that cornfields are just concealment, not cover, as this MG-34 quickly proves.

German 8.0cm mortars go to work.

Pounding the farm on the opposite bank.

The Germans reinforce the center.

Leading to a Scout Car pushing the bridge.

The Soviet defenders, quite thinned out after two bombing raids, do what they can to halt the German advance in the south.

A Red anti-tank rifle team (bottom left) fires on the Sdkfz 222 on the bridge.

The Scout Car is immobilized and the crew bales!

German mortars pound the northern crossing.

The Soviet defenders re-group.

As their mortars pound the Germans in the south (top center).

The Reds continue doggedly rallying and re-occupying positions they were forced out of on the east side of the river.

Colonel Klink moves atop the center hill to get a better look at the battlefield, as his lead assault elements continue to be pummeled by Red mortars (bottom right).

German infantry begin cautiously pushing across the bridge, covered by a smokescreen (far right).

The Reds push troops left to counter the German advance onto the bridge.

The first Landser are across (far right), as Major Freitag quickly pushes more up onto the bridge.

A fierce melee breaks out at the nearby farm!

The Commies have stood their ground, eliminating three rifle squads (right) and sending the German platoon commander scurrying for cover (far left), panicked!

Colonel Klink calls in reserves (bottom left).

The Soviets consolidated their positions.

While in the south, the Reds chase own the fugitive German platoon commander...

And put him out of the fight!

But Major Freitag immediately responds, personally leading a fresh platoon into the attack at the farm!

The Soviets are defeated (bottom left) and the Germans push north, capturing the Soviet commander (top right)...

Which is enough to send the remaining defenders fleeing for the hills!

I hope you enjoyed it.  I actually had a blast, it just took about five hours, which is not acceptable when you're trying to play out a campaign with two dozen fights!

More on the way.

V/R,
Jack

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