The Battle of Targul Frumos – Rumania 1944

Myself, Art F. and my friend Mark, aka the GamesPoet got together this week to playtest a battle of my new D-Day to Berlin Sourcebook called Bagration to Berlin. This is the Eastern Front from Spring 1944 to the end of the war in 1945.

Of interesting note is that I took Russ Lockwood’s advice used 12mm scale pieces for all of the MECH units and 15mm scale pieces for the INF and ART units. We all thought it looked great for the scale of the game.

In the Gallery below you will see the Battalion single stand units. Many of them have colored dots. These are reminder of different rules. The key is below.

KEY

Pink: Detachment Strength
Green: Veteran Morale
Yellow: Poor Morale
#1: Engineer
US Halftracks: Russian Recon Battalions
Cards: These are staff cards that allow different special rules for the Battalion resting on top of them.
#7: The number denotes the Battalions parent Division. this is helpful when it is time to count up how many Battalions are on the field for a Division Morale Check.
Swords: These mark Division Boundary Lines
Tiles: I experimented with 4″ square tiles as my hills. We all liked them. I plan on cutting up 51/2″ squares from foam board and mounting the tiles on them. I will then fill in the gap between the two surfaces and after painting should have some nice looking hills.

The Bagration to Berlin rules are done and will be released in late March 2022.

ROMANIA, MAY 1944

As the German Army was being driven back west by the Soviet Army, the Division Grossdeutschland commanded by Lieutenant General Von Manteuffel AKA The Panzer Baron, made a gallant stand in and around the village of Targul Frumos, in northeast Romania. In this engagement the Veteran experience and skill of Grossdeutschland commanders and soldiers
halted the attacks of the Soviets who were seeking to deprive the Germans of the Romanian oil fields.

The Battle of Targul Frumos began on 2 May 1944 with a Soviet artillery bombardment followed by waves of T-34s and infantry across a broad front. The Veteran soldiers of the Grossdeutschland allowed the tanks to drive over their defensive positions and engaged the lagging infantry. The tanks, now without infantry support, were systematically engaged and destroyed by concealed anti-tank guns and assault guns.

During this battle the Soviet IS-2s appeared and the German tanks at a range of 2000 meters. A few escaped the Tigers but were pursued by a company of more Panzer IV’s and knocked out.