Battlefront Game Eastern Front 1944

Introduction

This was a test game of the Fire and Furry Battlefront rules in 15mm scale on a 6'x 4' hill with fields, two forests, one hill and a village in the centre.  It was a encounter engagement set on the Eastern Front in the Spring of 1944, played over two days (March 30 and April 2, 2018).  The Germans had a two companies of Panzer Grenadiers on one company of Panzer IVH versus the Soviets with a rifle company, SMG company and a tank company.

overview

Details:

* The ground scale was 1" = 40 yards
* Each miniature or stand represents a squad of men, specialized team, or 2-3 vehicles or guns.
* Each game turn represents approximately 10 minutes of real time.
* The rules are designed so that each player can handle one or two maneuver elements (a maneuver element is roughly a company).

The infantry is based for Flames of War, as system we are moving on from, but the basing will remain.

Rosters

The game system has not points to the roster was just a rough guess as to what an evenly matched set of forces would be for an encounter battle.

Germans

Battalion HQ (Exp)

1 commander GE-46

1 Kubelwagon GE34

Panzer Grenadier company (Mot.) I ME-08 (Exp)

1 commander GE-46

1 Kubelwagen GE-34

6 Infantry GE-44

3 LMG GE49

2 HMG GE-50

1 8cm Mort. GE-52

6 trucks

Panzer Grenadier company (Mot.)  II ME-08  (Exp)

1 commander GE-46

1 kubelwagen  GE-34

6 Infantry GE-44

3 LMG GE49

2 HMG GE-50

1 8cm Mort. GE-52

6 trucks

Panzer Company  ME-01 c  (Vet)

1 Commander Pz IVH GE-03

3 Pz IVH GE-03

Soviets

Battalion. HQ (Exp)

1 Commander RU-19

1 GAZ truck

Rifle Company 1 ME-04 (Exp)

1 Commander RU-19

6  Rifle Infantry RU17

3 SMG RU-18

1 LMG RU-24

1 MMG RU-25

1 5cm mortar

SMG Company 2 ME-06 (Exp)

1 Command SMG RU-18

9 SMG RU-18

3 LMG RU-24

1 MMG RU-25

1 5cm mortar    

Medium Tank Company ME-02 (Exp)

1  Command  T34 76mm  RU-02

6  T34 76mm  RU-02

 Summary

 Both sides sent their infantry towards the village and armour to the right flank. The Soviets gained the initiative and managed to move faster, getting better command roles.

Soviets gain the initiative and the T-34s occupy the hill

The German tanks are outnumbered but count on their superior guns

German infantry advancing towards the village

Advancing Soviet infantry suffers minor fire from German mortar fire

Soviets advance despite enemy mortar fire

 The exchange of tank fire on the right flank initially resulted in the Germans having 2 disorganized and one suppressed Panzer IVH while the Soviets had 3 tanks suppressed.  

The Soviets come out ahead at the start of  tank duel

Damaged German tanks

Soviet tank damage is minor

 The infantry battle in the town included small arms fire followed by close assaults, with each side controlling half the village.

The fighting in the village was bitter.

Fate of the Panzer IVHs, all destroyed

 After defeating the German armour the Soviet T-34/76 close assaulted the nearby German Panzergrenadiers, but their panzerfausts inflict damage on the Soviet tanks.

T-34s assault the Panzergrenadiers

 After heavy fighting the German Panzergenadiers suffered the heavier casualties against the Soviet tanks and it seemed unlikely they would last much longer.

Fighting in the village

Meanwhile the fighting in the village was indecisive with each sides holding have of the village but the Soviets suffering more casualties.

At this point after about 7 turns we decided to call the game since the Germans lost one company and were about to lose another. It was a minor Soviet victory.

 Conclusions:

While the command activation system was innovative and a positive aspect of the rules we found the learning curve rather steep and spent too much time looking things up. The rules were not that intuitive especially the artillery rules.  I felt the rules could have been more concisely presented to make them more playable.  Other problems included:

1. There was a lot of firing with both offensive and defensive fire phases that gave the game an attrition feel more like a W.W.I game.

2. Armour values only ranged from 1 to 5 and when trying to represent armour thickness ranging from 5mm to 200mm+ this provides too little differentiation. The same was true for the gun ratings.

3. The lack of a point system made it hard to balance the game and in hindsight the Germans should have had more tanks.

As the game went on play speeded up as we became more familiar with the rules. 

We will be trying another set of rules for the next game in our quest to find a replacement for Flames of War.