Another is a series of town assaults I have been playing via Skype, this time with Wayne Baumber. He is the French attack a Schuten regiment tasked to hold the Dinant bridgehead in the town of Haut-Le-Wastia. The Germans have only and infantry force with no supporting tanks or artillery. The French force have more troops and also a recon force, but has the support of a few armored cars and some scant artillery. Morale favors the Germans, but there are a couple of French ESC that will make the assaults interesting. The Germans have slight edge with leaders with a 9-1-2 LT to keep the troops going. The Germans have the setup, but with night at the start this will limit there ability to hinder the French advance.

The German setup has a hedgehow defense of the the main town on board 27. The smaller town was not defended as it would have stretched the small amount of defenders and most likely caused German casualties that they could not afford. In the major town the Germans were array in all the town hexes to make sure the French could not just walk right in.

The French advances from the south west and a flanking force from the north west. The first three turns had the French maneuvering his troops to occupy the open town and working his way around to the south-east edge of the major town. The flanking force move in to advance around the fields and down the north south road. The first casualties happen when the German OP fire hit a French INF advancing on the town, the entire platoon was lost. More maneuvering by the French but German OP fire is on target again with a second entire ESC platoon killed as it advance toward the town. The French are able to close on the Germans and get some "pinning" assaults on the Germans, forcing them to shuffle troops through the town and developing holes in the line. French armored cars take advantage and rush the town, but one step is lost in an counter assault by the Germans. The French continue to close on the towns and try to tie up the town hexes. German counter assaults drive up the French losses, but the French get all there troops into the town hexes.

Assault and counter-assaults dominate the last three turns of the game. Both sides trying to get some sort of advantage. In the end both sides are struggling to control the town and the game winds up in a draw, Germans 9 French 8. Both Wayne and I like the scenario and I was happy with the ending. The Germans have a hard time keeping the French out of the town and with need to manage there troops as well as have some good shots at the French to win. But if the French can generate some German casualties then they could have the day.

A French force gets to sneak up on unsuspecting Germans defending a town. The victory conditions call for each side to get two points for each town hex controlled and a point for each step eliminated. The set up for this scenario has been discussed in the forums and is a good place to start to understand what happens.

The Germans are blissfully unaware of the impending French attack as the approach is made during the dark. As a result the Germans are primarily set up around the larger town segment in the surrounding country to be able to spot the French as they arrive. I initially thought that the game would revolve around urban assaults, etc. I couldn't have been more wrong.

As dawn broke the Germans saw the large French forces coming towards them. There was no way to hold all the town hexes but there were several chances to attack the French in clear terrain with a leader and morale bonuses. Completely uncharacteristically the Germans attacked in the cleaer, ceding a quick French lead in town hexes controlled (mid-game the Germans held two and the French 7). On the other hand, the French forces were either reduced or demoralized, leaving a realtively equal sized force to defend the town hexes they had.

By the end of the game, the Germans held 3 town hexes but had reduced the French to only four (the remainder were contested). Given the large disparity in losses the Germans were able to easily claim victory.

My tactics in this one were completely wrong from a classic standpoint. I didn't defend the town and had to assault my way back in essentially. Yet the opportunity to cripple the French on their way to town was so significant that I picked a higher risk approach. I'm not sure I would have done so if I wasn't playing solo but it was awfully fun watching the French VPs surge past the Germans and then slide back down as they were unable to keep their lead.

This one was a lot of fun. I give it a "4".

The $10 payment to the 'neutral' leader selector, Matt Ward paid immediate dividends when the French OOB came back with a pretty bland bunch. The Germans on the other hand, though only 5 leaders used, were all OK (all with a '1' modifier). After a 3 month plus sabbatical from the game, I looked for a 1 session balanced scenario (this one had 6 German wins v 5 French plus a draw) and it was Tony Langston that would be Le Roi Poule in this one against my Bosche! Here's the game summary.

The French wasted no time in sending two platoons of armoured cars forward to haut-Le-Wastia. These were to penetrate the stretched German line of the 2nd battalion, 14th Schutzen Regt that had lined the west side of the village. Therefore, they drove west up the main road and through a gap into the town. At this point the Germans were motionless, but worried not about these two platoons for the following reason. The French infantry followed up too slowly and the armoured cars were left on their own in the town. Now alerted to the attack, the Germans began to deploy for the oncoming attack, including shifting one whole company from the south of haut-Le-Wastia. Despite the darkness, the French infantry now had to advance to an alerted enemy and as such took casualties in the first 30 minutes (3 steps). The Germans began developing a strong and at the same time, flexible defensive two-tier ring whilst the French pushed at the north end of Le-Wastia. The Germans assaulted initially at locations they thought they could derive a noticeable advantage. But, despite this, the attacks failed to deliver important rewards. Nonetheless, the French did take even more casualties between 0530-0545 and for this the attackers did eventually force themselves into two areas of the village. This was where their armoured cars had penetrated earlier and also to its east.

Now the French took the initiative in assaulting town areas. But the Germans seemed content for this as they forced their enemy to carry out head-strong attacks whilst under a time pressure. Though the attack was brave, the defence was stronger than the bravery displayed and no cracks appeared. Over the following 90 minutes, the French desperation caused nothing more than a platoons worth of casualties on the Germans but sustained horrendous losses themselves. Worse still, they had made no serious inroads into the north end of Haut-Le-Wastia. Both French armoured car platoons were wiped out, one HMG platoon and the equivalent of 6 foot platoons also. For that, just the initially gained town area by the armoured cars was the only one disputed. The French had also risked close range light-weight OBA on the enemy but caused more harm to their own troops and gambled their mens’ lives. This was compounded by the fact that the French had already fouled up their initial plan by trying a compromise strategy rather than engaging a single-minded direction. Haut-Le-Wastia emphatically stayed German that evening.

Points scored were 36 for the Germans by eliminating 18 steps and holding 9 town hexes. Just 2pts for the French for losses inflicted on the Germans and with just 1 town hex that they were disputing, their were no town hex points at all. A convincing 36 to 2 win for the Germans.

Well, in the end, it turned into a drubbing for the French. Despite their poor leader group, I wouldn't have imagined that the scenaario was worth a 36-2 point difference. I think this may have come about as the French tried to bang their heads on a small front allowing the Germans to set up a two-tier line once the battle was under way in the town. For me there are two things the French can do. First, after German set up, they can deploy. The Germans can not move until an enemy unit is spotted. This is in the dark at a visibility of 1, 1 and 2 hexes. Therefore, they need (over the first 3 turns) to position themselves for an advantageous attack position. This will probably stretch to at least four turns as the Germans have to quickly re-deploy once they spot the French. Secondly, seeing the French with a 17 unit to 9 advantage, they should strive to stretch the Germans and once they have thinned them out enough, they can then use the extra units to grab the areas the Germans can no longer devote forces to. That said, the trick is achieving this in such an easy ordered way. As we all know, once the bullets begin to fly, the ease with which that can be completed dissipates quickly !

This seems to be a great scenario for a first play to introduce someone to the game. It allows for movement without needing to cross a river. It has a chance to use a lot of rules without being too complicated. This was my third time using fog of war and the first time I got it right. I think it makes solo games much better.

The Germans set up to defend both towns, with a two infantry and a LT in the small town and the rest in the larger town. The French closed in on the town from the north and west while the armored cars circled to the back to divide the attention of the Germans and possibly used some direct fire with some troops first and move others after the Germans committed their firepower. The French commander was impatient and crossed the hedgerows too soon (before the AC's were ready to engage with direct fire). In hindsight the French could have dug in behind the hedgerows and been equal in protection the Germans. Instead opportunity fire bloodied the French HMGs and INF, while the ESC survived and assaulted into the town to begin a fight for the town that lasted most of the game. The HMG's proved to be a great loss with step loses and then demoralizing, which took over an hour to recover from. The Armored cars did start firing on the town, but were ineffective so they moved adjacent to maximize their firepower. In the southern town the French and Germans ended up locked in assault combat for most of the game. A demoralized French infantry failed to recover and left the assault hex into an adjacent town hex, where it recovered on the next turn and earned VPs for controlling it at the end. Near the large town the German MAJ got tired of the ACs shooting at him and lead some infantry into assault against them. A good attack reduced the AMR33, while P16 moved into assault with the ESC troops and reduced the German in that hex. The game was very tight until the end. Several town hexes ended up being disputed at the end (depriving both sides of VPs), but the MAJ was able to destroy the AMR33 and then recapture a town hex which was a four point swing for them, this anchored their victory. Give that man an Iron Cross.

The German defenders were positioned in the lower town, with a HMG and INF dug in one hex to the north. The French attacked from the north and northwest, with their armored cars moving east and then south to control the upper town (at the south edge of the map). The German defense was aided by the French artillerists' complete inability to hit the broad side of a barn. The French and Germans exchanged sharp fire throughout the three hours, with the French hoping that the Germans would break. But the Germans persevered, seemingly through sheer force of will; a French assault on the town's northeast corner very nearly succeeded.

It was a close-run thing with the final score favoring the Germans 14-10.

This was played via Skype v Alan Sawyer, played in just over 3 hours this was a most enjoyable scenario. Alan played the Germans who are on the defensive, the Germans have to hold on to two small towns in the NW corner of board 27. The French come on from the west just as dawn is breaking, the French have a mixed arms group with two armoured car platoons in support. Alan's set up left the smaller of the two town empty of troops, thereby concentrating his firepower to defend the larger village. Using the cover of darkness the French armoured car swept through the deserted village followed by infantry. A firegroup formed in woods to the south of the main village and a smaller group skirted the fields to the north. The plan was to surround the foe and then pin all his units in close combat during the last few turns thus securing victory, a key part to this plan was not to incur many losses. Well one of two forces involved in this battle did just that. Regrettably it was not the valiant French. With a few well aimed shots (2 X double 1 and a 3) the chance of victory was cruelly snatched from Gallic hands. Now could the French commander salvage a draw? Bravely continuing with the basic plan, the French waited till the closing turns and threw themselves forward pinning the Germans in the town, once again there were some French losses but now the German commander would have to launch some counter attacks. He did so but to no avail by game end the German did not control any town hexes, the French though suffering 9 step losses controlled 4 town hexes. Result a draw. Strangely both players were happy with the result. The German player believing that the French have the advantage in the scenario, the French commander pleased that with the early losses he had kept faith with the plan and got his draw. The game went down to the last turn, and was a lot of fun. Not much in the way of replay value so only merits the 4 rating. A good quick scenario.

Under the cover of darkness elements of the 1st Reconnaissance Group creeped up the town on the hill and soon occupied some of it despite heavy opportunity fire. From there on it was a question of who had the luckier dice rolls. In this session, the French were luckier with a couple of 2's and 12's, one which killed an until then very important German leader, a 1-10-2 Lt, together with one step. It broke the backbone of the German resistance. Both sides lost 9 steps, but the French occupied 5 town hexes, the Germans only 1, giving the French a major victory. 4 hexes were assaulted by French units during the last half hour of the scenario, denying control of those hexes to the Germans. Nice trick that could not be replicated by the Germans as they were too scattered and broken up to do this.

Nice small fast playing scenario, very suitable as a learning scenario. A rating of 3 it is..

Despite the critical sounding of the headline atrributing the loss to lack of quality leaders on the battlefield, this battle was lost due to the poor decision-making on my part and an unerringly inaccurate French artillery that was much better at hitting French troops than Germans. The French were tasked with taking Haut-Le-Wastia from the German Schuten regiment spread thin in town. It is rated as a balanced scenario and in discussion with Vince after the battle, a few different changes in tactical approach could have made this a much closer engagement.

SETUP

The Germans setup within the hedgerows just west of the town along with a company of Infantry defending the sounthern reaches in dug out positions. As the French, I debated setup to either skirt the fields to the North and approach from the rear or to group along the road and possibly strike quickly enough with the armored car platoons and the better moraled ESC units and possibly overwhelm the Germans before they could consolidate their position. I decided on the latter. I overrruled a conservative approach on banking that the shock of troops appearing in towns may throw off the defense and force them to move and leave their dug out positions while giving me more time to battle through town.

BATTLE

Winning initiative, The French sent several INF units to the fields to the north and ESC units down the road, still out of site of the German defenders. The Armored cars were sent straight down the road into the town at 0411 to try and setup a foothold in the town to await the oncoming French. The German units and an HMG unit counter-attacked the armored cars and entered an assault that would remain contested until the very last turn of the game. In the meantime the French continued to move their INF and ESC units around the north end of town to get into positions to enter. A small company of INF and the HMG platoons moved along the hillside to the south to probe the western edge of town to find a way through and ran into a several platoons of Germans in the hedgerows. After an hour in attacking, There were no less than 4 assaults raging in and around the town. As these assaults engaged, the Germans deftly maneuvered their INF units in a defense in depth that slowed the French advance and never allowed a significant incursion into the town. During this whole time, the French artillery would continually attempt to disrupt the German defense but always provided a tense moment as the shells dropped indiscriminately amongst the French and German positions. In the final moments of the battle, the French attempted one final push and were unable to penetrate, causing the French commander to concede.

AFTERMATH

The battle, despite the lopsided casuality count, was not so certain at the beginning. I had thought about approaching around the fields to the North and setting up into position to provide an advantageous position. However, I had talked myself out of that as it looked that it would take 4-5 turns before getting into position, at which time, the visibility would have exposed the French approach and allowed German response to maneuver. In addition, I believed that the turns used to get into position would leave the remaining time insufficient to gain a foothold. So with my decision to make a direct approach, I tried to coordinate the attack so that I could catch the Germans off guard and get the ESC units in town with the armored cars, and hopefully move through. Alas, plans are often more optimistic than reality and when executed, I had left the armored cars in the town with no hope for reinforcement for another turn. I think that the lack of quality leadership did contribute somewhat as I was already at a disadvantage in morale, but this was not the main reason. In many of the battles I have played, I have been able to play a fairly decent approach and though not all plays were wins, they were close. However, against Vince, the combination of his usually good plan/approach with my mental lapses (I can't think of anything else...:) seem to turn close affairs into routs. I console myself in the fact that I am continuing to learn by failure... :D. The rating of three was more my disgust with my performance rather than a reflection on the scenario, which I did enjoy and it was nice to see Vince back into the fray.

In a bid for promotion this year I am going to play a few smaller scenarios. This 12 turn 1 mapper took about 2 hours. The French are on the attack on this one and have to take town hexes and steps for VP, they outnumber the defenders by 2-1 but have lower firepower and apart from the ESC units lower morale. The German's set up dug in front of the village of Haut-Le-Wastia, a decision was made not to defend the smaller hamlet to the south, this was an error and cost the Germans the game as those 3 village hexes were the VP's that cost the Germans victory. The French attack from the NW and SW determined to flank the dug in Germans, the German INF abandon the dug outs and retreat into the town. A lucky 7 OF shot resulted in the first casualties as the French machine gunners moved to set up in woods to the south of the town. The first French attack though was from the North though and the brave French INF & ESC managed to brave German defensive fire and get to grips with the enemy, French armoured cars then threatened the rear of Haut-Le-Wastia the German commander reacted and threw an INF unit into the assault against this threat this tied these units up for the rest of the game. The middle part of the game passed very quickly as neither side could gain an advantage in any of the three ongoing assaults and the French commander was going to wait to the final few turns before making his last assault with all his remaining units. Thus on GT 11 the penultimate turn the French moved in force on to the village, good defensive fire took out another French units and a quick counter attack in assault also caused some French losses but by now every German unit was in assault which let a single French INF unit slip to take another town hex. The final result was a draw as although there had been no German losses the town of Haut-Le-Wastia was no longer in their control. A quick and fun little scenario, the German defender and a lot of ground to cover and there is more to this one than a pure infantry slog.

Author	Schoenwulf
Method	Solo
Victor	Germany
Play Date	2021-09-11
Language	English
Scenario	FaoF011

Battle: In the pre-dawn hours of May 14, units from the French 1st Groupement de Reconnaissance de Division d’Infanterie moved eastward quietly toward the small hamlet of Haut-le-Wastia in an effort to maintain a bridgehead east of the Meuse. The town was held by elements of the German II Battalion, 14th Schützen Regiment. Their sentries spotted French movement at 0515 when a French P16 moved north of the village followed by an AMR33. As dawn broke, the French advanced and had the village surrounded on three sides; however, Major Krause rallied the German troops quickly, held the line and eventually they pushed the French back. By 0745, the French were more than ready to depart the village and leave the Germans to finally cook some breakfast.

Analysis: This scenario is a single map, 12-turn scenario with VP’s based on enemy unit elimination and town hex control. Since the scenario begins at night and the Germans are unable to move until a French unit is spotted, the French have an opportunity to get units positioned for the break of day. Although LOS is limited during the first few turns and increases slowly, once it reaches four hexes, skirmishes are frequent because of the close-in fighting required to control the village hexes. The French had some initial success, but Germans held a morale advantage over all the French units except the ESC troops. When the German leader with a “2” morale modifier is also considered, their troops were remarkably resilient. There were two assault hexes still in play at game end, but they weren’t looking good for the French so a retreat would have been in order. The French ended up with three town hexes held for 6 VP’s but had lost four steps. The Germans held five town hexes added to the French steps lost (the Germans did not lose any) gave them 14 VP’s. This gave an end result of a major German victory based on the 8-point differential. The scenario is actually better balanced than it might appear from this result, as the last turn caused a shift in town hex control because the Germans took the first initiative and covered some open town hexes; the French were dealing with disrupted troops that could not move quickly enough to capture anything at that point.

Author	treadasaurusrex (France)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Draw
Participants	plloyd1010 (AAR)
Play Date	2021-11-07
Language	English
Scenario	FaoF011

This scenario took 3 online sessions to complete. I played the French side who needed to capture and control as many town hexes as possible and also inflict as many step losses on the Germans as possible. The French outnumbered the Germans and had the slight advantage of a nighttime movement to contact.

My worthy opponent stoutly defended the northernmost position of Haut-Le-Wastia, and decided not to defend the smaller hamlet to the south as others have reported in their AARs. In action, repeated -- and very costly -- French assaults from south and northwest sectors failed to dislodge the Germans but did result in footholds being created in the north (Hex 0411) and the southeast portion of the town (Hex 0614) as well as in the center (Hexes 0412 & 0513). Assault units of both sides were stuck exchanging heavy fire in 3 hexes for the bulk of the scenario. In the process, 2 French leaders were killed or deserted. One quickly learns that the 14-strength increment of French OB artillery counts for very little in this kind of urban combat against a determined opponent.

The final score in this relatively-balanced scenario was 14-14 -- a dead-even draw with the vast bulk of the Germans VPs coming from French step loses. Given the poor firepower of the French force, and their corresponding lower morale than my opponent's Germans, this result seemed like a foregone conclusion after about turn 8. However, this is an excellent learning scenario for inexperienced players like me, if they play the French side against a more seasoned PG player as the defending Germans.

Author	plloyd1010 (Germany)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Draw
Participants	treadasaurusrex (AAR)
Play Date	2021-11-07
Language	English
Scenario	FaoF011

This is a small scenario with neither side having much advantage. The French are on the attack with company of escadron to bolster the assault. The Germans are unsupported in their defense.

The French infantry advance was a straight in attack with a southern sweep to grab some town hexes. The Germans had little to do beyond shooting at the approaching Frenchmen. After the French were firmly lodged in the larger town, nothing moved. French artillery was insufficient to disrupt the town's defenders. German firepower was not adequate to throw the attackers back out.

The game ended in a draw with Germany having 1 more victory point than the French.