Dog Days 2016: Germany's Colonial Empire, scenario #2: Counter Attack

I had to try this scenario out, it has an Elephant counter and a helicopter and gave me some playing time on the Kokoda Campaign maps. Hopefully I interrupted scenario special rule #4 correctly. I believe it means the Australian units can’t move until they first spot a German unit besides the helicopter but after that one spotting event they all can move normally. Special rule #5 won’t help the Germans at all, as they will need every unit to try and achieve their victory conditions.

The first mistake I made as the German player was splitting my small force into two groups, one entering the west edge of map 35 as kind of a diversion, so the Australians couldn’t concentrate their forces. The other main German force entered on the west edge of map 34, as it is more open, kind of and maybe the village hexes would be easier capture.

The Australians by setup are pretty evenly divided between the two maps. I tried to stack three units/counters per hex/village when possible, as the German on and off board artillery is not that impressive. The units setup in villages are also considered dug-in, which helped offset the Germans stronger Marine counter values.

To the south the Germans were blunted and outnumbered and had to pull back into the jungle and try and reconnect with their northern forces. In the North it was bitter struggle and sadly the Elephants were killed along with the 88mm guns they were dragging through the jungle. The helicopter proved to be a pain in the Australians backside but they were able to shift forces around, to make the Germans pay both in casualties and in time fighting in the difficult terrain. The Terrain is difficult on the attacker, even with the 8/8 morale the Germans had.

After 28 turns, the Australians had 16 points for eliminated Germans steps, with the Elephant counter counting double, and 7 points for villages controlled, for a total of 23 points. While the Germans had 14 points for eliminated Australian steps but only 2 points for villages controlled for a total of 16 points. The Australian win a Minor Victory with the 7 points differential just barely making the victory by a point. The Germans also lost a one leader which has badly needed while the Australians lost two leaders but had enough to go around.

A unique scenario to play and kind of fun if you want something different.