Author	triangular_cube
Method	Solo
Victor	Draw
Play Date	2022-12-02
Language	English
Scenario	AirI015

This was the end of my long day off marathon session...and it was quite the scenario to end on. I probably over-rated this one a tad due to the necessary errata. German reinforcements enter the map from an area that is out of play. For my purposes I had them enter there and walk into the in play area. Others had them come in from one of the roads behind the German lines, but this removed some of the delay in their entrance which I did not like, so I went with my way. That all being said...

Americans and Germans both have very powerful OBA in this scenario, which drive their actions. Americans are even more powerful than the Germans but they are both strong enough to make surviving on the board quite difficult. The Germans set up 2 base 11 stacks in the target middle and target northern town. These are going to sit and wait until the American plans reveal themselves before moving out. The southern area has the strongest German presence, with Gren and Gren reduced stacks in both of the woods hexes, and the ENG sitting in the town. The rest sits in reserve. The German plan is to try and feel out the Americans, while their reinforcements arrive. Just sit tight, and try to live.

Americans advance from the east. They leave their arty behind as they cannot advance past one hex onto the map, but paired with the 81s they still can get on the 16 column. They let the artillery lead the way, with 56 column OBA blasts thinning out the Germans in the woods before they gather up to assault. The surviving Germans are sticky and hold off the American assaults for a couple turns as the German reserve and reinforcements gather behind the hedge line adjacent to the woods, ready to pounce once the first line dissolves. They also move the 11 stacks in the towns towards the hedgeline north of the woods, overlooking the fields.

Americans are kind of stuck there, not really wanting to clear out the Germans from the woods lest they get butchered afterwards, but they have to push forward and then they take on all the fire in the world. Most hold, but enough units demoralize and flee, and the rest of the game ends up with the Germans pursuing and harrassing these with arty fire accumulating step losses. Both sides lose more than 9, mostly from OBA and the game ends in a draw, both sides having "won".

This scenario was a good one, but I don't have many notes on this scenario. In the end it was the Americans winning with nearly the nine steps lost in the battle. American OBA did a good job clearing the German defenders so the assaults just mopped up the disrupted and demoralized German units. The Germans were able to get some good Op fire roll on the Americans and the hedgerow first fire bonus save a few German units in the assaults.

All in all a good scenario, but I need to play again to get some details.

The Germans set up first, in and around the victory hexes. The Americans enter and move slowly through the bocage. Not much action in the first few turns as the two sides remain hidden from each other among the hedgerows. The Germans do move their sergeant up to spot for artillery, but the Americans drive him away before taking any casualties.

The Americans set up two hexes from the northernmost objective hex and attempt to soften up the German position with their superior artillery and direct fire. Unfortunately for them, a combination of good German and poor American die rolling whittles down the attackers more than the defenders. The Americans do move up and capture one defended hex through assault, but lose nine steps in the process (the Germans lose seven), and the victory goes to the Wehrmacht.

One of the better scenarios from the original Airborne. I will have to play this again to see if the Americans can do better with better dice.

This is a fairly interesting scenario, yet another fight over 0604 and 0803, although the Germans also have to hold onto 0509 to win. The Germans have 7 full platoons and 4 reduced ones and a couple of 81mms and an 50mm AT to hold off 6 full strength PARA units, 2 reduced, a PARA HMG, a PARA ENG, a couple of artillery pieces and a bunch of OBA. There are a few problems with the scenario. The 75mm can only move onto one hex before its transport, a jeep, is hemmed in by hedgerows. The scenario says not to use certain parts of the board, yet the German reinforcements (2 GREN, an HMG and an armored car) enter in the prohibited area. I basically just had them get out of the prohibited area as soon as possible.

The Germans defended 0803 with a smaller force, figuring that they could afford to give up one town and win. They did support it with a couple of dug in GREN units. 0509 also didn't have a huge force, since it wasn't a main American objective. The bulk of the Germans were in 0706-0708 to give maximum flexibility.

For their part, the US decided to do a feint towards 0509 with a small force, while concentrating the main force on 0803. From the beginning, things went wrong. Although the hedgerows and swamp provided some cover for the advancing PARAs, where they could be seen, the German artillery would hit them, disrupting a couple and slowing up the tempo of the advance. Meanwhile, the American OBA was not able to put any real hurt on the Germans. The southern attack stalled quickly, and as the US approached, a 12 on the 30 column wiped out a PARA and demoralized the PARA HMG, which fled to safety. With the Americans a bit shaken, the Germans actually moved to the attack in the center. This was a back and forth affair centering on 0908, with both sides taking casualties and reinforcing. Many turns, though, the units just missed each other or rested. This wasn't decided until turn 16, when the Germans finally left the scene, and not before taking out 1 1/2 platoons of Americans. Up north, the US worked their way around the town to avoid most of the German fire and assaulted the Germans there. However, even with engineers, they were unable to dislodge them, and this settled down into an hours long struggle.

Starting around turn 10, Fog of War had a major impact, with turns 10, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 17 all ending after anywhere from 4-6 impulses (per side) had occurred. On turn 11, the German OBA caught a couple of fleeing PARAs in the open, and with a 2 on the 32 took out another 2 steps. By turn 14, the US had 8 casualties to the Germans 1, with 9 being a victory condition. Now, this reversed over the next 2 turns as the Americans scored 4 unanswered casualties.

The US knew it was in big trouble. The losses were too high to really win the scenario. However, they mustered what they could to get to 0604 to try to assault. US OBA finally scored, causing the HMG and GREN in the town to flee, leaving only the armored car and a LT to defend the town. Unfortunately, they weren't able to triumph in the first round, and the Germans counter assaulted, wiping out the US unit in the town. The US was now at 10 step losses, the Germans at 6. On turn 21, the US OBA proved its worth again, catching 2 reduced Germans in the open and wiping them out, making the casualty count at the end of the turn 11-8. The US had no hope of taking both towns, however if they could inflict a 9th casualty, they could salvage a draw. There was still a demoralized GREN near the Americans, and they sent their only available unit, a reduced PARA to see if it could inflict a morale result on it and kill it through compound demoralization. Alas, this last hope failed, and the Germans came away with the victory.

2 things really killed the US here. The early casualties (6 steps lost by turn 11) and an early arrival of German reinforcements (all entered by turn 7) which gave the Germans, who outnumbered the PARAs, flexibility to try to counter attack. Even so, the Americans almost pulled off a draw, albeit using a gamey tactic. This one is a tough one for the Americans, although hardly unwinnable.

I'm not sure whether that "A Game Of Two Halves" is a common saying in the US seeing as most of the sports are played in quarters (bar Baseball), but it refers to a 'match' where one team reigns supreme for the 1st half and then the other team fightback and gain parity in the second half. Well that is what happened in this scenario from Airborne IE which was played over Skype in one session against the nefarious Wayne Baumber. IMO, this is also the best of the 7 or 8 scenarios I have played from that box-set so far (even withstanding the errata that is necessary pertaining to the 'faux' German reinforcement entry area).

The scenario depicts a high-moraled (8/8) US Para force needing to capture two town hexes at town 0803 and town 0604 by the end of 22 turns. For the German part, they need to a) Stop the capture of at least one of these towns and b) Control a town hex at the other end of the play area which is Montebourg station itself. Also thrown in for good measure is that if either side eliminate 9 enemy steps they can claim a win too. Both sides pick roughly equal leaders with perhaps the US edging it with a 10-1-1 LT COL and LT. US OBA can mount a 55col attack against a German 30col attack each turn, plus the US have a 1 in 6 chance of an extra 21col OBA module each turn. Other than that, the forces are quite equal in numbers with 8/8 morale versus 8/7 and the Germans also get a few reinforcements from turn 3 onward dependent on rolling 10's for each individual unit each turn to get them to enter.

So on to battle. The Germans deployed 2 x full-strength units in each town and rail-station going against my usual mantra of not dispersing forces to defend everything. However, with the VC's, there was little choice here. I also used their few extra reduced units to buffer up on the flanks of key points and deploy their two mortars in seperate hexes behind distant hedgerows and out of sight of potential US OBA. The US Para's enter the board edge and their main route of attack appeared to be taking them towards town 0803. For the first turn, the Germans were blessed with an absence of US OBA. I say blessed as what was to follow over the next 13 turns proved to be utter torture and severe agitation !

From turns 2-13 the tough US Paras pressured town 0803 and also sent some troops towards Montebourg station knowing that the Germans needed to keep in mind that they had to hold the station for any chance of a win. These aggressive moves were very handily backed up by their OBA. It accounted for no less than 8 X hits over these 12 turns, mashing up German troops, including those in the buffer positions around towns and depleting German morale and initiative. It seemed that wherever the Germans tried to make a stand they were simply being churned into mince-meat. Town 0803 also suffered during these attacks, losing one whole platoon to the bombardments over time with the remaining platoon and leader hunkering down before the expected Para assault came in. The Paras also threw in some well-timed assaults after some direct-fire on demoralised sections of German's adding to the casualty count. By the end of turn 13, the Americans were fighting in and around town 0803 and a Major was also leading a strong looking probe at Montebourg station too. German casualties had reached 11 by this stage and the Paras were already in a winning position (had achieved the 9 required) if they could either take towns 0803 & 0604 or simply clear Montebourg station to prevent a German victory condition.

With all this chaos, death and desruction there was nothing for the Germans to lose now. The German captain gathered the good order troops he could cobble together with a general order to take an attack to the Paras and defend the final objectives with all that they had left. Initially, there attack attempt on the major and the Paras making for Montebourg station received casualties from OBA and small arms fire. One platoon was in fact destroyed. But the survivors held their nerve and stayed in good order. A green chute of change and a small victory was scored when the first US loss in the battle occurred through a Para double demoralisation. This was soon doubled up when a German OBA attack removed a step as well. These casualties disrupted and demoralised the US Paras heading toward Montebourg and stalled their advance. The two German mortar platoons were also playing havoc with accurate fire causing disorder and in one case, destroying the US on-board artillery. Also, the Leutnant and GREN in town 0803 were holding out and giving more than they were getting against assualting ENG, PARA and HMG unit. The counter-attack order had seeemingly begun to show reward. The Paras were now forced to re-deploy some units if they were to wrest control of the towns and station from the Germans. As this movement was made German fire cut down a step of Americans and disrupted them as well. In town 0803, the Paras succesfully inflicted a step-loss on the remaining German platoon and disrupted those, but in turn, the Germans knocked a US step off and managed to demoralise the ENG unit and one other.

With 18 turns now gone and only 4 left, there seemed little or no hope of the the previously unstoppable Paras taking control of the objectives from the Germans. The captain's counter-attack went down in battalion folklore as a battle-fable of daring-do that help save the position. Both sides were able to claim victory. The US through inflicting 13 step losses on the Germans (9 needed) and the Germans by controlling town 0604 and Montebourg station as well as contesting town 0803 for good measure. A quite exciting and nail-biting draw.

I give this a '3' rating. Usually I deduct one for broken errata, which in this case was the wrong and unintelligible entry point for German reinforcements (we decided to have them come on at 0411 on the road). However, as it was exciting and the best Airborne so far, it still gets that '3' credit from me. On a personal note, this game, as far as I am concerned was lost by turn 11. Having already bled the 9 casualties, US OBA scoring an X in 8 of 13 shots and the Paras looking lie individual Captain Americas, my ardour for the remaining fight seemed lacking! But once I decided to be bullish with what remained, and I say bullish, not suicidal by any means, things suddenly turned and from almost certain defeat an improbable draw was salvaged. Certainly "A Game of Two Halves".

LOSSES: German 12 GREN, 1 HMG, 0 Officers. American 4 PARA, 1 75mm, 0 Officers.

Played in one session against Herr Hughes using Skype. US forces have to take tow of the three towns on the map without losing 9 steps, the Germans have to keep two of the towns or not lose 9 steps. Forces are evenly matched but the German has to defend a fairly wide front initially, and the US have excellent OBDA with the 1 in 6 chance of adding to the OBDA with a further 24 barrage. The Germans do get reinforcements on a roll of 10 or more for each unit from GT3. The US enters the board and after a feint to the south heads north to capture the first town. US artillery starts pounding the dug in German GREN just to the south of the town and after a couple of turns of prep fire they are steamrollered in an assault. The artillery next target the town and get a kill believing that the town would fall easily the para's charge into the town held by just 1 Gren platoon and a leader. That was on GT8, by GT18 the town was still being contested. Meanwhile German losses now meant that they had lost enough units for an American win, but if they could either inflict the same losses or hold on to the remaining town the result would be a draw. Slowly the momentum shifted, German reinforcements arrived and counter attacked tying up the US troops who where trying to deploy for the next town assault, the German artillery at last started to make a mark and the US troops were getting fatigued and seemed unable to shrug off DIS & DEM counters. Although the German counter attack was stalled with more losses, it had done its job and coupled with the stubborn defense of the northern town the American attack lost all momentum. The battle then settled down to long range shooting which caused minor casualties, and the game itself petered out to a draw. This was the best airborne scenario so far, very tough on the Germans initially but if they can hold out the reinforcements will help. Having said that if that bloody town had fallen on GT10 or 11 I am confident that I would have been celebrating a rare win over that wily German commander Herr Hughes.

Overall I think this is a good scenario as far as turn length and play balance but think it would be better for a shared play. The one thing that bothered me was the 9 step loss, alternate victory conditions. With both the Americans and Germans having powerful OBA it wasn't very hard for either side to eliminate the required steps.

In my solo play the Americans "won" on turn 18 but by that time they were already at 7 step losses and they would have to get through 4 more turns without losing 2 more steps. At this point they were already bogged in two separate assaults and had not taken any of their objectives. Sure enough, one turn later, the Germans were also able to claim a "win". So it was a draw no matter what going into turn 20. I finished the scenario out just to see if either side could meet the other VCs and on the last turn an American PARA unit was able to take the town in hex 0509, preventing the German territorial VCs but at the same time, the other two town hexes; 0604 and 0803 firmly remained in German control. So again it would of ended in a draw. I think the Germans did a better job in holding their positions in this battle but they did put themselves in unecessary danger more than once, going after American units in counterattacks, trying to push them back to the eastern edge of the map. This of course left them more vulnerable to artillery strikes with American OBA getting results on the 55 column. The only other thing notable about this play was that leaders from both sides deserted but none were actually killed despite the high losses. This one is pretty much standard fare for 'Airborne', just with a lot more artillery so it gets an average '3' rating from me. Maybe I was expecting a lot more from this one after reading other's AARs. This also makes for 9 draws out of 15 scenarios played so far in this game which seems a bit high.