Post by justmatt on Jul 13, 2010 18:21:02 GMT -5
This is just a quick recap of a game played last weekend between myself as the SD (Experimental Detachment) versus Jeff Jenkins (sincity on the forum) playing a US infantry force.
The game was a “Forage” scenario with one detachment per side, with the two armies fighting to collect 5 supply tokens scattered across the table.
The terrain was a smattering of small hills, patches of forested terrain and some very nice half-demolished buildings courtesy of Hobbytown USA in Gahanna, Ohio.
Our TO&Es, respectively, were:
MATT’S GERMANS
Elite Officer (scientist)
Veteran Rohlingsoldat with MG42
Regular Feuersoldaten
Regular Panzerschreck Team
Regular Sturmaffe
Green Volkssturm Squad
Green Volkssturm Squad
Emaciated Trooper squad via Officer’s Hero Trait
VS
JEFF’S AMIS
Elite Airborne Officer (Eccentric Millionaire)
Veteran Mechanic
Regular Airborne Squad
Regular Airborne Squad
Regular Rocket Troop Squad
Green GIs
Green GIs
Robot Troopers
SETTING UP
Jeff deployed on the eastern long table edge – with me approaching from the west.
My line was anchored by two squads of Volkssturm in the center, trailed by the officer and covered by the Rohlingsoldat. The big guy was perched inside a stone building. On my left flank, and slightly behind the grunts, was my panzerschreck team. Holding my far left was the Sturmaffe, used as a blatant club to smack anyone trying to approach an isolated supply marker (he couldn’t claim it, but he’d kill anyone getting too close).
On my right were the Emaciated troopers and my Feuersoldaten, who would advance under cover and provide flank security or a means to respond to Jeff’s reinforcements, due to arrive through the “Parachute Assault” special order.
Jeff had his officer holding a two-story structure in the middle of his table edge, with a squad of green GIs to either side and the Mechanic with her robot troopers dead ahead. One squad of Airborne bolstered the raw grunts on his left – while the second squad of paras and the rocket troops were his reserves.
TURNS 1 & 2
The early stages of the game were a real nail biter. The Volkssturm earned their pay in spades. A “keep moving” order allowed those on my left flank / Jeff’s right, supported by the Sturmaffe, to secure a marker in the face of the enemy’s green riflemen. And my other reservists scooped up a second marker before scuttling into a half-ruined, largish “inn/tavern” plunked dead center in the table.
Jeff’s green troops on his right/ my left, responded by gnabbing the 3rd marker that was relatively close to his table edge. Seeing as how he had nothing to gain by stomping forward in the face of my super ape and GEW-43 toting Volkssturm, they stopped in cover and waited to see how things would play out towards the center of the table.
My Rohlingsoldat, by then, had already dropped one Airborne trooper on my right / Jeff’s left with long range machine gun fire (15 shots a turn, even with a “6” needed due to the range, is just plain murder) and later killed a green GI as well. The intent there HAD been to spend 10 shots killing that one green soldier, then devote the remaining 5 to suppressing his surviving buddies. I wanted to prevent Jeff from collecting the 4th marker – which was hovering nearby -- but the troops actually made their DR roll (“3” cover + 3 drive minus 5 shots required a “1” and they frigging made it)!
I still held out hope, however, as their follow up move saw them end an inch short of that prize, and directly in LOS of my Volkssturm holding the ground floor of that center structure. I also had emaciated troopers staring at them….so if initiative went my way in Turn 3, I could feasibly kill those grunts and beat him to the prize.
At this point Jeff, using “Parachute Assault,” tried to drop a pair of paras directly on top of this contested marker, but scatter saw them drift over a single-story structure directly into the path of my living flamethrowers. Laughing maniacally (or at least I was as I used the templates), my abominations would eventually turn both airborne riflemen into screaming charcoal briquettes.
Finally….the fifth marker was on his side of that center structure, and Rocket Troops operating under the “Parachute Assault” orders landed directly on top of it. Oh well. We were now tied 2-2 with everything hinging on that last prize.
TURNS 3 & 4
The body count was in my favor, but Jeff now won initiative and was able to gnab that last marker. Doom on me.
Second thing to go horrifically wrong was that my Panzerschreck team, which had been hustling forward in order to crush Jeff’s tightly packed Robot Troopers and Mechanic with an 88mm warhead, were gunned down by the automatons. The bots had seen their rate of fire boosted by his mechanic. I had hoped he would make the wrong choice between the emaciated troopers rushing in his direction, the Sturmaffe angling in from the opposite side and my anti-armor team. But he didn’t. He realized that template could wreck his day and he rolled a bunch of 6s.
My Officer (have to admit, it’s a Greta von X mini – but I love it) stepped out of cover along my right flank and mowed down a second Green GI from that squad with her MP-40. She also reduced the DR loss inflicted on a couple of my units by the loss of my Panzerschreck team.
Then Jeff went for the throat and flew his Rocket troops onto the second story of that half-ruined building in the middle of table (the roof was gone) and opened up on my officer. Tesla pistol and Thompson fire wounded her, but failed to land a kill. Seconds later both flyboys where chopped into hamburger by my lurking Rohlingsoldat.
TURNS 5 & 6
My secondary objective was Field Test. And with the body count stacked in my favor, I thought I had a chance at Attrition. I decided to try and balance out the results of the game by going for broke – killing the necessary enemy minis in the time remaining while keeping my abominations alive.
But things, again, went wrong.
Let’s speed it up here.
Main development #1. Continued sniping by Jeff saw my officer drop at the hands of his boss, who was firing from an open window on the second floor of his building – so DR was going to become an issue.
As his surviving troops began to fall back towards the structure occupied by his officer (it would turn out he was defending that building as his secondary objective), I pushed everyone forward.
#2…….The Sturmaffe bounded forward and SHOULD have killed as many Robot troopers as he could reach. But he failed miserably on his damage roll during his charge (got a “1” so the first bot in contact survived). And when Jeff then moved his remaining tin cans into base-to-base contact, I won all 3 fights but didn’t inflict a single wound. Horrific rolls KILLED me here. The Green squad from his right flank now moved in and surrounded the ape. It would eventually be dragged down by weight of numbers and killed. Which just drove me berserk.
The Emaciated troopers caught his Mechanic and drug-maddened, surgically altered Russian POWs vented some frustration on her curvy figure. The Volkssturm in that center structure killed the last greenie out of that one squad on Jeff’s left. And the Feuersoldaten managed to toast the last remaining regular Airborne rifleman. But in the end, my Ape died (which is where I lost that secondary objective). The one bright spot -- my claws and pincer guys would pile into the scrum and kill a Robot, netting me 11out of his 17 minis. Attrition, at least, was mine.
RESULTS
Jeff got the markers -- primary
Jeff held his building -secondary
Matt killed 11 out of 17 minis (3 Green GIs, 1 Robot Trooper, 4 Airborne/Paratroopers, 2 Rocket troopers and a Mechanic). He had two robots, 3 GIs and an officer left = Attrition for Matt!!!! Every minis game has a silver lining.
Matt lost 2 Abominations (an Emaciated was gunned down when it no longer mattered), a weapons team and his officer.
LESSONS LEARNT
My force performed pretty darn well, lethality wise, especially as the Sturmaffe was totally screwed by bad rolls. Tactics wise, I was OK, even if rushing the ape forward was a questionable call. There were a few instances where a single die toss could have swung the game in my favor. I really think this game was pretty close. It just didn’t happen for me.
Jeff is a canny player, better at this stuff than me, who habitually goes for my leader. I need a backup / NCO to prevent DR loss.
The game was a “Forage” scenario with one detachment per side, with the two armies fighting to collect 5 supply tokens scattered across the table.
The terrain was a smattering of small hills, patches of forested terrain and some very nice half-demolished buildings courtesy of Hobbytown USA in Gahanna, Ohio.
Our TO&Es, respectively, were:
MATT’S GERMANS
Elite Officer (scientist)
Veteran Rohlingsoldat with MG42
Regular Feuersoldaten
Regular Panzerschreck Team
Regular Sturmaffe
Green Volkssturm Squad
Green Volkssturm Squad
Emaciated Trooper squad via Officer’s Hero Trait
VS
JEFF’S AMIS
Elite Airborne Officer (Eccentric Millionaire)
Veteran Mechanic
Regular Airborne Squad
Regular Airborne Squad
Regular Rocket Troop Squad
Green GIs
Green GIs
Robot Troopers
SETTING UP
Jeff deployed on the eastern long table edge – with me approaching from the west.
My line was anchored by two squads of Volkssturm in the center, trailed by the officer and covered by the Rohlingsoldat. The big guy was perched inside a stone building. On my left flank, and slightly behind the grunts, was my panzerschreck team. Holding my far left was the Sturmaffe, used as a blatant club to smack anyone trying to approach an isolated supply marker (he couldn’t claim it, but he’d kill anyone getting too close).
On my right were the Emaciated troopers and my Feuersoldaten, who would advance under cover and provide flank security or a means to respond to Jeff’s reinforcements, due to arrive through the “Parachute Assault” special order.
Jeff had his officer holding a two-story structure in the middle of his table edge, with a squad of green GIs to either side and the Mechanic with her robot troopers dead ahead. One squad of Airborne bolstered the raw grunts on his left – while the second squad of paras and the rocket troops were his reserves.
TURNS 1 & 2
The early stages of the game were a real nail biter. The Volkssturm earned their pay in spades. A “keep moving” order allowed those on my left flank / Jeff’s right, supported by the Sturmaffe, to secure a marker in the face of the enemy’s green riflemen. And my other reservists scooped up a second marker before scuttling into a half-ruined, largish “inn/tavern” plunked dead center in the table.
Jeff’s green troops on his right/ my left, responded by gnabbing the 3rd marker that was relatively close to his table edge. Seeing as how he had nothing to gain by stomping forward in the face of my super ape and GEW-43 toting Volkssturm, they stopped in cover and waited to see how things would play out towards the center of the table.
My Rohlingsoldat, by then, had already dropped one Airborne trooper on my right / Jeff’s left with long range machine gun fire (15 shots a turn, even with a “6” needed due to the range, is just plain murder) and later killed a green GI as well. The intent there HAD been to spend 10 shots killing that one green soldier, then devote the remaining 5 to suppressing his surviving buddies. I wanted to prevent Jeff from collecting the 4th marker – which was hovering nearby -- but the troops actually made their DR roll (“3” cover + 3 drive minus 5 shots required a “1” and they frigging made it)!
I still held out hope, however, as their follow up move saw them end an inch short of that prize, and directly in LOS of my Volkssturm holding the ground floor of that center structure. I also had emaciated troopers staring at them….so if initiative went my way in Turn 3, I could feasibly kill those grunts and beat him to the prize.
At this point Jeff, using “Parachute Assault,” tried to drop a pair of paras directly on top of this contested marker, but scatter saw them drift over a single-story structure directly into the path of my living flamethrowers. Laughing maniacally (or at least I was as I used the templates), my abominations would eventually turn both airborne riflemen into screaming charcoal briquettes.
Finally….the fifth marker was on his side of that center structure, and Rocket Troops operating under the “Parachute Assault” orders landed directly on top of it. Oh well. We were now tied 2-2 with everything hinging on that last prize.
TURNS 3 & 4
The body count was in my favor, but Jeff now won initiative and was able to gnab that last marker. Doom on me.
Second thing to go horrifically wrong was that my Panzerschreck team, which had been hustling forward in order to crush Jeff’s tightly packed Robot Troopers and Mechanic with an 88mm warhead, were gunned down by the automatons. The bots had seen their rate of fire boosted by his mechanic. I had hoped he would make the wrong choice between the emaciated troopers rushing in his direction, the Sturmaffe angling in from the opposite side and my anti-armor team. But he didn’t. He realized that template could wreck his day and he rolled a bunch of 6s.
My Officer (have to admit, it’s a Greta von X mini – but I love it) stepped out of cover along my right flank and mowed down a second Green GI from that squad with her MP-40. She also reduced the DR loss inflicted on a couple of my units by the loss of my Panzerschreck team.
Then Jeff went for the throat and flew his Rocket troops onto the second story of that half-ruined building in the middle of table (the roof was gone) and opened up on my officer. Tesla pistol and Thompson fire wounded her, but failed to land a kill. Seconds later both flyboys where chopped into hamburger by my lurking Rohlingsoldat.
TURNS 5 & 6
My secondary objective was Field Test. And with the body count stacked in my favor, I thought I had a chance at Attrition. I decided to try and balance out the results of the game by going for broke – killing the necessary enemy minis in the time remaining while keeping my abominations alive.
But things, again, went wrong.
Let’s speed it up here.
Main development #1. Continued sniping by Jeff saw my officer drop at the hands of his boss, who was firing from an open window on the second floor of his building – so DR was going to become an issue.
As his surviving troops began to fall back towards the structure occupied by his officer (it would turn out he was defending that building as his secondary objective), I pushed everyone forward.
#2…….The Sturmaffe bounded forward and SHOULD have killed as many Robot troopers as he could reach. But he failed miserably on his damage roll during his charge (got a “1” so the first bot in contact survived). And when Jeff then moved his remaining tin cans into base-to-base contact, I won all 3 fights but didn’t inflict a single wound. Horrific rolls KILLED me here. The Green squad from his right flank now moved in and surrounded the ape. It would eventually be dragged down by weight of numbers and killed. Which just drove me berserk.
The Emaciated troopers caught his Mechanic and drug-maddened, surgically altered Russian POWs vented some frustration on her curvy figure. The Volkssturm in that center structure killed the last greenie out of that one squad on Jeff’s left. And the Feuersoldaten managed to toast the last remaining regular Airborne rifleman. But in the end, my Ape died (which is where I lost that secondary objective). The one bright spot -- my claws and pincer guys would pile into the scrum and kill a Robot, netting me 11out of his 17 minis. Attrition, at least, was mine.
RESULTS
Jeff got the markers -- primary
Jeff held his building -secondary
Matt killed 11 out of 17 minis (3 Green GIs, 1 Robot Trooper, 4 Airborne/Paratroopers, 2 Rocket troopers and a Mechanic). He had two robots, 3 GIs and an officer left = Attrition for Matt!!!! Every minis game has a silver lining.
Matt lost 2 Abominations (an Emaciated was gunned down when it no longer mattered), a weapons team and his officer.
LESSONS LEARNT
My force performed pretty darn well, lethality wise, especially as the Sturmaffe was totally screwed by bad rolls. Tactics wise, I was OK, even if rushing the ape forward was a questionable call. There were a few instances where a single die toss could have swung the game in my favor. I really think this game was pretty close. It just didn’t happen for me.
Jeff is a canny player, better at this stuff than me, who habitually goes for my leader. I need a backup / NCO to prevent DR loss.
