Bolt Action Fortress Budapest

Battling On In Budapest

     We're back in Budapest for this game with Danny's Soviets continuing their attempts to take the doomed city from the Axis forces and to destroy mine and Richie's Germans in the process.

     We employed the same scenario as before, scenario 8 Street Fighting In Budapest, but with marginally different forces from our previous battle and with more use of the City Siege Assets special rules as you will find out, dear reader. 

     As we had different forces it follows that this battle takes place in a different part of the city, Kolbasz Square. This square is vital to the Soviet advance as it is a vital road hub within this part of Pest. For the Germans it represents another valuable link in their defence line that must be held and an opportunity to wreak more destruction on more of the seemingly limitless Soviet forces.

     The points limit was 1500 points per side with Richie and I splitting that; he spending his on veteran Waffen SS and I on my Heer which was mainly Regular but with a couple of Veteran squads in there for good measure...and extra LMGs. The German armour was limited to a Sdkfz 251/21 Drilling and a 250/09 recce half track. There was a lot riding on these two to support the German lines.

     Danny's Soviets were also, for the main part, Regulars, only his engineers being Veterans. With plenty of infantry and a good selection of supports including a medium howitzer, mortar, a light howitzer and two snipers (one a freebie from the City Siege Assets options) as well as armour in the shape of a T34/85 the Soviets felt confident that they could capture at least one of the German defensive zones. As their forces gathered for the push, overhead their preliminary bombardment thundered towards the Germans dug in in the ruins surrounding Kolbasz Square...

     Putting the dust covered bottle of cognac to his lips, Lieutenant Igor Ashtiffi took a deep drink. It tasted good. He passed the bottle across to the burly sergeant opposite him, wiped his lips with his sleeve then took a cigarette from a pack lying among the ceiling plaster that coated the tablecloth, the cutlery and the smashed crockery left behind by the houses former inhabitants in their haste to escape when the battle started. 

     Across the table from him, his platoon sergeant, Vladimir Putov and his squad commanders eyed him in silence; the cognac bottle going around, passed from hand to hand as blue smoke rose from the cigarettes that they were all smoking; American cigarettes they had found in a German gun 

position they had captured the day before, much to their astonishment and gratitude, cigarettes being hard to come by.. 

     They had been together since the battalion had moved into Hungary. Somehow they had survived the fierce fighting in Debrecen and on the approaches to Budapest but each of them knew that every day with each passing battle their chances of survival grew slimmer and slimmer. They had resigned themselves to their fate. And resignedly they listened to the young platoon commander outline their next attack; their next dance with Fate. 

     "Our immediate concern is getting across that blasted square. The German swine will have another bombardment dropping on their heads soon, courtesy of our artillery; as soon as that finishes we move. Sergeant Putov, you will take Simonaovich, Bogdan and Grigori's squads and capture the church then push on. You will have Pasha's anti tank gun, a light howitzer and the mortar to keep the Germans heads down. The battalion has also sent down a sniper to help; he'll be in your sector; understood?" Putov and the three squad leaders nodded silently. On this side of the square, I will lead Gennady and Pyotr's squads. We will have the engineers withe us; Sergeant Vankin's men, and a tank. We will work our way through to the corner of the square" he took a last draw on his cigarette and stubbed it out on the table cloth before continuing. "The Germans have manned the house facing onto the square; our support weapons will keep their heads down while we clear the flanks. Once I reach the corner of the square, watch for a green flare over a white; that means we are there. Putov, your signal will be red over white. Wait till I signal then respond. Once your flares go up, the support weapons will concentrate on the centre and upper floors while we clear the bottom before working our way up; got that?" Again the sergeant and the squad leaders nodded before Putov spoke "What's the password; for when we meet in the building?" Ashtiffi considered, looking down at the bottle which was now in his hand "Cognac" he said....         

     

Kolbasz Square from the German side; littered with bodies, 
rubble, craters and wrecked vehicles it promised to be a deadly
killing zone for the Soviets

The quiet before the storm...

View from the Red corner, well one of them, across Kolbasz
Square. The building in the back  ground is the one that
Ashtiffi plans to reach before signalling the attack on the main
German position

One of my veteran squads covering the northern end of
Kolsbaz Square. This is the side of the square where Lt
Ashtiffi would lead the assault

The Germans main defensive position. It was bristling with
weaponry, light howitzer, MMGs,and a veteran SS squad would
all make this a tough nut to crack And with excellent fields
of fire across the square, they planned to make the Soviets
pay a high price for it's capture. Top right is the SS mortar spotter

The Germans endure the preliminary bombardment and get off
quite lightly with only the light howitzer taking a casualty, the
rest of the units taking pins.One of the Germans City Siege
Assets was an Ammunition Dump. A building of the players
choice is selected as the site of an ammo dump. This allows
one infantry or artillery unit inside the building or within 6"
of the building to re-roll 1s when given a Fire or Advance
order once per turn. The Soviets had also selected this option,
the fiends!

Snatching up the ringing field phone, Oberscharfuhrer Wiltz spoke briefly "Number 1 mortar...Ja...ja" then shouted "Standby!" to the mortar crew crouching in the muddy crater next to the chipped and scarred metal tube. Quickly he scribbled down some figures in his notebook and replaced the phone in its receiver. He turned and stepped to his crew who were by now stood over the medium mortar, poised for action and read out the range and elevation for their target. "Ready" shouted the mortar man who had set the sights. Wiltz quickly checked the settings, stepped back. The field phone rang again, Wiltz grabbed it and listened briefly before shouting "Ranging shot! FIRE!!" The crewman poised by the mortar swiftly dropped the round he was clutching into the mouth of the tube and automatically leaned away. With a bang and a ringing thunk, the mortar bomb took flight. Seconds passed with Wiltz clutching the field phone to his ear, listening breathlessly as the crew quickly and efficiently prepared more mortar rounds. Over the phone came a barely audible chatter and Wiltz cried "On target! three rounds; fire for effect!!" In seconds the three mortar rounds were in flight, following up on the first which had landed in between the trail legs of the Soviet medium howitzer.

The SS medium mortar; they proved to be a thorn in the Soviet's
side.With their first ranging shot they wiped out the Soviet medium
howitzer crew; 

Ashtiffi's advance, lead by the engineers...

with the supporting T34/85 grinding its way along the rubble
strewn street..

..and providing fairly effective supporting fire for Ashtiffi's
men. Also in support was an MMG.
 

In a quick change of plan, one of the Soviet squads in Putov's
flank deploy into the central ruin to give fire support to both
flanks

In the Germans main position, the SS squad adds its fire to that
of the MMG and light howitzer 

Sgt Putov's men make a dash for the ruined church

German reinforcements begin to arrive; first one SS squad

then a 251/21 Drilling

Then a second SS squad

Followed by the 250/09

Then two squads of Heer Regulars with Leutnant Pumpf

The Germans then started to apply pressure. On my side of the very small
table, my 250/09 worked wonders. Hitting the T34/85 with it's light auto
cannon it managed to cause a pin on the T34/85s Regular crew. When the
T34/85 subsequently went to act they failed their orders test and had to
pulled back. Which was relief to me as it was acting with impunity as my
guys had no other anti tank weaponry to deal with it. Talk about riding
your luck..

By now the Soviets were on the back foot and the SS were
carrying out an aggressive defence, pushing forward to contest
the Soviet table quarters, togged out as they were in their nice,
new winter gear

Finally, in turn 5, I managed to spring my sneaky, sewer movement
squad into the Soviets rear are. Popping up fro a sewer entrance behind
the Soviets supporing units, they found themselves in a target rich
enviroment and they let rip at the medium mortar crew, who, having
already fired this turn couldn't go down. With one SMG and five
Assault Rifles I was pretty confident that the mortar team were toast.
But no, all I managed to do was kill two of them and the third easily
passed his Man Alone test and promptly went to ground. In the
subsequent turn, one of Danny's squads pulled back and wiped out
the German squad in close combat. In a shocking display, they
didn't register one hit on the Soviets...bugger! But well done that
Soviet squad

The limit of Ashtiffi's advance. Without the support of the T34/85
it was pretty hard for his men to push on.

     And so it ended for the moment. With dwindling men and supports, the Soviets pulled back, the Germans fending off yet another assault. But how long can they hold out?

     Yet another in a long line of really enjoyable Bolt Action campaign games. The Germans proving redoubtable and resolute in defence and the Soviets hard pushed to break through. From a game perspective that boils down to Rich and I having an embarrassment of riches when it comes to choice of units and vehicles we can field. Danny is still fine tuning his Soviet force for Budapest though I had to point out that he can't add cuirassiers, mounted samurai or hordes of sword waving Celts to his Soviet force. That may change as both Laurence and I have been painting up Soviets like peasant workers in a tank factory before Moscow in 1941 so look forward to some more scenarios and batreps from Fortress Budapest. 

     Thanks again Danny and Richie for yet another spiffing game.

pip pip

Jimbob