Major Issues
Elder Member
It was a nice day, so I took the boys fishing:
Walt and I played Frying For Danzig. City fight, with less than stellar German defenders vs. 628s, 527s, ISU-122s, OT-34s, and two FTs. So there is the potential for 4 FT shots per player turn.
The Germans do get an 88LL AT, two okay leaders, and a HMG. Russians have to basically clear half a board. 4 237 HS ‘stragglers’ setup outside the victory area. The game is 4-1/2 turns long, so time is not the Russian’s friend.
I had the Russians.
Things started badly for me when an 8-1 and his men moving behind a wall were shot to pieces by the HMG. The 8-1 broke and wounded, the FT squad was eliminated, and the other squad broke.
In a pair of moves that may cause you to question my judgement (and many do…often…), both OT-34s moved into positions behind walls, 3 hexes away from the nearest German, where they would be fairly safe from nasty PFs, but still in FT range.
Except.
I forgot that the OT-34s have bow-mounted FTs, so being hull down meant I couldn’t use them. Was this huge mistake due to the fact that most of the flame tanks I have been pushing around have been Crocodiles? Or because I was taking a shot of vodka every 15 minutes? (for medicinal purposes, of course…)
As it turned out, hitting a hull down OT-34 that had just moved with a PSK from 3 hexes away is pretty easy, if you’re Walt. One tank down.
An ISU took up a position behind a wall to shoot up the HMG. The German 88 does not set up HIP, so I knew where it was. I also knew that if he took a shot at me, it would hit the corner of a building. He did, and it didn’t. Luckily, the wall saved me, for now…
The only positive for the turn was that I broke and ELRed one straggler 237 HS, and killed another in CC.
G1, Walt runs his two remaining straggler HSs toward friendly lines. I thought he pushed them too far, since they were now CX.
R2, I send a couple squads the wrong direction to clean up the CX stragglers. After all, we don’t want armed teenagers running amuck behind the lines, now do we??? They are crushed in CC.
The ISU-122 survives to fight another day when the 88 bounces another shot off the wall.
G2, the remaining broken and DM 236 straggler rolls snakes on a self rally and creates a 6+1 leader to boot. These armed teenagers now proceed to run amuck behind the lines, being a menace to society, DMing several broken squads and killing off the wounded 8-0.
The other OT-34 runs out of fuel the first time it tries to light somebody up. I lose it and an ISU-122 to PF shots. I am able to finally get one FT into action, and take out the SPW 251/22.
G3, the remaining ISU-122 gets flamed by a PSK.
R4, a bold charge by many men ends badly, and the 8-0 carrying the other FT is broken in the street. I concede. I don’t have the troops or time to clear out the rest of the Germans.
I played badly and didn’t shoot well, but I did clear half the Germans out. Gut feeling is that this is a little pro-German, just because of the number of Germans to be cleared (15 squads) and only 4-1/2 turns. A fallback defense and deploying a few squads to increase the number of targets would help the German odds.
So much of the Russian success is going to be dependent on the FTs. Neither OT-34 got a decent shot off. One FT never took a shot the whole game.
PFs with a range of 3 are dangerous in the city. I had a hard time putting the tanks somewhere they could get a LOS without being in range. The ISUs are large targets, which means that even at 3 hexes, a PF needs a 5 TH, 6 if one of the leaders is helping.
Next post, tips to help you find the perfect apartment.
Walt and I played Frying For Danzig. City fight, with less than stellar German defenders vs. 628s, 527s, ISU-122s, OT-34s, and two FTs. So there is the potential for 4 FT shots per player turn.
The Germans do get an 88LL AT, two okay leaders, and a HMG. Russians have to basically clear half a board. 4 237 HS ‘stragglers’ setup outside the victory area. The game is 4-1/2 turns long, so time is not the Russian’s friend.
I had the Russians.
Things started badly for me when an 8-1 and his men moving behind a wall were shot to pieces by the HMG. The 8-1 broke and wounded, the FT squad was eliminated, and the other squad broke.
In a pair of moves that may cause you to question my judgement (and many do…often…), both OT-34s moved into positions behind walls, 3 hexes away from the nearest German, where they would be fairly safe from nasty PFs, but still in FT range.
Except.
I forgot that the OT-34s have bow-mounted FTs, so being hull down meant I couldn’t use them. Was this huge mistake due to the fact that most of the flame tanks I have been pushing around have been Crocodiles? Or because I was taking a shot of vodka every 15 minutes? (for medicinal purposes, of course…)
As it turned out, hitting a hull down OT-34 that had just moved with a PSK from 3 hexes away is pretty easy, if you’re Walt. One tank down.
An ISU took up a position behind a wall to shoot up the HMG. The German 88 does not set up HIP, so I knew where it was. I also knew that if he took a shot at me, it would hit the corner of a building. He did, and it didn’t. Luckily, the wall saved me, for now…
The only positive for the turn was that I broke and ELRed one straggler 237 HS, and killed another in CC.
G1, Walt runs his two remaining straggler HSs toward friendly lines. I thought he pushed them too far, since they were now CX.
R2, I send a couple squads the wrong direction to clean up the CX stragglers. After all, we don’t want armed teenagers running amuck behind the lines, now do we??? They are crushed in CC.
The ISU-122 survives to fight another day when the 88 bounces another shot off the wall.
G2, the remaining broken and DM 236 straggler rolls snakes on a self rally and creates a 6+1 leader to boot. These armed teenagers now proceed to run amuck behind the lines, being a menace to society, DMing several broken squads and killing off the wounded 8-0.
The other OT-34 runs out of fuel the first time it tries to light somebody up. I lose it and an ISU-122 to PF shots. I am able to finally get one FT into action, and take out the SPW 251/22.
G3, the remaining ISU-122 gets flamed by a PSK.
R4, a bold charge by many men ends badly, and the 8-0 carrying the other FT is broken in the street. I concede. I don’t have the troops or time to clear out the rest of the Germans.
I played badly and didn’t shoot well, but I did clear half the Germans out. Gut feeling is that this is a little pro-German, just because of the number of Germans to be cleared (15 squads) and only 4-1/2 turns. A fallback defense and deploying a few squads to increase the number of targets would help the German odds.
So much of the Russian success is going to be dependent on the FTs. Neither OT-34 got a decent shot off. One FT never took a shot the whole game.
PFs with a range of 3 are dangerous in the city. I had a hard time putting the tanks somewhere they could get a LOS without being in range. The ISUs are large targets, which means that even at 3 hexes, a PF needs a 5 TH, 6 if one of the leaders is helping.
Next post, tips to help you find the perfect apartment.
This is funny.