Terrain - Byzantium 20mm, German Buildings

A couple of years ago I bought a number of Byzantium Models excellent German buildings which are suitable for either the second world war or modern periods and provide a range of homes and farms found in small villages and isolated settlements throughout Germany.

The buildings are all resin and came in excellent condition, requiring little clean up.  They have done that very clever thing of varying the vertical and the horizontal scales to keep the building footprint down while maintaining proportion and looking good next to figures and vehicles.  As well as the main buildings you can also buy a number of small extensions which fit onto any of the models these along with the metal chimneys allow a variety of buildings to be created from the core models

In preparation for the Wissenberg Counter Attack game I had a bit of a blitz on terrain making and decided to get on with the building of these. I settled on three standard base sizes for all my buildings 1 large and two varieties of small, these all went on the small apart from the farm buildings.

Bases were cut from MDF and tidied up with a sander, before the buildings were glued in place. I then added walls gardens and the extensions as well as filler around the base of the building to ensure it sat "in the ground".

 My interpretations of BMG 1+ 2 the farm house and German barn with the addition of a hedge and a wall for the farm house along with room for a couple of trees when complete.

I had two BGM 6 buildings so added an outhouse to one and mounted them both on the larger of the base sizes used adding walls and sand, whilst masking off an area to represent paving, as all urban spaces need plenty of grey.  Walls are made from Foam core covered in filler.

I had two BGM 4 but swapped the roof of one with the BGM3 roof and put different styles of outhouses in different locations and mounted the buildings different ways round on the bases, before adding walls and garden.

The BGM 3 Unit I built straight from the box but had swapped the roof.  All up no two buildings looked the same and with the liberal use of some filler around the outhouse construction and base they all looked excellent and ready for the hard bit - painting

The buildings were painted with a mix of poster colours and vajjelo. avoiding flat white like the plauge and using washes to create a variety of shades of the core coloures. various basing products were then used to finish them off.

References:

Byzantium Models German Buildings


Terrain - Modern Farm Buildings
Terrain - Modern Supermarket

Terrain - Hikki Trees, Pine Forests

Terrain - Making It Modern

Terrain - Camouflaged Hides 

AAR - Wissenberg Counter Attack, Part 1 Ground

On the 19th of August 1988 Germany's 12 Panzerbrigade launched itself across the Weissenberg gap into the flank of 18 Guards Motor Rifle Division part of 20 Combined Armies Army of the Central or Czechoslovakian Front.  In a gruelling day long battle the Germans struggled hard against a mix of Soviet ATGW fire and the massed artillery fire from 280 Motor Rifle Regiments Regimental Artillery Group.  The Brigade eventually broke through the Soviet hasty defence with a panzerkiel formed by the Leopard 2A1s of 123 and 124 Panzerbattalions in a scene reminiscent of the Eastern front some 43 years earlier.  The Weissenberg gap is and was ideal tank country, an area of flat open agricultural land to the west of Weisenberg that lent itself well to the swift armoured thrust that 12 Pz Brigade intended to deliver into the flank of 18 Guards Motor Rifle Division, which with 201 Tank Regiment leading was driving hard for Stuttgart.

The major features of the area included Wissenberg and the surrounding villages of Schmalwiesen Hattenhof and Weimensheim along with the wooded high ground of the Hochwald that bounded the area to the West.  

The town of Weimensheim in the South western corner of the Weissenberg Gap was set to become the seen of fierce resistance by forward ambush groups of 151 Air Assault battalion who fought from the town and the nearby Hochwald feature against the troops of Panzergrenadier batalion 122 and the brigade  Aufklärungszug.

above and below air photo shots of Weimensheim taken by the Luftwaffe's Aufklärungsgeschwader 51 "Immelmann" Photo reconnaissance squadron flying Tornadoes out of Bremgarten Airbase, these images were taken 6 hours before the arrival of 12 Panzer Brigade

This shot below from the same set of photos shows the town of Hattenhof from the East bypassed by Aufklärungsbataillon 4 who drove to link up with the 46 Jägerbataillon who should have been in Schmalwiesen

Looking South from the"Russian Farm" towards Hattenhoff and Weimensheim the open nature of the ground can be appreciated from this shot.

The "Russian Farm"  so called after it was occupied and used by 27 Anti Tank Battery from 136 Independent Anti Tank Battalion which together with elements of 151 Air Assault Battalion and a Company from  79 MRB held the Soviet Eastern flank successfully during the Weissenberg Counter Attack.  This position formed the core of the Soviet defence around fire pocket Влад. 136 Anti Tank Battalion was one of the first to receive the new Sprut 2A45 anti tank guns and they used them to deadly effect.

The western Edge of Weissenberg the large town at the Eastern end of the Weissenberg Gap creating an area of difficult terrain which the Soviets hoped would be by-passed by the Germans. this was lightly held by an artillery battalion and Recce Company from 280 MRR

and Finally the village of Schmalwiesen which formed the Northern boundary of Fire Pocket Александр which unfortunately for the Russians they would be unable to close due to an inability to communicate with the Divisional BM 27 battalion which should have provided a scatterable minefield as part of the on call fire plan of 79 MRB. 

This then was the historic site of the last charge of 12 Panzerbrigade, which now like so many of the battle sites of World War Three is now designated a UN World Peace site. It was the scene of a dramatic and confused meeting engagement that lasted for three days and eventually prevented the penetration of 4 Panzergreinader division's area of responsibility by 20 Combined Arms Army though at a significant cost to the men of 12 Panzerbrigade amongst others.

References:

Steel Leopards, 12 Panzer Brigade at Wiessenberg,  BrigGen A Wittenberg, 2020

Red Highway, The Drive into Germany, Colonel Professor Valentine Runov, 2015

War and Reconciliation, UN World Peace sites 

TTP - Soviet, Forward Detachments as a Covering Force

Scenario - The Wiessenberg Counter Attack

AAR - Wissenberg Counter Attack, Part 2 Opening Moves

AAR - Wissenberg Counter Attack, Part 3 Counter Strike

Scenario - The Weissenberg Counter Attack

For the last 3 years I have participated in some fairly large games with a group of people I met through the Guild Forum.  As you might have noticed my personal poison is Cold War, this year the intent was a bit of a downscale and 4 of us with a mix of Soviet and German Armies got together in August to play. The German Team were Mausman and Panzerfaust 200 whilst the Soviets were Played  by Elhiem and myself.  The detailed Scenario can be downloaded from the link at the end of the post. 

I started work on the scenario in January, determining that the Scenario was going to develop from an attack into Southern Germany along the Boundary of II Ge Corps and VII US Corps by a Front based on the CSLA and the Central Group of Forces in Czechoslovakia.  The intent being to keep the top level detail the same and play scenarios against US, Germans and Canadians.  The Canadian Brigade constituted a CENTAG reserve that would support into these Corps areas.  The Central Group of Forces was selected as my Soviets are mostly equipped with T-72s.

I roughed out the the Fronts advance and Laydown based on a look at the likly crossing points of the mountainous Czech border.  I placed the Soviet 22nd Combind Arms Army as the Northern of the two Armies in the first echelon, with its two first echelon divisions straddling the inter corps boundary. 22 CAA would take the less than Optimal Weidhaus gap shown below, more gaming opportunities around that route I suspect.

As this first game was a Soviet German combination I deployed II Ge Corps with 4 PzGren Div in the North and 1 GbJgr Div South (where the mountains were).  The laydown of 4 PzGren Div, placed 10 PzGren Bde North, 56 HS Brigade Centre and 11 PzGren Bde South with 12 Pz Brigade in reserve.  I have yet to consider the US VII Corps laydown.  The detail of this can be found in the Google Earth .kmz file included as a download at the end of the post.

At this point I was not sure what sort of a game we wanted to play although the previous years  game was originally intended to be a Soviet defence and I was in the middle of finishing a Divisional AT Battalion that I was quite keen to see fight.  I roughed out the Manoeuvre of 18 Guards MRD through 10 PzGren Bdes area and started looking for potential spots where action would occur, based around the concepts of a German covering force pulling back onto a main defensive area and an intent to base games around the Soviet use of forward detachments to enable tactical manoeuvre which allows for some interesting approaches to task organisation on the Soviet side, and is covered well in David Glanz's The Soviet Conduct of Tactical Maneuver: Spearhead of the Offensive

The battlefield size we had in mind was 16" by 8" which I was mapped to an area 4km by 2km, selected from Google Earth but based on the larger scheme of manoeuvre outlined below. In order to meet the need for a defensive game, I exploited the breakout of 18 Guards MRD from the bridgehead it established over the Rhien-Main-Danube canal as it bypassed 10 Pz Gren Bdes main defended area around Neaumarket. and then exploited into the depth of 4 PzGren Div.  At this point the Germans counter attacked with 12 Pz Brigade and the scenario developed around an attempt by 18 Guards MRD to block this action in the area of Wissenberg.

In order to give players some control over where the game would be fought 12 Pz Bde was given a choice of two routes and on each route 18 MRD had two blocking options.  For our game the Germans chose the Western Route and the Soviets chose to fight on the Northern of the two options provided.  Alternatively the two positions can be played as a mini campaign with the an initial Soviet force on the Southern table withdrawing to the Northern Table in truth you could easily create a 4 game mini campaign which could include subsequent actions depending on outcome.

• Game 1 Delay battle Treuchtlingen
• Game 2 Block at Wiessenberg
• Game 3 (German Victory in Game 2) German Counter Stroke into Flank of  210 Tank Regiment
• Game 4 (Germans blocked) Counter Attack by 91 Independent Tank Battalion

In the later Games, it would seem logical to introduce the lead elements of the 2nd Echelon, Divisions.  effectively the thinking through of the high level manoeuvre provides the context for force composition which would otherwise be provided by history.

The broadscope of the play was that the mixed (121) and Pz Grenadier (122) Battalions of 12 PzBrigade reinforced by an airmobile Jager Battalion from division and elements of divisional recce and artillery had to secure the route to and start line for the Two Panzer battalions to strike into the flank of 18 Gds MRD.  The Soviets on the other hand were aiming to delay this from happening for three hours and had:

• A Motor Rifle Battalion (BMP), 
• 3 Air Assault Companies,
• An Anti Tank Battalion 
• A Mobile Obstacle Detachment
• A Recce Company 
• A company of Tanks 
• 3 Artillery Battalions 

with which to do this along with a T-72 Bn held in reserve, the deployment of which altered the victory conditions. As the concept was hasty defence the Soviets were only provided with limited field defences and obstacles. Though they had the ability to deploy more in game using Engineer and Artillery assets. 

This is the first of a series of Scenarios that I intend to develop around this broad theme others may include the covering force action, the Neumarket defence, the river crossing and the meeting engagement that developed following this action.  Each will be preceded by a look at some of the relevant Tactical Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) along with a look at the Scenario and followed by an AAR.

References:

TTP - Soviet Forward Detachments as a Covering Force
ORBAT - Soviet Task Org, Fronts in the Western TVD
ORBAT - Soviet Air Assault Capability, Part 1 Overview and Lift
ORBAT- 1980's MRR and TRR, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
ORBAT - Soviet Divisional Units, Part 1MRD Anti Tank Battalion

Downloads:

The Wissenberg Counter Attack, This is a big file 30mb (too many pictures)
Wissenberg Google Earth KMZ file
Soviet Military Maps

Review - Books, Weapons and Tactics of The Soviet Army, Isbey

 

One of the definitive texts for the cold war gamer, everything you ever wanted to know about the Soviets and more. My Gran bought me my first copy way back in the early 80s the one to go for however is this one the revised 1988 reprint. I bought mine a couple of years ago when I first started getting into cold war and at that time it was a snip at £40 second hand. Sadly these days if you can find one below £100 you are doing well.

 

It covers the space of FM 100-2-1, 2-2 and 2-3 but with better pictures a clearer text and an elegant approach to detailing task organisation that builds units from there components. It Covers the broad structure of the Soviet Army its Doctrine in terms of Offence and defence, and reviews this against operational performance in a number of conflicts.

 

David then goes onto examine supporting functions before examining the principal classes of weapon systems within the context of their arm of service, detailed organisation and tactical deployment, A style which I find highly useful. A brilliant book which I have been reading for the best part of 30 years and despite the internet and all the great books you can access through it, that you never knew existed before, it remains one of the core texts on the Soviet Army, staggering in both its detail and accuracy given the time it was written at effectively the height of the cold war.

 

David Isby is a military analyst and a bit of a global expert on defence and security he has written extensively on the cold war and soviet operations in afghanistan. He is also a man with an extensive background in war games and games design working for a number of years for SPI on Strategy and Tactics magazine.

 

all up this is an excellent book and one I would not be without if you can find one at a decent price grab it.

Weapons and Tactics of the Soviet Army @ amazon

Other Book Reviews

Soviet Air Land Battle Tactics
The Military Balance
Encyclopaedia of the Modern British Army
The Soviet Conduct of Tactical Manoeuvre
First Clash
The Third World War
The British Army in Germany

The Cold War Bookstore contains links to over 60 Cold War titles covered in my book list

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Wargames Unit - Soviet Late 80's MRB

The original MRB I  built was an early 80's organisation focused on BMP 1 and reflecting the Force structures of the late 70's. As the Soviets moved firmly into the non Nuclear doctrine they undertook a number of significant organisational reforms. In the MRB this created Air Defence and AGS platoons in all battalions, AT Platoons in BTR Battalions and manoeuvre support and AT detachments within companies. The AT detachments did not appear in BMP based units. The Mortar platoon became a battery and could be either 120mm or Vaselik. The net result of this was more vehicles and weapon systems but with a firm emphasis of increasing fire support both direct and indirect.

The upgrade of vehicles was seldom consistent and within the BMP fleet you could see that active management of this might optimise your fire support options. A mix of BMP 1P and BMP2 for a late 80s MRB would seem appropriate. I have used the BMP 1Ps in the support platoons and the BMP2s for the rifle companies

The BMP 1 Ps are ACE wagons with the Sagger and launch rail removed and one of Elhiems AT 4 systems mounted to the right of the gunners hatch, you could also add three smoke grenade dischargers to the either side of the turret simmilar to the mounting on the BMP2.  BMP1P commenced fielding from 1980 and BMP2 from 1981.

I have created 3 SA7 teams each of two figures for the air defence platoon which fielded 9 SA7 and 2 AGS 17 representing the 6 systems deployed in the direct fire support platoon. The Morter battery is mounted in MTLB and deploys 2 120mm Morter. The rifle companies all have an additional figure with a PKM GPMG, I am currently trying to resolve if these were PKM or PKMS with tripod.

The later Battalion deployed more BMPs and consolidated the fire support elements into definitive groups, my current early 80s force, has an AGS 17 in the Battalion HQ which I am now considering dropping.   This is the organisation around which many of the forward detachments are built as the BMP Regiment was more likely to be in the second echelon than the first.

References

ORBAT - 1980's Soviet MRR and TRR, Part 1 Deployment and ORBAT
TTP - Soviet Forward Detachment as a Covering Force
Wargames Unite - Soviet Early 80's MRB