Leprecon - Part Two - Kursk

Over on the Soviet right, massive carnage ensues

My contribution to Leprecon was a Memoir '44 scenario, specifically the Battle of Prokhorovka.  Now in line with my policy of stealing over men's glory, it was an official scenario. I merely added our own slightly modified version of the Overlord rules and dollied the setup a bit. 

Some background on the battle, taken from the Official Scenario notes. 

The tank battle of Prokhorovka was a clash between two immense armored forces. As the SS Panzer Corps started its advance, the Soviet artillery erupted and soon after the 5th Guards Tank Army under Gen. Pavel Rotmistrov accelerated toward the German advance. Rotmistrov's plan was to close quickly to negate the advantage held by the longer range German tanks.

The fighting became a swirling melee and soon the battlefield was littered with the shattered remains of smoking armor. Losses on both sides were enormous. Combined, over 700 tanks were lost and because the battlefield remained in Soviet control the Germans could not recover and repair their losses.

The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn, and you are in command. The rest is history.

An unusual assortment of armour. 

A Matchbox T-34 from Ebay faces a diecast Tiger. The Lendlease Cromwell was assembled by an 11 year old Kinch with crazy glue. They were £2 in a bargain shop and I bought several of them, only to paint them twenty years later. 

I'm a little sketchy on the layout of the scenario, but I think this Build Up Area is meant to represent the village of Ponyri, also known as "Little Stalingrad". I added some smoke and a firepower light to represent the ruined town burning. I think I might try and use black smoke next time. But where to get black pillow stuffing?

  

Oh dear

A Revell Panzer IV finds itself facing a horse of Airfix T-34s. The Airfix T-34 has a number of weird ridges on the turret which make it impossible to add decals.  The Russians as you can see from the Frontline Wargaming explosion markers have already taken some damage.  

The battle entire - The Soviets won this one. 

I indulged into some Warlord Games firepower lights. Here's one showing that Revell Panzer IV catching fire.

I liked it so much, I took the same shot twice. The flashing lights were a real hit and lots of folks commented on them.

One of the pleasures of playing at conventions is meeting new players. I was introduced to Comrade Bob, a pal of Arquinsel's who led the Soviet armour on to do great execution amongst some overly bold German infantry.

Though the German counter attack was brutal.

 I was lucky that Donogh and Arquinsel volunteered vehicles or I would have been in serious trouble. As for rating the troops under Memoir '44, the German tanks were in Panzer Grey if they were regular armour and camouflage if they were elite. Despite thinking that I would never need any more German armour, it appears I will have to pick up a box of Plastic Soldier Panzer IV. 

A later game, the Russians romped to victory in this one. 

The German demonstrating serious pointy helmet wearing skills. 

Deep in conference with a representative of the Luftwaffe.

Overall, I was happy with the game. It didn't break the bank. It ran four times over the weekend and the honours were even for both sides. The game took about an hour, which is about right for a convention game I think. I think the bits that I enjoyed the most were the silly flourishes, like the hats, the firepower lights and the little diorama's that I set up (but forgot to take pictures of). I won't be bringing a Command & Colours game to Gaelcon this year as I've been asked to do a Little Wars game, but I think the system is sound and I like the opportunity to put on a bit of a show.