SOLITAIRE ASL HISTORICAL CAMPAIGN

 

MOSKVA

7th Guards Rifle Division

Counterstroke in front of Moscow

December 1941

 

 

Introduction : This is a SASL Historical Campaign recreating the 7th Guards Division’s part of the Soviet Winteroffensive against the German spearheads threatening Moscow in December 1941.  You will find 5 Weekly Missions.

 

 

 

- General :

v     Use 17 Solitaire Campaign rules.  17.21-24 are NA (see below).

v     When no mention is made regarding a specific item follow the Mission instructions.

 

-Campaign structure : Weekly Missions.

 

-Unit : 2nd Company/1st Battalion/20th Guards Rifle Regiment/7th Guards Rifle Division

 

-Composition [US#35/24]: Leader x 2, 458 x 9, 248, 127 x 2, HMG, MMG, LMG x 5, 50mmMTR, ATR

 

-ELR : 3

 

-Special :

v     All Company elements are considered Elite for all rules purposes and all have Winter Camouflage.  The S18.5 note is in effect for S17.821.

v     No German units have Winter Camouflage.

v     All Missions are played in Snow.  Roll on E3.7 with an additional +1 drm

v     FBE is east unless stated otherwise.

 

 

 

 

Mission 1 : Repulsed !  Chimki, Russia.  1 December 1941

By December 1941 the German 9th Army was making its last effort in trying to reach Moscow from the northwest. Some motorcycle elements of the 62. Panzepioniere Regiment reached Chimki within a mere 23 km’s northwest from the Kremlin.  Different units of Rokkosovsky’s 16th Army were trown into the fray in order to stop this last desperate effort. The exhausted Germans were stopped cold in their last attempt to take the capital.

 

Type : Enemy Offensive (9)

Mapboard selection : A8d

Initial mapboards : On a dr £ 2 the easternmost board (only) uses Table 8b with a +2 DRM

Weather : EC are Snow with a Mild Breeze from the Northeast.

Enemy ELR : 2

There is an additional +1 DRM on tables G2, G5a, G7 and G8

 

 

 

Mission 2 : Counterstroke.  Kryokovo, Russia, 8 December 1941

Starting 5 December the Soviet Counteroffensive hit the tired and cold Germans hard. 7th Guards Rifle Division was thrown into the fight and ordered to widen a gap in the German lines. At the end of the first week German troops were thrown back along the whole frontline.

 

Type : Take the Highway (5)

Mapboard selection : Roll directly on the Farmland table

Initial mapboards : Weather : EC are Snow with a Mild Breeze from the Northeast

Mission End : Divide the total Road Network by 4 (four) to determine the number of turns.

Enemy ELR : 2

There is an additional +2 DRM on tables G2, G5a G7 and G8

 

 

 

Mission 3 : Annihilators at Andreyevka.  Andreyevka, Russia, 15 December 1941

After the massive blast of the Russian onslaught several pockets of German strongpoints mostly based around the few villages remained behind the undefined frontline.  20th Guards Rifle Regiment cleaned up the German remnants in order to secure the new baseline for the assault on Istra.

 

Type : Pockets (2)

Mapboard selection : A8d. Roll each board with a –1 DRM

Weather : EC are Snow with a Mild Breeze from the East

Enemy ELR : 2

 

 

 

Mission 4 : Towards the Lake.  Rychkovo, Russia, 22 December 1941

German troops were trying to make a stand around Istra but found it hard to realise anything resembling a solid front in the bitter cold. 7th Guards hit them hard and threw them back once again.

 

Type : Bunker Busting (4)

Mapboard selection : Roll on A8d for the northmost board and A8b for the next.

Intitial mapboards : Use configuration B

Weather : EC are snow with no wind at start.

Enemy ELR : 3

MSR 2 is in effect only when rolling doubles ³ 10.

 

 

 

Mission 5 : Clear that town.  Zagorye, Russia, 28 December 1941

The end of December saw 7th Guards Division on the move covering the southern flank near Zagorye.  Encountered German elements were swiftly destroyed after which the division was withdrawn for rest and refit.

 

Type : Recon (3)

Mission tables : there is a –2 drm for the friendly RE determination

Mapboard selection : Use A8e for all mapboards.

Weather : EC snow with a Hard Wind from the Northeast

Enemy ELR : 3

 

© 2002 By Hans Mielants

Sources :  Geoffrey Jukes “The Defence of Moscow” 1970.

                 Charles Sharp “Soviet OoB WWII. IV” Nafziger, 1995.