VOTG - SASL CGIV (AAR)

Gordon

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That's a perfectly possible random outcome.
 

BigAl737

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(Channeling my inner Weir) If the population of China all rolled 2d6 three times in a row, about 21,433 of them would get the same result.
 

Gordon

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(Channeling my inner Weir) If the population of China all rolled 2d6 three times in a row, about 21,433 of them would get the same result.
And we'd probably feel the seismic shock on our side of the planet.
 

Ahriman667

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14 Sept - Day

GE Turn 8

Across the board, the GE PFPh is largely ineffective. Some RU squads are broken, but not enough, and the only firing FT runs out of fuel. There was also a lot of PANIC, notably in the North, including several leaders.
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Some forward probes do reveal some dummies and also activate some, notably an NKVD 628 and an INF gun in L8, and another INF gun in K45. Pushing the envelop, the South KG 10-2 MG stack rushes into the Children's Home, and activated the second INF mentioned, along with a host of squads, and which the Germans managed to save against a 2MC. The Home is largely in German hands, except for an NKVD 628 in the cellar (I43).
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During the RU DFPh, also largely ineffective, the T34 creates a burning wreck out of the StuG B in the orchard.

The APh clears column D of S? counters, but ALL GE units that had moved adjacent to RU positions become PINNED, which precludes any chance of CC and pushing the perimeter further East.

By the end of the German turn, only the dug-in KV1 remains in the Railway Station, and a 247HS takes a RU 426 with it in H-to-H.
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RU Turn 8
The Russians were rewarded with more reinforcements; 6 S? enter from the north map edge (as per RE continuing reinforcements), and the standard chance of reinforcements (DR less than the Turn No) sees a further 7 S? coming on along the south map board.
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RU PFPh and GE DFPh again are largely ineffective, except for the Russian firepower towards the Children's Home, as many RU squads rolled to MOVE instead of firing. PFPh against 10-2 and HMG squad in the Home, pins them and breaks the other 467 in the stack. An adjacent 467 also is broken by heavy RU PFPh. This leaves them vulnerable to the RU MPh, and sure enough a 527 (and the cellar-dwelling 628 move/advance into the ground floor of I43 in the Home. The two broken squads move one hex over on the first floor. So much for a well defined perimeter location. Also the T34 moves closer to take a shot at the second StuG B, but thankfully misses.
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The reinforcing S? counter are mostly to the East and behind RU lines, however a 426 occupies E1 (though becomes PINNED due to DFF, while in the South a 7-0, 426 and a Lt Mtr occupy D50, resisting scattered DFF (they advance to E50 in the APh).

Finally, the stubborn 426 takes the 468 with it in H-to-H, as they both are killed. This leaves the Hvy Wpn MG stack to hold the perimeter line there.
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Next will be the Refit Phase, and I'll report the results and the current CVP tally then. Below, the map as it stands Pre-Refit Phase.
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Ahriman667

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SITREP #1

14 Sept - Day After-Action Report

Russian S? Activations and CVP/VP Tally

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Other Metrics.
  1. Hold Attitude S? - initially 305 (218 activated/dummies), with another 222 in Reserve (2 activated/dummies due to Sniper).
  2. Advance Atitude S? - 27 (of which 18 activated)
  3. Total Activated/Dummy S? - 238
  4. 22 fortified locations generated (not counting the predetermined Historical Strongpoints F36, L38, S39 and FF43)
  5. GE captures 57 stone locations, while the RU only captured 2
The perimeter as it stands...
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Things I forgot 😕

  1. Apparently KG South should have had a delayed entry of the Rifle Coy 4 and Stosstruppe 4. I brought them on in Turn 1 when it should have been a minimum of Turn 3; they enter on a DR < the current turn number. Not that they made much progress because of the two strongpoints, but it likely would have delayed (or prevented) them reaching the Fire Station building, let alone the Children's Home. Just did a check and they, if my rolls were the ones in question, would not have even entered the map. Big game changer there.
  2. Ditto with Rifle Coy 3 and Stosstruppe 3. They enter on a dr < the current turn number, which - based of my rolls just now - would see them enter on Turn 3. For points 1 & 2, I basically just went off my spreadsheet of purchases I had made for an earlier (unfinished) attempt, without confirming entry info.
  3. The Victory Conditions specify VP (for stone hexes), and I wasn't paying attention to those. It might have seen the NKVD 628 (now behind GE lines) take control of more hexes rather than just shoot em up with the Germans. Overall, not a game changer, as most of the RU rolls were to fire, and Hold Attitude on the S? precluded them from moving. The various Reinforcement S? only had 27 showing up late in the game, and most of them ended up being behind enemy lines.
  4. Forgot the SASL VOTG Rule CG11.1b Battalion Strongpoint. However I just made 22 rolls in VASL and didn't get any snake eyes so maybe not an issue.
  5. The one time I moved an AFV adjacent to unbroken MMC, they should probably have attempted a MOL attack (SASL VOTG 20.4 (6.311 Self Preservation)).
  6. EDIT misplayed the Advance Attitude S?. They should have been moving towards FRIENDLY VPO rather than straight across the board.
I think that was it. At any rate, the Russians do roll for a night counter-attack, so off we go. GE gets 20 CPP for replenishment (EDIT actually only 10), and they had 3 CPP left over.
 
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TopT

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Very Nice! I can't wait to see the results of the night time counter attack.
 

Ahriman667

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Gonna do a quick replay of 14 Day. Errors I made seem too grievous. I'll post the After-Action Report when I'm done.
 

Ahriman667

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Here is a screen grab of a spate of S? Activation rolls. AC is three and non of the drm apply. Means that the 9 S? that entered the South edge are all dummies. 🥳

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Ahriman667

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2nd playthrough continues...

14D Turn 7 (and 8 to follow) fight for the Fire Station...could be tense. Been rolling 7-10 S? reinforcements every turn since Turn 3, but luckily most have been Dummies. This play through is turning out remarkedly different than the previous one, namely the number of dug-in AFV (8), and FANATIC strongpoints. I think there are at least 5 x 10-0 commissar's that have been in play (only two still alive) and a number of 9-0's and 8+1's. On the plus side, this means that they won't get too many quality regular leaders because of the DRM.
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Ahriman667

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SITREP #2

14 Sept - Day (Redo) After-Action Report


Second playthrough went somewhat different than the previous. First off, here is the south-edge at scenario end. The lone 467 in G50 PANIC'd when all the S? (four in the three hexes south of him) appeared, and was ineffective in defending himself...he died due to Failure to Rout.
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Here are the metrics for the second run through. Notables: 47 NKVD 628 vs 35 in the other game, 7 (each) x 10-0 & 8+1 commissars and 6 tanks dug-in. Plus I didn't lose any AFV this time. I also had realized right before I started this scenario, as I was double checking the entry info, that I had left the 2 x 81mm MTR and a whole rifle coy off the map in the previous scenario. Wow. 😟
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Here is the perimeter map leading into the next scenario.
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I rolled a 4 on the SASL VOTG Initiative table, which with modifiers (-6 and +4 for a net -2) means the Russian should be idle at night, rather than the historical counter attack. Not sure if I should ignore the roll and do the night-time counter attack or go with the dice. What do you guys think?

Also, anyone know what dug-in AFV's do during the Refit Phase? Do the crews try and escape (this is what I did, with one dying and the other escaping).
 
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BigAl737

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Go with the dice. I think the AC determination gets a -1 mod for the next campaign scenario. That should turn up the heat.

I think rolling for escape was the right move:

12.6073 ESCAPE FROM ISOLATION: Each Isolated Activated ENEMY unit/S? must take a NTC; there is a cumulative 2 DRM that applies if in a VPO Location. Any ENEMY unit that fails the Task Check must attempt to Escape. Each Isolated S? must take the NTC using a mo-rale of 7; if it fails the NTC it must check for Activation and attempt escape (as a stack if other units stacked with it are attempting Escape).
 

TopT

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Go with the dice. I think the AC determination gets a -1 mod for the next campaign scenario. That should turn up the heat.

I think rolling for escape was the right move:

12.6073 ESCAPE FROM ISOLATION: Each Isolated Activated ENEMY unit/S? must take a NTC; there is a cumulative 2 DRM that applies if in a VPO Location. Any ENEMY unit that fails the Task Check must attempt to Escape. Each Isolated S? must take the NTC using a mo-rale of 7; if it fails the NTC it must check for Activation and attempt escape (as a stack if other units stacked with it are attempting Escape).
As much as i was looking forward to a night assault, I agree.

This is a very good thread!
 

Ahriman667

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15 Sept - Day

German Assault

Russian decline to counter attack on the night of 14 Sept, due to too many losses. 15 Sept dawns and the sky is overcast, with Dry EC and a Mild Breeze from the NW. During the Refit Phase, the following occurred:
  1. 5 x 467 BH to 468; a 9-2 BH to a 10-2.
  2. Both 81* MTR that were broken at scenario end are eliminated from OoB, as is a broken HMG and LMG. Half of the captured Russian support weapons are deemed unfit for use, including the lone HMG captured in the Children's Home assault the previous day.
  3. StuG G Pl 1 (with the 8-1 armour leader) is pulled out of the line and reassigned, therefore unavailable for this scenario.
  4. EN AC remains 3, but ELR (now 4), SAN (now 6), and RE (now 5/6/7) all increase. Also RU boobytraps are level A now.
  5. Had 34 CPP to spend (counting the 6 new Support CCP), from which I purchased:
    1. 2 x rifle coys (1 blue code (full strength), 1 green code (light depletion)) starting offboard.
    2. A battery of 150+ OBA with a pre-registered hex (L38) and an off-board observer (A39).
    3. A platoon of StuG G (to replace withdrawn one) at full strength, starting off board.
    4. Increase to GE SAN (now 4).
    5. FR RE chance with a -2 drm. Was going for a Stuka II purchase, but it was overcast. Not sure is this was worth the points, so I guess I'll find out if the RNG floats my way.
German Plan
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German assault plan will see 5 main efforts.
  1. KG 1, in the North will be a combined arms armoured assault to clear the north map edge as much as possible and then support the effort across the 9h January Square and the Dairy House (M8).
  2. KG 2, in the centre-north will see an infantry/stosstruppe attack, that will attempt a pincer movement to capture the stone buildings that run along the west side of Communiscticheskaya. Once secured, will push across the road as far as possible.
  3. KG 3 will be in the centre; two MG stacks will support an engineer assault on the two NKVD strongpoints (K27 & K28). Once secured, the effort will swing onto the right flank of KG 2 to support their clearing efforts.
  4. KG 4, in the centre-south, supported by StuG B Platoon 1, GE forces will attempt to clear the Nail Factory and buildings across Communiscticheskaya, then clear the block bordered by Ulitsa Gogolya and Bohodenskaya. A battery of 150's will be on standby to support this effort, but their resources might be used elsewhere along the line.
  5. The southern KG 5 will reduce enemy positions in vicinity of 1st of May Square while waiting for StuG G platoon 3 and rifle coy 8 to arrive (from off-board). Once in place they will push the southern map edge, and support the block-clearing efforts of KG 4.
RU Setup
167 S? are setup in Hold Attitude, with another 201 in Reserve.

Comments
The north is lightly populated with S? (Hold and Reserve), so it should be an easy push along the map edge. Care will have to be taken, as the higher RE values will probably mean more reinforcements might be coming, possibly from the North map edge. The north-centre battle should mirror the slog that occurred on the 14th, and the two Blaze counters and Mild Breeze could change GE plans.

The Nail Factory is going to be a slog, and hopefully the StuG's can do their part to break the strong points. I may have gone to light with the troops in this sector, but the reinforcements arriving from off-board should help right things.

There are a lot of S? in the south, and the orchards might prove troublesome to deal with as they offer some protection from the massed GE fire. Also, care must be taken for a steady stream of likely Russian reinforcements arriving along the southern map edge. In the waning turns of the previous day, some 57 S? advanced along that edge and moved in behind the forward German line in that area.

Finally, I have a random chance of rolling a Friendly RE (5/6) during the GE RPh. Not sure if the points spent (6) is worth it or not, but I couldn't get the Stukas I wanted so we'll see.

Oopsies
Things I forget about, include the 548 and 838 smoke before assaulting across roads (though not too much of that was required the previous day), and Russian use of MOL for self-protection. I'll try to remember them for this battle, given the reduced number of overall S? counters.

I'm going to try and use Sewers, something I've just never gotten the hang of or used before. They will help protect the Russian counter attack (if it happens).

EDIT
Totally missed the -3 DRM for Reinforcement MMC. Would have seen some 628's and 458 appearing in the South, and zero NKVD squads
 
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Ahriman667

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15 Sept - Day - Pre-Scenario Activations and Final Setup

Pre-game activations of S? proves interesting. 51 S? (out of 167) were rolled for, of which 33 were activated for a 65% success rate with a 3 AC.

A lot of 458's and 628's appeared and two 45LL AT guns in the South, which will have to be dealt with quickly if the AFV's are going to survive.

EN setup in vicinity of (IVO) 9th January Square. The 10-3 with the HMG squads will probably be a priority for PFPh
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The EN setup IVO the Nail Factory. Two HMG's are in the Russian lines in the South, so Russian DFPh will have more punch. Hopefully the 150+ OBA lands on target (pre-registered L38) in the first PFPh. (The NKVD 628 hex (M39) will be concealed before scenario starts).
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Scenario setup is complete and I will probably start Turn 1 tomorrow.
 

Ahriman667

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...can't wait until tomorrow.

Offboard barely makes radio contact (field phone rolls an 11) and then draws a RED chit for the OBA access...off to a smashing start. Also no GE RE on the first turn.
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Also, the northern PFPh...completely ineffective and my 9-2 stack PANICs.
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Ahriman667

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Can I get a mulligan on this first turn...Sniper lands on my 10-2 stack and breaks everything, not too mention kills the 10-2 :mad:
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