KG Klink in Barbarossa, Fight #1

 All,

After many fits and starts, I've finally gotten back to some games with my beloved "Kampfgruppe Klink," finally starting Operation Barbarossa.  I am quite astounded and embarrassed to say that I last played and posted a real batrep for KG Klink on 30 April 2020, more than five years ago!  In that time I have attempted to re-start the KG Klink saga, now moving to the Eastern Front (after having done Greece, France, and Poland), a half dozen times, with different rules and in different scales, but nothing has seemed to work, I just haven't been able to recapture the magic.  

I resolved to give it another shot, so I busted out my beautiful 15mm troops and went back to the well, back to where it all started: 5Core Company Command.  Lo and behold, I had a good time!

The battlefield, north is left.  The KG will be pushing from bottom to top; the concept is that infantry, supported by massed air and artillery, have made the initial breakthrough, and now armored and mechanized forces are flowing through to wreak havoc on the enemy's rear areas before he can find his balance.  The KG's mission is to brush aside any resistance and press east with all possible speed, by-passing enemy strongpoints and putting as many Communist troops in the bag as possible.  The terrain is dominated by two hills: Hill 105 at center and Hill 100 at top left, with scattered woods and fields.

The German force:
Commander: Captain Tausch, 1st Grenadiere Company Commander, holder of the Infantry Assault Badge and Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class
1st Grenadiere Platoon (3 rifle squads): 2nd Lt Haas, Iron Cross 2nd Class
2nd Grenadiere Platoon (3 rifle squads): Sergeant 1st Class Mader, Iron Cross 2nd Class

3rd Grenadiere Platoon (2 rifle squads): Staff Sergeant Kandler, Iron Cross 2nd Class

*Not shown, each rifle platoon has a 5.0cm mortar team and anti-tank rifle team as part of the Platoon's command element.

2 x 7.5cm infantry guns
2 x MG-34 MG teams
2 x Panzer III (led by Sgt Graebner, Iron Cross 2nd Class)

The enemy force consists of:
1 x Commanding Officer
2 x Rifle Platoon (1 x PC stand and 3 x rifle squad, with each rifle platoon having a 50mm mortar team and anti-tank rifle team as part of the Platoon's command element)

1 x 82mm Mortar Team

1 x T-26 Light Tank

The German baseline, stacked for the assault.  1st Gren Plt at bottom left (with one Pz III attached), one of the Infantry Guns (IG) limbered, 3rd Gren Plt with MGs and the other IG in/around the house, and 2nd Gren Plt at top right (with the other Pz III attached).

1st and 3rd Grenadiere Platoons move up on each flank with their supporting panzers, while 2nd Platoon and the heavy weapons stand overwatch.

The two flanking spearheads continue to push ahead.

Captain Tausch (bottom center) nervously scans the terrain for any signs of the Red Army.

And there they are!  The Soviets are well dug in, with both rifle platoons forward, their CO and light tank in the center, backed up by their 82mm mortar team (bottom right).

The Soviets on the left silently allow 2nd Gren Plt to advance up the road.

While the Soviets on the right do the same for 1st Gren Platoon.

The Soviet commander (in field at left center top) signals the tank commander...

The 45mm gun barks, the little Soviet tank (bottom right) sending a solid AP shot at the encroaching German panzer (top center left)...

Sgt Graebner's panzer is immobilized, pinning and suppressing nearby German infantry.

The Soviet tank quickly, and cleverly, motors backwards out of sight (center, from far left), as the Soviet mortar team (bottom right) goes to work.

Targeting 2nd Gren Plt, though the 82mm HE rounds fall wide of their mark.

Back on the Soviet right, riflemen open fire on 1st Gren Plt at point blank range.

Knocking out a German rifle squad.

In the center, one of the German infantry guns (bottom left) opens fire in support of 2nd Gren Platoon (right, on road).

Knocking out one of the Soviet emplacements and suppressing a nearby position!

Sgt Harms' Panzer III rotates and opens fire, but it's 37mm gun has no effect on the dug-in troops.

SFC Mader leads his men off the exposed road (top left), drawing enemy fire (bottom right).

Mader and two of his squads make it to the safety of cover (left), though one of his squads is pinned down in the open (bottom right).

In the German center, 3rd Gren Platoon and the MGs open fire in support of 1st Gren Platoon (far left).

As the Company Commander dashes forward under fire (far left, from center bottom) to rally 1st Gren Platoon.

Nearby dug-in Soviet infantry are unfazed, laying fire into 1st Gren Platoon.

One of 1st Gren Platoon's rifle squads manages to get going, moving up into the cover of a copse of trees before opening fire on the nearby Soviets.

The Red Army soldiers, feeling their oats, let out a vicious 'Urrah!' and charge the German rifle squad!

But the veteran German troops make short work of them (bottom right), moving forward to occupy the Soviet position (far left)!

The Soviet mortar team re-lays its tubes, not focusing on 2nd Gren Platoon atop Hill 105 (top left).

But again the Red mortars miss, falling long of their target!

As the T-26 waddles over to the left, helping to rally some pinned down comrades.

Though it draws the attention of Sgt Harms' gunner (bottom left), who promptly launches an AP round their way (top right)!

Sgt Harms' round misses as the Soviet riflemen and platoon commander rally!

And the Soviet tankers return fire!  The round clangs off the German panzer, stunning the crew.

As the Reds bring up a 14.5mm anti-tank rifle!

The Soviet ATR (bottom left) fires on Sgt Harms' tank (top right), to no effect!

Sgt Harms screams at his crew to reload and fire!

This time they brew up the Soviet light tank.

As the German infantry gun at the house (bottom left) again pounds Soviet defensive positions in support of 2nd Gren Platoon (atop Hill 105 at center).

One Soviet defensive position is suppressed (bottom right), but SFC Mader's platoon (top left) now finds itself in a firefight with the other defensive position (center right).

3rd Platoon and an MG-34 continue firing in support of Lt Haas' 1st Gren Platoon (far left, with SFC Mader's 2nd Plt at top right).

Sgt Vigerte's 2nd Squad, 1st Gren Platoon (bottom left), having already defeated one Soviet squad in close combat (bottom right), now finds itself in position to pour enfilading fire into the next Soviet position, looking to turn the Soviet flank.

With Sgt Vigerte's squad holding the flank and representing the limit of advance (far left), the rest of 1st Gren Plt (bottom left) and Sgt Graebner's immobilized panzer all fire on the next Soviet position (top right), affecting the Soviet commander as well (in the field behind them).

And with that, the Soviet commander (bottom right) decides he has done his job delaying the German advance, time to start falling back before his force is annihilated!

But his men are in no shape to move, almost every single unit is pinned or suppressed!  A lull in the fighting occurs and the Reds take advantage by rallying their men back into fighting shape.

The Germans take advantage of the lull, too, pushing men forward, cautiously, pushing heavy weapons to the far end of the line (far left) to gain fire superiority in order to ensure they can turn the Soviet right flank.

3rd Gren Plt moves up in the center (left, from bottom right).

But Captain Tausch has been too cautious, and the entire Soviet line collapses in on itself, falling back into the concealment of the corn fields.

On the German left, Lt Haas' platoon gives chase, but they're not really in position to influence the enemy, they can't catch them and they don't have line of sight for their heavy weapons (bottom left).  Sgt Vigerte pushes his squad hard to get up on Hill 100 (left, from center), where he might be able to see the enemy amongst the fields.

In the center, SFC Mader pushes most of his platoon forward, up to a nearby treeline (far left), while Captain Tausch rallies Mader's previously suppressed squad and pushes them forward (center, from bottom left) and Sgt Harms pushes his panzer up on the far right; running into enemy infantry in a cornfield is no place for a tanker!

One of the infantry guns and machine gun teams (bottom right) catches a glimpse of some fleeing Soviet infantry (top left) and opens fire...

Eliminating a rifle squad and suppressing their platoon leader.

As Sgt Vigerte's squad makes it to the crest of Hill 100 (far left).

But a nearby Soviet rifle squad (bottom right) opens fire, pinning them (top left)!

SFC Mader pushes 2nd Gren Plt forward, up to the edge of the fields (center, from the treeline at bottom center), but he's feeling like it's a trap and doesn't really want to go sticking his head too far in, as Sgt Harms pushes his panzer forward (top right), but again, not too close.

The Soviet commander (bottom left) ineffectually engages 2nd Gren Platoon (top right).

While another Soviet anti-tank rifle fires on Sgt Harms' panzer, stunning the crew!

Captain Tausch senses an opportunity here and dashes forward under fire to rally Sgt Harms' crew (bottom right) as a nearby rifle squad from 2nd Gren Plt (bottom left, with the rest of 2nd Gren Plt at top left) opens fire on Soviets in the fields (top right).

The two sides keep trading fire in the fields, while the Soviet mortar team (bottom right) fires another sheaf of 82mm HE rounds.

Which are still long, though close enough to suppress SFC Mader's command team!

And good enough to keep the Germans heads down so the rest of the Soviet force can withdraw!

Captain Tausch wistfully ponders the ass-chewing he's about to take from the XO about not by-passing enemy strongpoints and moving with all possible haste to ensure the Soviets weren't able to delay and escape...

Well I'll be doggoned, that was a lot of fun!  A little back and forth, a lot of drama, some narrative worked in, not simply a walkover of the enemy, very interesting.  More to come.

V/R,
Jack