We adapted a scenario published in a recent edition of Wargames, Soldiers, and Strategy to play the Battle of Schoenfliess (1945) using Flames of War rules. We also used Google Earth for satellite views of the terrain.
The village of Schoenfliess is situated about one mile west of the town of Lebus, where the Soviets had established a small bridgehead over the Oder River. The Soviets attacked west from Lebus toward Schoenfliess with the objective of expanding their bridgehead and tying up German forces in the area. This was a subsidiary operation to the main Soviet attack against the Seelow Heights, a few miles away to the north.
The terrain was flat and mostly open. The roads in the area were generally lined with hedges and trees that provided concealment. A low railway with heavy brush on both sides crossed the battlefield about halfway between the Soviet line of departure and the village. Running through the village was a very small stream — north of the village this was merely a ditch that was crossable by vehicles and which provided bulletproof cover to infantry within it, while the length of the stream south of the village was impassible to vehicles. The stream was also lined by brush. A few small woods provided additional areas of cover. The edge of the village of Alt Zeschdorf was on the German baseline; the church steeple there had an excellent field of view for the German F.O. Because the fields had been soaked by heavy rains, all off-road movement by tanks required a cross check, and there was a small chance that a tank which failed its cross check would become permanently bogged down.
In our game, the Soviets attacked with a full infantry battalion, with three infantry companies — each with two platoons armed with rifles and LMGs and one platoon armed with SMGs. Organic support included an 80mm mortar battery, a 76mm IG battery, a battery of 45mm ATGs, and HMGs. Additional support was provided by eight SU-76 self-propelled guns, as well as off board artillery in the form of a large 122mm battery, which was restricted to firing four pre-planned bombardments on the first four turns of the game. All Soviet units were rated Confident Trained.
The German defenders consisted of two small companies of Heer grenadiers. Each company had two infantry platoons. Each platoon had an attached HMG and two Panzerfausts. Each company also had one Panzerschrek team. In support were two 75mm PaK40 antitank guns and an 80mm mortar battery, plus a an off board battery of 105mm howitzers. By scenario rule, one German company had to be set up along the rail line, and the second company had to be set up in the vicinity of Schoenfliess. All German units were rated Confident Veteran.
Reinforcing the Germans, as very delayed reserves (rolling to enter on Turn 5), were two platoons of dismounted Panzergrenadiers, and a platoon of four Tiger II tanks! However, due to a shortage of fuel, each King Tiger would have to roll for possible breakdown en route to the battlefield. The Soviet players were not informed about the German reserves.
Objectives: The Soviet objective was to take and hold as much key terrain as possible, and the German objective was to stop them. Accordingly, the rail line and the two villages were each worth 2 victory points if completely controlled by one side. Partial control of each objective would give each side 1 victory point.
The Germans deployed their forward company dug in along the rail line, with each platoon placed to block one of the two roads coming from the Soviet set up area. The rearward German company set up with one platoon in the houses of Schoenfliess, supported by the two PaK40s, while the other platoon deployed to the rear of the village, along with the mortars.
The Soviets set up behind the hedge-lined road that served as their jump off point, and began the game by advancing their infantry on a broad front (they had so many teams there were hardly any other options!), supported by the SU-76s. The Soviets had anticipated the German starting locations, thus their pre-planned artillery bombardment struck one of the German platoons and pinned it, sparing the advancing Soviet infantry some casualties as they crossed no-man’s land.
The Germans responded with artillery and mortar barrages that caused casualties and pinned some Soviet units. German bombardments and small arms fire would continue to rake the Soviet infantry throughout the game. Soviet artillery and mortars knocked out the German antitank guns and caused some casualties among the German infantry.
The Soviets achieved a degree of success on their extreme left flank. Two platoons reached an undefended portion of the railway line. One of those platoons then bounded forward to take cover in the stream near the village, while the second platoon turned to assault the flank of the weakened German platoon holding the rail line. This assault caused a few casualties and forced the survivors of the German platoon to fall back to the village.
Unfortunately for the Soviets, this was their high-water mark. Two attempted assaults on the village were repulsed with heavy losses, and the Soviets lacked enough troops in the area to try again. Meanwhile, on the Soviet right, the Soviets finally managed to close up on the rail line, but every assault against the German defenders on that flank was repulsed and pinned down by defensive fire. The heroic (and lucky!) defense of this lone German platoon prevented the Soviets from controlling the rail line, and also stopped the Soviets on this flank from advancing on the village.
Once the Panzergrenadiers and three Tiger IIs arrived at Alt Zeschdorf and started advancing on Schoenfliess, the battered Soviets threw in the towel and the game was over. The Soviets got 1 VP for controlling part of the rail line, and the Germans won 5 VPs for a major German victory!
Our game thus mirrored the historical result of this battle. The Germans were able to stop all Soviet attacks in this area for several days before being being forced to withdraw by Soviet breakthroughs at other locations.
- TJ