Winter Board - Red snow!

The Germans and one of the commanders

Today we play tested the Winter Board. We had three beginner players with one experienced Russian and one of our Sergeants played as a General to help the two German players.

The Forces:

(Please note we haven't updated points for Volks Grenadiers as per the latest errata.)

Russian 1:

1 x Officer(1st Lt + 2men )
1 x Medic
1 x Med Mortar(Spotter Off Board)
1 x Free Rifle Squad(NCO + 5 Men Green)
2 x LMG Squad(NCO (SMG),LMG,8 rifles )
1 x Veteran Squad(NCO (SMG),LMG,8 rifles )
1 x AT Rifle(2 men )

The Russians with the junior commander

The first casualty, one of the free squad.

Russian 2:

1 x Officer(2nd Lt + 2men )
1 x Free Rifle Squad(NCO + 5 Men Green)
2 x LMG Squad(NCO (SMG),LMG,8 rifles )
1 x SMG Squad(6 x SMG )
1 x T34/85

Turn one - everyone moving in.

Tank Riders - abandon the tank at first shot!

One Panzer III - gone!

Turn 2 - The well is contested

Turn 2 - The pond is in Russian hands.

Germany 1:

1 x Officer(2nd Lt + 2men )
1 x Medic
1 x Heavy Mortar(Spotter Off Board)
2 x Heer Infantry(NCO (SMG),LMG,8 rifles 2 x Panzerfaust each)
1 x Volks Grenadiers(NCO + 4 (Ass Rifles) + 3 rifles + 2 Panzerfausts)
1 x Sdkfz 222(Light Autocannon, Coax MMG Recce)

Racing across the frozen Pond

Made it the assault and all died!

Germany 2:

1 x Officer(2nd Lt + 2men )
1 x Sniper(2 men )
1 x Heer Infantry(NCO (SMG),LMG,8 rifles 1 x Panzerfaust)
1 x Heer Veteran Infantry(NCO (SMG),LMG,8 rifles 1 x Panzerfaust)
1 x Panzer III J

The Player Essentials Tin makes a great dice rolling board.

Highlights of the game:

Another Frontal Assault - more bodies

In Turn 2 the Panzer III hit the T34/85 but the shot bounced off.  The T34 shrugged of the pin and blew the Panzer III sky high!
That flank quickly fell apart as the Russian infantry pushed forward to the Top Secret pond in short order.
As this was Winter we had a special rule whereby the pond was frozen, but if infantry wanted to race across, they had to roll.  A 1 or 2 meant they break through and each soldier failing the roll died in the the shark infested frozen pond. One of the Russian units made a frontal assault across the pond.  None fell through and they hit a German unit but all died in the assault.

Hit with a heavy mortar - only 2 pins and one dead!

The end - Russia owns both objectives

Meanwhile, on the Well flank a continuing flow of close assaults resulted in many deaths - mostly Russian - with Germans retaining possession of the well.

Learning how to fight on non city boards

Then in turn 5 the Russian Heavy mortar hit the German squad holding the orchard. A large groan by the Germans changed to a sigh of relief when the strike only resulted in 2 pins and 1 casualty!
But the next turn meant the mortar would only require a 2 to hit, so the Volks Grenadiers rushed around the corner and fired everything at the spotter.  15 dice later and he was despatched.
After bravely doing their duty, the Russian HQ fired at the Volks Grenadiers killing one of them. A grin from the Germans as the rolled to see if they became Veterans, but they rolled a 1! Instead of upgrading, they stayed green and had 5 more pins!

Volks Grenadiers: The last hope - but rolled a 1 to upgrade

Shortly thereafter the T34 quickly moved across the table and hit the Germans in the Orchard, while the tank riders dismounted to capture the well.
A final try by the Germans in the orchard with a close combat against the Russian Tank riders, passing morale with a 4 and shedding all their pins.  They killed 2 and the Russians killed 3.  That was the end of the Germans last chance.

At the end of the game there were only 20 (out of 78) Russians with their T34 and 10 Germans (out of 58 men) with the 222 and Heavy Mortar.
That is why we nicknamed the board "Red Snow".

What did we learn?

1. The Players Essentials Tins worked great keeping the dice in order and working as a dice rolling tray.
2. The game was still balanced despite such a disparity of forces.
3. One of my daughters said, "I am used to fighting city games.  This open board was tricky."
4. The dual dice bags still work well, keeping the game flowing and providing for interesting surprises as forces fired across the board against units in adjacent armies.
5. This board had an extremely high attrition rate.
6. The Russians liked the tank riders. They were quick to transport and get into the thick of the action.

We'll see how the board plays out next week at the Bolt Action Boot Camp.