The Aller Waltz, Time on Target 18
Played "The Aller Waltz", TOT Scenario #18, last night. This was both my and my opponent's first night game, and we were ready to spend weeks discussing what the hell we're supposed to do next. Ended up going more smoothly than either of us expected.

I must admit that any previous time that I'd read J.R. Van Mechelen's article "Bring On The Night", my spontaneous slumber kept getting interrupted by my head banging into the desktop. This time, however, I had incentive -- we were gonna do Night, and I knew that J.R.'s article had to be a step up from just reading the rules. Sure enough, given real motivation, it is a wildly informative article that pulls information not just from Chapter E, but from the Rev ASOP(tm). Did you know that you gain "?" status before the Starshells are taken from the board? Just try to hide again once you've been spotted!

The scenario is quick and clean -- infantry, mostly simple support weapons, only one SSR that you have to read over and over to understand the implications. British win by taking a bridge (Controlling the bridge and both access hexes), Germans win by making this not so. British approach through alarmingly scarce cover, Germans mostly set up on the other side of the river. I played the Brits, Dale played the Germans. SSR says that if the Germans set their one DC allowed on the bridge before the beginning of the game, it will not destroy the bridge but instead leave wreckage, and it only attacks on the 16 fp column. I thought the wreckage would be an excellent obstacle keeping the Brits from ever getting across in the five turns of the scenario, but Dale had no faith that an attack on the 16 fp column would get the needed KIA to cause the wreckage. Dale's plan was to move onto the bridge and set the demo charges during the game, to use the 36 fp attack instead.

One oddball rule from the night section is for the Defender's Fire Lanes. Seems the Defender can set up a Fire Lane that goes well beyond NVR, and use it against unseen targets until he actually sees a bad guy moving around in the shadows. I have no idea what this is supposed to represent historically. "Here, Klaus, tonight's supply of ammo will be in those four trucks. Fire due south, non-stop, and I'll see you in the morning." Fire lanes ignore hindrance, concealment, and always take advantage of FFMO/FFNAM. Seeing how the British have so much clear terrain to cross, two fire lanes could have run off the end of the board and made the approaches to the bridge a living hell. Fortunately, Dale didn't internalize this rule before play. I just had to worry about the old-fashioned fire lanes.

I was surprised how quickly the Germans dropped their "No Move" counters. Most of Dales' troops had a clear view (if only it had been daylight), and one of my approaching Cloaked HSs got shot at by one of his HIP HS on turn one. I lost concealment, entered CC, and all the rest of the Germans saw us and promptly sprang into action. A bigger scenario, where LOS was more constricted, would have left at least some of his guys not moving ... I hope.

Starshells and IR are a bitch. They drift way far from where you'd like them, and a lot of the tactics for each turn depends on where the dice decide the lights come on. If you're firing IR in a general direction (instead of at a Gunflash), you have to fire it at a range that's an even multiple of 6 hexes -- 6, 12, 18 hexes, and so on. British 51mm mortars only have a range of 11, so they can only pop off an IR at relatively close ranges. This meant my hidden mortars waaaay around the hillside were in an awkward place, and not helping very much.

I wish I'd used my Cloaked "dummy" counters more aggresively. I saved two, hoping to have cloaked boys be the first units across the bridge. But the number of starshells going off kept my dummy stacks lurking when I wished they'd been moving, so they wouldn't be revealed for the mere shadows that they were.

Anyhow, Dale moved in force onto the bridge. I set up a squad and LMG with my 9-2 leader, and ruined the day of anyone risking Hazardous Movement to place DCs -- fortunately, the flurry of flares lit up the whole bridge while Dale was out there. My sniper bagged one of the two German leaders, the NVR dropped to a range of one, Dale malf'ed one of his MMGs, and it suddenly looked like I'd be strolling across the bridge almost unopposed ....

I fired off an IR shell. Why? The jury is still out on that one. It landed near the action, which means it not only lit up the Germans but it lit up the bridge and all my lads, too. If I'd been extremely lucky, I could have captured the Germans in an illuminated area and kept the bridge in darkness. If I'd been extremely lucky, I would have won the lottery. Bad move on my part. But I was running out of time. Forward!

My Brits were painfully stopped on the far edge of the bridge -- a pinned 9-2 leader and two broken squads (it wasn't that bad of a roll on the IFT, but my MC dice had gone cold). Dale advanced into the foxholes at the foot of the bridge, and slaughtered the 8-0 leader that had made it that far. My SMC did accomplish something, though -- stripped Dale's "?" while he sat in the foxhole. Then he kindly set his head on a stake.

Last turn. Dale misses his one chance at a starshell, and I opt to NOT light up the bridge this time, thank you. I PBF a squad with my 9-2 leader into his foxhole. He shrugs it off. I throw a captured German DC at his foxhole. It's a dud. Dale politely offers to show me how to arm it and throw it back to me, I decline. My legions from hell advance into the end bridge hex (while the broken guys routed down the bridge), his squad fires back and pins or breaks everyone but one HS (I'm not complaining that a 9-2 leader, a heroic 9-1 leader, and a bunch of Elite British Commandos are having a bad time with the dice or anything) (I should have tried to remember to throw smoke, dammit. Can you throw smoke grenades at night?). I advance the lonely remaining HS into CC with his squad, and proceed to DIE MISERABLY. Germans hold the bridge, Dale wins the day.

Did we make mistakes? Probably, but I think we got it mostly right. Our next game is going to be a night one, too, and we'll both be studying the rules with some experience behind us this time. There were a few mid-game realizations that would have changed the way the game was played had we thought of it earlier, but not a lot. I thought the scenario was a great one for trying night for the first time, and I thought the night rules were pretty darned cool. Next time I'd probably throw the damned 51mm mortars in the river.

Tom Huntington

Reply:

>One oddball rule from the night section is for the Defender's Fire Lanes.
>Seems the Defender can set up a Fire Lane that goes well beyond NVR, and use
>it against unseen targets until he actually sees a bad guy moving around in
>the shadows. I have no idea what this is supposed to represent historically.

Just to clarify here a little. The above is only available to a Defender at night if the MG's in question are 'Bore Sighted'. This means that all attacking units are entering play from off board (fairly common for a 'Night' scenario but not always the case). This is refelective of a prepared defense with MG's sighted along critical avenues of approach.

Tate Rogers