J70 – JUST AN ILLUSION
Legion attacking as the Thai
JP defending as the French
ROAR (F:T – 8:14) – 16th March, 2008
Played over Live VASL (4 Sessions – 8 hours)
Following on from J69 we are playing the next of the 4 Thai Scenarios, this one is another attempt by the anti-French forces to control a road and unlike the last game it is actually being fought in PTO terrain.
Initial Thoughts
Another difficult attack as the Thai forces (represented by GMD units) have to push along a road past some elite French resistance. The terrain is tight and tense with the initial and secondary French positions being based on Light Jungle-Road hexes
To achieve their objective the Thai have some Japanese HA-GO AFV (from Turn 3) and nearly 2 Companies of infantry. They are light on the SW but do have 4 leaders (with -1 total modifier). Against them is a company and a half of ELR5 French with an unarmed Renault UE, for SW they have a an almost identical mix to the Thai forces, with the exception of a 25LL AT Gun, an ATR and an 81mm MTR. However, possibly the most important addition to the OoB is the availability of Air Support for the Thai from Turn 4, this will be a single FB’39 without bombs.
One of the most complicated parts of this game is the Victory Conditions. Both sides gain CVP normally, but the French gain ‘Exit VP’ by having units on/West of row 37O. The Thai gain ‘Exit VP’ by having units between on/between rows 37I-P, they gain double ‘Exit VP’ for having units on/East of row 37Q. These conditions essentially force the French to counter-attack while limiting the need for the Thai to attack past a certain point. It also forces the French to keep a screen of units available to stop the Thai exploiting any breakthrough.
The French have 46CVP in their total available forces (the Renault UE is unarmed and this doesn’t have an Inherent Crew = 1CVP).
The Thai have 61CVP in their total available forces (including 3x Ha-Go = 16CVP).
French Setup
The French have positioned their first set of men in a blocking line across the 37C column. This will force me to face some early fire or waste time.
C3 458
C6 2x 248, 9-1
C8 LMG 458
The second set of men are placed so that they might expand out through the messy terrain prior to the 37R6 woods. He would understand the VC that state the benefits of having men prior to hexrow 37O
Q4 2x 458, MMG, 9-2
Q6 2x 458, 8-0
Q8 2x 458, 60mm MTR
Q10 LMG 458, 8-1
R4 25LL AT Gun 228
R7 248
S3 ATR 458
S5 81mm MTR 228
T5 Renault UE
V1 248
Thai Setup
I have setup my men on a line along the earliest point available to them in a broad line from the top of the board to the bottom. I shall send them through to first overwhelm the French defenders in the first blocking position and then to spread out through the terrain to take a chance at rushing through a (hopefully) disorganised French second line.
The Game
TURN 1-4
I have no option but to charge into the centre with a number of 337 while I move out through the broken terrain of the flanks with my flanking forces. Surprisingly JP misses almost every shot… in fact, this turn he only hits once with SFF on a stack of 3x 337, 8-0 and gets a k/ result; the 8-0 suffers a 6,6 while the rest of the stack breaks. Still, I score a lucky break on his northern 458 and this will swing the door wide open up there. He has also missed with all his shots down in the South and I have a good chance of sliding though this part of the map too. With my numerical superiority I Advance into CC but am Ambushed, he prudently withdraws his 9-1 and 2x 248
In his turn he starts of furiously digging foxholes, which is a great move, but I cannot work out why he is digging them outside of the French Victory Condition zone – any defenders here are going to not be counted at the end of the game. The units which are not digging are moving forward as far as possible, while the initial screen of defenders are intelligently pulled back. In pulling back his front line he sacrifices a broken HS but saves a large number of CVP. I have the feeling that I can grab the initiative here as his men are not able to move freely in the restrictive terrain.
He scores a sweet little LOS and low-hindrance shot threading it’s way through some Southern Kunai and Jungle and the result is a 1MC against one of the only stacks I moved this turn; I get my 2nd 6,6 off of just 5 MC this game and lose another HS while also suffering an ELR fail and the other unit broken (no unit has passed a MC yet). However, this is the only low-point of my turn, otherwise JP generally misses some decent shots and my line-of-attack is strong and coherent, the messy LOS has allowed me to advance much further than he would have liked. My strong attack is also forcing him to make a decision whether to fight or to run, especially in the Southern part of the battlefield.
Interestingly JP has decided to reinforce the position in the South, he now has 2 leaders and 4MMC down there. He continues to dig foxholes in the non-VC area and has moved his Renault UE a number of times to avoid it getting hit, while still keeping it close enough to gain ‘Exit VP’ at the end. A strong looking stack has moved to the K5-M4 jungle, but it wont be able to last long thanks to my large force attacking the Northern part of the board (most of the units who had attacked through the centre of the first line of defenders have moved North, I have about ⅔ of my force up there)
Aggressive attack is what is needed to keep him on the back foot and this is precisely how I do attack. I again pay a price for my moves when I fail 2x MC with a great shot against a stack (I have rolled 8 MC this game and scored 2x 6,6, 2x 11 and the rest have been 8+) but otherwise he keeps on missing or has OK shots made useless by the messy terrain. When I fire back I am lucky enough to score a hit, but he gets a HOB result that creates a Berserk HS; this guy will have to run a gauntlet of fire to reach his target and is likely to die. My AFV come on and apart from one of them trying to move independently down to the South and failing his TC they have no problems, they make it to the central jungle area where the whole battle began.
As expected his Berserker dies immediately and this precipitates a general withdrawal. The withdrawal down South puts him in some nice Jungle patches, perfect for my 60mm MTR, while the Northern and central retreat actually causes most of his men to fall back to their initial start lines. He is going to find it very hard to get men West of row ‘O’ like this.
Again I attack with a lot of aggression and I also take a few minor risks with my AFV to get them into positions where they can be in the VC zone while also holding the line against any counterattack or flanking moves. Otherwise I move now to position my forces to allow my FP to come to bear and to put his men in jungle location at risk of MTR attack. The only piece of bad luck for me this turn is when a Ha-Go takes a BFF shot and rolls another 6,6 to malfunction the MA. My ’39 Fighter has arrived and hovers over the battlefield liked the winged spectre of death that he is…
JP reveals the location of his 81mm MTR but despite his target being in Jungle and thus a very juicy target he again rolls poorly and misses. I on the other hand use the Aircraft to Point Attack the Renault and a stack of units cowering under it; the MGs score a CH against the lightly armoured AFV, but then totally fail to even scratch the paint! Arrrgg… On the plus side the 9-1 leader and 458 in this location were not so lucky and both were broken, they will be a prime target this turn… he has also had another leader (8-1) broken which leaves his Southern defenders reasonably scattered and leaderless. Despite this (or because of it) JP goes for the jugular with a nasty HS who chases a HS of mine trying to force CC. This whole turn was a really strange one though with both of us missing some reasonable shots and a lot of MC being passed with ease too…
Thai Losses: 2x 127
Thai CVP: 2
French Losses: 2x 248
French CVP: 2
We stopped the game here with a shared feeling that the result is tipping towards a Thai victory; we have the majority of their men in the VC zone (Rows ‘I-P’) and have a strong enough presence on the map to ensure that any rush by the French towards their VC zone (Row ‘O’) will be at the risk of losses they cannot afford. The French have a strong defensive position, especially with the extra Foxholes they dug, but the onus is on them to attack now, otherwise they cannot possibly make the CVP + Exit VP score needed. The AFV are in no danger where they are situated, but can influence the battle if the French do make a late-game charge.
The Thai have a strong line of attack while the French suffered some Turn 4 breaks which could set them right back
TURN 5-6
JPs dice let him down again this turn as he fails Rally attempts and also misses a large number of shots; that is until his 25LL AT gun exposes itself and goes on a ROF tear which ends up breaking one of my 337 (even with it only having AP shot it still has 1FP). My moves are otherwise uneventful as I AM my way into the VC zone with almost all my units. I Pin his impetuous attacking HS and then Advance into CC – the dice come up 1,1 and I gain a 7-0 leader as well! This is a bonus for me as he loses a CVP and I gain an extra VP. My men are ducking into LOS holes hoping to avoid his FP long enough to force his attack to come to me.
Knowing that he needs hits (even broken units are good enough as they are not GO and thus cannot gain Exit VP) JP Prep Fires with all the units he can but does poorly. Then with movement he gets a fantastic piece of luck. My Air Support dives down on an 8-1, 458 strolling in the open and rolls a 6,6 for his first, and thus only, shot… the almost certain great result is ruined! From here all my shots miss terribly, one 458 takes 4 shots against him and shrugs off 2x MC; then he turns around and breaks one of my units off of a 2FP shot! In the past 2 turns I have lost 3 units to MC in the Southern attack thanks to lucky attacks (though most of his attempts are terrible misses) and the fact that I am still only passing about 20% of my 7ML MCs.
My Rallies go well and I get 5VP worth of troops back to throw into the fight, but then it all goes horribly wrong. I miss with all my Prep Fire shots, in the context of the game this is not a big problem and I take few shots anyway, mind you I get ANOTHER 6,6 and malfunction my Southern 60mm MTR… but then JP’s Defensive Fire Phase doesn’t see a single roll by him over 6 while I fail 7 of the 9 MCs I took – I am now on a 15% pass-rate for MCs. Even his AT Gun gets a non-stop run of hits which eventually manage to cause a whole stack to break with a CR too. At the start of this turn I was winning with a very strong defence in the North and South linked through the centre, by the end of the turn I have my force down South almost completely routed with no loss to him at all and the game has swung right on its axis. The only positive result for me was a rare 1,1 HOB giving me a Fanatic Elite Squad and a Hero in the North.
Depressed by the last turn I think that luck must repay me something this turn… I was wrong… I get a HOB result from the Rally Phase, but naturally this sends a unit Berserk, so I am going to lose another 2CVP here. I took 4 shots with -1/-2 TEM and 4FP or less and missed with them all, and he passed with ease most of the few MC I set for him. As soon as it is his Advancing Fire Phase the low DRs come out again and again I take damage off of low-odds attacks. He is pushing his AT Gun forward and has dM-ed his 81mm MTR to get that into the VC zone. Otherwise it seems he is willing to wait in the North while attacking in force down the South.
Thai Losses: 126, 337, 7-0
Thai CVP: 3
French Losses: 248
French CVP: 6
TURN 7
My run of 6,6’s continues as I get my 8th for the game and immediately follow it with a breakdown for my other 60mm MTR. At least I get a good result when a Ha-Go’s BMG scores a k/ on a 458 followed by a HOB on one of his 8-0 – the poor leader crumples under the pressure and Surrenders. To capture this leader I rush my Hero over (since I lose no CVP if he dies) and he weathers a storm of shots to complete his mission and gain me more VP (at the end). My Berserk unit dies in a blaze of pathetic DRs as even a 10ML is not safe from my dice – I am now on about 10% pass-rate for my MCs and to cap it all off I roll another 6,6 to see the remaining HS killed. The Thai Sniper was extremely active this turn, he killed a 8-0 and gave me more CVP where-as JP had luck turn on him when he shot at the Hero with his AT Gun and rolled a 6,6… that AT Gun going down is a HUGE relief. I made few moves, I am trying to escape a 7-0 and a HS from the Southern battle as it is almost all over for me down there, if I can get them up to the North then I will be safe as JP has decided to crush me in the South but realizing that the North is a hedgehog has left it pretty much alone, for that reason there is no need to move, just to consolidate my position – as it stands I will win easily at this rate.
The French have re-assembled the 81mm MTR and although they have not got a crew to fire it they attempt to lob some SMOKE up North, but someone left the shells out in the humid air and they were not working… Sweet! His MMG however has a never-ending supply of bullets and ROF and my men are still not able to pass even NMC, let alone the 1MC and 2MC that his dice are gifting him! When his MMG does finally run out of ROF then the 60mm MTR takes over and also manages to break a unit, but then, joy, oh joy, he malfunctions this too! We have both lost almost all our SW to malfunctions! His moves are to continue to push down the South and though he has strength here I am also starting to find some decent results and he suffers some breaks that he can ill-afford. The dice have been terrible to me this game, but the Thai have the numbers and the position to be able to absorb that to a degree… the French are very strong but brittle and the few terrible bits of luck they have had have been catastrophic for them.
We end Turn 7 with the French in almost total control of the Southern side of the road and the Thai in control of the North… but from these positions I will win so he has to either make a rush across the road or leave his foxholes in the Eastern Jungles.
I score my 10th boxcars for the game and lose a LMG as a result. He has been chasing my mass of broken units from the Southern battle (5 CVP broken MMC with a 7-0 and HS) because he knows that those CVP are vital for his chances… when my 7-0 and HS attempt to move away and into the VC zone I am attacked and the 50% MC chance means a certain break for them! I have been totally hamstrung by my MC this game and yet I am still likely to win. JP’s DRs are mysteriously drawn to the number ‘4’ and I end up with 4 SAN chances this turn as a result. On the other hand I am left with just the MMG as my sole functioning SW as the other LMG scores a 6,6; he also suffers the loss of a LMG and his ATR… the only anti-tank weapon he has left is his 81mm MTR and his MMG but it is too late for me to take the chance this offers. Apart from the general rout in the South (I still have 2 GO units down there which are holding a number of his units off) I have again made few moves… he has to come to me in the North if he wants to win.
With 2 units taking a Rally attempt at 7ML with -2 mods you would think that at least one of them would rally… but no… I roll a 10 and a 1,1 – now with +0 on the HOB roll only a 9+ could hurt me… this unit rolls 6,6 – my 12th for the game – and with that more ‘Exit VP’ are lost to the whim of the dice-gods… his shots are the same as usual, lots of nice results but for once I actually pass all the MC which puts him in all sorts of trouble. He pushes against my units but suffers Pins and a few breaks… however, it is when he moves out in the open and passes a MC with his favourite number ‘4’ that the sniper is called to kill his 9-2, that is 3 more CVP for me; although his chances of pulling off a win to here were slim they are now non-existent, the French surrender.
Thai Losses: 126, 127, 337, 60mm MTR
Thai CVP: 9
French Losses: 3x 248, 458, 8-0, 9-2, LMG (8-0 Captured)
French CVP: 12
The French Surrender in the Last Turn
THAI VICTORY
Conclusion
I think that there are a few ways that I would play this game differently if I were the French:
1. I would still dig the foxholes, but actually put them in a place where defenders could be assured of scoring ‘Exit VP’. The positioning of the foxholes in this game was great for defensive purposes, but from Turn 5 onwards it was a French counter-attack that was necessary and those defensive positions were not as useful to support it as they would have been further forward, he hardly moved away from them as more and more men moved South, if they were only a few more hexes to the West they would have been of much more value.
2. One of the great strengths of Guns is their ability to be HIP, but HIP guns are a defensive tool and here they would have been better served being moved closer into the VC zone. I think that the appearance of the Renault UE is to signify that the AT Gun should be moved up so that it can stop the Thai as they surge forward (in the notes for this Vehicle it states that it was used almost exclusively for the transportation of the 25LL AT Gun). Obviously the dm 81mm MTR can likewise be moved up with a lot more ease. Putting both these Guns more forward than the setup zone does entail some risk, but it also ensures that the French Defence and Counterattack can be combined into one rather than having to be 2 separate actions.
Ultimately the best chance for the French in this game is to stake out some territory on both sides of the road and force the Thai to fight their way into the ‘Exit VP’ zone and to do that they need to see this as a meeting engagement where they (the French) are on the back foot right from the start. The only way they can win this is if they make the Thai forces bleed and their superior Morale, range and FP are the tools they need to ensure they choose where this battle is to be fought. If nothing else I like the way this scenario forces the Defender to think about how to wrest the initiative away from the Attacker – if he fails to do this then he will easily fail to win this game.
From the Thai point of view I think this game was a lot closer than it needed to be due to the terrible run of luck I had. I really did only pass 10% of my MC this game and there were times when JP couldn’t miss no matter how slim the odds (and plenty of times, especially in the crucial beginning of the game when he missed some real sitters). However I think that next time I play this game I would keep my men together and attack either the South or Northern end flank of the map en masse. Keeping one’s units together lessens the problems caused by the low FP and attacking to take areas in the VC Zones where LOS blind-spots are common forces the French to either attack into your strength or hand the game to you thanks to superior VP numbers. Also staying together lessens the problems of a run of luck smashing your Attackers apart as happened in this game.
Both JP and I would consider playing this again, and both of us would prefer to play as the French. Even though the odds are stacked against you I think it is the French player who has the most interesting decisions to make in this battle and I for one would enjoy the challenge it presents.