PS NJ
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For the semi-finals at Nor'easter I was matched with Gary Fortenberry. I've played Gary a few times and I know he is an excellent player. He took some time off recently but is now fully back on the tournament scene. This scenario wasn't one of the three I wanted to play in this round, but Gary really wanted to play it. He saw that there weren't any hills, which I agree are the toughest part if the Korea rules to understand, so I agreed and the dice gave me the US. The US has 13 666 with three excellent 'Easy 8' Shermans plus an 8-1 AL. They are tough with 10 MG factors, circle 11 armor, infinite APCR for a 76L gun, and most importantly SM8. For weapons US only had one MMG, a couple lmgs, and two Baz50's (without wp). The North Koreans have 13 mixed 458/447/527s with a commissar, one MMG, a 16 hex ATR, a 82 MTR, a 76L Art (APCR 7), and two T34/85's (APCR7). Plus they have 4 suicide heros (which can be HIP), 4 wire and two roadblocks. They also have 6 concealment to add three dummy tanks to their setup. The US has to enter and cross some open ground into a city board with a couple level 2 buildings. The US has 7 turns to get 20 VP. They get two for each T34/85 destroyed, one for each multi-hex stone building controlled, and exit VP off the middle of the far board.
The circle 11 Sherman armor meant they were vulnerable to the gun's 13/14 TK and the T34's 17//18 TK from the front and almost a sure kill on the box 4 side armor. The ATR was even a threat to DI a Sherman. OTOH a non-dud on the US 76L APCR was a kill for a T-34.
We looked up and discussed the Korea rules before start, with the main one being light woods. Then after both sides' set up we promptly completely forgot about the light woods.
Gary set up broadly across width of the board with some units in the level 2 buildings locations (I assumed the ATR and MMG were there). One tank was in W9 looking down the left flank. I didn't like the thought of taking 15+ stone buildings so I decided to try for an end-run around the left flank. I had forgotten already about the light woods so I tried to bypass the woods in GG4. Had I remembered they were light, I would have entered my tanks and just gone through the light woods in GG4, not exposing them to flank shots (although risking a 25% chance of bog for the first one). Gary anticipated this approach and had his wire on that flank with several HIP THH. His 76L in AA1 had a juicy side shot on a Sherman in GG4, but didn't bring A7 and missed the AP shot. Gary took the T34's BMG shot vs the bypassing tanks in GG4 to check LOS. Like I said, we both forgot about the light woods and judged the shot blocked. Gary had a HIP THH in FF7 who found a ATMM in reaction fire to torch a Sherman (ouch!).
In NK1 Gary put smoke from his gun into DD7 to cover it and the nearby infantry. He had a THH charge a nearby tank through the smoke but I just waited until it entered my hex and vaporized it on a 30-2. Gary started repositioning his infantry but a lack of leaders slowed that down considerably. He moved the T34 on my right flank over and I took a stupid +7 acquisition shot and malfunctioned a tank MA. I should have just turned my turret in final fire for free. This meant I had only one tank tube left and things were looking pretty grim already.
In US turn 2 (pictured above) I tried to repair the MA, which I rarely try, with NE. I brought my infantry into the stone building using Gary's kindly placed smoke, then gacked the 20+2 advancing fire shot with a 12. I took out a concealed 7-0 on the left flank in CC and tied up one 527 in melee with a 666. That melee lasted the entire game, even after reinforced with the nearby 527.
The pivotal moments in the game came this turn. First my GO tank fired its smoke mortar into the adjacent malf'ed tank to cover its movement (I was very lucky with the SM's throughout the game and got ~90% of them). Then it moved around the building into EE1 where I announced a stop point and asked Gary if he wanted to shoot (it was out of the CA of the 76L but in the CA of the T34 in W8). Fortunately for me Gary was distracted by my friend Ron Duenskie babbling about something (a good wingman!
) and declined to shoot. The T-34 would've had a 6 TH and at least a 6 TK (higher with a turret and/or APCR shot ). Then I tried for my 6 TH and got it to kill the T34. That was the key to the game as if my tank had died and Gary had both of his left, I would definitely have lost the game. l also had a 9-1 with a squad which broke in EE3. They did a sleazy 'forward rout' into DD5. In UST2 Gary tried to pivot the T34 in the W9 building and bogged it on an 11. In NK2 that tank mired trying to start. Gary also forgot to take an advancing fire shot to DM the squad in DD5.
In both US T2 and US T3 I simply ran my squads forward, trying to cover them with SM smoke. I didn't try to kill the gun. I did sacrifice an 8-0/546 running up to BB1 which forced the 458 adjacent to fire (and break them/invoke NQ). That opened a path up through CC5/CC6 which my infantry used to move up. In NK3 the mired T-34 immobilized.
In US turn 4 I moved one tank in X8 and one to Z7 to give cover and protective fire to my infantry. Gary's infantry kept inching closer but couldn't interdict the BB7 to Y10 area effectively. In NK4 Gary's 8-1 successfully brought a 527 into X10. But in UST5 the squad broke on a 6+1 which allowed me to stack two squads in Y10 under a tank (with one already exited). Gary needed to break the squads there in NK5 but couldn't, allowing them to exit in UST6 for the win. All in all it wasn't a perfect game due to our rules screwup. I definitely had some good (and some bad) luck. It was a pleasure to play Gary. He is excellent ASL'er, both seriously competitive and a seriously fun player.
The circle 11 Sherman armor meant they were vulnerable to the gun's 13/14 TK and the T34's 17//18 TK from the front and almost a sure kill on the box 4 side armor. The ATR was even a threat to DI a Sherman. OTOH a non-dud on the US 76L APCR was a kill for a T-34.
We looked up and discussed the Korea rules before start, with the main one being light woods. Then after both sides' set up we promptly completely forgot about the light woods.
Gary set up broadly across width of the board with some units in the level 2 buildings locations (I assumed the ATR and MMG were there). One tank was in W9 looking down the left flank. I didn't like the thought of taking 15+ stone buildings so I decided to try for an end-run around the left flank. I had forgotten already about the light woods so I tried to bypass the woods in GG4. Had I remembered they were light, I would have entered my tanks and just gone through the light woods in GG4, not exposing them to flank shots (although risking a 25% chance of bog for the first one). Gary anticipated this approach and had his wire on that flank with several HIP THH. His 76L in AA1 had a juicy side shot on a Sherman in GG4, but didn't bring A7 and missed the AP shot. Gary took the T34's BMG shot vs the bypassing tanks in GG4 to check LOS. Like I said, we both forgot about the light woods and judged the shot blocked. Gary had a HIP THH in FF7 who found a ATMM in reaction fire to torch a Sherman (ouch!).
In NK1 Gary put smoke from his gun into DD7 to cover it and the nearby infantry. He had a THH charge a nearby tank through the smoke but I just waited until it entered my hex and vaporized it on a 30-2. Gary started repositioning his infantry but a lack of leaders slowed that down considerably. He moved the T34 on my right flank over and I took a stupid +7 acquisition shot and malfunctioned a tank MA. I should have just turned my turret in final fire for free. This meant I had only one tank tube left and things were looking pretty grim already.
In US turn 2 (pictured above) I tried to repair the MA, which I rarely try, with NE. I brought my infantry into the stone building using Gary's kindly placed smoke, then gacked the 20+2 advancing fire shot with a 12. I took out a concealed 7-0 on the left flank in CC and tied up one 527 in melee with a 666. That melee lasted the entire game, even after reinforced with the nearby 527.
The pivotal moments in the game came this turn. First my GO tank fired its smoke mortar into the adjacent malf'ed tank to cover its movement (I was very lucky with the SM's throughout the game and got ~90% of them). Then it moved around the building into EE1 where I announced a stop point and asked Gary if he wanted to shoot (it was out of the CA of the 76L but in the CA of the T34 in W8). Fortunately for me Gary was distracted by my friend Ron Duenskie babbling about something (a good wingman!
) and declined to shoot. The T-34 would've had a 6 TH and at least a 6 TK (higher with a turret and/or APCR shot ). Then I tried for my 6 TH and got it to kill the T34. That was the key to the game as if my tank had died and Gary had both of his left, I would definitely have lost the game. l also had a 9-1 with a squad which broke in EE3. They did a sleazy 'forward rout' into DD5. In UST2 Gary tried to pivot the T34 in the W9 building and bogged it on an 11. In NK2 that tank mired trying to start. Gary also forgot to take an advancing fire shot to DM the squad in DD5.In both US T2 and US T3 I simply ran my squads forward, trying to cover them with SM smoke. I didn't try to kill the gun. I did sacrifice an 8-0/546 running up to BB1 which forced the 458 adjacent to fire (and break them/invoke NQ). That opened a path up through CC5/CC6 which my infantry used to move up. In NK3 the mired T-34 immobilized.
In US turn 4 I moved one tank in X8 and one to Z7 to give cover and protective fire to my infantry. Gary's infantry kept inching closer but couldn't interdict the BB7 to Y10 area effectively. In NK4 Gary's 8-1 successfully brought a 527 into X10. But in UST5 the squad broke on a 6+1 which allowed me to stack two squads in Y10 under a tank (with one already exited). Gary needed to break the squads there in NK5 but couldn't, allowing them to exit in UST6 for the win. All in all it wasn't a perfect game due to our rules screwup. I definitely had some good (and some bad) luck. It was a pleasure to play Gary. He is excellent ASL'er, both seriously competitive and a seriously fun player.
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