Brian Jordano Points
78° Sturmkompanie
StuG Company
Stalins's Onslaught
1 StuG G Headquarters 95
Add Begleit Riders 30
Combat Platoons
3 StuG G Platoon 285
Upgrade 1 StuG to StH 42 5
Add 3 Begleit Riders 90
3 StuG G Platoon 285
Weapon Platoons
2 Squad Pionner Platoon 155
SMG Panzerfaust 15
Add Supply RSO 25
Support Platoons
3 Tiger Heavy Tank Platoon 645
1 Squad Motorized Scout Platoon 120
Total: 1750
Rnd Vs Mission Table ? Score
1. Cliff Gleason Free for All 8 win 5 2
2. Andrew Wherchan Fighting Withdrawal 16 win 6 1
3. Nelson Glaze Hold the Line 6 win 5 2
Rnd Vs Mission Table ? Score
4. Sam Chinberg Encounter 5 win 4 3
5. Mark Francis Breakthrough 9 loss 2 5
6. Ed Forbe Dare to Win 2 draw 3 1

78th Infanterie (Sturm) Division

A Wuerttemberg division formed at Stuttgart on mobilization from reservists, its headquarters was the form Staff Artillery Commander 5. It was initially sent to the Upper Rhine in September and was in OKH reserve in northern France in May 1940. It was on occupation duty in northern France, until April 1941, when it was sent to Poland. By June it was on the Eastern Front, where it served with Army Group Center in the initial campaign. The division fought at Bialystok and Smolensk and distinguished itself in the battles of Bialoweiza and the Yelnya bend. It also fought in the Battle of Moscow and against the Soviet winter offensive of 1941-42. During that period it dropped the 238th Infantry Regiment from its table of organization and received the 14th Infantry (later Sturm) Regiment from the 5th Infantry Division. The 78th fought in the Rzhev salient and remained on the central sector of the Russian Front. It acquired such an excellent combat record that is was given the honorary title "Sturm" (Storm or Assault) division on January 1, 1943. In 1943, it took part in the Battle of Kursk and in the successful defense of Smolensk and Orsha, before being crushed near Minsk in the massive Soviet summer offensive of 1944.

Three years after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, on 22 June 1944, the Soviets launched Operation Bagragtion with a huge preparatory bombardment. The initial attacks failed with heavy losses, despite the use of special armored assault groups by the 11th Guards Army. By the evening of 23 June, the 78th Sturmdivision had withdrawn back in good order, about 5km to its second defensive line. Problems arose when a Soviet reconnaissance patrol discovered a disused narrow-gauge rail line through the swampy forest between the Sturmdivision and the 256th Grenadierdivision. The 2nd Guards Tank Corps pushed through along the rail line, and the Sturmdivision was outflanked.

On 26 June, the division withdrew again into Orsha, and fell under attack by two Soviet divisions. Meanwhile, the 5th Panzer Division and the Tiger tanks of 505. Schwere Panzer Abteilung arrived to try to stem the Soviet advance. However, by the morning of 27 June, Orsha had fallen, and the road to Minsk was wide open. The Sturmdivision continued to retreat, abandoning its heavy equipment at the Berezina River. Any stragglers risked attack by units of partisans lurking in the forests.

By 5 July, the Sturmdivision had fought from encirclement to encirclement, having conducted a 200km-long fighting withdrawal. The division managed to get clear of the encircling enemy, despite losing the majority of the 78. Sturmdivision and its commander. The division's commander, Lieutenant General Hans Traut, and most of his men were captured. They were not alone, as Army Group Centre lost 17 other divisions completely, with many more severely depleted.

The 78th was reformed at the Muensingen Troop Maneuver Area in late July 1944 by absorbing the 543rd Grenadier Division. It was redesignated the 78th Volksgrenadier Division on October 9, 1944, returned to action in Galacia (southern Poland) in autumn, and again suffered heavy casualties. The division was again largely destroyed in January 1945, when it attempted to block the Russian drive into Upper Silesia. The remnants of this veteran division remained in action despite its losses and finally surrendered at Deutsh-Brod, Czechoslovakia, with the rest of Army Group Center, in May 1945.