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minefield -> RE: hellcat vs minefield - Blood on the Hills (4/22/2004 4:38:12 AM)
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First I must thank my opponent, Hellcat the leader. He has been a very good opponent and made the game immensely enjoyable.
The game was enjoyable not because of the crushing victory [:D], but because of the threat of losing was always present. I had not anticipated a force coming up north at all, so when I first saw those vehicles and infantry, I had to rush my forces up there as quickly as possible. If not for the lone sniper on the northern most hill, he would've moved aggressively and broken through. Instead, the movement hit for being spotted plus the uncertainity of what was watching him enabled me to hold the weakest sector of the map until I could move troops and a tank into the area. Even that tank and its accompanying flammwagen were destroyed. At one point I was holding on with 2 ATG's and a platoon of infantry. One ATG went up and the platoon was severely wounded with 2 or 3 squads with 5 or less men.
I must say that the terrain did play the biggest part in the battle. We merely were pawns to its chokepoints and unpredictable visibility. I thought the map would be more balanced since the VH's were closer to him (and he did manage to grab them first and hold them until his forces were broken), but my superior firing positions on the ridge allowed me to whittle down his forces.
I don't know if my force selection was that great, since the early StuG's only had 2 shots at full readiness. His 85 mm guns were more than a match for my IVh's. However, I did call in a couple of Tigers as reinforcements (two turns after I saw his big beast reinforcements) although they didn't see battle.
I am particularly proud of the flammwagens, since they ruled the day. When my lucky artillery strike hit his ammo carrier, I knew that he would lose the biggest advantage against close quarters fire units--suppression from artillery. As long as I didn't move my flammwagen into open terrain or next to a ready unit, then they were safe in the smoke and trees. Indeed quite a few brave soviet women tried to approach, but even at 2 hexes away the flammwagens proved to be a show stopper.
The only real fault that I can place on Hellcat is buying 122mm FH, artillery units I knew from experience to be completely and utterably immobile. With the great visibility, it wasn't long before I spotted the smoke. On my second turn I already had my snipers looking over most of the map so the counter battery was inevitable.
I am not sure what Hellcat could have done to win, but I do think that a more defensive posture would've saved more of his forces. He had no real need to advance other than to take my home VH's and I would be at a good loss for points as the two clumps of VH's lay squarely in his territory while the southern was exposed to long range fire. I would've been forced to advance on the VH's eventually.
I agree that the map was extremely fun and I think the small points allowed for a faster pace than usually experienced. It also made force selection extremely critical, which I think was something that hurt him more than me since I have superior selection in most cases.
With all of that said, I do want a rematch just for the sake of gaming against Hellcat again. Here is my force selection:
HQ
2 75 mm FH
6 120 mm mortars
2 FO, one destroyed
Ammo Carrier
12 Mercedes Benz (to move artillery and ATG's)
4 PzKpfw-IVH (3 destroyed)
4 StuG ausf G(E) (all alive)
6 SdKfz-233 (3 dead)
4 incredible Flammwagen/16 (2 destroyed)
4 75 mm PaK40 ATG (1 destroyed)
4 rifle platoons
1 platoon of MG34's
about 10 kuebelwagen / sniper pairs
Reinforcements:
2 Tiger IE (late)
4 SdKfz 251/10
all alive
Points have already been mentioned.
minefield over and out. pack up boys, time to hit the road.
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