May 19, 1940: Tsar Michael, the deeply unpopular puppet of the Kaiser and ruler of Russia, faces the prospect of renewed civil war. Eager to backfoot his internal enemies and finally establish his royal honor, he intends to redeem the most public of Russia’s indignities by restoring control over the Far-East. He commands the reconquest of both Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk, held respectively by Japan and the United States for nearly twenty years. A Russian armored spearhead, out racing their accompanying infantry, storms Petropavlovsk. The heavily outgunned American infantry force prepares to fight house-to-house to stall the attack long enough for reinforcements.
Past as Prologue: The US Intervention in Russia
By 1922, it seemed certain that the government of Tsar Michael was going to collapse, facing strife with rogue army generals, Tatar warlords, and the Transcaucasian communists. Under the pretext of defending the peace against the Bolsheviks, the Japanese seized Vladivostok and set their eyes upon carving up resource-rich Siberia. The United States government, who believed a war with Japan in the near future was inevitable, sought to check their advance and protect their own interests in China and prevent any attacks on the Alaska territory by carving out their own protectorate over eastern Siberia. The marines landed in Kamchatka, defeated a force of communist rebels, and forced the Russian governor to accept their control over the important city of Petropavlovsk in return for safe passage home. The city, which the Americans would come to call simply Peter-Paul, was heavily garrisoned and the countryside secured. Gradually, the situation in Russia stabilized, but the weakened Tsar was forced to accept foreign occupation.
The city of approximately 2,500 people overlooking Avacha Bay and the cool waters of the northern Pacific is protected by sea with a small coastal and riverine flotilla, and by land from units of the 27th Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Battalion of the Alaska Territorial Guard.
Order of Battle
Russian Army – 4 Order Dice
- 1 Tsar Nicholas heavy tank (command) – Veteran
- 1 T-34/76 medium tank – Veteran
- 1 T-34ZP special tank – Regular
- 1 Cossack light walker – Regular
US Army – 6 order dice
- 1st LT (command) – Regular
- M18 Hellcat tank destroyer – Regular
- Bazooka team – Regular
- Medium mortar team – Regular
- 10-man infantry squad – Veteran, Tank Hunters
- Talent Auxiliary Corps squad – Veteran, Tank Hunters
- 8-man Power Armored infantry with assault rifles – Resilient
- Star Spangled Batter – Resilient, Fast, Tough, Tooth & Claw
- Captain Battle – Resilient, Fast, Tough, Strong, Tooth & Claw
The Battle
The game was played using standard Konflikt ’47 rules, with no time limit. The Russians would achieve a Major Victory by getting three or more vehicles to exit the opposite side of the table; a minor victory could be achieved by getting one vehicle across. The Americans had to stop this from happening.
The Russians entered the table along the roads on the west and southwest corners.
The Americans could deploy anywhere from the east to the middle of the table, including in buildings. Ultimately, I chose to put only the 1st Lt in the building, with the Hellcat in cover alongside, able to cover both major roads. The mortar was placed at the far eastern edge behind cover, with its spotter in a ruined building near the center, supported by the Talent Auxiliary Corps squad. The bazooka team and the other infantry were deployed near the cluster of buildings with the courtyard across the street from the Hellcat.
The streets were counted as roads. Obstacles included several craters, downed trees, and walls, which infantry could only Advance across and were difficult terrain for tracked vehicles. Abandoned civilian vehicles and a Foetodon corpse created roadblocks at several areas. The Foetodon was impassable to all vehicles, but the abandoned cars would be rammed aside or crushed by tracked vehicles. Buildings blocked line of sight. Buildings, walls, and ruins provided hard cover while areas amid trees and brush provided light cover.
Neither side used reserves and there was no off-table support available.
Unfortunately, we did not get a snapshot of the original table layout, but this is what it looked like at in the 2nd turn of the game.
Since the Russians did not know where the enemy was located and had to make several turns to negotiate the twisting residential streets, they moved at a slow advance, with the Cossack leading the way. They did not notice the spotter who was calling in mortar shots on the tanks. The first shot missed, but the one on the second turn hit the T-34ZP, putting a couple of pins on it.
I put the Hellcat on Ambush and left it there, since it was in a good position to fire at tanks coming up either road. I ran all the infantry to better positions, with the Talent Auxiliary Corps squad farthest up, next to the stone building in the middle, intent on close assaulting the enemy armor to block that road.
What followed was the pivotal point of the battle. The Cossack walker got the drop on my talents and raked machine gun and autocannon fire into them, but their power armor gave enough protection that only two were killed. The Talents exchanged fire, but did not damage to the light walker. On the next turn, the Cossack moved up the alley for a better shot, but got smoked by the Hellcat on ambush.
After that, it was a rush of close assaults on the Russian armor. It was hardgoing for the infantry, but again their armor and their close proximity saved them, even when being raked from the rear by the other T-34. The heavy tank was first immobilized and later destroyed by the Talents, while the infantry squad ran through the stone building and across into the church yard to assault the T-34ZP, whose shockwave projector was, unfortunately, totally ineffective except against the mortar spotter.
After failing to kill the talents attacking the heavy tank, the T-34 roared up the street, only to be shot by the hidden bazooka team. Fortunately for the crew, the shell bounced harmlessly off. Continuing the advance for the victory objective, the tank was struck again by the bazooka team next turn, which penetrated but got only a crew stunned result. Stuck in the road, it was easy pickings for the Hellcat, who came out and killed it with a shot to the side armor.
The final result was a rousing victory for the Americans, with all four Russian armored vehicles knocked out. Meanwhile, only four infantry were killed.
But Russian reinforcements are coming, and next time they’ll bring infantry, and lots of it.
CornishCrusade