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Category: Tarnopol 1944Tarnopol cropped up in a couple of my books on WW2 and it struck me as a kind of mini-Stalingrad so I thought I’d write up some notes. The historical significance of Tarnopol is that it was the first city Hitler declared to be a “Fortified Place” (10 Mar 1944). Despite being surrounded the small garrison was ordered to defend the city at all costs … and cost them it did. Check out the Timeline and Order of Battle. 
A long time ago I got some 15mm Jarvis city barricades. Perfect for WW2, perhaps Stalingrad, or Spanish Civil War. I finally got around to painting them. There are a lot of different bits on these features but it was pretty straight forward. I’ve paint almost everything on here before … except the corrugated iron. That was new. 
I have been collecting, making, and painting Ruins for quite some time. All for my long term Stalingrad project. So I thought I’d get all my ruined buildings, rubble piles, and shell holes out and see if I had enough. What do you reckon … do I have enough ruins? 
Chris Harrod and I played my SU-152s Up Close and Personal scenario. Summary: Good game. Forced us both to make explicit tactical choices. I got a Soviet victory before the German reinforcements arrived. 
Mark Bretherton played my SU-152s Up Close and Personal scenario again. In his previous battle report he described the scenario as “cracking”. It seems he still likes it. This time Mark included some photos of his game and of his urban Crossfire set up. I really like the effect Mark has achieved with his terrain and table so asked him for more details on how he did it. Everything is scratch built and looks fantastic. An inspiration. All words and photos are Mark’s… 
My big Crossfire game set in Stalingrad is going to require a lot of rubble. Although I’m happy with the sand I use for flocking, it isn’t chunky enough to be rubble. I needed something grittier. So I made my own. It is pretty simple. Brute force simple. 
Every time I order anything from Warbases I order a set of their 15mm Stalingrad Buildings. They are great value. For £7 I get two buildings that are robust, can be assembled in two configurations and, when used en-masse, give me variety of town layouts. 
After some discussion of How to Use a Big Ruined Factory Feature For Crossfire I’ve gone ahead and painted it. Actually it comprises the two ruined factory features from Wargames Tournaments and a lot of rubble that I added. 
I picked up a 15mm Ruined Factory feature from Wargames Tournaments. Perfect for snipers perched on an upper floor. The trouble is that Crossfire demands that building are made up of regular shaped building sectors. Mine are usually 3″ x 3″. So what should I do? How can I use that big feature in Crossfire? 
I made up some ruined buildings for Crossfire. Initially I painted the ground quite dark but a feature of Stalingrad was the brick dust, making everything pink. So I tried one of those. Which do you think is better? Pink or black? “This is a cracking scenario”. Mark Bretherton played my SU-152s Up Close and Personal scenario for Crossfire. The words below are Mark’s unless indicated otherwise. Aside from the after action report itself, Mark explains the house rules he used for this scenario and muses on potential house rules for attacking buildings and bunkers. 
Chris Harrod and I played my Push to the City – A Crossfire Scenario in Tarnopol. Although we played it as a stand alone game it is also part of my from my Tarnopol 3 Round Campaign. Summary: Good game. I won as the Russian attacker. 
Most of my Crossfire buildings are generic 3″x3″ sectors of foam board on a cardboard base. Some are building complexes of more than one sector. And I’ve also done Triangular Blocks to give Diagonal Streets. 
Rich Wilcox and I play through the scenario Tarnopol: Battle Group Friebe, the third part of our Crossfire Campaign: 3 Round Tarnopol. It has been 18 months since played the game so the details have been lost with time but Rich won the game and hence the campaign. Rich also captured a few snaps. Rich Wilcox and I tried out the first scenario – Tarnopol: Russian Recce – from my Tarnopol 3 Round Campaign. This scenario was based on my experience of Reconnaissance before Pontecorvo, which revealed several problems with that HTD scenario. Rich Wilcox and I played out the second scenario from my Tarnopol 3 Round Campaign called SU-152s Up Close and Personal. The scenario design was based on my experiment with a 2 Foot City. |
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