FrF87 Mormal Forest - AAR

von Marwitz

Forum Guru
Joined
Nov 25, 2010
Messages
14,358
Reaction score
10,207
Location
Kraut Corner
Country
llUkraine
FrF87 Mormal Forest - AAR

16536

My opponent and I agreed to play this scenario just three years ago and he sent me his defensive setup. Yesterday, after mere three years of contemplation about my offensive setup, updating the original VASL file, some changes of the defensive setup and some to mine again, we did indeed play it...

Set in France in May 1940, you know the basic deal. Germans pushing, French holding. The Germans need to Control two out of three victory locations at game end. Time is tight with 5.5 Turns. The Infantry Forces are very similar: Both sides have 14 squads, half Elite, half 1st line. Both hat an ART piece, both an ATG. Both sides have only light SW, where a HMG on the French side and a FT on the German side stand out. The French get four R-35 tanks, one of which the (L) version, two of which arrive as reinforcements. The Germans get five half tracks, three of which SPW251/10s with a 37L Gun and an inherent removable ATR. On top, the Germans get one Stuka with Bombs while the Turn of arrival can be selected by them. The Stuka will only be there for a single Turn. So while the 'numbers' are almost identical for both sides, the Germans have a slight edge in quality (i.e. a 468 is better than a 458. A 105 ART better than a 75 ART, etc.).

While the Germans have a slight edge in quality, their task seems quite daunting nevertheless. The map is basically divided in three areas: West of the Woods (top), the Woods, and East of the Woods (bottom). Two VC lie in the Woods, one in the small village in the East (bottom). The village consists of stone buildings and consequently, the French will be difficult to root out there, especially since the Germans is unlikely to concenrate all of his forces on it. Pushing head on through the woods and to expect to arrive on time on the VC locations in the woods appears illusionary as it will be easy for the French to stage a fall-back defence in this case. Even less quickly will the Germans progress towards the VC Locations through the woods would they not concentrate their forces to do so.

The basic dilemma for the Germans is the following: With their halftracks, they can theoretically reach both the village VC Location in the village or even the VC Location in the back of the woods quickly. But they will do so only with part of their Infantry force. And, more importantly, if they want to do it quickly, they will have to hazard substantial risks that might bring their hopes to a premature end early in the game. The French ART, the ATG and both at-start R-35s are perfectly capable to kill the German halftracks and their passengers outright. When the halftracks move, this is not trivial to pull off (+2 moving, +1 small, possibly red TH numbers for the French tanks and the same have to be BU with their One Man Turrets), but it is very much possible as well. Even the French HMG, which will very likely sit in the Steeple Location to threaten the German ART piece which may not emplace and will very likely sit on the Level 2 hill, can pose a serious threat to the German halftracks, especially firing down at them should they pass ADJACENT to the Steeple. The Germans do not know where the the HIP French ART and ATG is located. That will make stopping and unloading a German halftrack a nerve racking business. If the German halftracks push far into the French backfield, they will also have to deal with the French reinforcing platoon of an R-35 and R-35(L). That is if the halftracks do arrive there in the first place. It is well thinkable, that an audacious German push with the halftracks might see like three of them dead - or none. This is not exactly a gamble that you base your battle plan on.

But what if you don't?
If you don't reach a French VC Location with a 'lightning' strike, then the French might not be foreced to fall back to counter that. And you may find yourself pressed for time - hard.

The difficult decisions for the French are basically to decide on how many Pouilous to assign to the village and where to place their Guns and tanks. They want to scare the Germans witless about losing their halftracks early and to set up in a way that will cost the German time.

That said, I believe that the French have a definite edge in this scenario if they set up a competent defence. This assessment seems to be supported by ROAR which lists 29 German victories against 46 French ones (as of February 2021). Nevertheless, the scenario has been awarded a high Excitement Rating with 6.65 (out of 9).

I played the Germans in this one.


Situation at Game Start:
16565

The first glance at the defensive setup of my opponent showed me that he knew what he was doing:
A 'firm wall' of bodies across the Woods. I have fought through the bd42 in both directions in several scenarios and know that it is slow businiess. It would be the same here.

In the West (top) he coaxed the maxiumum out of a little: If I were to make a run for it to hook around the western extension of his 'Woods-Chain Defence), I would have to expose myself to -2 shots by the two tanks and likely more. If anyone of my Landsers would break, they could reach the woods, but the units in 42Q4 and R8 could run up to keep them under DM and likely eliminate them for FtR rather quickly if coorporating with some French from the frontline falling back to close the trap. If I tried a rush with the halftracks towards the far north of board 42, his two tanks would get shots at my ht's with a 6TH (+1 BU, +2 moving, +1 small) for a 41.7% chance and in case of a hit a 58.3% chance to at least Shock or Immobilize them. If I were to chose that approach, I counted to lose one ht to the tanks. Of more concern to me were the HIP Guns. I was almost certain that most likely the 75 ART would be HIP in the conspciously 'empty' hex of 42U3. The halftracks would be obliged to pass it up at very close range, the TH chances were better than for the French tanks and in case of a hit, a kill would almost be assured, likely with no surviors. Even if I did not take that approach, a Gun in 42U3 could then be pushed to 42V4 to guard the 'backdoor' of the woods and to cover on VC Location. So for a Gun in 42U3, I chalked off a second half-track. The Level 1 units in 42Y1 sure looked like a French squad with LMG, which also had certain chances to take out a half-track. After having 'lost' 2-3 halftracks, I might have unloaded some German Infantry in 42AA5 in the best of cases or beyond the Wall close Y6, where it might be subject to French Fire again. My surviving half-tracks would then be followed by the two French tanks (provided they passed their non-Platoon Movement TC) and sandwiched be the two other French tanks entering in French Turn 2. Whatever German forces finally arrived and unloaded close to 42Y6 would likely not be stong enough to hold out by itself for long. So a push here seemed quite a reckless gamble that needed some luck on my part to have a reasonable chance of success. It appears that my opponent had read my mind like a book and gambled a bit himself to this end: As it turned out later, the 'certain' Gun in 42U3 was not there and the Squad+LMG in Level 1 of 42V1 was merely a half-squad with the two OB-designated Dummy counters posing as a MG. So the masterful double-mindgames of my opponent paid off and he deterred me from attacking that flank by 'holding it firmly' with the barest minimum of his units.

In the East (bottom) a wall of bodies held the stone building front of the village. The HMG sat almost certainly in the Steeple as this was the perfect spot for good LOS all over the place, for shooting down into halftracks attempting a mad push along the adjacent road. And the fire from the Steeple would not be inhibited by SMOKE against the very likely German ART position in one of the two Level 2 Locations. With a ROF of 3 and the ART not being Emplaced by SSR, chances of at least temporarily neutralizing its crew from there were very reasonable. One French Leader would sit at Ground Level in 63T6 where he could rally any French squad routing back from the 'village-frontline'. I supspected the ATG in 63Q4 facing to the south (left) and was right and wrong as we will soon see. 63T1 just screamed: "I am the French 60mm MTR!". From there it could attack the likely German ART position on the Level 2 hill and the edge of the Woods from 42N10 to P9.

In short: I could not see a single flaw in the French setup.
So it was with some dark foreboding that I set up my German attackers.
What to do?

The 'Western Dash' I had discarded as too risky - though had I known the French bluff, might had been my best chance. With this option ruled out, it seemed doubtful whether I would reach the VC Location in 42Y6. So I would have to go for the VC Location in 42U8 and 63T6.

Theoretically, I could 'put everything into the Woods' and attack heads on with a flanking force to prevent some of the French from the village to reinforce the Woods. But as I have fought through the bd42 repeatedly in other scenarios, I was not confident about the time schedule for this working out.

So this left me with splitting up the German forces. Some 5 squad equivalents would push through the Woods heads on. I was not expecting to make a breakthrough there but rather to bind French forces and to make some headway in the hope of later sandwiching French forces after my other Germans would have taken the village and would be coming into the woods from there. The second German group consisting of 8 squad equivalents an all 5 halftracks would make a push for the village - or beyond. I could not make up my mind until the end of whether I should just recklessly push right through the village with all the halftracks towards the northern (right) part of the central woods or rather attack the village itself. For quite some time, I agonized where to place the German 105 ART piece (the only German asset which could fire SMOKE). Despite the Gun being disallowed to Emplace and being certain that it would be in the beads of both the French MTR and the HMG in the Steeple, I set it up on the Level 2 hill nevertheless. There is hardly any other good place for it to be found. I was sure that the manning crew would break earlier or later but hoped to get it back in time to blast either the central woods or some French tanks later in the game. In the event, for unknown reasons, I selected the wrong hex for the 105 ART piece. It should have set up in 63I3 because (only) from there it would have had LOS to 63Q4 where I suspected the French ATG. I would rue this mistake later... My own ATG I set up in the I2 building. There it would be safe from Airbursts by the French MTR and it could attack what I suspected to be the French MTR position. With the same intention, I set up a German HS in the building as the Spotter for my own 50mm MTR in 63H2. The plan behind this was to take out the French MTR I suspected in 63T1. I saw the taking out of the French MTR as the prerequisite to bring my 105 ART piece into the game effectively. Both SPW 251/1 set up fully laden with Infantry which I intended to either rush into the village to unload them in S9 and R9 or to push right through the village beyond. The three SPW251/10 I set up at a range of 13 hexes from the Steeple to prevent any HMG TK attacks against them.

Finally, I decided to base my Turn 1 movements on whether I would have SMOKE with my 105 ART or not. If so, then I would attack the village itself as the HMG would be hindered firing below 2nd Level and because my 37L Halftracks would be hindered firing in. If I would not have SMOKE for 63T6, then I would fire all three halftracks and the 105 ART at the Steeple Location in the hope of some lucky hit taking out or at least temporarily neutralizing the French HMG. During my MPh, two previously deployed HS would move beneath the two non-loaded SPW 251/10 to do so at the start of German Turn 2, which would then rush off towards the village being able to dispense 3 HS with 3 ATRs there.

So much for my battle plan.

Let's see how long it lasted...


Situation at the End of German Turn 1:

16577

I began my German Turn 1 with some Deployment attempts two of which were successful, while one of them failed.
The 105 ART found a SMOKE round with which brought down in 63T6, where it would hinder any shooting of the suspected French HMG there below Level 2. Despite lowered ROF due to Spotted Fire, my 50mm MTR in 63H2 went on a ROF tear which first unconcealed, then broke, and at last killed the French HS manning the MTR (as suspected) in 63T1 - an important small success. With no other target outside Stone Buildings, my ATG aquired 42T10.

With SMOKE down, the shots for my SPW 251/10 vs. the Steeple would be hindered and there would be an immediate assault with all halftracks into the direction of the village. But first, I moved my units in the woods. The French duly held their fire, all that happened was the Germans malfing a LMG in Advancing Fire.

Then I began the German assault towards the village. First I moved some Infantry to draw some fire and to get an idea of some of the French disposition. In the event, one of my squads was broken and only a French HS in 63O5 and a 457 in 63R7 were revealed. With some preponderance, the first SPW 251/1 carrying 1.5 squad-equivalents moved off and safely arrived in Bypass of 63S9, where it unloaded and was fired on by the 457 in R7, which luckily did not harm the German Infantry. I was somewhat relieved, because this halftrack had surely been a juicy target but no French fire had occurred. Maybe the French ATG was not in 63Q4 as I had suspected. The second SPW 251/1 with a 8-1 and 468+LMG moved off with the intention to unload in Bypass or 63R9. Alas, it never made it - the French ATG was indeed in 63Q4 as I had supected, but alas its CA did not face towards 63O4 but in the 'right' direction. It hit and killed my halftrack with no survivors and kept ROF. That was a serious setback, because now my toehold in the village would be very weak with regard to Infantry. For some moments I pondered what to do now with the remaining three SPW 251/10s. For sure, the ATG was set to take out another. But on the other hand I could not see how this might change in the immediate future, so I made a dash for it with all three of them and escaped the French ATG despite another ROF shot. However, within the village and with not much friendly Infantry cover, there were not many good places to go for my brittle OT halftracks. For the time being, I tried to keep them out of LOS of the French suspected French HMG as well as possible.

Indeed, the French HMG popped up in the Steeple Location as I had anticipated, but it had held its fire vs. the halftracks in favor of shooting at my 105 ART breaking its crew.

This pretty much ended German Turn 1 after some advances.


Situation at the end of French Turn 1:

16583

In French Turn 1 I neither managed to repair my LMG in the central Woods nor to self rally my Gun Crew. Only the French HS, the ATG and the squad in 63R7 prep fired to no effect.

On the western flank (top), the French moved off with all they had, both tanks succeeding in their non-Platoon Movement TCs.

In the central woods, just as I had expected, the French pulled off the 'delay-game' putting two hexes distance between themselves and my Germans. This would mean if I wanted to fire at them, I would need to use non-Assault Movement to get ADJACENT and then expose myself to Point Blank Fire. An effective standard operating procedure if you have time and room to do so - and the French had both.

In the village, the French wanted to move his HMG from the Steeple to Ground level, but due to the SMOKE, he could only reach 1st Level, later to advance out of the SMOKE into 1st Level of 63T5 becoming CX in the process. From 63R4, my opponent CX'ed a HS and moved it into 63V5 with the intention to harass my halftrack in CC. But unlikely as it was, the halftrack broke the HS with its AAMG. The French 8-0 Leader also moved from the Ground Level of the Steeple to V5 later to rout with the broken HS back to 63X3, leaving the remaining French infantry in the village to fend for themselves without a Leader.


To be continued in a subsequent post...

von Marwitz
 
Last edited:

Mister T

Elder Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2006
Messages
4,204
Reaction score
1,680
Location
Bruxelles
Country
llFrance
Yesterday, after mere three years of contemplation about my offensive setup, updating the original VASL file, some changes of the defensive setup and some to mine again, we did indeed play it...
I will complete this AAR step by step whenever I find the time.
Take your time... 🤣
 

JoeArthur

Elder Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
1,108
Reaction score
1,067
Location
Broadstairs
Country
llUnited Kingdom
Looking forward to this one. Played it at least three times............it keeps turning up in tournys.
 

Houlie

CEO of HoulieDice (TM)
Joined
Nov 15, 2003
Messages
3,241
Reaction score
1,602
Location
Minnesota, USA
Country
llUnited States
I played this as the French and won a nail biter. I agree a competent defense by the French gives them an edge.
 

von Marwitz

Forum Guru
Joined
Nov 25, 2010
Messages
14,358
Reaction score
10,207
Location
Kraut Corner
Country
llUkraine
Situation at the End of German Turn 2:

16587

I guess in my German Turn 2 I could count myself lucky.

The Gun Crew rallied and later Advanced uphill to hopefully retrieve the 105 ART in the next RPh. However, a French 458 which had advanced into 63T1 to retrieve the French MTR there was successful and thus half a turn ahead of me which it used to acquire the hex of my Gun after I had not been able to harm it via Spotted Fire with my MTR nor the ATG.

In the central Woods, I embarked on a mixed strategy of risking some non-Assault Moves eating Point Blank Fire and Assault Moving / Advancing ADJACENT while retaining concealment to push the French at least a bit. A DC acted as a ready encouragement to provoke some French First Fire. At the cost of one broken German squad, I three French squads - all Elite - were revealed. I guess that nothing much more could be expected in the given situation.

In the village, some interesting developments transpired.

During Prep Fire, my halftrack was lucky enough to eliminate the HMG and its manning 248 HS with a Critical Hit, which came as a great relief as now my halftrack were 'safe' from TK rolls from within the village. Now I set myself to the difficult task to get more German Infantry into the village. It was a stern proposition because it would have to happen into the face of three French squads and the ATG partly across Open Ground. One German squad broke, a half squad and a squad were pinned on the way, one half squad with ATR made it as far as it could run and one single 467 reached 63R8 claiming WA vs the French 457 in the Stone Building of 63R8. Bound by Target Selection Limits, the French squads could not prevent my 467 and 248 crossing from 63T8 into the Ground Level of the Steeple, securing Control of the first VC Location and covering my halftracks somewhat. I somewhat redeployed the halftracks within the village to prepare for the French reinforcements in the form of one Platoon of two R-35s in the coming Turn. Finally, a German 247 made it all the way ADJACENT to the French HS in 63O4.

During the RtPh, the French 8-0 with the broken 437 squad wanted to rout from 63X3 towards the central woods but had overlooked the possibility of my ATG in 63I2 to interdict it and paid for it by Casualty Reduction of the squad and a Lethal Wound to the 8-0.

Despite my luck within the village so far, my hold was still tenuous and getting more Infantry into the village would be difficult. Thus I determined that my best option to help with that would be to fix the French squad in 63R7 in Melee with my 467 from R8. I was lucky once more, eliminating the French squad in CC while surviving unscathed which helped my situation within the village a lot. But also the French were handy with the knives. The French HS in 63O4 killed its German counterpart.


Situation at the End of French Turn 2:

16588


The beginning of French Turn 3 saw my Crew recover its 105 ART.

It would now have to survive the attentions of the French MTR in 63T1. And so it did! The French ATG developed into a veritable nuisance as it began - for lack of other promising targets - to fire and hit my broken units in 63K8 and M8. It could do so with impunity as my firepower was insufficient to counter this and its building was out of LOS of the 105 ART piece on the hill. I now regretted not having it set up in 63I3.

During the MPh in the West (top) only one of the tanks passed its TC for non-Platoon Movement and drove towards 63Y6. The reinforcing tank-platoon kept a low profile, being obviously impressed by the menace of the 105 ART, but threatening one of my halftracks in the village all the same, which I found it prudent to get into Motion.

In the central Woods, the French repeated the game - get two hexes between himself and my Germans. With one twist, though: one sneaky squad hooked around to re-DM my broken 838+LMG.

In the village, the remaining two squads retreated a bit, obviously not planning any counter attack onto the Steeple hex.

During Final Fire, I managed to break and ELR the 458 manning the French MTR in 63T1. With this, the Germans had at long last established 'Gun superiority' with all my 105 ART, the ATG and the 50mm MTR in Good Order while the French HMG was eliminated and the French 60mm MTR abandoned and under Acquisition.


Situation at the End of German Turn 3:

16589

In my German Turn 3, now with all French tanks onboard, I thought it was time to call in my Stuka. To my relief and the chagrin of my opponent, my 838+LMG in 42L9 rallied despite being DM. There was not much Prep Fire.

In the central Woods, once more I did the mix of using non-Assault Movement risking Point Blank Attacks in the faint hope of doing some damage to the French in the AFPh and Assault Moving/Advancing to get ADJACENT to them Concealed. This time, no Germans broke in doing so but nor could I harm any French. And the clock was heard ticking...

In the village finally managed to move in with more infantry. Part of it moved into 63R4 in the hope of impressing the French next door. Some others assembled in 63S0 with the intention to load into my remaining SPW 251/1 in my next turn. I would need to move fast and this halftrack seemed to be one of my scarce opportunities to attempt it. To help my Infantry in the central Woods, I moved on of the SPW 251/10s into Bypass of 63T5. This is when the French 75 ART made its appearance in 42R9 - a damn good position to put me in all sorts of trouble now. And not in 42U3 where I had originally suspected it. To inhibit the Movement of the French tank platoon, I moved another SPW 251/10 to 63U8. The French tank in 42BB10 took a shot. While I had been rather confident that the LOS would be blocked, it turned out to be a close-run thing. Several times the LOS tool of VASL froze on us so that I finally got out the physical board and strung a thread. It was so close that I still wasn't sure even straining my eyes. As I was measuring and my opponent had no chance to verify, it seemed the proper thing to call it clear. The French tank promptly blazed my halftrack. This was bad as the French 75 ART would very likely take out the second one in the upcoming French Turn.

While this scenario had been an uphill struggle from the start, I became one even more so now.


Situation at the End of French Turn 3:

16590

During French Turn 3, basically all my opponent needed to do was to play for time. And so he did.

In the center Woods, his 75 ART did duly kill my halftrack in 63T5. His Infantry in the village in R4 did not skulk back but decided to shoot at my two ADJACENT squads with two of his, breaking one of mine. His ATG once more re-DM'ed a broken German HS in 63K8.

During the MPh, one of the French tanks succeeded in non-Platoon movement ending up in 42I9 gaining the attention of my ATG to no effect. When his tank platoon began to move, I called in the Stuka on the H-39(L) on their Start MP. I should have done this before they had started because in case of a kill this would have imposed a non-Platoon Movement TC on the other. Well, too late. The Stuka easily sighted the tanks and managed to Shock his target. The other one trundled off into 63Z1 bogging there. Apparently, it wanted to stay out of LOS of the 105 ART on its Level 2 perch.

The center Woods saw the third round of the French putting two hexes distance in between themselves and the Germans. The 458 trailed me to 42N8 with the intention to interfere with routing should anything go awry. Unfortunately, I could not harm 42R9 despite reasonable odds firing the 9-1 led 838+LMG, my MTR and the 105 ART into the hex in Final Fire.

In the village, the French built a tough strongpoint in 63Q4 with the ATG and two squads. There they were pretty safe from German attacks and in an excellent position to interfere with movement from the village towards the woods. Furthermore, they could fire into the flank of my German forest fighters, who would have their attentions focused on the French immediately next to them.


To be continued in a subsequent post...

von Marwitz
 
Last edited:

von Marwitz

Forum Guru
Joined
Nov 25, 2010
Messages
14,358
Reaction score
10,207
Location
Kraut Corner
Country
llUkraine
Situation at the End of German Turn 4:

16591

In my German Turn 4, the French tank in 42BB10 flipped from Shock to UK - one important concern less as I planned for a desperate dash with my two remaining halftracks.

Prep Fire by the 105 ART broke one squad but did not harm the cursed French 75 ART. My 'Panzeranklopfgerät' failed to make a dent into the H-35 in 42I9.

Because I was running out of time, there was no more time for sublteties in the central Woods. I moved my Infantry forward in non-Assault Movement ADJACENT to the French risking the Point Blank fire with no one remaining behind except for a single concealed squad to guard vs. the enemy 458 in my back. In turn, I moved upon it with my MTR Spotter which was no longer needed after I had changed position for my MTR for future direct fire. I did survive and could deal some damage in my AFPh to the French. But even then, my 9-1 led 838+LMG could not harm the French 75 ART. The French line was showing gaps now, and overall I could be content with the progress I had made with my limited forces in the Woods. However, it was not enough and likely the broken French troops around 42U8 would be back in Good Order just in time to form another block for the German assault.

Within the village I resolved not to push further but rather to hold on to my VC Location there and rather move Infantry roughly towards 42Y10 or 63Y1. At long last, the German 8-0 Leader stuck for so long in 63M8 had made it into the village after the French strongpoint in 63Q4 had put its attention vs. my flank in the central Woods, malfing the ATG in the process. Finally, it was time for my valiant charge with the halftracks. The SPW 251/10 sped off and the bogged French H-35 in 63Z1 let it go. Then the 251/1 loaded up in 63S10 having to leave the ATR behind for lack of PP and drove to 63CC5 remaining in Motion and hoping for the best. This Turn, chances for survival were good because the bogged H-35 had to change TCA in woods and indeed it escaped harm. What would happen in the next French Turn would be another matter.


Situation at the End of French Turn 4:

16592

In French Turn 4, his tank in 42BB10 was finally confirmed dead. The ATG did not repair either. More importantly a squad of French Infantry came back in 42T8 and a HS in 42X9.

While his tank bogged tank missed my crucial halftrack in 63CC5, his 75 ART which I had repeatedly failed to neutralize now struck back with a vengeance breaking my 838+LMG which rolled boxcars to boot. His fire broke a second German squad+LMG in the central woods. With this, the spine of the German attack was broken.

Now I was in great danger to be set up for failure to rout as my opponent sent up a HS from 63O4 and the ATG Crew from 63Q4. I could Pin the former and KIA the latter. His 458 was closing in from behind, moving to 42P7 and shrugged off a 24 @+0 FT attack. Still, in the end my broken squads had a rout option in the central woods - I even could rout towards the objective, but in the secure knowledge that two French squads would Advance ADJACENT to me. So if my squads would not rally despite being DM in my next Turn, they would be out of the game. But even if they came back, the French had just in time built a wall of bodies in front of 42U8, so that it would be extremely improbable for me to reach that hex from within the central Woods.

Having rallied in 42X9, the French reoccupied the hitherto empty VC Location in 42Y6 that I had until now at least theoretically been able to occupy by Abandoning the 251/10 in my last turn.

For good measure, the H-35 in 42I9 managed his non-Platoon Movement TC, deflected all shots by my ATG and I malfed my 105 ART when firing in its back.

By now I was reduced to a faint hope of some 'miracle' win by somehow capturing 42Y6 while recovering in the central Woods.


Situation during the Movement Phase of German Turn 5 - Game End:

16593

In German Turn 5 neither the 105 ART repaired nor did my Infantry in the central Woods rally. This meant that the game was coming down for me being able to capture 42Y6 or not.

I pulled up ADJACENT with my SPW251/10 to fire at those within having no effect. Then I made a mad dash with a HS and a squad from the village towards 42Y10 with the intention to reach 42Y6 in my last turn. As was to be expected, both of my units were shot up while moving through the open. The last straw was clipped when the bogged French tank in 63Z1 Shocked my SPW251/1 with the 1.5 squad equivalents of Passengers.

At that point, I conceded.


Review:

Basically, I can only repeat my assessment from the beginning of this AAR. Against a compentent French defensive setup, the Germans will have a hard time. In this, my opponent made no mistakes. As expected, pushing through the central woods would be not fast enough. The attack on the village was dealt a serious blow right from the start by the loss of the halftrack with the 8-1 and 468+LMG Passengers. I was lucky to dispose of the French HMG by a Critical Hit - without it, it would have been questionable, that I would ever have won 'Gun superiority'.

My hunch is that the Germans can win this if they can pull off an audacious lightning push with their halftracks. But the risks inherent in this are great.

For the Germans it was an uphill struggle from the start and in the end they didn't make it to the top.
Nevertheless, it was an exciting and fun scenario that deserves its good Excitement Rating.


von Marwitz
 
Last edited:

Eagle4ty

Forum Guru
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
6,913
Reaction score
5,094
Location
Eau Claire, Wi
Country
llUnited States
Perhaps your best AAR to date. Really enjoyed this one and also enjoyed the scenario with just about equivalent results for me. I believe it's usually going to be a tense struggle with a nudge going to the French because of the VPO locations on board 42.
 

Paul John

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 1, 1970
Messages
706
Reaction score
510
Location
Cincinnati Ohio
Country
llUnited States
Nice AAR. I really like this scenario. Played it a couple of times and both were super fun. I think much better than 6.65!
 

Tuomo

Keeper of the Funk
Joined
Feb 10, 2003
Messages
4,652
Reaction score
5,537
Location
Rock Bottom
Country
llUnited States
It looks like the kind of scenario that one would learn a lot from playing the first time... What would you do differently the second time around?

I liked the French aggression on defense.
 

Eagle4ty

Forum Guru
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
6,913
Reaction score
5,094
Location
Eau Claire, Wi
Country
llUnited States
It looks like the kind of scenario that one would learn a lot from playing the first time... What would you do differently the second time around?

I liked the French aggression on defense.
Many opions for the French armor. I kept them fairly far back able to intercede on either flank by at least turn 2 or 3 at the latest so by necessity the French defense must be somewhat active. The placement of the German Gun/(s) at level 2 is an almost forgone conclusion and from expeience I can tell you the LOS from these assets really compromise a French defense on their left. I believe the OG on the French right precludes any significant attack along that route normally whereas the central bd42 woods defense was accurately described in the AAR which leads one to expect the major effort against the French left. However, I believe the French right is deceivingly open to a successful German effort by utilizing the brush to circumvent the woods and bring pressure to bear on the Flank of the French in the woods. Haven't tried it but the thought is there.
 

von Marwitz

Forum Guru
Joined
Nov 25, 2010
Messages
14,358
Reaction score
10,207
Location
Kraut Corner
Country
llUkraine
It looks like the kind of scenario that one would learn a lot from playing the first time... What would you do differently the second time around?
I'd play the French. :LOL:

But seriously... It is hard to tell.

Probably, I would just gamble. It is only a friggin' game after all. Maybe I'd try an audacious push not stopping within the village or along the western (top) flank. Either, this will be shot to pieces by French Turn 2 and the game ends early. Otherwise an interesting situation will develop which will be fun to play.

von Marwitz
 

JoeArthur

Elder Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
1,108
Reaction score
1,067
Location
Broadstairs
Country
llUnited Kingdom
My hunch is that the Germans can win this if they can pull off an audacious lightning push with their halftracks. But the risks inherent in this are great.
Did exactly that. CE halftracks down the Board 42 road to the victory condition buildings. It outflanks the French defense in the woods. I tried putting the 105 ART gun down that road to produce covering SMOKE.

You drive down that road and hope..............

I almost did it. The French managed to hold one of those VC buildings with a squad.

Many thanks for a great AAR von Marwitz :)
 

bendizoid

Official ***** Dickweed
Joined
Sep 11, 2006
Messages
4,630
Reaction score
3,244
Location
Viet Nam
Country
llUnited States
I concur and like the French, however it’s fun to play the Germans.
 
Top