Silly After Action Report - The Last Fire Mission

 Hauptmann Rudolf von der Rotnasige-Rentier winced as a whistle blasted shrilly in his ear.  He turned to face the referee.

"For the last time, my guns are not offside.  And do you honestly think this is the best time to be playing a football match?"

"It's the quarter finals," replied the referee with a helpless shrug.  "What are we supposed to do?"

"Frankly I'd suggest learning Russian because in about fifteen minutes you are going to have one mother of a pitch invasion."

"Can we have our ball back?"

"In a minute, Gefreiter Blitzen is taking a penalty."

After the lengthy Konitsa Crackdown Dave and I agreed that with the year drawing to a close and our mental reserves pretty much drained that we would cap off the year with a couple of smaller scenarios.  I selected FT286 - The Last Fire Mission.  It's Berlin 1945 and while those in the German army with any sense were heading west at a great rate of knots an artillery battery is preparing to engage the oncoming Soviets over open sights.  I shall command the brave (indeed, some would say foolhardy) members of Artillerie Regiment 20 of the similarly numbered panzergrenadier division who have paused in their panic stricken flight to give the Soviets a decent chance of overrunning them.

Apparently this particular football field is worth defending to the death (well it is the quarter finals after all).  Victory goes to the Soviets if they amass more CVP than the Germans as long as at least one German gun is captured or eliminated.  My force, to give it a name it doesn't truly deserve, consists of five squads, three first line and two second line commanded by a pair of deeply mediocre officers.  These heroes have a grand total of one lmg between them.  There are also five concealment counters (because a football field is a great place to hide).  Also in the mix is an SS halfsquad carrying a panzerschreck who apparently just happened to be walking by at the time.  Then there are the guns; three 150mm artillery pieces.  It's fair to say that these don't often feature on the front line.  Unfortunately for them the front line is now moving faster than they can.  Given that this is Berlin 1945 the guns are short on rounds with circled B9 for low ammo purposes.  Still if they hit anything that thing is going to stay hit.

Spearheading the 10th Guards Tank Corps is Dave's force consisting of eight elite squads and two half squads.  They're led by two officers inluding a 9-1, considerably better than my commanders, and have a pair of lmgs, a heavy machine gun and a 50mm mortar.  Armoured support is present in the form of three T34-85s commanded by a 9-1 armour leader.

The guns must set up unconcealed and non-emplaced with CA facing east and both adjacent hexes of each guns CA cannot contain building or rubble.  This is an issue because in Berlin 1945 there's very little that isn't rubble.  Oh, also the guns have to set up adjacent to each other and they can't set up in gully hexes.  Basically they have to sit out in that field and invite firepower.  One of my MMC can set up HIP, if he has any sense he'll stay that way and try and sneak off after the fighting is over.  In addition to all of the pre-existing rubble both sides get to rubble four more locations just for a laugh.

Below is my set up.  The guns as required are set up in an open field.  I set them up like that so that at least one gun could deal with a frontal attack and the other two could pivot and hopefully deal with any flanking attack.  A couple of squads and a leader sat in buildings directly in front to hopefully provide a little protection.  The remainder skulked in the buildings and rubble to the south hoping to hold off flankers.  A squad, the lmg and my other leader were HIPed with a line of sight down the road that ran NE-SW towards my front.  The halfsquad with the schreck went into the hex next door to keep an eye on the other road and hopefully kill a careless tank.  Sadly Dave's tanks wouldn't be quite that careless.

At start set up.  Whoever heard of a soccer field with a gully in it?

Dave hastened slowly in his approach, rightly fearful of the staggering firepower I could deploy.  For me any turn I didn't have to test the low ammo provisions was a win.  A stack of three squads skipped gaily across the road covered by my HIP lmg team who fired on them with no effect except to reveal their position.  For the rest Dave had been careful not to give me any targets.  My troops tugged their concealment counters a little closer about their persons and waited.

End of Soviet turn 1,it's hardly a triumphal charge to the Reichstag

Still I was a little nervous.  Two tanks lurked beneath concealment counters on the other side of a couple of hedges from my guns and I was uneasily aware that only one of my guns could actually take the relevant hedge under fire.  In my turn I tried skulking and discovered that the one Soviet squad in firing range had a line of sight to the shellholes I had intended to hide my troops in.  Fortunately my boys passed the ensuing morale check.  The rest somewhat more successfully shuffled away from tank fire.  Given the number and quality of my troops skulking was survival or at least a better chance of survival than would otherwise be the case.

End of German turn 1.  So far I've survived

Things really kicked off in Dave's second turn.  He pushed a pair of tanks forward to the hedge and started to move other forces up as well.  A 150mm had mixed success firing on one squad.  I casualty reduced it but the survivors battle hardened meanwhile down in the south a lowly second line squad broke such troops as had been rash enough to disdain their fire.  But the big result was in the north.  The one gun that had LOS to the hedge found a HEAT round and smashed a T34-85.  Dave's tank force had been reduced by a third.

End of Soviet turn 2.  I'm feeling smug, not for long

My second turn didn't live up to its early promise.  His surviving T34-85 in the north broke one of my squads and the other exterminated itself when an attempt to fire a faust from within a building simply resulted in my laminating myself over the walls.  Suddenly my guns infantry cover was gone.  Down in the south I slunk my troops away from the gradually approaching Soviets and prayed.

Normal service has been resumed.

The next couple of turns saw the brutal grinding down of my defences in the south.  With troops to burn Dave flooded my front with troops (judiciously, I didn't get too many free shots) and bulled forward challenging me to close combat.  In the far south a pair of second line squads and a dummy stack survived by being a little better at hiding than most but soon my centre such as it was would go the way of their comrades in the north.

My lmg team survived a little longer than expected, being routed they fled over a wall.  Dave promptly moved up to the wall meaning my boys kept their DM counters.  The next rally phase I rallied both officer and squad and Dave promptly claimed WA over them which is the first time I've ever seen that done in an opponents rally phase but Dave assured me he could do it.  The end result was that my newly rallied troops got slaughtered before they could fire a shot.

While my troops in the centre went the way of all flesh Dave took his courage in his hands and roared his southern T-34-85 past my remaining defenders and took up a hull down position where he could bring fire on my guns.  With no gunshields or emplacements nothing but a little grain (on a football field? Seriously?) protected my gunners from death or at least serious injury.  To add more injury to injury he pulled his northern T34-85 out and sent it after its southern comrade.  I had of course cranked a gun round previously in anticipation of this very event and I celebrated my foresight by first running out of HEAT and then persisting in hull hits.

A tank has sneaked around behind me and a bunch of guys with a hmg are threatening my last infantry

Then Dave malfed the MA of his tank.  My gun crews heaved a collective sigh of relief.  A second line squad which had spent most of the game cringing from one building or rubble hex to another now sneaked into the building behind the tank.  We both knew what was coming next it was just a matter of how it would work out.

A malfed MA and I survive another turn

Dave started his tank but before it could move my hero second liners dug a faust out of their knapsack and fried his tank while simultaneously surviving the backblast (maybe they opened a window) with only a pin result.  With two tanks down my guns could start to turn their attention to Dave's infantry and the slaughter started.  A 150mm is not something you want to take a hit from.  Dave's mortar team having dragged their unwieldy weapon towards the front lines found they could rout much faster without it.  I also started pounding his troops in the centre, extracting a measure of vengeance for my defenders there.  To heap Pelion upon Ossa Dave's last tank chose that moment to malf its MA.

Oh dare I hope???

With the last turn upon him and his surviving infantry having failed to inflict harm on my gun crews Dave took his last roll of the dice.  No seriously it was the last roll of the dice.  He roared his remaining tank through gullies and wheatfields (seriously I'll be speaking to FIFA about the state of this ground) and rolled into the nearest gun location and tried his last with the tank machine guns, and failed.  Having failed to take out any of my guns the CVP score was irrelevant and I had a rare and not entirely undeserved win.

End game.  His tank is sitting on a gun position but gun and crew are still intact.

 

Not entirely undeserved but damn lucky all the same.  While a check of the stats post game showed that Dave's dice were pretty good on average it is fair to say that he rolled poorly at the critical moments.  My dice were equivalent and I had some dreadful rolls but, as it turned out, never when it really counted.  I didn't even get a low ammo counter on any of my guns until the final turn.  Many thanks to Dave for the game which was short, sharp and fun.

"Goal," shouted von der Rotnasige-Rentier, "well done Blitzen."  He looked around at the football field now littered with wrecked tanks and Soviet soldiers dragging themselves away clutching their leaky bits.  "Well done everybody else as well."

A grimy, smoke stained gunner saluted wearily.

"Did we win sir?"

"It's Berlin 1945, for Germans winning is a relative term."

"What does that mean?"

"It means 'no'.  Now take your position, they're about to kick off.  And tell the referee that if that whistle goes anywhere near his mouth I have a 150mm and I'm not afraid to use it."