Graviteam Tactics AAR / Video Series

Seeing as I've bought all these games and the Eastern Front is the in thing these days I thought I might as well actually play them and do some AARs of them.

Starting in Chronological Order as the Soviets/Allies, first is Graviteam Tactics: Operation Star - Volokonovka 1942, an 8 turn Operation starting on the 1st of July 1942.

Each turn is 4 hours, and the battles themselves can last up to 3 hours (i.e 3 hour battle, then the next turn takes place one hour later).

Here is a cinematic video AAR of the first battle:



Premise

July the 1st, 1942

Troops of the German Sixth Army have broken through the Soviet defences and are now advancing towards crossings on the river Oskop near Volokonovka. In their way stand elements of the Soviet 343rd Rifle Division, who must delay the German advance long enough for the 158th Tank Brigade to arrive.



Starting Positions

Turn 1 - 08:00



At my disposal I had an entrenched Infantry Company, consisting of 5 Infantry Platoons and a HQ Platoon, supported by an Artillery Battery - I also had a few Maxim guns, ATR rifle squads and an AT gun, which I assigned to the Infantry Platoons, as well as support from off-map artillery. The first armoured reinforcements will arrive at 12:00 at the South East corner of the map, with additional reinforcements arriving at 24:00 and 08:00 tomorrow morning from the East/North East, until then I'll have to make do with what I have in the village.

I considered two options for the start of the operation, I could either dig in and hold position in Odintsov Village and make a stand, but risk being encircled and destroyed, or I could immediately attempt to withdraw to the East and counter-attack once the armour had come up. In the end I decided to make a stand, as I would probably be unable to cleanly withdraw with the German troops so close, and the ensuing battle would leave my infantry without any trenches - as such holding the Village would likely slow down the Germans more, as they would have to remove an entrenched enemy, and my orders didn't say anything about my troops being alive at the end of the battle (plus comrade Stalin wouldn't like it if I withdrew without a fight!).

Having made the decision to stand and fight the only unit I moved during the initial turn was the artillery battery, which I moved to the East just in case the battle went badly - as then they would then have more of a chance of withdrawing.

Soviet Movements



German Movements



In response the Germans have decided to launch an attack on the village from the North supported by troops from the South, whilst at the same time are attempting to cut off the Village from the South East.

Battle

Odintsov Village
08:00 Hours



Elements of the German 79th Infantry Division are moving to encircle the village of Odintsov and crush the Soviet defenders within. The 158th Tank Brigade are still several hours away, and so the defenders must hold their ground...



Given that the Germans seem to be attacking from the North I put two of my Infantry Platoons in a trench line on the Northern outskirts and Western Flank of the village to cover the main road, each platoon supported by a Maxim gun, with one AT gun and artillery piece near the centre of the line.

I also spread out one platoon inside the village itself, facing South - in case the Germans on that side tried to infiltrate and attack my line from behind, with an additional Maxim gun and artillery piece on the hillside on the Eastern Flank of the line, supported by a scout squad - from where they could cover the Southern/Eastern approaches.

Two of my Five Infantry Platoons were not within the battle radius, and so did not take part.



The Centre



The Western Flank



The Eastern Flank



The South


Battle Beings
08:00



It didn't take long for the battle to kick off, as my Maxim position on the Eastern Flank spotted a group of Germany Infantry manoeuvering on the hill opposite them at 08:02, presumably they were trying to move around to attack from the East, but had been caught in the act.



Luckily for me the Germans had decided to move right through one of my three pre-planned artillery targets, so a barrage was only 30 seconds away.



German Infantry on an open field! The incoming shells forced the Germans to run for cover, making them easy targets for my Maxim and scout squad.





Unluckily for me my artillery piece on the Eastern Flank had deployed out of position and had to be dragged to the right place, during which the crew came under fire from a German machine gun on the opposite hill, which wounded a number of the crew and forced the others to flee to the East.



In an interesting development my retreating gun crew came across some Germans who were themselves fleeing from my artillery barrage and took them prisoner. May their cowardly heroism be an example for all Soviet soldiers!


The West

By 8:06 this initial engagement was beginning to die down, at that point however a second group of enemies were spotted approaching our lines on the Western flank, opposite to the initial engagement.





The infantry assault was supported by at least one Panzerjäger



The situation as of 08:15



The fighting resulted in the loss of our only anti-tank gun.



The Panzerjäger inflicted a number of casualties on the Western part of the line before it could be tracked and knocked out by ATR teams, after which a second artillery barrage was called on it and the advancing infantry in an effort to relieve pressure from the line - as this was an ad hoc barrage it would require a 4 minute call time.



Finally the barrage came through, and forced the Germans to fall back from the Western part of the line.


The Centre

Meanwhile at the centre a second Panzerjäger was making a push for the lines where my own anti-tank gun had been - it quickly brushed aside the Maxim gun there and pushed back the entrenched infantry, as such the artillery was again called upon to steady the line, whilst I moved units from the two flanks to reinforce the centre.



The second Panzerjäger punches a hole in the line while an artillery barrage is urgently called upon.



It seems that one of the defenders must have found some courage and a Molotov cocktail, as the second Panzerjäger was on fire by the time it reached the trenches.



With their second Panzerjäger destroyed, the Soviet trenches reinforced and artillery once again raining from the sky, the Germans finally pulled out of the centre.

During the main attack on the West and centre of the line there were also a number of smaller probes through the Southern approach to the village, these were easily dealt with by the Soviet units entrenched within the village.



The remnants of a Southern probe.

By 08:38 it seemed that the battle was over as all German attacks had been repulsed, when suddenly a third Panzerjäger charged alone towards the Eastern flank directly to the rear of my entrenched Maxim gun.



The Panzerjäger, presumably crewed by fanatics or those enraged by the loss of the two previous vehicles, fired a single shot at the Maxim from close range, which went high, after which they attempted to reverse away.



On the way out they received a cocktail for their trouble.

And with the Germans offered a Cease Fire, which, lacking the means to counter attack, was accepted at 08:44, 42 minutes after first contact.

Result





Although the defence was a success, the Germans have tightened their grip on the village, and all might yet be lost if the 158th Tank Brigade cannot break through in time...

looking forward for the next one

Starting Positions

Turn 2 - 12:00



Reinforcements have arrived in the form of two Platoons from the 158th Tank Brigade, one consisting of three T-34/76 medium tanks and two squads of infantry, and the other consisting of two KV-1 heavy tanks and a T-60 light tank. Everything else is as it was at the end of Turn 1, with the 343rd Infantry holding their positions at Odintsov.

I've decided to move my tanks together to the German lines South East of Odintsov in order to support a counter-attack being launched by Koltsov's infantry platoon, aiming to break through the German encirclement and get supplies in to the Village.

Soviet Movements



German Movements



The only German response has been to launch a second attack on Odintsov, however this attack consists of only their remaining troops from the first battle, so it's more of a skirmish really - as such I won't do an AAR for it, but suffice to say the line held and they lost 34 men to my 29.



Battle

South East of Odintsov
13:00 Hours



The 158th Tank Brigade are approaching from the East to reinforce the defenders of Odintsov, but first they must break through the German lines at Keypoint Elisa 1.



The main objective of this battle will be to link up my two lines by capturing the keypoints at Hill 215 and Elisa 1, the German held crossroads are a major keypoint as far as the main operation is concerned, so I expect that is where most of the German defence will be, however I don't need to capture it in this particular battle, so I'll try to avoid it as best I can.

The attack plan consists of two phases:

PHASE I

The 158th Tank Brigade will advance on Hill 215, with infantry moving up with the tanks to keep an eye on the tree line to the North, in case the Germans try to ambush them.

PHASE II

The defenders at Celestine II will counter-attack towards Elisa I together with the armour at Hill 215 in order to lift the encirclement, after which I'll try for a cease fire.



The approach of the 158th Tank Brigade, with infantry on the right to watch the tree line.



The trenches of Koltsov's Infantry Platoon defending Odintsov, supported by a 50mm company mortar, with two squads in the tree line covering the left flank.



An additional Maxim gun and 45mm AT gun were placed on the hillside South of the defensive line, overlooking Keypoint Elisa 1.

Battle Beings
13:00

Contact was made with the enemy almost immediately, with two German 105mm guns and a Pak 40 being spotted in the open at Keypoint Elisa 1, as such they were engaged by our own 45mm AT gun and 50mm company mortar, which succeeded in suppressing the enemy position.



At least one of the 105mm guns took a direct hit, with the others being abandoned soon after.



Meanwhile to the South East the tanks of the 158th moved up on Hill 215, which was found to be undefended, as such they pushed on towards Keypoint Elisa 1 to support Koltsov's Platoon, who had already begun their infantry attack on the enemy gun position.



Whilst crossing the open ground between Hill 215 and Keypoint Elisa 1 the 158th encountered enemy infantry in the open, then came under artillery and mortar fire from the German held crossroads resulting in the loss of one T-34, thankfully the remaining tanks were able to push across the open ground and find cover behind the tree line without further losses. The support infantry were hit quite badly, however - and were pulled back to Hill 215 and ordered to hold their ground, from where they came under continuous artillery fire for the remainder of the battle.



The destroyed T-34 was taken out by a single hit which penetrated the front left side of the turret, presumably from a second Pak 40 located near the German crossroads.

Having punched through the tree line near Keypoint Elisa 1 the remaining tanks were then able to support Koltsov's Platoon as they attacked on foot, gradually pushing the Germans away from the point, but not before a KV-1 had been knocked out - presumably by the PaK 40 near the crossroads, as by that point the treeline at Elisa 1 had been heavily shredded by the fighting.



Infantry moving up on Elisa 1, a burning German halftrack and abandoned artillery can be seen in the distance.



The remaining KV-1 moves up to secure Elisa 1.

By 13:40 the Germans had been pushed back and Keypoint Elisa 1 was finally taken (using up most of my tank's ammunition on the way), at which point a cease fire was offered and promptly accepted.

Result





With the encirclement broken, much needed ammunition should now start to reach the defenders in Odintsov.

that is some heavy losses for the germans

It was nice of them to put most of their guns in the open in front of my own artillery, otherwise my tanks would have probably had more trouble. 

well there is a reason they lost the war