The Frozen Fears, Winter 1942 Russian Front game was hosted by Bill Frye. This is a recreation of the action and this account is illustrative of aspects of Panzer^® Miniatures Rules.

Situation

You and your Soviet comrades have been gathering at the Fuel Depot, remnants of a beleaguered all day defense. Soon after your refit news of a breakthrough is heard. You gather the troops that are available and prepare to defend the Depot.

Soviet Junior Lieutenant Ustov

We had just refueled when a major came running into the assembly area and said that the Germans had broken through the Northern perimeter during the night. I ordered comrade Olga Roskofsky to move immediately to the ammunition stores, as we were running low on armor piercing ammunition. I was sure that our infantry could hold against the enemy infantry for a considerable time since they were dug in and hidden in well placed positions. The number two and three tanks of my platoon were also taking on ammunition when we heard the crack of main gun fire as first contact was made between the Germans and our lead elements.

German Hauptmann Utz

I had been assigned to swing wide of the bridge and lead my mixed force of armor and infantry on a flanking move to seize and cross a small ford upstream of the main road. We had conducted a night march to get into position and were bunched up as we approached the river crossing. With visibility limited by the blowing snow and low light of dawn we were in exactly the wrong place when we made contact with the Russians. A fierce but brief fire-fight erupted, leaving two of our halftracks disabled and several casualties in platoons 7 and 8. We had contacted the enemy on the wrong side of our objective and I knew we had to move quickly if we had any hope of getting across the river. We hit them with everything we had and soon rolled on through toward the ford.

Junior Lieutenant Ustov

By the time we had began moving to reinforce our comrades at the crossing the enemy was already crossing the river. I ordered my platoon forward into action and soon was engaged in a gunnery duel at medium range. Our position was not ideal for the engagement and many of our shots simply bounced off of the German armor because of the angle. But I held my position since the combination of the range and our excellent armor meant that the Germans could not easily engage us and they would expose themselves to flanking fire if they continued their advance.

Hauptmann Utz

I got on the radio to battalion and told them that we were engaged with Russian armor and infantry. We were caught in the most difficult situation with T-34 tanks in good positions that were well handled by a steady commander. The fire on my column was devastating. We had six machines knocked out already and at least forty casualties. Pressing ahead would be suicide so I ordered my force to take cover and shoot it out with the enemy armor. My orders were to act as a holding attack.

If we were able to pull enough of the enemy away from the bridge then maybe the main body would find an easier time of it.

Junior Lieutenant Ustov