12th Pz Div in action

[LLv34_Snefens]

Turn 41, Evening Feb 2nd 1944

East of Peredolskaya the newly arrived 24th Rifle Brigade with support from 1098th SU Regiment and 122nd Tank Brigade continued its attack to reach the rail line. 1./Pz.Pio.Btl.32 had to pull back and gets cut off from our other units.
The enemy doesn't reach the actual rail line, that this evening gets repaired so it is now functional from Luga down to Dno. A few locations south of Dno it is still damaged so supply is still very low.

It is just in time that the three divisions of LIV. Korps arrive. At Peredolskaya the 11.Inf-Div launches a counterattack from the march, together with II./Pz.Rgt.29 and push the enemy spearheads back. Pz.Pio.Btl.32 also manage to gain contact with own lines again, when a exposed enemy rifle battalion is forced to retreat.

Situation at Medved is quiet during the day, but at Mshaga a battalion from 30.Inf-Div is cut off and destroyed. Other elements of Gruppe von Wickede pull back a few km along the road to Soltsy. Pz.Aufkl.Abt.12 also take up a new position 5 km SW of its current in response to the enemy pincer of 67th Army.

Gruppe von Kirchensittenbach have almost reachd safety, exept for the artillery battalion cut off earlier in the day. This battalion is forced to surrender. To cover the flank of the retreating gruppe, I./Pz.Gr.Rgt.5 have finally reached the road between Solsty and Volot, just before the enemy pincer cut the road.

[LLv34_Snefens]

The overall situation of the front. 12th Panzer Division units have been marked in white.

This turn the refitted mechanized battalion (I./Pz.Gr.Rgt.25) of the 12.PzD arrived at the edge of map south of Ostrov.

As can be seen by the inlay this is quite a powerful unit, but for now it would either have to move to the front by road, or wait for the rail line south of Dno to be repaired.
Even then the size of the unit will take up the entire rail capacity for the turn, so it will have to wait until I don't have any other vital rail moves to make.

For now it just stays in place.

[LLv34_Snefens]

Turn 42, Morning Feb 3rd 1944

East of Bateskaya a few positions have to be given up, but the enemy attacks are only partly succesful.
South of this, a buffer is tried being created from the Bateskaya-Peredolskaya rail line, as 24.ID moves its lines 3 km east of this, brushing aside some weak enemy battalion.

East of Peredolskaya an enemy attack relieved the isolated battalion and retreated the pioneers of 11.ID. A counterattack forced the enemy battalion away from the proximity of the rail line.

Countering these enemy actions have for the moment let the area at the Vysonovo bridge (destroyed) open, but for now only a single enemy engineer unit is observed.

The Medved sector is still quiet, except for the destruction of some of our straggeling construction units.

The enemy for now settles in just following our gradual withdrawal away from Mshaga and doesn't iniate any attempts to disrupt the pull-back.

[BigDuke66]

Just some question to the big map:
Has the Russian tried landings near Narva?
Did you manage to get the heavy artillery pieces near Leningrad back behind the Narva?

[LLv34_Snefens]

Yes, Ogar tried some landings west of Narva. His units aren't able to be supplied there, so it was more a commando raid attempting to sever my rail line I suppose.
I think this was his first attempt. He tried again a couple of times later, but as long as I held just a small force there I was able to push him back out.

All my heavy non-rail artillery units was able to be pulled out and can also be seen in the picture, but none of the railroad artillery survived. It was my own fault as I was playing the Soviet side at start of game and cut the line that would have allowed them to move away.

[LLv34_Snefens]

I took the time to stich the overview maps of turn 14 through 42 together. It includes two images per turn, one at start and one at end of my turn.

Overview map Turn 14 to 42.

For the first 14 turns see post 1 of this thread.

[LLv34_Snefens]

Turn 43, Evening Feb 3rd 1944

The line east of Batetskaya repel all enemy attacks during the day, but east of Peredolskaya the enemy expands its positions around the crossroad, as Pz.Pio.Btl.32 retreats under heavy losses nearing 100 men.

A counterattacked led by II./Pz.Rgt.29 attacks across the frozen Luga River and forces the enemy away from the positions at the cross-road.

The gap in the line at Vysonovo is only slowly utilised by the enemy and II./Pz.Gr.Rgt.5 moves to the area to block the enemy, while the I./Gr.Rgt.23 of 11.ID makes up the other part of the block.

From Mshaga the enemy moves along the roads towards Soltsy and Medved, forcing our rear-guard to leave the road, but south of the Shelon River no enemy attacks are detected against the line held by amongst others Pz.Aufkl.Abt.12 and I./Pz.Gr.Rgt.5.

[LLv34_Snefens]

Turn 44, Morning Feb 4th 1944

The big news for the day is that the rail connection from the rear all the way through Dno and Soltsy to Luga has been restored this turn, but I./Pz.Gr.Rgt.25 still remains at Ostrov as it has been mentioned before it would require all available rail-capacity to transport it from there.
A single battalion from the 32.ID (II./Gr.Rgt.4) WAS however transported in from the south by the repaired rail line, to be used in closing the gap at Vysonovo.

At Batetskaya the enemy had considerable success this day as attacks along the Luga-Novgorod road forced our units back. A counterattack was only partial succesful, as it was not possible to exploit enemy leading elements falling back.

Our attack last night at Peredolskaya for the moment seems to have stunned the enemy as no real activity was spotted here. II./Pz.Rgt.29 moved in to take up positions on the cross-road east of the town. The plan is that the panzer battalion will continue south to restore the situation at Ugorody and Vysnovo.

The enemy 116th Rifle Corps continues it's attack along the road to Medved and threatens to fall in the back of our positions there. A pull-back is begun.
Also at the road to Soltsy our pull back continues. This day the rear guard are positioned in Skirino.
Enemy attacks south the the river is repelled during the night, but nonetheless these positions are also given up.

58.Inf-Div has arrived with most of it's elements and has taken up positions in Soltsy. Parts of 122.Inf-Div arrived by train near Dno during the night, and spends the day moving up the road towards Soltsy as well. The plan is that these two divisions will form the back-bone in a defensive position around this key town and road junction.

[Josh]

ORIGINAL: LLv34_Snefens

I took the time to stich the overview maps of turn 14 through 42 together. It includes two images per turn, one at start and one at end of my turn.

Overview map Turn 14 to 42.

For the first 14 turns see post 1 of this thread.

Hey that's a neat trick, a very clear view of what's happening on a larger scale, very nice. Larry is doing that sometimes too in his posts, but this one is more clear to the eyes. (sorry Larry, no offense, Google has done a marvellous job again)

[LLv34_Snefens]

Turn 45, Evening Feb 4th 1944

The enemy comes back to life at Peredolskaya and tries to reach the now functional rail line south of the town. The line itself is not severed, but the enemy presence blocks supply in reaching Bateskaya and Luga during the evening.
The attack plays into the hands of the II./Pz.Rgt.29 which continues its attack south during the evening. The attack has good success, but the lack of coordination with 11.ID attacking from the west means that the enemy is able to pull his units back intact without being cut off.
A smaller recon unit is also spotted heading west from Vysonovo towards the rail line, but this is dealt with easily.

The units at Medved pull back for good in order to avoid encirclement, but the enemy is pushing hard in this area and threatens to reach Utorgorsh in a few days if our lines are not able to be reinforced. This evening the mechanized battalion of the division is still not able to be transported to the area.

Also along the Shelon River the units of the 67th Army tries to break the line, but with stubborn resistance the line just barely holds. Some units, amongst them Pz.Aufkl.Abt.12 fall back during the day, but is able to reorganize and rejoin the line during the evening.

[SigUp]

Your maps are great. What program are you using to draw them?

[LLv34_Snefens]

Paint.net using "Drop Shadow" (plug-in) for the shadow effects.

[LLv34_Snefens]

Turn 46, Morning Feb 5th 1944

Continous heavy pressure at Batetskaya force the line back once again, but the supply line to Luga us kept open. North of the town a single ski battalion penetrates, but a counterattack separates it from the main enemy line.

North-East of Peredolskaya the enemy repeats his attack towards the rail line. A counterattack makes suprisingly easy progress in to the southern flank of the enemy, but it's not possible to eliminate the bulge this day.
A but south another bulge is formed as the tanks from II./Pz.Rgt.29 resumes its attack along the Mshaga river. A great result is almost within reach as enemy forces the strength of an entire division is nearly cut off west of Vysonovo, but the strength to complete the encirclement lacks at a critical time.

After our abandonment of Medved the enemy builds up momentum here, advancing both along the road to Utorgorsh and south of this. The situation here is finally serious enough to warrant the use of enough rail assets to allow the mechanized I./Pz.Gr.Rgt.25 to be transported to the area.

After having repulsed some attacks against Skirino the threat to the flanks force a withdrawal of our units from this village, but a small platoon sized rear-guard force are unable to disengage from the village and is in a serious situation.
South of the Shelon River the line is more secure as all enemy attacks are repulsed. A new defensive position is being prepared 5 km west of the current line by the 58th and 122nd Infantry Division to defend Soltsy.