FT239 Armored Probe at Sidi Nsir

Tuomo

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Tuomo Lukkari and I wanted to do this scenario for an upcoming episode of Illuminating Rounds, but we got a few turns into this one before calling it. Figured we'd done enough pregame prep to warrant some kind of AAR, though, so here it is.

Tuomo liked the scenario card. I liked Neil's Silly AAR about it.

Executive Summary: The Axis came onboard and started breaking things, while the French rolled low.

Pregame Setup:
16093

What's Going On: The French win at game end if they have more squad-equivalents (listed on the card as "squads-equivalent", which is completely AWESOME and may in fact be gramatically preferred) at or above Level 2 on Hills 538 and 714 than the Axis do, provided they have amassed more CVP than the Axis. The VC hills are the two right-most ones on boards 2 and 15.

Being French, the French are constrained by a positively Gallic set of setup restrictions. There's six 457s, two leaders, two LMG's, and a couple of ? counters that have to set up sorta-kinda-evenly on both VC hills. 10 more squads with assorted infantry paraphernalia and a 25LL ATG set up on/left of hexrow U (ie, somewhat back of the VC hills). Two AMD 50's and a 47LL ATG "Ghost Gun" set up on board 16 on/left of hexrow U, but only at Level 0. And various other bits of Tin Cans come in as reinforcements on hex 16A5.

The Axis field a truly multicultural force, with Italians providing the comic relief in the form of four Semovente M41's, two L40s, and six 447's, while the Germans stiffen their resolve with five 548 Assault Engineers complete with Demo Charge. Adding to the fun, all of the Axis Infantry have to enter on Trucks, which are promptly Recalled once they unload their Passengers. I say that not because it affects the game in the slightest, but because fully 3/4ths of you will be unable to focus on the rest of the AAR unless this issue has been settled in your minds. Chill out, dudes.

To complete the SSR Spice, there are no Roads on the Hills (I apologize for not making special overlays for this, mea culpa), and the Hills are Soft and Bog Terrain.

The Armor vs Armor Game - Here is where I decided that this is an Odd Scenario, because the Italian armor really has nothing to fear from the French until maybe turn 4, when the reinforcing French Ac de 75 mle97 might make its presence felt, briefly, before dying to any shell that hits it. Prior to that, the only French tube the Italians need to worry about is the 47L ATG, which has a glorious APCR TK of 13, and only fires APCR. However, remember those weird setup restrictions - it can't start on a hill. Now, it comes with its own handy-dandy halftrack that one could use to tow it up to Level 2 on turn 1, say, and unhook on turn 2, but a quick check of the math shows that the Italian tanks would need something like a 5 to hit the thing during the process, with hit = kill. And if I were the Italian and saw the French putting this most-valuable asset in such a vulnerable position, I'd dedicate at least 3 or 4 tanks to the task.

Oh, sure, the French also have plenty of infantry lying around who would be glad to help PUSH the Gun up to a good firing position, but again, while those Italian tankers aren't very good, they're positively aces when it comes to gunning up Infantry using Hazardous Movement. So no, as much as it killed me to just leave the only French antitank asset worth a darn in a Level 0 position when there's hills all around, it felt safer to just stow him in 16O4 and hope some Semoventes came into view.

With that settled, I figured the Italian armor would basically kick the butt of whatever French armor they could find. If the Italians attacked on board 2, I had no illusions that my 25LL ATG set up at Level 4 on 15N4 would be able to do much against them. I didn't do the math in the pregame, but when finally forced to engage with the prospect during the game, we found all kinds of minuses to add to the TH and TK DRs. Hint: if you announce a shot and your opponent chuckles and says, "Good luck!", it's not a good thing.

But the Italian armor wouldn't just be hunting down the French armor; the Semovente M41's have 75mm guns with Smoke, and the L40's have 47mm guns. Sure, their MG's are either laughable (M41s) or non-existent (L40s), but that's what their Infantry friends are for.

All in all, then, I didn't expect this to go well for the French. Tuomo could pick the hill he wanted to swarm, achieve local infantry superiority, surround the hill with his armor, and keep me from reinforcing it. I expected to hate the entire armor battle, as the Axis would kill anything they hit, while the French would put all their hopes on rolling low while cursing the setup restrictions that kept their best AT asset down at level 0.

As you can see from the setup above, Tuomo did indeed pick the board 2 hill to attack. I was marginally happy about that since IMO it's a little easier to defend and reinforce, offering more cover for the purposes, but all of that would be mooted anyway.

Axis turn 1: The first tank on the hill Bogs; gotta love it. The second tank has the nerve to TPBF Freeze my 7-0 and 457/LMG in 2AA5, despite being Open Topped and having no MGs; my CC DR of 8 was ineffective and basically ceded the front half of the hill to the follow-on Axis units. And follow-on they did, piling out of their Trucks like they were Axis Clown Cars or something. On the very very bright side, my 60mm MTR back at level 3 in 2Q6 got a bead on one of those things in 2FF10 and nailed it with a Critical Hit. And on the less-bright-but-still-pretty-bright side, my infantry in AA5 re-evaluated their tactics and managed to nail that Very Brave Tank in CC, at the low cost of a broken 7-0 who routed back down the forested "slot" on board 2 to safety.

Board at the end of Axis turn 1:
16094
 
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Tuomo

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For the French turn 1, I started the exodus of units from board 15 to board 2 while throwing as many squads as I could onto the VC hill before they got chased off. The French 9-1 tried to reposition toward the Foxhole in 2T6 but his MMG-toting halfsquad Pinned in R5 from a long-ish shot from the VC hill. Beyond that, I tried to keep concealment in "the slot" (2Y5-Z5) and prepare a reverse-slope-slot defense. Or something.

Board status at the end of French 1:
16095


Axis turn 2: The Italians land a Smoke shell on my 60mm MTR; I can probably expect that for the whole game. The Bogged tank in 2CC5 Immob'd on his start DR while two more tanks climbed the hill. The one in Y6 started catching shells from both of my AT Guns, but the 25mm ones were laughed at while the 47mm ones missed entirely. The Germans actually captured a 457 who broke in Z5 and couldn't rout away (due to that annoying tank in Y6) but decided to not hustle the Prisoners to the rear; this would come back to bite them. Another tank Bogged in bypass of 2Y7; my nearby infantry licked their chops. Meanwhile, the blocking Italian force around 16CC2 have managed to set up their HMG but malf their 45mm MTR; all in all, a win-win for them.

Somehow, the tank in 2Y6 tried to get out of the hot spot but Bogged.

Board status at the end of Axis 2:
16096
 
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Tuomo

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French turn 2: my reinforcing infantry coming up from board 15 tentatively test the HMG around 16X4 and get whacked for it, routing back where they came. I do manage to sneak a squad up to CC that Bogged Bypassing tank in 2Y7 and take it out. The French 9-1 is AGAIN disappointed by the HS carrying the MMG, who breaks this time, but fortunately the HS in T6 manages to pop into the hex and receive the MMG in the APh, eventually returning to 2T5 WHICH IS ALL HE EVER WANTED IN THIS WHOLE WIDE WORLD ANYWAY, SHEESH.

The AMD-50 who was prowling around 2Q9 made the mistake of prowling in LOS of that darned Semovente in 2Y6, turning into a Flaming Wreck. On the plus side, the French snuck up to the Germans guarding the prisoners in 2Z5 and killed them in CC, freeing the Prisoners to much Gallic joy. On the minus side, the two French squds in 2Y5 decided they didn't really feel like taking out that Semovente in Y6 anyway, much to the chagrin of their 7-0. Yes, the 47L ATG kept plinking away at this fellow, to no avail.

In the APh, my reinforcing infantry edged up to the Hedge in 16Y5 and basically dared the Italian HMG to do something about it.

Board status at the end of French 2:
16097


Axis turn 3: When the Wheels Came Off. The Italian HMG failed miserably in his Prep Fire, while the return fire (not from the 8-1's stack, but from the lonely squad trailing them) broke the HMG squad and leader. To make matters worse, the French Sniper continued to be hot, Recalling the Semovente guarding the flank in 16BB1. The French infantry in The Slot, bolstered by the 9-1 and MMG in T6 (TOLD YOU it was a lucky location!) basically broke all the German infantry at level 2 on Hill 538.

At that point, we called it. The French infantry were in solid control of the VC hill and were going to make every effort to keep the broken Axis units under DM. The French armor reinforcements were starting to come on, although they were discovering a lack of targets. And the reinforcing Frenchmen coming up from board 15 were going to put the third nail in the coffin of the Axis hopes.

Board status at game end:
16098
 

Tuomo

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So, all in all.... meh? Tuomo Lukkari felt like he didn't grok the scenario, but I think he did just fine. His only sin was rolling badly on Bog rolls and Italian HMG shots, while the French were merrily getting Critical Hits on loaded trucks. Sure, the French ATG fire was pure comedy gold, but you can't have everything.

I dunno. It's never fun to play a scenario where the dice kill it after 5 player turns. I do like Italian vs French scenarios featuring quirky units, but this one just came in a little under the Quirky Bang Per Buck line for me.
 

von Marwitz

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Adding to the fun, all of the Axis Infantry have to enter on Trucks, which are promptly Recalled once they unload their Passengers. I say that not because it affects the game in the slightest, but because fully 3/4ths of you will be unable to focus on the rest of the AAR unless this issue has been settled in your minds. Chill out, dudes.
I loved this one... :love:

At least one other man in this here shambles of a forum who seems to have a sense for Prussian order.

To complete the SSR Spice, there are no Roads on the Hills (I apologize for not making special overlays for this, mea culpa), and the Hills are Soft and Bog Terrain.
And - unbelievably - in the very next sentence you stomp the frail sapling of confidence Oberst von Marwitz began to entertain for your sense of order. You will regret that on the drill ground if ever the Oberst gets hold of you!

von Marwitz
 
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JoeArthur

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Italian equipment - pure comedy gold 👍

I get those counters out and I wince - they are all going to malf at some point.
 

asloser

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So -I spent a lot of time preparing. But most of the time I just was trying o make up my mind which hill should I attack. Or should I try both? Anyway, did some kind of decision at the last minute and went for it.

Should have spent more time in figuring how to do it. Too little infantry on the hill, too many squads exposed to the MMG and Mortar in the beginning. Now I would just put one truck with HMG and mortar to interdict the board 16 movements and put rest back of the hill. Also the two 75mm assault guns that climbed the hill should have gone around the hill form the back to interdict French movements between the board 2 hills.

Now I played a game where too much was at risk and when the dice turned on me there was nothing to do about is. I got what I deserved here.

I really wanted to like this scenario as the card looks cool and different. But after this playing I don't know. Congrats for Tom for the win and thanks for the AAR as well.
 
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