Our Armies At War #3: Nighttime Witches, Daytime Knights

Bean965 · **Bean965**

Nighttime Witches, Daytime Knights
Pokhlebin, Russia, near Stalingrad, December 1942

“Tomorrow, if our luck holds, we should reach the assembly area near Kotelnikovo. Thanks to General Raus’ ingenious defenses, we have nothing to worry about from the Russians’ regular troops, but the partisans are everywhere… and then there is the damned night bombings. They do little actual damage, the ‘Nacht Hexen’ - a tank disabled here, a squad killed there. It is the way they come gliding silently out of the night that preys on the troops’ nerves. That, and the going without fires. Eating uncooked food and sleeping on cold ground to avoid illuminating ourselves and helping the witches aim their bombs… It wears on morale. We’re ready for them tonight, though – we have obtained searchlights for the flak, and arranged it in multiple rings around our position. Gliding approach or no, they’ll pay dearly if they come tonight. Then tomorrow we’ll add our regiment to General Raus’ Panzers and we will liberate our compatriots in Stalingrad!"
(Fictitious) Journal Entry, Oberst Walter von Hunersdorff,
114th Panzergrenadier Rgt, December 4, 1942

In December 1942, General Erhard Raus’s 6th Panzer Division was deploying at the rail terminus in Kotelnikovo, 60 km south of Stalingrad, in preparation for an attempt to break through Soviet lines to the trapped German 6th Army. Though they outnumbered the Germans, the nearby Soviet 51st Army did not launch a serious attack during the staging period, and instead allowed Raus to seize the initiative and encircle them in a move that that German general would later call the “Cannae of Pokhlebin.” The Soviets were decimated – the only units able to escape the battlefield in significant numbers were horsemen from the 1st and 2nd Turkestan Cavalry Divisions, whose steppe-ponies were able to travel the marshes and ford the rivers that blocked lines of retreat. (Raus wrote in his journal that the horsemen rode camels, but the accuracy of this is disputed.)

The scenario is actually two scenarios in one. A mini-scenario played first on a separate pair of maps, brings to life in Axis & Allies Miniatures the night harassment bombing missions employed by the Soviets against troop movements during the German invasion. The mini-scenario helps determine what forces the German player will have available for the main scenario. The main scenario recreates the Soviet attack on German forces preparing to attempt the rescue of the 6th Army. It offers the Soviet player the opportunity to avoid the historical mistakes of the Soviet 51st Army and seek a different outcome to the battle near Pokhlebin.

Notes:
1. This scenario pays tribute to the female Soviet combat pilots of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment - the “Night Witches” - the 587th Bomber Regiment, and the 586th IAP. Discriminated against by their male counterparts, given primitive Polikarpov U-2 biplanes, or “Po-2s” and sent on suicidal missions, the brave, determined women of the 588th developed effective tactics and fought so well that their unit was given elite Guards status in 1943.
2. This scenario was written and play-tested using AAM v1 advanced rules and the current, revised unit cards. Use of expanded rules such as grazing fire, new stacking limits, etc. may affect play balance. Advanced air phase rules may have a particularly severe effect on the outcome of the mini-scenario.
3. Play-testing thanks go to Geoteach (again)!

MINI-SCENARIO: “Night Time Witches”
Maps:
The mini-scenario is played on Pegasus 1 and How 3. The two maps are placed side-by-side so that the road running from the large bridge on Pegasus 1 links up with the road closest the map edge on How 3. Four modifications are necessary to the maps: 1) A road should be placed running along the seam where the two maps meet to connect the road leading from the town on How 3 to the road that crosses the stream, an 2) a pond hex should be placed in the hex where the stream on How 3 touches the Pegasus 1 map (A forest ½ hex on the standard How 3 map), 3) A clear hex terrain tile should be placed in hex E3, and 4) a forest hex terrain tile should be placed in hex F3.

German Forces
6th Panzer Division, 114th Panzergrenadier Regiment, 1st Battalion
For this battalion, the German player must assemble a 70 point force from unit choices presented below. It is best if the German player is not allowed to familiarize himself or herself with the SAs of the “Night Witch” Polikarpov U2 before assembling this force The German player should be familiar with the Soviet forces he or she will face in the Main Scenario and should be aware that the mini-scenario is a night bombing situation (including the special rule for “Nighttime.”)

Available units:
Vehicles– Panzer IVG, Elite Panzer IV E, Panzer IV Ausf E, Veteran Panzer III Ausf L (w/o Smoke Screen @ 17 pts.), Panzer III Ausf F (w/o “Smoke Screen” @ 12 pts.), Sd Kfz 251, Sd Kfz 250, Sd Kfz 7/1, Sd Kfz 231, Sd Kfz 222
Soldiers/Artillery – 88 w/Gun Shield, 20mm Flak 38, 7.5cm LELG18, sGrW 34 81 mm Mortar
Soldiers/Infantry – MG 42 Machinegun Team, Panzergrenadier, Panzerfaust, BMW R75, Wehrmacht Oberleutenant
Aircraft – Messerschmitt Bf109E, Messerschmitt Ace, Focke-Wulfe Fw190A, Junkers JU87 Stuka, Messerschmitt ME 110 F4 (20 pts. SAs: “Night Missions” -- this unit ignores the effects of night time, and “Schräge Musik” – this unit possesses the Anti-Air SA against any unit with the Bombs SA)

The German player’s force MUST include sufficient transport to carry ½ the number of its Soldier –Infantry units (rounded up) not including any BMW 75s (which “transport” themselves).

In addition to the above units, the German player may purchase a special unit for the mini- scenario:

German Searchlight – 1939 Soldier/Support, 5 points, Speed 0, Defense 0/0, Attacks: V: -/-/-, S: -/-/-, SAs:
“Attached” – This unit must start the game attached to a specific unit. It then becomes part of this unit, moving with the unit, at the unit’s speed, using that unit’s defense values and receiving a destroyed counter at the same time as the unit to which it is attached. The German Searchlight unit cannot make an attack separate from the unit to which it is attached.
“Limited MOS” – this unit can ONLY be attached to the following German units: Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind, Sd Kfz 7/1, Sd Kfz 251, Sd Kfz 250, Sd Kfz 231, SD Kfz 222, 20mm Flak 30, 88mm w/Gun Shield, 88mm Flak 36, MG 42 Machinegun Team, Sandbagged Machinegun Team, Luftwaffe Infantrymen
“Searchlight” – The unit to which this unit is attached ignores the effects of night time and gains the “Limited Range 4” SA.
“Mounted” -- This unit cancels the “Fighting Platform” SA for any unit to which it is attached.
Flavor text: “During Operation: Barbarossa, German ground forces learned to counter Soviet night bombers by creating a “flak circus,” a concentric ring of anti-aircraft weapons around bivouacs that employed searchlights to illuminate incoming aircraft.”

Soviet Forces

588th Night Bomber Regiment “Night Witch” Polikarpov U2 (See description below) x3 42 pts.

“Night Witch” Polikarpov U2 – 1942 Aircraft, 14 points, Speed A, Defense 3/3, Attacks: V: 2/2/-, S: 7/5/-, SAs: “Aircraft” – Aircraft are placed during the flight phase and attack during the airstrike phase. Units attacking Aircraft use their anti-Soldier attacks and get -1 on each die.
“Night Missions” -- this unit ignores the effects of night time
“Bombs” – Once per game, instead of rolling this unit’s attack against an enemy Soldier or Vehicle at short range, you can declare you are using bombs. If you do, roll 6 dice against that unit if it is a vehicle and 10 dice against that unit if it is a soldier.
“Stall-Speed Sideslip” – Enemy aircraft get -1 on each attack die when attacking this unit. This SA is not in effect in any phase following the use of this unit’s Bombs SA during that turn.
“Decoy” – During night time, this unit must be targeted by all units within four hexes that choose to attack during that turn, for the entire turn. Only one unit with this SA may use its “Decoy” SA in a given turn. A player with multiple units possessing Decoy must declare which unit is using the “Decoy” SA at the end of his or her flight phase.
Flavor Text: “The Germans nicknamed the Soviet 588th Night Bomber Regiment the ‘Nacht Hexen,’ or ‘Night Witches’ for two reasons: because its pilots were all women, and because of the stealthiness of the gliding approach they used to prevent the noise from their engines from giving away their position.”

Set-up
The German player sets up first. German units may be placed anywhere on the map EXCEPT on the side of the river with the three town hexes.

Victory Conditions
Rather than playing for victory, the mini-scenario will determine what additional forces the German player brings to the main scenario. The mini-scenario is played for four turns. Any German units that are not destroyed may be deployed in turn two of the main scenario. German units that are damaged during the Mini-Scenario are played damaged in the Main Scenario. German units destroyed in the Mini-Scenario do NOT count towards the VP total of the Soviet player in the Main Scenario. However, German units that are damaged in the Mini Scenario and survive the Main Scenario in that damaged state ARE counted toward the Soviet player’s VP total.

Special Rules
Night Time – The mini scenario takes place entirely at night. With the night time rule in effect, no unit may attack unless it has a SA that counters the effects of night time. Movement costs for terrain are doubled during night time, except for roads. During night time, the road bonus to movement is cancelled, as is the SA “High Gear.”

Crash Landing – Each time a Po-2 is destroyed, the Soviet player rolls a d6. On a roll of a 5 or a 6, the pilot has managed to crash land her plane on the Main Scenario map.
To determine where on the Main Scenario map the plane crash lands, roll 5d3 (d6/2). Starting in the northeast corner of the map, count south along the eastern edge of the map the number of hexes equal to the die roll. Then, roll 3d6, subtracting one from the total. Count eastward from the row determined by the previous roll a number of hexes equal to the die roll, zig-zagging the same way you would do if you were determining range. Whether the eastward count starts with the hex to the north or to the south is determined by rolling a d6. If the die roll is 1-3, the count starts north, if it is 4-6, the count starts south. The hex determined by these three die rolls is the crash site.
Optional technique: To determine the site of the crash landing of any Po-2, take a Styrofoam packing peanut from your latest AAM trade or purchase. Hold the peanut with your hand upright 18” over the center of the Main Scenario map. Drop your hand 6” as you throw the packing peanut vigorously into the air. The hex center closest to where the peanut lands is the crash site. If the peanut lands in a half hex, or off the board, then the pilot has failed to make the crash landing .
Rescuing/Capturing a Downed Po2 Pilot – Po-2 pilots who have crash landed cannot move or attack. If the Soviet player reaches a crash site hex first, the pilot is rescued and the Soviet player collects VPs. If the German player reaches a crash site first the pilot is captured. The German receives no VPs for capturing a downed pilot (but he/she does deny the possibility of those VPs to his/her opponent.)

The Decoy Special Ability – This SA is described in the text of the Po-2 unit. Note that this SA lasts for the entire turn.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

MAIN SCENARIO: “Daytime Knights”
Maps:
The map arrangement for this scenario is a little unusual. It uses seven 2” maps. These maps are arranged in a 3-map wide by 2 map deep arrangement (This requires that two of the maps be used folded in half) in the following order starting with the upper left and proceeding clockwise around to the lower left: 1) Baker 3, 2) How 3, 3) How 5, 4) How 3, 5) Dog 1, 6) Able 2, and 7) Able 2. A diagram called “Nighttime Witches, Daytime Knights Map Arrangement” is provided to help with arranging the maps.

In addition, several changes and special rules are applied to the maps and a second diagram called “Nighttime Witches, Daytime Knights Map” is provided to help with map alterations:

The Aksay River -- The southern arm of the Aksay River runs north-south on the map in a large “reverse-S.” This river is depicted on the “Nighttime Witches, Daytime Knights Map” diagram with double-thick stream hex sides. River hex sides cannot be crossed by any unit that does not have a special ability that allows it to cross or travel n water hexes.

Ravines – The area around Stalingrad is notable, topographically, for its ravines. There are three ravines on the scenario map that branch off of the Aksay River. They are depicted on the “Nighttime Witches, Daytime Knights Map” diagram with red hexes. To indicate ravine hexes, place removable “sticky flags” (available at any office supply store) along the appropriate hex sides. (The “Nighttime Witches, Daytime Knights Map” diagram indicates where ravine hex sides are absent from ravine hexes, indicating an opening into the ravine.) Players can also create their own ravine terrain tiles. Rules for ravine terrain are explained in the “Special Rules” section, below. Note that any printed terrain in ravine hexes is ignored except for stream hex sides that cross a ravine (those that run along a ravine hex side are ignored.)

Terrain modifications – The map set-up requires the application of 4½ town terrain tiles, 7 clear terrain tiles, 2 clear terrain tiles with roads running through them, 5 road “segments” to connect roads on pre-printed maps, and 9 stream hex sides to connect streams on pre-printed maps (Hex side terrain , such as streams, as well as roads, can be indicated using removable “sticky flags” available at any office supply store).

Ignored Terrain – Several pieces of terrain will be ignored. Ignore all printed hedge terrain – treat these hex sides as clear. Again, ignore any printed terrain in ravine hexes.

Soviet Forces
1st & 2nd Turkestan Cavalry Divisions
“Turkestan Cavalry” (Cossack Cavalrymen w/ SAs: “Surefooted Mounts” – This unit receives +1 on movement rolls, and “Amphibious” -- This unit can cross streams without making a movement roll. This unit can enter water hexes as though they were double-cost terrain hexes.) x6 30 pts

51st Soviet Army:
Elements of the 4th Cavalry Corps
“Soviet Cavalry” (Proxy -- Polish Cavalrymen) x2 08 pts

Elements of the 13th Tank Corps x7 126 pts
T-34/76 Commander x1 38 pts
T-34/76 x2 56 pts
BT-7 x2 26 pts
Mosin-Nagant 1891/30 x1 03 pts
PPSh-41 SMG x1 03 pts

302nd Rifle Division, 832nd Regiment x7 34 pts
Lend-Lease Half-track x2 16 pts
Mosin-Nagant 1891/30 x3 09 pts
PPSh-41 SMG x1 03 pts
Veteran NCO x1 06 pts

302nd Rifle Division, 82nd Regimental Artillery x2 18 pts
7.62mm Model 1942 x1 09 pts
37mm 61-K Air Defense Gun (Proxy – 40mm Bofors L60) x1 09 pts

TOTAL x24 218 pts

German Forces
6th Panzer Division:
Advanced/Reconnaissance Elements of the 114th Panzergrenadier Regiment x4 21 pts
Sd Kfz 231 x1 06 pts
Sd Kfz 250 x1 06 pts
BMW R75 x1 05 pts
Panzergrenadier x1 04 pts

114th Panzergrenadier Regiment, 1st Battalion up to 70 pts.
*Special* -- Comprised of surviving German units from the mini-scenario

6th Anti-Tank Battalion
PAK 40 x2 22 pts

11th Panzer Regiment, 2nd Company x6 63 pts
Elite Panzer IV D x2 36 pts
Wehrmacht Oberleutenant x1 12 pts
MG 42 Machinegun Team x1 10 pts
Veteran Wehrmacht Infantrymen x1 05 pts

76th Armored Artillery Regiment, 3rd Company
and 11th Panzer Regiment, 1st Company x4 43 pts
88mm Flak w/Gun Shield x1 20 pts
Panzer IV Ausf F. (w/o SA: “Smoke Screen” @ 12 pts.) x1 12 pts
Panzer Grenadier x1 04 pts
Sd Kfz 250 x1 06 pts

TOTAL x16 159 pt +x? (@ up to 70 pts) = up to 229 pts

Set-Up
The German player sets up first. The Soviet player sets up ground forces second, then the Soviet player rolls for the location of any crash-landed PO-2 pilots.

Soviet:
a) 1st & 2nd Turkestan Cavalry Divisions – Anywhere on the western or northern map edge of map Baker 3, or the northern edge of map How 3N
b) Elements of the 4th Cavalry Corps – Any map edge on the northern half of the map.
c) Elements of the 13th Tank Corps – The northern edge of maps Baker 3 or How 3N.
d) 302nd Rifle Division, 832nd Regiment – Anywhere on the eastern edge of map How 5
e) 302nd Rifle Division, 82nd Regimental Artillery – Any of the (three) northern edge hexes on Map How 5.

German:
a) Advanced/Reconnaissance Elements of the 114th Panzergrenadier Regiment – Any hex in, or adjacent to the village of Mayorovo.
b) 114th Panzergrenadier Regiment, 1st Battalion – Enters anywhere on western map edge on turn 2
c) 6th Anti-Tank Battalion – Any clear terrain hex on the southern edge of maps How 3S or Able 2S. These units begin the game Entrenched,” and receive a +1/+1 defense until they move.
d) 11th Panzer Regiment, 2nd Company – Any hex in or adjacent to, the forest on the southern edge of map Able 2S.
e) 76th Armored Artillery Regiment, 3rd Company and 11th Panzer regiment, 1st Company – Any hex in, or adjacent to, the town of Sakharov on map Dog 1.

Victory Conditions:
The game lasts seven turns. At the end, each side receives 1 VP/point value of enemy units destroyed and 1/2 the point value (rounded down) in victory points for damaged units.
In addition, the Soviet player receives 5 VPs for every town hex occupied at the end of the game, contested or not. The Soviet player also receives 10 VPs for every rescued pilot.
The German player receives 12 VP for each of the Pokhlebin town hexes that he or she occupies, uncontested, at the end of the game.

Special Rules:
Ravines – Ravines are a new form of terrain developed for this scenario. The ravines are rocky, seasonal river beds cut deep into the plain by years of erosion. Ravines are denoted by ravine hex sides, but a hex must be bordered by at least three ravine hex sides to qualify as a ravine hex. Ravine hex sides act as bluffs for movement purposes, with the bluff always facing into the center of the ravine hex. Ravine hexes (hexes between two ravine bluffs) provide the same cover as hills. Units do NOT have line of sight to units occupying a ravine hex, UNLESS they are in a hex adjacent to the ravine hex that the targeted unit occupies. Units DO have line of sight to targeted units that are on the OTHER SIDE of a ravine from the unit targeting them. For units IN ravine hexes, ravine hex sides DO block line of sight, to units outside of the ravine, if LOS crosses a ravine (bluff) hex side. Vehicles cannot move into ravine hexes except via roads that lead down into ravines, or by entering the open end of a ravine. Road hexes leading into ravines are double cost movement hexes. The road MUST CROSS the hex side in order for vehicles to use them to enter the ravine (at double cost). Ravine hex sides cancel the road bonus and the “High Gear” SA. Vehicles attempting to move from one ravine hex to another must make a successful movement roll.

Recommendations for Balancing the Scenario
In favor of the Germans:
Replace the Panzer III Ausf. F with an Elite Panzer IV E or a Panzer IV G
--and/or—
Add an Opel 3 Ton truck to the 76th Armored Artillery Regiment, 3rd Company

In Soviet favor:
Add a Lend-Lease Half track and one PPSh-41 SMG to the 302nd Rifle Division, 832nd Regiment
--and/or--
Add a additional Veteran NCO and one Mosin-Nagant 1891/30 to the 302nd Rifle Division, 832nd Regiment

Final Historical Notes:
The 588th Night Bomber Regiment was both highly acclaimed and suffered severe casualties. It was the most highly-decorated unit in the Soviet Air Force, each pilot having flown over 1,000 missions by the end of the war and twenty-three having been awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title and dozens of Orders of the Red Banner. The Po-2 pilots flew more than 23,000 sorties and dropped 3,000 tons of bombs. Two women bomber pilots—Katya Ryabova and Nadya Popova—once raided German forces 18 times in a single night. Thirty-one members of the 588th died in combat.
I could find no specific records of harassment night bombing against the German forces attempting to reach 6th army trapped at Stalingrad. One of the first missions of the 588th was bombing German forces crossing the Don River using a bridge at or near Tsimlyanskaya in the summer of 1942, which would have been the time of the German advance toward Stalingrad. It is known that the 588th was active through the entire war, so it is entirely possible that the 6th Panzer Division was bombed by the 588th.
The 588th was not the only all-female Soviet combat aviation unit. During World War II, the Soviets formed three regiments of women combat pilots -- the 586th IAP, the 587th and the 588th. The 586th flew Yak-1 fighters.

Click to see full size image

Pasalades · **Pasalades**

Very impressive and very involved scenario. Your research is impeccable. We have a meetup in the middle of July that I would like to try this out at. As usual I will post results.
_________________
Powerful men are well advised not to use violence,
For violence has a habit of returning;
Thorns and weeds grow wherever an army goes,
And lean years follow a great war.
-Lao Zi

Bean965 · **Bean965**

Thanks. This one was BIG fun. (Actually, all three of them have been fun, but I think by this third one, I have the hang of it a little better and am more confident about the design at each stage.)

general Hoth · **general Hoth**

Wow!
I've taken the time to go through your scenario and it does look complete and well researched. Have you used Raus' memoirs for it? I've greatly enjoyed his book. I remember well the chapters you have used where the soviet just stand there at a distance before the germans move out of the station.
I also like the two seperate parts, the first one helping to define part of the german line up.
Good work, a must play for fans (and there's a lot) of the original maps! Cool

_________________

Scenarios?:
http://aaminis.myfastforum.org/forum3.php.

Bean965 · **Bean965**

Thanks! Again, I had A LOT of fun writing this one.

I didn't use Raus' memoirs, but I did use a volume of the paphlets he wrote for "NATO" after WWII, edited by a Peter G. Tsouras. The hand-drawn battle map JPEG I posted came from that book, "Panzers on the Eastern Front: General Erhard Raus and His Panzer Division in Russia, 1941-1945" (I only chose that book b/c I could get it for $5 on Amazon, whereas his actual memoirs were more than twice that much...)

Based on recent feedback, I'm moving to the 3" maps - I'll miss the size of the battlefield I can make with the 2"ers.

Any advice from other designers about how to deal with the smaller battlefields inherent in using the 3" maps? I'm especially interested in how others deal with translating historic battles to maps that, in essence, now represent a portion of a battle that, it seems to me, is really only "platoon-sized" in scale?