The Final Act ‐ Verkhniy‐Kumskiy

The Germans have held Verkhniy‐Kumskiy but the pressure from the Soviets is increasing. The German objective is now to withdraw from the village and press on towards Stalingrad.

This scenario is a bit special because the German infantry starts in the village while the depleted panzer platoon (2 Panzer III) enters from the Soviet table edge (anywhere but not within 18" of a Soviet unit).

At first glance the Soviets will have a tough time against the German force. We roll a dice and...I get the Germans (again).

I place two German jump-off points inside the buildings, forgetting that the fences block LOS from most of the windows so any troops wishing to fire will have to go outside.

The Soviets get the first turn and a T34 enters the table. I'm in luck with my dice roll and am able to deploy a Panzer III which puts an AT round straight into the T34: 3 net hits and the T34 is no more.
This leaves the Soviets with an anti-tank rifle as their only anti-tank capability.

To block the Soviets from using the jump-off point I deploy the second Panzer III and move it onto the jump-off point.

Also the German MMG deploys.

My opponent tries to take out the Panzer III with his anti-tank rifle team, but it is wiped out before it can do much damage. Fortunately for him the Soviet squad he deploys contains eagle-eyed-Ivan, who is a crack shot with the LMG.

Ivan fires at the Panzer III and forces it to reverse 6". This means off-table!

Seeing the panzer routing from the table is a blow to the German morale. Because of the loss of the jump-off point, the Soviets are forced to bunch up in the scrub, under fire from the other panzer, the MMG and a newly deployed German squad.

Soviet junior leaders are getting wounded and men are killed, but the Soviets also inflict casualties on the German side.

Morale is dropping on both sides and I decide to deploy a fresh German squad.

They never fire a shot though. Ivan's unit is wiped out by panzer fire which reduces the Soviet force morale to 1: game over.

The next chapter of the Winter Storm campaign will see the Germans return to Verkhniy‐Kumskiy. Before we game this next chapter however, we'll probably game something entirely different, taking a break from the frozen steppe.