Mike205
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My introduction to The Forgotten War had me like..
We were fortunate to play a lot of ASL over the long weekend and even managed to make an initial foray into the Korean War with this scenario, which pits defending ROKs against NK tanks and infantry in June 1950. After dicing, I wound up as the 13th South Korean regiment, whose mission was to defend the village of Korangp’o-ri (say that five times in a row) against elements of the 1st North Korean division.
Despite facing veteran opponents, the men of the 13th Regiment put up stalwart resistance, even close combating NK T-85s, in some cases prying open the turret hatches to toss in hand grenades Sgt. Rock style.
Unfortunately in our playing, the 13th would live up to the scenario title, as none of my boys managed to come anywhere close to Doug’s T-85s, which systematically leveled the village and its defenders.
The cardboard combat took place on boards 48 and 62. My ROKS consisted of 6x 5-5-7s, 6x 4-4-7s, 2 x 2-2-7s, a 9-2, 8-1, and 7-0. They were armed with 2x lmgs, a DC, 2xBZK 45s, a 57 AT gun, mmg, and 6 dummies which could set up on/south of 62 row T and on/south of 48 row N. Per SSR #4 two of the 6X5-5-7s could be designated Assault Engineers but I botched this and designated only one initially. It wouldn’t actually matter anyway, and I’ll explain why in a moment. Per SSR #5, the ROKs also get a -1 drm to their Human Bullet creation attempts and an additional -1 drm on all PAATC. Reading over the nationality rules for the ROKs, it was our understanding that bazookas were considered crew served weapons, so we added a 2-2-7 to the OB.
EC were moderate with no wind, huts existed on board 48 but all buildings on board 62 were considered wooden. This was due to the VC conditions, which stipulated that the NKS would only win if they controlled 8 or more wooden buildings and had at least one AFV still in fighting condition.
Doug fielded 3x6-2-8s, 7x4-5-8s, 4x4-4-7s, a 10-0 commissar, 9-1, and 7-0 leaders, no doubt hardened veterans of the fighting against the Japanese, supported by a hmg, 3 lmgs, 2 atrs, and 3x T-34/85s entering north of hex row Z on board 62 and row H on board 48. On turn 3, 3 more T-34/85s would enter as reinforcements. Per SSR # 3, the NKs adhered to early war Russian doctrine.
To stop this impressive force, I intended to fight tenaciously for the board 62 buildings and deployed most of my first line infantry there, with the 9-2 leader, a bazooka team, and an assault engineer squad toting the DC. I decided to place the 57 AT and 8-1 as HIP in 62/48 T copse of woods, CA facing the 62 I7 paddy. I also placed the mmg and a 5-5-7 in the same hex hoping to cover the gully in case Doug tried to use it to rush guys forward.
I deployed my second liners in the 48 T3 woods with a bazooka team along with some the dummies to block a possible thrust through the woods. For additional insurance I placed my 7-0 and one remaining 5-5-7 in the 48 P3 woods.
Doug later revealed that his plan was to indeed use the 48 woods, sending a mixed group of 6-2-8s and 4-4-7s to clear the way for his reinforcement platoon of T-85s, with the intention of cutting across the Q hex row and into the backfield of the village. Meanwhile, his main effort would come in around 62 E6 and drive straight into the front half of the village. Between the two attacks he intended to wind up with well over 8 VC locations by NK turn 6.
Although my 57 AT gun got some good, repeated hits on his entering armor that resulted in a shocked and later UK’ed tank, the rest of his units made it into the village unscathed.
My only other positive result was a sniper who KIA’ed the 9-1 leader coming on board 48 with a HMG section in order. The resulting LLC broke the squad, which was never able to recover the gun. When all was said and done, I would take any small miracle I could get.
ROK turn 1 I moved a few squads into building hexes and immediately started paying for it. Doug’s AFV dice rolls were on fire and one building rubbled, killing the squad within. Another broke and ran after facing down some heavy NK small arms fire.
NK turn 2, Doug’s tanks and infantry moved up, working in tandem. Another building was rubbled, another 5-5-7 lost, and two 4-4-7s took out yet another 5-5-7 in CC. Commissar Ryang really didn’t have much to do, since none of Doug’s main force squads broke during the village fighting. He spent most of his time filling out evaluations of his soldiers' political reliability. These were good considering the shellacking I was taking inside Korangp’o-ri. Even then, he still managed to stalk around, mutter, and frown, which to his men meant that today was a good day.
Accurate AFV fire broke the AT gun crew, who died when I rolled boxcars in my turn 2 RpH. A NK sniper lit up the mmg squad and they broke as well. The situation looked great as Doug's troops infiltrated the village outskirts.
Not so on board 48, where his 6-4-8 vanguard fell apart during some vicious, up close and personal fighting in the woods. It would take Doug a good two more turns to sort things out in the forest of death, but not before losing a 4-4-7 in CC.
Up through turn 3 the methodical NK advance through the ville continued unabated, as combined arms teams of 4-4-7s and T-85s blasted my 5-5-7s out of one building after another. My IFT rolls on board 62 in general were pathetic and I didn’t manage to inflict any significant damage. I lasted as long as I did only because I managed to pin a couple of squads.
Things remained in my favor in the board 48 woods and I was able to withdraw in good order as the T-85s came on. However, everything shifted top of turn 4, when Doug reorganized his strike force and took the T48 copse. This put his men in position to pressure the flank of my on board forces or launch a drive into the right flank of my troops in the ville.
Doug decided to forge ahead and paid for it, when my bazooka team smoked one of his T-85s. Turn 5 he drove his two remaining tanks on a pell mell charge across 62 N2-T2. My Assault Engineers tossed the DC to their Human Bullet but he went down in a hail of mg fire from the two tanks and small arms from nearby enemy squads. Inside the village one isolated squad rolled a twelve on the HOB battle table but due to ROK nationality restrictions in went berserk instead and waded into NK gunfire and died before making contact.
Yet another 5-5-7, this time with the only surviving lmg, went berserk in turn 5. This left me with two DM’ed squads, one good order 5-5-7, and a lone 9-2 to defend it. My board 48 survivors attempted a breakthrough but ran out of time. A good win for Doug and a fun intro to FW that captured the desperation of the early days of the invasion. I recommend it to anyone looking for an easy introduction to FW terrain and nationality rules.
We were fortunate to play a lot of ASL over the long weekend and even managed to make an initial foray into the Korean War with this scenario, which pits defending ROKs against NK tanks and infantry in June 1950. After dicing, I wound up as the 13th South Korean regiment, whose mission was to defend the village of Korangp’o-ri (say that five times in a row) against elements of the 1st North Korean division.
Despite facing veteran opponents, the men of the 13th Regiment put up stalwart resistance, even close combating NK T-85s, in some cases prying open the turret hatches to toss in hand grenades Sgt. Rock style.
Unfortunately in our playing, the 13th would live up to the scenario title, as none of my boys managed to come anywhere close to Doug’s T-85s, which systematically leveled the village and its defenders.
The cardboard combat took place on boards 48 and 62. My ROKS consisted of 6x 5-5-7s, 6x 4-4-7s, 2 x 2-2-7s, a 9-2, 8-1, and 7-0. They were armed with 2x lmgs, a DC, 2xBZK 45s, a 57 AT gun, mmg, and 6 dummies which could set up on/south of 62 row T and on/south of 48 row N. Per SSR #4 two of the 6X5-5-7s could be designated Assault Engineers but I botched this and designated only one initially. It wouldn’t actually matter anyway, and I’ll explain why in a moment. Per SSR #5, the ROKs also get a -1 drm to their Human Bullet creation attempts and an additional -1 drm on all PAATC. Reading over the nationality rules for the ROKs, it was our understanding that bazookas were considered crew served weapons, so we added a 2-2-7 to the OB.
EC were moderate with no wind, huts existed on board 48 but all buildings on board 62 were considered wooden. This was due to the VC conditions, which stipulated that the NKS would only win if they controlled 8 or more wooden buildings and had at least one AFV still in fighting condition.
Doug fielded 3x6-2-8s, 7x4-5-8s, 4x4-4-7s, a 10-0 commissar, 9-1, and 7-0 leaders, no doubt hardened veterans of the fighting against the Japanese, supported by a hmg, 3 lmgs, 2 atrs, and 3x T-34/85s entering north of hex row Z on board 62 and row H on board 48. On turn 3, 3 more T-34/85s would enter as reinforcements. Per SSR # 3, the NKs adhered to early war Russian doctrine.
To stop this impressive force, I intended to fight tenaciously for the board 62 buildings and deployed most of my first line infantry there, with the 9-2 leader, a bazooka team, and an assault engineer squad toting the DC. I decided to place the 57 AT and 8-1 as HIP in 62/48 T copse of woods, CA facing the 62 I7 paddy. I also placed the mmg and a 5-5-7 in the same hex hoping to cover the gully in case Doug tried to use it to rush guys forward.
I deployed my second liners in the 48 T3 woods with a bazooka team along with some the dummies to block a possible thrust through the woods. For additional insurance I placed my 7-0 and one remaining 5-5-7 in the 48 P3 woods.
Doug later revealed that his plan was to indeed use the 48 woods, sending a mixed group of 6-2-8s and 4-4-7s to clear the way for his reinforcement platoon of T-85s, with the intention of cutting across the Q hex row and into the backfield of the village. Meanwhile, his main effort would come in around 62 E6 and drive straight into the front half of the village. Between the two attacks he intended to wind up with well over 8 VC locations by NK turn 6.
Although my 57 AT gun got some good, repeated hits on his entering armor that resulted in a shocked and later UK’ed tank, the rest of his units made it into the village unscathed.
My only other positive result was a sniper who KIA’ed the 9-1 leader coming on board 48 with a HMG section in order. The resulting LLC broke the squad, which was never able to recover the gun. When all was said and done, I would take any small miracle I could get.
ROK turn 1 I moved a few squads into building hexes and immediately started paying for it. Doug’s AFV dice rolls were on fire and one building rubbled, killing the squad within. Another broke and ran after facing down some heavy NK small arms fire.
NK turn 2, Doug’s tanks and infantry moved up, working in tandem. Another building was rubbled, another 5-5-7 lost, and two 4-4-7s took out yet another 5-5-7 in CC. Commissar Ryang really didn’t have much to do, since none of Doug’s main force squads broke during the village fighting. He spent most of his time filling out evaluations of his soldiers' political reliability. These were good considering the shellacking I was taking inside Korangp’o-ri. Even then, he still managed to stalk around, mutter, and frown, which to his men meant that today was a good day.
Accurate AFV fire broke the AT gun crew, who died when I rolled boxcars in my turn 2 RpH. A NK sniper lit up the mmg squad and they broke as well. The situation looked great as Doug's troops infiltrated the village outskirts.
Not so on board 48, where his 6-4-8 vanguard fell apart during some vicious, up close and personal fighting in the woods. It would take Doug a good two more turns to sort things out in the forest of death, but not before losing a 4-4-7 in CC.
Up through turn 3 the methodical NK advance through the ville continued unabated, as combined arms teams of 4-4-7s and T-85s blasted my 5-5-7s out of one building after another. My IFT rolls on board 62 in general were pathetic and I didn’t manage to inflict any significant damage. I lasted as long as I did only because I managed to pin a couple of squads.
Things remained in my favor in the board 48 woods and I was able to withdraw in good order as the T-85s came on. However, everything shifted top of turn 4, when Doug reorganized his strike force and took the T48 copse. This put his men in position to pressure the flank of my on board forces or launch a drive into the right flank of my troops in the ville.
Doug decided to forge ahead and paid for it, when my bazooka team smoked one of his T-85s. Turn 5 he drove his two remaining tanks on a pell mell charge across 62 N2-T2. My Assault Engineers tossed the DC to their Human Bullet but he went down in a hail of mg fire from the two tanks and small arms from nearby enemy squads. Inside the village one isolated squad rolled a twelve on the HOB battle table but due to ROK nationality restrictions in went berserk instead and waded into NK gunfire and died before making contact.
Yet another 5-5-7, this time with the only surviving lmg, went berserk in turn 5. This left me with two DM’ed squads, one good order 5-5-7, and a lone 9-2 to defend it. My board 48 survivors attempted a breakthrough but ran out of time. A good win for Doug and a fun intro to FW that captured the desperation of the early days of the invasion. I recommend it to anyone looking for an easy introduction to FW terrain and nationality rules.
