The Tirgu-Frumos Battle was the second of three Soviet offensives launched by the 2nd Ukrainian Front.
The first offensive in April failed as the Front's forces were spent following their winter offensive and they failed to punch through hardening German defenses. In the May offensive, rejuvenated Soviet troops ran into reinforced German defenses including an up-to-strength Gross Deutschland Division and again failed to make strategic headway. The Germans even managing a stiff counterattack as the Soviets regrouped and went over to a defensive posture. The third and successful offensive occurred in August 1944.
This particular scenario covers the three opening days of the May offensive. Several events are scripted into the scenario such as the Soviet planned fire strikes, Soviets completing objectives to open othter offensive sectors, further completing objectives for the Soviet 2nd echelon (tank corps) to enter, German armor withdrawing from the battlefield to deal with other situations and possible German airstrikes including a possibility of Hans Rudel and his tank busters.
That's a lot going on but we're playing this on a 12' table. And it will take multiple sessions to resolve. Command Decision is not the best set of rules for resolving multi-day battles as the terrain scale is too small but what the heck it should still make for a game with challenges, success and failures for both sides.
In our first session we got through half of Day 1. here is a photographic chronology of how things went.
Pic 1. Western Sector-Soviet Rifle Regiment with tank brigade and SU-152 Regiment supporting. Their objective is to secure hills and strongpoints (the fortified BUAs) to open up the Eastern Sector and allow arrival of their second echelon (tank corps with heavy tank reinforcement). This shot shows where the Soviet rifle regiment will arrive.
A Romanian armored battlegroup and a Gross Deutschland PzGr battalion hold the line along with the Panzer IV and Panzer V armored battalions in the rear.
Pic 2. From the German side, the Soviet fire strikes pummel strongpoints and hill entrenchments.
Pic 3 and 4. Turns later, Pz IV battalion is moving to the front. To their right, Pz V battalion is crossing stream to take up positions on the hill.
Pic 5. The Romanians on the Axis left flank are pushed out of their forward strongpoints and mortar fire begins landing on the hill.
Pic 6. Panthers have made it to the hill and are delivering a brutal fire into the tank brigade supporting the Soviet infantry.
Pic 7. Mike contemplates how to deal with the superior Panthers on the hill with his limited resources. His commander is yelling over the radio he has to take that hill! And a timely wave of Pe-2's arrive and bomb the Panthers on the hill (black explosion markers).
Pic 8. The airstrikes have affected the morale of the Panthers but they are holding on. Mortar fire covers the Panthers and a supporting panzergrenadier company. Most of a Soviet infantry battalion is lost assaulting the hill but a company grimly holds one end of the entrenchments.
Pic 9. The SU-152's turn to lob shells at the Panthers on the hill but are themselves covered by a German barrage.
Pic 10. Advancing Mk IVs take advantage of the suppressed SU-152 and manage to knock out two of them. But fortunately for the Soviets, half the German armor on the table is called to withdraw to support another threatened sector. You can see the withdrawing German armor in the top left of the photo.
In the end the Germans abandoned the hill; the Panthers withdrew to meet the withdrawal conditions. They weren't accomplishing alot as they were suppressed by the mortar fire and they were pulling back as morale failures piled up.
But the Soviet infantry had taken the Romanian held hill and satisfied the conditions for bringing on Soviet reinforcements.
So the next game will pick up from here. Soviet Tank Corps will come storming across the tabletop and it will be the turn of the Gross Deutschland Grenadier Regiment to stop the Soviets. Manstein is rushing the Gross Deutschland Tiger Battalion to the scene but they have not arrived yet.
The Eastern Sector will be in play next time also. A Soviet rifle regiment backed up with tank brigade and SU-122's will be facing Gross Deutschland Fusilier Regiment supported by a StuG Battalion.
