The Soviets are here!

I finally finished enough Soviet forces to put on a game of Rommel.  I used the "Second Targu Frumos" scenario found here.  I might have gotten a little carried away with the videos.

The start of the video is showing the Soviet 3rd Guards Tank Corp.  The Soviet infantry divisions on the board included only one Guards infantry division.  The other two divisions had units that weren't very good on the offense.

First Soviet attack.

In this attack the ISU-122 has the infantry support feature that allows them to negate the down shift for the defenders being in the town, which allowed the pioneer to use its ability to remove a defensive position.

And the result of the attack on the town...

The Soviet 3rd Guards tank corp took the option to come in on the flank.  Ultimately this may be what doomed the Soviet effort.  The massed artillery in this attack was used to double the strength of a Soviet rocket barrage!

And the follow up to the attack...

The 24th Panzer Division, not 26th, and a Recon Puma, not Hetzer.  The Hetzer provided the flank bonus in this attack.

The Soviet attack on the 24th Panzer Division did not turn out well.

The 24th Panzer Division counter attacks and wipes out both of these T34s.

 The 24th didn't do as well here, despite having "Tank Shock."

The Soviets trying to set up a flank attack on an objective, get caught in a spoiling flank attack by the Germans.  This was a direct result of the break through by the Germans taking out those two T34s earlier.

This attempt to hurt the part of the 24th that was doing so much damage did not go well.  The tank advantage enjoyed by the German really caused havoc on the Soviet forces.  I should point out the SU76 was playing the role of a "light tank" and not a tank destroyer.  I don't have any T70s...yet.

A final effort to capture this town and objective resulted in the elite Panzergrenadiers withdrawing to avoid further casualties, but the two other German units held on.

And my video wrap up of the battle.

This was a tough scenario for the Soviets.  The anti-tank ability of the Germans was decisive in letting them inflict significant damage on Soviet armored forces in their flank attack.  The tank advantage enjoyed by the German in most of the armored battles was also important.  The minefields also played a more significant role than anticipated.  In retrospect, I should have committed the Soviet reinforcements to help secure the other 3 objectives.

Still it was fun to finally get my Soviet toys out.  Back to painting.