Tork
Member
Greetings,
Carl & I have converted our BRT CGIII game to VASL 4.1.3. We have started the 19PM scenario, the second of the CG. To get to the end of this AAR has taken three VASL sessions.
I'd say doing this by VASL has increased the time necessary by at least three times. Face to face, there were a lot of attacks that were resolved by pointing, saying '4FP+1', rolling the dice and moving on. That takes much longer on VASL.
[Requested VASL Feature! When you hold the cursor over a stack of units, can the hex coord also appear? In the battle area, most hexes have units in them, so it is difficult to figure out which hex is which when the opponent says 'stack in S38'. Yes, you can click on units in a hex to have the hex id displayed, but we several times had to clean up afterwards when clicked units moved unintentionally...]
The Japanese set up first and move second. The Japanese appear (I have to be somewhat obscure) to want to hold the Marines at the Pier and Beak lodgements, utilizing their firepower much more efficiently than they had to in the first scenario of the CG. With the previous setup limitations (Black Beach), many 448s had to sit out the last battle. My primary concern is the attrition in anti-armor & anti-LVT weapons. Asides from mobile 37* INF, there are a number of entry areas that I just can't cover with the guns I've got left.
The Marines have limited setup options with their on-board force. Their swarms of tanks, blitzkreig Pacific style, are along their front lines. There are powerful deathstars matched with -2 leaders on each flank of the Pier beachhead. Some 81mm mortars had to be manned with halfsquads due to the lack of surviving crews. Their first wave has been put together. The follow-on battalion is entering on Red One! The first wave is probably two companies of infantry, with heavy weapon support. The Japanese player wasn't expecting that. We are playing that the other two beaches can get one wave of units entering simultaneously with the first wave of the follow-on battalion, but until that battalion has fully entered, no further troops for Red 2 & 3. On Red Two, Stuarts and LVTs entered. On Red Three, waders and LVTs came on board.
Japanese SAN of 6
Marine SAN of 3
Marine Turn 1
No air support.
Prep
Ordnance Smoke. The 81mm mortars start off with a barrage of WP rounds. A series of WP shots are placed in the palms across the runway from the pier, to keep the 76L and 75 over on Black Beach from shooting at the Marine tankers. One shot was a WP CH, but it was on an empty hex... One mortar in Q36 runs out of WP. Another mortar in Q36 puts WP in O38, an 'empty bombproof' that turns out to have the Japanese 10-2, two crews with 0.50cal HMGs in there! A WP shot on the wooden building in M34 finds HIP 9-1 and 448/MMG, and one 448 rolls boxcars on its WP MC. CR & pin, as opposed to CR & break, first time I rolled boxcars and passed. Another mortar places WP in K31, striping a 448, rate shot to K36, striping a 347, and stops of its own accord. Up on the Beak, an unqualified crew fires but misses, no malf though. Another unqualified crew fires, no more WP, and another miss. A qualified crew fires its 81mm mortar into N15, successfully placing WP, but using up its last round. Then a 81mm mortar from the pier area fires up to the Beak, placing WP in N14 (cover for the landing craft). This draws the Japanese sniper, who breaks a 668/MMG in Q34. The 81mm mortar in S29 boxcars its WP shot for a malfunction. Another 81 from the same area fires and misses.
NOBA. Two SFCP, one on the Beak, one on the pier. First rolls a 10, no radio contact. Second rolls a 10, no contact! The 120mm shipboard observer, hex on board edge by the chin, pulls a red card. The 200mm can't do direct fire. So much for NOBA.
Real prep.
The first shot finds a HIP 448/LMG in R38, who turned out to be illegally HIP (no HIPsters in front line). The Japanese sniper pins a halfsquad in U10, missing a chance for a leader. A 30FP+1 on the same target using a captured Japanese LMG is an 11, Xing out the LMG. A FT flames, CRing the 448. The deathstar on the bottom of the pier fires on a trenchful of Japanese, 36FP flat. 2MC. The leader passed his 2MC! Only one unit pins. But then the Sherman nearby fires, CRs the squad, wounds the 9-0, stripes a squad and breaks the halfsquad who ate the K. An 81mm mortar fires at the 10-2 in his bombproof. Hit, snakes on the effects roll! The 10-2 survived the 1MC, surprisingly. A FT fire long range and hindered at the command bunker, a mere 6FP+1 on the concealed units. A 3 for a 2MC! The 9-1 wounds, a crew and a squad stripe. A Sherman fires at the Ha-Go in P43. Misses. But wait! There was a 10-2 armor leader in the Sherman, the Ha-Go dies. The Japanese sniper pins a squad, just missing a 9-1 leader. A Stuart fires cannister at the M34 area. A NMC, and the halfsquad that came from the 448 that failed its WP NMC on a boxcars rolls boxcars again! Then the 60mm mortars start firing... One 60mm mortar gets four shots off, for no effect. Another 60mm mortar gets a critical hit on a wooden building, selecting a 347, but the effects roll is a 12! Not a dud, a NMC, where the 347 pins. A Stuart jumps in, firing cannister, and gets rate three times! Due to the hindrances, no effect. Some Marine squads shoot into Q29, finding a HIP 448 (another illegal), and a FT kills it outright with a 2KIA. Some other tanks fire at my Ha-Go's on Red Two, miss with acq. A FT fires at empty hex P28, finding a HIP 448 with a 3MC. A 6FP+3 at a stack of concealed units is a 1MC, striping a 448. They call these guys elite? A Sherman on the top side of the pier strips the concealment off of a 448, then a FT gets a K/4 to leave a broken halfsquad behind. Another Sherman kills the Q26 Ha-Go. But the TH roll draws the Japanese sniper, who breaks a 81mm mortar crew in Q36. Another 60mm mortar fires from the pier area towards the Beak, boxcarring its shot. Up to the Beak, a Stuart fires its MGs. No effect, but the Japanese sniper pins the Marine sniper for the player turn. A Stuart MA shot misses and activates the Japanese sniper again, rehitting the broken mortar crew for no effect. A FT on the Beak fires at an adjacent wooden building, removing concealment and striping one 448 and pinning another. Now things get interesting. A halfsquad throws its DC at that hex. 30FP+4, snakes! No rubble creation, but it is a flame. The K/4 wounds the 9-1, striping the other squad. Another Beak Stuart tries to fire cannister, boxcars. After the over the internet cursing, fire the CMG (behind seawall), snakes! A 2MC on the 347, which passes with a 3! A FT fires, rolls an 11, so is retained for next game. Another Beak Stuart uses up its last round of cannister. Then a wounded 8-0 throws its DC at another Japanese wooden building with a concealed stack. [No prohibition that we could find, still good order...]. Snakes! No rubble creation again, but another flame is created. The 2MC causes the 10-0 to fall, fatally wounded. So much for high morale. This stripes one 448 and pins another. To finish off the prep, a 81mm mortar fires at the Red One command bunker, through smoke. Snakes! Now this was just what was needed to hit, so a subsequent dr was necessary. Regular hit. No effect. Two more shots, regular hits, no effect, although the Japanese sniper rehits the already pinned Marine sniper for extra pinning effect...
Movement Phase
The bogged Sherman goes CE and unbogs with the help of his wounded pathfinder. One DC is placed on my front line R37 unit by the stack in S38. No shots, bigger fish to fry. A 7-0/DC runs from the pier over towards the wooden buildings, but doesn't place its toy. The row of 37LL guns enter on the pier, driving along. My firepower placeable over there is extremely limited, no shots. Four 37LL guns, lots more cannister. These guns and their jeeps stop behind the seawall, will unload next MPh. The Stuarts enter on Red Two. There are a bunch of 11DR before one of them finally bogs.
Then a wedge of 16LVTs, three hexes deep, enter on Red One. With the smoke and the wrecks from the AM, no shots... The recalled LVT that had been immobilized and then repaired on the Beak started up and headed out to sea.
Defensive Fire
The Japanese open up! Starting up on the Beak, The T10 pillbox gets a 2MC on a Marine stack, for no effect. Then the R11 stack fires at S12, breaking a 348 and 7-0. A big firegroup shoots at S12, 20FP+1/+2, for a K/4 and 4MC! The FT halfsquad dies, the 7-0 wounds but lives, but the broken 348 goes HoB, going fanatic and creating a hero! The hero recovers the FT. Another shot at S12 wounds the 7-0 again, this time fatally. The Japanese sniper is activated with a 1dr, hitting the Marine sniper and taking the Marine SAN down to 2. A mortar barrage stonks into U12 (a 347 with two 50mm mortars), no effect but acq is placed. The R10 HMG star comes out from HIP and fires at U10, no effect. The 75 in R10 fires at the infantry stacked with the malfed MA Stuart in U10, miss. Then the Red One/Two guns start firing at the LVTs. A 75, a 37L and a twin 12.7 all fire at LVTs, and miss.
Over by the pier, a 24FP+2 firegroup is a 2MC, which the stack of Marines all pass. Then the Q28 pillbox fires at the Marines behind the seawall, a 16FP+2. No effect. An 8FP+1 along the beach (MMG/448 in foxhole) is also no effect. Other 16FP shots have no effect. Finally, a 16FP-1 against the Q36 mortar crews is a DR of 3 for a 2KIA! Both crews die, and a 81mm mortar dies from SW destruction. The rate shot into R36 is a K against the FT guy and a 2MC on the rest of the big stack. The 8-0 with the FT lives through his wound, but the 9-2 breaks and a 768 assault engineer rolls boxcars. Other Marines in the hex break. Rate again has no further effect.
After this, the mortars get firing in a big way. HIP in the palm trees across the runway are ten 50mm mortars. All come out to play, firing at the row of Marine tanks on the runway from P31 to P35. No effect, although lots of acquisition is placed. Should be good for some smoke next player turn.
We had to stop here, with the Defensive fire incomplete.
Marines have killed 18CVP, including two tanks.
Japanese have killed 9CVP.
Carl & I have converted our BRT CGIII game to VASL 4.1.3. We have started the 19PM scenario, the second of the CG. To get to the end of this AAR has taken three VASL sessions.
I'd say doing this by VASL has increased the time necessary by at least three times. Face to face, there were a lot of attacks that were resolved by pointing, saying '4FP+1', rolling the dice and moving on. That takes much longer on VASL.
[Requested VASL Feature! When you hold the cursor over a stack of units, can the hex coord also appear? In the battle area, most hexes have units in them, so it is difficult to figure out which hex is which when the opponent says 'stack in S38'. Yes, you can click on units in a hex to have the hex id displayed, but we several times had to clean up afterwards when clicked units moved unintentionally...]
The Japanese set up first and move second. The Japanese appear (I have to be somewhat obscure) to want to hold the Marines at the Pier and Beak lodgements, utilizing their firepower much more efficiently than they had to in the first scenario of the CG. With the previous setup limitations (Black Beach), many 448s had to sit out the last battle. My primary concern is the attrition in anti-armor & anti-LVT weapons. Asides from mobile 37* INF, there are a number of entry areas that I just can't cover with the guns I've got left.
The Marines have limited setup options with their on-board force. Their swarms of tanks, blitzkreig Pacific style, are along their front lines. There are powerful deathstars matched with -2 leaders on each flank of the Pier beachhead. Some 81mm mortars had to be manned with halfsquads due to the lack of surviving crews. Their first wave has been put together. The follow-on battalion is entering on Red One! The first wave is probably two companies of infantry, with heavy weapon support. The Japanese player wasn't expecting that. We are playing that the other two beaches can get one wave of units entering simultaneously with the first wave of the follow-on battalion, but until that battalion has fully entered, no further troops for Red 2 & 3. On Red Two, Stuarts and LVTs entered. On Red Three, waders and LVTs came on board.
Japanese SAN of 6
Marine SAN of 3
Marine Turn 1
No air support.
Prep
Ordnance Smoke. The 81mm mortars start off with a barrage of WP rounds. A series of WP shots are placed in the palms across the runway from the pier, to keep the 76L and 75 over on Black Beach from shooting at the Marine tankers. One shot was a WP CH, but it was on an empty hex... One mortar in Q36 runs out of WP. Another mortar in Q36 puts WP in O38, an 'empty bombproof' that turns out to have the Japanese 10-2, two crews with 0.50cal HMGs in there! A WP shot on the wooden building in M34 finds HIP 9-1 and 448/MMG, and one 448 rolls boxcars on its WP MC. CR & pin, as opposed to CR & break, first time I rolled boxcars and passed. Another mortar places WP in K31, striping a 448, rate shot to K36, striping a 347, and stops of its own accord. Up on the Beak, an unqualified crew fires but misses, no malf though. Another unqualified crew fires, no more WP, and another miss. A qualified crew fires its 81mm mortar into N15, successfully placing WP, but using up its last round. Then a 81mm mortar from the pier area fires up to the Beak, placing WP in N14 (cover for the landing craft). This draws the Japanese sniper, who breaks a 668/MMG in Q34. The 81mm mortar in S29 boxcars its WP shot for a malfunction. Another 81 from the same area fires and misses.
NOBA. Two SFCP, one on the Beak, one on the pier. First rolls a 10, no radio contact. Second rolls a 10, no contact! The 120mm shipboard observer, hex on board edge by the chin, pulls a red card. The 200mm can't do direct fire. So much for NOBA.
Real prep.
The first shot finds a HIP 448/LMG in R38, who turned out to be illegally HIP (no HIPsters in front line). The Japanese sniper pins a halfsquad in U10, missing a chance for a leader. A 30FP+1 on the same target using a captured Japanese LMG is an 11, Xing out the LMG. A FT flames, CRing the 448. The deathstar on the bottom of the pier fires on a trenchful of Japanese, 36FP flat. 2MC. The leader passed his 2MC! Only one unit pins. But then the Sherman nearby fires, CRs the squad, wounds the 9-0, stripes a squad and breaks the halfsquad who ate the K. An 81mm mortar fires at the 10-2 in his bombproof. Hit, snakes on the effects roll! The 10-2 survived the 1MC, surprisingly. A FT fire long range and hindered at the command bunker, a mere 6FP+1 on the concealed units. A 3 for a 2MC! The 9-1 wounds, a crew and a squad stripe. A Sherman fires at the Ha-Go in P43. Misses. But wait! There was a 10-2 armor leader in the Sherman, the Ha-Go dies. The Japanese sniper pins a squad, just missing a 9-1 leader. A Stuart fires cannister at the M34 area. A NMC, and the halfsquad that came from the 448 that failed its WP NMC on a boxcars rolls boxcars again! Then the 60mm mortars start firing... One 60mm mortar gets four shots off, for no effect. Another 60mm mortar gets a critical hit on a wooden building, selecting a 347, but the effects roll is a 12! Not a dud, a NMC, where the 347 pins. A Stuart jumps in, firing cannister, and gets rate three times! Due to the hindrances, no effect. Some Marine squads shoot into Q29, finding a HIP 448 (another illegal), and a FT kills it outright with a 2KIA. Some other tanks fire at my Ha-Go's on Red Two, miss with acq. A FT fires at empty hex P28, finding a HIP 448 with a 3MC. A 6FP+3 at a stack of concealed units is a 1MC, striping a 448. They call these guys elite? A Sherman on the top side of the pier strips the concealment off of a 448, then a FT gets a K/4 to leave a broken halfsquad behind. Another Sherman kills the Q26 Ha-Go. But the TH roll draws the Japanese sniper, who breaks a 81mm mortar crew in Q36. Another 60mm mortar fires from the pier area towards the Beak, boxcarring its shot. Up to the Beak, a Stuart fires its MGs. No effect, but the Japanese sniper pins the Marine sniper for the player turn. A Stuart MA shot misses and activates the Japanese sniper again, rehitting the broken mortar crew for no effect. A FT on the Beak fires at an adjacent wooden building, removing concealment and striping one 448 and pinning another. Now things get interesting. A halfsquad throws its DC at that hex. 30FP+4, snakes! No rubble creation, but it is a flame. The K/4 wounds the 9-1, striping the other squad. Another Beak Stuart tries to fire cannister, boxcars. After the over the internet cursing, fire the CMG (behind seawall), snakes! A 2MC on the 347, which passes with a 3! A FT fires, rolls an 11, so is retained for next game. Another Beak Stuart uses up its last round of cannister. Then a wounded 8-0 throws its DC at another Japanese wooden building with a concealed stack. [No prohibition that we could find, still good order...]. Snakes! No rubble creation again, but another flame is created. The 2MC causes the 10-0 to fall, fatally wounded. So much for high morale. This stripes one 448 and pins another. To finish off the prep, a 81mm mortar fires at the Red One command bunker, through smoke. Snakes! Now this was just what was needed to hit, so a subsequent dr was necessary. Regular hit. No effect. Two more shots, regular hits, no effect, although the Japanese sniper rehits the already pinned Marine sniper for extra pinning effect...
Movement Phase
The bogged Sherman goes CE and unbogs with the help of his wounded pathfinder. One DC is placed on my front line R37 unit by the stack in S38. No shots, bigger fish to fry. A 7-0/DC runs from the pier over towards the wooden buildings, but doesn't place its toy. The row of 37LL guns enter on the pier, driving along. My firepower placeable over there is extremely limited, no shots. Four 37LL guns, lots more cannister. These guns and their jeeps stop behind the seawall, will unload next MPh. The Stuarts enter on Red Two. There are a bunch of 11DR before one of them finally bogs.
Then a wedge of 16LVTs, three hexes deep, enter on Red One. With the smoke and the wrecks from the AM, no shots... The recalled LVT that had been immobilized and then repaired on the Beak started up and headed out to sea.
Defensive Fire
The Japanese open up! Starting up on the Beak, The T10 pillbox gets a 2MC on a Marine stack, for no effect. Then the R11 stack fires at S12, breaking a 348 and 7-0. A big firegroup shoots at S12, 20FP+1/+2, for a K/4 and 4MC! The FT halfsquad dies, the 7-0 wounds but lives, but the broken 348 goes HoB, going fanatic and creating a hero! The hero recovers the FT. Another shot at S12 wounds the 7-0 again, this time fatally. The Japanese sniper is activated with a 1dr, hitting the Marine sniper and taking the Marine SAN down to 2. A mortar barrage stonks into U12 (a 347 with two 50mm mortars), no effect but acq is placed. The R10 HMG star comes out from HIP and fires at U10, no effect. The 75 in R10 fires at the infantry stacked with the malfed MA Stuart in U10, miss. Then the Red One/Two guns start firing at the LVTs. A 75, a 37L and a twin 12.7 all fire at LVTs, and miss.
Over by the pier, a 24FP+2 firegroup is a 2MC, which the stack of Marines all pass. Then the Q28 pillbox fires at the Marines behind the seawall, a 16FP+2. No effect. An 8FP+1 along the beach (MMG/448 in foxhole) is also no effect. Other 16FP shots have no effect. Finally, a 16FP-1 against the Q36 mortar crews is a DR of 3 for a 2KIA! Both crews die, and a 81mm mortar dies from SW destruction. The rate shot into R36 is a K against the FT guy and a 2MC on the rest of the big stack. The 8-0 with the FT lives through his wound, but the 9-2 breaks and a 768 assault engineer rolls boxcars. Other Marines in the hex break. Rate again has no further effect.
After this, the mortars get firing in a big way. HIP in the palm trees across the runway are ten 50mm mortars. All come out to play, firing at the row of Marine tanks on the runway from P31 to P35. No effect, although lots of acquisition is placed. Should be good for some smoke next player turn.
We had to stop here, with the Defensive fire incomplete.
Marines have killed 18CVP, including two tanks.
Japanese have killed 9CVP.