ASL Red Barricades: Today the Volga, tomorrow the Vistula (Pt. VII)

Note to readers: This post won't make a lick of sense to anyone who isn't familiar with the Advanced Squad Leader game system.

Dave Hauth and I are engaged in a playing of RBCGI:  Into the Factory.  I'm the Reds.  He's the Jerries.

We're each maintaining a blog correspondence as the game progresses.  We've a Gentleman's Agreement that neither of us will read his opponent's blog until given express permission to do so. 

Readers are encouraged to comment!  Speak your piece! Just be sure not to inadvertently reveal any information about Dave's plan to me or vice-versa. 

You can read earlier episodes of my account:

• Part I
• Part II
• Part III 
• Part IV 
• Part V
• Part VI 

You can read Dave's blog here.

Aftermath of CG Day 6

CG Day 6 saw the most savage fighting yet of the campaign game.  The Germans suffered 69 CVP, while the Russians suffered a whopping 110 CVP!   The fighting took place in three sectors.

Day 7 perimeter

In the north, where I had set up for a diversionary attack toward the O10 factory I received a nasty surprise.  I pushed my two T34 M41 tanks way out to the west on Turn 1, determined to crush a German machine-gun nest in hex P5.  But on Turn 2, to my surprise, Dave entered a Sturm company on the northern board edge!  My tanks were caught in a bad place without infantry support.  They succumbed fairly quickly to the marauding shock troops.  From there, Dave pushed southward toward the Chemist's Shop.  My two platoons of infantry and the 82mm Mortar did what they could to stop him, but I was out-manned and out-gunned.  At the end of the game (which lasted 7 turns), Dave had control of the Chemist's Shop and had annihilated all my troops in the area.

In the factories, Dave set up his shock troops in big stacks, which he then used to pulverize my conscripts as he pushed eastward.  He made good progress, seizing the R23 factory and all but the few southernmost hexes of the P21 factory.  Once again, his eastward progress was stopped only by some desperate intensive fire by my 76* howitzers, one of which went to its reward.

The big counterattack I had planned for the south succeeded nicely.  I was not only able to completely win back the P33 factory, but I annihilated the Germans guarding that factory and put a big hurt on Dave's reinforcing rifle company that came hustling in from the western board edge.  My T34 M43s were unstoppable down there.

Dave sees this...

The stake is in the ground

There is no retreating at this point.  Just stand here and slug it out.  My retained forces are these:

• 9-0 x 2, 9-1 x 3, 8-1, 8-0 x 3, 7-0, 6+1
• 82mm Mtr.
• 76* INF 
• T34 M43 x 3
• T60 M42 x 2 (dug-in hexes T31 and V31)
• 628 x 9
• 527 x 3.5
• 458
• 447 x 2
• 426 x 4
• 228 x 2
• .50-cal HMG, HMG, MMG x 2, LMG, Lt. Mtr., Atr x 3, German Lt. Mtr., German Atr x 2
• OBA Module 80mm Mtr (scarce ammo, pre-reg hexes Q33, U38)

Looking over this list, it is obvious that my casualties from Day 6 were huge.  At the end of that day, the Germans had twice as many squads as the Russians.  I don't know that I've ever seen that be the case this far into a campaign game.

Which brings up another point:  the way this game is playing, with neither side gaining any clear advantage, it is conceivable that we could play out the campaign all the way to the end.  I've never seen that happen before, either.  Dave and I are in uncharted territory here, as regards Red Barricades.  It should be interesting to see how it plays out.

Day 7 setup

Once again, I'm awarded 18CPP for the coming day.  My purchases are these:

• I2 Guards SMG Coy (reserve)
  628 x 9
  DC
  8-1, 9-0
  
  
• I3 Rifle Coy (reserve)
  447 x 12
  HMG, MMG, LMG, Atr., Lt. Mtr.
  9-1, 9-0
  
  
• I4 SMG Coy
  527 x 9
  9-0
  
  
• A2 T70 Pltn (dug-in)
  T70 x 3
  8-1 AL
  I'm pretty sure Dave will be buying armor for this campaign day.  He needs it.  But I can't afford to buy a proper AT Battery, so I'm settling for a platoon of dug-in T70s with their 45L guns that could prove troublesome to incoming German armor.  More about these later.
  
  
• M1 80 Fortification points
  AT Ditch
  Trench
  HIP:  Squad, HS, SMC x 3, AFV x 6
  ? x 14

I'm more or less compelled to buy 3 infantry companies after suffering such devastating casualties.

Day 7 setup, north

On Day 6, Dave took the Chemist's Shop, as told.  So the noose is closing in the north.
I've set up my reserve rifle company in the Commissar's House and vicinity.  They get the duty of doing what they can to guard the riverbank.

I've got a hidden .50-cal HMG on the second level of the Commissar's House.  Dave will certainly know that there is something hidden somewhere on the second level, but he still has to deal with the fact of it.

I've got a hidden spotter in GG21, sighting for the surviving 82mm Mortar. 

Unfortunately, the weather for Day 7 is clear, and that means one thing:  Dave will be buying Stukas.  So, in anticipation of that unhappy development, I'm setting up my T34s in the factories, where they will stay and support the infantry.  I'm spending 30 Fortification points to hide them and the dugin T70s, as well.  I'll keep the T34s hidden for as long as possible, hoping to avoid the Stukas and maybe just catch Dave by surprise here and there.

Day 7 setup, south

In the south, I'm starting to fortify the P33 factory.  This may be where the Red Army is forced into its final stand.  An AT Ditch in O34 makes it less easy for German tanks to enter the factory.  And two of my hidden T70s are poised on the flanks to open up as the Panzers approach from the west.

My reserve Guards SMG company awaits the Germans within the factory, and I've still got my 80mm Mortar OBA module to assist in the defense.

My reinforcing SMG company will enter wherever the need seems most dire.

My Red Army heroes and the mighty Sixth Army are approaching a culmination.  Now is not the time to lose our nerve.

To be continued...