Wrapped up
Hazmo11 The Beleaguered Capital with Rich Domovic getting the Nationalist (Nats) win. For me as the road-clearing Republican (Reps) I had to clear a roadway segment free from ADJACENT GO Nats. It came down to the game’s final 4 x CCs needing to either eliminate or ensure melee (so not in GO). Frankly, I couldn’t believe I was still in it. The Rep firepower is quite potent, but it appeared most of the Reps forgot to sight-in their rifles back at camp. Nevertheless, with a little luck, I had a decent shot at victory in the final turn.
My green 437s’ inability to inflict any Nationalist casualties – zero – in the first 2.5 turns meant more to deal with in the end game. In this same time span, I lost 5.5 squads and an 8-1 leader. They simply dissolved mostly thru CC. As a result, a few Nats and a Pz I penetrated into the Rep’s backfield and had to be cleaned up, but not before eliminating 2x457s for FTR and eating up valuable time for Rep reinforcements. The armor battle had one tank on each side bog on crazy bog DRs (high)-drs (low). The 2 x Pz I were KOed by a DC and a same-hex T-26 shot. One T-26 bogged in a building and the other failed its mechanical reliability DR at a most inopportune time. Gotta love tin cans.
In my final Rep turn, my T-26 passed its TC, but its transmission dropped out on a 6,6. This was major blow as it would have VBMed a key VC location (R4) with a 447 (and allowed troops to close in). As it was, I could only get a pistol-packing 6+1 vs. that 447 (an adjacent Rep 237 was broken in final fire). Unsurprisingly, the 6+1 was rebuffed in CC with extreme prejudice. In another of the four CC, a 1-1 HTH CC vs. a withdrawing 247 successfully withdrew from Q6 to a VC hex by me gacking the roll. The other two CC hexes were successfully negated by eliminating one unit and in the other hex denying GO status. So, it ended up very close despite subpar marksmanship from the rowdy Reps.
End Game (blue arrows identifying CC-surviving Nats)
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This is a perfect scenario for me in that both sides attack and defend. We both felt the Reps are a better side and will be favored over more playings. That said, there are a lot of dimensions to consider in this scenario. Rich commented that this was one of the most entertaining games he’s played in a while. I agreed completely. Lots of laughs and crazy DRs (I recall 3 Rep HOBs and 1 berserk). We both recommend this one and are going to pick another scenario from this pack and get it rolling in January. A big thanks to Rich for a fun and another well-played game.