VotG CG IV: The North Shore Open

[Honza]

I think the Russians have got to know what they are doing in this CG. They have the more difficult time of it. But I'm glad that the CG can play out so long. It would be a shame if it was unbalanced in favour of the Germans.

 

[Eagle02]

Here are some pics. Hopefully we get through another turn tonight.

I don't believe VotG is unbalanced. I do believe it requires the Soviet player to sustain a high PMC and to play unconventionally. Time will tell is we know what we're doing...

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[Eagle02]

More pics. We made it thru G3 last night. Not much love for the Soviets. The night ended with an 81mm CH on a 6-2-8/3-2-8/8-0 with a yahtzee to 4KIA them all. We also lost 1.5 more 4-4-7s from leader directed MG fire and a hot German SAN that busted ours to 5.

There was a ton of German illumination. I was lucky to move my cloakers forward unscathed at all. The Germans in row FF all self rallied by G2 and gained concealment easily b/c there were no Russkies w/LOS. The attackers just couldn't get close enough to the barrage to pounce on them when they were vulnerable.

Soviet losses: 4x6-2-8, 2x4-4-7, 1x4-2-6, 1x8-0

German losses: 1.5x5-4-8, 1x2-3-7, 2x1-2-7

 

[Bob Miller]

Up coming day scenario the Germans should all out blitz. End the game. Any other result will be a moral Russian victory. THEN you boys can play Onslaught to Orsha next as a 4 player game. That will be fun to watch as well.

 

[DrDeath]

Up coming day scenario the Germans should all out blitz. End the game. Any other result will be a moral Russian victory. THEN you boys can play Onslaught to Orsha next as a 4 player game. That will be fun to watch as well.

Hey Bob- We played that as a warm-up to this. :nuts:

 

[=FC=Gorgon]

Hey Bob- We played that as a warm-up to this. :nuts:

Yeah, we did one of the bigger scenarios. Pretty fun.

M

 

[=FC=Gorgon]

Hey folks,

I know we've been bad with updates on this thread. Jim and I both started new jobs in Aug and thus have been pretty busy dealing with that. We're playing tonight so a quick update.

We finished Turn 5 last week. The scenario did not end. The barrage has moved beyond being the Germans at this point in time. The attack in the South is going slowly. The Germans have a had great luck with starshells so it's been hard to get into good position. The amphib attack up North is doing well and 2 piers have been re-captured. The big highlight for me was taking out a StuG with a DC.

We'll have full numbers once the scenario is over.

M

 

[=FC=Gorgon]

Well my friends, it is finally over. Despite our best efforts, Jim and myself were not able to prevent Interdiction and we lost the CG. The game ended on turn 6 and after much discussion, the Germans were able to come up with enough assets to interdict the remaining piers.

It has been an amazing 18th months and I would not trade it for anything. AFAIK, this is the longest running, publicized, playing of VotG CGIV and I hope others can learn from it. I expect over the next few days we'll post pics, stats and then our concluding thoughts on this CG (needless to say, we had a quite a few thoughts over a couple of beers when it ended).

I hope y'all have had as much fun reading this as we did playing it. I'm sure you'll hear a lot more from the North Shore crew as time goes on.

Quick preview. We plan on playing some PTO for the next couple of months in prep for Albany. I personally want to play another CG after that but eventually we're gonna switch sides and Jim and I will attack as the Germans.

M

 

[John Richards]

Thanks for all the effort you guys have put into this AAR. I've really enjoyed following along.

 

[Tork]

well done guys! I've enjoyed watching this move along as well. Congrats to the victors as well as the vanquished...

 

[Tom Morin]

Bravo! (loud applause heard). Indeed this was most entertaining. I owe you guys a beer at Albany.

Tom

 

[=FC=Gorgon]

Bravo! (loud applause heard). Indeed this was most entertaining. I owe you guys a beer at Albany.

Tom

Rather, I think we owe you a case of beer, Tom!

 

[PZchala]

Rather, I think we owe you a case of beer, Tom!

I was thinking the same thing, Mike!

The end of my first full CG experience has me fired up for ASL! It's similar to how I feel after a tourney, where it leaves me wanting to do more tourneys, and more ASL in general.

 

[Tom Morin]

Rather, I think we owe you a case of beer, Tom!

Well, then we'll all just head to the bar and drink some beers.

Tom

 

[Eagle02]

I was thinking the same thing, Mike!

The end of my first full CG experience has me fired up for ASL! It's similar to how I feel after a tourney, where it leaves me wanting to do more tourneys, and more ASL in general.

Totally. It was a great ASL experience. Alas, I took down the boards and counters last night and vacuumed a year and a half's worth of pretzel crumbs from the table tonight.

Keep checking in to the thread. There's going to be some analysis posted as well as some of the final play. We discussed some of it Tuesday night but there were some interesting revelations. Here are some spoilers:

-the Germans purchased the last of their infantry in 23N. There was no one left. The Soviets had 3x Rifle Co and 2x Storm pltns remaining. There's a lot to be talked about re infantry strength
-idle/attack chit decision making
-reinforcement group choices
-what to do/don't do when you are backed up against the Volga.

I was thinking while driving home today there's probably enough data collected to draft a good article. I need to sort thru it b/f I'll know for sure.

I thought we would've made it one more scenario but I was a bit too aggressive in turn 5 and left the pier unguarded. I picked the wrong day to start rolling cr@ppy. I'll also note that if the set DC in DD32 cellar had detonated and leveled that hex as we intended we'd still be playing. Cest la guerre...details soon.

 

[Tom Morin]

An AAR/Analysis article would look great in the Journal.........

 

[janusz.maxe]

In my analysis one of the best buys early in th CG, when the range is great and the Soviets have the high buildings, and before ammo shortage for 75L strikes, the AT-gun battery should be a killer. 4 tubes with ROF 2, 75mm rounds and smoke to boot. With four of these at a range of 13-16 from the specialsts house/state bank/Pavlov's and the Soviet mortars/HMGs should be silenced soon.

janusz

 

[mallexen]

Thanks guys for a great AAR!

You played something that I dreamed about, but never did, during the years of playtest: an opposed river landing!

See ya,
Mike

 

['Ol Fezziwig]

...You played something that I dreamed about, but never did, during the years of playtest: an opposed river landing!

See ya,
Mike

The. First. Bid. Alzheimer Boy.

 

[Bob Miller]

Thanks for sharing this 1 1/2 year AAR. A few weeks back I repped all four of you, if for nothing else, the commitment to playing this out and posting it. I agree this would be a great journal article. Strategy discussion from both sides. The Germans bought the last infantry RG I read? So if the Russkies could have held on a little stronger they could have turned the tide maybe. That's what this CG is about.

How many surviving units were on the board at game end for each side? How many were purchased overall? Kill ratio? These are the stats that I'm looking forward to reading.