Cult.44
Senior Member
Fun time at the Open as usual. Definitely a nice relaxed atmosphere this year. This was my sixth and I went 3-3. In all but two years I've gone 3-3. One year I went 2-4 and the other 4-2, so I remain a perfect .500 over the period. Call me Mr. Median.
1. BFP-35 Mai Phu
I played Magnus Rimvall who came all the way from Sweden. We diced for sides and I got the French and Magnus was the Japanese. Some may say it was that roll that won me the game for me. The IJA has to control all the multi-hex buildings and the French get substantial infantry and armor reinforcements on T3. I felt like I gacked the set up a bit and was too weak on my left side. Magnus came strong on that side so I was worried. But I managed to hold him off long enough for my reinforcements to come in and let me build an Alamo in the back corner of the board. With my terrifying Ft-17 tanks I managed to knock out a HA-GO and secure my left flank. The armored cars I parked in front of the building. Ultimately the two-hex building had four concealed squads and two 8-1 leaders defending. Magnus couldn't quite get there with enough umph to take it. As a sleazy backup plan, I had a HIP vehicle crew hidden in a swamp hex, ready to jump out at the end of the game and reoccupy a building. But it wasn't necessary. Two problems I see with the scenario --a) it can be a bug hunt. b) there's a victory building on the edge of the board which means there's no real opportunity to effectively flank it or encircle it. Win
2. SP 272 Statue of Liberty Attacks
The Statue of Liberty's attack failed against the formidable Stan Jackson's Japanese. The IJA get to set up a substantial force HIP on the back board. I made steady progress but ultimately was too cautious. I had outside chances to exit enough units for a win but when one of my Stuarts went down in CC, the chances dropped considerably. When a squad broke trying to run the gauntlet, chances went to zero. Loss
3. SP 268 The Tjiater Pass
I was the attacking Japanese trying to lever a bunch of Dutch out of their trenches/pillboxes on board 5a hill hexes. I made progress against Wai-Kwang Wong's solid defensive setup, but my forces on the left flank got bottled up in a clump of woods and more or less had to wait for help from the right flank. It came but not before suffering heavy casualties and losing my FT. I executed 3 banzai charges which were pretty successful but the attrition rate was too high. I conceded at the beginning of my last turn. Loss
4. SP 267 Death's Head Debut
Here I was the Russians defending against the quick-playing Mark De Vries' SS. Mark wanted to play the Germans so I took the Russian balance (a 9-1 armor leader). I believe my defense was sound but it's always helpful when you can keep rate of fire. At one point early on, one of my 50 mm MTRs kept rate 11 times in a row while attacking a leader and two squads in a woods hex (they got beat up pretty bad). My other ROF 3 weapons -- two 45L ATGs and a 82mm MTR -- also had a habit of keeping rate for at least four or five shots. Thus I was able to knock out three German tanks and cause substantial casualties in the early turns. This was necessary as it still turned out to be a close game. Mark started to gain some momentum when he moved a PzIV on a hill hex and got hull-down position against three of my T-34s. He knocked out two of my tanks before his succumbed to return fire. Mark then managed to clear the hill and close in on the last buildings needed for Victory. Fortunately I had a functioning tank and enough infantry to hold out for the win. This game was a blast to play with lots of luck swings. We were even high-fiving each other for each other's snake-eyes rolls. Win
5. SP 265 Defending Jandrain
I played the attacking Germans against Rich Domovic's defending French. Lot's of Level 2 buildings and Rich took full advantage. I managed to get smoke out with my PzIVs and move my infantry forward without too much trouble, but I was too slow and cautious. After fiddling and diddling on turns 2 and 3, I realized there was no way I was going to win at this rate. Fourth turn I got a lot more aggressive and made good progress, giving myself and outside chance. But Rich managed to get all of his tanks off the board on T4 (which helps his VC). I had a good shot at destroying one of them in CC with a 9-1 leader and squad but gacked the roll. It was one tank too many. On T5 there was no way to get enough victory hexes. Loss.
6. A103 Mayhem in Manila
Chris Garrett suggested this classic Deluxe scenario as being short and allowing us to get on the road early Sunday afternoon. I readily agreed even though I'd never played Deluxe before. Here, the Americans (Chris) have to get into one of two building and outnumber the Japenese in them two to one. In this game I displayed my tactical genius by allowing my opponent to dice himself to death. He rolled 5 boxcars in the first two turns, frittering away many of his major weapons including a recall of his Sherman. Whichever G.I. was in charge of loading the smoke shells must have been napping because Chris couldn't get any on my Level 2 machine gunners. I did get off some good shots including a DC hero that managed to deliver his package. The damage wouldn't have been decisive except Chris also had trouble rallying his troops. Anyway, the force that was able to get into position to assault the victory buildings was too depleted to get the job done. Win
1. BFP-35 Mai Phu
I played Magnus Rimvall who came all the way from Sweden. We diced for sides and I got the French and Magnus was the Japanese. Some may say it was that roll that won me the game for me. The IJA has to control all the multi-hex buildings and the French get substantial infantry and armor reinforcements on T3. I felt like I gacked the set up a bit and was too weak on my left side. Magnus came strong on that side so I was worried. But I managed to hold him off long enough for my reinforcements to come in and let me build an Alamo in the back corner of the board. With my terrifying Ft-17 tanks I managed to knock out a HA-GO and secure my left flank. The armored cars I parked in front of the building. Ultimately the two-hex building had four concealed squads and two 8-1 leaders defending. Magnus couldn't quite get there with enough umph to take it. As a sleazy backup plan, I had a HIP vehicle crew hidden in a swamp hex, ready to jump out at the end of the game and reoccupy a building. But it wasn't necessary. Two problems I see with the scenario --a) it can be a bug hunt. b) there's a victory building on the edge of the board which means there's no real opportunity to effectively flank it or encircle it. Win
2. SP 272 Statue of Liberty Attacks
The Statue of Liberty's attack failed against the formidable Stan Jackson's Japanese. The IJA get to set up a substantial force HIP on the back board. I made steady progress but ultimately was too cautious. I had outside chances to exit enough units for a win but when one of my Stuarts went down in CC, the chances dropped considerably. When a squad broke trying to run the gauntlet, chances went to zero. Loss
3. SP 268 The Tjiater Pass
I was the attacking Japanese trying to lever a bunch of Dutch out of their trenches/pillboxes on board 5a hill hexes. I made progress against Wai-Kwang Wong's solid defensive setup, but my forces on the left flank got bottled up in a clump of woods and more or less had to wait for help from the right flank. It came but not before suffering heavy casualties and losing my FT. I executed 3 banzai charges which were pretty successful but the attrition rate was too high. I conceded at the beginning of my last turn. Loss
4. SP 267 Death's Head Debut
Here I was the Russians defending against the quick-playing Mark De Vries' SS. Mark wanted to play the Germans so I took the Russian balance (a 9-1 armor leader). I believe my defense was sound but it's always helpful when you can keep rate of fire. At one point early on, one of my 50 mm MTRs kept rate 11 times in a row while attacking a leader and two squads in a woods hex (they got beat up pretty bad). My other ROF 3 weapons -- two 45L ATGs and a 82mm MTR -- also had a habit of keeping rate for at least four or five shots. Thus I was able to knock out three German tanks and cause substantial casualties in the early turns. This was necessary as it still turned out to be a close game. Mark started to gain some momentum when he moved a PzIV on a hill hex and got hull-down position against three of my T-34s. He knocked out two of my tanks before his succumbed to return fire. Mark then managed to clear the hill and close in on the last buildings needed for Victory. Fortunately I had a functioning tank and enough infantry to hold out for the win. This game was a blast to play with lots of luck swings. We were even high-fiving each other for each other's snake-eyes rolls. Win
5. SP 265 Defending Jandrain
I played the attacking Germans against Rich Domovic's defending French. Lot's of Level 2 buildings and Rich took full advantage. I managed to get smoke out with my PzIVs and move my infantry forward without too much trouble, but I was too slow and cautious. After fiddling and diddling on turns 2 and 3, I realized there was no way I was going to win at this rate. Fourth turn I got a lot more aggressive and made good progress, giving myself and outside chance. But Rich managed to get all of his tanks off the board on T4 (which helps his VC). I had a good shot at destroying one of them in CC with a 9-1 leader and squad but gacked the roll. It was one tank too many. On T5 there was no way to get enough victory hexes. Loss.
6. A103 Mayhem in Manila
Chris Garrett suggested this classic Deluxe scenario as being short and allowing us to get on the road early Sunday afternoon. I readily agreed even though I'd never played Deluxe before. Here, the Americans (Chris) have to get into one of two building and outnumber the Japenese in them two to one. In this game I displayed my tactical genius by allowing my opponent to dice himself to death. He rolled 5 boxcars in the first two turns, frittering away many of his major weapons including a recall of his Sherman. Whichever G.I. was in charge of loading the smoke shells must have been napping because Chris couldn't get any on my Level 2 machine gunners. I did get off some good shots including a DC hero that managed to deliver his package. The damage wouldn't have been decisive except Chris also had trouble rallying his troops. Anyway, the force that was able to get into position to assault the victory buildings was too depleted to get the job done. Win