The Siege of Odessa

 In April, I played through Barbarossa: Army Group South's Odessa scenario. After Yelnya, I felt I had a good grasp of the rules to give this scenario a try. I was pleasantly surprised at my ability to pick my way through the Russian defenses, despite the limitations holding the Romanians back from their full potential. In short, this scenario was about too much artillery with which to support meaningful attacks.

With so much time passed since April, I've elected to copy verbatim the notes in my journal for this scenario. 

Aug 12: The Romanians open the assault on Odessa in two prongs. From the west, 4 divisions led by the Grand Division (I have no clue which division this was, but it formed a part of my guard corps which historically was the 3rd Romanian Corps of the 4th Romanian Army ...?) and from the north, 4 divisions led by the 1st armored divisions. 

In the lead assaults, most of the 25th Russian Infantry division is overrun and the Romanians secure Mannheim and Belyayevka. Russian artillery halts and assault by the 3rd and 5th divisions, but the Romanian armor manages to break through the first line in the lakes region. 

Reserve formations in Odessa rush to the front and in a stroke of good luck, the Coastal Army HQ becomes operational.

Aug 13-14:

A storm appears over the battle, limiting operations as it begins in earnest. The Romanians press their attacks, striking forward positions to the west and the second line north of the city. Axis air are incapable of interdicting the Russian HQ because their aircraft are hampered from repair by the storm. The assault presses successfully in the west, overrunning the 2 Black Sea Fleet (BSF) detachment. To the north, the Romanian armor meets disaster. Heavy naval artillery, CAS, & NKVD border units put up staunch resistance, exacting a heavy toll on the few Romanian tanks on the battlefield.

With the Romanian guards forces pressing their early advantage, the 26th NKVD border regiment moves to avert a total breakthrough and provide a route of retreat for two Russian infantry regiments. Karpovo on the city's outskirts is no longer tenable.

Aug 15-16:

The 11th Romanian division secures Karpovo and the Romanian guards corps launches the critical battle to capture Dalnik on their path to dislodge the Russian coastal army. There's marked progress out of Karpovo, but poor rolls cost the Romanians losses they can't afford.

The Russians consolidate and anchor their defense on the Coastal HQ's position in the third line.

Aug 17-18: 

Air assets stretched thin, German bombers interdict the Russian HQ and the Romanians launch a concentrated assault. The costs are steep but the Romanians manage to push the Russians back, taking Gnilyakovo and Dalnik. 

What's left of the Russian 25th Infantry division takes up positions outside of Odessa as the high command strips positions north and north east of the city to hold the Romanian guards at bay.

Aug 19-20:

Mud & Storms. In the poor weather, the Romanians rearrange their line and regroup for further assaults on the city.

Aug 21-22: 

Dry weather returns. The Romanians launch a renewed attack from the west. To the north, Romanian cavalry finally see some action. With the Russian positions to the N and NE stripped down to the bare minimum, the Romanian cavalry probe for weaknesses. 

They find a spot in the Russian line on the coast of the black sea. the Romanian cav overrun the naval installations and BSF flotilla on the coast line. Th other attacks in the west fair poorly except for the one against the coastal HQ. Even the Romanian aircraft suffer in the assault. (2v1 and 1v1 odds w/ 1s and 9s will kill you).

Russian reserves arrive off map and in Odessa to rebuild tattered remnants of the units that had manned the outer defenses. The core elements of the 25th and 95th infantry divisions make up the backbone of the Russian defense west of the city.

Aug 23-24: 

Dry. Weakened in the West, the Romanians take a new approach. Reserve forces launch a pincer attack on the western line and the rest of their forces launch attacks on the northern approaches.

The 8th and 14th Romanian divisions are badly mauled in the fight, but they outright annihilate the Russian defenders, taking Tartarka. The Romanians finally oust the Russian NKVD formations on the isolated northern approach after their failure a week and a half earlier. All Romanian armor is lost in the process, but the Coastal HQ is thrown into peril. 

The critical question: do the Russians counterattack or consolidate at this point? The Romanian offensive potential not might be enough to take Odessa, but they have enough to hold what they have, which is enough for an operational victory. 

The Coastal HQ orders the 95th Division to coordinate an attack with the 2nd BSF regiment on Gnilyakovo so that the Russian sailors can slip into Odessa; they're trapped with a lake to their backs right now. 

On a DR of 1, the Romanian 6th and 7th divisions are evicted from the town and the Russians pull back into Odessa. The 2nd BSF regiment is saved.

Aug 25-26:

Russian positions as follows:

       Northern Approach: 

       1 and 2 BSF hold the critical points supported by 3 reserve regiments.

       City: 

       South Road Approach: 3 BSF

       City Center: Remnants of the 25th div. plus two militia brigades

       Northern outskirts: Remnants of the 95th div.

       Coast: Coastal HQ and all remaining artillery

Mud turn! Horrible dice rolls. Most of the Romanian air force is grounded. The ground forces re-secure the towns outside Odessa and begin a siege of the city with 8 divisions.

German reinforcements finally arrive as well. The Russians can only hunker down and wait. 

Aug 27-28: 

Dry weather. German assault reinforcements arrive to make a push on Odessa. The Russians cannot win the VP game and the Axis don't have enough combat power to force the defenders from the city. So understrength and with the Axis possessing enough VPs for an operational victory (even with the VP cost for extra German reinforcements), the Russians concede for an Axis victory.

Palladius and St. Patrick Banish the Snakes

 It's a been a bit quiet of late, I've realized, but that does not mean there have been no games to log. I finished another game of Barbarossa which will be coming soon, and I'm knee deep in The U.S. Civil War which is a real treat to play (Oh Tennessee when shall Thy fall?)

This week, I had the good fortune to join a group, new to myself, for a dinner and game night where we played GMT's Banish the Snakes. What a fun concept of a game, if 'fun' be an appropriate word to use in this case. As someone rightly pointed out, the booklet on lore and history behind the game was actually longer than the actual rulebook itself. That was a nice surprise. 

After all of these years, I hadn't ever guessed that St. Patrick's success in driving the snakes from Ireland was really a reference to Paganism? Quite the twist from my perspective. The objective in the game is for the players, acting as Christian missionaries, to convert the Island of Ireland to Christianity before Paganism can 'take hold' of the entire British Isles after the fall of Roman rule there. An interesting 'race against the clock' sort of premise, but one that I understand is no longer thought to resemble an factual basis with reality in the 5th Century British Isles; St. Patrick did not "save humanity and the future of a Christian society" in the British Isles by driving out the pagans from Ireland, but that's at least the auspices under which Banish the Snakes was designed. So, in a sense, a "fun" concept, but with some sizeable grains of salt to acknowledge at the same time.

I played Palladius, the first Bishop of Ireland along with 4 others, one of whom was St. Patrick. The game started off to a poor start as Scotland succumbed to paganism and started our race against the clock. Over the next few turns, a series of major disasters befell the Island. but thanks to our slow progress at the start, famines, war, divine intervention, etc. which would have otherwise killed off Christian converts instead thinned the pagan populations. Interestingly, Zach, who's historical character I now forget, was isolated in the north of Ireland while the rest of us began to the south, survived a record number of unrest among the chiefs and kings of Northern Ireland. While the rest of us schemed to oust a number of druids and chiefs from their positions of power in the southern and western provinces, Zach had to watch as the high king at Tara was deposed, the king of the Northern province killed by an act of God (god?), the unlikely chief of Airgíalla succeeding to the thrown of Ulster, then quickly taking the high king's seat at Tara, and his son taking over in Ulster. A wild plot that would have otherwise foiled many a conversion attempt in the North. 

Fast forward a few turns later and we convert the high king at Tara, once a lowly chieftain, and with him most of the other regions are easily converted. Failed harvests, slave raids, and other calamities were surprisingly easy to overcome. We agreed at the end of the game that we likely broke some major rules, either concerning Dolmens, Druids, or our own ability to cooperate with each other, but try as we might, after little more than 3 hours play time, all pagan populations in Ireland had been converted to Christianity. 

And here's a final look at the board. To win, you need not convert all Chiefs/Kings, just the people, but we found it easier to take out the Chiefs early. Who knows, they probably do -1 zeal damage per failed attempt, but we didn't see that sort of rule anywhere. Maybe Zach will find that rule later. 

Anyway, a good game in total.