After playing around with the scenarios and instant games for a few weeks, I started a 10 game campaign last night. First battle was a meeting engagement vs. Finland, 10/39.
My forces were based around a 7 tank T-35 company, with 1 rifle and 1 engineer platoon as tank riders, 1 section of GAZ-AAA trucks, 1 section of mounted scouts, and 1 section of motorcyle infantry.
Terrain was heavily wooded, with a frozen stream/swamp running N-S in the center, and a small village on the crossroads of 2 secondary roads.
Objectives were a small clearing in the far south, a frozen lake in the north-central, and the shores of a open water lake in the north.
I planned to enter from the south, secure the clearing first, and sweep up the gravel road, secure the crossroads, and set a hasty ambush at the frozen lake N. of the village. I was prepared to concede the open lake, as it was fully surrounded by heavy forest ideal for the expected swarm of Finnish infantry.
The first 10 turns before contact went mostly as planned, leaving me in posession of the clearing, and with a small force of one AA truck, and one scout team/Kosomsolets combo in the village with a commanding view of the nearby clearings and roads. I had sent the motorcyle scouts to the north lake, hoping to locate the enemy. The remainder of my forces were deployed around the west and south edges of the frozen lake, with the victory hexes left unclaimed as bait.
When the first Jaeger squads appeared, everything still went according to plan. I SHOULD have gotten suspicious at this point...
As they entered on the NE corner of the lake, I had 4 T-35's, 4 rifle sections and the remaining AA truck in the brush of the south shore, delivering heavy fire and forcing them to retreat west, into the welcoming arms of my engineers, scouts, and the other 3 T-35's. By and large, the Finns didn't know what hit them.
Of the estimated company strength attack on the lake, only one Jaeger squad and one regular rifle sqad were able to breach the west line, both blindly charging through my firing line and headed home as fast as they could. After mopping up the rest of that attack, I prepared to move down stream to the open lake with my main force of 4 T-35's and the infantry, leaving the frozen lake to the western blockade force. This took ~ 10 turns.
At this point, the roof fell in.
Apparently the
sole survivor of the rifle squad that broke out of the ambush had rallyed enough to counter attack. This single rifleman destroyed, in deliberate attacks over 2 consecutive turns, my commanders T-35, the scouts Kosmosolets APC, and inflicted heavy casualties on the Scout squad before succombing to the engineers flamethrower.
I don't know how to say "Rambo" in Finnish, but I'm going to have to learn...
The game ended shortly thereafter, before I could gain control of the northern lake.
My total losses were 12 infantry, 1 T-35, one Kosmoslets, and the entire section of motorcyle infantry, (lost in an ill-advised recon attempt of the north lake)
Finnish losses totaled 158 infantry, primarily Jaeger squads and ski-scouts.
Overall, a nice victory, had the game continued for another 3-4 turns I could have controled the northern lake as well, and the losses were tolerable, except for the freak Rambo kills.
Hope you enjoed my first AAR.
Matt
Russia vs. Finland (& Rambo)
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