I recently finished up FT216 Back in Force with Curtis Brooks. He had the defending Germans vs. my attacking Americans. Set on board 23 (canal) and 51 (heavy urban). A very nice OB with a mix of troops and toys. VC is American to control 13 or more buildings while NOT losing 20 more CVP that the Germans.
I received Curtis’s setup in advance and really had to puzzle through my attack, more specifically my T2 reinforcements. I opted to take my reinforcements in by avoiding the two closest bridges (and VC buildings) -- the right flank of my entry area. He started with two 75L AT and figured they would be on the left flank of the reinforcement area to contest the two left-most bridges (and both were). I felt that pushing there would result in burning Shermans and possibly end the American’s chances before ever getting started. He did get a sneaky LOS and was able to destroy one Sherman on the center bridge area.
Fairly quickly I was holding 10 of the required 13 VC buildings. Curtis realized spending troops on buildings that were clearly untenable was a waste – I concurred. The focus was on three mid-board 51 buildings, two of which were rowhouses. In the mid/late game, I gained a huge result that unlocked one of the three buildings: a WP CH on a key 548 who broke and had to rout upstairs and would be mopped up. Once this building fell, I was able to fully focus on the remaining two buildings.
Rowhouse #1 had a broken 247, and GO 467, but I had some significant FP approaching that could likely enter in CC with a (-3) ambush modifier. Additionally, as events would unfold, my armor would be free to roam causing even more German consternation.
Rowhouse #2 had limited defensive resources. However, sealing German’s fate was a PzIV that trundled up to take a shot at my Sherman. I was able to score a hit destroying it. With the loss of this critical asset (the German’s only tank and AT guns were back at the canal area), it became that much harder for the Germans and they decided to withdraw to fight another scenario.
A really fun urban scenario with a LOT of decisions for the attacker. Too, I had to be wary of an AT gun idden in my backfield that could un-hip and grab a VC building or two. Thanks to Curtis for his typical expert play, one of the finest players you could ever play. Additionally, he put up with a fair amount of my whining and griping from me on my inability to generate any meaningful results for a couple mid-game turns. We have really enjoyed our recent journey through the pages of Le Franc Tireur scenarios, and we’ll be looking for our next one in the coming weeks. Check out this scenario, a very worthy play, now 5-4 on ROAR. Another gem from the LFT crew.