Early WW2 Russia

At the club it was just the one game, early WW2 Russia.  We were using the Blitzkrieg Commander rules, we were playing a breakthrough scenario with the outnumbered (but not out classed) Germans trying to manoeuvre through a Russian position.  It is all 15mm, I have no idea makes were used.

The Russian infantry guns, these managed to shoot nothing the entire game.  I love all the horse drawn equipment, it was just for show but that is why we use figures and not pieces of card. 

In game this is a single German infantry battalion, only the transports were on board at this point. 

The left flank of the German advance, Where they should be going is to the right of the picture, but one of the Russian commanders had a novel idea of defending, he swept down one side of the board and the infantry are facing off against him pointing to the river at the top of the picture.

And this is the attacking/defending Russian players battalion, he managed to wether a lot of artillery and stuka fire pretty much the entire game.  The dice are the number of hits and the white cotton suppression markers.  This chap bagged more of the Hun and caused more trouble for them than anyone else.  His  Mg's and mortar really disrupted the German advance (trucks do not like Mg's and mortars....). 

This was the end game just as the Germans were about to breakthrough, just off picture eight or so trucks had zipped behind the Stugs and were en route to the Russian table edge (the player rolled double one twice, in Blitzkrieg commander this meant four actions.....in this case 80cm of movement).  The destroyed Stug was due to a blunder, this was the most effective tank fire the entire game.  The T26's are hiding just behind the crest and  knew what was coming after this.  And they were indeed blown to bits in the next German turn.

All in all this game showed all the reasons I love the blitzkrieg commander system, the German better and more flexible command allowed them to keep moving forward despite some early set backs.  The Russian command works out how I think it should, clunky and unwieldy but when they hit they hit hard because there tends to be lots of them.  If you want rules for brigade command and up, I recommend this rule set to anyone, they are infuriating, but for all the right reasons. 

And my own personal highlight was shooting down the damn stuka just as it was about to but the beat down on the T26's.  You have to love that.