J37 – TRETTEN IN FLAMES
JP attacking as the Germans
Legion defending as the British
ROAR (G:B – 38:29) – 3rd April, 2007
This is a good looking scenario, the Germans have to push the Brits out of the town without incurring too many losses themselves. To do this they have 9 squads on the board at the south-west edge and 3 squads of ski-troops at the south-eastern edge. They are supported by a 150mm SIG ARTY piece in Y6 – a level 4 hill that overlooks a large part of the town and a light tank on turn 3. The German also had to choose one building to be a blaze before anybody sets up and I chose 15I8 as it blocks LOS from the multi-level 15H5 building which is the only multi level building not in the LOS of my Sig. The British have 9 squads, 2 LMG’s one ATR, a hero and 3 leaders (one is a 6+1 – always known to Legion and I as “Colonel Bogey”, regardless of nationality…)
SETUP
I have 2 Ski squads and LMG on foot in 15V2 and another ski squad and 9-1 leader in 15V3 once again, on foot.
For the main attack I have divided my troops into 5 groups:
447, 2x 467’s an 8-1 ldr, LMG and dm MMG in 15V8.
2x 447’s and a 7-0 in 15V9.
237, 247 and 2x 447’s in 15V10.
237 15W9.
2x 467’s and an 8-0 in 15W10.
THE PLAN
He has started with most of his troops in the North Eastern corner of the board where my sIG can’t get LOS (it’s not allowed to move by SSR). He also has 2 big firegroups in 15K8 and 8K1 as well as single units in 8O3, 8N10 and 8M3. He was given 4 concealment counters in his OB so I feel that these will be at the front line as it seems his main line of resistance is actually 15K8, 8K1 and 8M3. I am usually a cautious attacker but on the first turn or two I will be aggressive and try to make some big gains quickly to make him lose some cohesion in his defence.
I plan to fire SMOKE at 8O1 to provide cover for my assault and have some very nasty surprises set for him. The most obvious point is the fact that by trying to be out of LOS of my sIG he has left a number of holes in his defence.
I will move group 1 into Level 1 R8 and advance into Lvl 2 in APh. This will give me a firegroup that has good LOS across the centre of the village thus being able to put his troops under fire as they withdraw. Group 2 will go U10-T9-S9- bypass R8-Q9-P9 which seems to be out of any of his LOS and then they can advance still concealed into O10 and be adjacent to one of his squads. Group 3 will split up, the MTR will go to 8Q2 where it has LOS to two of his units in the woods and the rest will go CX and try to get to 8P1 with a view to advancing into 8O2 and thus taking part of the first building – provided the smoke was successful. Group 4 will go where needed and Group 5 will move to level 1 8T1 to give some fire support to the 447’s attacking the 8O2 building.
The ski troops have a very nasty surprise, the 2 squads and LMG will move on foot and go CX to 15P1 and the leader and squad will go CX and move on foot to 15Q3 which is 2 hexes from his unit in the 15O3 building but due to Alpine hills rules – B10.211 (SSR) are still out of LOS. In advance they will move to the 3 adjacent hexes 15O2, P2, P3 and will still be concealed as they have winter camouflage. (E 3.712 – winter camouflaged troops can assault move/advance into open terrain and still be concealed – nice, huh?)
Legion will fall back and try to trade land for time so I am hoping to get some good shots with my sIG and the MMG firegroup in Lvl 2 R8 as he does. He will have to pull back to the North and not towards the North East as that would allow me to take too many buildings for no loss and win the game. This is the crux of the whole game, I need to get the 8K1 firegroup moving so I can put it under fire, if it breaks he has little to stop me from taking the entire board 8, unlike last game I will concentrate on the objective of taking buildings rather than causing losses.
TURN 1
My usual run of SMOKE did its thing…. I lost it with a ‘10’, this has altered my plan as obviously the rush into the 8N2 building would be under too much fire. He opened fire on some scouts (causing an ELR failure to a 447) with the brilliantly placed 8K1 fire group comprising 2 squads, a LMG hero and 9-1 leader; the good news is that they are a big chunk of his best pieces and I know if I can negate that fire group I should be able to score a win. All my other units achieved their first turn objectives and by the end of his turn I had my MMG, LMG, 2 squads and 8-1 in the 15R8 level 2 hex as well as my 7-0 and 2 447’s in a flanking move in 15O10. My ski troops also moved to their turn 1 positions safely and the 15O3 stack pulled back in his turn where my defensive showed it be a dummy stack. The 15N10 stack turned out to be a squad and not the dummy that I thought and it was pinned as it tried to pull back in his turn.
TURN 2
My MMG group scored a K/ result on a concealed HS of his in 15L10 and my guys are still slowly advancing towards the 8N2 building. My ski troops have now moved to 15K3 and next turn will take the H1 building which I feel will be a dummy or his 6+1 leader. I also advanced my R8 fire group into level 2 15Q8 for a better angle for when his 8K1 units pull back.
TURN 3
My sIG acquired 15J10 for when he pulls back the 8K1 group. Its now turn 3 and I have slowly managed to get 5 squads near the 8N2 building but time is wasting so I decided to do some dashing into it. (yes, I am that close to it…) I only had one squad get pinned while another hardened and produced a Hero. In my advance fire I broke one of his squads in K1 and a SAN result killed the 9-1 leader in there, all of a sudden his defence is looking brittle…I advanced into 15H1 and found a 6+1 leader there who not only survived but also CR’ed one of my ski squads (I ended up firing into the hex in my prep to break the leader…). (One of my other ski squads put there ski’s on in advance, but more about them in turn 4). He is now totally on the defensive and is trying to push troops down the board but my MMG unit in level 2 keeps breaking or pinning them.
TURN 4
My sIG gakked with a 6,6 and I will not try to repair as I don’t want to give him 2 CVP’s if it rolls a 12. My Ski unit used the downhill ski rule and moved TEN HEXES – without a leader or going CX it started in15L3 and finished in 15D3 – advancing to D4 which put a surprise in his rear quickly. He was by now on the defensive and I kept the pressure on.
TURNS 5 AND 6
A ski squad found the last dummy counters in 15E6 (it had not been found and everyone else was exposed at this stage). He had some desperate attempts to get the necessary CVP’s by CC’ing my AFV with his Hero scoring an immobilised result, both survived 2 more CC’s before I finally killed him. The other highlight was his 2 squads that were fighting for their life in 8M3 level 1, I had a squad adjacent to them and a squad, half squad and Hero below them, in his turn 4 prep he did no damage, and I did none in my defensive, in my turn 5 prep I did no damage and he did none in his defensive either, in desperation I jumped into CC at the end of turn 5 to get the hex and free up some guys to take the last buildings and I finally managed to kill them for no loss in his turn 5 CC. (Dangerous, last game I lost 2 squads in CC and that was enough to give him the win, as it would have been in this game). He had put his last LMG in 15J5 (level 1 hill) that put some minor fire on my troops as they crossed the 8I1-8I4 road but the game was over and we both knew it as I had the 20 hexes with no way for him to win them back – he surrendered and I accepted .
The Germans have gained 20 building locations.
GERMAN VICTORY
Conclusion
I was really happy with the way I had a plan but kept some flexibility within it. Most importantly I waited until I had a decent attack setup before committing my troops to the dash into the N2 building which is something my attacks have lacked in recent times. The MMG group in the 15Q8/R8 building was excellent and I recommend that anyone trying this scenario do the same. His 8K1 position held me off for a long time but they are in woods and therefore vulnerable and if his sniper had not decided to break the HS carrying my mortar twice it would have moved to a position to get airbursts on them I also thought the 15J5 position was good (I had set 15I8 on fire as per SSR so the 15H5 2nd level could not cover board 8 effectively) and it was only when he pulled a squad off that hex to try and counter attack that I was able to cross the I1-I4 road with any confidence.