Panzer Marsch!

I've substantially reworked my Combat Mission: Red Thunder mission "Village Z" into a smaller, reinforced company sized engagement. This scenario and map are fictional, but based on a real event that happened along the Kielce-Opatow Road on August 16, 1944. The actual encounter is described in DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY PAMPHLET NO. 20-269. The narrative can be found online at http://www.allworldwars.com/Small-Unit-Actions-During-German-Campaign-in-Russia.html#2212.

This scenario simulates the initial phase of the engagement where Hauptmann Zobel's 1. Company reinforced by a platoon of panzergrenadiers attempts an assault on Village Z at dawn. Historically, Zobel took sufficient casualties that he decided to call off his attack until reinforced by the remainder of the kampfgruppe. It is possible in this scenario to take the bridges and village but take sufficient casualties doing so to score a defeat.

Unfortunately I was unable to locate the village and surrounding terrain on modern or even 1944 maps of the area. The book "Armored Bears, Volume 2" which is essentially a war diary of 3rd Panzer Division indicates action in the general area, but makes no specific mention of the engagement. As such, I've put together a fictional map of the area I think most closely resembles the general terrain in that section of Poland, based on photographs and Google Maps.

Somewhat against my better judgement I've submitted the scenario at the Battlefront Repository, where it should be up in a couple of days. In the meantime, you can download it here.

Once again, special thanks to Chris at The Sharp End Gaming and Julio at Real and Simulated Wars for playtesting and ideas.