Reports for the Soviet High Command, Latter Half of 1941, SummariesComrades, here are reports from various actions along our front in the latter half of 1941.

3 July, 1941, Lipki

Meeting engagement between southern flank forces of tank divisions of both sides. A small hamlet near Lipki. Soviet forces engaged German units which positioned themselves in a house near a lake. On the left flank, fierce hand-to-hand fighting. In the center, squads using Maxim machine guns were unable to reduce the German invaders. German victory. Photos 1 and 2 illustrate before and after battle situations. (Select image to display greater detail.)

7 July, 1941, Bessarabia

Rumanian forces engage Soveit troops and take a small town. Rumanians are able to infiltrate the town proper and take objective buildings. Comrade Lt. Gulkevish is given artillery support but he and his men in the forward building are eliminated. Force-to-force contact is light and the Rumanians cannot fire effectively. The village is held despite enemy units occupying some objectives. Photos 3 and 4 illustrate before and after unit dispositions. (Select image to display greater detail.)

30 December, 1941, Staritsa

Forces of the Soviet Union attempt to overrun a pocket of Germans who are suffering from the effects of winter weather. Bikovets leads men to the right but is eliminated by German Heavy Machine Gun fire. This HMG proved to be the undoing of Soviet forces. All attempts to break out of the woods or forward buildings were met with stiff resistance. Soviet forces are slowly reduced to ineffectiveness. Germans troops are not dislodged. Photos 5 and 6 display before and after battle pictures. (Select photo to display greater detail.)

Game Notes

Scenario 1 of Combat Commander: Europe. It was a pretty “traditional” battle for this scenario. Objective 5 turned out to be worth 5. The Soviets and Germans were mutually eliminated by melees on the Soviet left farmhouse. The Germans occupied and held the central building and could not be dislodged by fire from the Soviet MMGs. The result was a time win for the Germans with 17 VPs.

Scenario 15 is from Combat Commander: Mediterranean. This seemed to start well for the Soviets as they had two MMGs available but they weren’t of much use in the game. Bold Rumanian dashes were met with some Op Fire but the real boon was the acquisition by the Russians of their 12 FP radio. It turned out not to be as effective as I had hoped. The Rumanians rushed when the Soviets lacked Fire cards and managed to break our lines and get into the town. But even with taking some objectives, they couldn’t do it fast enough and lost on time, the Russians having 11 VPs.

Scenario 5 is from CC: Europe. There was just nothing I could do. I though I adequately managed Move, Advance and Recover cards but apparently not in combinations conducive to getting my men off the map (the way to gain double VPs in this fight). I couldn’t seem to get in a position to bring multiple squads’ firepower to bear without exposing them to the HMG which was shredding them. Blazes blocked our path on the right too, and it was simply a matter of Soviet attrition until auto-sudden-death at 13.

Our current standings in our CC Chronological Playthrough stand Allies-Axis at 6-6.