The capture of Odessa was to be the
first major display of Romanian martial powers in WWII, and they were
determined to prove themselves capable. Three concentric defensive rings
surrounded the seaport and the Russians were resisting bitterly. After three
weeks of fierce fighting, the Romanian 4th Army had finally battered its way
to the intermediate line. At the village of Petersthal, the 1st Armored Division
and the 14th Infantry Division chose the best of their respective formations
and formed the “Colonel Eftimiu” Detachment to capture the strong point.
Attacker: Romanian (Elements of "Colonel Eftimiu" Detachment and Assault Engineers with Armor Support)
Defender: Russian (Elements of 25th Rifle Division and 9th Cavalry Division)
5.5 turns
Players: 2 OBA: None Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:9.0 D:10.5
AFVs: A:3
R-1(t) x 2 LT vz 35(g)
AFVs: D:1
SU-12
Guns: A:0 D:1
37mm PP obr. 15R PTRD-41 ATR x 2
Misc Rules:
A: Romanian 4-4-7’s are Assault Engineers; one AE squad secretly Fanatic w D: FB1
I played this as the Russian. As we felt the scenario is pro Romanian, we used the follwing balance: Russians get extra 4x "?" counters and exchange 2x426 by 2x447. The Romanians have an absolute crack force featuring 6x 447AE's, a 10-2, 9-2, 8-1 infantry- and a 9-2 armor leader and tank support (some of it brittle). They need to evict the Russians from a number of buildings or move off a substantial number of units. The Russians have a mixed force of 1st Line and Conscripts and are burdened by an ELR of 2. They can exchange a leader with a Commissar, which will be valuable to void DM but is very likely to shoot some broken/ELR'ed Conscripts that refuse to rally. The Russian's AT capability is not very impressive consistig of 2 ATRs and MGs. There is an AA truck with a 76* Gun with special ammo AP7 - a vulnerable piece of equipment one can not necessarily rely on. This is a good description of the Russian force. Might work, but better don't rely on it. As the Russians, I tried to preserve my force and delay the Romanians as long as possible. They will most likely shove out of their way all Russians in short order until resistance will stiffen in the valley. Despite numerous attempts, I could not take out but one of the Romanian thin skinned tanks, which did afterwards inhibit the movement of the remaining one due to being radioless. When the Romanians reached the valley, it looked quite grim for the Russians. The Romanians had very good chances to take the last small building he needed. But the Russians were determined to cling to every piece of brick, aided by one fortified building location. Then came the hour of the AA truck. So far, I had kept it out of harm's way but soon, there was no place to go anymore, so it stood to fight: It broke 1.5 Romanian squads with its shot but as it was very close to a soon to advance Romanian 9-2 with MMG, I figured as it would die very soon I might as well IF it. Of course, this malfed the Gun. Then the Romanian 10-2 struck and managed to break and ELR 2 Russian squads and the Commissar in the fortified location. At that point I was convinced it was over. But I have learned to play ASL to the end so I trudged on. The upcoming RPh went splendid for the Russians - his 8-1 rallied the Commissar who in turn rallied the brokies. In the PFPh, the AA-truck turned to fire at the ADJACENT 9-2 with crew+MMG. It kept ROF, killed the crew and pinned the 9-2. This proved to be the turning point as now the last building the Romaians were pretty sure to get up to now was turned into a harder nut to crack. Boldly, concealed Russian Conscripts advanced in on the 9-2 to ambush and kill him. The Romanians had one radioless tank, a 6+1 and 2x137s to have a go at the needed building which was held by a concealed Russian 447 and flanked by the 426 which managed to pick up the Romanian HMG (albeit with bad LOSes). The Russian Sniper struck to break one of those 137s. Now it came down to the Romanian tank and the 6+1 with 137 vs. the Russian 447 in the building. The Romanian tank managed to start independently and intended to OVR the Russian squad in the building. It did not Bog, it did not fall into the cellar - BUT it rubbled the building killing the Russian defenders therein. Unfortunately, the remaining heap of Rubble is no longer considered a building... Cursing their fate, the Romanians had to realize, that they would just barely not be able to take the 3-hex stone building from the Russians in their last half-turn and conceded. It was the AA-Truck and the Commissar that turned the game. The former shot like hell, the latter rallied like hell (shooting two HS obviously had a very positive effect on the rest of the brokies to get back to the firing line).
2017-08-09
(D) Jeff B
vs
Magnus Rimvall
Russian win
5.75 hrs
This was a highly enjoyable scenario that came right down to the wire. The Russians had no luck early taking out the Romanian AFVs. By endgame the Romanians had positioned themselves to potentially win by either VC. A brave Russian leader who captured the Romanian DC charged the 10-2 led force that had made the exit-bordering stone building. He survived first and final fire but snakes on the FPF placement wounded him. The HOB generated by this though turned ALL of the Romanians there berserk however. So they were effectively out of the game as they would not be able to leave the board. A Romanian AFV was finally taken out and another cornered and unlikely to escape. So it all hinged on the Russians recapturing one building. A CX crew had been sent to garrison the NW stone building and a Russian squad and 8-1 leader double timed to advance into CC with them. The Russians proved successful and the Romanians had no chance at either VC so game over. Great scenario!
2012-03-26
(D) Will Willow
vs
A. Key
Romanian win
FTF
2011-09-24
(D) Björn Lorenzen
vs
Armin Deppe
Romanian win
2011-08-15
(A) X von Marwitz
vs
Ernst Knauth
Romanian win
Cannot remember scenario rating, so put "Average".
