Played "Forth Bridge" (scenario BB14 from Backblast issue two) for the first time and I took the British, with no balance provisions given to either side. I played this one against my local face to face opponent. I had this scenario on my play list for awhile and finally got around to playing it. I liked the looks of it for several reasons. First and foremost is that it has a "funny" tank, i.e a Churchill bridgelayer. Good thing that it is in the British OB, as there is a stream running along the entire board that the british must cross, but no bridges printed on the board nor any fords, and a SSR making crossing the stream very likely for the British vehicles to bog down. The OB of both sides is good, with the British getting the Churchill bridgelayer, four Churchill mark VII's, and two Churchill mark IV's, a company of mixed elite and first line infantry, and assorted SW's including two 51mm mortars. The British opponents are German Paratroopers, and consist of a mix of 548 and 447 squads, with two PSK's, assorted MG's, 12 minefield factors, a roadblock, and two PAK 40's. And since it is 1945, the Germans bring a lot of panzerfausts with them. They also get one squad equivalent and any SMC/SW stack with it as HIP.
For victory, the British must accomplish two things. First he must cross the stream with 30 VP of infantry and AFV's to the east bank. Secondly he must reduce the number of German squad equivalents within four hexes of the stream to less than or equal to the turn of arrival of the British reinforcements (which are two of the total mark VII's, one of the total mark IV's, and the single bridgelayer with a platoon of elite infantry). Boards 17 and 18 are used with some overlays, including two of the stream overlays linked up.
My german opponent set up with some infantry forces on the near side of the stream, and some on the far side, in basically a broad front defense. One PAK 40 was HIP in 18v3, while the other was HIP in 18o4.
My plan of attack was to engage the german infantry, search out possible HIP locations, inflict casualties, and establish the bridge crossing in or near 18s9. The plan was for the infantry to clear a protective zone free of germans surrounding 18s9, using most of my Churchill VII's for support in this area, then laying the bridge across 18s9 with the bridglayer. After this the Churchills would cross the bridge over to the east side of the stream where they would then help to satisfy part of the VP total I needed on the east side of the stream and also provide a flanking attack and armor support against any remaining Germans on the east side of the stream within the zone that I needed to clear. Meanwhile I had two platoons of infantry and one mark VII attacking through board 17, whose purpose was to keep the rest of the German forces "busy" and to inflict casualties and keep my left flank from being turned.
Turn one saw the British forces moving through both board 17 and 18, moving into position.
Turn 2 saw the arrival of my reinforcement group. While I did not want to see these reinforcements arrive very late in the game, their earliest possible turn of arrival meant that I had to practically annihilate the German forces or force a rout from the stream for a victory. I felt the pressure of time against me.
Turn 2 also saw the first firefights develop, and the first losses taken on both sides. I had decided that it was necessary for the British to ignore HIP possibilities largely, and keep the forces moving forward on schedule, taking losses if necessary, as there was no CVP cap that I had working against me. Since I had an early arrival of the reinforcement group, I made it my goal to lay the bridge on turn five. One "recon" mark four met up with a front shot from the HIP PAK 40 in 18o4 and was destroyed in 18i1. An infantry firefight developed around this PAK 40 position between a platoon of mine in 18k3 and a squad of his in a foxhole in 18n3. Three of my mark VII's took up positions in 18k3, 18l4, and 18n7. These were to accomplish via 'recon by fire' the positions where HIP units were possible in 18v3, 18w4, and 18z8. A weak shot at my infantry platoon in 18k3 resulted in a 458 going Berserk (rare for British elites). In the north a firefight developed in the area of 17n6, and also in the 17m9 woods mass, with the last mark VII providing support.
Turn three. Prep fire was done in the hope of accomplishing two goals: to help the charge of the berserk unit, and to strip concealment/cause casualties amongst the other german forces. The former did not succeed while the later did. Many of the up front stacks were dummy stacks. One of my mark sevens fired smoke onto the top of the squad that the Berserk unit was to charge towards in 18n3, which also nicely protected him against a shot from the PAK 40 in 18o4 as well. However a 447 with LMG in 17n10 could not be broken, and gunned down the Berserk unit with his first shot. I hate to see elite troops die like that. Other prep fire resulted in the revealing of the other HIP PAK 40 in 18v3. The crew of this PAK 40 was obviously angry at receiving fire, since their return fire resulted in critical hit against the mark seven that had revealed him. The frontal armor of even a mark seven isn't enough to stop such a hit, and the churchill brewed up. Now I was starting to get worried, as I had lost a mark four and a mark seven (with an armor leader), an elite squad, run out of all SMOKE ammo in one mark seven, and all I had to show for my efforts was the removal of some dummies and perhaps the elr breaking a few german squads.
Turns four, five and six were eventful. The german forces in 18o4 and 18n3 were defeated, the PAK 40 in 18o4 captured, and two platoons of infantry reached the proposed bridge crossing area. In this area were both of the 51mm mortars. Two mark sevens and a mark four were in the area to provide support. A german squad with a light machine gun was found to be in a stone building in 18r9. This squad, although a 447 and with elr of two could not be brought down until turn 6! He took at least four normal morale checks (and I know some of them were 1MC or higher) and never broke. Finally a mark four fired AP and got an improbable critical hit, and the subsequent IFT roll did him in. The firefight for control of the 17m9 woods mass and the north flank went largely my way, and mostly due to the firepower of the lone mark seven there, which got many rof shots. However this churchill malfunctioned its main armament, and the repair dr of the next rally phase came up a six, so it was recalled. Now wonder this tank crew was getting so much rate of fire, they were throwing in ammo into the breach like madmen and obviously ran out of ammo and went back to HQ for more! Now I was left with one mark seven with smoke ammo, one mark seven without smoke ammo, and one mark four. The german began to take casualties, and also many of his units were replaced due to elr failure. The german forces in the north and central areas mostly retreated to the east bank of the stream. The other PAK 40 crew broke, rallied under DM, then got casualty reduced from 9-2 directed HMG fire. My captured PAK 40 in 18o4 was spun around to face the enemy, and attempted a smoke shot, but didn't have any smoke. They got a few HE shots off before the german sniper saw what was going on and fired at the surrogate crew and broke them. A half squad of mine manning a 51mm mortar took fire and also went berserk. The other mortar fired smoke in the hex where the bridgelayer was to move up to lay the bridge. I was behind schedule, mostly due to the german 447 with LMG in the stone building near the bridge crossing area who had performed like fanatics, and had not had the time to establish much of a protective zone around the east bank of the stream at the crossing point. I used the last mark four to move up to clear a trailbreak through any AT minefields if any were present so that the bridgelayer would have a better chance of making it to where it needed to go. Fortunately the german had not placed any mines in that area (and had bought only AP mines). Had he placed AT mines there I would have been forced to try my luck, as time was running out for me. At this point the german had at least five unbroken squads still in the zone that I had to clear, and probably one more (the HIP squad equivalent that had not shown itself yet).
Turn seven was the turning point. The self rally of an elite half squad who had earlier manned a captured PAK 40 resulted in the creation of an 8-0 leader from field promotion. The brigelayer successfully placed the bridge. My fears of AT mines and nearby HIP PSK's were unfounded. Resistance in the extreme north was shut down as a concealed stack of three counters turned out to be only one squad, which prep fire broke. This squad was quickly surrounded and eliminated for failure to rout. Yet another stack was found to be a dummy. Another squad was eliminated for failure to rout in the center to the east of the stream. I was able to fulfill the first part of what I needed to do with ease, that is get 30 VP across to the east side of the stream, but only due to the successful placement of the bridge. Enemy losses had caused the german ELR to drop from 2 to 1 and then ZERO, all in the space of one turn, as we were using battlefield integrity which this particular opponent and I always use. Yet three enemy squads remained in the 17v9 area, with a 6+1 leader and a 9-1 leader, all in an excellent position to "skulk". However I did at least have a leader in position to deny them concealment growth. Prep fire on the stack in 17v9 consisting of a 9-1, LMG/447, and 447 resulted in a 2 morale check, which the 9-1 rolled HOB for. He went berserk, and so did the other two squads stacked with him at this leader's urging, and the fate of the germans was sealed.
Turn eight, the german berserk stack makes a charge of two hexes across the stream, and only a half squad makes it into CC, where he is KIA'ed to no loss of the British. The german player had one squad HIP, and one and a half squads broken but forced to retreat from the protected zone, and the german player conceded defeat. I won one turn early, but felt that the game was real tight the whole way through until the stack of Germans went Berserk. Had this stack not gone Berserk it is certainly possible that by skulking they would have been able to provide enough GO squads for a German victory. I was envisioning the likelihood of the infamous last turn mad dash into close combat to try and pull out a win, but this was unnecessary. Overall this playing had a lot of rare events in it: a German stack going Berserk, a self- rally leader creation, a British 458 and 247 going Berserk, and an infantry target type improbable critical hit, as well as the ELR of one side dropping to zero due to battlefield integrity.
Well needless to say I had a good time playing this one. The bridgelaying operation was fun to plan out, and the stream crossing scenario was very interesting. My opponent and I both felt that the scenario was reasonably well balanced. If you like "funnies", give this scenario a work out, as the sucess of the bridge laying operation is a big part of determining the winner in this scenario.
Mike Clay