British: Doug Bush
German: Bryant Glando
Overview: The British force in this scenario is trying to fight a delaying action, cross a stream, and set up a defense in a group of buildings - all in five turns! The Germans have to pursue the Brit force and try to cut them off from their objective - the "farm" represented by the buildings. 1/2 of boards 19 and 43 are used, along with the St3 overlay. To pull off this complex mission, the Brits have six 457s, two leaders, a hero, and a healthy assortment of support weapons (mmg, lmg, atr, 51mm mtr, Bren "B" carrier). The Germans are pursuing with 8 467s, 2 mmg, 2 lmg, and 2 PzIIAs for good measure. The Germans also have a HIP platoon (2.5 sqd, lmg,8-0) which sets up south of the stream - behind the Brits and between them and their objective. The light armor on the PzIIs and the two ATRs and MGs in the British OB make for an interesting anti-armor contest. The infantry matches up well, with the smaller British numbers being made up for by leadership (a 10-2 and 9-1),! SW, and the hero.
Setup: Bryant set up his Germans first, and with the lack of cover on board 19, set up most of his infantry force within a couple of hexes of 19C5 in and around the field. Both mmgs with 1/2 squads manning and the 9-1 went in the stone building on board 19 (K7). His HIP force went in L5 (247/lmg), M5(467), and H4(467) with the 8-0 in support in M4. My overall plan was to use the woods around 19C1/D1 as my covering force position, and cross the stream east of the hedge running between rows M and L. I left 1.5 squads in the woods around 19I1 to cover that avenue. That force was supposed to make their way through the grain field and to the farm as best they could. I put the Bren carrier in 19G2.
Turn 1: Turn one saw me assault move / advance into my delaying position around 19C1 with three squads, the mmg, atr, mortar, 10-2, and hero - a seemingly potent force. Bryant broke one squad moving into position with 4(+2) attack. One squad with the 9-1 ran down hexrow L toward the stream, acting as bait for the HIP guys, and found the 247/lmg in L5 who broke the leader but only pinned the squad. My Bren decided it was better to get around quickly back to the farm and rather than risk the bog coming out of the stream, I took took the long way ending in motion in 43B2. During German turn 1, Bryant began to shift his main infantry force to the west toward hexrows F and G on board 19 to avoid my delaying force in the woods around C1. His two tanks raced on and drove down the "gap" in the woods at 19K1 and made it to 43F1 and G1, firing on my Bren carrier now running for his life. One of the PzIIs malfed his gun in the process.
Turn 2: The Bren barely escaped when Bryant missed by 1 with the other PzII (whew). With the German tanks occupied, I sent all 1.5 squads still in the woods around 43I1 south into the wheatfield and toward the stream. The 457/lmg continued into the stream and out the other side in the adv phase without taking any fire. At this point, I knew there were still 2 467s and an 8-0 somewhere south of the stream, but I had no clue where. In his turn, Bryant continued to push into the woods around 19G1 to flank my delaying force and get fire into the big wheat field at my guys running for the farm. He took the tank with the broken 20L and drove it into the stream in K5, hoping for a 10fp shot in adv fire on my 457/lmg in K6 (the closest unit to the farm at this point). However, a couple good rolls later and the PzII was destroyed by the LMG, gotta love these early war scenarios. One of his 467s turned up in H4 and started moving towad the farm. His infantry was closing in on ! the Brits now, so I decided it was time to bug out the delaying force and head for the farm.
Turn 3-4: These two turns saw some wild action. I ran the Bren back toward the farm and into M5 hoping to find the other 467 before running my squad in K6 across the road and into the farm complex. I wasn't disappointed. The 467 failed his PAATC, but I immobilized the Bren trying ESB to get into N4, so we had the Bren and a squad staring at each other in M5 at the end of turn 3. The 457/lmg made it across the road, so at this point I had the required MMC in a farm complex house (M7). Turn 4 saw me lose most of the delaying force trying to withdraw, and after Bryant broke a squad which had made it over the stream with a 3.5 (+2) shot I was wondering if any of those guys would make it to the farm. I eventually got across the stream with a 457 the 10-2 and the hero (now wounded) who were all in the stream at 43P1and woods at 43P2. Near the farm, I lost the Bren in CC, but took out the attacking squad with a "3", which freed up the two 247s I had in the stream in L4 to ma! ke a run for the farm on the las t turn. The squad I had in the farm complex at M7 got taken out in CC by 1.5 German squads and a leader (the dice were smoking for the Germans at this point), but not before this sqd had taken out ANOTHER tank with his lmg as it tried to move toward L5 to guard the road (good dice from the Brits now) in the mvmt ph. Still, at this point the Brits only had 2 half-squads and one squad left to try to Banzai into the farm on the last turn. The farm itself had a German 1/2 sqd/lmg to defend it, but the main german infantry was getting even closer.
Turn 5: The first 247 got gunned down by a German squad north of the stream as he tried to run across at N5. The other 1/2 sqd got lucky and survived a 5(+1) MMG shot, and made it adjacent to the farm at L8. This left the 457/10-2 stack to go for it, and they survived a 9(+0) and 4(+1) shot en route to 43O6, prepared to advance into the farm. In his last turn, Bryant's infantry was still north of the stream and too far away to make it into CC with the Brits, so all he could do was setup a poor adv fire shot 8(+5) which didn't have any affect. The game ended with the Brits having a 457, 10-2, and wounded leader in O7 and a 1/2 sqd in melee with a german 1/2 sqd in M9.
Analysis: With all that German firepower, the I think the Brits must setup a delaying force with the good spt weapons and head for the farm with the rest. There are two avenues which the hedge running between rows L and M divides. The wheatfield offers good cover, but slows you down, and makes for many nice overrun targets until you get across the stream. The other side has good cover with the Brush and woods, but crossing the road to get to the farm could be difficult. In retrospect, if I had placed a sqd w/ lmg in 19J0, the ATR in 19F1, and the MMG in 19C1, I would have been able to slow down his armor. I left the "gap" at 19K1 open and almost lost the game because of it. His tanks were able to break right through and into the rear of my forces on turn 1, and would have been able to cut off my infantry from the farm but for the two lucky LMG kills (not really bad shots, at 1 hex, I needed a 4 to kill and 5 to stun). Overall, for the Brits the hardest thing is choosin! g (1) what to leave with the del ay force (2) where to position it, and (3) when to give up the delay and run for the barn. I think the key to the German force is the HIP platoon south of the stream. With the lack of cover on board 19, and having to setup first, the German player has little choice but to put his main infantry in and around the wheatfield on board 19, and attack into the woods. The HIP guys must delay the Brits long enough for the main German force to close in. The designer notes say it isn't worth it to move the HIP guys straight into the farm and setup, but I think it would be a good move. It would force the Brits to dig 2.5 sqds out of the stone buildings, something hard to do while trying to fight a delaying action against 8 squads and 2 tanks. If possible, the German player must find a way to get the tanks south of the stream and between the Brits and the farm. This would setup a nice "hammer and anvil" situation with the German infantry driving the Brits into the tanks - ouch. Ov! erall, this is a great scenario that came down to the last adv fire phase and I highly recommend it.
Accepted the pugnacious challenge of the newly-minted PhD John Slotwinski in this scenario from the Schwerpunkt Vol II pack.
It's a dicy tournament type thingie for sure - 5 turns long and much revolves around the fate of the British Colonel Tod, a 10-2. But hey, if you can handle that, it's a good time.
Interesting situation - the Brits win if they have an unbroken MMC basically inside the walled village on bd 43 at game end. Note that "unbroken" is much easier to achieve than "Good Order", since MMC's in Melee are unbroken but not GO.
The Brits start in an area around the intersection of bds 19 and 43. Hot in pursuit from bd 19 is a short German company of 467's and two PzII's; blocking their way on bd 43 is a delaying force of 2.5 squads, an 8-0, and a LMG, all setting up HIP behind a stream overlay.
The situation seems tailor-made for Col Tod and a few lads to escape toward the village while his erstwhile second-in-command (a rather sullen 9-1) leads the rear guard. Since the Brits only have 6 457's to start with, it's not hard to send 3 squads with the Colonel and throw 3 squads at the Germans.
I also kept the British Hero with his ATR in the rear guard, hoping to nail a PzII. He did bag one, but I think it might be better to send him packing with Colonel Tod toward the VC area; you want that ATR to be around for the end game, and 149's make good Scouts in a pinch.
As an aside, I also wonder how it'd work out if the 9-1 led a mini-break of his own toward the village from another angle. You might argue that the Brit rear guard doesn't need much of a leader for Rallying purposes, since they're gonna Skulk a lot and die in place anyway. Perhaps 2 squads with the 10-2 and 1.5 with the 9-1 would be an interesting idea, leaving a skeleton 2.5 squads to hold off the German horde.
Note that the Brit Ammo Shortage keeps them from laying a beautiful firelane from 19i1 to 19B4, but the LOS is still there and should be used by the Brit MMG to keep the Germans at bay. The German pursuing force is kinda thin on leaders (only a 9-1 and an 8-0) and they're gonna need those extra Leader MF's to make it across the stream, brush, and grain of bd 43. So the Brit rear guard would do well to particularly target the German leaders, moreso than in other scenarios.
The Brit Carrier provides some spice here, as you can use it in several ways. One idea is to Armored Assault with the 10-2's stack as they flee toward the village. It certainly helps protect the infantry, but I didn't think it'll help enough - if the Brits run into a PBF shot from a HIP German as they cross the stream, the odds are just a little too high that something bad will happen to the 10-2 (and therefore the Brit hopes of winning). A 467 will PBF on this armored assault at 8(+0), which has a ~30% chance of doing Something Bad to Col Tod. In this case, Pinning = Something Bad, cuz the lads he's leading only have a ML of 7 and can't stand up to 8(+0) shots very well. And when there's Germans in front of you and Germans behind you, any broken Brit squads are gonna be pretty much out of the game.
So the idea (IMO) is to protect Da Colonel and his boys while using his macho Leadership to fire on and trash the German screening force ASAP so that the Brits can escape into the village on Brit turn 2 - any later and the German PzII's will be an ugly factor to deal with.
Toward this end, I sent the Carrier on recon duty - he crossed the stream at 43i4 and started scouting the hexes adjacent to the stream, hoping to run into HIPsters and suck up their fire with TPBF Freeze - i5, j5, k6, L5, M5... Unfortunately, the German 8-0, 467/lmg popped HIP from K7, and they stunned the carrier on a 12+2 shot before the carrier could probe the oh-so-suspicious hexes L5 and M5. Nice use for these German guys - even nicer because John laid an LMG firelane that the Colonel's boys would have to cross as they made their escape.
Ho HO, the Colonel said, it's only a 1 FP firelane! I'm a COLONEL!
Break BREAK, two of his squads said, you ain't bad, you're NOTHIN!
Things might have been Very Bad, but the Colonel managed to inspire one of the squads back to the fight, and the suddenly-exposed German infantry were broken by some lucky dfire shots. Still, the idea seems good for the Brits - protect the 10-2 and his squads, then use the DFPh of German turn 1 to break whatever Germans you find in the screening force. There's just not much cover out there for the Germans to hide behind, and even Dashing into the walled village doesn't negate the Colonel's -2 DRM.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, John's Germans were running through my weakly-executed rear guard like they were Japanese. Only some amazing rally DR's kept the Brits from being completely wiped out by turn 2. John lost a few squads to outright KIA's, but they soaked up enough first fire (particularly a Berserker) to enable the mass of Blue Meanies to flow unimpeded toward the front.
The middle and end turns were pretty much a matter of Col Tod positioning his boys inside the stone building at 43O8 while the pursuing Germans cleaned up the broken Britishers and made ready for the Climactic Final Push. John's last PzII led off the festivities by missing on a BFF 8(+3) shot and then trying to VBM Freeze the Brits. Col Tod and his 457 actually missed on the CCRF roll (needed a 6, fer cryin' out loud) but the guys at the next window managed a nice grenade placement and burned the tank.
That extra +2 smoke DRM helped the Brits to survive the PBF advancing fire from the madly-onrushing German horde, and John piled a full platoon into O8 for CC. The VC's being what they were, the Germans had to wipe out all of the brits, and things looked bad when John rolled snakes against the Colonel and his personal men-at-arms. Fortunately, the second CC against the remaining Brit 457 missed, and the Brits won despite the fact that they were killed almost to a man and surely would have died in the upcoming player turn.
As John said in his prologue:
457: Yahoo I won, I won!!!
German 9-1: uhm, excuse me you have to come
with us to the POW camp now.
457: What do you mean? According to the scenario card I won.
9-1: Yeah right, whatever. Come with us please.....
457: Noooooooo.
Hmm, a scary thought - the Germans would have won the game if they had just lumped the entire CC into one DR (the one that came out snakes). Instead of a 3:2 (two 467's vs the 10-2 and 457) and a 1:1 (9-1 and cx467 vs 457), they could have chosen a 1:1 (everybody against everybody) and gotten lucky on that first DR. Ouch. The line is so thin sometimes.
A good scenario, with the caveat that any 5-turn scenario featuring a 10-2 is gonna be inherently fragile. We were fortunate in that the luck swung both ways enough to make the game go down to the last DR of the last CCPh. There were several points along the way that the game could have been over right then and there, but good British DR's bailed them out - particularly rally DR's, where the 10-2 self-rallied from DM twice and rallied DM squads twice. Yowza.
I'd say the Germans will have the minor edge here, just because anything bad that happens to the Colonel on his dash to freedom will pretty much doom the Brits. This in itself argues for sending the Brit 9-1 and a squad or two on a separate path toward the village. Not to take anything away from John, who played a stout and resolute defense - just not much you can do when a 10-2 just won't stay down.
Tom
am german attacker, versus John Richard's British defender.
Situation is a British half company, attempting to cross a stream to reach a walled farm complex. They are being chased by a superior panzer/infantry group, and there is another platoon of HIP Germans on the other side of the stream between the brits and their goal.
I set up first... HIP 467/LMG/8-0 in 43O3; 467 in N3; 247 in M5.
Attack Force: Plan is to charge on the east side, while HIP group forces Brits to go through the large grainfield. 247/MMG/467/MMG/8-1 in stone building 19K7; 467 in K5; 467/LMG/467/LMG/9-1 in B5; Other squads one hex deep in the wheatfield G-C.
Defender Setup: MMG & mmc 19I1; large stacks at 19F0 and 43I2 ; Carrier in 43H1.
Reveal my HIP 247 at start of game to prevent his gaining concealment with the units allocated to screen. Not totally successful, cannot see past hedge to 19F0.
Brit T1A. No prep fire. Move carrier first, cross stream at 43H3, move towards my 247 in M5, move into my hex, my HS gets pinned and target selection locked. Carrier ends in motion. 10-2, hero/ATR, and two squads NAM from I2 into the grain, take a 6FP-1 at J2 from my LMG/467 combo. Pins one squad, boxcars. SFF also fails, boxcars, breaking the LMG. Move into stream at K5. Reveal my squad in N3, for a 4FP-2. 1MC, which Tod promptly rolls boxcars on. Fails the wound check. Dead. Hero is wounded. Squad breaks. I offer a restart, and accepted for a British resignation.
NEXT GAME:
I am still German, and change my HIP guys somewhat. N3 is more important than O3, and the halfsquad was not successful in removing the concealment.
HIP: 247 in L5; 467/LMG/8-0 in N3; 467 in O3.
Same british setup. Reveal my HS to prevent concealment gain. Good tactic!
Brit T1A. No prep fire. Carrier crosses stream, and heads for my 247. Each shoot at each other, HS pinned, Carrier in motion in L6. Tod, hero/ATR, and two squads NAM towards the stream. Take a 6FP-1 shot from my squad/LMG after crossing the stream, with a K/2MC result in I5. Hero gets the K, fails his wound check. One squad is pinned, but the 10-2 and other squad pass. Stack of 9- 1/457/Mtr/247/457 AM from F0 to 19E1. HIP 467 shoots, get NMC but everyone passes. No result from advancing fire. Advance one 457 to 19D1, rest of stack to D0. 10-2/457 advances one hex into the grain. MMG still at 19I1, another SW stack at J0.
Ger T1B. Prep fire from the 467/LMG and 467 at the stack at D0. Pin the HS. No other preps, everybody moves. Try to bait the MMG into firing and losing ROF. Pz IIs enter on east side, try to pop sD6 in D3. Fail each time! Each tank stops adjacent to the 457 in D1, bounding IFE/CMG at PBF. Succeed in pinning him. CX squad in center to 19I2, fired at by 457's inherent FP for 8 even. Break and elr... 8-1/MMG group moves to 19J2. 467 and 247 moves from C5 individually towards D1. The two squads around F5 move across potential firelane (of course, not an ASL FL) without drawing any MMG fire, get to G2 and F1. One LMG squad tries to go across the road at B4, no MMG shot. Moves on to B1. LMG/squad and 9-1 go across the road, get a NMC and the squad breaks. In DefF, mortar gets assembled, and the 9-1 lead group fires on my 8-0/LMG/467 across the stream for a 6FP-1. Fortunately, no effect. In AdvF, the 457 at D1 breaks, and my troops accept their surrender. [Was that a good idea? Maybe, maybe not!]. Advance forwards, with the across the stream lmg/squad going to 43N4, and the 467 advancing to O3. Assault MMG group divides up, the leader going to help the broken squad rally, and the two still concealed MMGs going to I1 and H2. Other units are at F0, D1, C1, and B0.
Brit T2A. Rally the DM broken squad with the 9-1. Prep fire from 9-1 led stack at D0 breaks 1 1/2 squads at C1. Movment. Carrier stops, and reverses back to K7 for a good LOS, and its bounding fire from the AAMG breaks my 247. 10-2/457 only assault move south deeper into the grain [mistake?], followed by the 457 who recovered the ATR from the corpse of the hero. The MMG and the concealed SW stack (has to be the LMG) each skulk backwards one hex. In DefF, everyone with a LOS to D0 fires, locking them in Encirclement. The lower morale does the trick, and over the four shots everyone there, the 9-1, the 457, and the 247 all break. No effect in AdvF, so in the Rout phase the britishers surrender. Possession goes to the HS that took the previous squads surrender. They plan on running north with their booty as fast as their feet can carry them. MMG and friends in the center are in the stone building. Tod and his two squads advance south into the H7/I6 area.
Ger T2B. Rally attempts on my broken squads succeed. No prep fire, rush to the stream! Panzers start up, and move around the east side. One ends the phase in the stream in motion, and the other stops on the north side with a good field of fire. An ATR round from the carrier bounces off of the turret armor. The HS with all the prisoners moves north. The two MMG units each assault move towards the stone building, remaining concealed. Everyone else runs towards the stream. End up with a couple of squads in the stream, and a couple more adjacent to it on the north side. The 467 in N3 crosses the road at the B hexrow in the east, to watch for a flanking move. Defensive fire and Advancing fire have no effect asides from stripping concealment around the stone building at I1. Advance southwards, getting in to the stream or with LOS towards the south. 467/LMG/8-0 advances to M5 to have a better LOS towards Tod.
Brit T3A. Prep fire from the carrier at my Pz II results in a critical hit! Killed, but not burning. No crew survival anyway with a CS of 3. Movement phase: Tod does a run round the south side of the grain to make it into the farm. In J9 my 8-0/467/LMG bunch hit him with a 6FP-1 for a 1MC. Tod rolls an 11 and breaks! The squad breaks as well! The supporting 457/ATR moves to I10. Tod and squad rout to L10. Some sort of inconsequential conflict around the stone building, with one of my squads plus MMG facing off with one of his. 457/ATR advance to J10.
Ger T3B. Tod fails his rally roll, needed a 6, but rolled a 7! Very little prep fire, but lots of movement as the germans swarm south. The Pz in the stream passes its bog check, has an ATR shot from the carrier bounce off its armor at pointblank range, and continues south to L9, threatening Tod with elimination for failure to rout. The 8-0/467/LMG group runs across the street into the farm complex. Defensive fire is for no effect. The 10-2 and squad have no where to go, and are eliminated for failure to rout. At this point victory would be very difficult for the british, only a last ditch charge by the carrier or the 457/ATR squad, against two squads already in the farm complex with several more on the way. Therefore, British resign.
Good game!
The concentrated HIP group was very powerful, with multiple 4FP-1 and 6FP-1 shots, plus encircling the British delaying force on the east side. They can encircle the primary british position at D0, and prevent deployment into the C and B hexrows.
I would not use both tanks at PBF range against one squad again, instead one against him, and the other going around the woods to B0, stop, and swivel turret to be able to see D0. That way he would get bounding fire plus prep. Possibly use ESB to get the extra 3MP to get to 43O1, a killer position.
British Notes: The MMG in the center on the road is a given. Have the mortar assembled and firing in the first German MPh. The LMG should be on the east side, for some AT defense. Tod needs to run as fast as possible after the Carrier searches the streambank grain for HIP units. CX the first turn, and NAM the second to sneak into the complex from the south. Send the 9-1 across the stream as well...
Jim Torkelson