War Without Mercy ETO (id:#66984)
Prior Publication: Hazardous Movement
Lajosmizse, Hungary 1944-12-01 ()
Designer: Chuck Hammond
Starter kit scenario?:    Deluxe scenario?:
 
Balance:
RussianGerman
31.25%

Overview:

Stalin entrusted the Marshal of the Soviet Union, Rodion Malinovsky, with the conquest of Budapest. The Marshal intended to move aggressively on the city, using tactics reminiscent of the German blitzkrieg. Highly mobile elements of the 7th Guards Army were to advance no less 80 kilometers in the first 36 hours. They broke through the front, leaving to slower moving infantry the task of enveloping and mopping up any remaining pockets of resistance. In late October, this plan met with initial success. The 2nd Guards Mechanized Corps penetrated the Axis lines an advanced rapidly toward Budapest., bypassing settlements occupied by Hungarian and German units still putting up stubborn resistance.
Attacker: Russian (2nd Guards Mechanized Brigade)
Defender: German (133rd AA Artillery Regiment with remnants)  
5.5 turns
    Players: 2     OBA: None     Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:18.0 D:16.0
AFVs: A:5
ISU-152
SU-122 x 2
T-34/85 x 2

AFVs: D:4
PzKpfw VIE (L) x 2
SPW 251/1 x 2

Guns: A:1
82mm BM obr. 37
D:2
8.8cm FlaK 18
3.7cm FlaK 43

Victory Conditions:

Exit VP: Building Control VC: Area Control VC:
Unit Based VC: LOS Style VC: CVP Cap:
Misc Rules: Grain: Brush, Bldgs: Ground level only. A: AE (H1.22) and Sappers (B28.8). D: FB (B23.9)
Overlays: X14 X18 Wd1
Errata (source)
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Scenario info

Last Played:
DateReporterOpponentBal.ResultTimeComments
2026-05-20(D) Eric Partizan Eric vs Douglas Leslie German win
2026-05-20(A) Douglas Leslie vs Eric Partizan Eric German winFun scenario where I came unstuck by completely misreading the defensive set up. There were so few units covering the exit option that I assumed that Eric must have gone for the HIP group option and that they were lying in wait to ambush the Russians if they went for the board edge. As it transpired, Eric had misread the card and was defending the wrong edge! The Russians accordingly attacked into the teeth of the German defences and had two Tiger tanks and assorted elite units whose arrival I could look forward to on turn four. Lots of crazy stuff happened. For the Russians, one leader went berserk while trying to rally another leader and the other leader decided to join him in the suicide charge. For the Germans, Eric managed to pull off the unique feat of malfunctioning both of his onboard guns with their first shots. In the end, the Russians couldn't clear the victory zone and I conceded on the penultimate turn.
2025-12-29(D) Maurizio Mai vs Fabio Aliprandi German win5 hrsA scenario I want to replay as Attacker. Very interesting dynamics. I think it is slightly balanced towards the German, but very close. VCs: Russians need to either control a 7 hexes area or exiting, in any case without loosing too many units. The Germans need to cover a potential "sudden death" exit strategy from the Russian and the VC area. Russian set up one group relatively close to exit, but need part of the 2nd group (AFVs) to reach the necessary VPs. As German, there is a choice of two group of reinforcements. I picked the Inf+AA, and used to cover the victory locations (buildings in the village). The Russians decided to attack on two directions, first push on the north exit side, from east, and moved the reinforcements from south towards the center. I set up the 88L to cover the exit. The Russians could not use the FT or the DCs and were not able to break through the center. Despite having the smoke with the MTR, the 88L was able to KIAed the first Russian tank near the exit hex. At that point the Russians tried to redirect the 1st group to the center, avoiding the 88L position and looking to achieve the victory locations. As I said, nice game, I will play it again. Good choice on both sides in the planning phase.
2025-12-29(A) fabio aliprandi vs Maurizio Grassi German win
2025-04-08(D) John Garlic vs Jonathan Kay German winExcellent scenario! As Germans I took the HIP infantry over the Tiger reinforcements and was able to delay Russians long enough to avoid exit VC.

2025 eASL Open
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ActionDate
Dougban Added a playing2026-05-20 17:44:53
Bongiovanni Added a playing2026-05-20 15:58:47
Bongiovanni Linked the scenario to ROAR2026-02-20 17:35:20
toffee Added a playing2026-01-07 08:25:11
Maurizio.Grassi Added a playing2026-01-04 07:44:03
FileDescriptionUserViews
Hazmo44 Setup File (Hazmo44 Setup File.vsav)VASL SetupBongiovanni884
(soviet-german.png)ImageHutch837
Hazmo44 VASL Boards (Hazmo44Boards.png)Map ImageChuck796
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Statistics:
Avg Rating: 7.86Votes: 7
Views: 0
To-Play list count: 0
Estimated Play time: 6.6 hours
Recorded Games: 6
Archive recorded plays:
Russian0
German6
Drawn:0

ROAR Data: (as of today)
War Without Mercy [Confirmed]
[A] Russian 5
[D] German 5
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