Crush the Fascist Vipers!

A hot summer day in the Soviet Union, 1941

A 6mm WWII wargame fought on Saturday, July 26, 2008

A German mechanized Kampfgruppe continues its drive into Soviet territory during the opening of Operation Barbarossa. Members of the Jagdpanzer Yahoo Group played this game using 6mm miniatures (aka micro armor) with a modified version of the Jagdpanzer rule set.

The scenario was adapted from a Steel Panthers scenario--an ironic flip of the I-gave-up-miniatures-for-computer-gaming syndrome. This was a tough fight for both sides. The attackers enjoyed artillery and assault gun fire support, plus plenty of light armor, but their NKVD counterparts in the town had enough heavy weapons and armored cars--plus the advantage of defending a town--to bring the assault to a standstill. Have a look at the developing action in the photos, below.

The sign in the driveway said it all: "Crush the Fascist Vipers!"	One of the Viper Crushers calmly considers the tactical situation.	A propaganda shot of the NKVD commander, clearly a mental giant and man of action.	The Fascist Invader (Viper, whatever...) prepares his lists. These guys seem to have a penchant for lists, paperwork, and timetables.	The battlefield. Black lettered tiles represent possible locations of Soviet NKVD units defending the town and blocking the road. The Germans are entering the board represented by white tiles (top right).
A close-up of the fine town terrain. Great looking game!	More fine terrain. It seems as though enemy artillery has already worked this town over--note the battle-damaged buildings.	German units (white tiles, top) fire smoke shells to screen their advance.	A break for lunch. The referee (appropriately garbed in red) warily eyes the German commander at right.	A fine spread of food, including Russian delicacies, bolstered the players through the afternoon. After this meal, nothing could go wrong.
Back to the game! A screen of German reconnaissance armored cars motors ahead.	German units are uncovered by keen Soviet eyes. We see StuG III's (foreground) covering the advance of engineers in halftracks and infantry on foot.	A pillbox in the town makes its presence known with a hail of heavy machinegun-fire. This HMG was difficult to silence, but had minimal effect on German armor.	A panzer company of Mark II light tanks moves into the open opposite the town. These tin cans were easy meat for Soviet guns.	A Soviet BA-10 heavy armored car takes up firing positions in the town.
The Germans find the warehouse building empty, and prepare to swing around it to get closer to the town.	Soviet 37mm anti-tank guns open fire on enemy tanks.	One lone Soviet marker (actually a dummy) is the object of great interest by German infantry.	A German reconnaissance vehicle swings around the warehouse to find the enemy.	German engineers (left) occupy the warehouse as a couple of Soviet medium machine-guns (center-right) are suppressed by 20mm cannon fire from armored cars.
Another armored car gets into a firefight with Soviet armor.	And these are the BA-10's providing the fire. Their 45mm cannons are a jump in firepower over the 20mm gun.	Still, even a "heavy" armored car has a bad day. A BA-10 burns.	The assault engineers overrun the suppressed enemy MGs. The game ends with the Germans fighting their way into the town.