Highway to Hell, Part 1 - 'O' Group AAR

My first game in a month! 

I was back at Ted's place for another game of 'O' Group. Ted had used the scenario "Highway From Hell," which was in the 2021 Lard Magazine from TooFatLardies. Based on Guderian's attack up the Orel-Mtsensk road, this scenario see's two large battalions (German and Soviet) fighting over a strategic objective (the town of Voin) on the road to Moscow. 

The Germans win if they control both of the BUAs that make Voin, or inflict 3 FUBARs on the Soviets. The Soviets win if they hold any part of Voin after 18 turns and avoid breaking. 

Steve and I commanded the Germans, while Ted and Chip commanded the Soviets. 

The German attack started out well, with Steve and I moving our companies as quickly forward as possible. I managed to foil Ted's stalling tactic by rapidly moving into a thin line of woods at the end of a ravine before the Soviet Combat Patrols could enter. 

Steve hustled the German FAO into an adjacent woods to provide a good spot to call in artillery strikes from, along with an anti-tank gun.

With no Soviets in view just yet, a platoon of Panzer IIIs sat in reserve. 

The first of the Soviet defenders popped up in the BUA by the train tracks, and would persist in being a pain in the rear for the German left flank.

If you'll ignore the Soviets just out of the woods (a bit of jumbled misreporting from some scouting infantry), the German center and right companies were lining up to advance on Voin, as I directed some CPS around the open field to the right of the town. 

After the German battalion mortars bungled their opening salvo, Steve called in the second Panzer III platoon to try and crack the Soviet train-station nut. 

As the rest of the Soviet forces weren't in a rush to show themselves, I brought up a platoon of Sdkfz 221's to reconnoiter the town. The Germans couldn't wait too long, as the Soviets had dialed in the center company's location in the woods with their mortars. 

And lo-and-behold! They managed to spot an infantry platoon and an anti-tank gun. 

With some Soviets finally revealed, I moved the platoon of Panzer IIIs up to the woods, but they were quickly targeted by both the revealed anti-tank gun, and a second gun hidden in the opposite BUA.

I was certain that it was time to begin targeting Voin with the heavy artillery until...

At the very last moment of the night, Ted called in his reserves: two platoons of T-34s! 

This concentration of armor was a bold move, and with the German tanks spread out over a wider front, the Soviets had the advantage in a tank-on-tank fight. 

We called it at the end of turn 7, before the T-34s could really begin their attack. We'll reconvene this weekend to see if we can get to a decisive result.