Last night got to have another game at the club vs Ken and his newly completed German infantry force. He is a bit light on squads so everything was veteran. He had a major, 2x large pioneer squads, a mortar, pak 38, flame thrower, panzershrek and a panzer IV.
I ran my Kiwis force- I'd completed 2x shermans this week to turn them into a tank platoon: 3x Shermans, 6 pdr, carrier, mortar, MMG, veteran infantry section + free observer.
We rolled up Manhunt and Ken got to defend. My objective to destroy his HQ in a close assault.
Germans started with half units on table defending the centre of the board. The pak 38 covering my likely lines of advance from the safety of a wood.
Turn 1 the Kiwis advance- MMG, mortar, observer, 6 pr + carrier,the rest of my force was in reserve. Most of my units advance on the left flank.
My bombardment did minimal damage, just pinned a few units
Then the panzershrek appears and destroys the carrier too!
Later in the turn a Sherman appears and kills the panzershrek.
Then a panzer IV turns up behind the Sherman but misses with its shot! This is getting silly already!
Meanwhile on the other flank my MMG team is trying its best to advance towards a farmhouse but it takes hits from the German pioneers on the objective and the pioneers that have just moved on table. The MMG really should have died here but Ken fluffed his rolls to destroy (needing 4s) 2 turns in a row so somehow it hang in there far longer than it should have.
Turn 4: My mortar team fires smoke at the panzer IV but misidentified their target apparently, making and the shell land in front of my Sherman instead. Luckily for me the panzer IV missed again (needing a 3!) and the Sherman turned its turret and knocked out the panzer with its first shot.
In the centre my other two shermans advance against the pak 38, which scored a couple of hits but failed to penetrate the shermans, then the pak was pretty much pinned out for the game- though the nesarby major did come in handy when it came to giving the gun crew orders, they just had too many pins to be effective when shooting.
The MMG with 2 dead crew still hangs in there- until assualted by the pioneers.
A sherman turns its main gun on the pioneers but misses.
Tank vs pak gun dual.
Turn 6. Pioneers assault the Sherman but fail to dstory it and then retreat.
My infantry squad having finally destroyed the flamethrower run towards the objective. My observer (just out of sight) calls down a bombardment and manages to score a direct hit on the German HQ (the objective) killing everyone except that commander- which very nearly ended the game then and there in a draw! Oops.
Turn 7: Whoever got the first die had the game- my infantry were in assault range of the HQ, the pioneers could assault my infantry. Ken pulled the first die and it was green, my assault went in and won the game!
A great game, lots of laughs and played in a positive, relaxed, casual manner. I felt bad about having some many vehicles- Kent and I typically take an armoured car, pak and tank in infantry forces, and maybe a shrek. But Ken didn't mind. Next time though, I'd g a bit more infantry heavy force. That being said though slightly better penetration, and to hit rolls, fro the pak and panzer IV could have knocked out at least 2 of my tanks and changed the game so it wasn't all one way traffic.
The mission played well, as pretty chaotic but a lot of fun. I am enjoying version 2, much better than version 1 of the rules, has toned down many of the dodgy in things I didn't like (tough fighter etc) and seems to be much better balanced. The mission could have benefited from the defenders being dug in and also the rules still do need a FoW style break test for if you lose more than half your teams/squads- but both are easily house ruled fixes.
Meanwhile Kent used my panzer IV platoon vs Jacob's Russian hordes and found out the hard way how hard it is to deal with a JS 2 with a panzer IV. Seemed like they had a good game which resulted in a draw.
The JS 2 dominates the centre of the table.
Panzer IVs advance, covered by a pak 38.
A Soviet infantry squad advances.
One panzer IV is knocked out by a JS 2- in the end through Kent managed to destroy the JS 2 which he was stoked about.
Craig
This has the look of a game played at the Woolston Club in Christchurch. There used to be a considerable enthusiasm for Panzer Marsch there that lasted two or three years...
ReplyDeleteWas down at TAG clubrooms in Timaru, using club terrain. We are using 5x6ft boards so the extra "wiggle room" allows for a bit more fire and manoeuvre in the game.
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