TPS - start of turn 3

Turn 2 was a short one - just five day impulses and three night ones.

The two Soviet infantry battalions holding the Hospital shrugged off the combined efforts of the Luftwaffe and another regimental-sized infantry attack. 24th Panzer sent a motorised infantry battalion into the Flying School, and while it pushed back one of the defending battalions, the other two stayed to contest the area.
The only real success for the Germans today was the clearance of Kuporosnoye by elements of the 29th Motorised Division. This has left a Soviet infantry and tank battalion isolated in Minina.

The Soviets suffered very few losses in all this - two good units in Kuporosnoye - and the 13th Guards reinforcements crossed the Volga after dark. One regiment has moved straight to Mamayev Kurgan, another to the Grain Elevator.


Game Notes:
Those infantry battalions in the Hospital have now rolled 12 twice in three attacks on their position, and they're frustrating the attack in the centre. 24th Panzer will not be able to break into the rubbled city areas without good infantry support, but it will be some days before that moves up, even if the Hospital falls quickly now.
The attack into the Flying School was a disaster for the Germans; the first roll was very poor and I decided to use the advantage, both to attempt a breakthrough (with 3 spent battalions it looked vulnerable) and to prevent the day from ending. Second roll was a 4, so the day ended anyhow, and the line has stiffened.
The Soviet artillery groups have had a bad time of it thus far - all three were spent after one supporting shot, and none of them have managed to regroup since. Still, when you're rolling 12, who needs the artillery?

With the capture of Kuporosnoye, the Germans now have 5 VP. Just 1 needed to achieve victory in week 1, but where will it come from? The poor progress of the infantry divisions in the centre, and the arrival of the 13th Guards to face them, means that the south looks like the only place where that extra VP might be taken. Whether it is or not, I'd like to play beyond the first week, but I'm not sure if my patience will last - a couple of new games should be arriving soon, the reprint of SCS Afrika chief among them.