AAR Hill 253.5 T7 from the General

[MarkDV]

AAR Hill 253.5
Playing on 22 October 2003

My opponent (Al Wagner) put most of his troops on the 3rd level hexes (entrenched per SSR)
While 2 of 3 guns were set up on the ground level of the hill board facing towards the level 3 hexes in the hope that he’d get side shots. The wire counters he was given were on the board edges to channelize my movement and the mines were scattered willy nilly about in no discernible pattern to me to maximize their advantage of being hip.

My plan was to launch an assault from the 2S1 treeline, with a Panther in overwatch from the level 1 hill hex in that area. My thinking being that an assault on line was more likely to hit all of his ambush points/toys, whereas if I had a concentrated schwerpunkt, I’d be able to push my way to the hill summit for minimal loss. What I wanted to do was have my troops sidle over to the tree line from 2O1, then face left, and assault up the hill.

Remember the axiom, no plan survives contact with the enemy?....

General overview…
Turn 1. Prep fire sees me wounding then breaking his observer (an 8-0). I also break his HMG squad which he placed on the summit of Hill 621. Unfortunately, his wire placement was on 2Q1, 2R2, thus impeding the movement of my INF forces….no matter, a Panther bludgeons its way thru the wire, and rolls into the woods hex in 2O1…only to find a HIP 76L. YOIKS. He survives his PAATC, then rolls to fire at me, and rolls a 5, colored 1. ROF and rear shot. Scratch one Panther. Crew survives, but he’ll take none of that, and he scratches the crew with a CH, from the same gun…..
Ok, I’ve got the PzJg Tiger in 2R1, he starts up, and pivots to face the menace. No problem, he does a deliberate IMMOB, rolling 7 (ROF) NE, then 4 (colored 3) IMMOB the PzJG…..OUCH OUCH OUCH…..Player turn 1, and I’ve lost 2 of 3 Panzers…and these guys were built to take this (supposedly….)
Change of plan—send all INF up the hill ASAP, forget the sidling movement b/c of the evil 76L and wire hexes. Turned out to be a good change of plan……

I do some search rolls with HS, find mines, deftly move pass them, and by the end of turn 1 (GERMAN) I’ve got a 9-1 and 838 on the summit of 621 owning the HMG that the SOVS abandoned…Advance phase, one of my 838s advances into a woods hex on 621 and finds the other 76L/crash boom. These two units CC until the end of his player turn, at which point I KIA him..
HIS PREP He SMOKES the PzJg Tiger with his 76L
He also fires at the 9-1 and 838 on 621. The 9-1 gets broken and wounded early on. The 838 on the other hand eats FOUR 1MCs and a 2MC and on the last DR gets PINNED……wow……He single handedly that player turn ate all his fire for me. He then tries assault moving against this pinned unit with his FT team from woods hex in 2R6, which I promptly break for him…..not a bad turn (oh, this turn was the first of 5 failed self rally attempts for his ARTY observer….)

Turn 2 I try firing at the crash boom with my PzJg under smoke….no dice.
I then start ALL of my INF to scramble them up to the summit of 621. Got to do that before his air power arrives. Both HTs get KIAd trying to suppress his position in 2P6 (woods hex I think on the reverse slope of the hill) but in turn put his FT team back in DM (they failed to rally)
The 838 on the summit of 621 FINALLY breaks b/c of his fires, but I am more than happy with him for all the fire power he absorbed. I also start up the Panther to get him into some kind of overwatch position on 621 (one has to breathe heavy every time you start up these early model panthers—rolled a 8 on the startup attempt)
I get a torch team to replace the now routed (but otherwise heroic in my eyes) 838. I also find the last PAK (the 45L) when he KIAs one of the HTs that I used to try to suppress his troops.
His half of turn 2. He can’t rally the torch team, can’t rally the observer, can’t can’t can’t seems to be his motto…..

My turn 3. I finally break the crew manning the last crash/boom. I suppress a bunch of his squads either breaking or pinning them, and move my last remaining mobile AFV to 2P5. I also roll for AIR POWER, getting 3 STUKAs…..ouch for him……and get 6 squads in a position to advance to the level 3 hexes of 621, thus giving me ownership of the 4 hexes I need for the VC conditions. (the tank owns hex no.4)
During his player turn….he rallys the observer FINALLY only then to lose him when he assault moves in the open and I use a STUKA to KIA the dude (and destroy the radio)
He rolls a 12 for the FT team…so now they are a HS….and I KIA the broken crew by his 76L

My turn 4. He concedes after my player turn. He has 2 GO squads left, and the
8-1 SMC on the far end level 3 hexes. Also the 45L in woods hex 2P10. ALL other SOV units are KIA/broken…the way it oughta be…teehee….
I have 5 level 3 hexes. WOW…..A SR on his 8-1. The Panther is 3 hexes away from the 8-1, getting ready to lay waste to him. IF he hadn’t lost his ARTY, I would have told him to stay in it b/c his reinforcements along with his AIR could push me around

I REALLY like this scenario, but 3 playings of it in 6 weeks, tells me that it is going to now get a rest.
Played on one of Jeff DYs topo correct maps of his. Gives a real sense of topography and helps with LOS (but it is a hassle when counters get stuck b/w cliff hexes and a lower level).