BLOCKING ACTION AT LIPKI*
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DATE: 3 July 1941*
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BATTLE TYPE: Soviet Union vs. Germany meeting engagement*
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Two-Player PBEM Game*
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Near BORISOV, RUSSIA:  During the opening stages of Barbarossa, the first great pincer movements on the Central Front occurred between the cites of Bialystok and Minsk. As a result of the encirclement of four Soviet armies in the pocket, the Soviet high command was forced to commit whatever units were available in an effort to form a new defensive line. Time became the prime objective the Soviets were fighting for.To gain more, a crack unit-the 1st Moscow Motor Rifle Division-was sent to intercept Guderian's 18th Panzer Division as it struck towards Smolensk. If Smolensk were to fall, Moscow would be no more than 230 miles behind the front line. The enemy had to be slowed if they could not be stopped, no matter what the cost. A little more then six miles east of Borisov, near the village of Lipki, the two armored spearheads met in a series of clashes.*
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AFTERMATH: When the T-34s and KV-2s first loomed in sight, the advancing German units were struck with momentary terror at the size of the Soviet tanks. Up until that time, they had encountered only the smaller T-26 and BT models. But the Germans were quick to recover. Soon the light Russian support tanks were aflame, and the German gunners, by employing superior fire and movement, managed to score hits against the tracks and other soft spots of the T-34s and KV-2s. Like so many other Russian counterattacks that summer, the futile one near Lipki collapsed.*
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NOTES: This scenario is based off of Avalon Hill's Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) annual '92 scenario A44 with some minor modifications.*
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Sources:  ASL Scenario A44*
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Design by:  Don Lazov*