Round 1 - The Battle is Joined - Turn 10
soviets versus Garni as axis; All options on; Stock scenario, NOT played blind; Soviet password = ^m[cWg^^ Axis password= r2d2
Download the Soviet replay of the Axis Turn10
Synopsis of the axis turn.
The axis continued their spoiling tactics but once again ended up in a weak defensive posture. At the end of the enemy turn the situation was as below. One axis unit retreated as per the blue arrow during our artillery phase.
The axis unit layout has left multiple opportunities to unhinge the whole defence
Note the lone HQ unit in the 100VP hex. If we get to overrun this guy we will have access to all the hexes behind the crust of his defence. As HQs have no assault strength they automatically retreat when assaulted. Also, note that the enemy has left a number of defenders in our LOS. They are easy pickings for us, but worse for the axis when we disrupt them we can assault them without causing opfire and then check out the hexes behind to verify their contents. In this way we get to spot all his defenders and can thus chose the optimal path to wrap up the whole defensive position.
Synopsis of the soviet turn.
We start the turn by wrapping up the pocket formed to the north of Arikamiai
What is the optimal order of the above moves? Click on the image for one answer.
There are a number of valid solutions - the idea is not to allow the enemy retreat routes when shooting at him in case he should retreat into a hex that you cannot get at.
The final assault on Arikamiai is underway.
Having penetrated the outer crust of the enemy position we verified that the enemy HQ spotted at the end of the enemy turn was indeed alone. We then assaulted that hex and forced the HQ to retreat. This allowed to to spot the two hexes circled in red. Notice that both these hexes can be assaulted and that the enemy will be forced to retreat thereby giving us access to the entire core of the defence. Also note that we have revealed an AT gun and a couple of infantry guns all of whom will have opfire set. The next job is to draw that opfire onto the frontal armour of our most strongly protected guys - now where did those KVs get to?
Soviet AFVs run amok through the streets of Arikamiai
Three pockets of axis units have formed. As the noose tightens they run out of hexes into which to retreat. Ordering of assaults is important in order to minimise the number of troops required. For example the stack of units marked A should be overrun first as they have no path of retreat and will all be captured. That is because there are 5 units in that hex and one may not have more than 6 units in a hex. Furthermore, as more units crowd into a hex that hex becomes a target rich environment and thus you get the Target Density Bonus. Thus, make sure to overrun disrupted stacks onto undisrupted ones before you try to disrupt the undisrupted ones - you will get the Target Density Bonus and you will not inadvertently cause an undisrupted unit to retreat onto the stack that you previously disrupted and thereby make it invulnerable to assault.
So what actually happened?
The final result of the assault on Arikamiai looks like:
Arikamiai Falls!
A few enemy stragglers hang out to the north of town but the towns main defences have succumbed to the weight of the soviet assault. The final enemy stack resisted being disrupted under numerous hammer blows but eventually gave in. We ended up using nearly every unit at hand in the assault.
One final note - the enemy sent that SPW 251/1 scouting for our artillery.
Shenanigans with tractors
In order to fool him into chasing ghosts we move the tractor across his field of view and along the road. If he is not watching carefully then he will assume that it is our artillery running for cover and chase after it. If he watches closely and notices that the tractor is empty then he should assume that the artillery troop is in the vacated forest hex. He will try to overrun it but simply end up in the forest hex with no APs left. The artillery platoon will skedaddle east, but not remain on the road, in case that the enemy not fall for the bait.
On Slabada Hill we just pound the enemy infantry with our heavy tanks and await our infantry support recovering from disruption.
Download the end of Soviet Turn10
Download the Axis replay of the Soviet Turn10
Combat Results Analysis
| LOSSES INFLICTED BY: | Expected | Result | Cumulative Expected | Cumulative Result |
| Axis Direct Fire | 19.76 | 15 | 132.37 | 157 |
| Axis Opfire | 2.45 | 3 | 21.7 | 15 |
| Soviet Direct Fire | 25.2 | 27 | 134.5 | 143 |
| Soviet Opfire | .92 | 1 | 9.57 |
6 |
See full graph Download full spreadsheet
VP Status (axis major loss)
| Beginning of Axis Turn | End of Axis Turn | End of Soviet Turn | |
| Axis Unit Losses |
362 |
363 |
505 |
| Axis Unit VPs |
1108 |
1112 |
1597 |
| Soviet Unit Losses |
220 |
246 |
250 |
|
Soviet Unit VPs |
702 |
773 |
788 |
|
VP Hexes |
500 |
600 |
300 |
|
Total VPs |
94 |
261 |
-509 |