[Previous Date: 15 AM]

The morning offensive from Patch went a bit better for me than I really would have expected. That said, he had successfully gotten setup areas on the north bank away from the town. I really should have looked at investing a lot more into fortification points, but I was still punch-drunk from my earlier beatings and was desperately squeezing points for all the troops I could get and, since I didn’t have much experience with various fortifications, I didn’t really rate them very high. Patch naturally attacked again on the next CG Date, and we got going in February 2008…:

And we’re back with the start of the next date!

To no one’s surprise, the British have opted to attack again in 15PM.

I’m still having trouble coming up with enough points to buy what I need. Given the points being thrown at the British right now, I really find it hard to believe he could have the same problem. He certainly isn’t being reduced to buying things at off-map setup cost.

We got the bulk of the first British turn done. Surprises abound on both sides, and at the moment I hold the dice-luck high ground. Sadly, his first move revealed a fatal weakness in the setup. He’s moving around the west flank, and I assume, is headed for the west entry area and building B5. Unless I’ve got something HIP up there… I’ve got trouble.

I set up an 81mm MTR daringly up front. Sadly, the ROF tear did not happen, and it may need to bug out now. He’s got nice strong formations on the west flank, the east side of the west flank, and the east flank. In fact, the town itself, especially on the west side, looks to be the weakest part of the British line….

My Sniper has been active (still at ‘4’): two ‘1’s on about 5 SANs. My Sniper has whacked his Sniper *twice* and knocked him out completely. (Started at ‘3’….) If that kind of luck keeps up, it could get very interesting.

Patch has been driving me nuts by doing the exact thing he should, that I forgot all about: Searching. He found a little deception a bit earlier than I hoped for. In the east pocket, there was the expected three stacks. An Italian one, and two German ones with the obvious MMC, MG, leader combos, one in the foxhole he’d been about to take last time. He parked a Sherman on it (after Bogging another one), and Searched with a HS, to find only Dummies. He’s been beating the bushes in the area ever since, but hasn’t found the killer stack yet. (As he’s stripped ‘?’ on the other German stack, he knows the 8-1 is missing.)

And the Italians? The squad just Disrupted and surrendered. They are so living up to the stereotype this game….

Other than maneuvering, and Smoke usage (which depleted two of his small MTRs), the only thing of interest in the west is that I finally got to use one my INFs in something other than a low-odds attack on a pillbox. ELRed one squad to 2nd Line and HoBed the other to Elite Fanatic. I suppose there’s a lesson there somewhere….


Situation, after rout on British Turn 1, 15PM.


“I would like to say this scenario started better than 15AM. I’d like to, but I can’t.”

“First off, I completely forgot about a pregame bombardment I’d bought. As Rindis didn’t set up heavily entrenched, that was an opportunity squandered.”

“Second, I completely forgot to enter my much-needed reinforcements in movement. See, when you’re zoomed in on that damn map, it’s easy to forget what sitting on the edges. Now my units won’t be in place until turn 3 at the earliest. These mistakes, for how I see this campaign, are HUGE.”

“Third, Rindis’ sniper is HOT. Knocked my sniper completely off the board by the end of Defensive Fire, something I’ve never seen before. I’m… not happy.”

“I need to have a really good German Turn 1 to recover from these mistakes.”

“Despite these errors, I am pushing very hard on both flanks, leaving Rindis with the decision of which flank he wishes to lose. I am not happy with the German troops in this campaign. 3 FTs and 6 DCs in a company is just insane. Hopefully this company disintegrates as easily as the last one did.”


I figure your late reinforcements make up for my late reinforcements last time….

I’m very happy about the sniper. If most of your low rolls can manage to be ‘4’s, I may just have it made.

Um, er, sorry about the Bombardment? Another thing that I hadn’t even considered and have never seen in action, so I have no idea how bad it is….

As far as which flank I want to give up… I’m considering brushing up on my Foch. (Though I’ll have to paraphrase.)


“When we last left our valiant heroes…”

“The other night Rindis and I finished off UK 1 on the 15PM turn (delayed a week because of a hardware failure on my end). When I last spoke I remarked that I really needed German Turn 1 to go well. Wish it had. Rindis’ ability to fail every MC handed to him just did not occur this date”

“Rindis’ Prep Fire was not effective, and afterwards he concentrated on reshuffling forces. He failed to move his last 81mm Mtr off the front lines, and the last 40mm ATG also made its presence known as it also tried to retreat. Several units peeled off the rear lines and headed towards the B4 building, presumably to cut off my flanking attempt. To the east, the lone 248/mmg stack fell back and survived a tremendous amount of firepower directed its way. I just can’t break this guy! Also, what looks to be a full strength pioneer company entered on the NE trail, making its way… hard to say. I think it’s splitting, with half going to reinforce the northern flank, and the others coming down the east flank. I’m glad he came in to the north. If he had entered right on the east edge it would have been brutal.”

“For my Defensive Fire I did little to the west, with a 467 surviving a 12 (-1) PB attack with just a Pin, although I did kill off the 81mm Mtr crew and supporting crew as they attempted to move away. Lots of acquisitions were made in preparation for more smoke placement next turn. To the west, I plunked a SR smack in the middle of the entering reinforcements with no error. Oooh, Rindis was not happy about that. The 248/mmg finally broke under a torrent of fire, and random searching fire revealed the 8-1, HMG, and 468, all that remained of the original pioneers from 15AM. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, and since we’re pretty damn close to Rome the 8-1 and 468 broke and surrendered to a 237 HS. Rindis’ “A” Company has been wiped out.”

“Entering Turn 2, I need to successfully place several more smoke rounds, and disrupt that entering company. I hope to break that western flank wide open, but I do need to be cautious. My reinforcements, which should be across the river this turn, due to my turn 1 error are only just arriving. I’m thinner than I want to be, and a bad turn can leave a number of holes in my lines which Rindis can exploit.”

End Turn 1. Player movement paths shown in National colors.


From jwb3:

“End Turn 1. Player movement paths shown in National colors.”

“And very cool it is, too!

“John”


Finished off the end of Turn 2 tonight.

If Patch ever gets hot dice, I’m dead. He’s doing enough damage with cold ones (lots of 10s tonight). The West side is on the verge of collapsing down about half it’s length, and the main thing that’s saving me is good CC rolls. I broke the INF that was holding the end of the line on an IF shot, and then he advanced in with a fanatic elite squad. He nailed the Crew, but I reduced him to a HS, and just eliminated that with a couple squads of Italians.

He captured the remaining MTR and just spiked it, rather than try to find a way to use it. Nearby, he broke the crew of a AT Gun, as they failed to move it out of harm’s way. It seems that I can only successfully move 88s, as I’ve had one success in about 6 tries with Guns that have an M of 10 or 11. The vineyards hurt, but it shouldn’t be that bad.

In the east, I had him temporarily worried as a concealed Italian got close (and was known not to be a conscript, as it had too many MF), and a couple FTs started getting into range. Sadly, his OBA is breaking things up pretty well. One FT broke on a K/2 from a large firegroup, and the other finally broke to the OBA after several rounds of D1F and generating a Hero. I decided to keep the FT with the squad, as Heroes tend to die quickly. Alas, he passed the final MC that got the squad, so he should have taken it. Oh, and he finally found that the Italians were a brave 1st line HS. Still, kept him busy.


Situation at the end of British Turn 3 RPh.


And as of tonight, we’re into my Turn 3.

It’s being exciting. The British have gotten a lot closer to the main defenses with a lot more than I’d like. He wisely kept everyone out of the restricted LOS of my foxholes (vineyards block LOS from entrenchments on this map) and advanced up at the end of the turn.

I suppose my Prep could have gone better, but not by much. I’ve broken most of the initial line of advance, and wounded a leader in the process. He’s got a fair amount of backup available, but it buys a turn, and in two more turns the end of date rolls start.

I was starting to think that I was going to see the entire line disappear with the foxholes isolated and eliminated, but… I might make it.


Where all the excitement is: Situation west of village, end of German Turn 3 PFPh. Note that G15 is broken Italians and I14 is broken Germans.


Uncle Joe cheered us on:

“Sorry to repeat something said before and which is quite obvious, but this AAR thread is prime quality.”

“Even in these days of new-product overload (VOTG, AP3 etc.) this really make me want to try this CG that so far has only been collecting dust on my shelf.”

“The screen-shots of the action and your comments (from both sides) which focus on only the important events makes it worthwhile to follow “live” as well as re-read (as I have done a couple of times already).”

“Keep it up, guys!”

“JM”


Thanks for the comments. I know we’ve been a bit remiss keeping this updated lately.

Much of that is my fault. I’ve been dealing with Personal MCs and ELRs for a bit, with a fair amount of defeatism creeping in after some of my runs of bad luck and blunders.

However, every time, it manages to come with something to draw me back. This current scenario is brutal with the Brits coming in with way more equipment and troops than I can deal with, and I haven’t adequately dug in. Add to that some really questionable set-up and my decision to experiment with RCLs instead of just buying another section of MTRs… and this has ‘potential military disaster’ written all over it.

But, I’ve got just enough to cause problems. And the last turn or so has been fairly good to me. At this point, I figure I have a good shot at hanging onto part of the line if the Date doesn’t go the full distance.

Oh, forgot to mention last time, I corrected my FFE from Turn 2 onto that stack in F16, which broke it and kept the Disrupted Italians next door from surrendering immediately. But I have no way to rescue them either. Card draw this turn was Red, so no OBA at the moment.


“Missing the entry of my turn 1 forces is hurting, as I should be slamming another 15 squads into the lines right now. Sadly, I’m a turn out of place and to keep the pressure on I can’t get overwhelming force developed. The OBA has moved from the right flank to the left. Was a very hard choice, but I think I have a better chance of breaking open that flank than the right. A berserk squad has circled behind the lines and is threatening all sorts of mischief, including preventing rout for Rindis’ front lines. I’d be happier on this end, expect Rindis broke two squads at this end with low FP attacks, so once again I’m thin.”

“I burned out the last of my WP on the left flank to lay down a covering screen for my river crossing forces. They should enter play next turn, along with my engineering platoon and their bags of tricks. I hope my flamethrower is more useful than the Germans have found theirs.”

“I broke the ATG crew, and also the RCL crew, so I’ve moved a tank into the fray. Hopefully the addition of the tank’s firepower can succeed where my infantry can’t. Digging out the Germans is proving tough. To the right, my force of 447s supported by two Shermans and a captured German HMG is creeping hex by hex northward. A Green HS is slowly nibbling Rindis’ entry areas, helping secure my right flank. On the downside, with the OBA gone, the Germans should rally soon and this flank may stall, but I’m keeping pressure up across the line nonetheless.”

“As for the town, in contrast to the 14th, it is remaining very quiet. Rindis is struggling to grab the Italian MMG and HMG behind the wall, but can’t survive the FP I’m throwing at him when he tries. The wall is proving to be a serious No Man’s Land zone, and sooner or later I’m going to have to storm it.”

End of UK Turn 3


End of German 3, moving into UK 4

“Rindis and I knocked off Turn 3 tonight, entering the second half of the game. Turn 3 was decidedly average for the both of us, but I think the edge went to me.”

“Rindis drew a red card for his OBA, eliminating that bit of support on the left flank but making up for it when he breaks all my line assaulting the foxholes. Units continue to slowly shuffle west a hex or two at a time. Not much to reinforce, but it’s all he has at the moment. To the right, the units far north move quickly to the west, while those units to the south, surprisingly, move south. I was expecting more of an assault on the NE town, and this caught me off guard. Luckily, I bagged his FT squad with a snake-eyes, helping shore things up on that end.”

“My defensive fire was a never ending slew of low-odds attacks as I just didn’t have firegroups to the left, but I did score some large attacks to the right. I broke the initial probe along the village road, and did Pin several key units, even scoring a PTC on a 4FP +4. My OBA drifted as I switched to a FFE, but drifted right onto his 10-2 HMG stack. Can’t complain about that. I will complain about only breaking one squad in an adjacent hex, though. That squad, though, died when it routed to the 10-2 and was hit by another snake-eyes. Was so excited by that I didn’t even stop to consider it was a CH.”

“On the down side, the game is turning into what I dreaded – two lines of troops facing off and shooting, each hoping to roll lower than the other. Not my idea of ASL fun. Not much maneuvering going on except for some tricky stuff on the far left, where I’ve managed to turn his line with a platoon and a berserk unit. Has yet to do anything, and I have nothing by which to exploit the hole. We shall see how turn 4 plays out.”

Start of UK Turn 4


Made it into Patch’s turn 4 tonight, and things are starting to unravel.

My defense has been thinner than I’d like, and I’ve been holding him back in part by bluff. Well, at least some of that is gone now.

During his DFPh, he managed to Pin a stack of Italians who’d been concealed next to his last remaining squad in contact with my foxholes. This prevented them from hitting him (concealed) in CC, which would have been 1:1, with the object of tying him up for a while. Also, he discovered another concealed Italian who’d been doing his best to look confident and menacing was a 6+1.

We only got a couple shots into his PFPh before he realized that he needed to think up a plan. But he’s broken an 8-1 in one foxhole, and pinned the squad, and eliminated a dummy Italian in L15.

Meanwhile, over on the east side of town, he eliminated 2 1/2 squads during his DFPh…. T_T

Patch, I hope you’re going to buy VotG soon….


Situation, early British Turn 4 PFPh.


“And UK turn 4 ended last night. Bit of fun all around with this one.”

“My Prep Fire was a bit thin, as I didn’t have a lot of targets in the west. The OBA still failed to nail the 10-2 and the HMG. To the east, I concentrated fire on the leading 468s, breaking three. The bad news with that is he’s routing back into stacks and forming firegroups when he rallies. Oh, for a second artillery battery…”

“Movement brought the long anticipated second charge of the berserk squad. (Slow going, these vineyards.) I popped one hex over onto a MMG and 248 HS, hoping to freeze the hex and allow me to reinforce, but Rindis went and nailed him with a TPBF KIA as Final Fire. Not wishing to chance FPF, I elected instead to flank with a HS and a squad, who worked their way to the rear of Rindis’ lines and halting any rout paths. Anyone breaks, they’re stuck, so I made a goal of moving units adjacent where possible to force surrenders/FTRs. I shoved a tank next two the two stubborn foxholes, and removed my second tank from the town and sent him west. I also send a CX 248 and DC against the J15 foxhole, where he had pinned a squad supported by an 8-1 in a foxhole. To my amazement he made it through and dropped his DC on target. However, a follow-up move by a FT HS failed when Rindis revealed his second RCL and killed it with a 1KIA. He also managed to nail a flanking squad with a rather effective conscript HS. The last of my reinforcements are finally across the river.”

“Rindis’ Defensive Final Fire didn’t do much, and in my Advancing Fire the DC killed off the J15 occupants and I encircled the troublesome G15 HS. I also killed a crew and second Italian HS for FTR from I14. I exploited my gains in the Advance Phase by claiming the G15 foxhole and arranging some larger firegroups in the east and west. This turn, an 8-1, 467, 228, and 126 fall to my guns. All in all, not bad.”

End of German Rally Turn 5


Yeah, last turn was very educational, I’ve never seen a DC actually get used before.

Things are looking like I may concede at the end of this Date. He’s doing a good job of breaking apart my too-light defenses. The guy in back of my lines is going to cause a lot of havoc. The entire west end of my line is designed around the pair of foxholes, and he’s taken one and has a Sherman parked over the other.

But every time I think it’s ‘over’, I pull out something to put it into extra innings.

Unless I’ve muffed my rules reading (all too possible), the RCL just killed the Sherman with IF CH HEAT shot. And I broke another 2 1/2 squads.

Sadly, there’s a lot of bulk moving up, so I’m still in deep trouble. But I’m going to make it hurt.


“Cripes. Three tanks down, two from Critical Hits. Stop that! >.<“


Whistles innocently….

Besides, you have another three, what’s the big deal?

…And I’d like to remind you of the fates of a pair of StuGs. >.<


footsteps interjected:

But every time I think it’s ‘over’, I pull out something to put it into extra innings.

Cripes. Three tanks down, two from Critical Hits. Stop that! >.<

Whistles innocently….

“That’s just too funny. I always enjoy this AAR. Reps to both of you!”

“Alan”


Another good night got us from my AFPh 4 to the end of Patch’s MPh 5.

Despite Patch’s best efforts on turn 4, it’s not looking good. After I broke a couple squads and lit off a Ronson [oh, he’s going to kill me for that one…], he pretty much did more damage to himself during his defensive fire, malfunctioning two captured weapons and the BMG and MA on a Sherman. Meanwhile I’d broken a few of his troops, taking pressure off of H15 and allowing me to re-occupy J15 after he’d taken it for a moment.

Turn 5 opened with a little more hope for me as the MA permanently broke, recalling the Sherman (which leaves him with two out of the six he got in 15 AM).

And that was the last shining ray of hope I may see for a while. Patch is doing a very efficient job at reducing the two foxholes. He smoked in H15, and drifting smoke from the Sherman is obscuring J15. This has allowed him to get a DC onto H15, and there was no way to do effective defensive fire at the offending squad (too much smoke!).

Worse, so far my DF is making up for his last turn. The MMG off on my flank cowered on its first shot, robbing me of a lot of flank protection. The main shot from H15 was a 12, which malfed the MMG that’s been helping keep him away from there.


Situation, beginning of DFPh, British turn 5. The Blaze is a dead Sherman, RCL C is unmanned.

Tonight’s lessons:
Concealment loss case K – you can search a location that you have no LOS to (+6 Hindrance).
Disrupted squads do not block movement.


“Rindis is hinting defeat. Can’t imagine why. I outnumber him to the west 4:1, despite the loss of my tanks his line is encircled, and shortly I can drop a full platoon on each of the two foxholes essentially resulting in the loss of all effective defense between the river and the sunken road. No idea why he’s depressed.

“Drew a red card for my artillery in Defensive Fire last turn, and the SR I tried to drop anew drifted clear to the right flank. Well, I need artillery there, too, I suppose. The burning tank looked to provide more of a help to me than I was hurt by its loss, and I compounded the air quality problem by smoking the troublesome MMG foxhole. Everyone on the right fired, breaking two critical units and killing the FT HS, while to the left everyone moved. I searched the foxhole defenders, lifting their concealment, and dropped a DC in their laps free of charge as the smoke blocks all effective fire against the unit. Across the left I move adjacent wherever I can. My Turn 1 entry units are finally being felt as I drop another 9 squads into the line.”

“Rindis’ radio is unavailable, little effective fire remains on the left, and nothing can change the looming foxhole CCs (Rindis has the potential to hurt me to the right, but I think I can hold on over there for a little while longer). Though the drifting smoke will inhibit my Defensive Fire next turn (assuming the date doesn’t end), if we can get into UK Turn 6 I’ll be in position for another push against the second RCL and the L13 foxhole.”


Drew a red card for my artillery in Defensive Fire last turn, and the SR I tried to drop anew drifted clear to the right flank.

psst! Black!

Rindis’ radio is unavailable, little effective fire remains on the left, and nothing can change the looming foxhole CCs (Rindis has the potential to hurt me to the right, but I think I can hold on over there for a little while longer). Though the drifting smoke will inhibit my Defensive Fire next turn (assuming the date doesn’t end), if we can get into UK Turn 6 I’ll be in position for another push against the second RCL and the L13 foxhole.

I think I can hold out in that area if the date doesn’t go the full distance. But the entire west side of the line is gone.


psst! Black!

“Misspoke. I subsequently drew a Black Card in my Prep, which resulted in a sizable drift of the SR.”


“Frith above. I can’t win a CC to save my life.”

“Rindis finally revealed his 88 and 75 Inf Guns, right about where I thought they were. His defensive fire was successful when his HMG and 10-2 went on a tear and broke the 248 crawling about his backfield, and his 88 nailed my HMG behind the wall. In all I lost another 2.5 squads broken. In Advancing Fire I broke the 7-0 and 247 in the foxhole (just cannot nail those 248 HS! >.<), and captured another 2 squad equivalents. Would have been more, but the smoke has allowed several units to escape.”

“I advanced everyone forward, spreading myself out a bit but I piled onto the strategic locations. I threw two squads and a leader at the lone 248 in the H15 foxhole. No ambush, but I failed to hit him at 4:1, and Rindis went and killed a squad, leaving the stack in melee. What, is it not bloody cricket to stab someone with a bayonet? Honestly, people!!! Get with the program!”

“The game failed to end at the conclusion of CC, so we’re onto German turn 5 now. I would like to see a UK turn 6 as I may have to reclaim H15 at this rate, and there is one adjacent strategic location in H14 I would like to grab (on a second note, neither Rindis or myself have claimed the company-generated strategic locations yet. I wonder where they are???)”

“For those counting, CVP is 30:17 favoring the British, not counting prisoners (of which I have 6.5 squads and an 8-1).”

Start of German Rally Phase, Turn 5


My turn 5 could have been better. Patch was apparently surprised by the amount of fire, and lack of maneuver, but, frankly, there’s just not much of anyplace to go now. I’m pulling back from the west foxhole line, but frankly much of that died in place. I was pushing forward on the East, but I’ve not lost enough that pushing too hard right now will just cost me the entire line.

If I had managed to silence the MG over there, I would probably have pushed a bit, but as it is, his defenses are much heavier than anything I can bring to bear.

The truly bad news is that he finally got the MMG HS that’s been holding down the west end of the line. Since I’m still trying to evict his flanker, routing him out would be tricky.

The good news is that the 88 breaks the latest squad to pick up the HMG at the wall. If I could just get a good rate tear with the thing, I could at least clear the wall, and finally get those Italian MGs back. I also claimed a company-generated Strategic Location NE of the village. I’ve been moving around it all game, so as to be able to get it at this point without alerting Patch to what was up ahead of time.

I decided to keep the HS in the foxhole in Melee, with luck, I’ll tie him up another turn. If I withdraw, breaking and surrendering is the least that would happen. As it turns out, we both miss, keeping it in Melee.

End of Game dr: 1

That’s the third date to end during the first full turn it could, and the second to end on the second roll.

Looking at things, I decided to surrender the Campaign at this point. Given that the VC are that he has has to completely evict me from the vineyards and road, I might be able to do it. I’m pretty certain that I could hold out against the next attack (at least in terms of VC), and we’re to the point where the CPP start evening out again.

But Patch has three attack chits left, which is a fair amount of time to do the job with. With really good defensive play, I just might be able to pull it off. But… that would be three scenarios of tough, point-blank fighting in foxholes and trenches, and neither of us is looking on that prospect with any joy. So, even if I won, we’d loose.

And frankly, the odds of my making it through the next attack are pretty slim.

For the record, here’s the setup areas after 15PM:

We had been planning on diving into VotG when this was done. But as Patch will be buying it sometime later this month, I pointed out that it’s been a long time since we’ve done a non-HASL scenario, and we’ve never used the 666s against each other. (Elite Americans yes, but not 1st Lines.)

So we decided to do something reasonably fast with Americans and then go into VotG. Tomorrow night, we’ll be starting J88 “Escape to Wiltz” on VASL. I’ll be playing the Americans with balance (due to relative skill and that ROAR shows it as pro-German).

I’ll probably post more about the Campaign as a whole here in the next day or two.


“Aaand… it’s all over. Boy, I really wish this one had gone on until Turn 6. I would have claimed the H14 Strategic Location, as well as, quite possibly, my undisclosed location in V13, a stone’s throw from Rindis’ in U11 (and a stone throw from my second location, S10, in which Rindis went and dug a foxhole, making my choice of SL moot).”

“As mentioned before, Rindis Prepped heavily in the east and reshuffled from the gathering storm to the west. In my Defensive Fire I shuffled my OBA further east onto the Fallschirmjagers, broke that pesky MMG HS to the west, and broke the MMG squad to the east. A German HS and Italian HS died, bringing my CVP to 35. Rout brought my Prisoner CVP to 34(!). Rindis was able to form a thin, but stable, line to the west which would keep me from directly overrunning the RCL and L13 foxholes. A second line to the east shielded the U11 SL, but with a 100mm OBA behind his lines, he was in trouble.”

“CC led to a continuation of the melee in H15,which was only resolved after the end of date activities in my favor. End of game statistics:”

German: 29 CVP

Units remaining:
German
10-2
9-1
8-1
8-0 x2
8-0 x2 (wnd)
468 x6
467 x2
447
247
228 x3
75mm RCL
88mm AA
75mm INF

Italian
9-1
7-0 x2
6+1 x3
336 x5

“I will say I’m impressed by the Italian Squad/Leader ratio, but I don’t think it will help.”

British: 69 CVP

Units Remaining:
8-1 x2
8-1 (Wnd)
8-0 x4
7-0 x4
458 x15
457 x14
447 x13
436
237
ShermanIII x2

“There was an undiscovered 2 factor AT minefield in P13, adjacent to the one Rindis found in Q12.”


In a couple days I’ll be posting some final thoughts on the campaign as a whole.