A "Boxing Day" Battle - The Battle of Tula 1941 - One Hour Wargame Rules

End of Barbarossa, the Fascist German invasion ran out of steam before Moscow. Heroic units of the Soviet Army were called upon by Stalin to fall upon the stricken German units at they retreated (see below, although seriously under-strength themselves the Soviets attacked with patriotic fury - as per shown in the Soviet master plan revealed from the surviving manuscript below): 

And then replicated on tabletop, the grey German column runs top to bottom in the photograph (see below, a nice excuse for some new toys to appear on table I am lead to believe): 

Looking down upon the retreating (don't tell Herr Hitler) German column the Soviet hoards steeled themselves for a furious battle of attrition (see below, the "Flanking Force": armour, Cossacks and leg infantry - a mix, it is the Soviet way): 

The "Blocking Force" of Soviet ski infantry (Siberians) faces the toughest task, blunting the might of the Hitlerite Panzers (see below, they are to trade their blood for time, stall the head of the column so that the "Flanking Force" can wreck havoc upon it):

The infernal Nazi machine has a cunning plan though, the Panzers are to swing south and engage the Soviet ski troops from the flank as the Motorised Infantry pin them frontally (see below, the head of the German column acts first): 

The rest of the German column is slower being restricted to mostly horse, foot and the odd motor transport bundles forward with the end of the column feeling compelled, somewhat reluctantly, to turn and face the Soviet foe (see below, it will be a fast an furious battle right from the start of the battles proceedings because of the proximity of the enemy forces): 

The Soviet forces are quick out of the blocks, they'haul ass' and 'start firing', nothing complicated here. The rules of warfare from the ACW Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest apply here, "get there with the mostest firstest" to win (see below, the Ski troops open fire causing considerable destruction of the lightly armoured German Infantry Motorised infantry and all of the rest of the Soviets move "full" -the Cossacks being a particularly fearful sight crossing the snow at the gallop): 

Bloodied, the German column is compressed and unwieldy, with its head being hammered by three  Soviet units (see below, the Panzers must act with alacrity to right the situation whereas the Motorised infantry have to take time to "rally" themselves from a perilous state of disorder, which foregoes them attacking this turn):  

The Panzers swing round but the rest of the German column is somewhat fixed and performs what can be best described as an aggressive shuffle towards the enemy, although the Cossacks bear the brunt of the effective fire (see below, the Soviets have to hang tight here and take an aggressive round of incoming fire): 

The threatened unit of Siberians turn to face the Panzers and are determined to "die hard". Meanwhile the Russian general assault continues along the line (see below, note that the Russian Tanks have a hull-down position on the hill to make it an even harder task for the German Landsers at the rear of the column): 

The Russian attack on the Motorised German Infantry is too much for it to take and it simply ceases to exist as a fighting formation (see below, the gap at the front of the German column where it used to be and note the bulk of the German infantry is locked in combat with the Soviets in the wrong [central] part of the board): 

The Panzers slug it out with the Siberians and the rest of the Germans engage their opposites. Again it is noticeably the Cossacks who take the brunt of the casualties, perhaps it is their style of fighting (see below, however the overall unit count is now 6:5 in favour of the Soviets): 

The Soviets are now pinching both ends of the German Column, obtaining good local odd advantages. The Soviet tanks on the hill now deem it appropriate to charge into the flank of a weakened German infantry unit (see below, note as a flanking unit doubles its attack dice the Soviets have effectively got 3:1 combat odds at front and back of the German Column): 

The Soviet tank action causes the catastrophic destruction of another German infantry unit (see below, the Germans are now losing units at an alarming rate, 6:4 now in the Soviet favour, with no sign of an open exit to extract themselves through): 

Desperate times call for desperate measures and the rearmost German infantry unit seizes the opportunity to counterattack into the flan of the victorious Soviet armour. How many times have you seen that, at the moment of your success you are also at your most weakest or vulnerable. The Soviet tankers have their moment of hubris. At the front of the column a dire slugging match continues (see below, this is a very dark moment for the Germans as they appear to be on the verge of being swept from the board): 

Secret Soviet Footnote added: During the course of the action the NKVD detachment did valuable service to the Motherland by performing patriotic duties behind the 'front-line of action', instilling the Cossacks with righteous fervor, that allowed them to continue fighting despite the terrible losses incurred (see below, the movement of a small unit at the back can be observed attaching itself to the second Soviet Cossack unit over the next few photographs): 

The German success appears from an unexpected quarter, in the middle of the battlefield, a Cossack unit disintegrates. The Machine guns and mortars of modern weaponry have finally taken their toll on the horses. Once committed to a frontal battle and not able to use their mobility the butcher's bill is an almost inevitable consequence (see below, this ruthlessly exposes the flank of a Soviet Infantry formation vital to successfully blocking the German exit, 5:4 but still in favour of the Soviets): 

It was a measure of the Soviet Commander's ability to see  that he did not panic at this reversal (and it was not I so it is not self-praise). With a practical sense of grace he pulled the endangered tanks back to the hill using their superior speed to orientate themselves for aggressive action next turn and simultaneously hurled the second Cossack regiment into the melee to pin the German Infantry unit that had a potential exploitation move if left unchecked (see below, the old wargaming motto of "fight where you have to and don't fight where you don't have to" applies in its truest form here):   

His calmness was well rewarded as good news came from the front of the column, in that a second German Infantry unit had been dispatched by the terrible Siberian ski troops (see below, the Germans were once again on the back foot, 5:3 in favour of the Soviets - there only glimmer of hope being that the Germans Panzers were making in-roads against their blocking unit of Siberian ski troops): 

And so it came to pass that the terrible swift sword of the Germans finally struck down the valiant Soviet ski troops, the Cossacks once again suffered accurate and punishing fire, while it was clear that the Soviet tankers needed to spend precious time to reorganise themselves on the hill. If the Germans were fully motorised then they perhaps could have seized the moment to extract themselves. Instead they were now fighting three disconnected battle in separate pockets of resistance (see below, every German success had come at a price, be it is casualties or being forced to move at a tangent to the direction of safety (see below, the odds are now 4:3 but still in favour to the Soviets, but is hard to see how the two middle German Infantry units can get a clear run off the board)

At the rear of the German Column the Soviets reorganise their tanks and pull back their cavalry out of 'harms way'. while at the front of the German Column the Soviets orientate themselves to face the new dangerous threat of the Panzers but also take time to rally their own battered infantry that have been doing some hard fighting (see below, for the first time the Germans have the potential to gain a local 3:2 advantage in fighting through the blocking force to safety and their salvation. The question is will the Soviets be kind enough to give them time enough to exploit this?):   

The Germans sensibly now try to pull their infantry to one pocket in the center of the battlefield. The German Infantry that fought so well and heroically defeated the charges of Cossacks also suffered horrendous casualties, so are very disorganised and it will take two turns of continuously rallying them to bring them back together as a fighting unit. This is time the Germans simply do not have. The Panzers meanwhile start the attrition on a second Siberian ski unit (see below, so tantalisingly close for the Germans but they need to get all three units off the board to claim a significant amount of rescued men and material that "can live to fight another day"):  

The Soviets are coming, ominously the Soviets tankers and Cossacks begin their final charge, meanwhile the Siberians hunker down for more attention from the Panzers. The Siberians elected to try and at least damage the Panzers rather then digging deeper snow holes, but alas were ineffective (see below, the mobile Soviet forces are not going to give the time the German leg forces need to exit, another good Russian command decision): 

The Germans tried one last desperate "attack out of a pocket" at the Soviets, with their last "throw of the dice" they hoped to break one or both of the two Soviet infantry units blocking the exit. It was successful in inflicting some casualties but did not disorder either of the Soviet units, so it was clear they would fight back. That meant the avenging angels of the Soviet mobile forces would fall upon the now perilously weakened German Infantry at the rear of the German Column (see below, if only the Germans could move faster, but they know in their heart of hearts they are going to get caught, it is whether they can ride out the storm or not): 

The Soviet tankers make contact this turn with the Cossacks, as per their historical preference - well at least since 1812 - lurking menacingly on the flanks and rear of the German Infantry unit. It does not look good for that unit of Landsers as they already start the combat "disordered". The rest of the Soviet infantry is simply "holding the line" and inflicting what casualties they can on the other German units (see below, the jaws of the Soviet trap close tightly around the rear of the German Column):  

The rear German Infantry unit disintegrates under the pressure of the Soviet tankers attack, even before the flanking Cossacks could or are needed to engage - what then followed would be simply a "massacre". It is now a case of the Germans performing a damage limitation exercise as best they can. The Panzers can always make safely it the off table and with the "road" bonus it is deemed that the remaining German Infantry can move to the end of the table with only the remaining "battered" Siberian unit in contact and viewed as incapable of destroying it in one turn, so it will be in effect off regardless on the following turn. The remaining Russian, albeit mobile, forces are just slightly too far away to intervene (see below, end-game, so despite the Soviet abuse two German units do exit off the table, though the scenario stated three to be considered a victory .. so the Soviet team takes the laurels and once again Corporal Hitler is very displeased with his Prussian Generals): 

In the end it was 4:2 in favour of the Soviets, with the Germans failing to get at least three units off the table. A splendid historical winter victory for the Soviets and "Hero of the Soviet Union" goes to Marshall Tim commander of the Soviet forces. Many thanks to the Sheffield Boys for a very engaging and entertaining game, which pretty much did what it said on the tin and gave a really good fun game in just under an hour. I was so impressed I may even stage this very scenario for my local wargaming group using my 20mm kit [some of which I needs to be painted first]. The above was played via Zoom video conferencing, the umpiring moving and rolling all dice, the players giving vague instructions and directions. Good fun!