RED BARRICADES
CG III – THE BARRIKADY
19 October
JP defending as the Russians
BUYS
Legion had a company in reserve last game and didn’t do his usual “slice and dice” style of play, preferring to make me take firepower losses while trying to keep his losses to a minimum which means he is building up to something either this game or the next – his AAR had him saving 3 CPP’s so I am expecting him to buy engineers to clean out the rest of the factory complex. My defence of the factories has not been good and my troops have seemed to melt away so this time, while I still have some factories and their fanatic bonus I have decided to change tactics. Instead of buying Militia companies I have bought a 1st line rifle and a Guards Rifle company – both in reserve. I had only 17 Pts as I rolled a ‘6’ with the –2 drm making it a net ‘4’. The 2 companies cost 12 CPP and with the other 5 CPP’s I bought Molotov capability 2x fortification points and one 80mm OBA.
Both companies were full and in reserve with my logic being thus: it takes at least 2 turns to reach the action by which time he could easily have moved forward 3 hexes which would put him in the LOS of a reserve unit anyway, so why spend the extra 1CPP? – besides, I like having a second line of defence with these guys as it means his nebelwerfers can’t bust a hole through my lines too easily.
My OBA was scarce (DR12!!!) and without having a pre-reg it’s effectiveness will be limited (I don’t believe in pre-reg for 70 or 80mm OBA – its fairly ineffective VS the +3 stone building TEM so why spend an extra CPP?).
The leadership rolls were a dream!!! My Guards rifle rolled a snake eyes and the –1 DRM made that a net ‘1’ for a 10-3, 9-1 and an 8-0 which I converted to a commissar. Even my 1st line rifle came into the act and rolled an ‘8’ which gave me a 8-0 and a 7-0, (I am happy anytime I get 2 leaders for a Russian company) with the 8-0 being converted to a commissar. That gives me a total of 13 leaders (4 are commissars) for my 50 squads which is a good balance of 3.8 squads per leader.
THE PLAN AND SETUP
I want to contain his advances in the west and try for a counter attack towards the commissars house, I will pull back in a lot of the western areas to ensure he has a lot of open ground to cover before reaching my troops.
I want to pull back from the dangerous “Plant” area as it is now besieged upon from 3 sides and to try and hold it is suicide, I am really lamenting the failure of my kindling DR in that building, I thought about leaving a leader and a pair of squads there to kindle it and run away but they would just die and I will have to take it out with a Katyusha or counterattack later in the game so I have just stacked it with a load of dummies and will see if that wastes a turn or two for him. I will kindle the Western Manufacturing Hall (L25) and pull back to the Furnace (L27) where I will do a defiladed defence, basically I will be one hex back from the front of the building and blast him point blank using the extra firepower the Molotov’s give me as he enters, obviously the ideal situation is for the Western Manufacturing Hall to turn into a big blaze but I feel I can hold this hall for a turn and will probably try to kindle it at games end in order to deny him the use of it on the 20th.
On the western flank I have pulled right back to C33 and F32 giving him large tracts of land and 10 building hexes BUT, there are at least 3 hexes between the last building and my lines so I have a lot of open terrain in front of me and a pair of MMG’s to defend it as well as a 45L AT gun, ATR and 4 squads. This area is also supported by a pair of Mortars on the roof of P34 which can put fire on his troops as they advance down the board and it also has the support of a 45LL AT gun in level 1 O40 which can help take out any armour that tries to push southwards. This AT gun will also defend the area O21-O29 which is the western face of the Gun Hall. I also have another pair of Mortars on the roof of L39 for the same purpose.
My 10-3 is stacked with 3x 458’s, HMG, LMG and ATR in P27 to hopefully blast anyone fool hardy enough to enter the Gun Hall. I also have 2 squads, 2x LMG’s and an 8-1 leader in Q23 for some point blank welcoming fire at the northern end of the gun hall too. Manufacturing Halls 1 and 2 are both held by reserves stacked 3 high ready to hit him as he enters and I also have a minefield in T21 which is protected from these guys by a factory interior wall – I have my 628 HIP adjacent to that hex in U22, hopefully he will break as he enters, choose not to rout out of the minefield and then I can expose the 628 and kill him for FTR or, if he passes the minefield then I have CC opportunities. I still have a minefield from last game in V18 which will channel his attack into the Gun Tube Hall and thence onto the minefield in T21.
My last AT gun is in Level 2 BB25 (the kindergarten) where it can only be hit by the troops he has in the commissars house (once again I am rueing taking the Pump Shed instead of kindling that building). My last surprise is a 9-2, 2x squads and a pair of HMG’s in level 1 of X24 which, thanks to lots of rubble has LOS right across to HH19 to take out any invading troops, this is also supported by a MMG in II25 which can lay a fire lane across to Z10. the ideal situation is for either the 9-2 firegroup or my OBA to take out any –2 groups he has in the commissars house and for my men to advance into that area and threaten his left flank but it all depends on where he starts his troops.
THE DEATH TOLL
The intensity and brutality of this CG game can be seen by the fact that my first 5 companies to enter the fray can only muster 5 squads between them after the 2nd CG day.
Setup with planned defensive lines and fields of fire, the red line is my only line of resistance for a large part of the board but I feel that he will not send too many troops against these somewhat inconsequential areas.
TURN 1
The weather dr created heavy winds blowing from the north east and means neither of us can have SMOKE, not sure if that is a positive or a negative yet.. He started the game with a nebelwerfer in S23 (no surprise, I am kind of bunched up in that area) but it errored to an area that was less populated (T22), it caused a flame in some rubble, scored a PTC against 3 of my reserves which they passed as well as another pair of reserves and so all 5 squads are now activated, however, it also broke my HIP 628 which means the front door to both Central Manufacturing Halls is now open when the bombardment finishes. Sadly it also broke 3 other squads but overall, there was no KIA so I have to be happy. As usual all his –2 firegroups went Opportunity Fire and he went straight to movement.
He quickly bumped both my dummy stacks at the Gun Tube Hall and, even though he bypassed my minefield hex in V18 it did no damage rolling a ‘9’ on the way into the hex and an ‘11’ on the way out. He also sent a non assault moving HS into P21 at the north end of the gun hall and my 12FP std shot rolled a 6,6 which malfed one of the LMG’s. A squad tried to enter the Western Manufacturing Hall and I rolled for Molotov, achieved one and fired for a PTC which he passed. He charged straight into the Plant which surprised me and in no time at all he had cleared out the dummy counters. A long range mortar shot vs a concealed squad going down the ‘N’ road scored a hit and a SAN but the shell was a dud – that’s 2 boxcars so far.. Worse, the SAN created a ‘1’ which killed the last dummy stack in the plant – good thing I did not leave a squad and a leader there as they would be dying or dead. The squad kept moving, trying to flank the Western Manufacturing Hall but a final fire from my brave conscript scored a MC which he obligingly rolled a boxcars and so I scored first blood. Units then tried to press into the Western Manufacturing Hall down through L23 and my conscript went FPF and rolled, yep, you guessed it!! A boxcars to CR and disrupt. (Score is now 3 boxcars to me and 1 for him – and we are not even halfway through movement!!).
The better part of 3 platoons entered near A22 and started heading south, which concerns me, I only have 4 squads to defend that area but do have some mortars and a pair of MMG’s so it shall be a close run thing and I certainly can not afford to send reinforcements. Another platoon entered from the north along the river bank. A squad dashing form the commissars house into the rubble got knocked back and, although I rolled high the –2 drm saved me and he failed the following PTC which bothered me as he was no longer FFNAM/MO so there was no point firing anyone else. Another squad dashed to EE21 and yet again I rolled high – my plan is not working and neither are my firepower shots, if things don’t change I will be dead soon.
In my defensive my scarce OBA actually pulled a black chit (5/3 = little OBA this game) and landed the SR a few hexes from the Commissar’s House so all is good there although I can not drop smoke due to the wind. I tried to put area acquisitions on A26 and B26 for when he tries to cross those hexes next turn but another boxcars malfed out one of the mortars things are going great so far! (Famous Australian sarcasm…). A final fire at the pinned guy in the street caused him to HOB and go berserk which is excellent for me. His Opp Fire troops fired at my exposed squad in the rubble and the MC was failed with my 5th boxcars (so far the CVP is 2-1 and all 3 deaths are from fate rolls..) this guy eventually failed another MC and was eliminated. My conscript also died in advance fire as was expected when you have a platoon of sturm troops adjacent all armed with LMG’s. I also lost another HS when it tried to rout out of the Nebelwerfer and I left 2 squads in the FFE as they would have to rout through it as well.
We saved the game there and I have a few positives to come out of it, firstly I am going to manage his berserker so it charges the kindergarten and therefore activates the 2 squads and commissar in there as they will be handy to attack the commissars house with which will give me a total of 7 squads, 2 leaders, a HMG and a pair of LMG’s activated in the first turn. The heavy wind interests me and if the fire in R21 becomes a blaze it will automatically spread next turn into R22 and Q22 which has a chance of cutting off his escape from the Gun Hall so I might wait for the blazes to cut off his retreat and then counter attack fiercely, also, the troops in L25 Western Manufacturing Hall will try to set a fire in their hex (surprisingly he did not advance a pair of concealed Sturm troops adjacent which works well for me) which has a good chance of spreading to terrain favourable to my defence of the Furnace, so all is not lost but I need to stop rolling boxcars (or roll 5 snake eyes to make up for it..).
In my turn I dropped my OBA on the commissars house and the pesky 9-2 firegroup but they all passed the 2mc with only 1 squad pinning, I then exposed my 9-2 HMG firegroup in X24 and fired at them too but, once again they passed, not one of my traps for him have produced good results in any of the games we have played so far, its getting frustrating. All I can pray is that he doesn’t go on a ROF tear next turn. I successfully placed 3 flames in L25 thanks to my MOL capability so at least one part of my plan is working and that should spread quickly to the outlying buildings when it becomes a blaze thanks to the heavy winds. At the commissars house I pulled back to make his berserker run through 2 open hexes and activate a reserve counter before I fire everyone at him. I successfully got the rest of my troops out of the nebelwerfer hexes except for the 2 broken guys. His defensive saw his nebelwerfer create rubble and three more flames all of which will be blown across the path of his attack in the gun hall he did little other than kill a dummy stack, and he even rolled a boxcars and had his first SW (a LMG – as if he hasn’t got plenty to spare..) out of 15 game turns for the CG breakdown – about time… his defensive was minor as was my advance fire and the game ended quite nicely with him on 7 CVP’s and me on 1.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I am hoping his commissars house 9-2 fire group does not get ROF in his next prep and I may be able to take a large swath of land.
TURN 2
My rally saw no SW repaired but two squads were reduced by their commissar – these guys are great for rallying but not when squads have ELR’ed down to conscripts. His fire group in the commissars house got ROF and broke my 9-2 and one of his squads which has now reduced one of my 2 big fire groups to an ineffective state. He fired again and got ROF again this time breaking the last G.O. squad and then fired for a third time which CR’ed one of the squads. He also scored a SAN which broke the crew of my AT Gun in the kindergarten. His berserker charged down the only path I had given it and activated a pair of guards rifle squads and promptly died in a hail of lead. A trio of squads moving at long range were broken by my MMG on the right flank and once again I rue the dice, I have not had a single –2 shot produce a kill in 3 CG scenarios so far (except the berserker which had a full division firing at it…) [Edit by Legion: something that I don’t agree with, his 1-4FP -2FFNAM/MO shots were lethal to me all CG]. Spoke too soon!!! A HS scouting out my right flank died from the same MMG!! Then a squad got a K/1 result from an ATR shot and suddenly he is down 2 squads this turn alone. Yet another squad died when he charged my reserve –3 leader and death stack. He kept the pressure on in all areas but my line is still holding, in defensive a Mtr killed a broken HS my OBA (dropping for the 2nd time on the commissars house 9-2 fire group did no damage. The rest of my defensive was ineffective and his advance fire only managed to break one squad but blazes started everywhere and with the heavy winds I am expecting them to spread quickly. I decided not to rout my 9-2 and take the chance on rallying in place, I am hoping my OBA gets another shot at his 9-2 firegroup and besides, all they need to do is miss ROF just once…. And he didn’t rally as usual…
Well I got another fire mission and for the 3rd time a 16+3 FP caused a MC and for the 3rd time he passed… sigh… An adjacent shot in the Gun Tube Hall CR’ed and broke one of his precious sturm squads. I relaunched my attack towards the commissars house and kept my line static pretty much everywhere else on the board although my sewer troops moved as they have to, he has not sent any men to cover their arrival behind his lines and I feel that it will cost him dearly when they pop up behind his attack and cut rout paths and give me encirclement. His defensive saw a squad CR from a 6,6, but worse was to come: his commissars house fire group fired at my broken 9-2 firegroup and caused a 2MC – my rolls were: 6,6 followed by 6,6 and then a 2,4 which Cr’ed the leader and squad twice and the HS once. My leader survived his two wound rolls and both squads died. He then went on a ROF rampage and broke 3 more squads assaulting the commissars house. One of my guard squads in the Central Manufacturing Hall went berserk and that will be interesting in the next turn. He also killed a MTR squad in P34 which is a shame as my right flank is my weakest area and he seems to have put a lot of troops into it. Advance fire saw a lot of fire spread and the entire southern edge of the western manufacturing hall is blazing or flamed which will slow down his assault on the furnace, likewise the entire northern edge of the gun hall and both Central Manufacturing Halls is also in flame which will cut rout paths, if I am daring and push hard I may be able to kill quite a few squads especially when my sewer troops pop up in the gun tube hall and cut rout paths. In my advance I sent a concealed conscript and –1 leader from the furnace into a hex with an exposed HS, gained the ambush and advanced back out of his LOS into the furnace.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The final score is 16-9 CVP which means I killed 4 squads this turn and am happy with that. My sewer guys are going to pop up next turn assuming he does not cover their hexes, I am concerned about my left flank but it is too far away for me to send reinforcements so I will just have to hold on as long as I can. We played using the new VASL 5.8 and found that every time you roll the dice the cursor goes away from the text window, which I would always forget, start typing and (worse) every time you hit the space bar it does a DR. Although I found on the web site that it doesn’t do this if I press F1 and F2 for my dr’s and Dr’s so will give that a bash next time. (Love the LOS reporting!!)
TURN 3
Rally was a disaster!!! It started well, he fated out a HS but then he scored a HOB on another and would have gone berserk except there were none of my men in LOS so he hardened (now he has a fanatic sturm HS with a DC – I wonder what he will be doing…?) my broken commissar HOB-ed as well and sent the wounded leader and 1.5 squads in the hex with him berserk as well (oh great…).
His Prep was limited to his –2 death stars and only managed to expose a reserve squad on my left flank and wound and break a 7-0 leader.
His movement saw a 4FP –2 shot at a squad roll a ‘3’ for a KIA. An ATR on my right scored a 1 –2 shot at a full stack of squads and all 3 failed the following 1mc. A SAN result killed the only leader in the furnace (where his DC toting fanatic HS is attacking) but the fires in the Western Manufacturing Hall will keep that area safe I hope. The gutsy HS with a DC ran into S23 and was subsequently pinned by 3 activated reserve squads, there are flames all behind him and I hope they turn into blazes to cut his rout path later. He has kept the pressure on all along the line but for the first time I am holding (although only just…) he has finally reacted to my sewer squads and sent 3 units into the Gun Tube and Gun Construction buildings.
In my defensive my OBA scored a break on one of his squads in the Commissars House while re-DMing the other but, even better, it also made a flame. My squad in X21 which is being attacked by 3 sturm squads all toting LMG’s rolled for a MOL and got it but then rolled a 6,6 which worked out OK as he broke (and got killed later) but also put a Flame in that building. My –3 firegroup fired at the 2 squads and leader that my berserk R24 squad would be charging and managed to break one of the squads and the leader as well as killing a broken HS in the same hex.
His advance fire was ineffectual and saw blazes spread almost across the entire front of the U22-R21 buildings with flame in Q22 as well. At this point the score was a respectable 13 (Rus) – 18 (Ger) CVP but with 2.5 berserk squads and a pair of berserk leaders on the board I know that will go up dramatically.
In my turn my OBA scored a red chit but I had got 2 fire missions out of a 5/3 chit selection so I am not unhappy. This turn I will try to surround the 2 broken squads in the commissars house not just to get kills for FTR but also to stop him hampering the flame. (My big stack of berserkers will hopefully draw the –2 commissars house fire groups fire). I will also pop up my sewer troops in T16 so I can cut rout paths for the 6 squads attacking around V21 and X21 hopefully I can get some kills for FTR which is always the best way to kill enemy squads.
My prep saw my 10-3 stack wound a broken leader and a pesky HS on my left flank break but I fired little as this will all be about movement. My big berserk stack in X24 had to attack X22 and, taking advantage of the fact that wounded berserkers can move independently of all the rest of the squads that must move as one stack I sent the wounded leader first – he died but drew the first fire from the squad I was attacking. Then the big stack charged and survived the residual fire he chose to fire his commissars house –2 fire group at them and he rolled a snake eyes for a kill on all of the troops (bugger…and he still has ROF). My R24 berserk squad charged into Q23 successfully but with 4FP vs. 5FP I doubt they will live. I sent a squad dashing into the Commissars House to draw fire from the –2 group and they died in a hail of bullets and he still had ROF. I sent a commissar and squad towards the X21 battle and his commissars house –2 broke and wounded the leader (he rolled box cars) while the squad went berserk. The berserker charged into Y23 and his X22 squad FPF’ed and rolled a ‘11’ to make it break. Another squad fired and it CR’ed down to a HS.
His defensive was ineffective on my left flank but his –2 commissars house troops CR’ed another squad. He also broke my last mortar squad with a very long range shot from his P18 units that had done little throughout the game other than force me to be careful about where I went in the factory hexes. The blazes kept spreading and in CC my berserker in Q23 elected to go H-to-H to try and get the kill but failed and was eliminated. Final score? 13 – 34, he gained 16 CVP’s in one turn, admittedly 4 of those were berserk leaders and another 6 were berserk squads but it still hurts.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I am not displeased with the game, despite the high number of berserkers I have got, the fires in the centre of the board are helping me a lot and at the X21 area I have hopes for some good kills, all I need to do is run the T19 troops into positions that will block his LOS. (see map below).
TURN 4
An amazing ROF run from a pair of –2 firegroups KIA’ed the three squads holding my left flank. On my right flank his commissars house –2 fire group scored a ‘5’ a ‘3’ and a ‘2’ to kill a HS and break the guys that had just retrieved the dropped HMG’s. he kept the pressure on all across the line and made some good advances on my left flank where there is only a reserve unit left to hold it (which broke from an advancing fire 2FP +2 which rolled an ace-deuce, naturally my guy rolled a ‘10’). Overall it was fairly cheap turn for me and I only lost 5 squads to his 1.5 but I am concerned about the V22 area as my guys are breaking from his –2 commissars house troops and I just cant get enough of them in there to kill the 3 squads. In my movement phase I sent a 10-0, 2x squads and a MMG south to Central Manufacturing Hall #3 with a view to getting on the roof to inhibit his movement on my left flank. I also kept the pressure on the V22 house but with 2 sturm squads armed with LMG’s its hard to get close enough to make the others in the hex die from FTR. His defensive saw my 10-3 and attendant squads break and now my centre is open and my PELR is dropping (around about –1 now… I was relying on that group to hold the centre as I am stretched right across the board…
FINAL THOUGHTS
My left flank has given way but there is a lot of territory before he gets to anything worth while so I am now hoping for a game end in turn 6, if it gets to turn 7 I will have lost a lot.
TURN 5
This turn was about him literally mopping up my left flank and centre while still advancing on my right flank. In his advance fire he killed my 10-3 and I was ready to surrender but thought I would wait until my turn, if I rolled a ‘1’ on the game end dr I might be able to salvage something next game but it was not to be and I surrendered.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The 17th killed me, going to 7 turns allowed him to take some level 2 buildings from where his –2 fire groups slaughtered every one within range – we scored around 60 CVP’s each that game but mine were mostly the 6 tanks and 3 HT’s which he used as “throw aways” to freeze sleaze my men which worked very well. Failing two kindling attempts on these buildings certainly did not help my cause, if the –2 fire groups had been forced to be at ground level they would only be strong points that I could avoid instead of dominating the battle field from on high. I enjoyed the game, it was a real blood fest but I think I only got one KIA out of all my little traps (HIP’s etc.) and was disappointed with the longevity of my strong points, my first died in his first fire phase from a CH by a tank, my second failed to damage his –2 fire group which then rolled a 1,2 to put that one out of action and my 10-3 passed 1 mc then failed the next 3. His sturm squads make CC hard for my 4FP troops and I would recommend that anyone playing this game make sure they have a company of 527’s for CC’ing the sturm troops. I will play this again as the Russians any day!