FoW: MW Cossacks vs FJ

Kent and I managed a 1500 pt game on Wednesday using the new Cauldron mission- we rolled for which of the missions we would run. Unfortunately I forgot to put the memory card back in the camera so didn't get any pictures- others would argue the film was confiscated by the komissar so word of their poor performance ould not get back to STAVKA.

I ran:
HQ + sappers
5x mounted cossacks
13x dismoutned cossacks (attached to the dismounted company)
4x 45mm guns (2 attached to the big infantry)
3x scouts- infiltrate
5x shermans (FT)
4x SU 76
sporadic I 153s

Kent's FJ had:
HQ wth 2x stummelwerfers
2x Full FJ
3x pak 38s- attahed to the first paltoon
3x stugs
Limited Stukas

The game started well- except my infantry and scouts ended up in different quandrants so I couldn't use infiltrate- but I could start close enough to lift GTG). My infantry snuck though a wood to assault on turn 1 but my assault was woeful- I managed to kill 4 teams for the loss of 13 cossacks and so gutted my main platoon- rolling 7 then 8 dice in two turns of assualts I managed 1 kill per round and lost 3-4 stands vs the 4 FJ fighting for their lives and managed ot only kill the last 2 standsw with the remants of my company in the third orund of assaults!

So turn 2 the shermans were thrown into finish off the platoon- and paks. Again my dice deserted me and although the Shermans got the FJ below half strength they lost one tank and bailed two others, the two surivors pulled back and failed morale (that is 5 out of 6 failed morale tests for my tanks of late) and my battalion commander was just out of range for a re-roll- grr. Turn 4 the stugs arrived and the baalance of pwoer swung- time to sue my air support! I managed ot faila  firepower test with the I-153s and so only bailed a stug with their fire- and it promptly passed its motivation. On turn 5 Kent as just able to launch an assualt at my scouts and kill them for no losses- again my assualt dice didn't help) and consolidated close enough to contest the objective. From there it was all over as I was out of infantry and Kent broke my small platoon.

4-3 to Kent- I got the pak 38s (SU 76s finished them off) and the first FJ platoon (by killing every team!)

An interesting game where I should have done much, much better than I did. Kent hung in there and managed to come back at the end for the win but it could have gone either way.

For the next game I am tempted to drop the air and scouts and downgrade the Sukas to conscripts to squeeze in small (7 tank) company of Stuarts for more zippiness. I'm not sold on the conscript support idea (especially for the SU 76s) but we will see how it works out. The force would look like this:
 

MW Cossacks      

            HQ (incls Komissar)            35

4x        HQ Sappers  75

5x        Mounted Cossacks (SMGs)           115

13x      Dismounted Cossacks        250

4x        45mm AT Guns        120

5x        Shermans (FT)         485

4x        SU 76 (FC)    180

7x        Stuarts (FC)  240

                        1500

Craig