Looking at the map and the forces available the objective for the Germans was to hold three out of five objectives (the black crosses) by move 16:
Normally I'd think about abandoning one objective to shorten the defensive line but from the map there didn't seem anywhere suitable. Even abandoning two didn't seem realistic. As a result I planned to deploy my paratroopers holding Vaiano on the German right, the 755th Regiment the centre and the 754th Regiment the left holding Sanfatucchio and Pucciarelli with the few Panzers I had available in reserve around Badia. After hopefully holding back the enemy for a while the paratroopers would drop back from their rather exposed position. That was the plan anyway.....
The initial deployment for both sides. The Allies have spread out pretty much along the table and look like they will attack all along the front. Andy starts by using the tactic 'Carpet Bombing' to put a single hit on each of my tanks in Badia. This is a bit of a shock to the Germans but they reflect that perhaps the tactic might have been more dangerous used on an objective area and they can try to reorganise the tanks before they will be needed:
The first Allied attacks go in but are repulsed
The action hots up around Sanfatucchio. Using flank attacks the Allies start inflicting damage on the defenders:
On the other flank Vaiano is also under heavy pressure with the German paratroopers (who by this stage of the war are rated as average troops not elite) taking a battering despite feeding reserves into the fight. The plan of withdrawing the paratroopers from the town after a while will be difficult as they are almost surrounded:
Half the paratroopers are out of action and they can't retreat (you can't move diagonally between two enemy held squares). The Germans don't have enough units available to break the encirclement so the surviving paratroopers will have to fight to the end:
Elsewhere the Germans are holding on. Most of the damage done to the Panzers has been removed by reorganising them but they have not yet been committed partly as all the fighting is taking place in bad terrain for them:
The last few paratroopers make a final stand:
They are over-run and the Allies capture Vaiano giving them the first of the three objectives they need:
On the left the 754th Infantry are desperately holding on around Sanfatucchio and Pucciarelli, greatly reduced in numbers and slowly being isolated:
The Allies have thinned their centre to support their flanks and have taken a lot of losses themselves though:
Sanfatucchio falls! The Allies have two of the three objectives they need. The Germans in Pucciarelli hold on grimly. Both sides are almost exhausted on this flank and night will come soon, can the Germans hold on?:
The Allies regroup to attack Pucciarelli. The defenders have some surviving field defences to help them hold on:
The Germans still hold the centre objective in the olive groves strongly and have managed to stop them from being isolated with the Panzers holding a narrow corridor open for them:
Both sides throw everything in to the fight! The Germans are reduced to using a Tiger battalion to shore up the defence of the objective even though it fights very poorly in the rough terrain:
Battle rages on, the Germans doggedly refuse to give up the position:
Night falls and the Germans have just held out:
As usual a very close game, if there had been another move (the end of the game is random) Andy would have won I think as the Germans in the centre were pretty much wiped out.
Andy skillfully used flank attacks and his pioneer units to negate the effect of attacking difficult terrain though he did have a moment similar to my shock when my tanks got carpet bombed when his pioneer unit on the right was wiped out by a particularly vicious German defence early in the game.
As for the Germans I spent the entire game firefighting breakthroughs and trying to bolster the units holding the objectives. I didn't make a single attack in the entire game as at no point did it seem sensible to do so and I have learned not to attack just for the sake of attacking (or even to use the mighty Nebelwerfer which can only be used in attacks!).
Normally I'd think a game where I didn't attack at all would be very dull but this one certainly wasn't, it was tense right to the end with both sides having a chance of wining (indeed until the last move or two I thought Andy would win) and we both enjoyed it greatly.
One last thought was how poor my Rommel scenery looks, especially the hills. I did buy a load of 6 x 6 inch bases to make better hills and maybe some bocage/fields/woods but used them all on the Vietnam project to make jungle! I have added the new Eastern Front buildings though so may buy some more bases and make the hills etc, the big problem is storing them really once they are made.
No comments:
Post a Comment