Scenario and recreation of this battle using the wargame Rommel, by Sam Mustafa. Includes the rules for the scenario and an AAR.
You can download a zip with the scenario, including order of battle and terrain setup, and all the cards ready to be cut. This contains everything needed for playing except the table and the rulebook:
https://cloud.ajimenez.es/index.php/s/mXknGWLYBE4Z6TL
It can easily be played at 2h if both players know the rules, but if they are new to the rulebook, it can go to 3h. Especially if they don’t anything about operations!
After Action Report
Situation: 10 February 1943. The siege of Leningrad (St Petersburg) is advacing slowly, but the Russians don’t have too much time. Thanks to the frozen Ladoga lake and river, they have been able to barely supply the city. On Dec-Jan. 1943 the URSS launched Operation Iskra, which cut the germans out of Ladoga and any communication with Finland. After that, they launched a much more ambitious plan, Operation Polar Star, in which the 55th Soviet Army would attack the siege from the south and from there a new offensive would be launched to Estonia. Emilio Esteban Infantes, from the Spanish Blue Division, saw the buildup of the 55th Army and decided to mount a defense on Krasny Bor, a urban area key for the operation. This is a refight using the Rommel wargame, in which the fight will be somewhat simplified (first time with this ruleset!).
07:00 The Blue Divison deploys at Krasny Bor, while the 4th Polizei SS, with some armor, deploys on each flank.
07:00 63rd Guards from the Soviet army take the south flank (left), the 43º rifles the front, and the 122nd Tank focuses on keeping the open areas free of tanks on the north.
08:00 The russians start the offensive slowly, keeping the battle line.
09:00 Conscripts from the 43º rifles start attacking the germans at the forest, without much success, despite the impressive artillery support. The German tanks reagroup and let the Russian tanks take the field.
10:30 In the south flank the germans try an offensive, but it fails hard. They suffer heavy loses and they are forced to retreat.
12:00 In the south, russians take almost everything, with the Panzergrenadiers reagrouping in Krasny Bor. The Stugs on the north are mounting an impressive defense, and russian tanks are suffering a lot trying to take this flank.
14:00 Eventually russians overwhelm the north and south flank, not without a lot of loses. A few tanks escape to the city and start coordinating a defense behind spanish lines.
16:00 The spanish, which have been preparing defenses all day, defend against the constant russian attacks, which were already weakened by the german vanguard. After several assaults, they give up.