jrv
Forum Guru
Winter Offensive, Friday evening
Neil Stanhagen and I settled down for some 1942 Ost Front sturm und drang, but with the Italians attacking instead of the Germans. Random side selection gave me the Italians. The Italians have to drive across three deluxe board widths in six turns to capture two buildings that flank the center road of the last board. The Italian squads are elite, and they have a flamethrower and six tanks. The Soviets have twelve squads. The Soviets face the tanks with a 45L ATG, two of their superior ATRs and MOL-capability against tanks only.
Neil set up an up-front defense on the hill where the Italians entered. The road over the hills led to a great arc of Soviet firepower. There were a few units on the north and south flanks too. I considered that the center was probably a death trap, but attacking on the flanks was hampered by no clear route for the tanks. Fortunately the Italian tanks are fairly good. They have radios and low ground pressure. Their armor is not over-whelming but is adequate for the job. About their only major failing is that the MA is B11.
My attack was to put two tanks in the middle, three in the north and one in the south. In both the north and south a tank drove into the woods at half movement factors on the first turn. The tank in the south busted right through, but the one in the north bogged. I had a second tank right behind the bogged tank, so I wasn't too concerned about the bog. One tank in the middle went to the top of the hill and the other waited below the crest. This first tank found the 45L ATG in an unfortunate manner, but I had expected that. I wanted to know if the gun was there or elsewhere, and I was willing to pay for the information. Some of the Italian infantry supported the tanks while others scrambled up the hill to engage the Soviet line.
The first three or so turns were spent pushing through the Soviet line on the hill. My hope was to get behind Neil's forces, but he was too canny for that. He started moving two or three squads back fairly early, although he left most of the infantry on the hill to engage mine. In fact my infantry on the hill was having a tough time. The Soviet HMG was set up in the tall building in the center of the back board with the 9-1 leader, and he was crushing whole piles of Italians. The assaults on the upper portions of the hill were faring badly. At several points I was afraid the Soviets would counter-attack and drive me back the way I came. The major success was the breakthrough in the north, where three Italian tanks were through the woods along with roughly two platoons of infantry. The Italian third turn reinforcements came in on the north edge unopposed, and the Soviets were now being attacked on the board with the victory buildings.
At this point the game started to turn for the Italians. Using their tanks and a large pile of infantry they pushed the Soviet squad & HMG out of its perch. It broke as it tried to retreat back across the iJ2 street. A lucky shot (six up two) early broke the concealed squad in iG1. This building has an upper level, meaning that the defender can rout upstairs to delay the building capture. The Italians drove their tanks into buildings to flush the Soviets and eliminate for failure to rout. A last Soviet squad was concealed in iI1, the wooden victory building. It skulked out of the building to avoid the Italian force built up outside its doors, but pinned outside the building, letting the Italians walk in for the victory.
Neil's comment was that he should have guarded the northern board edge against the Italian reinforcements. This certainly would have slowed down that Italian force, and may have bought the time he needed. Overall it was a nice scenario. The Italians get a chance to show that they can blitzkrieg as well as the next axis nation, although they do have to get through the woods first.
JR
Neil Stanhagen and I settled down for some 1942 Ost Front sturm und drang, but with the Italians attacking instead of the Germans. Random side selection gave me the Italians. The Italians have to drive across three deluxe board widths in six turns to capture two buildings that flank the center road of the last board. The Italian squads are elite, and they have a flamethrower and six tanks. The Soviets have twelve squads. The Soviets face the tanks with a 45L ATG, two of their superior ATRs and MOL-capability against tanks only.
Neil set up an up-front defense on the hill where the Italians entered. The road over the hills led to a great arc of Soviet firepower. There were a few units on the north and south flanks too. I considered that the center was probably a death trap, but attacking on the flanks was hampered by no clear route for the tanks. Fortunately the Italian tanks are fairly good. They have radios and low ground pressure. Their armor is not over-whelming but is adequate for the job. About their only major failing is that the MA is B11.
My attack was to put two tanks in the middle, three in the north and one in the south. In both the north and south a tank drove into the woods at half movement factors on the first turn. The tank in the south busted right through, but the one in the north bogged. I had a second tank right behind the bogged tank, so I wasn't too concerned about the bog. One tank in the middle went to the top of the hill and the other waited below the crest. This first tank found the 45L ATG in an unfortunate manner, but I had expected that. I wanted to know if the gun was there or elsewhere, and I was willing to pay for the information. Some of the Italian infantry supported the tanks while others scrambled up the hill to engage the Soviet line.
The first three or so turns were spent pushing through the Soviet line on the hill. My hope was to get behind Neil's forces, but he was too canny for that. He started moving two or three squads back fairly early, although he left most of the infantry on the hill to engage mine. In fact my infantry on the hill was having a tough time. The Soviet HMG was set up in the tall building in the center of the back board with the 9-1 leader, and he was crushing whole piles of Italians. The assaults on the upper portions of the hill were faring badly. At several points I was afraid the Soviets would counter-attack and drive me back the way I came. The major success was the breakthrough in the north, where three Italian tanks were through the woods along with roughly two platoons of infantry. The Italian third turn reinforcements came in on the north edge unopposed, and the Soviets were now being attacked on the board with the victory buildings.
At this point the game started to turn for the Italians. Using their tanks and a large pile of infantry they pushed the Soviet squad & HMG out of its perch. It broke as it tried to retreat back across the iJ2 street. A lucky shot (six up two) early broke the concealed squad in iG1. This building has an upper level, meaning that the defender can rout upstairs to delay the building capture. The Italians drove their tanks into buildings to flush the Soviets and eliminate for failure to rout. A last Soviet squad was concealed in iI1, the wooden victory building. It skulked out of the building to avoid the Italian force built up outside its doors, but pinned outside the building, letting the Italians walk in for the victory.
Neil's comment was that he should have guarded the northern board edge against the Italian reinforcements. This certainly would have slowed down that Italian force, and may have bought the time he needed. Overall it was a nice scenario. The Italians get a chance to show that they can blitzkrieg as well as the next axis nation, although they do have to get through the woods first.
JR
