Played ftf against Matt W in one long afternoon.

House rule: we do not inspect stacks in restricting terrain unless all units fired or moved, or we have a unit adjacent.

Matt’s setup surprised me. With the AT ditch providing some cover against direct fire and being an obstacle the Indians must clear (fill?) for their AFV to participate in the battle, I expected it to be more heavily defended. Not necessarily strongly defended but rather enough to harass the Indians and slow them down.

I surveyed the board and guessed the 17 pounder was likely place right there. Boom! The biggest threat to my tanks is no more. With deductive power like mine, I am sure I should have led the effort to uncover the alleged weapons of mass destruction! Or maybe not; I prefer cold weather to warn weather.

Meanwhile, my infantry crossed the AT ditch unopposed and set up a perimeter while my engineers aided by an infantry platoon cleared filled just enough ditches for my Sherman tanks to cross. A smaller infantry detachment crossed the ditch and immediately went for the closest town.

The large group which crossed near the road was split into 3 groups. The first small group was sent to clear the woods on map 1 and failed to make progress due to unexpected stiff resistance by the Razakars. But it was enough to occupy the enemy so it was an OK result. A second small group was sent against a roadblock set up a few hexes away. It took a while, but we were finally able to rout the enemy. The third, larger group was sent to clear a path along the ditch and then head for the town. No, not for R&R, but rather to help the assault. The Sherman tanks crossed and followed the larger group a few turns behind when the enemy artillery position was known or at least only able to shoot at long odds. The engineers went with them.

It was a slow, deliberate progress calculated to bring me the victory with several turns to spare. Matt recognized his troops stood very little chance and made a dash for the town using his armored cars. A few blew up real good and he decided to pull back the rest. A few turns later and it was all over; my side was already in winning territory with the kill ratio only likely to increase in my favor.

Indian victory.

I rated this scenario a “3” but it’s a weak “3”. I believe the way I played the Indians against Matt’s setup involved very little risk and was very likely to bring on success. I think the onus is on the Hyderabadi commander to find a more effective defense (see Matt’s AAR for suggestions). Having said that, I believe this is a good, albeit large, veteran against newcomer scenario with the veteran taking on the Hyderabadi side.