The guys came round for our Day of Days playtest last night. We didn't get the game finished due to a bit of mucking round/ waiting for people to turn up but the conclusion was not in doubt.
Both sides deployed one company and had the other in reserve- we both chose to put our armour in reserve. As is usual in our doubles games we added a third objective to ensure that both sides had to spread out to defend the objectives. My 2nd Armoured Div recon faced off vs an armoured panzer grenadier company from the 2nd Das Reich SS division. .
Brad placed his pak 40s on high ground to give them the maximum field of fire, below them was his 4 werfers.
Turn 1- I used recon moves and spearhead to advance but then the Germans got the first turn (we are ignoring the always attack rules as at DoD each round one side or the other attacks based on the overall situation). Brad took the opportunity to dig in his panzer grenadiers in the woods.
On our right flank the recon probes forward looking for a gap to exploit.
Turn 1 the Stuarts are already causing problems.
Turn 3 and my HQ greyhounds have one objective contested!
The recon and Starts wait a turn to hose a few more SS- probably should have dived in here but my armoured rifles got hit by the 'werfers on turn 1 and remained stubbornly pinned.
Turn 4 and two tigers appear exactly where the Grmans didn't want them- way out on our right flank.
more tigers- five of them to be exact. Time for a change of plans, ply ones opponents with beer till they start making mistakes!
The reon jeeps an eye on the SS while the Stuarts move round a bit (and out of shot).
Send in the Stuarts! I managed to kill 3 teams in assault. The Germans came back at me but then I managed to bog 3 Stuarts in the same time. Luckily Brad failed motivation even with the company commander and retreated. He then failed his (3rd) morale test but the company commander managed to keep the platoon on board!
Next turn the SS rallied and swarmed over the Stuarts killing the last non bailed one and capturing the others, luckily for me Brad's bad morale rolls continued and his SS also broke as they'd taken a loss.
Meanwhile the company command greyhound is hiding from the tigers. Ssssshhhhh they won't see us.
What is the best way to deal with two tigers?
Smoke the bastards!
Dale's tigers then head into the nearby woods for a bit of safety.
Brad and Nigel meantime decided that 2 tigers trumps three greyhounds and moved in supported by the 2nd SS platoon now mounted up in their half tracks.
Tigers marsch!
The 76mm Shermans still struggling vs the tigers
Finally Kent manages to get through the front armour of a tiger!
He sends the 75mm Shermans round to support my infantry that have finally advanced to the woods- one Sherman falls victim to the bloody panzerwerfers- which were annoying all game!
At this time we had to call it, we were pretty beat up. I had just bailed one tiger (bazooka though the front armour) but it probably would have remounted, we were in serious trouble and the game was pretty much a forgone conclusion. We lost 3 platoons to their one for a marginal German victory.
A good game, we needed more time though (we play 3 1/2 hrs at Day of Days) to force a proper conclusion. I needed to be more aggressive with my recon but really didn't have an answers to the tigers.
I look forward to the next one in a couple of weeks time,
Good game - especially as the 5 Tigers led only to a marginal German success!
ReplyDeleteMrginal was only due to lack of time. We usually allow 3 1/2 hours for doubles games but barely got 2 in as people had to go.
DeleteVery very cool looking game Craig! Great report and photos!
ReplyDeleteCheers Rodger, was lots of fun.We seem to have more fun playing flames as doubles games than we do ni 1v1, maybe as more smack down gets talked.
DeleteCraig
Nice write up Craig.. guess you never got the hellcats effectively on table..? Glad I'm running Axis although your list still looks hard as nails :D
ReplyDeleteNot sure about hard as nails.Finaly got the hellcats into side shot range of Nigel's tigers in the alst turn, only 1 hit which he bounced. The threat of hellcats was more dangerous than they were, and being trained then needed to be used a bit more cautiously than vet ones would have been.
ReplyDeleteCraig