Gepanzerte-Schule, Teil Zwei...

... OK, getting clever with google-translate ;-)

Armoured School - Part Two...

After my previous post where my German mechanised force, had a reasonably successful go at having a crack at some damned dug in Paras, who were trying to steal back a portion of the greater Reich... it was now time to see how the same force would now fare against an Armoured Company...

My plan with my Mechanised force in this example being for the most part to 'hang on'..., but to still hopefully project some force, to blunt the attacking platoons. Tanks are big nasty scary things when they are rumbling towards your troops, but infantry can survive a lot of attention being dug in and gone to ground, and any half decent volley from the panthers can blunt one of these armoured prongs. Combine that with heavy artillery fire from the Hummels, and its possible to knock out a platoon at a time with this double tag team...

This still leaves the heavy platoon stummels and mortars to deal with the lighter armoured vehicles and recce and even the 37mm cannon on the platoon command half tracks can be pressed into service against these lighter armoured vehicles.

Last time we had played, Paul had discussed using his Soviet Forward detachment, a nasty mix of Tanks, Assault breakthrough guns and an Infantry horde... but a last minute change of mind had Paul bring his Canuks... His Canadian Armoured squadron from Market Garden.

So, once again my force was:

CHQ; 2 x SMG/P'faust + P'Schrek & 3 x 251 Halftracks
Full CBT, w/ SMG/P'Faust, 37mm Cmd Halftrack, plus 3 x  251's
Full CBT, w/ SMG/P'Faust, 37mm Cmd Halftrack, plus 3 x  251's
Heavy Platoon; Cmd 251 + 2 x Stummel + 2 x 8cm armoured mortars w/ obs
Recce; 1 x 250/1 + 2 x 250/9 Halftracks
Panzers; 3 x Panther
Artillery; 3 x Hummels w/ PzIII obs.

Whilst Paul brought:

CHQ – 2x Sherman V’s and a Sherman ARV

2 Armoured Platoons, each with 2x Sherman V and 2x Fireflys (Fireflys w/ .50 cal AA MG’s)

4x M10 3”

2 Universal Carrier patrols, each with 3x carriers

Rifle Platoon with 2 Squads and 3x Ram Kangaroo APC’s w/ .50cal AA MG’s

The Canadians bring with them upgunned 17pdr Fireflies @ AT15, which scares my Panthers. They're Confident Veterans, and have 'Woodsman' and 'Mission Tactics', but don't get British Bulldog...

The one thing I like about them is its all kill-able stuff - nothing greater than front armour 6. So my Panthers, Hummels and even Stummels are capable of 'having some fun' against this force...

So my ideal match-ups are going to be Panthers and Hummels to kill the Shermans, and Stummels can try taking out UCs & M10s, my Recce and 37mm halftracks can also target the UCs... Armoured mortars are mostly for smoke or infantry killing... That's my very general approach here...

So on to the mission, the dice roll and we get... Cauldron... no ones favourite mission... neither of us are keen so we re-roll... Fighting Withdrawal... not my favourite but it often comes up in tournies, and is good in that it has a finite conclusion fixed at 8 turns. Also there's no messing about with reserves... but the defender has to deal with Strategic Withdrawals...

On to deployment; I pick the side with the most general cover yet also decent LOS for shooting up Pauls tanks as he comes towards me.

I deploy a GPG on each flank objective, with halftracks also deployed, as I want them to shoot up Pauls infantry if they advance on me, and I want the 37mms available too. Hummels are central, recce behind small wood to my centre right, and heavy platoon with the mortars with the hummels, and stummels with the recce. Panthers... surprise surprise, are the ambush...

Paul decided to apply 'duckbills' to his tanks, giving them widetracks but also making them slow. He then deployed a Sherman platoon in his central and right flank woods. M10s and recce were in and beside the town, and infantry behind right flank woods. His 2ic Sherman was alone far on his left flank...

Deployment pic: sorry I couldnt find usual camera so these are crappy Ipod pics...

I moved my Recce across towards my centre sensing the bulk of Pauls attack to happen towards my centre and left. Paul pushed up his recce, fanning out towards my centre and left obviously looking to push back my Panther ambush... but as the bulk of my force was concealed at range and gone to ground he had no shooting...

My turn, and now the 'phoney war' begins...

Panther ambush... where to place it... I was sorely tempted to put it down on my right flank, knock out Pauls 2ic Sherman, and then to start rolling the flank, but was concerned at the distance my Panthers would then have to travel to get back into the action which was the mainly on the other side of the board... So instead I decided to place it where his recce had not been effective, my extreme left... I could pop it within 16" of Pauls right flank Sherman platoon... The hummels could also see this platoon and could get 4 tanks under the template and catch 2 infantry teams...

Recce would shoot up the UCs, Stummels moved to shoot up the m10s, Mortars would drop smoke on the centre Sherman platoon...

Smoke first, hit, great, that reduces their effectiveness, only one Sherman can still see the right side of board.

Panthers... 6 shots needing a 5, nothing... Hummels, three chances to range in on a 5, nothing... stummels 3 shots on a 6, nothing... recce shoot up the recce who failed to disengage, but I still could achieve little... and this appeared to set the tone for my shooting for most of the game, I couldn't hit a barn door...

Paul now started to gradually apply pressure... he returned fire at the Panthers but he too missed, or the one hit I got I saved. But I lost 2 hummels in the centre as Paul started to find his dice rhythm and the sixes started to tumble across the felt... I even suffered the ignominy of  that 1 in 36 chance kill; a UC vehicle MG hit the side of my recce command half track, I rolled a 1 for a save and Paul a 6 to kill it... mutter mutter mutter...

For the next several turns things continued this way, the Panthers and Sherman platoon exchanging foul language but that was about all... I withdrew my lone hummel into cover to try and preserve it. Paul decided to try a bold thrust with a lone m10 through towards the panthers flank but missed. The m10 being subsequently caught in a cross fire from a 'faust, 'shreck, and 37mm... the 37mm claiming the scalp and my first kill of the game...

Time came to withdraw my first platoon, and I had picked up a sneaky tip from seeing other German players; kampfgrupping a lone infantry stand with my 2ic, so these two teams quit the field leaving me still quite well positioned, no gaps yet...

By this time, Paul had started snaking his 2 UC patrols to my right to threaten that end objective, teaming up with the 2ic Sherman and other shermans who had started to edge out from the centre woods.

I had got a little bold previously with my right flank infantry... sensing a possible assault against a UC patrol, as it took a load of fire, if I could simply get 3 bails and or a kill here or there, they would be easy meat... one thing to remember for beginning players, if all the tanks you are assaulting are bailed out, then there is no tank terror test and no defensive fire. I thought I saw a chance but it wasn't to be, I bailed only two of the three UCs and then failed tank terror. I had now scampered infantry out of their foxholes so they were ripe for MGing, which Paul duly started... and teams started falling on my right...

Paul also knocked out 2 Panthers on my left over the next couple of turns, for the loss of a further m10..., the rot had set in and I was starting to crumble... The centre recce took another hit and the remaining 2cm halftrack quite the field...

The hummels were withdrawn next... making the centre looking more vulnerable too. So I managed to get my CO across from my left to the centre farmhouse, to keep the centre objective covered. The sensation of 'hanging on by ones fingers nails' had certainly commenced.

The stummels and Pltn Cmd were sent to reinforce the crumbling right ... the air was sporadically turning blue, as I continued to fail to be able to kill anything, and then kept failing infantry saves...

However, the one thing my dice were doing, despite letting me steadily die, was that I kept passing 4+ platoon morale checks, and the Panthers had hung on for quite some time with some decent armour saves, although as previously noted, had eventually been reduced to one tank... under weight of fire...

I hung on just long enough on my right, contesting with the Stummels, to whip that objective away... Paul started pressuring the left flank, now that I was down to 1 Panther, and since the centre was looking thin I had had to start moving the left side Grens over to the centre, everything was getting perilously thin... Paul also pushed up on the centre too, with Shermans and m10s..

Another platoon, had to be withdrawn, and I withdrew the shattered remnant of my right flank infantry, passing a skill test to do so... Sensing it was getting close to the point that all I had to do was stay alive, I backed my last panther off into the woods to keep it out of LOS and alive.

Paul now realised it was now or never... too late to grab the left objective, this got pulled too... so it boiled down to could he kill enough of my teams/platoons that were remaining, to force me to take a company morale check and quit the field.

Paul massed all the fire he could; sent 4 tanks into the wood to kill the last panther, positioned enough tanks to shoot up the remnants of the heavy platoon... and tried to get some shots on my CO in the farmhouse...

One Firefly got a hit on the Panther, but only bailed it, and I passed morale! I lost two more heavy platoon vehicles, but they passed morale... and shooting at the CO was ineffective... and that was it... game over, I had hung on, with a final score of 5-2, as I had lost the halftrack recce platoon mid game, to give Paul a point for his efforts.

A win, but it really didn't feel like it, and was another of those pressure cooker games, that has one pondering... and I do this for fun!?...

I had managed to destroy 2 m10s and 2 UCs and that was it. I had lost 2 hummels, 2 panthers, the 3 recce halftracks, an armoured mortar, stummel and their pltn cmd, and several infantry teams. My efforts felt rather pathetic. If I had managed at least a little better dice earlier and some effective co-ordination between the panthers and hummels, reducing Pauls Sherman platoons, I could have put him on the back foot... but it wasn't to be and thus a slow grinding capitulation ensues, that was quite literally saved by the bell and some lucky platoon morale checks...

A tough game for Paul to lose, be he continued to keep the pressure on throughout, and was so close to victory at several times.

Despite failing to kill much, I think my troops performed, or at least had the potential to perform, adequately, had I managed to hit some targets,... so I feel its has rather proved the point that this overall force has the potential to be effective in a 'take on all comers' tournament...

Tournament Etiquette and Sportsmanship

 Having recently ventured back into the tournament scene after mostly playing amongst ourselves for the year so far, as a group we have noticed a few “quirks” in the way the wargames in general are played. Thus, we offer the following observations on gaming etiquette, particularly at tournaments where you are often playing unfamiliar opponents:

It's "grumpy old(ish) men" time! We're not nearly as grumpy as this post sounds. It's just sometimes a good old rant is more entertaining to read and write :-)

 1.  Dice rolling, specifically the physical act of dice rolling. Massive kinetic energy does not enhance your odds of getting the required number! Much time can be wasted retrieving dice from the far end of the room. There is no +1 bonus for added height on your dice roll/throw/launch. If you throw dice into terrain that frequently results in cocked dice, continuing to throw dice into the same terrain will continue to result in cocked dice. A die is cocked if another die will not sit on top of it, with out falling off. Do not throw dice into piles of other dice, its then difficult to see which dice you threw and what the resulting number was, as the dice all bounce about from the impact. Just shake up the required number of dice in your hands, and then drop or gently roll them onto a flat, open area of the table. Easy.

If you really just can't keep the dice under control, then for everyone's safety maybe you need these? Knitted dice! Perfect for winter.

2.  Dice rolling, specifically the declaring of. Do not start rolling dice without declaring what you are rolling for, what number you need, and how you arrived at that required number if need be, eg: “rolling to unpin my artillery, needing a four” or “three main gun shots at your Panthers, they’re Veterans so that’s 4’s, long range 5”. Remember that you need to declare the targets for all shooting teams in a platoon before any dice are rolled. If you just start rolling dice in front of yourself, scooping them up and claiming success without your opponent having any idea what you are doing, do not be surprised if you are asked what you are doing. Full disclosure at all times is a good rule. Likewise, pay attention when your opponent is declaring. Don’t claim you didn’t know what was happening if you weren’t focused on the game.

3.  Declare your force at the start of the game. This entails a quick run down of what is in your force, any special rules or characters you may have, any proxy models you are using and anything else your opponent may need to know. This doesn't need to be your life story, just a heads up on any relevant points. Having done this does not relieve you of all obligations to be sporting on these points during the game. Don’t expect your opponent to gain an instant knowledge of the ins and outs of your force. Answer their questions, correct any mistakes, eg:  if you have mixed skill levels in your force, point out if your opponent is shooting at Trained troops as though they were Veterans (i.e. he thinks he needs a 4 when all he actually needs is a 3, not correcting this, is poor sportsmanship indeed). Declaring dice rolling (and listening to your opponents) helps to avoid errors like this impacting a game. When deploying, and throughout the game, be clear about where platoons start and end. Remember too, it is your responsibility to know when your platoons need to take morale checks and to take them at the required time, it is not up to your opponent to request that you take them.

Never a truer word! So don't try and hide them or use confusing proxies please.

4.  Declare intentions. This means be clear about what you are doing. If you are fully inside a wooded area, state that you are moving to be fully inside the area. Most of the time you will be able to show this with no problems, but it will save you being caught out if a base gets bumped later and a corner is poking out of the wood. It also reduces the need for tedious micro measuring where you have ample movement ability to execute what you want to do. Declare lines of sight and concealment, eg: if you move a tank forward behind some cover, state whether you can see an enemy team or not. You may assume there isn’t a line of sight to a particular target, so you don’t shoot at it. It’s not good to find out in your opponents turn that you can suddenly see each other. You may have shot, or not moved there at all.

5.  Discuss terrain at the start of the game. Make it fair. A good general guideline is “keep it simple”. Terrain should obviously have an impact on the game, but you should be fighting the enemy first and foremost, not the terrain. Be really clear about what constitutes area terrain, concealment etc and then stick to it. Different groups play these things different ways, so long you are both playing the same interpretations it often doesn’t really matter.

6.  Rules disputes – play the ball, not the man. For anyone unfamiliar with the sporting metaphor, take this to mean stick to the issue in question. If you can’t resolve a rule issue quickly and to mutual satisfaction, look it up in the rule book. Don’t try and force your view on your opponent without backing it up. Nobody likes a bully. Don’t try and brow beat someone into your point of view, and then back off saying “ok, we’ll play it your way because I’m such a nice guy” when you realise you don’t have a leg to stand on. If you’re wrong, admit it. Stick to the issue, reach for the rule book. If in doubt, dice for it and move on. Simmering tensions will quickly lead to more issues if anyone feels they are “owed a break”. Similarly, don’t question someone’s integrity or call them a cheat without being able to back it up. You may know they cheated, but you won’t achieve anything positive without being able to prove it. Conversely, just because you forgot something or didn’t ask about something you were unsure of, or had a genuine miscommunication, does not make the other player a cheat. An error on your part does not constitute cheating. Deliberate, contrived cheating is extremely rare, and most issues can be sorted in a gentlemanly fashion, so don’t be too quick to start name calling. There would be few sadder sights than grown men having fisticuffs over a game of toy soldiers! Plus, you never know who’s secretly a ninja-trained killing machine when they’re not painting little tanks…

Don't be this guy.

7.  Some real basics, but you’d be surprised (or not) at some of the things we’ve seen. “Elastic tape measures” are one of these things. Also measuring movement, then taking away the tape measure and moving the model past the allowable distance. If you’ve forgotten to do something in a particular step and moved on to the next step, either suck it up and remember next time, or ask your opponent if they mind you acting out of sequence. Do not just start moving models around after shooting, or deploy a “forgotten” platoon half way through the game without asking first. 99% of the time it will be OK, and you should always try and correct these errors in a way that doesn’t adversely impact your opponent. After all, it was your mistake. I once had an opponent start making some “forgotten” movement in my turn, after I’d moved some of my platoons! He didn’t even ask, just did it brazenly. I was not impressed.  

8.  Take it like a man! Don’t deliberately play slow for a time out win. If a game times out and robs you of victory but your opponent was playing at a good pace then don’t take it out on them. Likewise, don’t blame your opponent for slow play if you spent half the game wandering off around the room. If it’s not going your way, don’t sulk. Always try and play as positively as possible. You’ll have more fun and gain more respect, and probably get better results too. 

 Whew! Quite a rant indeed! Please note that these observations are gained from years of our own experience, the experiences of others, and just general pet peeves. They are not aimed at anyone in particular, but hopefully set a standard for all of us. In my own experience, the vast majority of gamers play to enjoy the game and that will always shine through. At times things can get tense, but communication is the key. It’s all war stories in the end.

 Cheers,

 Paul and Scott.

Gepanzerte-Schule!

In an ongoing attempt to find a balanced German mechanised force, with enough options to attack and defend against a variety of opponents, and how well to tactically play, I have begun a learning curve, with a bit of a back to basics approach.

 I have played this force, both in Mid-war and Late-war incarnations for over two years now, with just about a game a week, but with few victories to show for it... but being stubborn and pig headed I have not given up - largely because I have put a shit load of resources, both money for buying the models, and time to paint them up, to give up on them.

So I am going to find a way to make them 'work'. However I admit I have certainly 'spat the dummy' at differing times, or just declared I needed a break to rest my jangled thoughts...

 So, in an attempt to salvage thoughts from the ashes, I suggested to Paul, a chance to play a sort of 'doubles solo game'; we'd play the same arse of a mission for the GPGs; attacking the Brit Paras in a No Retreat scenario - but the difference being we'd both discuss how we thought mission objective placement and deployment should go, and then discuss each turn as we played it, from both sides point of view...

 This would develop a more global view of the game from start to finish...

We also agreed that if something didn't work, during a turns activity, we would try a reset, at that point and try something else...

 This led to a lengthy game, but many lessons were learned from mutual discussion... some from more past experiences being echo-ed, and others from Pauls insights from the defenders point of view, and how he thought an attack should best proceed...

The force I have chosen to use is a Heer force from Grey Wolf;

HQ; 2 x SMG/P'faust + P'Schrek
Full CBT, w/ SMG/P'Faust
Full CBT, w/ SMG/P'Faust
Heavy Platoon; Cmd 251 + 2 x Stummel + 2 x 8cm armoured mortars w/ obs
Recce; 1 x 250/1 + 2 x 250/9
Panzers; 3 x Panther
Artillery; 3 x Hummels w/ PzIII obs.

The thinking being I have two solid Mechanised Infantry platoons to handle the attack, Recce to mitigate ambushes and lift GTG, Heavy Arty to get ranged in and pound targets (I want to kill what I hit!), Panthers - the ubiquitous Tank killer and infantry support, and the Heavy platoon is my 'versatile' option, being able to support the infantry with direct fire and smoke.

On to the game, Paul took his same Para force as last game, chose an end to defend and placed his objective centre rear of his position. The German objective went down in woods to front left of the German position, the idea being an advance to this position would be screened through hedges and woods and much of the defenders defensive fire in this area would be blocked by the wood and building. The other flank was more open and would allow for the potential of a quicker thrust to the rear...

As predicted Paul then deployed the Brits strongly covering the front objective, with a thinner force on the German right, and howitzers at the back. A fairly typical defense. Since Paul had engineers, he also placed 3 sections of barbed wire covering the approach to the front objective.

As I didn't have pioneers, the wire would be a problem. Not insurmountable, but it slows you down, catching teams in the open, so this wasn't the place to attack... So it was decided to attack down the German right flank, the idea being to push into the central wood and right side corn, and then look which way to go from there with potential to push on to the rear objective, or swing left in to the front flank objective, depending on how the game developed.

Deployment as below, with German mascot well placed...

Deployment and overseer.

It was decided to advance the infantry on foot through the terrain... This went against the grain for me somewhat as I can't help the feeling that I have paid the points for the half tracks so I want them on the board doing something... but so often in the past I have found they have invariably got caught up in terrain, either slowed by it or blogging down on it, or simply given away an easy range in point for artillery, that their use often leads to problems before the game gets properly underway, ham-stringing any German attack later... The half tracks would remain available to be called up later at a more opportune time...

The early stages of the game saw the Germans cautiously advancing into position, and being particularly aware of the LOS from the Para Arty observer. This was blocked by smoke from the mortars allowing the infantry to advance unmolested. Recce had already pushed up to throw back any immediate ambush, forcing Paul to hold his 17pdrs till later.

Paul ranged arty fire on the exposed Panther which hit but bounced but this forced the Panther to move, as I didn't fancy the medium arty support getting called in on top of it, subsequently...

As turns continued, the Germans had got in to position to assault the para engineer pickets. A small mistake by Paul had left them just too far from their supporting main line, so they were taken out without any possible reply from the paras. The 17pdrs did however deploy knocking out one Panther. The remaining two hid behind the wood, till these guns were dealt with.

Boom goes a panther, but infantry are pushing up well...

In the face of the German assault, Paul started pulling back towards an 'Alamo-like' line joining the two objectives...

This allowed the Recce, Heavy platoon stummels and by now the called up half tracks to start swinging round the flank, and MGing Pauls reserves as they were coming on to the board. The paras were admittedly now feeling under pressure.. The hummels had ranged in and taken out two 17 pdrs by this point.. allowing the Panthers to get back into the game with main gun and MG fire, at the paras, keeping the ones on the front objective tied up in place, whilst the rest of the German force were gradually pushing back and compressing the paras onto the rear objective. This was in turn providing groups of targets under templates for the Hummels and Mortars to keep chipping away at, and with more direct fire from the Stummels and Recce too.

The Germans had at one point, tried an assault through the middle, as there was a chance to capture the 17pdrs and deal to more paras... we weighed it up, checked the Def fire, and went for it. Def fire just got 5 hits, but we played on as if only 4 had occurred, took the saves and attacked. I didn't get the best round dice and the Paras motivated and had enough teams to destroy the attacking platoon. So we reset and instead had the German platoon mount up their half tracks and drive back out the way of the ranged in Arty (that had triggered their assault; a 'do or die' moment), thus preserving the platoon. This just reinforced that you can only really hope to attack a weakened position and win, otherwise you are going to get beaten off taking severe losses..., especially where a defense is in depth...

This was about how we called it, through time more than anything. Paul had lost his small platoon of mortars that had come on from reserve, and got shot up, his 17pdrs were down to one gun, the engineers were severely battered,  and the CO had got MG-ed, but Paul still had his 2iC and Urquart, and the rest of his troops bunch up, waiting to get pounded... it was just a matter of time...

The Germans had lost a couple of infantry teams and one panther...

So the lessons learned in the main were...

1. Let the game develop, don't rush in
2. Preserve the infantry, moving through terrain and smoke cover. Watch for observer lines of sight.
3. Leave half tracks off until needed, when they can be effective, then call them up (as per Ambush deployment rules), but bear in mind the turn the arrive they cannot shoot or assault so you need to be thinking a turn ahead...
4. Get artillery ranged in and keep pounding targets that can hurt you; AT guns, howitzers etc...
5. Wait till the opportune moment to attack and do so against weakened positions, with greater force than the defender can withstand.

It all sounds straight forward, but keeping a cool calm head and sticking to the plan, during the game, will be the key to future successes...

Many thanks to Paul for his patience and working though this scenario, is has giving some hope to my mechanised cause!

CTA - Army list selection post-event thoughts... Gepanzerte Panzergrenadierkompanie...

Well Call to Arms was the expected rollercoaster ride for me, with some small successes, and some oh so close losses that weren't really reflected in the points... a dice roll here of there and the result would have been dramatically different.... but hey, those are the breaks...

So I thought I'd review my list, and what worked and what didn't...

My list was:

Gepanzerte Panzergrenadierkompanie (Grey Wolf)

Gepanzerte Panzergrenadierkompanie HQ (Confident Veterans)
Add Panzershreck team	125
Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier Platoon - 3 sections
Command Panzerfaust SMG team	230
Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier Platoon - 3 sections
Command Panzerfaust SMG team	230
Schwere Panzer Platoon - Königstiger (Henschel)	690
Anti-tank Gun Platoon - 3 7.5cm PaK40 guns	155
Puma Panzerspäh Platoon - 3 Sd Kfz 234/2 (Puma)	150
Rocket Launcher Battery - 3 15cm NW41	105
Warrior Dietrich von Saucken	65

... and as previously explained, it was designed to go up against a horde of tough allied tanks lists, from the new Market Garden books... which didn't really materialise...

I only really had one game against an armoured opponent; Russells T34 horde, but in that game I struggled to get any decent lines of fire due to an excess of terrain on the board. As it happened it didn't really matter, as Russell pretty much broke himself upon me, like waves on a rock...

... a "rock" !

In other games where the Paks and KTs had armoured targets they acquitted themselves well, but this only really happened in two of my games... so in the end, I have to say the two King Tigers were really a waste of points...

The Nebs performed adequately, as they usually do, nothing spectacular but always useful.

"Fun! - look at the mess I can make with these!"

The Pumas again did what they could, but I often feel, a cheaper Recce platoon could achieve what they do. I wouldn't have the AT option of the Puma but that's not really the Puma's job! And once you commit the puma to firing, it is invariably knocked out in return fire...

Recce with a big gun!

The Paks were predictably good against tanks but little use attacking against infantry for the most part...

So being a mechanised force I mostly found my list trying to attack Infantry companies, and invariably falling just short of the mark...

Whether I didn't have enough platoons, or couldn't motivate when necessary, I just didn't seem to have enough 'umph' to push it over the finish line.... so, this has made me have a rethink... which breaks down roughly like this...

I need to play to the Mechanised Companies strengths;

Mechanised mayhem!

To my mind a mechanised company is designed to attack infantry, and do it quickly, swamping a defence with numbers and weight of fire, in as short a time as possible.  The typical German combat platoon of 7 elements often isn't enough to carry the day, so you often need a tandem tag team with two platoons working together for the main attack. Having a third, will be able to tie down other enemy troops that would otherwise move to reinforce where the main attack is going in...This means having three combat platoons, or two plus a pioneer platoon.

Pioneer Stuka zu Fuss! Bring your own artillery with you!

Next up, to attack successfully motivation is the key. Being Whermacht Heer, and thus 'Confident' means only a 50/50 chance to motivate, whether its to unpin, tank assault, keep fighting on through an assault or whatever...  50/50 is simply not good enough to reliably attack. Even with a CO or Higher Command reroll, it can still let you down...

So that means upping the morale of your troops. There's no guarantees in this game, ... I have recently witnessed both Brit Paras and Soviet Shtraf roll snake eyes for motivation at key times,...  but a 3+ morale, with a reroll for a CO is much better odds to push on for that win... than I am used to with the regular Heer troops...

Having motivated, you still need to hit in the assault, and that means Veteran troops. So that means Fearless Veteran troops are the key, to winning assaults, and that means, for the German mechanised force, going SS.

Going SS, has positives and negatives...

The obvious positive is better quality troops, but the negative means these are more expensive in the game, thus meaning less points to spend on other required force elements. However, some of this can be mitigated when one studies the support platoon options for SS forces. These often get smaller 'quirky', platoon sizes, compared to the Heer forces, meaning you can still have a bit of recce or a bit of artillery, enough to get the job done, in a no frills sort of way.

Adding in an extra warrior higher command team, can also mean you can be reliably attacking over two areas at once, both with motivation rerolls, or if you lose a commander, you still have a back up...

Another bonus to SS forces is they often have additional special rules, so check your briefing, whether Totenkopf on the Eastern front or Das Reich or Hitlerjugend on the Western front... every little helps...

If you are forced in to the defensive against a tank force, just keep you heads down, and load up with Panzerfausts, and Panzershreks, and have a mobile tank platoon in support that can be your AT ambush... tank commanders tend to get a bit twitchy about assaulting crazy 'Faust men, or pioneers... it tends not to end well for them, especially if you can keep motivating to have a go back at them (3+ with a reroll), and even if your command 'faust team goes down, German 'mission tactics' means it swaps back into action with a team in command keeping the vital Panzerfaust alive through the assault...

Here's a sample list I have knocked out;

Grey Wolf.
SS  Panzerkampfgruppe (Mechanised Battlegroup) Totenkopf

SS  Panzerkampfgruppe HQ 2 x Panzerfaust SMG teams
Fearless Veteran

Add 2 Panzershreck teams	170
Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier Platoon - 3 sections
Command Panzerfaust SMG team add Panzerfaust MG team	280
Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier Platoon - 3 sections
Command Panzerfaust SMG team add Panzerfaust MG team	280
Gepanzerte Panzerpionner Platoon - 3 sections Command Panzerfaust SMG team add Stuka-zu-Fuss half track	375
SS Panzer platoon - 4 Panzer IV H	400
SS Heavy Panzerspäh platoon - 2 Sd Kfz 231 8rads	90
Rocket Launcher Battery - 3 15cm NW41 Fearless Trained	90
Warrior Dietrich von Saucken	65

TOTAL                                                                                   1750pts


This gives a 6 platoon force, with 3 core attacking platoons, lead by sufficient fast recce to push back any ambushes. Mobile tank support is available as is some artillery fire for smoke and pin requirements to aid the assault going in.  And an extra higher command warrior, for rerolls, and an aid to getting early reserves. Simple, straight forward, and in your face!

8Rad - useful, fast, cheap recce...

And if I have to defend against armour, I have pioneers, all tank assault 4, and plenty of panzerfausts and panzershreks as a deterrent, and the 4 panzers will be an 8 shot ambush...

I have left out AAA as I feel this force is going to be mixing it with the enemy quickly so 'wave-offs' will likely occur, and the Nebs will have to luck it out! I don't have spare points to waste on Sporadic German air support.

I will no doubt experiment with subtle changes to the force, but I feel the core will remain the 3 combat platoons or 2 plus the pioneers, with the 8 Rad recce. I may play about with the number and type of panzers, the type of artillery and whether I try and squeeze in air support or not. Again this force list has a huge amount of support options available... identifying what will be key, to how you plan to play them, is the vital bit.... 'All killer, no filler' ... is a helpful mantra...

Totenkopf

[There are other 'flavours' of SS troops; eg Wiking from Grey Wolf, who are rated Fearless Trained... I haven't quite nutted these guys out as yet... to me it seems a little odd to be able to motivate for the assault, only to fluff the attack rolls, being trained...  I have also read that trained troops make good shooty armies, as they would be less expensive in points allowing you to get more troops with thus a greater volume of fire. I guess making them Fearless aids in unpinning to keep firing? Still not sure with these guys as yet...]

-----o0o-----

Wait, whats that... the pitter patter of footsteps fading into the distance... no doubt a bunch of soviet spetznatz have been viewing my forces assembly area and will now be reporting back to Red command... ;-)

Have I just given the game away and spoiled the surprise! ? ;-)

POSTSCRIPT DISCLAIMER
Please note this is a gaming blog about playing with toy soldiers. I am not politically advocating nor glorifying SS 'activities' in any way - but do have a respect for the high morale and combat effectiveness of the Waffen SS troops during the hostilities of WWII...

CTA 2013 - Mechanised Mayhem and Misadventure - Game 5 - Fighting Withdrawal - "What might have been..."

So day two had got under way in a positive fashion, with a few more points on the board, though I am under no illusions at this point,  I am probably in serious contention for the wooden spoon ...

My final game of the weekend was a 'blue on blue' encounter drawn against John Murrie, a fellow blogger of Stumpy Heaven fame. John was running a Fallshirmjäger Company.

Johns force was...

Fallschirmjägerkompanie
Fallschirmjägerkompanie HQ	120
Add Panzerfaust SMG
Add Sniper
Fallschirmjäger Platoon - 3 Squads	265
Add Panzerfaust SMG
Fallschirmjäger Platoon - 3 Squads	265
Add Panzerfaust SMG
Heavy Tank Platoon - 2 Tiger IE	430
Fallschirmjäger Tank-Hunter Platoon - 4 StuG G	440
Rocket Launcher Battery - 3 15cm NW41	125
Fallschirmjäger Anti-aircraft Gun Platoon - 3 2cm Flak38 gun	105

The final mission of the day was Fighting Withdrawal, and as I have said in the past, its always a mission I have stuffed up, whether attacking or defending. I invariably bollox up the key timing of the late stages of the game...

A glance at Johns force and I thought I was up against an armoured force, seeing the Tigers and Stugs, but John corrected me his was an Infantry company so my Mechanised would be the attacker.

John, being the defender, chose a side to defend and put down his objective marker, at back of the woods by the river. To spread out his forces I placed my two; one centrally, the other to my far right.

The key difference in this mission being the fact that generally the defenders objective will be placed slightly further back than the attackers two, so the attackers ones are thus fractionally closer and thus seem easier to go for, but these last two are also the ones that the defender can withdraw towards to the end of the game.

When I have attacked this mission in the past I have usually gone all out for my end placed objective, only to have it whipped from under feet as I am about to capture it...

So this time I decided to go full steam ahead for Johns objective, meaning I would have a full 8 turns to try and capture it. Shit or bust as they say!

John had deployed an infantry platoon defending each objective, with Stugs also covering my right side objective, and his AA guns covering the other two, with Tigers in ambush.

I loaded my left side, looking for a quick approach, covered by the recce advance to push back any ambush, then stormtrooper out ready for the assault. Tanks would move up in support to deal with the Tigers where ever they showed up. The Paks I placed centrally, their job being to move up and stop the Stugs having an easy journey across the board, to reinforce the main objective. The Nebs concealed themselves in the corn.

We're ready to rock and roll...

Immediately the Pumas pushed forward in to the village, with their recce move, and regular move, getting into good position to push back the Tiger Ambush, and all able to lift GTG on the AA guns and a viable position to stop Johns central FJ moving across easily to reinforce the main objective I was going for...

The two GPGs also moved up into the villages either side of the river. Paks advanced through the corn heading for the small tree line to take shots at the StuGs as they would inevitably have to cross the board to reinforce the threatened objective...

The KTs moved up to support, and some lucky fire knocked out the AA gun in front of them. More fire knocked out the AA gun in the open.

In Johns turn he started withdrawing the AA guns to preserve the platoon. A sniper popped up and started taking pot shots at the Pak40 crews, whilst the Tigers also made their presence known appearing in the back of the woods behind the objective.

The StuGs started their move towards the far objective but were wary of the Paks...

My turn two and things started to hot up, both GPG advanced MGing the FJ infantry in the wood to little effect and the GPG infantry storm troopered out of their half tracks. The central GPG getting right in Johns face in the tree line, and flank GPG infantry getting part way across the river... in my mind I was playing this as a stream, though later the vulnerability of troops crossing a river was exposed. The Paks continued their progress to the tree line and the KTs started moving to try and get in a position to either face off against the Tigers or StuGs...

At this point it all looked pretty good, with Johns single FJ platoon looking surrounded and cut off, other than for the Tiger support.

I am going to start generalizing, as its now ~6 days since the game, and I have not got a pictorial reference to prompt me further...

In Johns turn, feeling the pressure of the impending attack, he withdrew the FJ further into the wood... which I was a little surprised at, as he had given up his Gone to Ground status and bullet proof cover, and the half tracks would be able to swarm his position from all sides. However, a crucial hit on my troops was a strike on the central Grens in the tree line from Johns nebs, which after some crap saves, killed three teams and pinned them down.

The Paks and Stugs were busy trading shots on the other flank with the sniper still trying his hand against the Paks too.

My turn 3, and it was all on, or would have been had the central Grens unpinned, which they did not despite a CO reroll. However sensing a real chance to close out the FJ this turn I lined everything up, the flank Grens moved up to get into assault positions and the haltracks all advanced to shoot up the FJ in the woods since they had lost their foxholes by moving, even the neb observor could see a target there.

Seeing a big blob of FJ infantry under my neb template I fired that first, getting a hit and scoring several kills... but crafty John removed teams from the perimeter, the ones that the surrounding half tracks could only just see into the woods, thus robbing me of those extra potential kills, curses! Perhaps I should have fired the half tracks first...

No matter, this pinned the FJ, and the concealment of the woods would hopefully mean defensive fire would be minimal, except of course for the Tigers... and I needed a tank terror test too... passed! Defensive firing caused some damage but the assault still went in...

The panzerfausts hit both the Tigers, yay! But both only suffered bailed results! Boo! Not the best but, they were out of the fight and if I could force the FJ to break off they'd be captured and destroyed.

The fight went down to the wire, with a few typically missed crucial hits. Eventually the Grens were sadly beaten off, but the FJ were down to two teams, one of which was their CO. Mine had gone down with the fight, but I still had VonSauken (VS) around for morale.

A gripping turn, but John held on by the skin of his teeth.

The worst bit for me though was Johns following turn seeing both Tigers remount (groan)... I was still in with a shout though, I still had half a GPG ready to attack again with VS, once they unpinned,... the Paks were holding off the Stugs and my KTs were still looking to get towards the Tigers and deal with them...

John continued a holding action, managing his Tigers well...but the Stugs were now in a crossfire from the Paks and KTs...

My next turn would hopefully see it to conclusion, but the central Grens again failed to motivate, despite the reroll from VS... Argh! I couldn't move to assault those two measly teams, who had by now dug in again... and so my MG fire at them was of little effect...

I had thrown just about everything forward by now, half tracks, pumas, the works, trying desperately to kill those last two teams but they just wouldn't die or run away... and steadily John was knocking out these light vehicles with Tigers, Stugs and other fire...

Eventually my last Grens unpin and make it forward, but they still cannot close out the deal and are themselves beaten off again... I cant believe it! In desperation, and time running short, I assault through the woods with the King Tigers, its all I have left to do the job... they pass their bog checks, make it through the defensive fire of the panzerfausts, and then miss their attacks! Argh! I only needed to roll two 3+'s and they would have killed the last remaining infantry here, and I probably would have hung on afterwards in the Tiger vs King Tiger duel on the objective... John passed tank terror with his FJ, assaulted the KTs and destroyed one and bailed the other... and that was it... boo hoo!

I'd tried everything and pushed relentlessly, to no avail. I couldn't even kill off a platoon, John skillfully withdrew damaged platoons at key times. The AA guns to start. Three blazing Stugs and another bailed, that last bugger still got away from me... net result for all this carnage? 1-6 against...

Johns excellent report of the game can be viewed here. Always interesting to see it from your opponents perspective.

I was left again clutching at thin air... and shaking my head at what might have been,... should have been... and left pondering the ifs, buts and maybes...

My Grens suffering from the nebs strike, and then not unpinning for 2 turns... the Tigers only suffering bailed results from the panzerfausts... bugger bugger bugger!

It wasnt until after the game I realised I had completely ignored the centre objective, maybe I could have pressured that too? At least my close proximity to it,  was keeping the FJ platoon there tied up defending it.

So I claim another single point for a game, bringing my 5 game total up to 9 points, out of a possible 30... I didn't even break double figures...

Still, this last game against John was a real exciting nail biter, and I really felt I was always in with a chance... and for that reason despite losing it 1-6, I scored it my favorite game of the weekend and thus gave John, my 'sportsmanship' vote... a little unusual in a game you lose, these things normally go against the folks in the games you win, and I thought about giving it to Russell in my first game, but despite getting better points in that game, I felt I'd had a more proactive and thus enjoyable final game, so scored it that way.

My final standing in the tournament? Of 20 players I came equal 18th, tied with John Hutton who only played 4 games...

The weekend was its usual heady mix of gaming emotion, punctuated by the roller coaster ride the dice rolls give you... one minute you're up, the next, down... such is the game...  funnily enough, on chatting about how we felt about the gaming weekend beforehand, I mentioned that the best way I can describe how I feel about these events, is akin to exam nerves during my university days... and yet I still do this for fun! Of course, Paul quipped, "...yeah, and some people cut themselves with razorblades for fun too..." Does that put it into perspective, I dunno... not that I'd I recommend the "razorblade hobby"! ;-)

But no doubt I'll be back again next year, for another dose of humility!

I'll offer some post-tournament thoughts in a subsequent post.

Thanks for reading, hope you found the reports interesting, and sorry again for the lack of pictures - it seems not taking many, didn't help my performance much!

Thanks again to Paul for the lift to the event each day, much appreciated and it gives someone to vent your frustrations to after the event!

And of course, thanks again to John H for running the show.

CTA 2013 - Mechanised Mayhem and Misadventure - Game 4 - Free for All - "Machineguns in the snow"

Day two of  Call to Arms got under way on Sunday with the traditional 'Beauty Pageant' of all armies put out on display. I was going to do a picture dump of all the armies that featured but its already been done by other bloggers - nicely here from John at Stumpy Heaven.

Once all the armies had been admired, judged and photographed, it was on with the fun! I was looking to put the woes of the previous day behind me, and 'Keep Calm and Carry on!'... ;-)

My first game of the day I was drawn against Robert Higgins, a relatively new arrival in Wellington, from Dunedin, and fairly new player to FoW. He had brought with him an extensive Soviet infantry force.

Roberts force was;

Red Army Strelkovy Batalon (Red Bear)
Strelkovy Batalon HQ	30
Add 2 Sniper teams	100
Add sapper platoon	85
Add Pioneer Supply Wagon	20
Strelkovy Company - 2 Platoons	240
Add Maxim HMG	25
Strelkovy Company - 2 Platoons	240
Add Maxim HMG	25
Upgrade to SMG teams
Add Komissar	15
Strelkovy MG Company - 2 MG Platoons	150
Strelkovy Mortar Company - 2 Mortar Platoons	95
Add observer Rifle Team	15
Tank Destruction Company - 4 57mm ZIS-2	155
Guards Heavy Assault Gun Company - 3 ISU-122	345
Air Support - Limited Il-2 Shturmovik	200

The mission for this first game of the day, was Free for All.

Bearing in mind my more mobile force against Roberts foot slogging infantry, who would have to try and defend my objectives and risk a foot slog across the board to attack his, I was confident of carrying the initiative through the game.

Objectives went down in their typically spread to flanks fashion and alternating deployment commenced....

Free for All vs Robert Higgins Soviets (my halftracks are loaded up, the infantry are just on board to be easy to grab when needed)

I put the Paks on a hill overlooking the board from my left, supporting Nebs to their right, to hold the left objective. Recce went in the middle early with a view to heading in either direction depending on final dispositions, one GPG down right flank,and the second centrally, again to go either way, and finally KTs ended up supporting the right flank attack. I held these till last hoping to angle them towards Roberts ISUs, but these were tucked up behind the central woods and all the cluttered central terrain would make marking them as targets difficult..

Robert had put a Strelk on each flank objective, with mortars to far his  right behind a hill, Zis guns behind central woods beside the ISUs. HMGs were centrally positioned behind the woods.

I got first turn, and headed off trying to get some MG fire at the Strelk before they dug in. Pumas swung left going for a position to shoot up the mortars, assisted by the 2iC halftrack. The central halftracks negotiated the terrain, to make it to the central road area, supported by CO. The flank GPGs zipped forward with Von Sauken(VS) nearby to assist stormtrooper moves towards terrain, as I was wary of getting caught in the open with the Shturmoviks circling overhead... The KTs followed the GPGs looking to angle to get some shots on the Zis Guns if they turned towards my halftracks...
My observer looked to get into the church steeple, but found the door frozen shut...

I started putting some hurt on the right side Strelk with the GPG Mgs...

In return Robert dug in his Strelk, but not the mortars preferring to fire these. His Zis guns turned to fire at the distant GPGs... one gun concealed by woods had no shots, so three shots on a 5, I was not overly concerned... 3 hits! Darn , two wrecked, one bailed... luckily I managed some infantry saves, only losing a couple of teams... GPGs fail motivation for their halftracks who depart..., leaving the infantry feeling rather exposed... at least they have KTs behind them...

The planes tried to hit the KTs, but they had kept near the woods and the planes missed... Robert advanced his HMGs through the woods to fire on the central half tracks to little effect... Robert also advanced the ISUs up through the wood in support of the HMGs again to fire on the GPGs but missed...

In my turn, the central GPG paused, and took the opportunity to shoot up the Soviet HMG teams, killing several, as did the CO and Pumas... the HMGs were destroyed...

I brought back up the halftracks on the right flank to support the exposed infantry there.

The exact sequence of event now gets a bit muddled but the gist of what happens next, included the Right side GPGs continuing to shoot up the flank Strelkovy, whilst the KTs tried to shoot up the Zis guns. The remaining infantry there and soviets went head to head in assaults battering both sides, leaving the strelk greatly reduced and Germans down to one lone isolated team and a few half tracks, backed up by the KTs... I think we may have got the Soviet 'quality of quantity' rule wrong here, in Roberts favour, but it wasn't a biggie, and I wasn't going to worry over it... just something to double check later on...

I did make a mistake here at one point, trying to get out of LOS of the Zis guns and wary of planes I pushed forward to the woods the strelk were in, knowing I still had enough MG fire if they came running out at me... and of course crucially forgot the sneak up on tanks rule - doh! As it turned out I dodged a bullet here as the soviet assault achieved little, top armour saves being made, and I broke off... close shave though...

That was the right flank fought out and just left the KTs sniping the Zis guns...

Had I been desperate here I could have assaulted with the KTs through the wood into the remnants of the strelk, to capture the objective behind them, but there were still some engineer teams alive and knowing me I would bog down in the woods (KTs bog on a 1-2), so I called that flank quits...

Back to the centre, and an airstrike by the Russian planes hit the GPG there... I gleefully got ready to fire my passenger fired AA guns from the half tracks which I don't often get to use, only to be informed the plane was classed as a 'flying tank', and my AA MGs couldn't hurt it... curses! Half tracks were hit including the CO who died... the GPG failed their morale check and half tracks bugged out leaving the grenadiers on the road behind a wall.

The Paks now saw a chance to shoot up the ISUs, but they either missed or the ISUs passed front armour saves. With the soviet HMGs dealt with, the dismounted central GPGs decided to go for glory on foot and assaulted the ISUs in front of them in wood, knowing there would be no defensive from these behemoths, and with them, being in the woods there was also a chance they'd bog if they moved. I just needed to pass tank terror on a 4+... passed! In we went but the Panzerfaust hit was saved. However the ISUs failed to motivate, broke off back through the wood with the command tank bogging and being captured and destroyed... this left the two remaining ISUs stuck behind the wood unable to move further...

On my left the pumas and 2iC skirted the left side hill and started shooting up the soviet mortars who had not dug in, eventually destroying them, but the strelkovy there had dug in and were a tougher proposition to shoot up, and an assault against their numbers seemed unwise, so a stalemate occurred there... and that was about it...

The game ending as 3-1 in my favour as I had destroyed the HMGs and Mortars for no lost platoons. Not brilliant but not bad , and at least I scored some points...

Robert was a very likable chap, keen as mustard on FOW, and I think we'll be seeing a lot more of him on FoW scene...

So 4 games played and I am up to 8 points, one game to go, can I break double figures...?

CTA 2013 - Mechanised Mayhem and Misadventure - Game 3 - Breakthrough - "The race is on..."

After a frustrating game against Cameron, I was hoping for something better in my next game, but this was the one mission of the weekend I was not looking forward to.

The Breakthrough mission can be a tough one to defend for a mobile force, due to the mobile reserves rule. As it turned out I got drawn to play mate Brett, who was fielding the only other Mechanised force of the weekend, his Armoured American Rifle company...

Bretts force was:

Armored Rifle Company (4th Division)
Armored Rifle Company HQ	50
Armored Rifle Platoon - 3 Sections (5 Bazooka)	295
Armored Rifle Platoon - 2 Sections (3 Bazooka)	235
Armored Anti-tank Platoon - 2 57mm AT guns (late), 1 Bazooka	105
Recon Platoon - 1 Rifle Team	65
Armored Machine-gun Platoon - 4 HMG teams, 2 Bazooka	195
Armored Mortar Platoon - M4 81mm MMC	110
Light Tank Platoon - 4 M5A1 Stuart	210
Field Artillery Battery (155mm) (Veteran) - 4 M1 155mm howitzer	275
Armored Field Artillery Battery (Trained) - 3 Priest	170
Air Observation Post	40

Brett and I chatted the mission through, and rolled off to see who would attack. I won the roll and would attack. Brett groaned as he realised he'd only be able to deploy 2 platoons of his force due to the Mobile Reserves rule...

We chatted this through again, and agreed Brett would better off deploying his infantry dismounted from their half tracks. He would lose all his beloved half track 50cals for the game but would at least get 4 platoons on the board and be able to set up a decent defence to start.

So Brett set up his force as per picture below; Priests to top left, 155mm Howitzers to bottom right and a blocking formation of infantry through the centre and another about to hot foot it to the objective.

Breakthrough vs Brett, just after my Puma recce move...

Knowing I needed a strong force to come on from reserve to attack the objectives, and how inappropriate my other platoons were for the job, and thinking it would take 'forever' for a heavy tank to make it across the board, even if it could, against all Bretts bazookas as I'd be exposing flanks all the way over... that was a none starter.

So I deployed Nebs, Paks and Pumas, and my attacking reserve would be the 2 GPGs and the KTs.

At deployment, I noticed a chance to knock Bretts Howitzers out of the game early... the road led directly to them, and with no infantry protecting them, my Pumas rolled out in their recce moved then pushed up for a first turn assault. The CO and Von Sauken(VS) followed the pumas though trailing somewhat due to the puma recce move, but hoped to join up once the Howitzers were dealt with and could then start moving up behind Bretts infantry heading for the objectives...

My 2iC was left defending the Nebs against Bretts lurking Sherman OP tank...

So the pumas got up close and managed to shoot down one gun team on the way in to the assault. Brett typically removed the only gun I could reach, so I assaulted empty positions, took no defensive fire, and consolidated into the cornfield, pushing back the Staff team. I'd be ready to finish off the howitzers next turn as I reckoned I'd be OK even if he turns the artillery to shoot, it would be 3 shots on a six to hit, I'll take those odds...

The CO and VS decided to storm trooper out of their halftracks, into the cover of the cornfield as Brett had AT guns lurking in the middle woods that would make a mess of my haftracks. The Neb observer who had accompanied their jaunt followed suit, leaping from his kubelwagon. But in a change of mind, I instead left VS behind as I realised if he left his transport it would leave the field leaving him exposed.

My nebs had fired at the howitzers too but failed to hit anything.

Looks OK so far...?

Bretts first turn, one dice for reserves and he gets them rolling a 5. Four Stuarts turn up behind my pumas at point blank range.... groan... 4 main guns and a hail of MG fire into the pumas left one destroyed and 2 bailed, though they passed morale to stay there...

Bretts infantry scampered towards the objectives whilst his HMGs fired at my paks to no effect. His OP Sherman moved up to shoot my nebs but failed to hit.

My CO was hit as was his half track, though luckily I passed my warrior save and he swapped out for the neb observer.

My turn 2 start was not looking too clever now... my pumas both failed to remount... groan again... the only good thing they were doing was tying up Bretts Stuarts away from the objectives. My CO was stranded so dug in in the cornfield. My 2iC decided to put an end to the attention of the sherman OP tank and decided to go for an Iron Cross with his Panzerfaust... hopefully he'd have some help if I could move my Paks over to get a shot and at least bail it first.

To move the paks I had to have one gun cross the stream, so the end gun could keep in command, which required a bog test, sure enough a 1... bogged gun in the stream... The 2iC was feeling a little exposed now... ah well, he was committed now, the sherman would get 3 defensive fire shots hitting on 4s, I then get saves on a 3+, so I knew I couldnt be pinned, and figured I had a fair chance of surviving that... then I just need to hit with my Tank assault 6 Panzerfaust...needing a 3... oh but the small matter of a tank terror test first, needing a 4... failed... poo! With knees knocking the 2ic squirmed back down into the grass, looking for a hole to swallow him up...

Well that was a naff turn 2...

Bretts turn 2 and he tried all he could to finish off the pumas with the stuarts and 155s, but now they were gone to ground in the corn as they hadn't moved so needed 6s to hit... I survived another turn...

Bretts armoured mortars had showed up trying to knock out my paks and MG-ing my CO, who withstood a blaze of fire from the 50cals in his foxhole.

The yank infantry continued their scamper to the objectives and got themselves in position...

Oh and the OP sherman killed the 2ic as he deserved...

More HMG fire at the paks was withstood.

Turn three, and I get reserves... no I don't !...even with VS's reroll nothing showed up... damn!

My Pumas still fail to motivate...

My CO is still stuck in the cornfield, VS is just staying alive keeping his reroll active for next turn... but all my command is no where near the objectives where their motivation rerolls will be needed...

My Paks fire at the HMGs and kill a couple...

Turn three, and Bretts digs in on the objective, and the Pumas are finally dealt to...

Turn 4 I get reserves, one GPG turning up... it quickly moves up, MGs the defenders to no real effect and storm troopers the infantry into the wood ready for an assault next turn.

Brett fires artillery at the newly arrived GPGs causing some consternation, but keeps his infantry quiet preserving their gone to ground in the woods.

Turn 5, I get both reserves; 2nd GPG and KTs. Great, but I am up against it now, a huge line of dug in yank infantry on the objectives, festooned with LMGs and bazookas...But I have little time left... I use the newly arrived mounted GPGs to make a tank escort assault against the end of the yank line in the woods, killing one team, who tuned out to be part of the two element recce platoon, but Brett fails motivation and breaks off this end of the line allowing me to consolidate out of the half tracks pushing him further back.
I now assault with the other dismounted GPGs and they get stuck in and again force Brett back and consolidate forward. I now hold the objective and Brett cannot move to contest it!

Game time is minutes away from finishing and we realise, we simply have to determine whether Brett would be able to knock me back in any way to stop me starting my next turn on the objective uncontested... First the Yank infantry has to unpin, which they fail (German hearts soar!), but the Yank CO looks at them sternly and reaches for his pearl handled pistols, and they pass (Germans hearts fall!)... more artillery falls causing more mayhem, allowing the yanks to assault and just push back the Germans... enough to get a yank team contesting the objective...

Time runs out...game over... after all that frantic last minute effort, its all for nothing... 1-6 against...

I 'cry into my beer' and head home, though even Brett is feeling rather frazzled by it all too! It helped having mate Paul, who had already finished his game, come by for that last turn to oversee we did it right...

Post game thoughts - my main command elements were entirely wasted and did nothing all game - I should have sent at least the CO or VS, or even both with the reserves as they would have given motivation rerolls to keep the assault going, and get troops unpinned from combat...

And was I too bold with the pumas? If Brett hadn't got reserves on the first turn, that part of the plan would have worked... Brett had a one in three chance to get reserves... the odds were in my favour, but were not to be...

So the first day ends and despite heaps of effort... out of three games, I have 5 points, from a maximum possible 18... its all rather deflating... oh well, my luck can only get better next day, right...?