Cap'n Fantastic
25 Jul 03, 14:18
Hey there -- just an ongoing report of a game with a player by the handle of "Vendetta." If ya know him, please don't send him this way....
I'll have the conclusion later on.
Settings
The game's a 2,000 pts QB Meeting Engagement (30 Turns) set in the high summer of 1944. Vendetta's chosen a medium map with moderate hills and tree cover. In terms of weather, we have clear skies and a slight breeze from a direction I just can't make myself remember.
OOB
My opponent cranked troop quality to "high" for both sides, which tells me it's going to be a smallish fight (despite the 2,000 points allotted to both sides) contested by very lethal forces.
I choose the following (all veteran):
· A Guards Heavy SMG/LMG company -motorized
· A platoon of three T-34/85s
· A platoon of two SU-85s
· A platoon's worth of lend lease halftracks (four vehicles bought individually)
· A ZIS 57mm ATG (w/truck for transport)
· Four Maxim HMGs
· Two 82mm onboard mortars
· An 82mm FO (radio)
· A single ATR team
My thinking is that I want to negate what I see as one of the German force's (undoubtedly mechanized) main advantages - maneuverability. I don't doubt Vendetta is going to have a healthy supply of Hanomags, and as it's a meeting engagement, I want to give my troops a solid chance of reaching at least one VL before the Ubermensch. With moderate trees and hills, visibility will hopefully be reduced to the point that the Guardsmen can fully use their tremendous short range firepower (later on I'll see squads shooting at German elements with a firepower rating of 360+).
My tanks and TDs pack 85mm guns to try and negate the German firepower advantage (Vendetta has already said he favors Panthers). The ZIS, teamed with my Company HQ team, onboard mortars and at least half the Maxim HMGs will provide overwatch for my fellas as they race for their goals. The platoon I plan to plunk into HTs will be teamed with the SU-85s. The T-34s will be used to maneuver about and respond to any problems.
The Map
My plan dies in the face of terrain that looks like Jellystone National Park. "Moderate Hills" has resulted in a rolling landscape with big ridgelines, dominated by a HUGE peak in the middle of the map (we'll call is Mount Curtis). "Moderate Trees" has produced a forest-choked patch of terrain that guarantees few, if any units, will be able to see beyond 100m. The idea of close quarter firefights makes me all kinds of happy, but it also means there won't be a whole lot of fire and maneuver.
Deployment
Assume from the start that Mother Russia's boys are facing west. The Hitlerites, east. There's a flag on the northern side of the board that I choose to ignore, favoring instead the two VLs wrapped in wooded ground and less than 200m from each other, situated along the southern half of the map. I'm short on PBI, so I want to keep them close enough to support each other. The reverse slope of Mount Curtis looks like an ideal spot for my T-34s and 82mm FO, as they will have a relatively narrow field of fire that covers any German approach to those two flags. Enfilading fire sucks when you're the one being shot at. So that's where they're going. The ZIS ATG, both onboard mortars, two HMGs and my HQ element will move to a patch of woods directly beneath Mount Curtis that allows them to observe movement to the northwest, guarding my left flank from any German armor or infantry trying to come around and hit my troops from behind. One platoon of Guardsmen will sit a little bit ahead of these support weapons, directly behind the tanks to keep them from being picked off by armor hunting grenadiers. There are plenty of trees for them to hide in.
The northernmost of my two chosen VLs (its pretty close to the middle) will be covered by my HTs and my second infantry platoon (teamed with the ATR). While the final two Maxims, my SU-85s and the last infantry platoon go for the southernmost flag. The SUs are placed where they are because they can take hull down positions, and along with my final pair of HMGs, keep Vendetta from moving halftracks or tanks up the open lane along the southern map edge. My approach to ALL of these spots is uphill, which is good as it will allow my grunts to move into place without being spotted, and let me put my AFVs into hull down positions.
The Game
The first several turns see my elements move into position. My HT borne infantry are the first to reach their destination (the northernmost/central VL). Vaulting from their troop carriers, they leapfrog towards the flag - only to draw fire from what first appears to be a German light AC. Three Guardsmen crumple to the ground in a burst of automatic weapons fire. The rest keeping moving forward. What turns out to be a 251/1 in turn takes a pair of penetrating hits from my ATR team - which stayed behind to provide covering fire. What's even nicer (for me) is the fact that the T-34s have brought the Hanomag and another troop carrier into view and soon knock the first 251/1 out of action. German infantry (I can't tell if their full blown squads or what) start taking MASSIVE small arms fire from my platoon. Before long, one element is wiped out while the other is driven off, clods of dirt springing up around their jackboots.
Over on the south side of the map, a Guards platoon has made its way to within 80m of that VL. The Maxims are in place and the SUs have started to lob direct HE at grenadiers scurrying between bits of cover. The first squad of Soviet infantry advances towards the patch of woods holding the Flag (the other two elements have formed a base of fire) and immediately runs into a German recon squad. The Germans manage to gun down two Guardsmen, but are soon suppressed by SMG fire AND bursts originating from a halftrack near the other VL. Within seconds Vendetta's lost four men, and the remainder of my platoon is advancing. A firefight rages between my bouncing baby Bolsheviks (the grenades are flying all over the place) and three German infantry elements. Two enemy squads (confirmed) are cut down to the last man, while a third turns tail and hauls A back the way it came (losing all but one of its eight grenadiers). The flag is mine.
Right now I'm all smiles - and the grin widens as an SU bags another troop-laden 251/1 coming from Vendetta's side of the map, the high velocity shell ending a Bavarian beer hall song in mid-chorus. But the mood isn't nearly so light after a hidden ATG (I'm assuming 75mm) opens up on my T-34s, killing one tank and forcing the second to pull back. A barrage directed by my FO fails to eliminate the Pak, but one of my SUs manages to kill the gun by blasting a patch of ground less than 10m away with HE "Area Fire."
I get even moodier when a German panzershrek team pops up in the woods centered on top of Mount Curtis and promptly kills a second T-34. I realize I have just made my first serious mistake of the game as I had only recently repositioned the adjoining platoon to help bolster the northernmost of my two VLs. The grunts there had managed to fight off a German counterattack, but eyed additional panzergrenadiers trickling in towards their left flank. If I hadn't moved the infantry covering my T-34s, those tank hunters would have had a hell of a time scoring their armor kill. What's worse, Vendetta has to be feeling REAL smug.
Sadistic, too, as he sends a full squad trundling down Mount Curtis - where they promptly beat the surviving tankers and my expended FO to death with their rifle butts. There's no call for that. No call at all. It's like aiming a flamethrower at a patch of ground containing prisoners (which I've only done once or twice). Vendetta's genocidal Westphalians regret their cruelty less than a minute later when a pair of repositioned halftrack guns down five of their number and send a nearby flamethrower team packing. Maddeningly, the 82mms and nearby Maxims can't draw a line of sight to the woods where the rest of the Huns are hiding. But I try anyway and a few scattered treebursts are obviously keeping their heads down.
The infantry I moved towards the beleagured VL are also bloodied as I see Vendetta has staked a claim on Mount Curtis, placing a Stug III and late model Panther on his side of the hill. Direct Fire HE wipes out 4 Guardsmen and the rest are routed into a patch of woods. Eventually they recover enough to whup on the grenadiers who were originally headed towards that flag - relieving some of the pressure from the original platoon. The Stug also kills one of my HTs - which suffers a catastrophic explosion.
This bugs me. Bugs me bad. So I move my last surviving T-34 so that it can fire on anything that crests the hill, and begin redeploying my SU-85s so they can engage the German armor sitting on elevated ground. The first TD begins to swing around the sourthenmost VL (after the platoon there has advanced forward and mauled another whimpering, simpering recon squad) and begins inching forward, the terrain in front of it included in a "Cover Armor" firing arc to ensure it isn't distracted by any survivors of Vendetta's decimated squads. I know such vehicles are best used from ambush positions, but you use what you got. The Second TD finds a hull down position which allows it to cover a good slice of the hill, and so stays put.
Now this is just unfair. The forward SU brings the Stug III into view, makes a minor correction with its gun tube, and then DIES as both AFVs fire at the same time. The shells pass within inches of each other. And while the German 75mm round does for my vehicle, Vendetta's assault gun remains intact even after taking 85mm AP straight up its snout. The game shows I achieved a frontal hull penetration (full, not partial), and the infantry piggybacking on the Stug are hugging the ground. But I don't see any crew bail, and the next Turn reveals I am LOSING the contest by a healthy margin- 38% to 31% victory, which is a big step back from the 33-33 from the previous Turn. The northernmost of my two VLs is contested, I've lost 2/3rds of my armor (along with my poor ATR team which died after plunking three rounds into yet another 251/1) and my opponent is displaying a level of luck which makes me think he's got a leprechaun strapped into one of his gun racks. Plus everyone in his roster is either "Crack" or "Elite." That's right. I'm fighting an entire kampfgruppe made up of Michael Wittmans.
Fine, I say. The Panther can't crest the hill and move east or my remaining SU has its number. It can't get all sneaky and come around the hill from the north or my hidden ZIS 57mm will give it serious grief. And that little 251/17 (pinging away at my SU with its piddly 20mm AA gun) is a wuss who keeps bolting under Maxim fire. If I can take out that panzer, he's in trouble, because his infantry is already bleeding all over the place. One way to draw it out is to move my surviving T-34 (utilizing dead ground) and join the center VL from the back door - pounding on any Hanomag or grenadier who gets in my way (I can see two more 251/1s pulling up to the central VL). Gears grind as the tank slams into reverse and begins to head out….
I'll have the conclusion later on.
Settings
The game's a 2,000 pts QB Meeting Engagement (30 Turns) set in the high summer of 1944. Vendetta's chosen a medium map with moderate hills and tree cover. In terms of weather, we have clear skies and a slight breeze from a direction I just can't make myself remember.
OOB
My opponent cranked troop quality to "high" for both sides, which tells me it's going to be a smallish fight (despite the 2,000 points allotted to both sides) contested by very lethal forces.
I choose the following (all veteran):
· A Guards Heavy SMG/LMG company -motorized
· A platoon of three T-34/85s
· A platoon of two SU-85s
· A platoon's worth of lend lease halftracks (four vehicles bought individually)
· A ZIS 57mm ATG (w/truck for transport)
· Four Maxim HMGs
· Two 82mm onboard mortars
· An 82mm FO (radio)
· A single ATR team
My thinking is that I want to negate what I see as one of the German force's (undoubtedly mechanized) main advantages - maneuverability. I don't doubt Vendetta is going to have a healthy supply of Hanomags, and as it's a meeting engagement, I want to give my troops a solid chance of reaching at least one VL before the Ubermensch. With moderate trees and hills, visibility will hopefully be reduced to the point that the Guardsmen can fully use their tremendous short range firepower (later on I'll see squads shooting at German elements with a firepower rating of 360+).
My tanks and TDs pack 85mm guns to try and negate the German firepower advantage (Vendetta has already said he favors Panthers). The ZIS, teamed with my Company HQ team, onboard mortars and at least half the Maxim HMGs will provide overwatch for my fellas as they race for their goals. The platoon I plan to plunk into HTs will be teamed with the SU-85s. The T-34s will be used to maneuver about and respond to any problems.
The Map
My plan dies in the face of terrain that looks like Jellystone National Park. "Moderate Hills" has resulted in a rolling landscape with big ridgelines, dominated by a HUGE peak in the middle of the map (we'll call is Mount Curtis). "Moderate Trees" has produced a forest-choked patch of terrain that guarantees few, if any units, will be able to see beyond 100m. The idea of close quarter firefights makes me all kinds of happy, but it also means there won't be a whole lot of fire and maneuver.
Deployment
Assume from the start that Mother Russia's boys are facing west. The Hitlerites, east. There's a flag on the northern side of the board that I choose to ignore, favoring instead the two VLs wrapped in wooded ground and less than 200m from each other, situated along the southern half of the map. I'm short on PBI, so I want to keep them close enough to support each other. The reverse slope of Mount Curtis looks like an ideal spot for my T-34s and 82mm FO, as they will have a relatively narrow field of fire that covers any German approach to those two flags. Enfilading fire sucks when you're the one being shot at. So that's where they're going. The ZIS ATG, both onboard mortars, two HMGs and my HQ element will move to a patch of woods directly beneath Mount Curtis that allows them to observe movement to the northwest, guarding my left flank from any German armor or infantry trying to come around and hit my troops from behind. One platoon of Guardsmen will sit a little bit ahead of these support weapons, directly behind the tanks to keep them from being picked off by armor hunting grenadiers. There are plenty of trees for them to hide in.
The northernmost of my two chosen VLs (its pretty close to the middle) will be covered by my HTs and my second infantry platoon (teamed with the ATR). While the final two Maxims, my SU-85s and the last infantry platoon go for the southernmost flag. The SUs are placed where they are because they can take hull down positions, and along with my final pair of HMGs, keep Vendetta from moving halftracks or tanks up the open lane along the southern map edge. My approach to ALL of these spots is uphill, which is good as it will allow my grunts to move into place without being spotted, and let me put my AFVs into hull down positions.
The Game
The first several turns see my elements move into position. My HT borne infantry are the first to reach their destination (the northernmost/central VL). Vaulting from their troop carriers, they leapfrog towards the flag - only to draw fire from what first appears to be a German light AC. Three Guardsmen crumple to the ground in a burst of automatic weapons fire. The rest keeping moving forward. What turns out to be a 251/1 in turn takes a pair of penetrating hits from my ATR team - which stayed behind to provide covering fire. What's even nicer (for me) is the fact that the T-34s have brought the Hanomag and another troop carrier into view and soon knock the first 251/1 out of action. German infantry (I can't tell if their full blown squads or what) start taking MASSIVE small arms fire from my platoon. Before long, one element is wiped out while the other is driven off, clods of dirt springing up around their jackboots.
Over on the south side of the map, a Guards platoon has made its way to within 80m of that VL. The Maxims are in place and the SUs have started to lob direct HE at grenadiers scurrying between bits of cover. The first squad of Soviet infantry advances towards the patch of woods holding the Flag (the other two elements have formed a base of fire) and immediately runs into a German recon squad. The Germans manage to gun down two Guardsmen, but are soon suppressed by SMG fire AND bursts originating from a halftrack near the other VL. Within seconds Vendetta's lost four men, and the remainder of my platoon is advancing. A firefight rages between my bouncing baby Bolsheviks (the grenades are flying all over the place) and three German infantry elements. Two enemy squads (confirmed) are cut down to the last man, while a third turns tail and hauls A back the way it came (losing all but one of its eight grenadiers). The flag is mine.
Right now I'm all smiles - and the grin widens as an SU bags another troop-laden 251/1 coming from Vendetta's side of the map, the high velocity shell ending a Bavarian beer hall song in mid-chorus. But the mood isn't nearly so light after a hidden ATG (I'm assuming 75mm) opens up on my T-34s, killing one tank and forcing the second to pull back. A barrage directed by my FO fails to eliminate the Pak, but one of my SUs manages to kill the gun by blasting a patch of ground less than 10m away with HE "Area Fire."
I get even moodier when a German panzershrek team pops up in the woods centered on top of Mount Curtis and promptly kills a second T-34. I realize I have just made my first serious mistake of the game as I had only recently repositioned the adjoining platoon to help bolster the northernmost of my two VLs. The grunts there had managed to fight off a German counterattack, but eyed additional panzergrenadiers trickling in towards their left flank. If I hadn't moved the infantry covering my T-34s, those tank hunters would have had a hell of a time scoring their armor kill. What's worse, Vendetta has to be feeling REAL smug.
Sadistic, too, as he sends a full squad trundling down Mount Curtis - where they promptly beat the surviving tankers and my expended FO to death with their rifle butts. There's no call for that. No call at all. It's like aiming a flamethrower at a patch of ground containing prisoners (which I've only done once or twice). Vendetta's genocidal Westphalians regret their cruelty less than a minute later when a pair of repositioned halftrack guns down five of their number and send a nearby flamethrower team packing. Maddeningly, the 82mms and nearby Maxims can't draw a line of sight to the woods where the rest of the Huns are hiding. But I try anyway and a few scattered treebursts are obviously keeping their heads down.
The infantry I moved towards the beleagured VL are also bloodied as I see Vendetta has staked a claim on Mount Curtis, placing a Stug III and late model Panther on his side of the hill. Direct Fire HE wipes out 4 Guardsmen and the rest are routed into a patch of woods. Eventually they recover enough to whup on the grenadiers who were originally headed towards that flag - relieving some of the pressure from the original platoon. The Stug also kills one of my HTs - which suffers a catastrophic explosion.
This bugs me. Bugs me bad. So I move my last surviving T-34 so that it can fire on anything that crests the hill, and begin redeploying my SU-85s so they can engage the German armor sitting on elevated ground. The first TD begins to swing around the sourthenmost VL (after the platoon there has advanced forward and mauled another whimpering, simpering recon squad) and begins inching forward, the terrain in front of it included in a "Cover Armor" firing arc to ensure it isn't distracted by any survivors of Vendetta's decimated squads. I know such vehicles are best used from ambush positions, but you use what you got. The Second TD finds a hull down position which allows it to cover a good slice of the hill, and so stays put.
Now this is just unfair. The forward SU brings the Stug III into view, makes a minor correction with its gun tube, and then DIES as both AFVs fire at the same time. The shells pass within inches of each other. And while the German 75mm round does for my vehicle, Vendetta's assault gun remains intact even after taking 85mm AP straight up its snout. The game shows I achieved a frontal hull penetration (full, not partial), and the infantry piggybacking on the Stug are hugging the ground. But I don't see any crew bail, and the next Turn reveals I am LOSING the contest by a healthy margin- 38% to 31% victory, which is a big step back from the 33-33 from the previous Turn. The northernmost of my two VLs is contested, I've lost 2/3rds of my armor (along with my poor ATR team which died after plunking three rounds into yet another 251/1) and my opponent is displaying a level of luck which makes me think he's got a leprechaun strapped into one of his gun racks. Plus everyone in his roster is either "Crack" or "Elite." That's right. I'm fighting an entire kampfgruppe made up of Michael Wittmans.
Fine, I say. The Panther can't crest the hill and move east or my remaining SU has its number. It can't get all sneaky and come around the hill from the north or my hidden ZIS 57mm will give it serious grief. And that little 251/17 (pinging away at my SU with its piddly 20mm AA gun) is a wuss who keeps bolting under Maxim fire. If I can take out that panzer, he's in trouble, because his infantry is already bleeding all over the place. One way to draw it out is to move my surviving T-34 (utilizing dead ground) and join the center VL from the back door - pounding on any Hanomag or grenadier who gets in my way (I can see two more 251/1s pulling up to the central VL). Gears grind as the tank slams into reverse and begins to head out….