The Royal Opponent*
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Date: August 13, 1944*
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Battle Type: German Assault vs Soviet Defend*
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Design: James Quinn*
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On August 10, 1944 the Red Army successfully crossed the Vistula River and established a bridgehead near the town of Sandomierz.  Reacting strongly to this threat the German Army organized several counterattacks to throw the Soviets back.  These hasty counterstrokes were defeated and by the 12th the bridgehead had expanded to an approximate depth of 10 km.  After interrogating several captured "tongues" the Soviets knew to expect a renewed German efforts on the 13th.*
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(For German Player) Your mission is to recapture the town of Mokre.  This town has been in Soviet hands only briefly so the defenders will not be dug in and will lack heavy weapons.  The presence of large Soviet tank forces are confirmed, including Heavy Tank units equipped with the IS-II.*
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To accomplish your mission you will command a force of the new King Tiger tanks supported by a company of infantry.  As a note of caution, the new super tanks are untested and have experienced mechanical unreliability during the advance from the railhead to their jumping off point.*
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(For Soviet Player) Your mission is to retain control over Mokre.  To aid in the defense of this key terrain your force of infantry and medium tanks will be supplemented by a platoon of IS-II tanks from the 71st Guards Heavy Tank Regiment.*
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AFTERMATH - The engagement at Mokre was the first time the IS-II and the King Tiger faced each other in battle.  The Soviets had only that day captured their first examples of this new tank in another German counterattack a few km east of Mokre.*
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Whether due to time constraints or over-confidence in the superiority of their equipment, the German attack lacked finesse.  With minimal reconnaissance the King Tigers rolled off Hill 272 and into the Soviet position.  Commanding the IS-II platoon was Guards Senior Lt. Udalov who had ordered his gunners to hold fire until 700 meters.  When the Soviet guns opened fire they immediately knocked out one King Tigers and set another on fire.  The German advance broke.  As the King Tigers shifted into reverse they found themselves pursued by Udalov from the front and flanked by another of his Stalin's.  Recognizing the grave situation the Germans broke off the engagement and withdrew their force.  The engagement had cost the Germans three of their new King Tigers, all credited to Udalov, without any offsetting Soviets tank losses.*
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