Fire & Sword:
Scenario Preview, Part Six
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
July 2024

Fire & Sword is the largest Panzer Grenadier game we’ve made in fifteen years, and it represents enormous effort I can’t even start to measure. It’s taken us a while to bring to completion, but the result is a spectacular game that’s worthy to become the centerpiece of the Panzer Grenadier series. Until we come up with something even more glorious, anyway.

Fire & Sword is set in late 1944, mostly on the Hungarian plain south and west of Budapest. The Red Army is at the peak of its operational skill, while the Germans retain their capabilities despite having suffered massive defeats over the prior year and a half, and have brought new weapons to the battlefield (as have the Soviets).

Designer Philippe Léonard has crafted a masterpiece. Let’s have a look at its sixth chapter:

Chapter Six
First Battle for Székesfehérvár
A perceived lack of progress in the Soviet drive on Budapest caused the deeply dissatisfied Stalin to assign the main weight of the offensive to Marshal Fyodor Tolbukhin’s 3rd Ukrainian Front. That also meant shifting 46th Army from 2nd to 3rd Ukrainian Front’s command.

Soviet troops and tanks cross a Hungarian river, 1944.

The mission remained unchanged: encircle Budapest from the west. The left flank of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, the 4th Guards Army sent forward in November from the STAVKA reserve, would screen the drive on the Hungarian capital and capture Székesfehérvár (Stuhlweißenburg in German). Székesfehérvár (“Royal White Castle”), Fehérvár to the locals, stood between the two great lakes of western Hungary, making it a vital transportation node where eight highways and six railway lines came together. It also housed the Danuvia Works, Hungary’s largest ammunition plant, and other factories that churned out most of Hungary’s semi-finished aluminum and copper, and chocolate candy bars. Aside from its location, Fehérvár represented a strategic objective all on its own.

On 20 December, the 3rd Ukrainian Front started its general offensive across the breadth of the front line held by Army Detachment Fretter-Pico in Transdanubia (Dunántúl region). Fehérvár would be one of the first objectives.
 
Scenario Twenty-Seven
Attack from the South
20 December 1944
South of Székesfehérvár, Hungary
The renewed Soviet offensive opened with an early morning artillery barrage that fell on a broad line from Tác to Lake Velence. Soon after, vastly superior infantry formations supported by a few tanks and fighter aircraft moved out. In the central sector, south of Székesfehérvár, most of the newly-deployed Hungarian troops abandoned their positions. The Soviets immediately exploited those openings to bypass the German-held sectors instead of attacking the strongpoints frontally. Men from the Soviet 84th Rifle Division, having just been released from the 135th Rifle Corps reserve, infiltrated through the puszta from Bodakoyator to Pötöle.

Conclusion
The precipitate Hungarian withdrawal carried some German panzer grenadiers, anti-aircraft gunners and especially the raw recruits of the 153rd Field Replacement Division with it. At 1130, 1st Panzer Division placed its Panzer Group Hagen under command of the 23rd Panzer Division, and its fourteen Panthers eliminated a number of penetrations in the vicinity of the Börgönd airfield. At 1400, the Germans evacuated the Fövenypuszta hamlet and the panzer grenadiers pulled back behind the railroad. According to the 3rd Ukrainian Front’s daily report, ISU-152 and ISU-122 heavy assault guns provided support for the rifle troops until 1500. Although the German and Hungarian artillery provided excellent support for the defenders and often continued direct fire until the very last moment, most of the positions were lost to the attackers. The German and some Hungarian strongpoints defended themselves stubbornly, all the while subjected to rolling fight-bomber attacks.

The former main line of resistance held on for several hours. The Soviets crossed the railroad behind the panzer grenadiers and at 1800 reached Hill 129, just six kilometers south of Székesfehérvár. In the evening, the Axis troops began to build a new defensive line five kilometers south and southwest of Székesfehérvár.

Notes
The Soviets are on the attack, with infantry and heavy assault guns, but those Panther tanks are going to make their advance very costly. The Soviets don’t have the numbers to simply swarm the German armor, so this is going to take some careful play.

Scenario Twenty-Eight
Outflanking Székesfehérvár, From the West
21 December 1944
South-west of Székesfehérvár, Hungary
Since mid-December, the 23rd Panzer Division had sustained multiple Soviet attacks along an east-west line anchored in separate strongpoints and hamlets in the puszta. In the morning, the Soviet 41st Guards Rifle Division attacked the railway station and the southwestern edge of Szabadbattyán while, on the other side of the canal, the 252nd and the 84th Rifle Divisions advanced. The weak German battalion pulled back into the woods northeast of Szabadbattyán, allowing strong Soviet forces to infiltrate across the railway line and insert themselves between two other German battalions. An armored group and a halftrack-mounted battalion dispatched from the 1st Panzer-Division arrived to re-establish the defensive line.

Conclusion
Soviet tactics called for assault parties to avoid any fighting with the German strongpoints and preferred bypassing them instead. That forced the Germans to try to close the gaps in their line by sending strong reinforcements. A platoon of Panthers showed up from 23rd Panzer Division, and 1st Panzer Division sent its armored Battle Group Philipp. Philipp’s counterattack failed completely in the face of vastly numerically superior Soviet forces. These Soviet forces, supported by 20 AFVs, breached the main combat line and pushed forward to the road fork 4 kilometers to the north-east and also to the southern shore of Lake Sós, just south of Székesfehérvár. At noon, Soviet tanks (probably from 366th Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment) and infantry (252nd Rifle Division) entered the industrial area of Székesfehérvár on the northwest side of the city. The situation of the German forces still fighting in the southern outskirts of the city became increasingly precarious under the threat of encirclement.

Notes
The Soviets are on the attack once again, with heavy assault guns supporting their infantry, against a stout German defense backed by tanks. Complicating things, the Soviets must not suffer excessive casualties while achieving their goals. This is going to be a tough one.

Scenario Twenty-Nine
Outflanking Székesfehérvár, From the East
21 December 1944
East of Székesfehérvár, Hungary
The Soviet 7th Mechanized Corps had been held back to exploit towards Mór and Várpalota, north-west of Székesfehérvár, once the rifle divisions had taken the city. However, German resistance delayed the whole assault, altering Soviet plans. In the morning hours, the 7th Mechanized Corps drove into the breach opened between Lake Velence and the eastern suburbs of Székesfehérvár, even though the anticipated mass breakthrough had not yet been achieved. Only one trafficable road ran across the corps sector, and thus the Soviet forward detachments only left their jump-off positions around noon.

Conclusion
The defenders, an armored battle group from 3rd Panzer Division, had been split up into small units and thrown into battle in a piecemeal fashion. The forward detachment of the Soviet 63rd Mechanized Brigade attacked along the main highway to Székesfehérvár. At 1400, they ran into 14 German AFVs blocking the road on the north-west shore of Lake Velence. Confined to a very small area between the lake and open moorland, the tanks couldn’t maneuver and the Soviets knocked out half of them (six falling to a single 45mm anti-tank gun).

Next in line, the forward elements of the 41st Guard Tank Brigade also reached their objectives and swung towards Point 159, 5.5 kilometers north-east of Székesfehérvár. Flanking artillery and tank fire from the city suburbs compelled the brigade to turn its front line north-westwards. Two companies of Panthers, supported by another company of assault guns, moved forward through the vineyards and engaged the T34/85 and JS-2 tanks. More fighting erupted in the suburbs. Initially the German counterattack made good progress but, after having covered a distance of two kilometers, they were forced to withdraw westwards by the flanking attack of 30 Soviet tanks from the south. Meanwhile, two companies of Pz IV tanks started a counterattack from the east, supported by elements of the Hungarian 1st Hussar Division. Although the Hussars indeed reached the village, they were counterattacked and driven back.

At the end of the day, even Soviet reports noticed the failure of the 7th Mechanized Corps to reach the assigned objectives. The German resistance and the limited opportunities for maneuver in the bottleneck between Lake Velence and Székesfehérvár, as well as the indecisive actions of the Soviet corps, led to a confused situation in which armor spearheads were fighting among infantry and the attack pace was far too slow.

Notes
Now we get a swirling tank battle, with both sides bringing in waves of reinforcements, lots of T34/85 tanks slugging it out with Panthers and Panzer IV medium tanks. All in a tight battlefield where no one can hide.

Scenario Thirty
Counterblow at Úrhida
22 December 1944
Úrhida, Hungary, 22 December 1944
During the previous evening, panzer grenadiers from 23rd Panzer Division fell back to the line of the Úrhida-Székesfehérvár highway. At that point, they had only 60-70 combat-fit men left per battalion. During the night, the Soviets attacked in an enveloping maneuver from the southeast and took Úrhida. On the morning of the 22nd, Battle Group Huppert of 1st Panzer Division, with 23 tanks reinforced with additional heavy Royal Tiger tanks, attacked in an effort to recapture Úrhida, destroying the Soviet forces in the area of Point 169 and then hold the sector against the inevitable Soviet response.

Conclusion
The attack commenced in the early afternoon and the Germans managed to recapture two-thirds of Úrhida by 1600. While making its attack on Úrhida, the German battle group received considerable Soviet AT and mortar fire which damaged all six Royal Tigers Heavy Tank Battalion 503 committed to action here (five of them suffered serious damage). But by 1800 they had ejected the Soviets from Point 169 and by nightfall the Germans had reoccupied the rest of Úrhida. The bulk of the battle group remained in the town while some of its elements secured nearby positions. Most of the Tigers remained in Úrhida for the night before withdrawing for repairs.

Notes
The Germans attack with plenty of tanks but probably not enough infantry; the Soviets don’t have a lot of anti-tank capability but they do have sufficient infantry to seek out and destroy German tanks foolish enough o come close without their own protection.

Scenario Thirty-One
White Castle
22 December 1944
Székesfehérvár, Hungary
The weak panzer grenadier battalions guarding the western side of Székesfehérvár faced constant attacks while other Soviet units bypassed their strongpoints and forced the German units to retreat even further. By noon on the 21st the Soviet tanks and infantry had reached the railway line at Sárpentele, crossed it and entered Székesfehérvár’s industrial area on the northwest side of the city. The defenders’ situation became increasingly precarious as an improvised battle group tried to prevent the Soviets from reaching the city’s western perimeter. Now scratching the very bottom of the barrel, the group included two command tanks, two radio and two engineer half-tracks, and two Wespe self-propelled howitzers – all vehicles never intended for front-line combat – supported by the 23rd Panzer Division’s palace guard company. This ramshackle formation engaged the Soviets in the area of the Danuvia Works.

Conclusion
After vicious close combat, the Germans with the help of a few German fighter-bombers drove the Soviets back to the southern part of the city. The Soviets suffered heavy casualties and lost 42 prisoners. When a halftrack-mounted battalion from Group Weymann of the 3rd Panzer Division forced the Soviets back to within one kilometer of the railway line, the roads leading north and northwest out of Székesfehérvár had been secured for a few more hours. Shortly after midnight on 22 December, the remnants of 23rd Panzer Division left the city. The Soviets successfully entered Székesfehérvár during the following night after still more savage urban combat.

Notes
It’s a small scenario, which is good for the Germans, because they’re attacking without much force. They are lucky that the Soviets have no tanks, but that’s about as far as their luck goes.

Scenario Thirty-Two
Commando Jaguar
23 December 1944
Úrhida, Hungary
In the sector held by the 1st Panzer Division west of the Sarviz canal, the Soviets continued their assault. The 41st Guards Rifle Division supported by the self-propelled artillery threatened Úrhida and the road from Székesfehérvár to Lake Balaton. A battle group from 23rd Panzer Division recaptured Úrhida

in the evening hours of 22 December. The same battle group still defended Úrhida on the following morning. At 0200, Lt. Eugen Weyde, code-named “Pankoff,” took his “Jaguar” reconnaissance troop, a unit of German military intelligence (the “Abwehr”) equipped with captured T34/85s, into the Soviet lines to gather more information and trying to disrupt the oncoming Soviet attack. At 0600, the Soviet infantry started another assault on Point 179 with wild cries of “Hurrah!”. Making use of the melee that ensued, the German T34/85s reached the Soviet lines incognito.

Conclusion
Fully informed by “Pankoff’s” Trojan horses, the Germans prepared a surprise attack before the Soviets could launch their own. The German tanks opened fire from the Úrhida church forcing the Soviets to pull back at 0715. It seems that the Germans had no intention of pursuing the Soviets and they kept firing from the protection of the town buildings. At 1030, the Soviets launched another attack against Úrhida. The Jaguar detachment opened the fire on the Soviet troops from behind, while Pankoff’s men, armed with silenced machine pistols, gunned down the Soviet battalion commanders at the moment they realized that the German Tigers were not firing on Pankoff’s disguised T34/85s.

At 1120, the Jaguar commando returned safely to Úrhida and delivered a full report of the Soviet positions. At 1200 German tanks, including Pankoff’s T34/85s, opened fire on the exact positions of the Soviet anti-tank guns and headquarters. Pankoff and his men successfully delayed the Soviet attack for four and a half hours and inflicted serious losses. The German-Hungarian defenders rebuffed several more company- and battalion-strength attacks, but during the night the Soviets successfully entered Székesfehérvár from the south-east and the city fell after intense urban combat.

Notes
We get to use that German-colored T34/85! The Jaguar units were much like the more-famous Einheit Stielau that operated in the Ardennes at the exact same time, except they were staffed and led by actually competent intelligence agents (rather than bumbling SS militia buffoons), who spoke Russian fluently (most of them were Russians).

And that’s all for Chapter Six. Next time, it’s Chapter Seven.

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Mike Bennighof is president of Avalanche Press and holds a doctorate in history from Emory University. A Fulbright Scholar and NASA Journalist in Space finalist, he has published an unknowable number of books, games and articles on historical subjects. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife and three children; he misses his dog, Leopold.

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