Tank skirmish at Guébling, by Steve Noon © Osprey Publishing Ltd. Taken from Campaign 242: Metz 1944.
THE BATTLE OF ARRAS
On 21 May 1940, during the Battle of France, the city of Arras was surrounded by Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division. In an effort to halt the German advance, the British devised a counterattack. It was a bold move against numerically superior forces, but would it work?
In the spring of 1940, the Battle of France was not looking good for the Allies. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had been fighting alongside the French Army, but the speed and surprise of the German invasion was having the intended effect, as the French defence was crumbling and the Allies were being pushed back to the Channel.
The French had a massive armoured contingent, but it was spread thinly throughout the country, and not concentrated enough to pose a serious threat. French army doctrine saw armour in a support role, with infantry and artillery taking centre stage in any conflict. While not a completely unfounded notion, the failure to see the potential of an armoured brigade would be a mistake of which the Germans were happy to take advantage.
In May, the Germans surprised the Allies even further by breaking through their lines and threatening Boulogne and Calais, a move that would cut off the BEF from the French army, leaving it surrounded and vulnerable. The commander-in-chief of the BEF, Lord Gort, devised a counter-attack that would delay the German advance and give the BEF enough time to link back up with the rest of the Allied forces. He placed Major General Harold Franklyn in charge of the attack, and gave him two divisions including 74 British tanks and 60 French tanks. The group was given a codename worthy of a 1980s action film: ‘Frankforce’.
On 21 May, the British launched their counter-attack. It turned out to be well timed, as the Germans were planning their own attack to be launched only an hour later. Seventy-four MKI and MKII Matildas rolled into battle, the Mk1s armed only with machine guns. The Battle of Arras had commenced.
OPPOSING FORCES
This scenario is between the Germans and the British.
The German armoured platoons should be taken from the 1940 – The Battle of France selector in the Armies of Germany book.
The British armoured platoons should be taken from the 1940 – Fall of France selector in the Armies of Great Britain book.
If players want to fight along strictly historical lines, the British player must limit himself only Matildas only (either MKI or MKIIs) with no infantry, as the tanks had to roll in front of the fatigued infantry for much of the early part of the battle. The German player may likewise limit his choice of tank to the Panzer Is and IIs, as well as the 35 (T)s and 38 (T)s.
SET-UP
First, the objective area must be placed on the table. It may be represented with any piece of terrain, though no larger than 12” x12”. It should be placed somewhere that is equidistant from each player’s table edge.
Blitzkrieg! Can nothing stop the inexorable march of Hitler’s Panzer Divisions?
The German player picks a table edge and sets up two of his units within 6” of the objective. Then he nominates half of his remaining units (rounded down) to form his first wave. Any units not in the first wave are left in reserve.
The British player may set up any number of his units anywhere on his half of the table so long as they are at least 18” away from the objective or an enemy unit. These units can use the hidden set-up rules found on page 117 of the core rulebook. All other units are left in reserves.
OBJECTIVE
The British player’s objective is to hold the centre of the table in order to stall the German player’s advance towards Arras. The German player’s objective is to prevent the British from holding the objective at the end of the game.
FIRST TURN
Charge! The battle begins. During turn 1 the German player must bring his first wave onto the table. These units can enter the table from any point along the German player’s table edge, and must be given either an advance or run order. Remember that no order test is required to move units onto the table as part of a first wave.
GAME DURATION
Keep track of how many turns have elapsed as the game is played. At the end of turn 6, roll a die. On a result of 1, 2, or 3, the game ends. On a roll of 4, 5, or 6, play one more turn.
VICTORY!
At the end of the game calculate which side has won by adding up the attrition values of the enemy units that were destroyed. If one side scores at least 200 more points than the other then that side has won a clear victory. Otherwise the result is deemed too close to call and the battle is a draw.
Furthermore, the British player gets the attrition value of any of his vehicles with damage value of 8+ that are within 3” of the centre of the table.
AFTERMATH
The opening phase of the battle was a rousing success for the British. They cruised through the German lines, taking prisoners and destroying enemy positions as they pushed forward. This was due not only to the surprise and confusion caused by the attack, but also the fact that the German PAK 36/37 anti-tank guns could not penetrate the thick armour of the Matilda tanks. The Panzer II guns proved to be likewise ineffective against the British armour.
Somua S35
The Germans were not immediately aware of this, however. The design of the Matilda had external stowage bins for the crew’s field and personal gear. These had a tendency to catch fire when hit, but had no effect on the crew’s ability to operate the tank. The Germans, seeing a tank engulfed in flames but still fighting, were justifiably terrified by the seemingly invulnerable tanks.
Only when Rommel ordered the 7th Panzer Division’s Flak 88s and 105mm field guns to be used as anti-tank guns was the attack finally halted. Frankforce took heavy losses, and was forced to call off the offensive.
Even though the British were eventually stopped, the operation was considered one of the few Allied successes in the Battle of France. The Germans were convinced that a much larger Allied armoured force was on the move, and that may have led to their sudden halt on 24 May that gave the BEF the breathing room it needed to begin the evacuation of Dunkirk.
Frankforce had inflicted heavy losses – it is estimated that the Germans lost 700 men, most of whom were captured in the early part of the battle. They only lost about 12 tanks, which was probably due to the fact that most of the Matildas were armed only with machine guns. The British tank losses were much heavier at approximately 35 tanks, whilst 75 men were killed or wounded.
OPERATION SUPERCHARGE
The year was 1942, and even though the Allies had fought valiantly, they had yet to achieve a decisive victory. That would all change near an Egyptian town named El Alamein.
On 2 November 1942, the Second Battle of El Alamein had been raging for ten days. Rommel was in a tough spot; an expected shipment of fuel was bombed to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, and his fuel reserves were almost gone. He had just completed four brutal attacks against the Australian-held position at ‘Thompson’s Post’, failing to take any ground and losing men and tanks in the process.
Montgomery, the overall Commonwealth commander, put together a British-New Zealander attack to the south of the Australian standoff, codenamed Operation Supercharge. Its objective was nothing short of sheer carnage; Montgomery wanted to destroy enemy tanks, supplies and supply lines, as well as the base of the Axis defence stationed at Tel el Aqqaqir.
General Freyburg, commanding the 2nd New Zealand Division, requested his forces remain in reserve for the attack. His motives weren’t based on fear – his unit had lost over 1,400 men in just three days and he needed time to refit and regroup. Montgomery, not ignorant of the unit’s heavy losses, put Freyburg in command of three British infantry brigades as well as a British armoured brigade to swell his depleted ranks.
Rommel was already planning a withdrawal, and had previously laid thousands of anti-tank mines to cover his retreating troops. The Allied plan was to send the infantry brigades in two columns supported by tanks, and clear a path through the minefield for the British 1st Armoured Brigade to pass through and open a gap in the German and Italian defences.
OPPOSING FORCES
This battle is fought between the forces of the British Commonwealth and the German or Italian armies.
German armoured platoons should be taken from the 1942–43 – Rommel’s Defeat selector in the Armies of Germany book.
Italian armoured platoons should be taken from the 1940–43 – The War in Africa selector in the Armies of Italy and the Axis book.
The British force should be taken from the 1942 – Operation Lightfoot selector in the Armies of Great Britain book.
SET-UP
The Axis player picks a table side.
No units are set up on the table as the battle commences. Both sides must nominate at least half their forces to form their first waves. This can be the entire army if desired. Any units not included in the first wave are left in reserve.
SPECIAL RULES
• Dust Storm: A dust storm is on the horizon and threatening to envelope the battlefield. At the start of each turn, roll a die. If the number rolled is equal to or less than the current turn number, the sandstorm hits and all weapons with a range greater than 12” have their ranges reduced to 12” for the rest of the game.
• Minefield!: Whenever a unit is ordered to Run, execute the move as normal, and then roll a die. On the roll of a one, the unit immediately takes D6 pin markers and suffers a hit with a Pen value of +2. Armoured vehicles are hit against the bottom armour (this is the same as a hit against the rear, so the Pen is actually +4 total). If the unit suffers this hit as a result of an assault move and makes contact with the enemy, this is handled as if the target had reacted by shooting at the charging unit, and then all pin markers are discarded.
An Afrika Korps column in the North African desert
OBJECTIVE
At the end of the game calculate who has won by adding up attrition points, using a multiplier of one as outlined on page 119 of the Bolt Action rulebook.
FIRST TURN
The battle begins. During turn 1 both players must bring their first wave onto the table. These units can enter the table from any point on their side’s table edge, and must be given either a run or advance order. Note that no order test is required to move units onto the table as part of a first wave.
GAME DURATION
Keep a count of how many turns have elapsed as the game is played. At the end of turn 6, roll a die. On a result of 1, 2 or 3, the game ends; on a roll of 4, 5 or 6 play one further turn.
VICTORY!
At the end of the game calculate which side has won by adding up the attrition values of the enemy units that were destroyed. If one side scores at least 200 more points than the other then that side has won a clear victory. Otherwise the result is deemed too close to call and the battle is a draw.
AFTERMATH
Operation Supercharge was conceived as a stopgap measure, but it had to be accomplished with the resources at hand. Most of the commanders had problems with the plan, but there were no real alternatives. Even Freyberg compared it to the charge of the Light Brigade, but he felt there was no choice but to attack.
The charge had many initial successes. The Germans and Italians had set up a screen of antitank guns as well as some tanks that had managed to penetrate the British defences. As the Commonwealth forces advanced, these guns inflicted heavy damage, but the charge was undeterred. In the first half hour, the Allies had destroyed 35 guns and taken several hundred prisoners.
Crusader Mk I
Rommel had been taken by surprise, but a sandstorm swept the area and gave his forces the advantage. The Axis gunners were able to pick off stranded or lost tanks, inflicting many casualties. It was still not enough; Rommel simply didn’t have enough tanks to counter the armoured forces arrayed against him, especially after Montgomery added the 1st, 2nd, and 8th Armoured Brigades to the peppered ranks of the battered 9th.
The 9th Armoured Brigade had started with nearly 100 tanks, but after the battle it was down to 24, and had lost over half its crew members. The 9th had failed to create the gap needed for the 1st to pour through, and had taken devastating losses to boot. It was a truly dark day for those brave tankers.
Rommel knew he had been beaten. He had no fuel, and not enough tanks or men to oppose the British. He sent a message to Hitler outlining the impending destruction of his army if things were to continue. Hitler responded with a simple command: hold at all costs. Rommel said that for the first time in the Desert War he had no idea what to do.
He would begin pulling back and consolidating his forces, but by then the back of his army was broken, and a turning point in the Desert War had been reached. The Axis hold on North Africa would soon fade, and the Commonwealth would secure a much-needed victory that would put the first nail in the Third Reich’s coffin.
Winston Churchill summed up El Alamein thus: ‘It may almost be said that before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat.’
A10 Cruiser tank Mk II
KURSK: THE BATTLE OF PROKHOROVKA
During the Battle of Kursk, one engagement would come to be known as the greatest tank battle of all time: Prokhorovka. It was near this small Ukrainian village that the spearheads of two mighty armoured forces collided.
The summer of 1943 was a rough time for the Wehrmacht. They had just been handed a humiliating defeat at Stalingrad, and the Eastern Front was in danger of collapsing. To regain the initiative, the Germans launched Operation Citadel on 4 July 1943, aiming to cut off the Kursk Salient and capture or destroy the trapped Russian armies inside.
The Battle of Kursk was a huge engagement, spanning almost two months across hundreds of miles. The defining action of the battle would happen on 12 July 1943 as the Germans tried to sweep through Prokhorovka in an attempt to cut off the Soviets’ line of retreat.
Hitler was looking to deliver a crushing blow, but he also desperately needed a big victory to tell the German people about. To this end he sent towards Prokhorovka all three Waffen-SS divisions of the II SS Panzer Corps, with close to 300 tanks and assault guns to do the job.
The Soviet defence consisted mainly of the 5th Guards Tank Army. They had received reports that the Germans were amassing armour near the village, so they concentrated their forces and were able to bring almost 800 tanks as well as a smattering of self-propelled guns to the field. The Germans were unaware that such a large force was assembling near the village until the morning of the attack.
As the sun began to rise, the Luftwaffe attacked. The Soviets weathered the storm with relatively few casualties, and they responded in kind with a massive artillery barrage. Day was turned to night as the battlefield was cloaked in black clouds of explosives.
The Soviets did not intend to sit and wait for the approaching Germans; they wanted to close in to negate the range advantage of the German tanks over their own T-34s. As soon as the bombardment was over, General Pavel Rotmistrov (the Soviet commander) barked over the radio: ‘Stal! Stal! Stal!’ – Russian for ‘Steel! Steel! Steel!’ – and, with the code word broadcasted, the Soviets advanced.
It was in this hazy mixture of dust and smoke that the two armies met, head-to-head and almost right on top of each other.
OPPOSING FORCES
This scenario is played between a Soviet force and a German one.
The German armoured platoons should be taken from the 1943 – Operation Citadel selector in the Armies of Germany book. Legendary tank commander Michael Wittmann was there, so the German player is encouraged to include him in the army for some added historical flair. You can find his entry in the Legendary crew section on page 38.
The Soviet armoured platoons should be taken from the Defence in Depth, July–August 1943 selector in the Armies of the Soviet Union book. In addition to their normal choices, the Soviets had access to British Churchills at this battle (these would be Mk IIIs or early Mk IVs with 6pdr guns).
SET-UP
Because they were taken by surprise, the Germans will play the defenders in this battle. The German player must deploy no more than half his units in his set-up area. These units can use the hidden set-up rules on page 117 of the core Bolt Action rulebook.
After that, the Soviet player deploys no more than half his units in his set-up area. These units can also use the hidden set-up rules.
Then the German player must set up the remainder of his force in his set-up area. These units cannot use the hidden set-up rules.
Finally, the Soviet player deploys the remainder of his force in his set-up area, and they likewise cannot use the hidden set-up rules. No units may be left in reserves for this scenario.
SPECIAL RULES
• Dense Smoke: The battlefield is completely covered by billowing clouds of smoke. As a result, roll a die at the beginning of each turn. On a roll of a 1, any weapon with a maximum range greater than 12” has its range reduced to 12” for that turn. On a roll of a 2 or 3, any weapon with a maximum range greater than 24” has its range reduced to 24” for that turn. On a roll of 4+, the wind disperses the smoke and visibility is normal for that turn, but shots at targets over 24” suffer an additional –1 to hit modifier.
• Desperate Fight: The Soviets were especially desperate in trying to repel the Germans, resorting to ramming on several occasions. Soviet tanks may assault enemy tanks without having to take the usual order test to assault another tank.
• Preparatory Bombardment: Both sides peppered the battlefield before the battle commenced. As such, before the first turn both players resolve a preparatory bombardment against their enemy, starting with the German player.
KV-8 flamethrower tank
OBJECTIVE
The main goal is to inflict as much damage as possible. The Germans are trying to press on through to Prokhorovka and link up with other German units near the village.
FIRST TURN
‘Stal! Stal! Stal!’ The battle begins.
GAME DURATION
Keep a count of how many turns have elapsed as the game is played. At the end of turn 6, roll a die. On a result of 1, 2 or 3, the game ends; on a roll of 4, 5 or 6 play one further turn.
VICTORY!
At the end of the game, calculate which side has won by adding up the attrition values of the enemy units that were destroyed. If one side scores at least 200 more points than the other then that side has won a clear victory. Otherwise the result is deemed too close to call and the battle is a draw.
Furthermore, the German player gets the attrition value of any of his tanks that exit the table on his opponent’s table edge.
AFTERMATH
Like so many famous battles of the war, the outcome of this one has been the subject of some serious debate.
The generally accepted version of the battle derives mainly from Soviet sources. In this version, the Germans advanced side-by-side, hemmed in by the Psel River on one side and railroad tracks on the other. They were estimated to have over 500 tanks, all crammed into a relatively small battlefield.
The Soviets raced their speedy T-34s right into the German lines, throwing them into a state of massive confusion and causing a fair share of casualties along the way. At such close quarters, the deadly 88s of the German tanks lost their range advantage, and the Soviet force was able to outflank and outmanoeuvre the enemy, destroying dozens of enemy tanks. Taken aback by the sheer bravado of the Soviet battle plan, the Germans retreated, leaving hundreds of smoking hulks behind on the scorched field near Prokhorovka.
Za Stalina! Za Rodinu!
Tigers Marsch!
An exciting tale indeed; however, recent scrutiny of the war records of both sides has suggested that it may owe more to Soviet propaganda than actual events.
The daily combat reports of the II SS Panzer corps, still accessible via the US National Archive, tell a different story. These reports were generated to communicate the corps’ combat effectiveness and fighting capabilities for future action, so their writers had little reason to embellish the numbers. They show that the Germans had closer to 300 armoured fighting vehicles, only 15 of which were the dreaded Tigers. Furthermore, after the action, reports show German losses more on the scale of 70 tanks, rather than the hundreds as previously believed.
There is not much debate about what happened to the Soviets. Their commander, General Pavel Rotmistrov, planned to swarm the enemy with more tanks than they could deal with, with seemingly little regard for the casualties such a strategy would likely incur. He felt that the speed of his T-34s would allow them to close with the enemy and get the much-needed flanking shots to take out the tougher German tanks. Whether this is accurate or not is arguable, but Rotmistrov would never hold a combat command after the Battle of Kursk, and perhaps the staggering losses incurred at Prokhorovka had something to do with this.
Michael Wittmann witnessed the boldness of the Soviet plan first hand as his group advanced to support the main German attack. The T-34s charged straight at his Tigers over open ground at long range in what was described as a suicide mission. The frontal armour of the Tigers was virtually impervious to the T-34s’ gun, so the Soviets had to rush through withering fire with little they could do in return. The result was an almost complete annihilation of the ill-fated T-34s.
Despite such losses, the Soviets were able to fight the Germans to a stalemate. The battle lines slowly pushed east, and the Germans were able to get near the town and occupy several strategic positions in the surrounding terrain. These gains were never fully exploited, however, as Hitler decided to cancel Operation Citadel.
The story of what really happened is still unclear, but the outcome remains: the battle was a tactical victory for the Germans, but it would turn out to be a strategic victory for the Soviets. As for the details, it is likely that the smoke may never fully clear over the battlefield of Prokhorovka.
T-34/85
HELL’S HIGHWAY: THE ROAD TO ARNHEM
Operation Market Garden was a risky Allied ploy to strike through Holland, circumvent the formidable Siegfried Line, and cross the Rhine in force to attack Germany. It was the largest airborne operation up to that time and if successful, it could have ended the war within months.
It was September 1944, and the Allies had just dropped more airborne troops into combat than ever before. The US 101st and 82nd airborne divisions, along with the British 1st Airborne and the Polish 1st Parachute Brigade, landed in Holland during a daylight drop against initially light resistance. Their mission was to seize control of several key towns along the road from Eindhoven to Arnhem, and the valuable bridges along the way. Without this key artery, the subsequent armoured push would not be successful.
The second operational phase of the mission was to drive the armour through the various waypoints that had been secured by the US paratroopers and link up with the British airborne in Arnhem. The British XXX Corps, veterans of North Africa and the Normandy invasion, were tapped for the job.
On 17 September, as the airborne troopers secured their objectives inside Holland, General Horrocks launched the armoured spearhead across the Holland-Belgium border. At each bridge, they were to link up with the airborne and strengthen their position before moving on to the next one.
A risky plan indeed, since the airborne troops were not equipped for a lengthy defensive battle, nor were they particularly able to deal with enemy armour. They were depending on a fast advancing XXX Corps for a sustained operation. The Allied commanders were under the impression that the German defence of the area was sparse, with mostly old men and young boys pressed into the army. As such, having the airborne placed somewhat out on a limb was deemed an acceptable risk.
Of course, this assumption would prove false, as the German defenders began to gradually amass at the beginning of September. In some cases, instead of the old men that the Allies had heard about, they were met by veteran troops of the II SS Panzer Corps. The area leader had sent them to rest in what he considered to be ‘safe’ areas for refitting, and these areas turned out to be Eindhoven and Arnhem.
The surprise that the Allies were hoping to achieve never fully materialized. The German forces in the area had been aware for some time that an attack was coming, as there had already been no small amount of fighting in the area. Since many of those actions were in the direction of the Dutch border, it had given them some idea of the Allies’ plans.
Before the advance, a massive barrage of artillery and aerial attacks was planned. The XXX Corps had an awesome arsenal at their disposal, and two hours before the attack a black rain of explosives pummelled the road into a cratered, scorched mess. Thus it earned the name ‘hell’s highway’ before the battle even started.
INFLATABLE TANKS
Fooling the enemy with misinformation is certainly nothing new, even back in the days of World War II. When it comes to troop movements, making your enemy see a force where none exists can seriously affect his plans, often causing him to divert critical resources to deal with the ‘threat’.
Impressed by the British successes with fake tanks in North Africa, the US Army began recruiting for a peculiar unit. Instead of combat veterans, they sought out artists, ad agency executives, and even stage magicians. The goal of the unit was to create armies out of thin air, and to confuse and confound the enemy wherever possible.
The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops set about taking movie magic to the battlefield. They created realistic inflatable full-sized models of many vehicles, including the M4 Sherman and the 2½ ton truck. These models were so light that a single soldier could move them around, creating the impression of an armoured division on the advance.
They took the deception even further by employing half-tracks with enormous speakers, projecting the sounds of tanks rolling through the area. Details like the sounds of soldiers coughing, tools being used, and others completed the illusion. False radio chatter accompanied the fake unit.
The Germans were thoroughly confused at what they saw. Sometimes, a tank would virtually disappear after being hit by nothing more than artillery shrapnel. Spies would report an infantry division being transported by trucks, with no idea that what they actually saw was the same pair of trucks with only two soldiers in the rear going in a wide circle through the woods.
Their mission was so secret that the unit’s existence was classified until 1996, and parts of their methods and tactics remain top secret to this day. It would prove worth the effort, as they are estimated to have saved tens of thousands of soldiers’ lives through their elaborate ‘road shows’ across Europe. They truly earned the nickname ‘Ghost Army’.
XXX Corps struggles along Hell’s Highway
OPPOSING FORCES
This scenario is played between a British and German force.
The German armoured platoons should be taken from the 1944 – Normandy selector in the Armies of Germany book.
The British armoured platoons should be taken from the 1944 – Normandy selector in the Armies of Great Britain book.
SET-UP
A road runs along the length of the table. The German player chooses at least half of his force and deploys it within the set-up zone on the diagram. These units may use the hidden set-up rules. Any units not deployed remain in the reserves.
The British player chooses one of the short table edges. He deploys no units at the start of the game. Instead, all of his force is in his first wave.
SPECIAL RULES
• Preparatory Bombardment: The British player resolves a preparatory bombardment against the German forces before the beginning of the first turn.
OBJECTIVE
The British player must move as many units off the German player’s table edge as possible, in order to link up with the airborne troops at the town down the road. The Germans must stop or at least delay them. Note that in this scenario, British units are allowed to voluntarily leave the German player’s table edge.
FIRST TURN
The battle begins. During the first turn, the British player must bring his entire first wave onto the table.
GAME DURATION
Keep a count of how many turns have elapsed as the game is played. At the end of turn 8, roll a die. On a result of 1, 2 or 3, the game ends; on a roll of 4, 5 or 6 play one further turn.
VICTORY!
At the end of the game, calculate which side has won by adding up the attrition values of the enemy units that were destroyed. If one side scores at least 200 more points than the other then that side has won a clear victory. Otherwise the result is deemed too close to call and the battle is a draw.
Furthermore, the British player gets the full attrition value of any of his units that successfully exit the board on the German player’s table edge. The German player gets half the attrition value of any British units that remain on the table.
AFTERMATH
It would not be a good day for the Allies.
The initial barrage of ordnance failed to achieve any real results. The air cover, mostly Typhoons, spent the day flying many sorties to keep the Germans hiding in the woods. The combined efforts helped, but in the end would not be enough.
The terrain around the road would become a major limiting factor to the advance. It was either filled with various barriers or too soft to support heavy armour. Vehicles that strayed from the road often became sitting ducks, though they had little choice as the road quickly became clogged with the smoking and burning hulks of the British tanks.
As the British reserves were brought up, they faced repeated ambushes from infantry and anti-tank guns hidden along the road. The XXX Corps had the objective of reaching Eindhoven within 2–3 hours, but by nightfall they had only reached Valkenswaard, falling a full six miles short.
The XXX Corps fought bravely, but in the end the German defenders were able to stall its advance enough to neutralize its effectiveness. Soon German armoured forces, including the dreaded Panthers, started to join the defenders, trying with several well-aimed counter-attacks to cut the road and thus disrupt the supply line of the advancing XXX Corps. Instead of pushing forward, many resources were diverted to counter these threats.
Market Garden was a gambit the Allies would pay dearly for. By the time they withdrew eight days later, over 15,000 Allied troops were dead or wounded, all part of the butcher’s bill on Hell’s Highway.
BATTLE OF BASTOGNE
In December 1944, a combination of German cunning and Allied overconfidence led to one of the bloodiest battles of the war – it would prove to be Hitler’s last major offensive in a war that was already lost.
The Battle of the Ardennes; the Battle of the Bulge; the Ardennes Offensive; Operation Watch on the Rhine. It is known by many names, and is one of the most filmed, discussed, and debated battles of the entire war. For good reason: the images are the stuff of legends, if not of movie magic. A secretly amassed army and a lightning surprise attack; the desperate effort to plug the gap; valiant defenders completely surrounded by the enemy; a request for surrender and the immortal reply of ‘Nuts!’ Finally, it ended with an Allied breakthrough that rescued their trapped comrades and brought German hopes crashing down. Through the lens of these events, the brutally cold winter of 1944–45 would leave its icy stamp on world history.
Hitler saw the value of Antwerp, which was held by the Allies. It was a key port for supplying the Allied war machine on the continent. He thought that if he could mount one surprise offensive and retake Antwerp, he could fight the Allies to a standstill and force treaty negotiations.
Such an operation would require massive amounts of manpower and logistical support. Secrecy was absolutely essential, as such a move would surely fail if the Allies were able to counter it in its early stages. In this the Germans were entirely successful; the Allies had no idea that a large attack, through such an unfavourable region, was about to take place. Maintaining radio silence, the Germans moved only by night, amassing 30 divisions in the area without raising alarm.
The sun sets on the Third Reich
When the attack commenced on 16 December, the Germans achieved complete surprise. The American troops facing the initial assault assumed it was a small counter-attack, which had been expected ever since they cracked a sizeable hole in the Siegfried Line to the north. This would, of course, prove not to be the case.
Once the enormity of the offensive became apparent to the Allied leadership, Eisenhower made the bold move to divert the 101st and 82nd airborne divisions to the area, using every available resource to get them there. The paratroopers did a ‘tailgate jump’, riding in trucks throughout the night, using headlights despite the danger of being spotted from the air. Within a week, a staggering 250,000 troops took the infamous ‘Redball Express’ into the Ardennes.
One of the key elements of the German plan was speed. In order to overwhelm the enemy they had to advance quickly, before the weather cleared and the Allied fighter-bombers could return to action. The 101st found itself surrounded by the rapidly advancing Germans, fortifying the area around Bastogne in preparation for its defence. One by one, the roads out of town were cut by the German attackers, and the American paratroopers found themselves surrounded and cut off.
The ‘battered bastards of Bastogne’, as the 101st would come to be known, were stretched thin, holding strategic points in the area, but unable to man a proper battle line during the night. Their supplies were dwindling, and with the poor weather obscuring the ground to aircraft, supply drops could not be made. The men had little or no cold weather gear, not enough bullets or food, and few rounds for their tanks and artillery pieces. Still, they held back everything the German army could throw at them.
Finally, on 23 December, the weather improved and the supply drops commenced. Critical ammunition, food and medical supplies rained down on the beleaguered Allied troops. Many artillery units were firing newly acquired shells even as further drops were floating down from the sky!
Despite this, the 101st was still in dire straits. The supplies gave the unit hope, but what the soldiers really needed was an Allied breakthrough so that fresh troops could be brought in and the wounded could be taken out. As fortune would have it, they would not have to wait too much longer.
The Allied breakthrough took place the day after Christmas. Lt Colonel Creighton Abrams was in charge of 37th Tank Battalion and had orders to charge through the heavily defended town of Sibret to link up with the encircled 101st Airborne in Bastogne. Col Abrams could see that the attack would be costly and take up precious time, while the town of Assenois was lightly defended and also between him and Bastogne. He could see the supply drops floating in the distant sky and knew he had an opportunity to break the siege if he acted quickly. So he changed his target and set his sights on Assenois.
OPPOSING FORCES
This scenario represents the Allied push through the town of Assenois on the way to link up with the 101st in Bastogne. As such, it is a battle between US and German forces.
The German armoured platoons should be taken from the 1944–45 – Operation Watch on the Rhine selector in the Armies of Germany book.
The US armoured platoons should be taken from the 1944 – Battle of the Bulge selector in the Armies of the United States book. The American unit was the 37th Tank Battalion of CCR, commanded by Lt Col Creighton Abrams, so the US player is encouraged to include him in his army. Also, the lead tank that would eventually be the first to link up with the 101st was a Sherman named ‘Cobra King’, so the US player should consider so naming one of his tanks!
SET-UP
The town of Assenois is set up in the middle of the table, with two roads intersecting at the middle. The objective is the crossroads in the middle of the town.
The German player deploys one infantry squad and one other unit within 6” of the crossroads. Then he nominates half his units (rounded down) to be in his first wave. The rest of his units are left in reserve.
The US player chooses one of the short table edges and deploys at least half his units within 6” of it. The rest of his units remain in the reserves.
OBJECTIVE
The goal is to control the crossroads in the middle of the town at the end of the game. To do so, a player must have a unit within 3” of the crossroads, with no enemy unit within 3” of the crossroads.
FIRST TURN
The battle begins. During turn 1, the German player must bring his first wave on to the table. These units can enter the table at any point on the German player’s table edge, and must be given either a run or advance order. Note that no order test is required to move units onto the table as part of the first wave.
GAME DURATION
Keep a count of how many turns have elapsed as the game is played. At the end of turn 6, roll a die. On a result of 1, 2 or 3, the game ends; on a roll of 4, 5 or 6 play one further turn.
VICTORY!
At the end of the game the side that controls the crossroads is the winner. If neither side controls it, it is a draw.
AFTERMATH
Abrams’ unit successfully pushed through the town, and at 5:10 pm he shook hands with General McAuliffe, the acting commander of the 101st at Bastogne. The line had been breached, and the 101st was no longer isolated.
The fight was not quite over, though. The corridor opened by the 37th now had to be defended, and the Germans would push against it with everything they had. The US troops spent the night of 26 December clearing pockets of German resistance that still dotted the landscape around Assenois. That evening the town itself was free of the enemy, while clearing the area around the road itself would take the rest of the night through to the next morning.
With the road in a relatively firm grasp, the lifeblood of supplies and reinforcements could now flow freely into the area, and the German hold on Bastogne and the Ardennes was dealt a terminal blow.
The men of the 101st, having lived through the snowy hell of the siege, expected to be relieved. This would not be the case, as they were ordered to resume the offensive and seize key towns in the area. It would be nearly a month before the ‘battered bastards of Bastogne’ would finally get the hard-earned rest that they deserved.
Panther Ausf G
T IS FOR…
The British developed all manner of tanks in World War II, flirting with many light designs in the 1930s. The Tetrarch light tank Mk 7 was one such vehicle, designed for the army as a light tank. It was rejected for regular units, but later reprieved and issued to the 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions to be carried into battle by giant Hamilcar gliders. They saw service in the Normandy invasion and in the invasion of French-held Madagascar, not performing terribly well.
They were fast, 40mph on a road, and carried a 2-pounder 40mm main gun and a machine gun. Armour was paper thin, and God only knows what the Russians who were sent 20 of them thought about it all!
THE BATTLE OF IMPHAL
The Japanese Army was in dire need of a major victory. General Renya Mutaguchi felt it was his destiny to win such a victory, and against the advice of his subordinates he set his sights on India.
It was the spring of 1944, and the war was turning against the Japanese. The Pacific campaign had suffered major setbacks, and with the fading of Imperial naval power the Japanese merchant marine was being ruthlessly targeted by the Allied navies. Burma was one of the few fronts not hit by major losses, but that was about to change.
The British were planning a major offensive into Burma from neighbouring India and China. They had already secured several air bases and other supply depots, and these gave the Allies a critical advantage. One major supply station was located in the Burmese town of Imphal. It had several airstrips, fuel depots and encampments from which the Allies could stage their offensive. To the Japanese, it was obvious – Imphal had to be taken.
The Japanese general placed in charge of the attack, Renya Mutaguchi, had grander designs. He felt that Imphal would just be the beginning in a greater campaign to take India from the British.
His plan was flawed from the very beginning. It relied on capturing Allied supplies in order to feed the invading army, a risky ploy even under ideal conditions. The Allies had near-complete command of the skies, so dropping supplies by air would be next to impossible. The coming monsoon months would also make overland supply difficult. Mutaguchi envisioned a Genghis Khan-style sweep across India, with the successful army dining on the spoils of war.
His generals were pessimistic, and in one case openly insubordinate. They pointed out that the invading army had less than three weeks’ worth of supplies, and any push after that point would be completely dependent on captured supplies. All their protests fell on deaf ears.
Mutaguchi’s plan was codenamed ‘U-Go’, or Operation C. Its initial object was to break the Allied forward positions, then advance on Imphal in force and surround the town. Once in position, a coordinated attack on Imphal would follow. They even enlisted the help of Azad Hind, a resistance movement that sought to overthrow British rule in India. Apparently, they were amenable to the idea of Japanese rule.
On 20 March, during the opening shots of the battle, British M3 Lee tanks would clash with Japanese Type 95s in one of the few tank-to-tank battles the Japanese fought during the war.
Chindits attack, supported by an M3 Grant of Pow’s Dragoon Guards
OPPOSING FORCES
This scenario is fought between a British and a Japanese force.
The Japanese armoured platoons should be taken from the Burma, 1944 selector in the Armies of Imperial Japan book.
The British armoured platoons should be taken from the 1942–45 – Burma selector in the Armies of Great Britain book.
For added historical accuracy, the British player could restrict his choice of tanks to the M3 Lee, while the Japanese player only takes Type 95 Ha-Go tanks.
SET-UP
The terrain on the table should be quite dense, with large areas of forest and other vegetation, as well as a few rocky outcrops to represent the difficult going of the area around Imphal. The Japanese player picks a table side.
No units are set up at the beginning of the game. Both sides must nominate at least half of their force to form their first wave. This can be the entire army if desired. Any units not included in the first wave are left in reserve.
SPECIAL RULES
• Honour Bound: The Japanese tankers feel that they must fight to the last in order to secure victory for Japan. Each Japanese armoured vehicle gets +1 morale. Remember that morale cannot be higher than 10.
• Dawn Assault: The Japanese often attacked at night to take advantage of the cover of darkness that denied Allied air superiority. During the first turn of the game, visibility is limited to 12”. At the beginning of the second turn, roll a die – on a 4+ visibility returns to normal, otherwise it is limited to 12” for the second turn too and then reverts to normal at the beginning of turn 3.
Type 97 Chi-Ha
OBJECTIVE
The Japanese player must move as many units off the British player’s table edge as possible, in order to reach and seize the much needed supplies of Imphal and its airstrips. The British must stop or at least delay them. Note that in this scenario, Japanese units are allowed to voluntarily leave the British player’s table edge.
FIRST TURN
The battle begins. During turn 1 both players must bring their first wave on to the table. These units can enter the table from any point on their side’s table edge, and must be given either a run or advance order. Note that no order test is required to move units onto the table as part of a first wave.
GAME DURATION
Keep a count of how many turns have elapsed as the game is played. At the end of turn 8, roll a die. On a result of 1, 2 or 3, the game ends; on a roll of 4, 5 or 6 play one further turn.
VICTORY!
At the end of the game calculate which side has won by adding up the attrition values of the enemy units that were destroyed. If one side scores at least 200 more points than the other then that side has won a clear victory. Otherwise the result is deemed too close to call and the battle is a draw.
Furthermore, the Japanese player gets the full attrition value of any of his units that successfully exited the board on the British player’s table edge.
M3 Lee
AFTERMATH
The lighter Type 95 tanks proved no match for the M3 Lees. All of the Japanese tanks were destroyed and the advancing Japanese were forced to turn back.
The Battle of Imphal would rage on for four more months. The Japanese would score some early victories, cutting off British armies and threatening Imphal. Things were looking good for General Mutaguchi, and soon his forces would sweep down onto the Imphal plain from the south and the north.
While two divisions attacked the Imphal plain, one set its sights on the main road going into the area, and the only road that could support the heavy metal Mutaguchi would need to assault the town itself. By mid-April, after failing to secure the road, the battle was at a near-stalemate.
The British chose this time to mount a counter-attack, focusing on the Japanese 15th Division, which was the weakest among them. While the 15th, as well as the other Japanese units, were able to hold their lines, they soon reached the end of their endurance. The troops were exhausted and, in some cases, starving. Mutaguchi’s subordinates had warned him of this outcome, and now they would receive grim validation. The 15th Division had no choice but to leave their positions to find food and water, and the British quickly advanced into the abandoned land.
Mutaguchi would not admit defeat. The Japanese Prime Minister, Hideki Tojo, shared his optimism and even in the face of dismal reports ordered the battle fought to the end. Honour-bound Japanese officers downplayed the dire situation to the inspecting generals, as none of them wanted to be the one to suggest retreat.
Mutaguchi was furious with his divisional commanders. He felt they were being overly cautious and not exploiting their successes. He ended up replacing all of them at various points in the battle, but it would do no good. He finally ordered his 31st Division to join the 15th Division on a renewed attack on the town. Both divisions were short of supplies, and had suffered too many casualties to be effective. So dire was their situation that their commanders simply ignored Mutaguchi’s order, something almost unheard of in the Japanese military. When he found out about their circumstances, he finally accepted the situation and called off the attack. The British had won.
It would be the Japanese Army’s worst defeat to date. They had taken 55,000 casualties, with over 13,000 soldiers lying dead. Most of them perished from starvation and disease. The Allies had actually taken slightly more casualties, but virtually all of them a result of the fighting. The well-supplied Brits, with their secure air bases, simply could not be pushed from the plains.
Mutaguchi had visions of glory, but in the end his fervour just was not enough. A battle may be fought with bullets, but it is won with supply.
Type 3 Chi-Nu
THE BATTLE OF BERLIN
In April 1945, two Russian armies raced to the German capital. Each general wanted to be the first to take the city, and both were willing to commit their troops in a hasty assault that would cost hundreds of thousands of lives. Were they motivated by more than just pride?
At the beginning of 1945, the Wehrmacht was crumbling. Its last great offensive in the Ardennes, while achieving many successes, failed to create the stalemate that Hitler was counting on. The German army began to shrink back to the homeland, and the Allies were quickly closing in.
Facing the Russian advance in the east, as well as the Western Allies’ armies to the west, it became apparent that soon there would be an attack on Berlin itself. Eisenhower wasn’t really interested in a lengthy ground attack, as he felt that it would be too costly to fight over a city that would be under the Soviet sphere of influence after the war anyway. Stalin, however, was more than happy to commit his armies to the attack.
Some say it was revenge for the devastation caused during the German invasion of Russia. The truth is probably far more practical. Firstly, Stalin knew that after the war, Germany would be sliced up like a pie and served to the victorious Allies. If Soviet forces occupied more of that pie, he was likely to get more pieces. Second, it is possible he wanted to seize Germany’s nuclear research facility at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute before the Western Allies.
Stalin was so desperate to take the city quickly he was willing to throw his armies at it. He needed speed and raw numbers, so he devised an ingenious plan. Instead of creating one massive army and simply ordering it to advance with all haste, he split it into two armies and essentially challenged the commanding generals to a race. He knew that the honour of being the conqueror of Berlin was a great prize, and by pitting the two generals against each other, they would probably move much faster.
The first step was to encircle the city, and this meant crossing the Oder and Neisse rivers at several points to the east of Berlin. The Russians outnumbered their enemy, but the Germans had the advantage of a defensive urban position.
This advantage was probably best illustrated during the Battle of the Seelow Heights. They were the scene of the most brutal fighting in the defence of the Oder-Neisse line. The Russians sent nearly a million troops to attack the crossing, and the Germans defended it with a little over 100,000 men – they were outnumbered almost ten to one! Despite these terrible odds, it still took the Russians three blood-drenched days to cross. At the end of the third day, the ‘gates of Berlin’ lay wide open for the advancing Soviet army.
The Soviet advance on Kahnsfelde, by Peter Dennis © Osprey Publishing Ltd. Taken from Duel 37: King Tiger vs IS-2.
Soviet T34s thunder into a blazing German town
Five days later, on 24 April, the Soviet army had completed its encirclement of the city. The Battle of Berlin was about to enter its final, devastating phase: the Battle in Berlin.
OPPOSING FORCES
This scenario is fought between a Soviet and a German force.
The German armoured platoons should be taken from the 1945 – Last Levy selector in the Armies of Germany book.
The Soviet armoured platoons should be taken from the Death of the Third Reich, April–May 1945 selector in the Armies of the Soviet Union book.
SET-UP
This battle takes place in a dense, urban environment, so the table should be set up as such. One or two roads are okay, but the bulk of the table should be a claustrophobic mix of buildings and rubble.
The Russian player chooses a table edge. No units are deployed at the start of the battle. Both sides must nominate at least half their force to form their first wave. This can be the entire army if desired. Any units not included in the first wave are left in reserve.
SPECIAL RULES
• Last Stand: The German defenders are fighting their last stand, to the death. The Soviets are incensed by hatred and revenge. As such, all units on the table have the Fanatic special rule.
• Revenge: The Russian tanks do not have to pass the normal order test to assault buildings.
OBJECTIVE
The goal is simple, brutal attrition. Each side is trying to inflict maximum damage on the other.
FIRST TURN
The battle begins. During turn 1 both players must bring their first wave on to the table. These units can enter the table from any point on their side’s table edge, and must be given a run or advance order. Note that no order test is required to move units onto the table as part of a first wave.
GAME DURATION
The game continues until one side is completely wiped out, or the player surrenders.
VICTORY!
The last man standing wins.
AFTERMATH
The aftermath of this battle would be nothing more than the implosion of the Nazi regime and the end of the war in Europe.
The Soviet armoured advantage would prove of little consequence in confined street fighting. Hitler Youth armed with Panzerfausts stalked enemy tanks amongst the ruins. This would have a devastating effect on the Russians. The young fighters would hide in basements and other areas with low windows and fire their weapons as the tanks passed for maximum damage. The Russians reacted by demolishing any building they received fire from.
Despite pleas from his senior leadership, Hitler had refused to leave the city and was determined to direct its defence. He had hopes that the 12th Army to the south of the city could link up with the 9th Army, but these hopes were dashed when the 9th was slaughtered at the Battle of Halbe.
In the final dark days of the battle, Hitler committed suicide. His ‘thousand-year Reich’ had lasted a little over four years.
On 2 May, the commander of the German defences finally rendered his unconditional surrender to the Soviet general. Roughly 80,000 Russians and 150,000 Germans lay dead, while a Soviet flag flew over the Reichstag. The Battle of Berlin was over.
ISU-152 assault gun
THE BATTLE OF KHALKIN GOL
A pivotal tank battle happened before World War II even started in the west. The Japanese and Russian armies had been fighting border clashes in the Manchuria region for years. When the pivotal battle occurred over the Khalkin Gol River, the outcome was to have a profound effect on the coming world war.
The Empire of Japan had invaded Manchuria in 1931, and with a foothold firmly in the area the Japanese began to press against the adjoining Soviet territories. The reasons were twofold: first, Japan had been promoting its ‘Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’, which was the Japanese version of the German Lebensraum ideology, essentially to gain more living space for the expanding population of Japan. It saw the lands to the west of Manchuria as a good target for this expansion.
Secondly, the area was rich with natural resources (especially petroleum) and lacked much in the way of local defenders. The Japanese leadership simply could not pass up such a gem.
In 1937, Japan took advantage of a China weakened by civil war, rolling over its borders and taking key cities such as Nanking and Shanghai. If the Japanese Army continued to succeed, Russia could find itself bracketed by two fierce enemies: Japan to the east and Germany to the west. Stalin immediately pushed back by making a treaty with China and sending over 200 warplanes to bolster the Chinese defence.
This all would prove to be but a prelude to the coming conflict. All through the summer of 1938, Russia and Japan repeatedly clashed over the border between Mongolia and Manchuria. It was a bitter campaign that did not really move the flag far in either direction. As a result, the Japanese high command decided to advance in force and put the whole matter to rest once and for all.
In May 1939, the Japanese struck into the Khalkin Gol region and seized the area near the Mongolian village of Nomonhan. It was an act of sheer defiance, meant to taunt Russia into a fight.
The command of the Russian forces in the area fell to a little-known general named Georgy Zhukov. By the end of the summer, Zhukov had assembled 50,000 troops, over 800 armoured vehicles and artillery pieces, and nearly 600 aircraft. The date was 20 August 1939. The Japanese wanted a fight, and they were about to get one.
OPPOSING FORCES
This scenario is fought between a Japanese and a Russian force.
The Japanese armoured platoons should be taken from the The Fall of Singapore, 1942 selector in the Armies of Imperial Japan book.
The Soviet armoured platoons should be taken from the Attack on the Fortified Regions, June 1941 selector in the Armies of the Soviet Union book.
It must be noted that neither selector accurately describes the forces present at Khalkin Gol, as these selectors are for different areas and periods, but they are the ones that most closely describe the forces present at Khalkin Gol. When picking forces, keep in mind that the Japanese were using mainly the Type 89 Yi-Go tanks, but they also had some Type 94s and 97s. The Soviets used the BT-5 and BT-7 light tanks. Of course, players are welcome to use any tank models they like as part of a ‘what if?’ version of the scenario! What if the Soviets and the Japanese came to blows in this area in late 1945, for example?
HERO OF THE SOVIET UNION: GENERAL GEORGY ZHUKOV
The battle at Khalkin Gol would have many repercussions across the globe, but it would also be the springboard for the career of the Russian general who led the forces there: Georgy Zhukov.
General Zhukov was a career soldier, having served all the way back in World War I in the Russian cavalry. By the time he was fighting the Japanese in Mongolia, he had been promoted to the rank of general at the age of 42. He had come from an extremely poor upbringing, a fact that helped him survive Stalin’s purge of high-ranking military men.
He was always a forward-thinker, and since he began working with armour, he saw that the rulebook of warfare would need to change to accommodate it. He would use Khalkin Gol as an opportunity to test many of his theories, including the use of underwater bridges and using concentrated armoured units to envelope the enemy. His experience with the light BT tanks would prove invaluable, especially in the development of the T–34.
General Zhukov would fight throughout the remainder of the war. His list of battles reads almost like a complete timeline of the Eastern Front conflict: Leningrad, Moscow, Kursk, Vistula-Oder, Berlin, among others. He would be present in Berlin as the surrender documents were signed, ending the war in Europe, and would go on to be the Soviet minister of defence.
This four-time Hero of the Soviet Union died in 1974. The town near his birthplace, as well as the district in which it resides, was named after him. He was not without his detractors, some who said he overstated his role in the war or those who disagreed with his personality or methods. None however could doubt his love for and dedication to the Motherland.
Type 95 Ha-Go
SET-UP
The Khalkin River crosses the table along the centreline. It should be no more than 12” across. It is a relatively shallow river that has been forded with underwater bridges and as such counts as rough ground.
The Japanese player chooses a table edge and sets up at least half of his army within the set-up area. These units can use the hidden set-up rules. Units not set up this way remain the reserves.
The Russian units are not set up on the table as the game begins. The Russian player must nominate at least half his force to form his first wave. This can be his entire army if he wishes. Any units not included in the first wave are left in reserve.
SPECIAL RULES
• Tactical Upper Hand: To represent Zhukov’s inspired lead, the Russian player gets one extra die added to the dice cup each turn. If a Russian die is drawn, but all Russian units have already been issued an order this turn, the die is ignored. In addition, Soviet reserves do not suffer from the -1 modifier when they take the order to come on to the table, including when outflanking.
• Preparatory Bombardment: Before turn 1, the Russian player rolls a die. On a roll of 2 or greater, he resolves a preparatory bombardment against the Japanese player.
OBJECTIVE
Zhukov’s plan is to envelop the Japanese and eventually trap them. The Russian player’s objective is to get his units in the Japanese set-up area or off the Japanese player’s table edge. The Japanese must stop them. Note that in this scenario, attacking units are allowed to deliberately move off the table on the Japanese player’s table edge.
FIRST TURN
The battle begins. During turn 1 the Russian player must bring his first wave on to the table. These units can enter the table from any point on their side’s table edge, and must be given a run or advance order. Note that no order test is required to move units on to the table as part of a first wave.
GAME DURATION
Keep a count of how many turns have elapsed as the game is played. At the end of turn 8, roll a die. On a result of 1, 2 or 3 the game ends; on a roll of 4, 5 or 6 play one further turn.
VICTORY!
At the end of the game, calculate victory using attrition points as follows. If one side scored at least 200 more points than their opponent, they win. Otherwise, the battle is too close to call and the result is a draw.
The Russian player gets half attrition value for any of his units in the Japanese set-up area, and double attrition value for any units that actually left the table on the Japanese table edge.
The Japanese get double the attrition value of any units they destroy, and half the attrition value of any Russian units that remain on the table, but not in the Japanese set-up zone.
AFTERMATH
Japanese intelligence had failed to detect the Russian build up of forces in the area, and as a result they were ill equipped to deal with the ferocity of the attack. The Soviets crossed the river and pinned down the centre of the Japanese line, allowing the Soviet flanks to achieve a double envelopment, to the north and to the south.
U IS FOR…
The Germans were well ahead of the Allies in certain areas of technology. Infra-red was understood by all during the war, but it was the Germans who first put it to practical battlefield use. Realising they were outnumbered ten to one in tanks, and completely vulnerable to air attack by day, they developed a vehicle named the Uhu, or Owl, which was an Sd.Kfz 251 half-track equipped with IR searchlights, which would work in conjunction with IR-equipped Panther tanks. One vehicle was meant to work with a unit, or Sperber, of six Panthers. Its 60cm searchlight would pick out targets at a range of up to 1500m which would then be engaged by the Panthers.
About 60 of the vehicles were made, some seeing combat in the last months of the war in Hungary. Little is known of their success.
Once the two arms of the Russian advance linked up behind the Japanese forces, the Japanese 23rd Division was trapped. Other Japanese forces in the area attempted a counter-attack, and it was repulsed. The 23rd attempted a breakout and it too was put down. The Japanese had been soundly beaten.
General Komatsubara, leader of the Japanese forces, refused to accept defeat and planned another counterattack. It was thwarted by the pen rather than by the sword: a cease-fire agreement was signed in Moscow on 15 September.
While this battle is almost unknown, especially to Westerners, its outcome had far-reaching effects on the course of World War II. Up until Khalkin, the Japanese were torn between attacking north toward Siberia and attacking south into Southeast Asia and the Pacific in their quest for more land and natural resources. After the defeat, focus shifted south – a decision that would eventually lead to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Also, with the relaxed pressure on his eastern front, Stalin could now completely focus on his impending invasion of Poland and the threat of war with Germany. Stalin moved 15 infantry divisions, three cavalry divisions, 1700 tanks and 1500 aircraft into the European theatre, resources that otherwise would have been tied up fighting further Japanese aggression. They would also play a pivotal role in the Battle of Moscow in 1941.
What would have happened if the Japanese had prevailed here? The mind boggles at the thought. Would the attack on Pearl Harbor have happened? Would the Russians have defended Moscow against the Germans with so many of their forces committed against the Japanese? Would the US have got involved when it did, if at all? It is arguable, though not unthinkable, that the Axis powers had lost the war before it even started, right there on the banks of the Khalkin Gol.
1939-pattern KV-1