Rob Bottos  - May 2, 2005 12:43 am (#9704 Total: 9705)  
On the table: Fortress Berlin, River of Death, Wilderness War. Reading:
Crucible of War by Fred Anderson, The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson, The
Glorious Cause by Jeff Shaara, The Last Mission by Jim Smith and Malcolm
McConnell. 

Fortress Berlin, April 30, 2005. 

My friend Ralph Shelton and I sat down to a game of Fortress Berlin on
April 30, 2005. An ominous day rich in world War II history indeed. This
would be my first time playing this game and I was very impressed with
the game components. I only hope the On to Berlin components are of the
same calibre. 

After punching out the counters, we randomly chose sides, Ralph got the
Russians and I was the Germans. About half of the German set up is
pre-determined with the remaining Volksturm and Anti-tank units freely
deployed. Initial set up is crucial for the Germans, because if one
critical road junction is left ungaurded, the Soviets have the potential
to role right into downtown Berlin and then it's game over Adolph! 

I set my forces up as best I could ands awaited the Soviet onslaught.
Turn 1 saw the Soviets attacking the northern district of Pankow and the
airfield at Tegel. The 12th Gaurds Tank Corps was all but wiped out as
it attempted to force it's way through my defences in Pankow. The
Luftwaffe forces at Tegel held their own and inflicted heavy casulties
on the attacking 1st Polish Army. 

For reinforcements, the Germans received the 9th Parachute Division and
the 11SS Panzer Grenadier ("Nordland") Division. I placed the 9th
Parachute Division in reserve near the Flak tower at 5208. The 11SS took
up position just east of the Flak Tower at 6113 . I hoped to use these
Divisions to counter attack any Soviet breakthroughs in the North or
East. I was relying on my Volksturm and anti-tank units to slow up the
soviets on my outer defences. Turn 1 would be as good as things got for
the defenders of Berlin. 

Turn 2: I began shifting reserves and decided to abandon Gatow and Tegel
airfields. The Soviets renewed their onslaught aginst my Northern
defences and continued to reduce my position at Tegel. The soviet attack
expanded to hit my line in the north East as well as the East. A soviet
breakthrough in the North and North East was imminent. The Svviet
assaults against my Eastern flank were stymied by several disruptions of
the lead Soviet Columns. 

Turn3: Soviet airpower and offboard artillery was having a telling
attack on my defence. I saw an opportunity to attack the Soviets in the
North and dispatched part of the 11th SS as well as the 9th Parachute. I
inflicted some losses on the Soviets, but my spearheads were soon
surrounded and swallowed up. I would have been better off allowing the
Soviets to become more strung out before I launched any counter attacks.
Fighting in Treptow began to pick up in intensity and Panzer Division
"Muncheburg" and the LVI Panzer Korps vigorously defended the river
crossings and put a hurting on the attacking Soviets. In the West, the
Soviets ran up against my determined bands of Hitler Jugend reinforced
by the Gatow garrison. Their high morale allowed them to stop the
Soviets in their tracks. 

Turn 4: still so sign of the Luftwaffe, and after 3 turns of heavy
Volksturm reinforcements, I lost a unit to desertion. The 20th Panzer
Grenadier division took up a defensive position in Charlottenburg to
prevent a sudden Soviet breakthrough from the East. I held the 18th
Panzer Grenadier in reserve near the bunker but deployed the rest of my
reserves to the heavy fighting in Prenzlauerberg and Treptow. I
evacuated the Tempelhof anti-tank units and sent half to Treptow and the
remiander towards my positions near the Naval institute. Sadly, I
neglected my southern front and this turn saw a massive Soviet attack in
that area. The fighting around the Flak Towers in Prenzlauerberg was
extremely fierce. My Volksturm were being ground up and the 9th
Parachute Division and 11th SS suffered heavy casulties. My artillery
attacks from the Reichstag and Treptow and the Flak Towers were the only
things slowing down the soviet offensive. 

Turn 5: The Soviet attack in the South managed to block the escape route
of the 20th Panzer Grenadier Division. The 20th Panzer Grenadier was
forced to fight it's way past a Soviet blocking force in the Gruenwald
but would not be able to exit the map on turn 5. I attempted to scrape
together any forces I could to counter the Soviet breakthrough in
Wilhelmsdorf. I decided I had waited too long to commit the 18th Panzer
Grenadier Division.I would be hard pressed indeed ot hold the Soviet's
to the south side of the Landwehr Canal on turn 6. 

Prenzlauerberg was almost completely overrun, elements of the 11th SS
and the Himmler Gd. were holding out in the the Flak tower at 6013, but
effective resistance in this District was over. The Flak tower at 5208
had fallen, the lions share of the 9th Parachute Division was surrounded
at 5108, and the remaining units were cut off from downtown Berlin by
the Soviet spearhead. The only German units still giving a good account
of themselves were Panzer Division Muncheburg and the LVI Panzer Corps
in Treptow. 

We called the game at the end of turn 5. We'd played for just shy of 12
hours and really enjoyed ourselves. The Soviets had 40 victory points
and I was close behind at 30. The Soviets were set to break into Berlin
proper from the North East in Prenzlauerburg and from the South in
Schoneberg. Soviet efforts in the Spandau and Charlottenburg had been
greatly hampered by fanatical resistance of the Hitler Jugend and the
Gatow Luftwaffe garrison. 

This is a great game. lot's of counters and despite being on the defence
for the majority of the game, there is plenty for the Germans to do. I
agonised about holding the 18th Panzer Grenadier in reserve and was
loathe to commit the SS LAH and Herman Goering Division. 

I think the game has great replay value and that there is still room for
another variant. The German's only get airpower on a roll of 12. I seem
to recall reading somewhere about an ME 262 airbase that was captured in
the closing days of April 1945. The base comander asked permission from
the Americans to let him take off wit hhis ME-262's so they could fly
one last mission against the Russians. Was this unit Adolf Galland's
"Jagdverband 44 (JV.44)". If so, a variant involving the last flight of
the Luftwaffe over Berlin would be cool.