Albany Part 1 - DTF12 Not one step back

PS NJ

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For the first round at Albany I was matched up with my friend Jim Povey in DTF12 Not one step back. I bid R5 vs R3 so I lost one T34 and Jim took a 468 with his reinforcements. This has six (in my case) russian tanks entering turn 1 vs a forced-forward german defense of 11 squads. The tanks need to mess with the defending infantry sufficiently to spring 22 turn 2 squads across some open ground as the defenders fall back to the victory village. The germans have two AT guns, a middling 75 (not 75L) (TK 14 and no APCR), and a potentially nasty 37L (TK9, but with H6 steilgranite with a TK26).
German turn 3 a 9-2 AL Marder and four (with our balance provision) squads enter to help the defenders. The Marder is powerful if it has the first shot, and can be dangerous in drive-by's from the side, but can't take on the KV or T-34's in a protracted gun battle. Also the russians are hindered by the need for the tanks to move last each turn, nullifying some bounding fire/sleaze-freeze benefits. I also like the DTF special rules (HIP SMC and SW) for increased fog of war at the set up.

I ran right into Jim's AT kill zone in the center. His 37L knocked out two T-60s. He had two T-34's in LOS but decided to retain concealment and not pivot to take them on. In my turn 2 the KV tried to freeze that gun but was burned by a HEAT round. I sent my two T-34's forward and the critical moment was Jim revealing his 75 ATG had side shots on them but Jim malfunctioned the gun and the crises passed. Jim did a nice job slowing down the russian infantry but it cost him half his landsers. Turn 4 I massacred my german prisoners as the deployment benefit was outweighed at that point by the need for CC ability.
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Russian turn 5 the solitary T-60 entered the Marder's hex from the side and then the T-34's drove up (evading a couple street fighting attempts) to deliver the coup-de-grace on Mr. 9-2. My infantry outnumbered Jim's about 2:1 and with unopposed T-34's the curtain fell on the defenders.
This is one of the scenarios where I think it's balanced with a new player as the attacker, but with an experienced attacker the defender has a tougher task. For balance I'd take a away one T-34 and add another building to the VC conditions (5 vs 4). Still a fun game with a great opponent.
- Paul
 

MajorDomo

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Played at ASKOK, enjoyed it

Germans need some help as there are just too many Russians.

I think Paul's suggestion to eliminate a T34 and add a building to the Russian VC is good.
 

Toby Pilling

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Gosh, I'm not a bad defender and I love Struijf and Mazzei designs but I'm looking at this scenario wondering what on earth the Germans can do to win. I guess I just haven't grokked it yet!
 

Maurizizio

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Playing right now for CyberVASL. I agree it is tough on the Germans, but maybe the German should simply fall back leaving the "inviting" open space to the Russian Infantry and fight in the village. I would play it again, just to understand if it is really to be rebalanced, or simply needs to be played differently. ELR 2 was expected to be much more effective.
 
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