Lipovec, 1941 at NBHW

I took my Slovaks and Russians up to NBHW this week, and put on a version of the Rapid Fire Lipovec scenario.

Historically, this was the first proper action by the Slovak Rapid Brigade on the Eastern Front in July 1941. The Slovak tanks and A/Cs, supported by infantry, managed to fight their way into the town, only for a strong Russian counter attack to cut them off and destroy their artillery. They then staged a fighting withdrawal back to their lines pursued by the Russians, before they managed to hold the line with the help of their German allies.

In our battle, the Slovaks consisted of a Recce battalion (bicycle company, motorised infantry company, OaVz30 Armoured Car and a 75mm infantry gun company), 2 companies of tanks (1 of Lt.35s and 1 of Lt.38s), a motorised infantry battalion and a battery of 105mm artillery. They entered the game across three turns. They also had an Avia B534 fighter/bomber for some extra support.

Facing them, split across a rearguard group and the Lipovec garrison was a Russian infantry battalion, with 3 x 122mm artillery pieces (direct fire only), A/T company, infantry gun and Quad Maxim AA truck. A second infantry battalion was also in line to provide the counter attack.

The table was set up and the motley crew took their positions:

The lead Slovak units, the A/C and bicycle company, moved up the road towards Lipovec but soon came under fire from a reinforced infantry company dug in on the hill to the north, and another just off the road, ahead of them to the east, as well as a 122mm battery over the river.

A hidden A/T rifle unit in the maize field also got off a couple of shots, to no effect, before being killed by the remainder of the bicycle company.

Turn 3 saw the bulk of the Slovak forces on the table. The brave Armoured Car was taken out by reserved A/T fire from Lipovec just before the bridge. The reinforced infantry company on the hill to the east was attacked with HE fire from two of the Lz35 tanks, to little effect, while one of the tanks received some light damage from the artillery in the woods.

The air support soon arrived, dropping its two bombs on an artillery battery on the hill, destroying the gun and killing some crew.

Meanwhile, on the northern flank, a Slovakian infantry company from the motorised battalion joined the motorised recce company and prepared to attack the wooded hill. They were supported by the battalion A/T company, firing HE, as well as the recce infantry gun and 105mm artillery battery.

On the southern flank, the rest of motorised battalion moved up towards the high ground in their Praga trucks, with the BHQ in its Tatra car following.

In the centre, more anti tank fire from Lipovec damaged an Lz35.

This spurred on the Russian defenders, whose RHQ ordered the defending infantry and A/T gun across the bridge to take on the Slovakian tanks. This was too late for the 122mm battery in the woods, whose crew was killed by HE fire from the armoured unit. The crew from the other, destroyed, gun mounted their limbers and headed across to man the still functional gun.

The B534 returned to strafe the infantry company on the eastern hill.

The attack on the northern, wooded, hill was having little effect despite a huge amount of ordnance dropping on it, while on the southern flank the MG company truck was destroyed by artillery fire from the final 122mm gun, albeit not before the MG had debussed and deployed.

The infantry from Lipovec passed a Heroic action test and assaulted the Lz35 tank with molotov cocktails, causing the crew to bail and the rest of the company to fall back in good order, firing on the northern hill as they did so. The B534 attempted to strafe the same company on the eastern hill but was driven off, while on the northern flank the infantry moved across the open ground to attack the wooded hill under MG fire from the unit deployed there. The barrage of HE fire started to eat into the defenders.

The A/T gun deployed on the bridge but could not damage the Lt38s crossing the river.

The infantry, however, continued to assault the empty Lz35, destroying it and causing the remainder of the Lz35 tank company to rout off the table. Things went better on the northern flank, as the mixed assault under heavy artillery support wiped out the final resistance on the wooded hill, including the battalion HQ. Nevertheless, the rest of the rearguard and the garrison held strong. To the south, the infantry companies debussed and moved across the river under fire from the 122mm, 76mm and Quad Maxim from Lipovec and from the reinforced company on the hill. The B534 attempted to strafe that company again, but was driven off for a second time and forced to return to base for lack of fuel.

As the evening drew to a close, the Lz38s moved into Lipovec itself, with the northern flank beginning to get themselves back into their trucks, and the southern flank finally wiping out the crew of the 122mm, while to the north the 'other' 122mm crew had reached the 'other' 122mm gun. Fire from the company on the hill destroyed the Slovak BHQ to the south.

We ran out of time to bring on the Russian reinforcements, but as we reflected we felt that with the new Russian battalion about to come on and overrun the trucks to the south, and with a tank company gone, the Slovaks would probably be forced to withdraw, especially as the Lipovec defenders still had 2 infantry companies, a 122mm, the 76mm infantry gun, A/T gun and quad maxim available on top of the reinforcements.

As such, the battle played out much as it had done historically. Well played to all and thanks to the guys at NBHW for a good game! Thanks also to Ryan and Andy for some of these photos.