AAR - Double Trouble - AP84

Major Issues

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Played Walt Harrar in Double Trouble.

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Well, maybe a different kind of trouble.

Walt had the British/ Burmese. The prelude and aftermath talk a lot about Major Love, even though there is no Major Love in this scenario. Maybe Gary just likes the name. Major Love sounds like the name of a porn star.

What Walt does have is the Burma Shave Rifles,

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plus a gunboat.

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Well, maybe not quite THAT big. It does have a 76 MTR and a HMG. The MTR can fire anywhere using a British leader as a spotter - modified spotting rules. Walt thought that this might make it very tough on the IJA.

The British are big believers in gunboat diplomacy. Major Love was fond of saying, "Speak softly and carry a big swagger stick."

The IJA is an all-infantry force, with 3 LMGs, 2 light mortars, and a MMG. And ammo shortage. And no elite squads. And with three squads starting striped. And one of the three leaders starting wounded and bleeding like a teenage victim in a bad zombie movie. But we prefer not to concentrate on the negative.

VC are combo building control and CVPs, with the British needing 5 more, or to control all buildings.

A couple Japanese squads start around the 6bFF11 building. I saw this as being a sucker position, as most of that area could be hit by direct fire from the gunboat. I left one squad in the building, so as not to give Walt a free two points, and positioned everyone else to run towards the board 5a buildings. One HIP squad in the middle jungle, and pretty much everyone else in a line on the 5aB hexrow. I had the 9-1 and MMG crew on the left flank, and a couple dummy stacks set to move into some of the buildings on the left.

Walt CXed a HS through the jungle on the left, and I decided that they were a worthy MMG target. SNAKES! GONE! With rate, I hit a concealed stack, and rolled a 3, breaking 1-1/2 squads, and leaving only one GO squad on that flank.

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The center and right moved up without giving me any shots, then advanced into LOS of the 5aB guys. But one of his CX squads advanced into the hex with my HIP squad. Ambush, HtH, dead Burmese. I am up 3 points in half a turn. I decide to remain in the hex, though it is adjacent to two CX concealed units.

J1, I break my MMG. Light mortar breaks a squad. I can do nothing to the concealed CX units. They do shoot at me, unsuccessfully. I jump one squad, but don't get Ambush, and we end up in HtH Melee.

A striped squad in a jungle foxhole on my left flank gets nailed by a Giant MG Stack, and goes to a HS. One of his light mortars gets a CH on the same HS. What happens when you get nailed by a 12 -3??? Nothing good.

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A Burmese HS on the right runs toward my one squad, and I break and ELR him.

Walt reinforces the HtH Melee, and I die without causing any damage.

My turn, and my MMG is recycled for it's scrap metal content. None of Walt's broken guys rally. I am a firm believer in Kicking Your Opponent When They Are Down (it's on my business card), so in my turn, my now machinegun-less crew and 9-1 run forward to DM a squad and a half, and the 8-0 and squad advance adjacent to a broken HS.

Walt has two good order squads adjacent to my lone squad on the right. He fires at me pointblank, and I battle harden to a 448.

In the center, my line is still holding. My light mortar has broken a couple of his squads. On the left, I continue to pursue broken units and a GO HS with my crew. On the right, my 448 breaks one of his squads, my LMG squad breaks the other, and a sniper wounds his 8-1. He now has no GO squads on the right.

My turn, he manages to rally one of these squads under DM. His 9-1 and a LMG squad finally decide that they have had enough and go after my rampaging crew. My 9-1 with him has been wounded by a sniper by now. I shoot well enough to break and ELR his 9-1. But his squad battle hardens and creates a hero. My wounded leader and crew go down in CC. We are roughly equal in CVPs at this point, but I still have every building.

My turn, my 8-0 charges boldly into his dispersed smoke while my 448 moves adjacent to his broken squad and GO squad on the right. His Fearsome Gunboat now has a LOS to my 8-0, and can open up using direct fire. The gunboat now proves what kind of stuff it is made of.

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The broken squad dies for FTR. I decide to go into HtH CC with my 8-0 and 448 against his wounded 8-1 and squad, even though it is basically an even fight. I need an 8, but miss him, and I lose a HS.

In the center, a charge against one of my mortar squads allows Walt to get into CC with an 8-0 and 3 HSs. And he gets ambushed. My squad takes out two of the HSs.

J5, I reinforce this HtH Melee with another squad. His MMG squad is broken by mortar fire. There are two CCs to resolve. I take out his 8-0 and HS in the one, and we have Mutually Assured Destruction in the other on the right. I'm still happy, because I came out ahead on CVPs. Also, there are no longer any British on the right, and my 6bFF11 building is still under IJA control, as I was the last one in it.

B6, Walt does a head count. He has only 4-1/2 GO squads left with any chance of getting to a building, but only one can do so without running a gauntlet of fire in open ground. So it ends with me up 14 CVPs to his 12, and me controlling 13 of the 14 building hexes.

Walt never got any effect with his Spotted Gunboat Mortar Fire. His gunboat HMG did get two results on my 8-0, but I passed both. So it definitely wasn't a game changer.


My line in the center never broke, and I only lost one squad from it.

I enjoyed the scenario. Walt quite a bit less so, as my dice were hot, and his were very, very cold, like a drink with coconut and pineapple juice and rum and ice and a little umbrella that you sip while relaxing on the veranda. But I fear that those good times will soon be no more in Burma...

Go forth, and spread Major Love!!!
 

Roy

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Astonishing! Entertaining! Edge of the seat drama! 4 Stars!
 
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