Panzer Grenadier Battles on March 28th:
Spearhead Division #15 - Dillenberg
Closer Than I Would Have Thought
Author Hugmenot
Method Solo
Victor Austria
Play Date 2014-03-09
Language English
Scenario HbnS001

Played solo in about 3 hours.

You can view the SA setup in post 1 of this thread .

As all 7 prior recorded plays ended in an Austrian, I turned to the AARs for inspiration. I noticed Matt and Vince set up 4 and 6 units respectively in the western town and thus decided to be a contrarian and set up 5 units there. But not entirely a contrarian, I wanted to explore Matt’s suggestion that a passive defense would likely lead to a draw.

The Austrian troops located in the western town are to use fire opportunities if the Schutzbund rush the town, and to split up 1 unit per town hex should the Schutzbund be more patient. The assumption is the Austrians will have a much easier time in assault and will never suffer more than an assault on the 9 column if they remain in town. With 8/7 morale and +1 morale for recovery in town, full strength unit will be very hard to dislodge. The Austrians on the eastern town are just there to slow down any Schutzbund incursion until reinforcement arrive should the Schutzbund cross the river.

The Schutzbund show patience. They surround the town and send 2 leaders and 4 platoons east, hoping to take the 1 hex village and to threaten the larger town.

The Schutzbund start their assault on the western town on turn 5 but no side suffers any casualty by turn 8 when the Heimwehr reinforcements arrive. Meanwhi;le, the group going east split into 2 subgroups of 1 officer and 2 INF each. One group heads for the bridge and dugs out there to delay the reinforcements from joining the battle too quickly. The other group heads for the unoccupied village.

At the end of turn 9, all Austrian units are in good order and the Austrians decide the reinforcements are best used as a blocking force to prevent the Schutzbund from quickly shifting their attention east; in other words, they would rather not fight. This seemed a good idea by the end of turn 10 because all Austrian units were now in good order. With only 6 turns to go, an Austrian victory seems inevitable.

On turn 11, the Schutzbund renewed their assault and lost 2 steps of Infantry to the Austrians. But they also managed to disrupt one enemy and to demoralize another. The demoralized unit failed to recover and lost a step fleeing. Not too worrisome for the Austrians as they were still were far ahead.

On turn 12, the Schutzbund assaulted the fleeing Austrian on the 1 column and destroyed it! The Austrians are still very much in the lead but having seen the Schutzbund roll three “6” in a row introduces an element of discomfort. They want to take no chance and send the four Heimwehr INF units to retake the village.

Turn 13 saw the Schutzbund roll another “6” and caused another casualty in the assault and, like the first unit, this one is also eliminated in a subsequent assault. With casualties now 4 to 2 in favor of the Schutzbund, one more town hex and the Schutzbund may earn a draw.

Turn 14 and the Schutzbund roll another “6” but the reduced Austrian unit survives in good order. One Schutzbund assault fails miserable when they suffer 1 step loss and the 3 units are disrupted. The Austrians counter-attack but miss.

Turn 15 saw the Schutzbund recovering their units for a last turn assault and the Heimwehr getting 2 units in good order adjacent to the village.

The Schutzbund win the initiative by 4 on the last turn. They conduct two assaults and shoot at the Heimwehr at point blank range; all misses. The Heimwehr assault the village and contest it.

Victory point totals are Schutzbund 9 (2 town hexes x 2, 5 step losses), Austrians 17 (7 town hexes x 2, 3 step losses).

Austrian Minor Victory!

Casualties: The Schutzbund lost 3 steps of infantry (all in failed assaults). The Austrian lost 5 steps (4 in Schutzbund assault, 1 when a reduced, demoralized unit attempted to leave an assault hex).

I gave this scenario a “3” because there were a number of interesting decision points. I would have rated it one point higher if it was more balanced. I believe the Schutzbund can draw with some luck but I don’t see how they can win. May be best played solitaire.

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