Vampire in Stalingrad

Saturday night has, for some time, been “Savage Saturday”… Except we haven’t really played Savage Worlds for some time. WE haven’t really been playing many games on Saturday evening for some time, actually. Everybody’s just been too busy… This week two of my regular Saturday Night Savages (Dave and Patrick) were able to make it out and we tried out some Force on Force set in Stalingrad.

 

For some time we played an East Front World War Two campaign in Savage Worlds… which then turned into a Weird War Two game with the characters being part of the BPO (Byuro Paranormalnih Otnoshenii). So I cooked up a scenario where they could use their characters. Conveniently, Force on Force uses different sided dice (d6, d8. D10, d12) to determine Troop Quality just like Savage Worlds uses to determine traits. So whenever a trait test came up involving one of their two characters instead of just rolling on a single Troop Quality die they rolled an appropriate trait die from their SW character. It worked out pretty okay – I think I might try the same thing with other campaigns… Maybe even use Force on Force (or Ambush Z!?) to resolve combat in future modern SW campaigns.

(Actually I did a similar sort of thing with Bolt Action a couple weeks back)

Stalingrad 1942

SITUATION

A BPO Scout spotted an SS Vampir out doing his dirty work a few nights ago and tracked him back to his lair behind enemy lines in the ruins of Stalingrad. When he finally made it back to friendly lines he reported the location and (newly promoted) Lt. Boris Trotsky was dispatched to deal with the vampir.

SCENARIO

A BPO Platoon supported by a sniper and a pioneer with a satchel charge have infiltrated behind enemy lines and located the SS Vampirs hide out. They need to get to the hide out with the pioneer, kick in the door and chuck in the pioneers satchel charge and blow the thing to bits.

FORCES

Soviets

Lt. Boris Trotsy

Sniper Ioesph Dizaleski

(both of these characters have advanced significantly since their backgrounds were posted…)

3 BPO Squads, each with:

1x Squad Leader with SMG

1x Gunner with DP LMG

5x Riflemen

(TQ D8, Morale D10)

Germans

2x Gestapo Thugs Guarding the Vampir’s Mausoleum. TQ D10, Morale D12

SS MG Team TQ D8, Morale D10

1x Squad Leader SMG

1x Gunner with MG42 GPMG

3x Riflemen

The Vampir was sleeping in his Mausoleum and wasn’t really meant to take any part in the game – other than as an objective.

There were a number of German reinforcements available - other units in the area that could arrive at the beginning of each turn after shooting had started.

SS Rifle Team TQ D8, Morale D10

1x Squad Leader SMG

5x Riflemen

Heer MG Team TQ D8, Morale D8

1x Squad Leader SMG

1x Gunner with MG42 GPMG

2x Riflemen

Heer Rifle Team TQ D8, Morale D8

1x Squad Leader SMG

4 Riflemen

THE GAME

TUNR ONE

The soviets more or less just advanced under cover the first turn.

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

Soviets in the background begin their approach.

Gestapo Thugs guarding the SS Vampir’s Mausoleum

The SS MG Team holed up in a ruined building.

One Squad of Soviets advancing up their left.

The other two squads of Soviets advanced up their right.

Dizaleski (who we called “Stealthy”) more or less snuck right up the middle under the cover of ruined buildings

TURN TWO

Dizaleski finds a good firing position and starts firing away at the SS MG team. 

Down goes one of the SS.

The Advancing Soviet squad on the right also fired on the SS MG team, taking down another of their team.

Hearing all this fire, the Gestapo Thugs took cover behind the mausoleum.

TURN THREE

The SS Rifle Team arrived as reinforcements. The SS MG team, meanwhile, checked their casualties and found one was KIA and the other lightly wounded.

Dizaleski went on overwatch.

The Soviet squad started with the firing taking down two more SS. The SS return fire was ineffective.

Firing from overwatch Dizaleski took down the other two SS remaining in the team. Dave and Patrick were pretty certain he did that with ONE bullet.

The other Soviet squads advanced under cover.

The SS reinforcements occupied a building next to the out-of-action MG team.

TURN FOUR

Dizaleski went on overwatch again.

Some Heer reinforcements arrived.

With no fire coming from the Building they had shot up the Soviet squad got ready to charge in.

The SS riflemen in the next building tried to shoot them up, but the soviet poured in some withering fire and took down four of the SS troopers. Dizaleski, reacting to the SS Rifle Teams reaction took down another…

The Soviet squad with the sapper moved up to the wall opposite the mausoleum and the Gestapo thugs attempted to react with fire. They rolled a one generating our first Fog of War card…

In Your Face – An army film unit popped out from behind some cover to get some footage of this violent action… The courage and professionalism displayed gains the film clip a large and admiring audience back in the fatherland…

There must have been some really creative editing done, because the Gestapo thugs went down very quickly in that exchange of fire…

The Heer reinforcements occupied the building with the shot up SS Rifle Team.

TURN FIVE

Dizaleski went on overwatch again. More Heer reinforcements arrived.

The Soviets that had overrun the SS MG teams position found, among the recent casualties, one to be lightly wounded and the three others to be totally okay!? They were quickly striped of their weapons and taken prisoner.

The SS rifle team didn’t fair so well… one was dead and four others seriously wounded!

Leaving one rifleman to guard the prisoners the Soviet squad charged across into the building across the way where a Heer MG team had taken up residence with the nearly wiped out SS Rifle Team.

The swift and sudden violence of the Soviet action took the Germans completely by surprise and they were utterly wiped out!

The Soviet Assault Squad stormed the Mausoleum, kicked in the door, tossed in the satchel charge, took the Gestapo thugs prisoner and exchanged fire with the newly arrived Heer Rifle team!

The Heer rifle team blew their reaction roll bringing out another Fog of War card – Excellent Position – right there in the open they must hove found some conveniently stacked piles of bricks or craters amongst the rubble that they were able to take cover in. In the exchange two of the Heer rifle men were shot and one of the Soviets.

TURN SIX

Dizaleski went on overwatch again, as did the squad Lt. Trotsky was accompanying. Another Heer reinforcement MG team arrived.

KA-BOOM the satchel charge in the Vampir’s Mausoleum blows

Checking their wounded, the Soviet Rifleman turned out to be seriously wounded, but the two Gestapo Thugs captured were only lightly wounded.

Of the two Heer casualties, one was killed in action, the other only lightly wounded.

There was a convoluted exchange of fire; The soviet squad on the right decided to fire on the newly arrived German MG team and then retire back to the building where they left their detached rifleman and the SS prisoners. Both German teams reacted as did Trotsky’s squad… Dave rolled a one for Trotsky’s squad bringing out another fog of War car, which, in turn, brought…

…a BA-64 zooming onto the table!?

In the exchange of fire the German MG team took one casualty from the retiring Soviet squad and failed morale, then took another two casualties from Trotsky’s squad, and failing morale again, scarpered right back of the table from wherever they came!

TURN SEVEN

Dizaleski and Lt. Trotsky’s squad went on overwatch again. No reinforcements arrived.  There were no casualties on the table to check – though I did later check the casualties in the German MG team that left and one was seriously wounded, another was lightly wounded and the third was really okay…

The Soviet Assault squad fell back taking fire (and one casualty!) from the German Rifle team. In the exchange the Germans also took a casualty

The BA-64 roared up the rubble-strewn street to cover the withdrawl of the Soviet BPO teams!

TURN EIGHT

Dizaleski and the BA-64 went on overwatch again.

Checking their casualties the Russian was killed in action and the squad failed it’s TQ test and would only be reacting to fire this turn (no moving). The German was only lightly wounded.

No German Reinforcements arrived.

The other two soviet squads that could, fell back.

In the end turn the German rifle team moved in to occupy the building next to them, hoping to take some pot shots at the retiring soviets.

Dizaleski and the BA-64 tired to light them up but Patrick rolled another one bringing out yet another Fog of War card…

Fire! Fire! The building they entered burst into flame and the Germans had to flee back out!?

TURN NINE

Dizaleski and the BA-64 went on overwatch again.

The last of the German Reinforcements arrived (another Heer Rifle team)

The Soviet Squads all retired.

The German rifle Squads moved up.

Dizaleski and the BA-64 exchanged fire with one of the German teams. The Germans actually suppressed the BA-64 – causing them to button up, momentarily… The sniper took down one of the Germans.

TURN TEN

The German casualty was lightly wounded…

This is pretty much where we called it. The Germans attempted to take a few pot shots at the retiring Soviets but completely missed…

The Germans suffered seven killed in action and seven wounded (four seriously wounded, three lightly wounded) and 10 taken prisoner!

The soviets suffered one killed in action and one seriously wounded.

If using the suggested victory points I think it would have been something like this:

Soviets

Major Objective achieved (blow up vampire) +5 VP

Per POW captured +10

Germans

Per Soviet Killed or Seriously wounded +2

That would make for a very decisive victory!!

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Some more painting.

I need to play more games… More Force on Force… More Ambush Z… I’d even like to get in some games of Tomorrow’s War.