J40 – MIGHT MAKES RIGHT
JP attacking as the Germans
Legion defending as the Norwegians
ROAR (G:N – 42:21) – 20th May, 2007
INITIAL THOUGHTS
This will be interesting, I need to take 13 hexes worth of buildings (all are wooden and single story) and I have 12 squads against his 8 to do it with. Initially I thought “not too hard” but I have a lot of open ground to cover before reaching the village. Board 18 has 2 level 1 hills only 1 or 2 hexes wide running east-west on the north and south edges, there are 1 or 2 hexes to the north and south of these boards where I can move but the valley in the centre of the board is 3-4 hexes wide and covered by both hills. Once across that I am into the village, he will do his usual fire-pull back-conceal- fire again tactics in an effort to make me take some losses in the open ground. (Quite rightly so…) His 1st line infantry would be ideal for this as they have a decent range, unlike his green troops and his 2 elite squads are too valuable to risk as they will be ideal manning his 2 MMG’s in the village proper.
MY PLAN
I start with 3.5 squads, a MMG, Leader and MTR on board and the rest arrive in turn 1 so my on board troops will setup in positions where they have LOS to his units (he also has a dozen concealment counters so there will be the odd dummy stack in his front line) with the 2.5 of them in the centre of the board (at least a MTR, MMG and 1.5 squads “crested” in P4 as K3 is an obvious place to put a squad). On turn 1 three squads will enter at the northern and 3 squads will enter from the southern edges and will try to envelop the hills while the on board troops have gone Opp Fire for when he reveals himself. I will keep 2 squads off board in reserve and send them to the group that is making the best progress later in the game.
Unfortunately the village is spaced in such a way that it would be desirable to attack it from both north and south in order to get the required 13 building hexes as a single axis of attack would be forced to cross open roads to get the required numbers. This game will be decided by the number of losses I take on the open ground of board 18 so I hope he does not defend it too well which I doubt as he would have to fall back across open ground.
One thing in my favour is the fact the hills are alpine (B10.211) so I can be on the same hill as him and not necessarily be in his LOS.
I will start with one squad on Board 18 and one of my off-board squads deployed and will use them as scouts to draw fire for the 2 flanking attacks and make him expose his real units. My off board HS and Mtr will try to reach K5 in order to lay Mtr fire on the reverse slopes of his hills and threaten the open area in the valley while also being able to hit most of the tree line at the entrance to the village (unlike last game these mortars will be of some use…) where the other Mortar will join it when its duties are done. This will all be about fire and manoeuvre, action and reaction until I can get into some cover.
THE GAME
TURN 1
As it turned out he did not set up with a unit in the K3 building but had units in i8 and J8 so I setup 2 squads a MMG and a LMG as well as a HS and MTR in P2 which had LOS to both units. I did not go Opp Fire as the plan called for as one of these was in the open so I Prep fired for no damage. (Missing with Prep fire on turn 1 is becoming a habit – they did not even lose concealment…). I moved my troops on to the board with 2 squads moving to N9 to put J8 under fire and a HS and Mtr moving to M7 for the same reason and to also put what seems to be a big firegroup in E5 in its LOS too. Another squad and MMG moved to M6 while 3.5 squads took the J2 and K3 hill hexes. His turn resulted in a slight pulling back and very little Prep. In Defensive I remantled my MMG and Mtr in M6 and M7 and did little else.
TURN 2
The M7 Mtr put E5 under fire (missed but got Aqr.) which turned out to be his 9-2, a 458 and MMG. I kept moving my troops up but he seems happy to pull back using the Alpine hills as cover. His 9-2 and MMG K/ a squad in 18J3 in defensive but by now I have 5 units that can fire at it so I imagine it will run away in his turn. (I hope it stays…) He pulled the MMG unit and Ldr back but I scored a K/2 from a good LOS shot as he bypassed which CR’ed the squad and, unfortunately the ldr and squad survived the 2MC. My MMG in M6 malfed firing at what I thought was a dummy (it was) in 18I8.
TURN 3
My MMG repaired itself. He had now pulled away from the hills (north and south) and it was safe to charge down the valley and out pace his men on the flanks behind the hills. My only Prep fire was my Mtr in O2 killing a green squad in E2 which opened up that flank superbly. I charged units into D7, E5, D2, D5, C2, C3 and put a squad and LMG into G8 to stop his 2 green squads (G9 and E9) from re-occupying the heights. He has a squad in B2 which is now in trouble as it is in the open and adjacent 2 units and in LOS of a third. I also bought my last 2 squads on to the board and they are in K6 looking like they will go down the valley but will probably break up with one of them continuing and the other and a ldr going south to join my right flank.
His Prep was horrible, his 2nd MMG opened up from 10EE5 and promptly rolled an ‘11’ which malfed it. The squad out in the open at B2 prepped PBF at C2 and missed. The unit in G9 fired at G8 which HOB’d and went Fanatic and created a Hero. Then his remaining HS, 9-2 Leader and MMG opened up from their fall-back position (a brilliant one… if you are playing this game as the Norwegians I recommend you do the same) 10EE7 (this hex has LOS to all sides of the board and is causing me a lot of headaches) which scored 3 ROF’s and killed the HS in C3. My Defensive resulted in the B2 squad breaking and becoming a prisoner in rout and the 16FFP +1 shot from G8 at G9 rolled a 6,6 and malfed the LMG – shame, that means I may have to winkle them out or leave troops to limit their influence on the game.
INTERMISSION
We saved the game there and I feel it is in the balance, I might use turn 4 to re-group for the final attack as that will give me 3 turns at the village. He has lost 1.5 squads dead, 1 squad prisoner and has 2 squads north of the hill in D9 and G10 so they cant help the village much. That leaves 3.5 squads in the village to defend against my 8 squads attacking. (it will be 10.5 by turn 5 as the re-enforcing squad reaches my right flank and the 2 MTR HS’s will drop their MTR’s and run to the front too – that is still leaving one half squad on the northern most hill to stop his 2 isolated squads from rejoining the battle.)
My main aim is to take or break the unit at 18A7, I will put my 18D2 squad on opportunity fire and also send another squad and 8-1 leader there, that will be 6FP +0 if he exposes the A7 unit and to entice him to do so I will also move a squad adjacent to it (18B6). I don’t really want to break this guy as it will rout back to the 9-2 and MMG and make a strong position but it will take me 2 turns to surround him as he has support from the MMG on one side and the green squad in 18D9 so I have no choice and will have to hope I can at least get a double break or something else positive. Meanwhile I will put 2 squads, a LMG MMG and 9-1 leader in 18C6 where they have LOS to the unit on his extreme left flank (where I will put a piece of “bait” a lone HS guarding a prisoner, if he goes for it to try and free his prisoners I can hit him). I will also force the green unit in 18D9 to pull back to D10 by advancing a HS and hero into E9 and advancing a squad into D8, once that is back in D10 I will draw its fire by running the HS towards the village and that should allow the squad and hero the ability to run safely to the village as they will be beyond the 3 hex range of the green unit there. (SFF must be at normal range A 8.3.)
Legion, I am sure, as his defence is always about trading land for time will pull his troops back to the second half of the village creating a second line of defence along the 10BB1-7 row and that will give me my first 7 building hexes. Once that happens all I need to do is infiltrate a squad or two to take a few more and put him on the counter attack, once he starts moving from his pre-sited hexes the game will open up and I can achieve my objective. I am constantly keeping in mind the fact that he only has a HS manning the MMG with his 9-2 leader and am hoping I can draw its fire by sacrificing a half squad and forcing him to fix his CA (A9.21) thereby allowing the rest of my troops to get into the village by passing him on the side the MMG has not got as a CA.
TURN 4
This was the turn where I gained the ascendancy, it started in my rally when my broken 8-0 leader HOB’ed into an heroic 8-1. (It had been broken in 18G1 from his MMG and 9-2 in 10EE7 – probably the best hex to put the MMG and 9-2 for the Norwegians, I mentioned earlier that it was a good spot!). I stuck to my plan with the exception of putting the HS and prisoners out as bait as his pesky MMG and 9-2 in EE7 had LOS to B0 and B1 showing how versatile that hex is. His defensive was ineffective and in advance fire I broke the green squad in 18D9 and also scored a MC on the pesky 18A7 concealed squad that was holding me up, it HOB’ed and, with the +2 allied drm surrendered to my adjacent squad. Now the left flank is open!
In his turn his last isolated green squad in G9 AM’ed to G8 (where it CC the HS in G7 and he gained a valuable CVP). He advanced the rest of his front line (EXC EE7) one hex back to put them in a defilade position and the stage was set for my final assault.
TURN 5
I kept a hero, HS and squad back to take out that pesky green squad and the rest moved to the village, I ran a HS across the northern end of the village and his MMG had no option but to fire at (and kill) it in order to stop it infiltrating the village. That meant its CA was fixed and pointing north, so I sent 3 squads and 2 leaders into the village south of it. My right flank attack joined up with them and in advance fire I broke his 7-0 LDR and squad. (they were in CC4 and I now occupied the row houses DD2-DD5). In his turn he played defensive sleaze moves with his last full squad in the village (BB1) and moved the MMG and 9-2 across to CC8 where it will obviously put a fire lane down the CC road – yet another good position, I would have dug a fox hole there earlier in the game with one of the town garrison troops had I been him). In my defensive I was able to score a 1,1 that killed his green unit.
TURN 6
If turn 4 was where I gained an ascendancy then turn 6 was where I nearly lost it! I dashed a squad across the CC road and as expected he set up a fire lane, and my man died. The next guy broke as did the next, as did the leader, but I managed to get one squad across. His broken squad and 7-0 were killed in advance fire – they had been reduced in my previous defensive. I sent the HS, squad and hero that took care of the green squad along the woods into EE7 to take the building and be prepared to attack the MMG position.
TURN 7
By this stage he had the MMG HS and 9-2 in CC8 and a squad and LMG in BB1. I had one squad in AA4 and everybody else was still in the DD row houses apart from 2.5 squads and a hero in EE7 and A7, I had lost 7 CVP’s by now (good old 6,6 on a MC, I have had one every game of this Norwegian series of games). It’s the last turn so off I go! I ran a squad across the CC road and was CR’ed for my troubles, the next squad across (remembering that losing this guy would make 10CVP’s for him and let him win the game) broke so I sent another squad (its like playing Russian roulette!) I lucked out as he rolled a 6,5 on his fire lane which malf’ed the MMG and the way was open! I charged the remaining troops into the village and by the end of advance I had 16 building hexes.
Legion surrendered at that point.
In a SMS later that day he pointed out that he could have tried to CC me in his turn to get the last 2 CVP’s which just shows that you should always finish the game, you never know what can happen. (Then again, I might have just routed away…)
FINAL THOUGHTS
Legion played this well and his positions for his MMG and 9-2 were brilliant, he pulled back at the right times and the only mistake he made was to not have the valley floor covered while he had troops on the northern side of the hill, which allowed me to isolate those 2 squads and stop them joining in the village defence. I would have used 1st line instead of green troops there as they:
– Have a greater range.
– Do not Disrupt (a green that disrupts is guaranteed to be permanently out the game).
– Only cower 1 column – I wasn’t scared of moving in the open at long range from a green squad as it needs a 1,1 to get a K/ result and the double cowering means it would be a N/E.
– They can move 4 hexes not the 3 that greens do, basically green squads can be overtaken by the attacking force.
His MMG placements (18EE5, 10EE7 and 10CC8) were all brilliant and if you are going to play this as the Norwegians I recommend that you do likewise.
I was pleased with my attack, it went well and I feel I have improved a lot in this area, I had assaulted over open ground and killed or captured 2.5 squads while only losing 1 squad myself, more importantly I did not let myself get bogged down in a shooting match and used flanking movements to force him to pull back. There was a time when I used to put HS guarding prisoners way behind the front line but am now happy to use them to draw fire or take buildings, they have no firepower but are still a manoeuvre element that can help me achieve the victory, it’s the little one percenters like that which make the difference between a win and a loss.
This was a good game though I feel it is in the Norwegians favour but consider this: By the end of turn 3 I was in the outskirts of the village, I had only lost one squad and he had lost 2.5 dead or captured and 2 more effectively out of the game as they could not join the village defence. That left him with 3.5 squads defending against my 10 squads attacking (remembering I had only lost 2CVP’s) but by games end I had lost 8CVP’s and had no choice but to run squads in the open where any snake eyes would have won him the game. Overall, it was an excellent little scenario and I recommend it to anyone.