Diedersdorf 1945

Here is the other game we played over the holidays, it is meant to have six players but we only had the three of us; one for all you tread-heads out there! 18 April 1945. This action occurred after the German line at Seelow was broken. The Germans forces were short on everything yet still contained some powerful units. We spent a lot of time getting the map accurate on this, and eventually got it right, representing an area of action 7.5x5.5 kilometers. The jigsaw roads counted as hard, and the rubber ones formed but rough.

Looking towards Diedersdorf down Reichstrasse 1

The defences at Worrin on the extreme left, a reasonable force but without infantry support were limited in what they could do, in this instance.

In the background 373rd SU Regiment moves through Golsdorf towards the small but tactically important village of Muncheberg.

Russian recon units did a lot of work early on as neither side's air force turned up for the first few turns.

This is a mixed recon/armoured infantry force which didn't have a lot of teeth but was fast, and it played quite a good role throughout the whole game. Its actual historical designation was Pz AufK abt Kurmark.

T34/85s on the Reichstrasse. We had a total of ten of these between us, but the game actually required twenty one, so the remainder were T34/43s.

Elements of the 74th Guards Regiment on a back-road moving towards Worrin. The Germans (me) didn't pay them much attention as they were unsupported - bad move!

Half of the infantry and the recon carrier continued towards Worrin, but the other half spent two tuns crossing the river and close-assaulting some of my field artillery; which I elected to have 'on-table' in the hope that the Soviet air force would attack these units instead of my armour.

German Tiger Is moving up to confront the SU regiment, good tanks but the Soviets enjoyed a considerably higher morale value, and there were way more of them.

Three turns later, the SU regiment had forced the Tigers off the board and were within one or two moves of securing Muncheberg, which would put them in position to enfilade German positions at the top of the Reichstrasse. The Tigers had not performed to expectation, and Dave had no hesitation in detaching his IS2s to assist in the assault on Worrin (extreme German left), which had been without armoured assistance up until this point.

Panzergrenadier platoons got to Muncheberg before the SU regiment, supported by a single Panther platoon. The Germans held this position for the remainder of the game.

This is about turn six. These PIVs were sent from Worrin to attack the SU regiment around Muncheberg. The units at Worrin had performed very well and this became one of the few that the Germans were able to keep mobile, moving short distances to cover problems in one place then another.

Still on turn six. The Russians finally move on the Reichstrasse with massive numbers.

The lead T34 platoons moved off the highway to put even more pressure on the Germans at Muncheberg. The BT5 in the background stood in for the command light-tank platoon, as they did for all of the tank battalions due to our shortage of the exact vehicles.

Top of the Reichstrasse 1. German positions to the left,

and, the right.

The German far right, this move actually started turn two.

We didn't have enough Tiger IIs, so I got a reinforced company of tank destroyers instead. The Tigers took on the better part of a tank battalion, while the Jadpanthers diverted through the town of Marxdof on the extreme German right.

The Tiger unit was down to half strength the turn after it arrived at its position, and only destroyed three Soviet tank platoons. One of the German victory conditions was to maintain a 5:1 kill ratio against their opponents; they never managed better than 3:1 and ran out of ammunition in the attempt.

Abt Kurmark on a defensive line, covering one of the back roads that led to Seelow. This unit took casualties from start to finish, but remained mobile and in good morale throughout.

Part of a Russian battalion, forced to halt after a brush with Abt Kurmark.

More Soviet recon units, this detected my Jadpanther company (hidden in a wooded area) which was heavily attacked a couple of turns later by a battalion of armour from the 1st Guards Tank Brigade. The Soviet air force also added to their woes when it made one of its helpfully rare appearances.

Rear elements of the German force on the right. By turn eight they were into anti-tank mode, and the AA tractor to the left was firing at Russian infantry.

Turn eight ended up being the last. The Germans had lost 3/4 of the armour they started the game with, the Reichstrasse position had been over-run, Marxdorf was on its knees, with only Worrin and Muncheberg still holding out, just. Most of the surviving German field artillery was firing over open sights, and only the survivors of Abt Kurmark were still mobile, oh and the Luftwaffe finally showed up, only to be shot down. The German player needed to last twelve turns, plus the 5:1 kill ratio, so that was that really. Historically the Germans did manage to slow the Soviet advance a bit, something I was not able to replicate on this occasion. A very difficult game for the Germans to win. All the kit is a mixture of mine and Daves. Thanks to Bob McKenzie for an excellent scenario http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bob_mackenzie/index.html