A Crossfire scenario for WW2 with Russian scouts fighting through the sewers of Budapest.
Very, Very Draft
Historical Situation
Setting: Budapest, Hungary; Mar 1945
Vladimir Zimakov was a scout in the 90th Special Reconnaissance Platoon of the 180th Rifle Division. He has an interesting description of the German attempts to break out of Budapest:
On the 20th of August [1944] we broke the German front and advanced. All the reconnaissance advanced 30 km ahead of the division. That was the time when Romania capitulated. I should say that Romanians hated the Germans. The Hungarians liked the Germans, but the Romanians didn’t, like we Russians. The Romanians were poor people, very poor. Near Budapest we went on a reconnaissance raid together with the commander of the division. And on the way we were bombed by a group of Yu-87s. There I was wounded for the last time. I was treated in a hospital located in a monastery near the city of Kiskunfelegyhaza.
Three weeks afterwards, we were formed into a platoon and sent to the vicinity of Budapest. The city had already been surrounded. We were a special assault brigade. We were given cannons, submachine and machine guns, nothing else. And we used to be sent into the weakest points of our circle around Budapest. As our fresh forces arrived, we were moved to another point, then to another one. In March the Germans made an attempt to break out of Budapest through the sewer system under the city. The German troops were coming like an avalanche. They were approaching without shooting, but we kept firing at them. Then they started to throw their guns on the ground. I don’t know exactly, but the number of dead Germans was enormous. We had a rest and went further. We saw piles of dead Germans in the forest, five soldiers in a pile. There were mortal battles in Budapest, there wasn’t one undamaged building to be found in the whole city. Everything had been destroyed, absolutely everything! When we were having a rest in Pest we looked around the city–it was absolutely ruined! Everything! It’s like a nightmare. Just a hair stands upward, did we do that? Yes, we did it, because the Germans resisted. I met my friend from the artillery reconnaissance then. He says,
— Your reconnaissance has been killed in the city’s underground, in the sewers. The commander of the division ordered them to take a building and they bumped into the Germans. They wiped out the Germans but perished themselves too.
— Everybody?
— Yes, even the soldiers from the combat trains.
I Remember: Vladimir Zimakov Part II. Scout
Map produced in CC2
Click on the map to the full size version
Map/Terrain
Key features are:
- Buildings – lots of them.
- Sewers
Pre-game preparation
German Player (Attacking)
Objective
Forces Available
Morale:
Deployment
Deploys second. Begins scenario with initiative.
Reinforcements
Russian Player (Defending)
Objective
Forces Available
1 x FO for off table 82 mm Mortar (12 FM)
1 x Reconnaissance Company (Veteran)
1 x CC (+1)
1 x HMG
1 x on-table 50 mm Mortar (12 FM)
2 x Scout Platoons: PC (+1/0), 3 x SMG
1 x Rifle Company (Regular)
1 x CC (+1)
1 x HMG
1 x on-table 50 mm Mortar (12 FM)
3 x Rifle Platoons: PC (+1/0), 3 x Rifle Squads
Russian PCs get +1 for close combat but not for rallying.
Morale:
Deployment
Deploys first.
Reinforcements
Victory Conditions
Terrain and Casualty (AD) objectives
Scenario Special Rules
- Special Rule Sewers are in use.
Weapon stats
| Type | When | ARM | ACC | PEN | MG | HE/EFF | Smoke | HD | Spd | CC | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|