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UP844 -> RE: Group Tigers on the Hunt - Official Information and AAR Thread (4/4/2016 2:19:47 PM)
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For once, things went more or less according to the plan [;)]
Turn 1:
Elite squads move to recon; they find a lone SMG squad (no problem) and what must be the biggest Panzer on Earth sitting on the crossroads. We'll see how good my infantry is at CC.
Turn 2:
Groups A, C and D proceed as planned, with group D taking a longer path to use the wood as cover.
ATRs take position in the wood NW of the KV. I doubt they can harm it, but maybe they will be able to immobilise it (or, at least, to distract it from my infantry approaching).
Group B moves over the hill and is greeted by a Russian HMG firing from the village at the second crossroad.
A Russian armored car appears on the main road I am supposed to take.
Turn 3:
Fine, more Russian armored cars coming from the East. I see four of them, but from the sound of engines there is at least another one. ATR should be able to deal with them, provided I kill the tank quickly. Anyway, I will have to leave a rear guard to prevent them to retake the road hexes I already control.
Group D eliminates the lone SMG squad in [9,13] and proceeds to attack the tank from the south.
Mortars fire on the Russian HMG, with little effect.
Turn 4:
The armored cars are approaching. There are six of them, so I must kill the tank (which has alread CR'd a couple squads and wounded a C* leader) as soon as possible. An elite infantry and a 1st Line infantry with a B* leader both fail their PAATC and remain close to the beast.
Mortars continue laying suppressive fire on the HMG, but they only manage to pin its squad.
The wounded leader arrives at the buildings near the start line where the broken HSs have routed.
During the Russian Defensive Fire the AI decides my lone MMG 4 hexes away is a greater threat than the two adjacent squads and fires everything at the poor crew, without effect.
Turn 5:
The C* leader is eliminated while he is attempting to rally two half-squads.
Four squads and the two remaining leaders attack the KV-1 (a Human Wave, German style) and manage to kill it.
Another squad kills the Russian squad in the wood just north of the road.
Turn 6:
The SMG squad holding the fortified building panics as an elite squad arrives in the adjacent hex, breaks and routs away.
One of the mortar crews is eliminated by the Russian HMG.
Turn 7:
German infantry exchanges fire with the HMG, while the MMG and the ATRs advance. Armored cars turn south, firing with little effect as they pass by.
Turn 8:
The B* leader goes back to rally the three broken HS. The Russian armored cars continue moving southward and one of them exits the map (even if this does not provide VP to the Russian).
A lone Russian squad - perhaps the one that was holding the fortified building - tries to advance from the orchard, but it is wiped out by the MGs. One of the BAs continues firing on the infantry in the fortified building with no effect. Unfortunately, it also prevents me from advancing further down the road. Other armored cars on the hills in the south fire at long range, with little effect (a couple pinned units)
Turn 9:
Two broken HS are rallied, the leader goes north to rally the last one.
Infantry fire breaks the Russian squad manning the HMG, but as long as the armoured car is there I don't dare advancing in open ground, risking further losses.
Turn 10:
An ATR immobilises the lone BA-6 that is blocking my advance. A HS recovers the abandoned Lt Mortar.
Turn 11:
A well placed ATR shot destroys the BA-6; a couple infantry squads dash forward to take more road hexes and to occupy the building where the HMG lies abandoned, before the Russians come back. Most of my force will remain in a central position, ready to react to a possible Russian counterattack. Two HS (one of them with a Lt Mtr) keep watch on the western part of the road, just in case.
Turn 12:
The advancing squads are harassed by long range fire from the BA-6s on the south hill;one of the squads is broken but the other gains control of several road hexes.
I currently have 23 VP; a Minor Victory requires 25 VP, a Major 33. I think I will go for a Minor and call it a day. I am still worrying about a possible Russian force coming out from the woods in the south, and who knows what I might find going further down the main road.
Two other armoured cars exit from the south edge of the map: I'm not going to miss them.
Turn 13:
The forward detachment advances and loses one squad, eliminated by fire from two Russian 1st line squads in [23,3]. The other squad takes control of the two VP I need for a minor victory and takes position out of sight from the Russians, but with a good field of fire should they decide to advance.
Turn 14 & 15:
Nothing happens.
The scenario was not exactly a milk run (the KV-1 could have been much more devastating), but the first one was far worse. The losses incurred in Mission #1 prevented me from advancing further and getting a Major Victory. Perhaps I have been a bit too worried about the Russian armoured cars (but if they began to take VP hexes in my rear they could have taken a lot of them in a single turn) and Russian infantry counterattacks (but I had no idea about what could be hidden in the southern portion of the map).
A couple remarks:
I had a routing squad interdicted by the BU KV. Is this a AI-only feature? I was not allowed to interdict with BU AFVs.
Maybe it is a string of unlikely die rolls, but variable end scenarios always seem to last until the last possible turn: Mission #1 lasted until turn 16 and Mission #2 until turn 15. This also happened in the playtest sessions of my scenario in progress, which should last 11 to 16 turns, but always ends on turn 16.
[image]local://upfiles/53779/E9434BCD2CF245B3921C1569FBD1EFA0.jpg[/image]
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