UV CG I Flesh Against Concrete

Gunner Scott

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Hi all-

Well, my VASL Opponent and I decided to try something a bit out of most ASL'ers comfort zones, CH Uncommon Valor CG. Ya crazy huh? But it really is an unique and interesting situation, oh ya just an FYI we are playing the 1st edition version along with PL 3.0. Basically no PTO here, UV is more along the lines of a desert CG but without dust. There is sand and at levels 3 and more are treated like regular desert terrain. So why play this crazy cave intensive CG with lots of NOBA? Well, we both love CG's but we are both kind of tired of RB and wanted to try something that was very different and UV is truly a very different CG experience once our game gets underway. What I am doing right now is setting the scene for our current situation and to also show how easy some of these rules are more or less.

This will be our first try at this CG with me playing the Sons of Nippon and Randy playing those girly marines. As you can see in the map I posted, the Marine entry is marked by pink arrows (Marines I hear luv pink lol). The Manly looking black arrows are the limits of my IJA set up. This is a fairly large CG with alot of moving parts for both sides. Prior to even starting this CG we both played a couple of cave scenarios, the first being the old rout report scenario X12 Nowhere to Hide then we played UV 2 Agony, Ateball and Angel. Both were fun and not as boring as I thought they might be, having a Jap leader survive multiple shots of 24FP as he tried to maneuver his FT to burn a tank is priceless.

The cave rules do require some thought but are not super hard, you just gotta imagine a building under ground with multiple entry points. Other things to remember is that once you can see the caves CA, you can see the cave, contents can still remain hidden. WP is always a CH IN a cave, only a 150mm CH can take out a cave. Cave complexes in this CG can extend out from the primary cave four hexes (vs two hexes in a normal cave scenario) knee MTRs can fire from caves as well as any caliber gun. There is more but essentially caves are not as bad as you might think.

The Japanese have a large force pool to call upon, starting out with four platoons of infantry, lots of mines, wire, pillboxes, caves, OBA and more. They get one the first fire firefight 80FPP and 30CP's, so lots of HIP is planed to surprise the Marines thats for sure. Each firefight is possibly 9 turns long, starting on turn 6 you start to roll for game end. The CG is 20 dates, but the Marines only have 10 attack chits, so it might look long but I dont think it is. The Japanese get three attack chits and those I think should only be used in night attacks and when the Marines are starting to gain a toehold on the hills.

Anyway, look forward to giving this CG a try, cant wait to get into it.

Scottuv map ff 1.jpg
 
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Craig Benn

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One of the few Critical Hit CG's I'd love to play - from back in the era where a designer might despair at getting published in a reasonable time and CH was a valid alternative. That age being long gone now - but there is the odd gem from it.

I played Agony, Ateball and Angel something like 10 years ago and it was a blast despite getting my ass handed to me. Think my game was the only ROAR playing recorded for a while. Oh for a FTF opponent who'd be happy to play caves. Well I got a promise to play caves if I allowed Mark Blackmore to have a 6 Tiger OB in Nishne Nyet, but I'm going to take full advantage and go for Bloody Red Beach.

Agree totally about a change from Red Barricades. Love the fact the entire Japanese starting force is probably going to be HIP. (Seem to remember the caves are HIP even if not in concealment terrain as a CG rule?) Also it's not huge in terms of starting OB's - it looks playable.

From my few playings of caves, I don't think I quite understand how to get the best out of them. Sure you can stay HIP and take the odd -2 shot - although the US will have oodles of Smoke out - but once revealed +4TEM and not concealed = death from Marine firepower. Somehow I think you should lure the USMC forward then come out of them to cut rout paths...but seems a lot easier in theory than practice.

Let us know how it pans out.
 

Gunner Scott

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Caves are HIP but once a unit comes in LOS and within the caves CA, it is revealed. As far as I can see, caves are I think secondary as far as fortifications are concerned for CG 1. I think in a more terrain intensive environment they migh be more important, but here, I think in this CG they seem to be very limited in scope, basically they are good for reverse slope defense and hiding reserves.

And yes, very playable for bothsides, at first glance I thought the Marines had 20 Firefights to wipe the IJA off the map, but they only have 11 firefights to accomplish this. (one free firefight for the initial CG date and 10 attack chits). The IJA get three attack chits, so I think I will need to save them for critical type days.

I think CH is still the only outfit that can publish your stuff in a timely manner. MMP is still gawd awful slow in getting product out the door, BFP has there own agenda as does LFT. So unless you want to publish this stuff on your own, then CH is for the most part the quickest way to see your project hit the light of day.

Scott
 
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Honza

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Love this module. Played the monster scenario called "119" and really enjoyed it. It inspired me to create my own map and CG of Iwo.
 

Honza

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The thing about Iwo scenarios and CGs is that the Marines have massive FP but at most only +1 TEM, and they are the ones doing the moving. They are vulnerable even to 4FP shots from the Japanese. The Japanese are subject to massive FP but they are in +4 or +5 TEM. When I played the Iwo CG the Marines suffered more casualties than the Japanese. How often does that happen?
 

Honza

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Sent!.....you will have to improvise the rules as I have not written them down yet.
 

Gunner Scott

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Hi all-

Randy and I started our CG of CH Iwo Jima module with us playing up to Marine turn 4. So we essentially got three turns in over a three hour period. We are fast players but the terrain and LOS really need to be scrutinized a bit more then usual. During our game, Randy looks like he is going to try and make a bee line around my eastern flank. This is where as you can see in the pic I have lots of wire to try and slow him down. Trying to cross the Airfield is quite the challenge and the Marines did take a few casualties in that attempt, not as many as I would have liked plus the Marines have had constant smoke on call to hinder my LOS.

So far losses have been light for the japs with I think two squads where as the Marines have lost a sherman, 9-2 SMC (sniper attack) and a couple of squads thus far. The Sherman I did blow up was from my 150mm ARTY piece, so that was a nice job by my sons of nippon. But the rest of the Marine armor scooted east to avoid my Arty Piece. I did purchase a 70mm MTR section, boy are they useless, I should have just saved those three points. Their minimum range is 15 hexes for gods sake. so after the first day they are pretty useless.

So far this is turning out to be a very fun CG, it might not be fun for those who do not like intricate defenses and planing those dastardly tricks but for me, there is plenty for my IJA to accomplish. I do feel in some ways I did gack the defense and should have put most of my caves in a reverse slope defense, thus my reserves would be not to badly hindered by the Marine NOBA more or less. I also made the mistake of setting up a couple of my AA guns in crags as well as an ATG, this is a no no but Randy was nice enough to let me pull them off map into reserves. The whole feel of the CG is very desert like and if you have watched movies like The Pacific you will get a good feel for this battle.

Scottcg start turn 1.jpgmarine turn 2 .jpgmarine turn 3.jpgmarine turn 4 .jpg
 
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Honza

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That us a really nice map Jan I hope you get this published.
There is a problem with my map when it is converted to VASL. The trouble is that the hexdraw software which created it starts the map with a half hex called A0. VASL maps should start with a whole hex called A1. That means the VASL program is inaccurate by one hex when it comes to registering the hexes on my map. It could only be fixed by amending my map to start with a whole hex A1. It is not something I can do at the moment.
 

xenovin

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There is a problem with my map when it is converted to VASL. The trouble is that the hexdraw software which created it starts the map with a half hex called A0. VASL maps should start with a whole hex called A1. That means the VASL program is inaccurate by one hex when it comes to registering the hexes on my map. It could only be fixed by amending my map to start with a whole hex A1. It is not something I can do at the moment.
Try using the shift hexrow function under edit (I think)
 

Gunner Scott

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Hi all-

The first AM firefight came to an end on turn 7 out of a 9 turn game. The Marines lost 3 squads, 9-2. crew and three Shermans. The Japanese loses were 4 squads and a 70mm MTR. If I had read PL 2.0 rules, I would never fix anything in any PL CG because that equipment automatically comes back. The Marines managed to get on the wire line before the CG ended, so they have a decent jumping off point for the PM FF on my east flank. As an aside, better reading reading of the cave rules might be helpful next time I set up a defense for this CG but not a deal breaker I do not think.

The Japanese Artillery did slow the Marines down as they tried to approach the Wire line, my Jap 9-1 with his MG platform on the western part of the battle field gave the Marines a little grief, granted it was only 2 FP (the ranges were like 24 to 28 hexes which were the maz range of the 50cal and HMG) but they did manage to break a few squads who ventured within range. The American Armor, in trying to support the Marines in breaching the line of wire took losses from the 150mm Art piece which surprising never broke (it has a B11). My Japanese units continued to use the cave complexes to shift guys around, especially when Randy's air support cam on map on turn 3.

If I could redo the defense again, I probably would put the caves in a reverse slope defense for my reserves and have tunnles leading from the pillboxes forward to key areas the Marines are bound to try and take. I also think in this CG the Marines might have to make attacks on every other Firefight due to the low CPP they get. One thing we did decide on was that we would go with a full clear the map rules like in RB. The redeployment stuff just seemed to dicey for our tastes.

Still, we are both having alot of fun and this CG can only get bloodier.

Scottend of AM FF 1 copy.jpg
 

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If your opponent reads and look at your picture you are giving him free information as your HIPS are shown.

Nice AAR btw

/S
 

Gunner Scott

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Hi all-

Randy and I finally finished up firefight 2 for day 1. The Firefight took the whole 9 turns! That is correct, I kept rolling high on game end attempts and this helped Randy gain the alot more territory then was expected. Total casualties for the Japanese were 33 CVP's (alot less if it had ended on turn 8) and for the Marines around 23 CVP's. I was not a happy camper about the game going on for 9 turns that is for damn sure but even with the nice gains and added casualties, I still feel I am in this one. The Marines have 8 more Firefights to try and take the rest of the map, so it will be close. The refit phase has not been to kind for the IJA either, with the IJA averaging around 12 CPP per a firefight and the Marines averaging around 16 CPP, so it will be purely on skill that my IJA will pull this one off lol. We didtake an Idle day for the night scenario, The Marines took a decent beating during Firefight 2 and really did not have the needed man power to really do a night assault. I thought about doing a night assault myself, but like the Marines, I was pretty beat up from firefight 2, so I decided against wasting resources for little gain.

Firefight 2 saw some serious whining come from both of us but more from me then Randy just because my weapons systems just would not function properly, by Firefight end, I had two broken MMG's, three broken LMG's, two broken 150mm Arty Pieces and one broken 50 cal. The great thing about PL 2.0 rules I have to say is all weapons are returned back to normal during the refit phase, so unless your really desperate, there is no need to fix those weapons, but it does suck that they go down during the game in such crazy numbers.

A few notes about PL 2.0 should be said (do not have the latest PL rules), Randy and I do use full clear of the map with the exceptions being the guns in pillboxes. We allow for Leader Battle hardening (not in PL) but we disallow for leader generation when squads BH in the refit phase, make for a smoother campaign we think plus you wont see over a dozen leaders running around either.

So far, our thoughts have been that the Japanese will hit the Marines hard initially, OBA (harrassing fire is ok, but in sand it is further half firepower) HIP stuff and so on, but once found out, the IJA starts to take it on the chin later in the game. It really is an interesting flow of the game that is for sure. Still loads of fun too!

ScottDay 2 FF 4 copy.jpg
 
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