Hart Attack (J167) - AAR

von Marwitz

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Hart Attack (J167) - AAR

This scenario has some interesting things in it:
A German 40LL ATG is rarely seen in ASL, 5x US M3 tanks are nice to play with. And the victory conditions make this scenario special. You need to figure out quite well what you are planning to achieve and how to allot your forces to it. Depending on how tanks get killed or survive, this might require an ad hoc change of plans during the game which might be difficult to pull off due to constraints of one's potential to move and reach places.

My opponent did not like the scenario for this very reason because it is very hard to forsee what to expect and the result of a particular roll or two can alter the course of what needs to be done in the game dramatically. While this might be a weakness of the scenario, it could also turn out to be a strength if objectives need to be reconsidered back and forth, creating very tense and interesting situations. A ROAR rating of 67:61 pro British and a very high exitement rating of 7.22 by 129 players seem to indicate a good scenario, though.

I had the British in this one. My general plan was to take 4 buildings, kill one German tank, drive one friendly tank off and see what to do for the last VP as the situation developed.

The Lee tanks are very powerful in this game, but it is likely that you need to exit at least some of them. When they are away (or killed), then the balance might sway to the Germans and open opportunities for counterattack endangering what the British have gained up to this point.
An interesting and somewhat unresolved issue might be, if the gun of the M3's is a Grant Gun (TK13) or a normal 75 Gun (TK14). There are some threads at GameSquadforum which are not totally conclusive but have a tendency of assuming a normal 75 Gun (TK14) here, and that is how we've played it. For more information and more links, see here:

http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/index.php?threads/question-to-designer-fortenberry-j167-hart-attack-75-ma-tk-of-m3-tanks.141652/

Situation at start of play:

AAR start.jpg
Note: DTO colors are used for aestethic purposes. ETO terrain is in effect except for Cactus Hedges and Olive Groves.


Based on the defensive setup of my opponent who placed considerable forces to block the path of advance in the south, I decided to ignore the south altogether and concentrate on the north at the same time hoping that I might avoid the 40LL ATG.

I managed to break, encircle, and capture two German speed-bump 548s without their having caused any notable damage. With these neutralized, initial progress was good.

Before I could reach the nothern area of buildings, my opponent decided to cede these and fell back with everything in that area. This took me off guard, as I had anticipated a German stand there. Now I feared, that the Germans would force me to come at them which would be quite hazardous given that the German infantry also packs quite some punch.

To counter some of this, I aimed at pushing at least one M3 tank through the woods in the North for a trailbreak and possible exit route.

My opponent saw the danger and had one of his tanks enter behind the Woods in the North to cut off my M3. This created probably the key moment in our game: During his turn of entry, his Pz III (failing to get APCR) could neither kill my M3, nor could I kill him needing to realign turret and tank. However, in my upcoming next turn, I managed to immobilize his tank (TK14 did the trick...) though he did not bail out. The 37LL failed to penetrate, so I IF'ed the 75 which managed to kill his Pz III. This gained me 1VP for his eliminated tank and would almost certainly gain me a 2nd VP (FRU) for being able to exit my M3 in the next turn. Had his tank survived instead and I lost mine, the TB would not have been completed in the next turn, I would have been short a tank and be forced to drive into the teeth of his tank-gun. Chances for the outcome in my favor in this situation might have been a bit greater, but for sure it was not a clear cut thing.

This now forced the Germans to attack the British which were solidly installed in the stone buildings. As another 548 broke in the DFPh of German Turn 4 during the approach and the VP tally currently at 5, my opponent conceded.

Situation at end of game:

AAR end.jpg

von Marwitz
 
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