Author |
thomaso827
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Method |
Solo |
Victor |
United States |
Play Date |
2015-10-23 |
Language |
English |
Scenario |
AAAD040
|
This one has a large task force of infantry, armored infantry, Lees and Shermans, with supporting mortars, gunned halftracks, (half of which I just realized I left off) and air support attacking a spread out line of Germans, who include an 88 battery, a 50mm AT, a 75mm Inf, Panzers III and IV, a Marder III and about 2 companies of infantry. Both sides are equal on OBA coming in on the 30 column. Germans start dug in. The US are trying to take at least 10 steps of enemy casualties, get at least 10 steps off the board and avoid taking 10 or more casualties themselves. I spread the Germans in a line from north to south along the ridges, with the 88 on the 40m hill where he could start shooting to good effect pretty much as soon as US armor started coming on the board, as long as they came in somewhat towards the center of the board. The rest of the AT capable guns got spread out to support the infantry positions. The air support played a much larger roll in this game than my usual run of luck, coming in on the first 3 turns. On turn 1 the P-38s did no damage, but on turns 2 and 3, they rolled 2s, with the B-25s on turn 2 wiping out the 88s and more P-38s on turn 3 killing the 50mm AT gun. This helped quite a bit in giving the halftracks and US armor a bit more breathing room. Even though the US lost half of the Shermans, the Lees moved along the north edge of the board with the goal of getting as much off the board as possible, and the infantry in trucks followed that rout while the armored infantry tried to pin down German troops in the middle. US losses doubled the 10 steps but they still had a good shot at getting a majority of infantry and armor off the east edge, and with having eliminated 16 steps of Germans, including all the German armor and the big AT guns, I called the game a US minor victory at the 9 turn mark. Doing another turn might have eliminated another stack of truck loaded infantry, but it would also have just about doubled the number of steps exiting the board, and the US mortars, OBA and air cover were doing a good job of killing dug-in Germans, especially when a German stack left cover to try to move north and block the US move. While the game didn't last to the bitter end, it was a cliff-hanger right up until the point that the trucks and Lees were past the Germans on the north end of the ridge, so I gave it a 5 as a very enjoyable game.
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