von Marwitz
Forum Guru
ESG#107 Put Out The Searchlights
First Playing:
What was the ASL wisdom that everbody knows and yet everbody doesn't act upon now and then?
Read the Victory Conditions carefully!
Doh! I overlooked the part that "Each controlled multi-hex building *WEST* of the canal is worth 1 VP". Playing the British and factoring in the two multi-hex buildings EAST of the canal, too, my plan was to forfeit both tanks, set the roadblock up to block the bridge and have the Germans take one building on the EAST side of the canal where the British would build a castle with no units west of the canal.
Conceding the village west of the canal and given the superior firepower of the Germans, it was no problem for him to advance a unit onto the bridge and to force a British attempt to get it back while securing the approaches with overwhelming firepower.
So easy German win in this one. Apart from this screw-up, it might be an interesting scenario. The 'tank-forfeiture' & blocking the bridge option could conceivably still work, but of course The British would have to defend west of the canal in force. If I played it again, probably, I would not select this option, though.
Second Playing:
In this second playing, I HAD read the VC correctly...
I played the German attacker, who has no time to lose in this scenario. The tricky part in this is, that if the German moves very aggressively to save time, he will put his rather thin skinned vehicles at risk to the many - if not very hard hitting - SW anti-tank resources of the defending British. This is a problem in so far the German has to keep in mind a CVP cap that can will result in a British win if the German loses to many units.
Alas, my attack did not go off well. One stack was hit by a sneaky ATR 1FP -2DRM shot. Everybody broke and the leader did not recover for 2.5 turns. Then the MA of two of my three PzII's malfunctioned before Turn 2. This was of course an open invitation to the British to bring on his tanks, who managed to despatch the declawed German counterparts. At least, one or two crews got out to cut a bit on the CVP inflicted on the Germans. Due to these occurences, the fight was pretty much uphill for the Germans from the start.
I did manage to eventually take out both British tanks by MGs, to force the British to recapture one bulding on the 'quiet' part of the front, and to snatch another one by a sneaky move. As I also managed to capture the bridge, VP (not to be confused with CVP) were 5 vs. 5 @18 CVP during British Turn 6. Alas, a broken German HS and broken Leader were stuck in a hex from which they could not rout further. By moving ADJACENT in the British MPh and my being unable to break the British in that move, these German units would be forced to surrender at the start of the Rally Phase, pushing up the CVP cap of the Germans beyond the limit for a British win.
Interesting scenario with many options to consider, especially for the British.
Here is a picture of the final situation of the second playing:
von Marwitz
First Playing:
What was the ASL wisdom that everbody knows and yet everbody doesn't act upon now and then?
Read the Victory Conditions carefully!
Doh! I overlooked the part that "Each controlled multi-hex building *WEST* of the canal is worth 1 VP". Playing the British and factoring in the two multi-hex buildings EAST of the canal, too, my plan was to forfeit both tanks, set the roadblock up to block the bridge and have the Germans take one building on the EAST side of the canal where the British would build a castle with no units west of the canal.
Conceding the village west of the canal and given the superior firepower of the Germans, it was no problem for him to advance a unit onto the bridge and to force a British attempt to get it back while securing the approaches with overwhelming firepower.
So easy German win in this one. Apart from this screw-up, it might be an interesting scenario. The 'tank-forfeiture' & blocking the bridge option could conceivably still work, but of course The British would have to defend west of the canal in force. If I played it again, probably, I would not select this option, though.
Second Playing:
In this second playing, I HAD read the VC correctly...
I played the German attacker, who has no time to lose in this scenario. The tricky part in this is, that if the German moves very aggressively to save time, he will put his rather thin skinned vehicles at risk to the many - if not very hard hitting - SW anti-tank resources of the defending British. This is a problem in so far the German has to keep in mind a CVP cap that can will result in a British win if the German loses to many units.
Alas, my attack did not go off well. One stack was hit by a sneaky ATR 1FP -2DRM shot. Everybody broke and the leader did not recover for 2.5 turns. Then the MA of two of my three PzII's malfunctioned before Turn 2. This was of course an open invitation to the British to bring on his tanks, who managed to despatch the declawed German counterparts. At least, one or two crews got out to cut a bit on the CVP inflicted on the Germans. Due to these occurences, the fight was pretty much uphill for the Germans from the start.
I did manage to eventually take out both British tanks by MGs, to force the British to recapture one bulding on the 'quiet' part of the front, and to snatch another one by a sneaky move. As I also managed to capture the bridge, VP (not to be confused with CVP) were 5 vs. 5 @18 CVP during British Turn 6. Alas, a broken German HS and broken Leader were stuck in a hex from which they could not rout further. By moving ADJACENT in the British MPh and my being unable to break the British in that move, these German units would be forced to surrender at the start of the Rally Phase, pushing up the CVP cap of the Germans beyond the limit for a British win.
Interesting scenario with many options to consider, especially for the British.
Here is a picture of the final situation of the second playing:
von Marwitz
