The rules used are my own Company Fire (link on the right hand side).
Army Red starts hidden - I used counters, a mix of blanks and real units. Army Black moves onto the bottom row of the table to start the game.
And yet again!
As luck had had it, Army Red had occupied Black's objective. Perhaps there were spies in Army Black's HQ?
An untold amount of lead was spent as squads on both sides engaged in heavy fire fights and were pinned down. Having pinned the Red squad in the bunker, Army Black gambled and sent 2nd platoon to cross the bridge, hoping they wouldn't end up stuck there.
To their great benefit, their PL coordinated effective group fire on the Red MG positioned in the house on the right and temporarily took the fight out of it.
A Black smoke barrage arrived to protect them from the Red squad in the woods.
And then a second barrage left them with only the pinned Red squad in the bunker to worry about.
Firing as they advanced under cover of yet more smoke, they took out the Red MG for good along with the rifle squad and PL in the house.
The Red soldiers did not go down however .
Immediately Army Black's right platoon came under fire .
And yet again!
As luck had had it, Army Red had occupied Black's objective. Perhaps there were spies in Army Black's HQ?
An untold amount of lead was spent as squads on both sides engaged in heavy fire fights and were pinned down. Having pinned the Red squad in the bunker, Army Black gambled and sent 2nd platoon to cross the bridge, hoping they wouldn't end up stuck there.
To their great benefit, their PL coordinated effective group fire on the Red MG positioned in the house on the right and temporarily took the fight out of it.
A Black smoke barrage arrived to protect them from the Red squad in the woods.
And then a second barrage left them with only the pinned Red squad in the bunker to worry about.
Firing as they advanced under cover of yet more smoke, they took out the Red MG for good along with the rifle squad and PL in the house.
A Red squad which had been firing on Black's right quickly moved to reoccupy the house and almost as quickly the advancing Black squad close assaulted them.
The Red soldiers did not go down however .
It took a second effort to remove them and the Black squad captured the house.
Meanwhile, Black's advance of first platoon across the bridge met stiff resistance from the Red mortar, the squad in the bunker, and the artillery raining down, called in by the Red FO, who was also safely ensconced in the bunker.
Their losses, though not numerous, were enough that Army Black would not be able to meet their victory objectives entirely.
******
I called the game once it passed 30 on the "play clock" (using a system I found somewhere online - roll 1d6 after each defender initiative. When the total is 21 - or 30 in this case - the game is over.). It was also getting late.
Because Army Black had captured the house, but would not be able to get the majority of their force into the objectives (less than a majority of their units remained on the table), I called it a draw. The soldiers of Army Red put up a spirited, if costly (2 squads and a PL) defense.
There were a few issues I had with my own rules - the group fire of 3 squads in a space with a PL was ridiculous (SEVEN DICE when attacking a space that provides cover). A simple option is to limit group fire to no more than two units. However, I'm also not sure on allowing 3 rifle squads to occupy a space. I might limit it to two units + a single mounted figure. Or perhaps limit it to 1 rifle squad or similar (SMG, engineer), 1 other unit (mortar, MG, vehicle, etc), and 1 single mounted figure, and change group fire to be units in adjacent spaces and require a PL or CC to be within 1 or maybe 2 spaces of each of the units involved.
This was a fun scenario despite the incredulous reaction I had to the group fire. It seems to me to be a tough one for the attacker to win (at least with my rules) as the bunker provides an added cover bonus. This virtually assures that either artillery or close assault will be required to take out anyone inside (or some ridiculous group fire I guess would work too) while those inside have an unobstructed view of the attacker's left and the bridge, as well as being able to cover defenders in the house across the road. Pinning the defender and judicious use of smoke (or a lot of luck) are necessary to get troops across the bridge and into a position where they can close on either the house or the bunker.
For reference sake, here's my converted grid map. I chose 6x6 rather than 8x8 because I like the more compact size. In the event, I went with 7 wide by 6 deep, in order to put the road in a space of it's own rather than on the borders, as that made things difficult to judge with respect to the bridge.
the rule of thumb in real life is a 3-1 advantage for the attacker.
ReplyDeleteIn gaming, 2-1 on the ground is fine if the additional unit[s] are some sort of artillery making it 3-1. So perhaps with a bit more prep fire the Germans, ehrm, Black Army would have an easier attack. But hey, a draw really isn't bad playing against yourself!
I'm trying to keep the forces as they are assigned in the original scenarios, but holding the attacker's advance in check until the artillery has done some damage or at least pinned or suppressed the enemy would well be worthwhile in this scenario (in the hill scenario, the attacker has won more often than not).
DeleteOf course, as you noted, a draw playing against yourself isn't bad. Particularly as I tend to fall into playing one side as "my" side (usually the one that looks like it will lose at any given moment).
Thanks for the commenting!