WG210"Across The Don"

Scenario Design by Alan Page; Updated 060412


To the West of Stalingrad: November 19, 1942: Two massive Soviet spearheads attacked from the South and the North-West of the Stalingrad front, the intention being to encircle and trap the German VI Army in Stalingrad. The Russian pincers would close in the region of the River Don, near the town of Kalach. Near Kalach there stood a crucial bridge that German truck convoys used to haul supplies to the VI Army, and was used daily by a German training school that used captured Russian tanks for gunnery demonstrations. The bridge guards had grown accustomed to the routine, and so, on the morning of November 22nd, a German sargeant named Wiedemann, having counted off five tanks as they crossed to the West, later casually waved on five Russian tanks when they approached to cross Eastward. Three crossed and fanned out on the East bank, and then came a burst of machine-gun fire. The five genuine Russian tanks were part of a leading detachment of the Russian 26 Tank Corps, led by the commander of the 14th Motorised Rifle Brigade, Lieutenant-Colonel G N Filippov. The detachment comprised two companies of motorised infantry, five tanks and an armoured car. The Russians were now sandwiched between the German defensive positions on the high West bank, and the garrison from Kalach.

VICTORY CONDITIONS: At the end of the Game, the Russians Win by Having control of all 3 bridge hexes. Control is defined as having been the last to occupy the hex with either a good order squad or vehicle (armament in any condition), and no enemy unit occupying the same hex, unless a wreck or prisoner or broken. The Germans win by avoiding the Russian victory conditions. Any side blowing the bridge, whether by accident or design, automatically loses the game.

BOARD LAYOUT:

2 North
4
A river two hexes wide is superinposed on rows 9 and 10 of board 2.

SCENARIO SEQUENCE:

Germans Setup First
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
END
Russians Move First

GERMAN FORCES:

RUSSIAN FORCES:

SPECIAL SCENARIO RULES:

AFTERMATH: Filippov formed an all round defence of the bridge and held out against fierce counterattacks until heavy Russian reinforcements arrived. The next day, beneath green signal flares that reflected eerily on the snow at a village 30 miles below Kalach, the Russian pincers closed. The fate of the VI Army was sealed.

PLAYTEST STATUS: This scenario is currently in playtest (Beta Release), please contact Squad Leader Academy to join this effort. The 'final' version will be published as a SQLA/Wargame Academy (WGA) scenario pack. Playtest credits to date: Alan Page, Dennis Jorgenson.