At long last Drew and I were able to get together for game four of our Bolt Action Stalingrad campaign. Drew and I are fluffy bunny historical players, so a little background flavor is non-negotiable. I was excited to play this game as it had been some time since we worked on our Stalingrad campaign. We landed on Scenario 13: Factory Assault out of the Warlord Games Stalingrad campaign book.

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October 18, 1942 – 0800 hours. Men of the Soviet 37th Guards Rifle Division’s 118th Regiment are assigned to defend the ruins of Barrikady Gun Factory Building 4B. The factory complex has been the site of several ferocious battles, attempting to take what is left of the once bustling facility. The sector has been somewhat quiet with regular patrols probing the Fritzes causing skirmishes to erupt but they peter out quickly as they start. Unbeknownst to them, the German 577th Infanterie Regiment is about to leave their mustering points for an assault on the factory complex in a bid to reach the Volga River in this sector. The 577th is supported by armor from the 24th Panzer division. Weeks of street fighting have left the Germans with little in the way of armored vehicles but this operation is deemed a critical component of the plan to take the city. If the push is successful the Soviet forces will be cut off and surrounded. The 118th quite literally have their backs to the Volga.

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Ben – I was given 1000 points to play with, and I needed to make a list from the “No land Beyond the Volga” platoon force selector. I would be facing 2000 points of German assault troops and I figured I would see a Stug assault gun Drew had been working on. Oh and at least one flame thrower protected by a ruthless pioneer squad. In previous games of the campaign, I had success with tough fighting fanatic sub-machinegun squads, which is a mouthful to say. Force wide, for an extra 3 points per model, any of my models could be upgraded to fanatics. This is a fantastic upgrade as it makes them hard to shift off of an objective. I was thematically jiving with plucky veterans and it felt like the right investment to make. I had a rough idea that we would be fighting in close quarters (it is Stalingrad after all). My John Madden take was that I needed to hold onto objectives with my infantry teams in order to win the scenario. Fluffy bunny Ben really wanted to push the theme for this scenario. Namely this meant a mix of unit experience but also it meant they were lightly armed. Rifles, sub-machineguns, and anti-tank grenades would carry the day, or so I hoped. Historically there were anti-tank rifles and the odd antitank gun but I still don’t have my ZIS-3 fully painted (for shame). Below is what I ended up scraping together to defend my sector of the Barrikady Factory.

Drew – Well facing off against Ben is never easy, but man I had a lot of points to play around with. As this would be a long bloody battle I decided the more troops the better as I needed to take objectives. I had been working on a new Stug and knew I wanted to get that on the table, but I was also able to field a PzIII and an armored car. In addtion, I sent in a Lt and a Captain to give the large army enough “ooomph” to push after the objectives as I knew I’d be facing well dug in Soviets. End of the day I pretty much cleaned off my early/ mid war shelf!

My plan was pretty simple. Push up hard and fast and never let the pressure off. I would rely on my artillery, air strike, armor and mortar to keep the Soviet’s heads down as I pushed forward. I also wasn’t sure what Ben was bringing so I made sure I could address armor with armor or an anti-tank rifle. As I wouldn’t be seeing reinforcements until turn five I wanted to push as far as I could before nightfall on turn 5 and hold until back up arrived. I couldn’t afford to get bogged down and needed to keep moving forward. A simple, but effective plan.

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Objectives– As the defender Ben placed the first objective and then Drew placed the next. We alternated until 5 objectives were placed. The scenario required the objective to be placed in a building or in a significant terrain feature. In the end objectives were placed in the railroad switch house, the coal bin, the railyard engine shed, the opening in the western wall of factory building 4B, and in bottom floor of the two-story power plant.

Scenario Special Rules

• Protracted Battle – The game lasts 8-9 turns instead of 6-7. Reinforcements cannot arrive until turn 5 when they may automatically come onto the board. Additionally, darkness will fall for turn 5. Night fighting rules will apply only for turn 5. Units may take advantage of the darkness to use a down order and dig in.
• Constant Bombardment– Both sides get a different color order dice to represent small artillery strike. Once the dice is drawn the controlling player may resolve a preliminary bombardment against one unit using an officer, spotter, or forward observer. (This one got Ben as he chose to keep his Lieutenant in reserve so I couldn’t use the bombardment until turn 5).

Turn 1

Turn one saw several Soviet units going into ambush as they didn’t have much else to do for lack of targets.

The free Russian green squad took two causalities from the first German squad to advance into the ruins in front of them. They decided to become valiant and rolled a 6 to make them regular rated troops. At this point Ben realized he was an idiot and left the only person to call his constant bombardment artillery, his lieutenant, in reserve.

Another German squad joined the first in the ruins. They pepper the now regular rifle squad in the railyard engine shed area. Three riflemen are KIA. The rifle squad pops a delayed ambush and return fire but they inflict no casualties.

Drew’s Stug arrives and shoots into the power plant building. It misses needing a 4 and rolling a 3.

Ben’s rifle squad in coal bin takes a pin from a passing shell from the constant bombardment.

Turn 2

Drew’s medium mortar fired at the veteran squad in engine shed yard. The ranging round misses but apparently scares them as shortly after they fail an order test and go down.

Artillery lands near the coal bin but goes wide and doesn’t affect the stout red army men inside.

The Stug shoots at power building again resulting in a roll of a 6. 4 Soviets are flung out the windows by the concussion.

A Soviet rifleman in the coal bin is felled by a burst of MG-34 fire from an advancing German squad.

Soviet and Germans exchange shots along the sector line but no real progress is made either way.

Turn 3

Soviets sub-machinegunners scramble in an attempt to flee from the now burning power plant. The men on the ground floor are able to extricate themselves. The men in the upper floor FUBAR and fall over each other down the stairs. They regain some wherewithal and take cover going down on the first floor. This ended up being not the worst thing to happen to them.

The now regular green squad rallies, apparently inspired by their flagbearer. They drop all of their pins just in time for a german mortar to land in their midst killing them to a man. They will be remembered for their sacrifice to the great patriotic war.

The assault continues with fire on the Soviets in the coal bin leading to another pin.

The Stug continues to fire on lower floor of the power plant. One Russian is killed and his squad cling to the rubble making themselves as small as possible, adding 3 pins.

Now in position, a German marksman lines up a shot on the anti-tank team Sergeant behind the engine shed. He hit his mark and the squad loses its NCO.

Skirmishing continues throughout the area but casualties are light for the Germans.

Turn 4

Now searching for new targets, the German mortar spotter attempts to drop rounds on the anti-tank team hiding behind the power plant but the ranging shot is off, landing harmlessly in the rubble.

The stunned sub-machinegunners try to run out of the smoking ruins of the power plant but don’t pass an order test and decide to stay put. The Stug shoots another round at the building. Miraculously it goes through the hole it had already punched into the concrete. The round is a through and through miss and it causes the pinned soldiers to rejoice.

Finding the Soviet riflemen in the exposed coal bin a juicy target the German artillery spotter requests a fire mission on their position.

Turn 5

Turn 5 sees night fall. A twilight German artillery order is approved and rounds come down on top of the Soviet units on the left flank. The units under the barrage dive for anything that will stop the shrapnel. The squads take several pins between them.

The darkness of the night allows a Soviet anti-tank squad armed with SMGs to creep into engine shed and wound three Germans having dinner there. Handily a German medic was present and saves two of the three wounded men.

The veteran sub-machinegun squad on the first floor of the power plant FUBAR a second time. They are so disoriented and frightened they attempt to shoot anyone near them but fire wildly into the air as they have eight pins.

A German Sdkfz 222 armored car comes up the railroad tracks towards the engine shed. It reacts to the muzzle flashes in the engine shed and fires it’s auto cannon into the suspicious building. The soviets inside had apparently retreated into cover in a backroom of the building and they are unharmed.

A heavily armed German assault group squad launches its own night attack stalking towards the power plant hoping to catch the men inside unaware.

Turn 6

Turn 6 sees the sun peak over the jagged concrete spires of the destroyed factory.

The assault squad peer into the power plant pour automatic fire and into the disoriented sub-machinegun armed veteran red troopers. The soviet squad has understandably had enough and beats feet, being routed by being pinned out.

A truck full of grenadiers dismount behind their assault group support and riddle the riflemen near the factory floor. Three reds are killed.

The anti-tank team near the power plant decide to engage the freshly dismounted grenadiers in hand-to-hand combat. The Germans take no casualties and the anti-tank team is captured and quickly brought to the rear for interrogation.

A German Panzer III supported by a 251 halftrack of pioneers advances putting pressure on the riflemen hiding in the coal bins. The soviets don’t have anything to counter the armored beasts.

Turn 7

By this time we were past midnight so less photos were taken.

A high-pitched siren is heard over the sector. The telltale noise alerted the Soviets that a Stuka dive bomber was on the attack. They react too late and are pummeled by cannon fire from the plane. Casualties and pins abound.

The pioneers dismount and move up towards the coal protected by a wall of lead. Between the Stuka and pioneers no Soviets in the coal bin survive.

Coming in from reserves earlier in the game a Soviet Storm group moves to assault the German infantry huddling near the power plant. In a bright spot for the soviets they take three casualties and no prisoners.

The German assault group troops witness their comrades’ grueling hand-to-hand defeat. They move in and hose the Soviets with lead. They were fish in a barrel and killed to a man.

Now without a target in the power plant the Stug shifts fire and starts digging the riflemen out of the ruins of the factory itself.

The Germans make a general advance as the Soviets now have no anti-tank assets.

Turn 8

The Germans onslaught continues. The remaining soviet resistance is mopped up and the 577th takes all five of their objectives.

After game

Drew – Sorry Ben….. That went much better than expected. What a game! The dice gods smiled on me generously. It was certainly a tough scenario for the defender, but Ben as usual is no slouch and fought hard. If he had a tank or at least an anti tank field gun of some sort he may have hindered the panzers and the general advance, but I still think his choice of primarily infantry and making them fantatics and vets was a good overall choice. He was absolutely correct about not being able to take the prelim bombardment every round. That was big for the Germans. It was a super fun battle and the abstracted “night turn” was interesting. Night fighting is so crippling in Bolt Action. It was a very fun game. I’d like to try to play as the Soviets sometime in this scenario. (On a side note I apologize to Ben and anyone reading this for dragging my feet so long in getting my portion of this article out. Life got too busy too fast!)

Ben – Well. Drew kicked my teeth in and I enjoyed every minute of it. I should have taken at least one more large anti-tank asset. My veteran tough fighting fanatic sub-machinegun squads didn’t pay off at all. It was a tough scenario being out pointed 2:1 and I hobbled myself by not reading the special rules closely enough. I dont think four more bombardment strikes would have turned the battle but it may have helped. Anyhow, I had a blast playing with Drew and thoroughly enjoyed playing on his excellent shattered factory board. We will see if the Stavka allows me to command a platoon again!

Advancing the Campaign

With the Factory District in German hands the jaws are closing on the Russians on this side of the Volga River. The next game will require some new terrain and we have our work cut out for us. Most likely the Germans will be going on the offensive into the Downtown District. It’s time for me to rally my troops before we lose all our land on this side of the Volga!