Hauptmann Andreas Ketteldrumme looked around at the various signs of military busyness taking place. It was 1945 and here they were in eastern Germany preparing to launch an attack on the Poles. It gave Ketteldrumme an uneasy feeling of deja vu.
"I'm pretty sure we've done this before," he muttered.
Leutnant Hümmelchen looked across at him in surprise. A fresh faced youngster, Hümmelchen had missed Germany's days of conquest. Defeat was all he knew.
"Done what before?" asked Hümmelchen.
"Attacked the Poles."
"Did we win?"
"Back then we were enroute to conquering Warsaw. This time we're trying to stop the Poles from occupying Bautzen. You work it out."
"Well, perhaps this time we'll win."
"And perhaps pigs will fly backwards over a full moon while farting Deutschland Uber Alles."
It's my fault. I was looking for a scenario to play with Dave Wilson and happened across this one simply because it was near the top of a pile of scenario cards. Still with solid troop numbers and honking big tanks it looked like it could fun. It was, for one of us. This scenario ASL J215 - Expendable Allies is so late war it almost starts another. Here the armoured paratroops of the Hermann Göring are steaming to the rescue of the town of Bautzen under threat from Polish troops serving with varying degrees of enthusiasm under Soviet commanders.
In order to win I need to seize three buildings all situated an inconvenient distance away from each other by games end while not losing 55 or more CVP to the Poles. But wait, there is another way to win. The Germans can win at the end of turn three if they have captured just one of the three buildings provided they have also amassed more CVP than the Poles. It certainly looks like I have the tools to do the job.
Coming on from the east on turn 1 I have thirteen squads nine first line and four second line (even the Hermann Göring was getting a little ragged around the edges by this time) led by three officers including a 9-1. They have three light machine guns and one medium. Backing them up are two Panther tanks, three PzIVJs, a halftrack toting a 75mm gun and three halftrack troop transports. On turn two a second force enters from the north consisting of five squads (two first line, three second), a pair of officers, a lmg and a panzerschreck. Supporting them are a pair of StuGIIIG(L) SP guns and, low of profile but hard of punch, a JgPzIVJ.
Holding this recently snaffled piece of Germany are Dave's Poles in Soviet uniforms. Thirteen first line squads are led by no fewer than four leaders (although one is a miserable 6+1). They have three lmgs, two atrs, a DC and one of those hernia inducing Russian medium machine guns. Also present are two ISU-122s with a monster 122mm gun and two very capable T34/85 tanks. On turn four Polish reinforcements arrive in the form of three more first line squads and a 9-1 leader. They bring another lmg and atr to the fray and are accompanied by two IS2 tanks. Same 122mm as the ISUs but in a fully rotating turret. Also he gets a truck for reasons best known to the scenario designer.
Dave's force seems formidable but it labours under two handicaps. Firstly at least two of the victory buildings are easily accessible to the Germans within three turns so he has to split his defence. Secondly three of his total of six AFV are manned by inexperienced crews and thus a little less fearsome than their armour and firepower would imply.
 |
| At start, Poles lurking under concealment counters and a massive German traffic jam |
Above is the at start set up. Dave has perforce split his troops three ways to cover the victory buildings. With his AFVs staring down the roads in my entry area I decided on a cross country attack. I planned to get the bulk of my force up onto the hill and simply rain firepower on the defenders while hoping, perhaps optimistically that Dave wouldn't do the same to me.
Turn 1 did indeed fulfill my hopes. My Panthers (and a goodly number of troops) rolled up on to the hill and took up positions behind conveniently placed stone walls and well sited buildings. Such as hadn't made it up were at the base of the hill athirst for the opportunity to climb. Even better than that a Panther took out one of his monster ISUs in the advance fire phase (Dave does this all the time but it rarely happens for me). It has to be said I was somewhat cock-a-hoop after turn 1.
 |
| End of German turn 1, the Germans are on the hill. Unfortunately so are a bunch of Poles |
Dave's first turn left him scrambling to retrieve what appeared to be a threatened position. His surviving ISU 122 heaved its bulk around to point its snout menacingly at my Panthers (now hiding behind a wall and thinking small thoughts). Despite the presence of German infantry the SP gun remained proudly CE throughout a stance justified by his breaking the only troops capable of laying down fire on it. To add insult to injury his 6+1 fired the antitank rifle at a half track and immobilised it, the crew promptly fled the vehicle weeping hysterically. Why they thought they would be better off without armoured protection is something I can't explain.
 |
| End of Polish turn 1. The more overtly aggressive of my troops have been punished |
Turn 2 saw the arrival of my reinforcements which if nothing else provided the remainder of Dave's force with something to shoot at. I strongly suspected that the stacks he had in the woods covering the board 59 edge were dummies and decided to put my money where my mouth was. That is I decided to sacrifice my troops on the basis of a guess. I was partially right. On the left a boldly advancing halfsquad hit nothing but question marks but on the right its companion blundered into a real unit. The subsequent close combat would prove messy for both sides. In a rather transparent attempt to be sneaky I splashed some troops and a StuG through the stream. This enabled them to keep concealment at the price of being nowhere particularly useful. The other two AFV and my remaining infantry pushed forward and found themselves rather alone with a pair of T34/85s giving them a speculative glance.
Up on the hill I rallied some troops and pushed them forward where they were promptly broken again. Halfttracks managed to manoeuvre around the buildings. I have no idea what I was doing there but it looks impressive when other people do it. The principal event of turn 2 up on the hill was the demise of his remaining ISU. Not wishing to risk their armour the Panthers hung back and I swarmed it with PzIVs. It took every last shot all three tanks could fire but in the end the job was done and Dave was bereft of armour on the hill. Even the 75mm toting halftrack had a go (he was still CE and 12+2 is not a bad shot).
 |
| The last of the ISUs goes down. The wreck is buried under a pile of acquisition counters |
In his turn Dave sought to retrieve his losses by having a go at my rather sloppily handled reinforcements. Sadly for him neither of his T34/85s turned out to have APCR (actually they did but the Poles couldn't read the Russian labels) but despite that he punched an 85mm shell through the front of a StuG whose armour proved sadly deficient at its job. The crew however leapt out to continue the fight as long as the fight was very close and didn't require much firepower. Up on the hill he stunned a halftrack but otherwise preferred to keep his forces hidden in their building. It was up to me to roust them out.
 |
| End of turn 2, things are looking grim for the Poles |
Turn 3 rolled around and the clock was ticking. I wanted no mistakes on this so I used every bit of firepower available to me. I dropped a smoke round on his annoying 6+1 with the atr, I sleazed a nearby squad with a halftrack (who surprised me by surviving) and then I literally pounded his troops apart with weight of metal. My infantry surged forward eager for a fight (or so they claimed afterwards) but their role was simply to advance into building hexes occupied by nothing but bodies. I had the building within the time limit and despite losing a StuG and some troops of my reinforcements was comfortably ahead on CVP. I even advanced a halfsquad into CC with his 6+1 but that resilient loser held firm and locked me up in melee. Dave had one turn to try and retrieve the situation.
 |
| End of German turn 3. All that's left of Dave's forward position is the indomitable 6+1 |
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Dave had been banging away at my JgPzIVJ sometimes hitting but rarely denting its frontal armour. Now with nothing to lose he unleashed his remaining tanks. One burst out of the building it had been hiding in (my defensive fire shot missed) and circled around for a shot at the JgPzIV's vulnerable rear. The other headed on a deathride for the hill to see if it could take out a Panther.
It was a forlorn hope at best. Hiding under the wreck of my StuG was a halfsquad with the panzershreck and as his T34/85 squeaked to a halt they managed to toast it nicely. The other result was just the dicebot messing with Dave. I had a Panther in motion directly in his remaining tank's path. My defensive fire shot was actually low enough to gain a hit and that was the end of his last tank.
Once the game was over we checked out the win/loss ratio on ROAR. It was Germans 10/Poles 2. I fiddled with my clothes and looked at the ceiling. I swear it wasn't deliberate but it does look like I ran a bit of a hound past Dave. Actually, assuming average dice I'm surprised the Poles won that many. It all comes down to that first hill and due to the set requirements the Germans have a covered approach. My reinforcements did very little, their principal role seems to be to ensure that the Polish player can't simply pack the hill with every unit he possesses. Personally I would suggest removing the turn 3 victory condition and simply force the Germans to take all three buildings. That might make for a closer game.
With profuse apologies I promised Dave that I would play any scenario he cared to present for our next game. Being somewhat more diligent than I he looked for the most balanced scenario he could find and came up with the lengthy and venerable Hube's Pocket. It's fourteen turns long, I may die before we finish it. According to Dave that counts as a concession.
"Victory," shouted Hümmelchen in exaltation, "Bautzen remains German!"
"Well, Sorbian actually," muttered Ketteldrumme but he felt that he couldn't rain on the young leutnant's parade too heavily. "Victory" it was probably the first and definitely the last time he would say the word.
"Do you think there will be a parade?" asked Hümmelchen excitedly.
"I think the Soviets are planning a big one for Berlin."
No comments:
Post a Comment