A BRIDGE TOO FAR
CGIII
17N
JP playing German
SETUP
HIPs
6-5-8, LMG 8-1 R2
6-5-8, PSK P6
6-5-8, LMG S6
50L AT GUN S7
3-4-8 V8
4-4-7 O11 (IN FORTIFIED CELLAR)
4-4-7 O15
4-3-6 Q22
4-3-6, LMG T20 (LEVEL 1)
4-3-6 U22
CONCEALED:
4-4-7, LMG Q2
3-4-8, 9-2 S6
6-5-8, PSK S8
8-0 Q12
6-5-8 Q15
7-0 P20
2 DUMMYS P16
2 DUMMYS P22
2 DUMMYS R21 (IN PILLBOX)
WIRE O20, O21
Fortified T6
RE-ENFORCEMENTS
3x 6-5-8, LMG, PSK, 8-1 from KG Knaust
2x 6-5-8, LMG, 6+1 from KG Brinkman (curse the depletion rolls!)
THE PLAN
To stay alive!!
I will try to do a fighting withdrawal to the east side of the bridge (I have no hope of holding the western blocks) but I can not let him get a block on the eastern side this turn so, I may have to make a stand at some point. My 9-2, 8-0, and 7-0 leaders will start popping starshells as soon as they are able but my squads won’t fire unless they have to, he knows I will have a lot of HIPs and exposing them too early will allow him to move faster.
The ideal situation is for him to go past my HIPs so they can reclaim blocks in the latter turns (especially the 2 guys in the cellar of O11 and in Q22 I feel they can surprise him with their appearance later, I just need to be patient and not fire them.) This game depends a lot on the British buys, I am of the opinion that the British player should buy as much infantry as possible to swarm and outflank the Germans defence but I know Legion loves his toys and if he buys a MG sect. and an engineer platoon I might have a chance at holding the eastern side as the British troops get spread thin by the game end.
TURN 1
His masses of troops started charging across the board, he was still too far away for me to see so, during my turn I moved my sacrificial convoy down the road.
TURN 2
He continued moving towards my troops and it was the same story as turn 1 – I just sat, waited, and hoped. Meanwhile the convoy of doom continued moving.
TURN 3
Now it gets interesting!! He sent a line of cloaking counters to occupy N4 to N8, these boys were adjacent to my convoy. I fired my HIP O15 to no avail but at least now I can pop star shells! During his Advance Fire he cremated the majority of my convoy and advanced onto those that had survived and killed them, three of the trucks ended up being burning wrecks which has alleviated my illumination problem and has given a large number of my troops freedom of movement, however, I lost an ELR level during this which will hurt me later on I am sure. (One broken 658 was able to rout away.) He had also fired a FT (oh goody!! He did buy toys!! – I made the same mistake once myself) in N16 and fired the MMC at O15 for a broken result.
During my turn I Prep Fired my 9-2 FG, (a 9-2, one 658,LMG and a HS, the rules said nothing about the guys near T7 having to setup one MMC per hex so I took advantage of it), AT gun and 658 in hexes S6 – S8 at an 8-1 leader and 3 squads hiding behind one of the non-burning wrecks in O7. I also exposed and fired my HIP 658 in P6 and, with all this rate of fire at them his ldr ended up being pinned while the 3 squads all broke with two of them being casualty reduced. (Killing one British squad in the 17N turn is a major victory for the Germans.) In my movement I bought my 5x 658 onto the board to occupy blocks N, P, R and also started pulling back some of my troops that were a little too close to his guys for my liking.
TURN 4
Things started getting a little unglued with my 9-2 fire group breaking during Prep Fire (with the leader getting wounded) and a black hole appeared in my defence with starshells landing 7 hexes apart from each other leaving a hole in my line with one non-illuminated hex between them. He rushed a few troops through it to take the centre building in block “K” (T8) and during his Adv. Fire also wounded and ELRed my 8-0 leader and broke the squad stacked with him.
My AT gun broke down as my only Prep Fire; I need to move a lot of troops to contain his breakthrough. (The line is open from T8 all the way down to T19) I reinforced the fortified T6 with my 8-1 leader (there will be 2.5 broken squads and one good order HS in there by the end of rout), I also placed SS squads in T5 and V6 as support. He still hasn’t found my HIPs yet and I hope to surprise him as he crosses the open terrain in front of block “K”. I have not fired anybody near the pillbox, he seems more interested in bypassing those blocks and I may be able to make him pay later by moving men into them and thereby isolating his men.
TURN 5
Most of the guys in T6 rallied, I now have 2 squad equivalents, an 8-1 and an LMG in there. During his Prep all his star shells landed miles away or over his troops but not illuminating mine so the Defensive Fire Phase could be some fun.
In Movement he consolidated his hold on blocks “J” and “L”, which is fine with me as I am very weak in that area and don’t want him to advance further. Meanwhile Colonel Frost and 2 of his squads walked straight into a trap, the HIPs in R2 had a shot at them as they crossed the wide road at R9 (6FP with –4 drm!!! Love it!) Both squads died but Frosty lived. I have now killed three squads and that is an excellent result for the Germans!! I think Legion just got over confident, as Frost was the first unit to be moved towards block “K” that turn and he paid the price, (he is usually very cautious with his big FG) better still, my HIP in the cellar of O11 has not been found and either this turn or the next I will expose him and start taking buildings in block “H” he will then have to choose whether to pull troops back from the assault on block “K” to try and kill him in order to hold “H” or let him go and therefore have some nasty escape DR to do and start next game without “H” as a kick off point. (Either way, it’s all a positive for me; I am feeling a lot more confident and very pleased my plan is working.) The rest of my Defensive Fire was not as good and did not even result in a PTC, he now has 3 cloaking counters in amongst my troops and I am pretty sure 2 of them are nothing (they were adjacent to one of my broken squads in an orchard hex earlier and did not fire – pretty clear evidence that they are nothing).
His Advancing Fire resulted in my wounded 7-0 leader and a broken HS dying and my 8-1 leader in R2 ELRed to an 8-0 (The R2 guys were throwaways so never mind, they killed 2 squads which is a fair trade – would like to get the squad out safely though.)
During my turn I did not Prep Fire and just pulled my troops back, my HIP in the cellar of O11 started to re-take block “H” but rolled a 6,6 on the straying DR and only moved one hex (damn). He killed 2 of my leaders and the 3rd (a 6+1) became wounded (guess who will be my artillery observer next turn). The game is now in the balance, it depends on how he reacts to my HIP guy in block H that will determine the games outcome.
TURN 6
Fortunately for me he reacted to my HIP in block H and he sent a few squads to deal with him, he also sent 3 squads and a 9-2 to P2 with the intention of gaining a foothold in block “N” which I will have to counter in my next turn. During my defensive fire I broke Colonel Frost (twice in one game!! – white feather for him!!) I also killed a half squad that got a tad close in S1; that is now 3.5 British squads dead and I am very happy with that result. In any CG killing the attacker’s squads early in the piece is a major advantage and I am feeling quietly confident although I would be a lot happier if the game ended after this turn. During my turn I moved troops to stop him from entering block “N” and left a squad or two in each of blocks K, O and R to hopefully make them uncontrolled at the start of the next game.
TURN 7
Unfortunately I was unable to stop his units from entering block “N” and I also lost the man holding block “R” in a close combat assault which surprised me as he hates being in CC with me because he believes that my DR are far superior to his; this is a sign of how desperate he is becoming. During my turn I started pulling back my survivors towards the board edges and blocks “V” and “W” to increase their chance of surviving the escape DR’s. I left a unit in each of “K” and “O” to make them uncontrolled and to make him waste a turn or two of movement during the next game. He has now totally routed my forces and I am just trying to save as many as I can, I have re-discovered religion and am currently praying for the game to end at the end of my turn.
TURN 8
My prayers went unanswered (don’t they all?) the only thing in my favour is the fact that I have run away so fast that I doubt he will be able to hurt my good order men. However, I still have two broken squads and a conscript within his reach so I expect to take more losses. (Which I did!!) During my turn I just kept running my men to within reach of either block U, V or W. I lost block K but left a HS in block O to keep O and N uncontrolled.
AFTERMATH
Ouch!!! That hurt!! He killed 17 squads and 7 leaders, leaving me with 7 squads to start the 18AM turn with. We are now setup for an interesting 18AM turn, as we both fight for the uncontrolled block “N”. This turn could have been a major victory for me if it had ended at turn 6 but, unfortunately it went the full distance and I just did not have the troops to cover all the gaps allowing him to gain territory that I had defended fiercely.
However, killing 3.5 squads was a victory for me leaving him with 22.5 MMC on board and another 24+ squads to come on in 18AM which will make it a tough battle but, I do have a good idea for my defence so we shall see what happens. I am not feeling confident (yet) but I certainly will if block “N” is uncontrolled at the end of the 18AM turn.
Yellow – No Control Points
Blue – Water
Black – German Controlled
Red – British Controlled
Purple – Uncontrolled