FIELDS OF PONYRI

THE BATTLEGROUP KURSK CAMPAIGN WEEKEND

AT WEST MIDLANDS WARGAMES CENTRE, STAFFORD GAMES, STAFFORD
OCTOBER 18th-19th

Over the weekend Ironfist Publishing ran our

first campaign weekend, an event loosely based
on the fight for Ponyri using Battlegroup Kursk.
In total 26 players, 13 aside, had a fantastic time
as the Panzer III and IVs faced off with T-70s (a
lot of these), T-34s and occasional KVs, across
the grain fields of the Ukraine.
It played out as follows, so here is the story of
the weekend, with lots of pictures.
The Campaign
This wasnt a tournament in the conventional
sense. No individual could win it by using his
uber-army to crush all before him. Players would
each pick their forces from the BGK army lists,
having bought a ticket as either a Russian or
German player. That force would then face off
with three other opposing forces in two battles
on Saturday and one on Sunday. The winner of

each game would earn his side campaign points,

with the margin of victory determining if it was
1 point for a marginal win, 2 for a solid win or
a maximum 3 points for a massacre. The sides
would gather points and in the end, one side or
the other would win an overall victory by dint
of their sub-commanders tactical performance,
troops bravery and general good fortune just
like in an actual battle.
There were a couple of restrictions on the army
lists. The Germans were attacking (as they
did in 1943) and could not use any Defences.
They were also barred from taking Tiger tanks.
Of course, these were present but, as centrally
held resource 3 Tigers would be handed out to
random commanders for each round of battles.
The Russian were defending on day 1 and could
take Defences, but could not take any SU-152s
or SU-122s as, like the Tigers, these would be

T-70 terror, the first German to face Alan Charlesworths 20 light tanks.

The Russians well dug-in and ready. Here, Andy T is about to dish out his first massacre.

A KV-based heavy tank force roll out to meet the on-coming panzers.

More Soviet defences, dug-in guns hold the line.

central reserves doled out randomly, two of each.

On day two the Russians would be counterattacking and so had a second army list with no
defences allowed, that battle would be a meeting
engagement.
With everything prepared, models painted,
tables set, the campaign was ready to begin on
Saturday morning.
Day One
The players arrived at Stafford Games to be
welcomed and given a random table number.
Once we had 13 aside and everybody had an
opponent (and after a bit of last minute scurry
around to sort scratched together Russian forces
for a few stand-in commanders) it was 10.30 and
time to kick-off. Each game had two and half
hours to run. A buffet lunch would be taken at 1.
The Russians got busy deploying their defensive
positions, with dug-in guns and tanks, minefields
and trenches. Then the Germans set up their
assault forces, Panzer IIIs and IVs in about even

numbers, a few StuGs, armoured half-tracks and

mortars and artillery just awaiting the order to
open fire. Then it was time for the assaults to
begin.
The first round of 13 games when well for the
Russians, the first result reported was a Russian
massacre in just over one hour of play! By 1
oclock all games were complete (or the BR
rating gave us a result anyway) and the Russians
had the early lead in campaign points, 16 to 9.
Buffet lunch consumed and models collected,
everybody got a new table number and new
random opponent. Tigers were redistributed,
as were the big Russian assault guns, it was
time to go at it all over again. The result wasnt
much different, except maybe the Russian
defences proved all the stronger this time. By
4.30 all results were in again and the Russian
had raced to a 35-18 point lead, a considerable
difference. It had been a hard day for the
panzers commanders as they withdrew to their
start lines and workshops for the night, with no

Early in the game, the panzers are just starting to roll, faced by Grants and an 85mm AA gun.

More well dug-in Russians early in game 1.

The panzers are burning. A German assault halted in flames.

Assistance from the Luftwaffe helped the Germans to a narrow win on this table, thanks to their air
controller. A gamble that paid off.

Not every Russian was entrenched, here an early T-34 counter-attack rushes the panzers, a taste of the action
to come on day 2.

Chris tough Russian strongpoint resisted both German assaults it faced for two good wins.

An SU-152 has been deployed to help hold this sector.

Day Two, the battles get underway. Can the Germans fight their way back into it?

breakthrough to Ponyri in sight. Tomorrow they

would face the Russian counter-attack, perhaps
with the Russians out in the open they would
fare better.
After a day of die-rolling and counter-drawing,
we agreed to meet up a local pub for war stories
of hard won victories and bitter bad luck (of
which one of the best was the loss of a German
forward HQ on turn 1, to a wildly deviating
mortar bomb that destroyed his 251/6, killed
everybody inside and cost the German player 13
BR on 3 the counters drawn, a 5 and two 4s
recover from that start!).
Day Two
With new lists allowed for all players (and
required by the Russians), both sides lined up
for the finale on new tables against their third
opponents. The Russian came on in furious style
with T-34s, T-70s, KVs, even a few Grants.
The guns boomed out, the Luftwaffe struck and
the carnage commenced. The Germans were
suddenly doing well, the first 3 results were all

wins, including 2 massacres and the gap was

narrowing, was the comeback on?
No! The Russians had started badly but fought
on all the harder, spending men and machines
like it didnt matter (and it didnt) and wearing
the Germans down. The campaign points on
the Red side began to rise and any hope of
an unlikely German comeback win was soon
extinguished. The last game was finally over at
exactly 1 oclock and the final result was a 31-51
win to the Russians. A decisive Red victory.
The player that won the most points on each
side was award a best of show medal. Honours
going to Mark Hellicar for the Germans with 8
points from 3 wins, using a forces of two regular
infantry platoons supported by just 3 StuGs and
off-table mortars. The Hero of the Soviet Union
was Andy Tutton, who won all three of his
battles by massacres and earned a maximum 9
points.

A common sight on Sunday morning, T-34s coming straight up the table. Here, a supporting Tiger helpe make
the tank charge painful, until the crew abandoned it under fire!

Carnage dished out by Andy Ts Russians, another fan of the T-70.

The Germans threatened a breakthrough here, but Mikhails Russian infantry force somehow managed to
save the day and win a marginal victory.

Stal! Stal! Stal! The tank rush continues...

... across table after table.

A few Grants got into the action too. They didnt last long.

A T-70 graveyard, after they ran into a Panther and a Tiger in tandem... 16 down from 20 but they still
scraped a narrow win.

The men that made the weekend such a brilliant gaming experience. Thanks everybody.

It had been a great weekend, everybody had a

blast, not a harsh word was spoken, all played
in a friendly but competitive spirit, but with
all players trying to win for their side (just like
a real battle). For me, it was easily the best
competitive wargaming event I have attended, a
triumph of gaming spirit. There was also nothing
a-historical about it, all the forces were perfectly
viable for the battle of Ponyri, on terrain that
wasnt far off either.
Special mention in dispatches for some
heroic efforts are deserved. Will from PSC for
switching to the Russian side after just painting
his German force, then facing a Tiger tank in
all three of his battles. Graham Bayliss for also
swapping to fight with a scratch Russian force
and chalking up 2 wins on Day 1. Mikhail, who
came from Finland to play with his Russian
infantry force and scored three hard fought
victories for his comrades. Ken Kinrade for
switching to Russians and thus letting Graham
use his own German force on Day 2. Roland
from Stafford Games for the venue, help in
setting up and joining in as a last minute Russian

commander when one Russian player couldnt

make it. He scored two wins after being drafted
in. And, well, just everybody who came for a
brilliant weekend of gaming fun that means next
year we just have to do it again.
2015 will be a re-fight, but with a 1941-theme
using Battlegroup Barbarossa. The Germans
have a chance to salvage their pride. Im
confident itll be fantastic again, so start
planning your forces now.

The final scoreboard.