Rubber Hussars - August 1941

Rubber Hussars

South of Golovanevsk, Ukraine. Where the rubber meets the road. Where pneumatic tyres meet cold, steel tracks. Yet another spin on early-war tin.

This is my third post featuring a design for the scenario pack I have been working on for some time. Compared to “Booty Call” and “Tin Omen,” “Rubber Hussars” is less bull’s blood and goulash than Dreher and pretzels. Strictly speaking, beer and perec. But I think you see where I'm headed, and it isn't a gastropub.                

In the third and final week of the Battle of Uman, remnants of Lieutenant-General Ivan N. Muzychenko’s 6th Army were fleeing south in an effort to escape Axis encirclement south of Kiev. In Muzychenko’s path lay the Hungarian 1st Cavalry Brigade of the Gyorshadtest, or Fast Corps. Fast being faster than walking, and then only where the Soviets had bothered to build a road fit for purpose. 

Overstretched, a weak cavalry screen guarded one of only two major crossings over the Bug River. As dawn broke on 6 August 1941, the Gyorshadtest was as clueless as to the whereabouts of the Reds, as Muzychenko was to the presence of Magyar interlopers. Upon receiving disturbing news of enemy movement in the woods south of Golovanevsk, the commander of the Hungarian 1st Cavalry Brigade, Major-General Antal Vattay, reacted by ordering an immediate reconnaissance of the area, an area that lay uncomfortably close to his rear echelon.

Operation Barbarossa - Golovanevsk Ukraine - 6 August 1941

Battlefield

The topographical requirements for the scenario are fairly simple, an open space with a woodline bordering one side and a main road running perpendicular to the wooded area. Despite having more than 100 “official” boards to choose from, finding a suitable match proved harder than I anticipated. In the end, I resorted to the much fought over board 19—originally released in Yanks 37 years ago—for the northern half of the battlefield.

Rather than use a one-hex overlay to erase the only building on the board half in play, I buried the structure under a Debris counter (B37.1). Should you not be in possession of Festung Budapest (2011), you can find heaps of Debris in the recently released Twlight of the Reich (2024). The latest module also includes updated Chapter B pages that incorporate the rules for Debris, among other “new” terrain types, into the core rule set.

Twilight of the Reich - Debris (B37.) - Board 19 (Yanks)

Board 69—from the out-of-print ASL Action Pack 10¹ (2014)—extended the Golovanevsk road southward. The half of the board in play is mercifully bereft of dwellings. Unusually, it includes a narrow lateral valley (B22.). 

Over the decades, ASL has developed novel rules to represent hilly terrain. For instance, Chapter F contains rules for gently sloping higher ground, half-level obstacles termed hillocks (F6.1). Alpine Hills (B10.211) seem to imply the opposite, namely much higher, alpine-like hills. Instead, they are a crude but effective way to model the natural rise and fall of intervening ground by blocking LOS through same-level hill hexes. This optional rule can be invoked via a Scenario Special Rule (SSR) to overcome the series of artificial plateaus created by stacking one pancake-flat level upon another in ASL. For the most part, the core ASL rules have no equivalent rule, optional or otherwise, that accounts for the minor dips in elevation more representative of an undulating countryside. That is, unless, we resort to using overlays and repurposing rules meant for North Africa.

ASL Action Pack 10 - Boards 69 and 70 - twin villages - open countryside

For some time now I’ve wanted to trial a European form of what, in ASL terms, is called a deir, a shallow depression in the ground that can afford a modicum of protection in the right circumstances. Technically, a deir is a desert phenomenon, a flat depression covered in sandy soil and ringed by a rocky fringe. The shallowness of the depression distinguishes a deir from a valley, and therefore explains why the former has unique effects on Line of Sight (LOS) and consequently incoming fire. More specifically, it is the rocky perimeter of a deir that can, under the right circumstances, provide units inside it with a positive Terrain Effects Modifier (TEM).

Overlay D5 - Deir El Munassib, Egypt - Hollow Legions 3rd Edition

The valley on board 69 presented me with an opportunity to convert this low ground into something more nuanced. A two-sentence SSR transforms the valley into a deir (F4.1). I’m not suggesting that my Ukrainian deir is the equivalent of an Egyptian one, complete with a parapet of rocks. I prefer to think of it instead as a slightly deeper depression, more in line with a shellhole that provides a +1 TEM (B2.3) under certain conditions, but that also provides added benefits to vehicles. The result provides much needed cover for the weak Hungarian force as it braces for a Russian hasty attack. 

However, this still left Soviet infantrymen terribly exposed, with nothing but Open Ground between their start line and the deir. So I added a third sentence to SSR 1 that mitigates the effects of Open Ground. If you want a realism argument for this, consider it a consequence of grasses that have grown high enough to offer some cover from view but not substantial enough to warrant an LOS Hindrance like grain. 

A second SSR adds variable artificial TEM to board 19 in the form of vehicle wrecks and the possibility of a Wreck Blaze (B25.14). The prospect of burning wrecks ought to influence each subsequent playing of the scenario. As should the prospect of a Russian half-squad (HS) crawling out from underneath a non-burning wreck. The wreakage reflects carnage brought about earlier that morning, which brings me to the perpetrators.

Patrol commander

Ensign László Merész was leading a two-car patrol when around 1000 he encountered cavalry moving south toward him, some five or six kilometres south of Golovanevsk. Thinking them to be Romanian, Merész stopped and hailed the cavalrymen in German. He got an unintelligible response. When Candidate-Sergeant László Cserniczky’s Csaba drew up, his driver—a Slovak speaker—recognized that the horsemen were speaking Russian. Upon learning this, the crew commanders buttoned-up and opened fire, mauling and scattering the better part of two squadrons. An hour later, and little father north, Merész and Cserniczky lay in ambush when a convoy of Soviet trucks approached. As their coaxial machine guns (CMG) tore the convoy apart, a company of Russian infantrymen suddenly appeared from a nearby woodline. The Csaba duo shifted its attention to this threat only to face a new one moments later when they started taking fire from Russian armour.

39M Csaba - László Merész - Hungarian Golden Medal for Bravery - Iron Cross

The Hungarians begin the game on the backfoot. Outnumbered and threatened from multiple directions, they must allocate their fire carefully until reinforcements arrive in the form of another Csaba and a platoon of infantrymen on bicycles. I’ve given the Honved a little backbone by way of an increased broken Morale Level. Aside from that, there’s nothing especially special about these “rubber hussars.” 

Gruppa on the run

During the night of 5 August, Lieutenant-General Ivan Nikolaevich Muzychenko, commander of the Soviet 6th Army, led a 4000-strong battlegroup in a desperate bid to escape encirclement near Uman. Composed of remnants of the 141st and 190th Rifle Divisions, Muzychenko’s force enlisted the aid of the 44th Tank Division.

As beffiting the time of the war, the Soviets have a low Experience Level Rating (ELR), mediocre leadership, and are limited to support weapons consistent with a force intent on travelling light and fast. Their supporting cast of armour is nothing to write home to Budapest about either. As far as I know, the Hungarians didn’t, because their accounts fail to identify the tanks encountered on 6 August. In light of this, I’ve allowed the Russian player to select which of the three armoured reinforcement groups will enter. 

Based on hits suffered by a least one Csaba, however, it seems clear that no T-34 or KV-1 tank was present. For the most part, the various mechanized corps assigned to the 6th Army were equipped with medium and heavy tanks that would have made mincemeat of the Hungarian armoured cars. Moreover, Péter Mujzer, a Hungarian historian, has related how ten tanks of the 44th Tank Division—one of two such divisions in the 18th Mechanized Corps—supported an attack north of Golovanevsk on the night of 5 August. And from what I’ve been unable to dig up, the 44th was equipped solely with light-tanks. 

According to the Nafziger Orders of Battle Collection, the four tank battalions in the 44th’s sister formation, the 47th Tank Division, began the war with 120 T-26S (Russian Vehicle Note 6). In contrast, the 44th Tank Division had an equal same number of the earlier M33 version of the T-26 (also Note 6). Nafziger offers no insight with regard to other tanks in these divisions, while stating that the 135th Tank Regiment of the Corps’ 218th Mechanized  Division had no tanks at all! Consequently, I’ve relied on more recent secondary sources, in particular Steven Zaloga’s books on the T-26 series (2015) and the BT fast tank (2016) for the composition of the armoured battalions in the 18th Mechanized Corps.

I’ll return to these light tanks in a moment. Before I do, possibly the most likely Armored Fighting Vehicle or AFV (D1.2) to have been encountered would have been a tankette, either a T-37, or its successor the T-38, both of which fall under Russian Vehicle Note 1 in ASL. Reconnaissance units of Soviet cavalry, infantry and mechanized formations were typically issued with this amphibious vehicle. The main advantage of this CMG-armed AFV is its small size. Granted its weak armour is proof against most Small Arms Fire. And to be fair, the T-37 can shrug off hits from the Csaba’s Main Armament (MA) about 40 percent of the time. But the T-37 will struggle to knock out a Csaba, which is why this optional reinforcement group comes with an attached Russian hero and anti-tank rifle (ATR).

T-37 Tankette - Byelorussia - September 1935

At the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the Southwestern Front in Ukraine had over 1300 T-26 tanks in its six Mechanized Corps. By 1 August, only 74 remained operational, this despite the Southwestern Front having incorporated much of the Southern Front’s formations in July. More surprising, at least to me, was that the Odessa Military District (i.e., ex-Southern Front), to which the 18th Mechanized Corps was assigned, had 36 twin-turreted T-26 in its tank park before hostilities commenced on 22 June 1941. These fascinating decade-old tanks were too good to pass up. The second optional reinforcement group therefore contains one T-26 M31 (Russian Vehicle Note 6.1) and one T-26 M32 (Russian Vehicle Note 6.2).

Twin-Turreted T-26 M31 and M32

I was likewise pleased to learn that as many as 1127 tiny T-27 tankettes remained in service in 1941. They were divvied up among seven, tank-heavy corps, including the 18th Mechanized Corps. Like the previously mentioned twin-turreted T-26, the counters for the T-27 (Russian Vehicle Note 1.1) were introduced in Hakkaa Päälle! (2014). To date they appear in only two, third-party scenarios. Enough said! One T-27 added. But who in his right mind would choose a group with a T-27? Would partnering this tiny tyke with a formidable big brother be enough to sway you? 

T-27 Tankette Specifications

In April 1941, there were 119 BT-7A artillery tanks in Soviet service. I can’t say for certain how many the 18th Mechanized Corps had of this variant. If we divide the total among all Soviet mechanized corps, formed or still on paper, that still leaves us with at least four per corps, or two per tank division. Zaloga puts 75 BT-7, of all types, with the 18th Mechanized Corps at the start of hostilities. I’m good with that.

BT-7A Artillery Tank - Fast Tank (BT) - 1937 and 1941

The BT-7A is unique in the scenario for having a radio, meaning the vehicle is under no restriction to move independently, as all of the other radioless (D14.1) Russian AFV are. The BT-7A is also unique in the Russian OB, because it alone is capable of placing Smoke. Pairing the artillery tank with a diminutive T-27 is admittedly odd. But when viewed in the context of a collection of Soviet men and vehicles attempting to escape encirclement, the appearance of this odd “artillery” couple is at least plausible. (Imagine the T-27 as a prime mover that ditched its artillery piece—a 45mm PTB obr. 32—when its crew decided to do a runner.)

Numbers Game

To win, the Hungarians must have the road on board 19 under fire. They can accomplish this with as little as a HS on the road itself. A Csaba can help by bringing its Firepower  (FP) to bear on the road. By itself, however, a lone armoured car cannot achieve victory, as its FP falls short of the scenario objective. Nevertheless, the importance of the Csaba to the Hungarian cause makes them the primary targets of Soviet fire. Neutralizing all three will take some effort, not least because the Russians are unable to coordinate their forces effectively, labouring as they are under Russian Early War Doctrine (A25.212). And should the armour of either side fall prey to the vicissitudes of BattleDice, Infantry will have to carry the day. The Reds have the numbers, the Honved the cover.

Will the Russians attempt to force the issue on Turn 1, or adopt a measured approach? Should the Csaba use their CMG sparingly and conserve ammo for the endgame? Or will the Russians tempt their opponents to take greater risks with these CMG? Will the Hungarian bicyclists brave enemy fire, or ditch their rides and head cross country? Find out when the pack is released. Or sign up to playtest “Rubber Hussars” today!

BT-7A and T-27 captured by Hungarians - Lt-Gen Muzychenko POW 

Notes

1. As of April 2024, ASL Action Pack 10 remains available in KitShop.

 

Tin Omen - March 1942

Tankettes as fragile as granny’s tea set. Not everyone’s cup of tea, I agree. Bear with me. We’re off to Java where you can grab a cup of java instead. And where you’ll encounter an eclectic mix of vechtwagen. That’s Dutch for vehicles spoiling for a fight. Property of The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger—KNIL for short), these (lightly armoured) fighting vehicles spearheaded an attack in 1942, almost two years after the Netherlands had surrendered to the Third Reich. The Japanese, in pursuit of their own regional empire, were not amused. 

This is my second post featuring a scenario currently in playtest for a pack I announced last year. Let me set the stage.    

On the first day of March 1942, the Japanese invaded Java, the heart of the Netherlands East Indies. They came ashore at three points on the island. The smallest contingent, a regimental-sized group of the 38th Infantry Division under Colonel Toshishige Shoji, landed at Eretan Wetan, 200 kilometres east of the closest friendly forces. The Shoji Detachment’s immediate objective was the capture of the airfield at Kalidjati. In a bold move, Shoji put tanks ashore first, followed closely by truck-borne infantry. By 1230 Kalidjati was in Japanese hands. Major-General J.J. Pesman, commander of Java’s Bandoeng Group, was certain that the airfield was lightly held. The next day, he ordered Captain G. J. Wulfhorst’s Mobiele Eenheid (Mobile Unit)—a lightly-armoured combined-arms force recently transferred to Pesman’s command—to recapture the Kalidjati airbase. The first Dutch tank attack in history began at 0810 Java Time.

KNIL Marmon-Herrington Combat Tank Light Series CTLS-4

The road to Kalidjati wound through Soebang. Unknown to the Dutch, Colonel Shoji was headquartered in the town, having arrived only a few hours earlier, together with a reinforced company of infantry. Motorcycle scouts of the Mobile Unit’s Reconnaissance Platoon were the first to discover this uncomfortable fact. The Japanese had strung a steel cable across the road, anchored on each side to farmers’ carts. A Marmon-Herrington armoured car was able to push the barrier aside, but was dragged into the ditch in the process. The tank platoon behind the vanguard then took the lead. In single file, First Lieutenant Christan’s seven CTLS-4 light tanks drove north through town, spraying Japanese positions with machinegun fire as they went. Infantry following behind in their open-topped armoured personnel carriers had no such recourse and dismounted. They would first have to rout the enemy from Soebang if they were to gain Kalidjati. Only the Japanese are not in the business of routing.

Battlefield

Soebang is borderline tropical. Although the Japanese attacked during the monsoon season, the weather didn’t impede their initial progress. At first, I tried to replicate the area around the roadblock, as well as the town itself. However, these required two extra half boards that saw little actual combat. In the end I settled on board 15a from ASL Action Pack 16. It feels like a sprawling settlement in the tropics, and when transformed on VASL, it looks the part. My only quibble was the central plateau. Soebang was bounded by a ridge with rubber plantations to the west and swampy ground to the east. The town was also bigger than the inhabitated area of board 15a portrays.

I tried the scenario with and without the hill. One advantage of the plateau is that it slowed the pace of vehicle movement. Without the hill, it’s possible to traverse the entire town in a single Movement Phase (MPh). No doubt the Japanese will have something to say on the matter. But it’s nonetheless possible. More worrisome was that the hill provided superior Lines of Sight (LOS) for the defenders. The hill would have to go.

And it did. It was then a simple matter to transform the remaining terrain into Light Jungle (G2.1), while retaining the road network. 

ASL Action Pack 16 - board 15a - Soebang villa

Shoji’s samurai  

Officially Colonel Toshishige Shoji was given command of the 3rd Mixed Regiment, a battlegroup—commonly referred to in the historical literature as the Shoji Detachment, largely based on his own 230th Infantry Regiment of the 38th Division. His command included a host of attachments from armour to airfield construction engineers. The 38th Division had been bloodied during the Battle of Hong Kong three months earlier. However, it wasn’t an especially battle-hardened formation. Therefore, I used First Line squads with an Experience Level Rating (ELR) of 4 to represent the men of the 4th Infantry Company. Fairly or unfairly, I chose an 8+1 leader and a Second Line squad to represent Colonel Shoji and his headquarters staff.

According to Japanese sources, the 4th Infantry Company was supported by two machine guns (MG), an anti-tank (AT) gun, and a “mountain” gun. 

Japanese landings on Java and Shoji's positions at Soebang

Selecting the anti-tank gun was relatively straightforward. Issue of the Type 1 (1941) Machine-Moved Gun (Japanese Ordnance Note 8) didn’t begin until late 1942. Its predecessor, the Type 1 (1941) 37mm AT Gun was adopted only in very limited numbers beginning in 1941. This first dedicated AT gun was an upgraded version of the Type 94 (1934) Rapid-Fire Gun (Japanese Ordnance Note 7). The barrel of the improved model was about 15cm (6-in) longer, but only increased armour penetration by 4mm at 500m. This marginal difference has no measurable effect in game terms, hence the lack of a separate counter in ASL. 

Adopted in 1936, the Type 94 Rapid-Fire Gun was designed to target enemy MG posts at range, but was invariably pressed into service as an AT gun in 1939 when faced with Soviet tanks. The Type 94 was in turn an improvement on the Year-11 (1922) Type Flat-Trajectory Infantry Gun (Japanese Ordnance Note 9), which also served as a crude AT weapon against lightly-armoured armoured fighting vehicles (AFV). Because Japanese documents are clear in describing an “anti-tank” rather than an “infantry gun” at Soebang, the case for the presence of the Type 94 is strongest. Furthermore, by this point in the war, the Year-11 Gun had been largely relegated to second-line use, whereas the AT company of a Japanese infantry regiment was assigned six Type 94 guns. Even when supplied with an Armour-Piercing High-Explosive round, however, the Type 94 “anti-tank” gun struggled to penetrate the armour of American light tanks. It would have more success against the more lightly armoured tanks of the KNIL.

Japanese Type 94 Rapid Fire AT Gun

I wanted to use the 70mm Type 92 Infantry or “battalion” gun (Japanese Ordnance Note 10), rather than the Year-41 Type 75mm Mountain or “regimental” gun (Japanese Ordnance Note 11). I reasoned that a “battalion” asset was more likely to be deployed forward, not least because, at half the weight, the lighter weapon could be loaded faster onto a truck and off loaded at its destination in a fraction of the time. But after finding Japanese source material that appears to confirm what every published account has said, namely that a “mountain” gun was present in Soebang, I have relented. A big upside from the defender’s point of view is that, unlike the Type 92, Armour-Piercing (AP) ammunition of the Year-41 Type is not subject to Depletion (C8.9). What’s more, the Basic To Kill Number of the “regimental” gun is “10,” two greater than that of the “battalion” gun. Bad news for Dutch trucks. 

Japanese Year-41 Type 75mm Mountain Gun

Dutch trucks?

Ignoring the Marmon-Herrington armoured cars, which are technically trucks, there are no soft-skinned vehicles, no Dutch trucks, in “Tin Omen.” Vehicles with slightly thicker skin nevertheless abound. I have already alluded to the armoured cars and light tanks built by the US firm Marmon-Herrington, which specialized in the manufacture of all-wheel-drive trucks. The armoured cars don’t appear until late in the game, while the CTLS-4 play piggy in the middle from the get-go. However, the most numerous “tin cans” in “Tin Omen” are the pigglet-sized (according to your Chapter H notes) vechtwagen built by Vickers Armstrong. 

Contrary to what your Chapter H notes suggest, the KNIL operated more than one model of the Vickers-Carden-Loyd light tank. For instance, the ASL counter listed under Allied Minor Vehicle Note 25 is amphibious, as indicated by Movement Point (MP) subscript on the counter. The counter’s closest amphibious match in the KNIL motor pool is the earlier 1931 model, as shown in the slide below. Only two M1931 had been purchased for trials and no additional order was ever placed. It is also worth noting that the closest ASL counter match for the Dutch M1931 is the Chinese M1931 VCL M1931(b)! In any case, it doesn’t appear that any were operational in the Mobile Unit at the time of the Japanese invasion. One had been sent to Borneo, along with a pair of M1936, while the other likely rusted, due to lack of spare parts, at the depot in Bandoeng, Java. 

KNIL - Vickers-Carden-Loyd Models 1931 and 1936

The twin Colt Brownings of the M1936 next to the M1931 have no equivalent in the ASL counter mix. These MG were probably fitted during the testing stage, shortly after their arrival in the Dutch East Indies in December 1937. However, by August 1941, it appears that all operational M1936 were armed with a single shrouded Vickers as seen in the largest photograph in the preceding slide. Of all the VCL depicted, it comes closest in game terms to the vehicle described in Chapter H. 

Ignoring the dodgy artwork, the values on the three counters included with Doomed Battalions are unquestionably suspect. Take target size. The two white dots behind the Armor Factors tell us that this vehicle qualifies for as a “very small” target. This makes sense for the low-profile VCL M1931, but not the 1936 model, which the counter purports to represent. Less obvious are the Armor Factors (AF) themselves, which might warrant a slight increase, in keeping with most other VCL AFV in the current countermix. (Maximum armour on the VCL M1936 was 9mm.) Overall the values of the published counter make the VCL M1936 a little harder to hit and a little easier to effect once hit, an acceptable tradeoff that alleviates any perceived need for a Scenario Special Rule (SSR).

Aside from these minor points, the only real hiccup is that “Tin Omen” calls for six VCL M1936. The Mobile Unit had 17: fourteen split evenly between two platoons and three in company headquarters. I went with six because three AFV doesn’t convey the amount of fire support the second tank platoon would have brought to bear when they joined the fray. Don’t despair, if you happen to own ASL Starter Kit Expansion Pack 2, it comes with three VCL M1936. In a pinch, you could use Chinese M1931 counters to make up the difference. 

KNIL - CTLS-4TAC Starboard Turret

Speaking of counter shortfalls, the first tank platoon to enter Soebang had seven CTLS-4TAC, as the Dutch referred to the newly arrived Marmon-Harrington tanks. Doomed Battalions supplies us with four and the aforementioned Starter Kit pack another three. But I decided to go with four, treating the other three as early casualties of the platoon’s brash sortie into town. These casualties are mirrored in the Japanese order of battle (OB) with the inclusion of three “striped” Japanese squads. 

Historically, the third tank platoon was also committed to the battle with an additional seven VCL M1936. But I can test player patience only so much. 

The bulk of the remaining “armour” in the Mobile Unit consisted of 16 armoured trucks of Captain Brendgen’s mechanized infantry company. As I mentioned in my post last year, I have kept these vehicles offboard. There are no “official” ASL counters for these vehicles. More important, there is no indication that infantry road into town on them. Admittedly, one personnel carrier was lost on the outskirts of Soebang, but that hardly warrants inclusion in the scenario.

Battalion headquarters, the nerve centre of the Mobile Unit, had a lone M3A1 Scout Car (Allied Minor Vehicle Note 34). And the reconnaissance platoon had three Marmon-Harrington III armoured cars (Allied Minor Vehicle Note 29) on strength, one of which came to an ignominious end in a roadside ditch shortly after it made contact with the enemy. Fun fact: this armoured car expends Movement Points (MP) as a truck in ASL (D1.15). It also packs a wallop with its 8 Firepower (FP) Coaxial Machine Gun (CMG).

Marmon-Herrington III

Early versions of “Tin Omen” featured the scout car, but I dropped it due to the SSR overhead required to deal with its Inherent crew and half-squad (HS) Passenger (D6.1). This will make more sense after you read the next section.

Meals rejected by Ethiopians 

During my tour in Somalia, we were supplied with American MRE, or Meals Ready to Eat. My first experience with these rations—parts of which are freeze-dried and require water for rehydration—was on exercise in southern California a decade earlier. Equatorial Africa didn’t increase their appeal and they quickly earned the epithet “Meals Rejected by Ethiopians.” Although we occasionally operated along the Ethiopian border, MRE were (to my knowledge) never put to the ultimate test. My scenario, however, aims to put our new-fangled Ethiopian counters to the test. 

Included with the latest edition of Hollow Legions (2021) are new counters for Ethiopians (and Eritreans). Except for the fact that it is elite (A25.931), which grants it a number of special capabilities, the Ethiopian 3-4-7 is not immediately dissimilar to a First Line Romanian (or an Italian) 3-4-7 squad. But while an Italian 3-4-7 cannot Deploy, an Ethiopian 3-4-7 may. Moreover, should an Ethiopian 3-4-7 suffer ELR failure it is Replaced by a First Line 3‑3‑7. Contrast this with any Axis Minor or Italian 3-4-7, which is Replaced by a Conscipt 3-3-6. Ethiopians don’t have it all their way. Non-elite Ethiopians, for example, may not participate in a multi-Location Fire Group (FG), nor can they use light mortars, medium- or heavy machine guns (MMG/HMG) without penalty. The characteristic that intrigued me the most though was the Ethiopian ability to resolve Close Combat (CC) as if Japanese (A25.934). Ethiopian counters have the added advantage of being the same colour as Allied Minors, under which the Dutch fall.

Hollow Legions 3rd edition Ethiopian counters

I concluded that many of these attributes are transferable to other colonial forces such as the KNIL, especially in units where indigenous men predominated. This is in contrast to most published scenarios that use Allied Minor 4-5-7/4-3-7 squads to model infantry of the KNIL. (See, for example, “Wet Sahwahs” in ASL Journal 1.) A handful of trail-blazing designers have used Axis Minor 3-4-7 squads instead, reserving squads with a greater FP Factor for units composed exclusively of Europeans. I prefer the latter approach in so far as it allows for Replacement with lower-quality units more befitting a colonial force. In my view, this works better than using a 4-3-7 which cannot be Replaced by a lesser class of squad, becoming Disrupted (A19.12) instead. 

But the Axis Minor solution comes with its own problems. The most obvious is the colour discrepancy, mixing dark-green Axis Minor Infantry with light-green Dutch ordnance and vehicles. With the release of the 2021 edition of Hollow Legions, the colour mismatch can be resolved by substituting an elite Ethiopian squad for an Axis Minor 3-4-7. Another advantage of my approach is that it allows for more granularity. Traditional Dutch squad classes remain available, as required, to represent better trained/armed units. There is nothing to prevent a Dutch 4-5-8, for instance, from operating alongside an “Ethiopian” 3-4-7, with each squad retaining its unique Replacement hierarchy. 

Seven potential squad classes for KNIL forces

Colour matching and inoperability are not the only benefits to be had by repurposing Ethiopian counters. When it comes to modelling poorly trained or motivated indigenous soldiers, the Ethiopian counter mix provides more nuanced layers of competence and reliability. In the Dutch East Indies, accounts speak to observable differences in the combat effectiveness of various indigenous groups. For example, Ambonese and Manadonese soldiers were said to perform better than “mainlanders” from Sumatra and Java. Whatever the case, there are four squad classes of Ethiopians—including a First Line 2-3-7 squad—that one can use to distinguish between colonial soldiers of varying martial spirit. 

KNIL indigenous soldiers with Klewang (sabre)

I’d like to think that the Ethiopian 3-4-7 brings a unique combination of flavours to “Tin Omen.” Fire Groups will be essential in order to bring enough FP to bear on the enemy, but can only be undertaken by elite units. Contrary to A25.934, an SSR ties the ability of a squad or HS to initiate Hand-to-Hand (J2.31) CC to its elite status. These are but two characteristics that highlight the strengths and weaknesses of these native troops.

Tin Can Alley

Outnumbered almost two to one, the Japanese must take care to avoid a battle of attrition. For its part, the Mobile Unit faces a brutal, close-quarter battle. Its armour is at a marked disadvantage in the tight confines of Soebang. Yet the armour cannot afford to play it safe. KNIL infantry need to capture at least half of the villas in town, villas being buildings that aren’t huts (G5.1). They cannot do this without the close support of the tank company. 

VCL M1936 vs CTLS-4

Will the Japanese rebuff the Mobile Unit’s brazen attack? Or can Wulfhorst’s men surprise naysayers and carry the day? Find out when the pack is released. Or sign up today to playtest “Tin Omen!”

Booty Call - April 1943

Not that booty! War booty. Beutepanzer. 

Last year, just last month in fact, I announced that I intended to publish a pack of scenarios in 2024. A couple of weeks ago I completed the final design for the pack. While it remains untested other designs continue to see play, including another design that I released for testing earlier this month.

Today’s post is not about these cards, however. It’s about “Booty Call.” 

There’s a lot going on in this compact, counter-insurgency clash. First, some background.   

Axis Operation Spring Clean began on 18 April 1943. Its goal was the eradication of partisan detachments operating in the Kudever’ and Novorzhev districts of the Kalinin Region, roughly 100 kilometres west of Kholm, Russia. This heavily forested lake-country was sparsely populated and serviced by poor roads. By mid morning, the force under Colonel Paul Gallas had made contact near Rudnevo, 15 kilometres south of Novorzhev. Stiffer resistance from partisans in prepared positions outside Lunevka, some two kilometres farther south, brought the advance to a halt. The next day saw probes southward—the partisans having withdrawn during the night—and more powerful assets brought forward. On the 20th, the battlegroup resumed the offensive. In the interim, three partisan detachments had converged on Lake Lobno. Gallas now faced a 1500-strong force.

In “Booty Call” Axis forces have their work cut out for them. An entire village to secure. Tempering their plans is a Casualty Victory Point (CVP) cap that their enemy is hellbent on hitting. 

Battlefield

On a damp spring day in late April, an advance guard of Kampfgruppe Gallas, 281. Sicherungs-Division became bogged down in a bloody battle for a non-descript Russian village in the Kalinin Region. Defending the ramshackle settlement were men of the 8th Karlikov (after their commander) Detachment. They were but one of several detachments operating in the area, subordinated to the Kalinin Partisan Brigade. Neither the dilapidated houses nor the sparse new foliage provided much cover. Although the snow had melted and the ground had thawed, in places fields and high-traffic areas remained sodden, as streams continued to shed the recent snow melt.

With these conditions in mind, I chose board 89—from Winter Offensive Bonus Pack 14, as my battleground. The map depicts a rustic scene. A strung-out collection of dwellings borders a gully that runs parallel to these structures. Small fields nearby mark it as a modest agricultural settlement. I really like this map. It’s more believeable than board 48, with its central crossroad that assigns the village more importance than it deserves. The shellholes on board 89 are an interesting addition, seldom (if ever) seen on post-Avalon Hill boards.

Battlefield - board 89 - Russian village in April 1943

Partisan!  

The Partisans in “Booty Call” are a far cry from the underwhelming forces depicted in many scenarios found in their eponymous ASL module. If I were to draw a comparison with one of the classic Partisan scenarios though, it would be with “A New Kind of Foe.” This Rex Martin design involves a mix of Partisan and Russian units, and therefore a mix of squad types and weapons atypical of most “Partisan” OB on the eastern front. My design is likewise an amalgam of “traditional” Partisans and Red Army personnel specifically assigned to Partisan Brigades operating behind German lines.

I initially considered giving the Partisans a horse-drawn 37mm PP obr. 15R Infantry Gun, but the rules overhead for these reinforcements outweighed any potential game impact. Instead, I gave the Partisans a number of conventional and unconvential anti-tank assets with which to counter the Beutepanzer. The most obvious of these is the superb, if mismatched, PTRD-41 anti-tank rifle (ATR).

PTRD-41 in Partisan Order of Battle

In contrast, the 37mm PM-39 cannot destroy an enemy tank in “Booty Call.” At best, this “spade” mortar can Immobilize or Shock a Hotchkiss on a double-one. The Demo Charge (DC) promises greater rewards. Delivering the explosives is the hard part. 

So I gave the Partisans the ability to generate (DC) Suicide Heroes (W6.4). Ahistoric? Maybe. The rules from the Korean War module nonetheless provide a convenient mechanism that allows me to increase the prospects of a successful attack on German AFV. Design for effect. 

Why not give the Partisans Molotov Cocktails (MOL) you might ask? I had considered it. However, because the scenario objective grants the Germans automatic Control of any building Blaze, MOL capability has a consequential downside. Oops, I dropped the burning bottle in my own Location. I was also drawn to the ease with which the Russian-coloured counters of the KPA blended into the Partisan OB during play. In the end, these suicidal men pose a serious threat to German armour, even without a DC. And from the defender’s perspective their use is relatively risk free. Of course, I could allow these heroes (only) to Check for MOL in CC... 

37mm PM-39 mortar in Partisan Order of Battle

The backbone of the Partisan force are better armed squads, some with PPSH-41 submachine guns. Commissars stiffen their resolve. And a meagre supply of anti-personnel (AP) mines keeps the Axis player guessing.

Submachine gun squads in Partisan Order of Battle

“Vere are your papers?” 

The Sicherungs or Security division in “Booty Call” brings a fascinating cast of characters to the stage. A beleaguerd company of bicycle troops—from Radfahr-Regiment 3—must endure a ferocious counterattack until the proverbial cavalry quite literally arrives.  

Cavalry plays a duel role in this scenario. In addition to relieving pressure on the security troops corralled into the northern end of the village, they represent a second front, another avenue of attack that the Partisans need to account for in their defensive plans. I used Hungarian 3-4-7 squads to represent the Ukrainian Cossacks, partly because I didn’t want this flanking force to be too strong. I also liked the Close-Combat dynamic created by their FP Factor. It gives them parity versus 70 percent of Partisan squads, but puts them at a disadvantage when facing other units, especially the SMG squads. Their leadership cadre is similarly mediocre. However, their LMG are superior to anything on board, giving them the ability to create a firebase beyond the normal range of all Partisan weapons save the MMG (and ATR). Even at long range, these Czech-made LMG pose a serious threat to broken units. With its ability to inflict Desperation Morale (DM) on units as far as 14 hexes away, the 2-7 LMG warrants attention. 

Cossacks and Czech ZB vz. 26 light machine guns in Axis Order of Battle

The last Axis reinforcements comprise two powerful elements. The first is a platoon of assault pioneers recruited from dissidents of the Soviet regime. Represented by Second Line Volksgrenadier squads, they require a deft hand in order to bring their flamethrowers to bear. The second component is a platoon of Panzerkampfwagen 38H 735(f), upgraded ex-French tanks. Despite their increasing obsolescence Beutepanzer proved to be effective in anti-partisan operations.

38H 735(f) Beutepanzer in Axis Order of Battle

Who you gonna call?

Axis security forces are going to be busy. They have to Control all 34 building Locations to win. They need to capitalize on all of their assets in order to seize all of their objectives in six short turns. But first, they need to weather a violent counterattack, conserving their onboard force until the pendulum starts to swing the other way. 

Very well-armed Partisans

Nikolai Shipovalov, commander of the Kalinin Partisan Brigade, had concentrated the bulk of his 2nd Detachment north of the bottleneck created by lakes Lobno and Ale. The Karlikov and Babakov detachments, meanwhile, were fighting delaying actions as they withdrew toward him. Lacking in firepower, his brigade was nonetheless a seaoned formation, having fought behind enemy lines for almost two years. A mix of regular and irregular soldiers, his men had previous experience in combatting German security troops inside Kholm and numerous hit-and-run ambushes. They had limited ordnance, often supplied by air, but were practiced in getting the most out of what weapons, ammunition and explosives they did have.

Will Operation Spring Clean be a clean sweep? Or will the home team prevail? Find out when the pack is released. Or sign up today to playtest it!