WuWei
Elder Member
This is not a "proper" AAR, most of all, because it's not after the action. Those are just a few comments on and highlights of our ongoing Riley's Road Campaign Game (the return match).
This time: CG Date 1, 19AM: Pre-game and 1st turn
As some might remember, I lost the first time we played this campaign. I had the Canadian attacker last time, and was way too aggressive and didn't even reach the goal I set myself (survive until air support arrives). So this time I play as the German defender, and I'm going to do it again: Play aggressive! This is a blurry photo of the pre-game setup (we had to use American ?s for the Germans, too, because there weren't enough German ones):
And here is the same photo with some comments:
I put all my AT guns on the first ridgeline. They won't be HIP there, but I want to fire them anyways, so no need to hide them. My plan for them is simple: Fire until the barrels glow! Use intensive fire until they break! They will be overrun no matter what I do, so I want to squeeze the maximum number of kills out of them.
My next idea is the “killer trench”: Two adjacent trench hexes with a tremendous amounts of firepower in them: Two squads with LMGs, a 8-1 leader and an 88LL PaK 43 with crew in EACH of them.
The mines on the paved road might scare the Canadians enough so that they drive through the mud instead – slowing them down is always good, and there might be additional surprises in the general area.
The rest of the setup isn't spectacular:
Some crews with MMGs and HMGs on the ridgeline.
Some units around the dirt road in the D column.
A thin line of infantry has to defend my right flank (east, left on the pictures). I hope to get a few panzerfausts there. The anchor is a HS with a PSK in the stone building in SS7. A little bit weak, but it's the best idea I came up with.
So the game begins, not with the game, but with the pre-game! Of the three Canadian barrages, two arrive early. The one in the west (right on the pictures) is a fast one and completely rolls over my men before the game even begins, breaking one squad. The one in the middle is only one turn early, but this is enough so that it won't be in the way and provide no cover against my AT guns once the game begins. That's good. The one in the east (left on the pictures) is on time. Both don't cause any casualties.
Turn 1 highlights:
One of the first interesting things that happens is a wasp driving towards my nice trench. I hold fire until it is 4 hexes away and open up with all the squads I have there: 32 FP! I get the kill I was hoping for, my first success in this game!
I start shooting at the AFVs enter on the paved road and kill a few: Those burning wrecks slow down the following AFVs even more than my mines would. Unfortunately, I break one of my PaK 41s when I intensive fire, and roll a 6 when I try to repair it. From now on, I have to do with only three AT guns.
One of the Canadian tanks survives a hit from an 88LL! A dud!
My HS w/ PSK in SS7 waits until a Kangaroo is adjacent, but when it tries to fire in the DFPh, the PSK breaks! But in my PFPh, I still get a panzerfaust. I take the backblast and destroy the Kangaroo, but the HS burns as well.
The Canadians call down artillery on the second ridgeline, but the spotting round falls very short, but lands exactly on the first ridgeline, in the middle of my infantry there, and the spotter has even LOS to the base level of that hex.
Two kangaroos sneak forward on the west board edge and end up bogged right next to each other: Easy targets for my AT gun in my PFPh.
One of the fireflies wants to stop, but lacks the MP to do so. I convince my opponent to roll for ESB ("It will stop no matter what, so what's the downside?"), and it is immobilized. Unfortunately, I have to waste a shot to kill it nonetheless.
More pictures:
German turn 1 – Rph:
Canadian turn 2 – Rph:
The setup and playing one turn took the whole evening, so that's as far as we got. It's going ok so far, I think. Losing one of the AT guns was unfortunate, and I didn't get as many ROFs as I wanted. My opponent had a run on our first campaign, where one of the guns killed 5 or 6 of my AFVs in one phase and only stopped firing because it ran out of targets; but that's nothing you can count on, it's only something you can hope for.
This time: CG Date 1, 19AM: Pre-game and 1st turn
As some might remember, I lost the first time we played this campaign. I had the Canadian attacker last time, and was way too aggressive and didn't even reach the goal I set myself (survive until air support arrives). So this time I play as the German defender, and I'm going to do it again: Play aggressive! This is a blurry photo of the pre-game setup (we had to use American ?s for the Germans, too, because there weren't enough German ones):
And here is the same photo with some comments:
I put all my AT guns on the first ridgeline. They won't be HIP there, but I want to fire them anyways, so no need to hide them. My plan for them is simple: Fire until the barrels glow! Use intensive fire until they break! They will be overrun no matter what I do, so I want to squeeze the maximum number of kills out of them.
My next idea is the “killer trench”: Two adjacent trench hexes with a tremendous amounts of firepower in them: Two squads with LMGs, a 8-1 leader and an 88LL PaK 43 with crew in EACH of them.
The mines on the paved road might scare the Canadians enough so that they drive through the mud instead – slowing them down is always good, and there might be additional surprises in the general area.
The rest of the setup isn't spectacular:
Some crews with MMGs and HMGs on the ridgeline.
Some units around the dirt road in the D column.
A thin line of infantry has to defend my right flank (east, left on the pictures). I hope to get a few panzerfausts there. The anchor is a HS with a PSK in the stone building in SS7. A little bit weak, but it's the best idea I came up with.
So the game begins, not with the game, but with the pre-game! Of the three Canadian barrages, two arrive early. The one in the west (right on the pictures) is a fast one and completely rolls over my men before the game even begins, breaking one squad. The one in the middle is only one turn early, but this is enough so that it won't be in the way and provide no cover against my AT guns once the game begins. That's good. The one in the east (left on the pictures) is on time. Both don't cause any casualties.
Turn 1 highlights:
One of the first interesting things that happens is a wasp driving towards my nice trench. I hold fire until it is 4 hexes away and open up with all the squads I have there: 32 FP! I get the kill I was hoping for, my first success in this game!
I start shooting at the AFVs enter on the paved road and kill a few: Those burning wrecks slow down the following AFVs even more than my mines would. Unfortunately, I break one of my PaK 41s when I intensive fire, and roll a 6 when I try to repair it. From now on, I have to do with only three AT guns.
One of the Canadian tanks survives a hit from an 88LL! A dud!
My HS w/ PSK in SS7 waits until a Kangaroo is adjacent, but when it tries to fire in the DFPh, the PSK breaks! But in my PFPh, I still get a panzerfaust. I take the backblast and destroy the Kangaroo, but the HS burns as well.
The Canadians call down artillery on the second ridgeline, but the spotting round falls very short, but lands exactly on the first ridgeline, in the middle of my infantry there, and the spotter has even LOS to the base level of that hex.
Two kangaroos sneak forward on the west board edge and end up bogged right next to each other: Easy targets for my AT gun in my PFPh.
One of the fireflies wants to stop, but lacks the MP to do so. I convince my opponent to roll for ESB ("It will stop no matter what, so what's the downside?"), and it is immobilized. Unfortunately, I have to waste a shot to kill it nonetheless.
More pictures:
German turn 1 – Rph:
Canadian turn 2 – Rph:
The setup and playing one turn took the whole evening, so that's as far as we got. It's going ok so far, I think. Losing one of the AT guns was unfortunate, and I didn't get as many ROFs as I wanted. My opponent had a run on our first campaign, where one of the guns killed 5 or 6 of my AFVs in one phase and only stopped firing because it ran out of targets; but that's nothing you can count on, it's only something you can hope for.