jrv
Forum Guru
My opponent, who took the French, said he had a very hard time setting up the defense in this scenario from the 2020 Winter Offensive pack. I can see why. To win the Germans must either control a factory (J10, ten hexes in size) in the middle of the board (immediate win) or have more squad-equivalents in/next to a building (I4) at the far end of the board at game end, with each vehicle counting as one squad-equivalent in the second VC. The scenario is five turns long. The French would like to do four things: set up forward to cost the Germans time deploying and fighting, interdict German units that try to move the the far end of the board for the game-end VC, set up strongly in the factory to avoid the immediate VC, and reinforce the back building to make the game-end VC more difficult. That is too much to do for the force the French are given, and the French must make compromises.
The French have two groups: one with nine squads, a 75mm ART, a 25mm ATG and a 37* INF, HMG, MMG, lots of "?" and two fortified buildings set up in the middle of the board, and one with two green squads, a 6+1 and a field phone controlling a 120mm OBA that can only use harrassing fire. The second group set up in the back VC building and can't leave it. The field phone may not set up HIP. The French also have two roadblocks that can set up nearly anywhere. The Germans have fourteen squads, half elite, a 9-2 (but only three leaders total), two MMGs and six early-war Panzers.
By SSR vehicular road rate (B3.41) is n/a. We took this to mean that the cost of entering a road hex is (generally) Open Ground cost. Most of the German vehicles are fully-tracked so one MP per hex for them (two MP for a narrow street) but for the Armored Car it costs three MP per hex (and six MP for a narrow street).
The French had set up with a number of units fairly far forward, e.g. B14, E15, I16 and K16. There were also some units in the J10 factory, and of course the units that must set up in the back I4 building. There were two stacks on the second level of the back building; one was obviously the field phone and leader, and the other was not. Although they were not revealed at start, the roadblocks were on the C13/C14 and E13/F12 hexsides. The second was a flawed choice as it allowed bypass of E12 along the E12/D12 hexside; it should have been in E13/E14 instead. The 75mm was in L11 and the 25mm was in H9. The 37 INF was in the F14 building, and the HMG was in the K13 building. The two fortified locations were J11 (an obvious choice) and M11, which was later changed by mutual agreement to L11 because otherwise the 75mm ART was set up illegally.
I entered across the entire south edge. Without knowing where the weak points in the defense are, I think the Germans have to probe to find a seam. They also have to move quickly given only five turns. When I saw the defense I half-expected the forward units to be dummies, but I was quickly disabused of this idea.
My first move was straight up the middle entering a tank and a halfsquad on I20 for armored assault. The squad in I16 opened fire immediately but without result. The halfsquad proceeded to J16 where it was broken by the MMG in J11 while the tank went to H16. A second tank and a bunch of squads followed along, three into the H17 building and three into the L16 area. The halfsquad routed into K16, which eliminated a dummy. The middle attack went strongly up both sides of the J15 street. The squad in I16 tried to leave using bypass out the back but didn't notice a LOS for an eight down one (CX, FFMO, FFNAM) and broke. The HMG (manned by a halfsquad) in K13 broke a German squad in K14. A Panzer III moved up to L13 to bring it under fire. The 75mm in L11 fired but failed to hit, and the German tank scampered to K13 bypass to VBM freeze the HMG as well as get out of LOS of the 75mm gun. This didn't work out as expected as the French 25mm was in H9, and immobilized the Panzer. Two more German squads moved up to K14 and broke the halfsquad in the AFPh, which routed away leaving a (malfunctioned) HMG.
I was concerned about the French OBA so I had the 9-2 and two squads with MMG zip forward to M15, planning to move to level one in the APh. I was again surprised to find a French squad in N14, which fired but without effect. I returned fire in the AFPh and broke it, then moved up to the second level. This kill stack spent several turns trying to have any effect on the 6+1 leader with its field phone. Six add two and six add one shots failed repeatedly. On the last turn before we ended it the 9-2 finally striped concealment with a PTC. That the 6+1 passed. If I had only known my opponent didn't know how to work OBA cards I could have avoided the whole embarrassing episode. He drew a red chit on an extra chit draw, cancelling the free black draw, then drew a red card on a primary chit draw. I don't believe there were any OBA attacks before we called it.
Two halfsquads probed up the far right, finding only dummies and capturing the broken squad from N14. They were on their way to the back building when the game ended. Two Panzers, a tank and the armored car, also ran up the right side past the factory toward the back building. The Pz IV, which put down Smoke to cover their movement, might also be able to make it to the back building.
On the left three-and-a-half squads plus two tanks found a squad-and-a-half plus the 37INF. They proceeded to dismantle much of this force with some help from units from the center. The two Panzers bypassed the ill-placed roadblock and were readying themselves for a run to the back building.
When we called this it looked as though there were going to be four and possibly five German vehicles plus two halfsquads around the back building, which against the two squads that started there would be enough for the win. The J10 factory was under threat but I don't think there was enough time to take it.
I think the French have to recognize that they need to reinforce the back building, or at least appear to. The French middle force also have a lot of dummies, and some of those could make it seem that the reinforcement is bigger than it actually is. That would force the Germans to guess whether the J10 factory is strongly defended or not. The French might even keep their reaction force in the middle between the two VC objectives (e.g. I6), and have that force move to the VC objective that seemed most threatened. I would send the 37INF back to the I4 building too to give that force some credible AT capability.
In the factory although setting up the fortified locations and the Gun on the edge might seem most obvious, the French also might consider a "reverse slope" defense with the fortified locations in, say, K11 and J10 or L10. The 75 would be firing with a net -1 TH DRM (factory TEM, point blank range) as opposed to, say, +1 from J11 to I12.
I am not to sure what the French OBA should be used for. The LOSes from the back building are fairly difficult, and much of the terrain is stone building with upper level. Eight FP up four is not that good a shot. It might be used to impede movement to the back building, but again the LOSes are very restricted.
Finally the roadblocks could close off one side as was done (or rather attempted) here, but they could also be used in back to mess up moving vehicles to the back building, e.g. G6/G7 and L2/M3. The Germans may discover them too late to be able to move those vehicles next to the back building.
The French have an opportunity here for a wily defense, and that may leave the Germans having to make a guess on which VC condition is feasible and which is not. It has the potential for being a good game of bluff and surprise.
JR
The French have two groups: one with nine squads, a 75mm ART, a 25mm ATG and a 37* INF, HMG, MMG, lots of "?" and two fortified buildings set up in the middle of the board, and one with two green squads, a 6+1 and a field phone controlling a 120mm OBA that can only use harrassing fire. The second group set up in the back VC building and can't leave it. The field phone may not set up HIP. The French also have two roadblocks that can set up nearly anywhere. The Germans have fourteen squads, half elite, a 9-2 (but only three leaders total), two MMGs and six early-war Panzers.
By SSR vehicular road rate (B3.41) is n/a. We took this to mean that the cost of entering a road hex is (generally) Open Ground cost. Most of the German vehicles are fully-tracked so one MP per hex for them (two MP for a narrow street) but for the Armored Car it costs three MP per hex (and six MP for a narrow street).
The French had set up with a number of units fairly far forward, e.g. B14, E15, I16 and K16. There were also some units in the J10 factory, and of course the units that must set up in the back I4 building. There were two stacks on the second level of the back building; one was obviously the field phone and leader, and the other was not. Although they were not revealed at start, the roadblocks were on the C13/C14 and E13/F12 hexsides. The second was a flawed choice as it allowed bypass of E12 along the E12/D12 hexside; it should have been in E13/E14 instead. The 75mm was in L11 and the 25mm was in H9. The 37 INF was in the F14 building, and the HMG was in the K13 building. The two fortified locations were J11 (an obvious choice) and M11, which was later changed by mutual agreement to L11 because otherwise the 75mm ART was set up illegally.
I entered across the entire south edge. Without knowing where the weak points in the defense are, I think the Germans have to probe to find a seam. They also have to move quickly given only five turns. When I saw the defense I half-expected the forward units to be dummies, but I was quickly disabused of this idea.
My first move was straight up the middle entering a tank and a halfsquad on I20 for armored assault. The squad in I16 opened fire immediately but without result. The halfsquad proceeded to J16 where it was broken by the MMG in J11 while the tank went to H16. A second tank and a bunch of squads followed along, three into the H17 building and three into the L16 area. The halfsquad routed into K16, which eliminated a dummy. The middle attack went strongly up both sides of the J15 street. The squad in I16 tried to leave using bypass out the back but didn't notice a LOS for an eight down one (CX, FFMO, FFNAM) and broke. The HMG (manned by a halfsquad) in K13 broke a German squad in K14. A Panzer III moved up to L13 to bring it under fire. The 75mm in L11 fired but failed to hit, and the German tank scampered to K13 bypass to VBM freeze the HMG as well as get out of LOS of the 75mm gun. This didn't work out as expected as the French 25mm was in H9, and immobilized the Panzer. Two more German squads moved up to K14 and broke the halfsquad in the AFPh, which routed away leaving a (malfunctioned) HMG.
I was concerned about the French OBA so I had the 9-2 and two squads with MMG zip forward to M15, planning to move to level one in the APh. I was again surprised to find a French squad in N14, which fired but without effect. I returned fire in the AFPh and broke it, then moved up to the second level. This kill stack spent several turns trying to have any effect on the 6+1 leader with its field phone. Six add two and six add one shots failed repeatedly. On the last turn before we ended it the 9-2 finally striped concealment with a PTC. That the 6+1 passed. If I had only known my opponent didn't know how to work OBA cards I could have avoided the whole embarrassing episode. He drew a red chit on an extra chit draw, cancelling the free black draw, then drew a red card on a primary chit draw. I don't believe there were any OBA attacks before we called it.
Two halfsquads probed up the far right, finding only dummies and capturing the broken squad from N14. They were on their way to the back building when the game ended. Two Panzers, a tank and the armored car, also ran up the right side past the factory toward the back building. The Pz IV, which put down Smoke to cover their movement, might also be able to make it to the back building.
On the left three-and-a-half squads plus two tanks found a squad-and-a-half plus the 37INF. They proceeded to dismantle much of this force with some help from units from the center. The two Panzers bypassed the ill-placed roadblock and were readying themselves for a run to the back building.
When we called this it looked as though there were going to be four and possibly five German vehicles plus two halfsquads around the back building, which against the two squads that started there would be enough for the win. The J10 factory was under threat but I don't think there was enough time to take it.
I think the French have to recognize that they need to reinforce the back building, or at least appear to. The French middle force also have a lot of dummies, and some of those could make it seem that the reinforcement is bigger than it actually is. That would force the Germans to guess whether the J10 factory is strongly defended or not. The French might even keep their reaction force in the middle between the two VC objectives (e.g. I6), and have that force move to the VC objective that seemed most threatened. I would send the 37INF back to the I4 building too to give that force some credible AT capability.
In the factory although setting up the fortified locations and the Gun on the edge might seem most obvious, the French also might consider a "reverse slope" defense with the fortified locations in, say, K11 and J10 or L10. The 75 would be firing with a net -1 TH DRM (factory TEM, point blank range) as opposed to, say, +1 from J11 to I12.
I am not to sure what the French OBA should be used for. The LOSes from the back building are fairly difficult, and much of the terrain is stone building with upper level. Eight FP up four is not that good a shot. It might be used to impede movement to the back building, but again the LOSes are very restricted.
Finally the roadblocks could close off one side as was done (or rather attempted) here, but they could also be used in back to mess up moving vehicles to the back building, e.g. G6/G7 and L2/M3. The Germans may discover them too late to be able to move those vehicles next to the back building.
The French have an opportunity here for a wily defense, and that may leave the Germans having to make a guess on which VC condition is feasible and which is not. It has the potential for being a good game of bluff and surprise.
JR
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