Graviteam Tactics Mius Front / Typhoon Rising - From the 150th Tank Brigade's War Diary: There is More Than Just Objectives

The new Typhoon Rising DLC expands the already existent 1941 content on the Eastern Front. If playing as the Soviets, the starring role is for the 150th Tank Brigade, a relatively weak force consisting of T-34s, T-50s and motorized infantry.

The morning of 30SEP1941 finds part of my forces fending the aggressive attempts of the German 10th Motorized Infantry Division along the Zholkevshina-Khokhlovka road. The town of Zholkevshina  first came under attack and I chose to defend it with a fortress mentality, totally inappropriate for an enemy with great mobility.

It's pouring. My combined forces (infantry and T-34 tanks) can barely see in the distance. In this screenshot, my troops take cover inside the houses of Zholkevshina.

My tanks, deeply into the muddy backyards of Zholkevshina. I feared the German AT guns so much that I didn't dare to go and confront the enemy in the open. I was expecting the enemy to attack from the southwest (far background). Enemy artillery starts falling. A detachment of infantry starts to suffer under the German shells.

The shelling lasted more than 5 minutes, obscuring our lines of sight.

Ten minutes later, it became apparent that the enemy was throwing a flanking move from the northwest. Big shock for my command. Our northwest positions were already very weak because of the artillery barrage, so I move a couple of T-34s to deal with this threat.

In this screenshot, lines of fire are shown in orange and green. The tanks had a great display of machine-gunning, catching German infantry in the open.

A screenshot from the German point of view.

Just to be completely sure that the Germans are not getting into Zholkevshina, I take the rest of my tanks to the very edge of the village. In the background, many buildings are on fire.

We held the village and the objective was ours at the end of the engagement. Our infantry losses amounted to almost a company. We didn't lose any tanks.

But shortly thereafter I found out that the Germans had surrounded the village because I have concentrated my forces in one spot. The forces depicted here are now encircled.

This unique wargame certainly makes you think beyond the short-lived satisfaction of holding an objective. 

Cheers,