 asl crossroads :
aar central — a b : bitter :
Bitter Reply - Time on Target
11 This scenario is startling in that all of the American tanks start the scenario mired. The ground conditions are mud which makes life interesting as the Germans try and move their vehicles into the town. Life started well enough for the Germans with their smoke hitting the pre-plotted hex in the first prep fire phase. Then the Jagdpanther drove onto the board, catching a mired M4A1 in the flank, where it Bounding First Fired to roll a critical and burn it! Strike one to the Germans. The rest of the troops moved on board where it was quickly realized that, without carrying the German troops as riders, the scenario was almost impossible to win for the Germans in the time given. The clue was in the scenario aftermath - but guess who did not read this before playing the scenario! 8-( Anyway the game went on. An M4 in a good shooting position nailed both of the Stu 42s who took a half track with them despite both depleting their HEAT. While the German infantry were slogging through the mud the game developed into an armour battle. The Germans managed to capture the first of the required three stone buildings only to have it exchange hands twice in CC before it ended with it back in American hands. None of the American tanks were able to free themselves from being mired during the game and the Jagdpanther took out the Jumbo with a critical after the Jumbo bagged one of the StuGs which had immobilized itself within the LOS of two of the American Shermans. The game closed, without the American player firing a decent FFE, with a German squad and 9-1 leader eliminating an American half track in close combat after rolling yet another snakes. Unfortunately the Germans were unable to capture any of the three required stone building hexes though so Will took the honors. The morale of this story - read all of the scenario, including the aftermath, before you play! All in all a good scenario with plenty of armour action but the infantry battle being the key to winning. Very interesting to play as the Germans with a force of non-turreted AFVs against the quick-firing American AFVs. We even used (relative newbie to armour rules here) the white background ROF on the American M4s when a hit was scored on the front of a StuH 42 and the first to kill DR failed to penetrate the armour but the second TK DR did the trick. We were using Steve Zundels' GAP which sorted this one out for us so we didn't have to remember this somewhat obscure rule. All in all a good day - I will have to get my revenge in our next meeting. :-) Cheers, Neil AAR 2:American Deployments :I need to prevent the Germans from controlling 4 of the 8 stone buildings on board 24, the board with the valley village and the split level, 3-story building in 24V3 and 24U4. This building is the obvious choice for the OBA observer, but since the Krauts have a pre- registered hex I opt not to put him there. I place the radio and 8-0 leader back in the southern end of the village in a two-story building, 24M4.1, in the valley. Thus, the obaserver is at level 0 with a fair view of the village and the terrain to the east. My 9-1 and a squad with a MMG go in the dominating upper level of 24V3.2. My other MMG squad is adjacent to the OBA observer in N3.1. One M4 Sherman is on the north end of a level 1 hill (11Z8). He can cover most of the two western boards from there, but is vulnerable to fire from other first level locations. Another Sherman, an M4A3, is also on level 1 (11O9) to provide some fire against any Krauts entering from the east. The rest of the tanks are located on board 24 adjacent to the valley crestline. Each one has some terrain it is trying to close off to the German advance. Since each tank starts mired, I may not get it unbogged. Thus, it had better be in a position to do something good for me wherever it starts. One M3 halftrack starts concealed in an orchard (24V8) to the north. Another is west of town. The third one is SE of town ready to head for high ground if the Krauts come in from the east. A HS is stacked with him to help put pressure on where any broken Germans can rout. With mud in effect, a broken unit forced to rout backwards will probably never get back into position to hurt me. I place one squad forward in the northern-most stone building, 24Z9. A HS covers the central path in 24W6. A BAZ squad is NE of town in 24U9 near the first M3 halftrack. The rest of the squads were mainly in the upper levels of buildings, so they could have good shots at any Krauts moving in the open ground east of town. German Deployments :Mike Reed brought his forces in mostly along the northern edge along the board 24 road. His JgPz V entered on board 18 and immediately moved onto a level 1 hill. From there it was positioned to toast my level 1 vehicles. Rats! Mike brought two StuG Gs with riders in on the eastern edge. Each carried a 4-6-7 with the 7-0 on the second assault gun. Mike had riders on his StuG Gs entering on the paved board 24 road. [I had missed that the board 24 roads were paved. A potentially fatal mistake!] The rest of his infantry were stacked with his leaders. After Action Report:Mike placed smoke north of my 3rd-story firegroup. It was not accurate, but it did drift to block their LOS to the road and entry area anyway. So in that sense, it was still quite successful. The JgPz V seized a level 1 location to pressure my vulnerable Shermans. I knew that a 27 TK number meant certain death on any hit. My northern-most Sherman could barely squeak a LOS to 24GG5, the road entry hex, so I took a shot with my AAMG and left 2 residual FP in it. Since each StuG G and StuH 42 wanted the road rate, they had to suck up the residual attack. While I did not stun any crews, I did break two squads (casualty reduced one of them) and eliminated a LMG. The first StuG G planned to use vehicular bypass freeze against me, but he bogged! None of the others could reach my 6-6-7. However, my 6-6-7 did not have any good shots, so I retained concealment. During my turn one, I lost my northern M4 as it unbogged. I also failed to hurt the JgPz V with my other Sherman's area fire. [Area fire was the only way I could possibly kill it without scoring a critical hit.] I abandoned the northern-most stone building to move to threaten a StuH 42 with CC. Mike malfunctioned its MA when it fired at me. I assault moved a concealed unit adjacent to it as well. I survived all defensive fire, so I decided to advance just the concealed unit into CC with the beast. I sure was surprised when I had ambushed it only to discover the "squad" was really only a HS. My 6-6-7 had pulled back into some woods to help cover the gap through the brush and orchard, so my HS was hung up in CC. Somewhere I also had the other StuH 42 pound my 9-1 and MMG squad with a K/3 result. The 9-1 CR'ed and the squad broke. By moving my BAZ squad up to where he could have a shot at the AFVs in the brush, I helped persuade Mike not to force that gap. Mike first moved his StuH 42 out of the CC before overrunning my HS with a StuG G. It pinned trying to pass a PAATC. My M3 halftrack used its MA AAMG to break a HS with a PSK as it moved adjacent to my HS. Here Mike made his first major blunder. He moved his 9-1 and a squad with a LMG into an open ground hex. An orchard was between them and my 6- 6-7, but they were within overrun range of my M3 halftrack. By this time I also had an OBA mission called into the east, but it drifted harmlessly out of the area where Mike had unloaded his infantry. During my turn #2, I moved my OBA onto Mike's AFVs and infantry, but I only broke the 7-0 leader near 18Q8. The southern halftrack came off the level 1 hill to cover the open ground around the Krauts in the east. And most importantly, my northern M3 only pinned before overrunning the 9-1 and LMG squad. The pinning reduced my attack from 8(-1) to 4(-1), but I managed a K/2 result. The leader failed his wound check, the squad broke and CRed from the LLMC, so there were no survivors! By this time Mike had malfunctioned his JgPz V's CMG too. During Mike's turn #3, one StuG G exchanged fire with my Sherman in 24U1 as it entered into town. It malfunctioned its MA during his AFPh. A StuH 42 was also loose in the north end of town. The critical moment in the game came during Mike's 3rd turn MPh. One of his eastern StuG Gs tried to force its way through my FFE:C. I rolled a "4", which immobilized it. The other StuG was already in the FFE:C, so I rolled again as it started up. (I just realized that this might be an error since it is not changing terrain, although it makes sense that it is expending MPs in a FFE:C and should be attacked.) Anyway, I roll another "4" and immobilize it too. This time the crew failed its immobilization TC and abandons the vehicle, only to die in the process. In my DFPh I forget to convert this into harrassing fire as my first action, so I remove the FFE:C when I realize it. In the bottom half of turn #3, I moved my western M3 halftrack up to the east edge of the valley. I also have a Sherman that was CE stunned by the StuH 42. During turn #4, Mike had his StuH 42 recalled when he failed to repair its MA. The other StuH 42 survived my stunned Sherman's fire as it started and lumbered into 24T4. My Sherman was recalled for rolling a "12" on its intensive fire shot. Another StuG pushed into the NE part of town into 24S9. My M3 halftrack in the valley broke a supporting squad in 24U8 after that squad passed its MC against fire from a 6-6-7 in 24T6. I was able to kill the StuG finally during my PFPh by successful intensive fire. The final straws came during my turn #4. My BAZ squad broke one of the two squads next to him. A Sherman moved through all the smoke Mike had put around 24U2 to move into the same hex (24T3) as a StuG that had repaired its MA. While not killing it, I did put a lot of pressure on it for the next turn. Then my heroic M3 halftrack proceeded to move into position to cut its rout path and to overrun a CXed unit. I sure was surprised to learn that CX unit was a HS with a PSK. Mike rolled a "5" for a solid hit, but the TK DR was a dud! Boy, was he ever upset! The HS broke from the overrun too. At that point with only one leader left in 24W4 and a couple of good order squads scattered about, Mike resigned. Overall, I played a fairly solid game. My OBA did some major damage to Mike's plans by stuffing his eastern prong. I used my M3 halftracks extremely aggressively. Each Me halftrack broke at least one squad, while the one eliminated both a 9-1 and a squad. It broke both HSs with his PSKs too. I only lost a HS, who broke from my fire into melee, was captured and finally killed as a prisoner by the same squad who had broken the HS earlier. My only other broken unit was the MMG squad with the wounded 9-1. I just could not get him rallied as Mike kept him DMed. I think Mike brought too much in from the north through 24GG5. My residual there cost him a turns worth of delay. His infantry trailed behind his armor too much. Even though he did not lose any armor to my CC attempts, I think he should have kept his forces more together. His failing to have a tank that could stop my M3 overrun meant that entire prong of his attack was stopped cold. In the east he needed another StuG and squad. By entering across more of a wider front, he could have neutralized my OBA more. Overall, the German has quite a difficult task in this scenario give the short time frame of six turns. The American has a lot of firepower hiding in each Sherman too. Thus, the mud, the American firepower and the short game length combine together to mire the German hopes of victory. Lessons / Rules Learned :
General Pre-Game Thoughts:
Chuck Payne |