Winterstorm on Tula
Scott B
Tempête d’Hiver sur Toula (Winterstorm on Tula)
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
Forty-two years after the publication of Squad Leader, the “Basic Tactics” in the back of the rule book can be considered as much a part of any historical overview as the event depicted in the scenario card. Here is where I first read about isolating fire lanes, Prep Fire and “Block Busting” back in the early eighties. So I was excited to play a scenario of the diagram that allowed me to apply those very principals. Hopefully I had learned something from my numerous readings the ‘Basic Tactics’ over those last forty-two years.
Operation Typhoon called for Guderian’s Second Panzer Army to be the southern pincer directed at Moscow. Tula was directly in his path. He attacked on October 30, but the Russians held on to the city as much from the their defense as from the exhausted German troops and supply lines. Guderian eventually bypassed it and extended his advance to Kashira where he was stopped by the General Belov’s 2nd Cavalry Corps and other units. Eight weeks later Guderian was removed from command of the 2nd Panzer Army, never to command a combat formation again.
“The Soviets had strongly fortified this southern cornerstone of Moscow's last line of defence with numerous anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns. Their reason was obvious: once Guderian had pushed past Tula Moscow would lie to the west of him, and Stalin's capital would find itself in a stranglehold. The old silver-mining town of Tula, though 100 miles distant from the capital, was therefore in a sense a suburb of Moscow. The Russians were well aware of it. Guderian was aware of it. And Eberbach was aware of it. Tula must fall. Tula was half of Moscow. Tula was a symbol. It even had its own Kremlin.
However, the down-at-heel German formations simply could not go on. They were down-at-heel and starved beyond belief. The spearhead of XLIII Infantry Corps under General Heinrici— as the general himself reported to Colonel-General Guderian —had received no bread for the past eight days. The gunners of XXIV Panzer Corps had to ration their salvos because hardly any shells were coming up along the mud-bound roads. The troops were cold and hungry, out of fuel and almost out of ammunition. Tula was saved not by the strength of the Russian defences but by the breakdown in German supplies.”
-- Paul Carell, Hitler Moves East 1941-1943
RESOURCES
Scenario card ‘Winterstorm on Tula’ in English is here and in French is here.
Guderian, Heinz (1952). Panzer Leader. New York, NY Da Capo Press
Carell, Paul. (1967). Code Name “Typhoon”. Hitler Moves East 1941-1943 (pp. 158-164). New York, NY Bantam Books
Battle of Moscow. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 23, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Moscow
Links to a better formatted pdf and Google doc.
THE SCENARIO
At first glance this reminds me of a scaled-down ‘Tractor Works’, however it plays very differently from Squad Leader scenario #2. First, this is a straightforward German offensive to occupy one building. There is no counterbalancing strong Russian left flank as in Scenario Two and no threat (or hope, as the Russian player) of reinforcements breaking through. This is a block-busting operation for the Germans and the Russians are only here to delay and run down the clock. Time is the real opponent of the Germans.
The German’s strongest asset is their Leadership with seven Leaders having a cumulative Leadership Modifier of eleven available to direct twelve Squads. That means each leader directs 1.7 squads with one Leadership Modifier for each squad. Comparatively in Scenario Two each leader directs 3.2 squads with one Leadership Modifier for two squads, about half that of Tula. This is an excellent leadership cadre by any measure.
For their part, the Russians receive four Leaders with a cumulative Leadership Modifier of three available to direct sixteen squads. That means each leader directs 4.0 squads with one Leadership Modifier for every 5.3 squads. Comparatively in Scenario Two each leader directs 9.8 squads with one Leadership Modifier for thirteen squads, making Tula about two and a half times more effective. Four leaders make the Russians far less brittle than usual, with a leader available for each flank and rear.
The Russians also have the advantage of Upper Building Levels (57), which improves their line-of-sight and allows them a retreat to the upper levels once the Germans have breached the VC building. They may be able to leave broken units behind to impede German movement in their withdrawal to the upper level. They only need a single un-broken leader on the upper level to deny the Germans victory.
THE GAME
At Start
The German forces are at their start line. Unlike Scenarios One and Two they are not adjacent to the VC building. Instead they have to close ground and that adds pressure and risk to this already short five turn scenario. The Russian must decide if he wants the MMGs on the second level with a better line-of-sight but loss of penetration (2.8). It will cost him a Prep Fire phase to move them later.
Turns One and Two
By the end of German turn two they have exchanged fire and pushed up to the adjacent city block. The Russians reinforced the VC building with a squad or two prior its isolation with MG fire lanes. The FT lags behind so as not to accrue it’s -1 DRM to friendly units. So far the German dice have been far luckier than the Russians.
Turns Three, Four and Five
Turn Three was the block-busting into the VC building. The Germans should be inside by turn three allowing two turns for clearing both levels.
Turn four was exchanging KIAs, a single berserk locking a German stack in Melee and a FT immolating friendlies with an Area fire attack (57.81). The Russians were squeezed into a corner.
Turn five saw the Russian forces depleted but with an opportunity to win because the German neglected to occupy the second level. Should a broken Russian leader rout up and rally (a 28% probability when DM), he would win the game. Unfortunately for him, the German dice felled him before he made the stairs.
Conclusion
I think this is similar in playability to the ‘Guards Counterattack’ and ‘TTS Beta - Hasty Assault’. These are all quick-play, straight-forward infantry scenarios that are perfect for a tournament or an afternoon game. The Germans do get all the toys and Leaders but the Russians have bragging rights if they manage to turn back the elite squads and superb elan of the Germans. Even if it is by rallying one Leader under Desperation Morale on the last turn of the game.
The dice were too one-sided for me to form an opinion on balance, however the current record is Russian 8 to German 10.
Paul Carell offers a personal account of Eberback and the 2nd Company’s action in Tula that may be of interest to those looking for more individual account of the story.
A Word about Casus Belli
Casus Belli published twenty-eight scenarios for Squad Leader and its gamettes during the early to mid-eighties. They span the war on the east and west fronts. Interestingly, they use US counters to reflect the national characteristic of the Free French fighting in 1944-45. You can find the scenarios here.