Paris is Burning #1, Cracking the Nut

Paris is Burning #1, Cracking the Nut

0951, May 18th, 1985. The Soviet Third Shock Army attacks the French 2nd Corps.  The French are stretched thin, but have effective anti-tank weapons with which to engage the Soviets.  Yes, the Soviet tanks can by pass the resistance, but doing so will playce the following echelons at risk.

We played this scenario twice, Chuck was the French 35th Regimant d'Infantry (of course) with close air support from a Super Etendard, while Aaron and I commanding one formation each of the Soviet Juggernaut.  In both games, I had the powerful infantry formation, the 77th Motor Rifle (BTR60-mechanized rifle platoons, with support from the awesome 2S6 Tanguska anti-aircraft vehicle).  Aaron commanded the polyglot 1st Tank in game one and the 8th Guard Tank in game two (a pure T-64 force, with limited artillery support).  This was also the first game using my variant artillery rules.  They seemed to work well.  I've tweaked them a little bit for next time.

The battle takes place on a single map, with the French holding two towns, one at a river crossing.  The Soviets enter and must either control both towns, or exit units from the board, or a combination of both.  In game one, Chuck held the river crossing in strength, leaving only two infantry platoons in the Southern town.  I entered first, threw my infantry into the Southern town and in a rolling tide of assaults, drove Chucks infantry out and killed them as they fled West out of the city.  We controlled the town and exited units easily.  Victory for the USSR!

In game 2, Chuck held the bridge with a small force (one Infantry, one APC and a truck), and massed everything else in the Southern town.  He used his artillery effectively to disrupt my dismounted infantry advance, and Aaron was plagued by two turns in which his Guards didn't activate at all.  I fought my way into the town and across the bridge, but unfortunately left wrecks on the bridge hex and the hex the bridge exited onto.  By the time Aaron's tanks got to the bridge and began pummeling the opposing bank with HE rounds, the finals grains of sand in the clock trickled away.  We didn't have enough time to get our units off the board.  Victory for France!

I sure wished there was some way to clear that fucking wreck off the bridge.  Fighting with vehicles in towns leaves a lot of damage.  Oh, and the Tanguska shot that poor Etendard to bits in both games.  Lethal.

The Untold Stories #5, Counterattack Countered

June 2nd, 1985. The Canadians are on the counterattack.  Aaron was the East Germans, I was the Canadians.

A very cool little battle.  Two battered Canadian formations (2nd Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry and Royal Canadian Dragoons) are attacking across a river.  One equally battered East German Regiment (29th Motor Rifle) is defending the bridge.  Two formations are rushing to its defense:  the massive 53rd Panzer Brigade, led by Hans Wolf himself, and the 116th Aufklarungs.

53rd Panzer is a big formation of T-72's that can activate twice per turn once a Canadian HQ is identified by a Pact recon asset (this never happened during our game).  The 116th is also a 2-activation unit, but it's a recon force without much hitting power.  It's on the map to spot for the 53rd and to call in artillery.

The Canadians have a few platoons of Leopard C1's, which have solid hitting power, but very weak armor (worse than a T-72), two platoons of infantry, a Lynx (recon) and a surprisingly strong little anti-tank asset:  a reduced platoon of M150 (M113 vehicle with a TOW missile launcher on the roof).  It is the only vehicle in the game that can fire through a smoke screen.

The terrain is flat, open fields with a few copses of trees and scattered villages.  Good anti-tank country.  Very exposed.  The East German reinforcements have to make their way over this ground while taking fire from the M150 and Canadian Dragoons.  These managed to kill Wolf and several T-72 units during their approach.  Off-board Canadian artillery also dropped mines onto one of the primary roads, diverting 53rd Panzer for a crucial turn or two.

On turn 6, the Canadians managed to storm across the bridge, into the East German positions before the reinforcements could arrive.

Assessment:  Fast, brutal, battle between weakened forces.  The East Germans have an extremely effective unit:  the 53rd Panzer Brigade.  The problem is that it has to cover a lot of open ground before it can get into the fight, and the unit it's reinforcing is quite weak.  The usual NATO dominance in terms of equipment and activations is significantly less in this battle than in others.  I want to play this again, switching sides.  It's an excellent battle, playable in an hour or so.

Eisenbach Gap #4: Maelstrom

May 19th, 1985.  Rear echelon forces from 3rd Shock Army are trying to break through a thin U.S. line.  Aaron was the U.S., Chuck and I played the Soviets.

I've solitaired this several times.  It uses the entire map from Eisenbach Gap and features a number of exciting formations:  on the Soviet side the stars is the ever popular 1st Tank and the the 69th Attack Helicopter Regiment.  The U.S. has two balanced formations and the armored Delta Dogs coming in as reinforcements on Turn 2.

Aaron was unfamiliar with the Line of Sight rules, so his initial set-up was flawed (he had his forward units on the "interior" of the hills where their line of sight was blocked).  1st Tank drove into the open center of the board, which looked like a fine decision at the outset, but the situation quickly turned ugly as Chuck's T-72's missed some activations and were cut to pieces.  I advanced through the forest on the right, hoping to cross the river with the aid of my Hinds.  We did manage to wipe out the infantry unit holding the bridge, but by the time we got to the river, Delta's tanks had mauled Chuck sufficiently that they could afford to roll east and catch us in a crossfire.  T-55's burned all along the river road, and those units that survived the crossing were unable to muster the courage to press on to victory.  Aaron won handily.

I always enjoy this battle.  It's big, and the Soviets look impressive on paper.  Pressing into the teeth of dug-in U.S. defenders isn't something to be taken lightly.  Even with the help of Helicopters, I've never seen the Soviets break through.  It's fun to try though.

Napoleon at Bay, January-March 1814

Played OSG's Napoleon at Bay with Aaron, Chuck and Kurt. Chuck and Kurt were the French.  Aaron was the Army of Silesia and I was the Army of Bohemia.  We played just about in real-time, over the course of several weeks in January-March 2013 (almost the 200th anniversary!).

Aaron and I didn't really coordinate, other than generally keeping an eye on one another, and agreeing that the lessons learned in Germany in 1813 should be adhered to (specifically the one about avoiding battles with the emperor, and advancing when he reveals himself to be SOMEWHERE ELSE).  The opening moves saw Blucher and the to-be-avoided-Napoleon sparring North of Vitry le Francois.  Aaron fended off a half-hearted attack by the emperor (who withdrew along the north bank of the Marne to Chalons-sur-Marne, before disappearing behind a cloud of vedettes).  Meanwhile, I plodded my way Westward, keeping south of the Aube, towards Troyes.  I tried to come to grips with Gerard, who managed to avoid destruction, slipping North over the river toward Sezanne.  The French army concentrated at Sezanne throughout February, grouped roughly in an arc between the Marne and Seine.  Napoleon didn't show himself as Aaron slowly crept West and North and I captured Troyes and pushed a large column under Barclay hard for  Nogent-sur-Seine.  Barclay crossed to the North bank of the Seine in mid-February, where he was discovered by French vedettes (I have to imagine to the Emperor's surprise, given his subsequent reaction).  Within a few days, Napoleon, Murat and the bulk of the French army was at Nogent-sur-Seine and battle was joined.  Barclay withdrew over the Seine (losing enough men to provide Napoleon with a critical victory), and burnt the bridge.

With the knowledge that the French concentration was in the South, Blucher shifted his supply to the North and surged Westward, capturing Reims and Soissons.  The French hovered around the Seine for a few days before resuming their central position screening Paris.  General Wrede's Corps from the Army of Bohemia captured Pont-sur-Yonne, but otherwise the Austrians stalled out, moving their center of operations West to Bray, covering the bridges over the Seine, and advancing with 80,000 men under Schwartzenberg to Sezanne.

Blucher, aware that Napoleon was marching North to confront him, nevertheless kept up his westward momentum, eventually closing on Paris from the Northeast and causing a panic (7+ strength points within 7 movement points of the city).  Napoleon struck Winzengerode, in the van of the Silesian column, on the 5th of March with the bulk of his army. Blucher made a forced-march to support his lieutenant and a pitched battle ensued that saw roughly 16,000 Prussian casualties in its opening rounds (French artillery was lethal, and Chuck committed the Imperial Guard on two attacks).  Aaron showed a lot of nerve, revealing Pitched Battle twice and taking a horrendously one-sided beating.  Fortunately for the Prussian cause, Blucher had a 3-2 advantage in overall numbers and he was able to absorb the losses without breaking.  The second French attack saw Blucher's patience rewarded (Chuck rolled a 6, the only number that could have resulted in a French loss).  With the Guard staked, Napoleon's "pitched" choice switched to a retreat plus a morale loss.  The battle was a critical one, and caused Paris to surrender.  Aaron's Prussians were victorious!  My Austrians could only shake their heads in consternation... they would be facing a resurgent Prussia soon, culminating in 1866.  Napoleon, however, was put on a ship to Elba.  Never to be heard from again (*coughwaterloo*).

This was my first time playing NaB, and it was every bit the treat I had expected.  The Army of Bohemia was perfectly frustrating to play:  large, dangerous but very unwieldy.  The Prussians were hell for the French.  I think that Napoleon has to bloody them right out of the gate, unless the Austrians expose themselves prematurely.  With all the reinforcements the Army of Silesia gets, it cannot be allowed to march unmolested for too long (whereas Schwartzenberg can be allowed to creep along for a while with only token resistance at the Seine bridges).  Chuck and Kurt had a strategy of slowly withdrawing westward, keeping between the Allies and Paris.  That's not a winning strategy.  The Allies have too much power, and can outflank any "line" the French try to establish.  The French have to challenge the Coalition lines of communication, and any force, regardless of size, that reveals itself.  Napoleon can whip any Allied army he meets, almost casually.  He'll need the critical victories to win.

The Campaigns system is a real work of art.  Can't wait to revisit it (though we're off to Leipzig next, returning to OSG's Library of Napoleonic Battles).

Black Day for the German Army, August 8-9, 1918

Kurt and I played the first day of this fine Pacific Rim classic. Kurt's Entente forces (England, France, Australia, Canada and the 33rd U.S. Division) banged away at my trenches with all they had, until, at the end of the day I was pushed back into my reserve fortifications, with gaping holes in my line, much of it held by regiment-sized speed bumps.

The game is a nice, tight, division level WWI game. I like the way the tanks are represented: they roll over trenches, give an odds shift in battle, and advance at speed, but have to roll a d6 to avoid breaking down every time they move (including during an advance). By the end of the first day, all but 4 of the Allied tanks were destroyed or partially immobilized. I look forward to playing it again. Here's a detail shot of the tip of the German salient, with the Bavarians holding on tenaciously and the British tanks pushing in from the North (right side). The one in orange has been reduced. The german 124's are regiments.

PAINTING: 8th August, 1918 (oil-on-linen, 107 cm x 274 cm, 1918-1919) by Will Longstaff, Australian official war artist. Depicts a scene during the Battle of Amiens. The view is towards the west, looking back towards Amiens. A column of German prisoners of war being led into captivity. Meanwhile horse-drawn artillery are advancing to the east.

Death of 1st Panzer #3, Wittman's Ghost

Eric was the Germans, I was the Soviets. Victory depends on the Soviet player controlling both hexes of Wittburg at the end of turn 8.

OPENING: I deployed in Wittburg with my Soviet Paras, hoping to fend off Eric's Panzergrenadiers and Leopard II's long enough for 1st Tank to arrive from the East. He charged his Marders up onto Wittburg Hill while pounding Talen with HE fire from his Leopards. I cut down an infantry platoon that he'd pushed across open ground, but little else.

1st Tank arrived on turn 2, but was hit hard as it broke out of Eben. Three T-72 platoons were disrupted, then burnt up, from Leopard fire at extended range. He caught several more before they were able to get safely behind Wittburg Hill, then blew up a few more with Milans from his Marders as I reached the hilltop. 1st Tank had taken around 50% casualties by this point without firing a shot.

MIDGAME: The T-72's got their revenge, as they overran his infantry and assaulted (and destroyed) his Marders. With the infantry routed, 1st Tank swept down off the hill to take up a defensive position screening Wittburg. They were protected from his Leopards in Talen, but would be able to hit them with opportunity fire if they advanced. The Germans seemed to have no intention of advancing, however, as they cheerfully reduced downtown Wittburg to rubble with High Explosive fire.

ENDGAME: The Germans destroyed everything in Wittburg, and threatened the more of the same to any survivors who ventured back into it. On the final turn of the game, however, I raced my final three platoons from 1st Tank back into town (two of them exploded en route, under his overwatching tanks). When the third "end-turn" chit was pulled, ending the game,I could boast a disrupted BDRM-2 on the hilltop part of town, and a reduced T-72 platoon with 1st Tank's HQ in the lower part of town. Glorious Victory!

RATING: B+ to A. An interesting mix of units. Fast and bloody. The Soviets have a mortar and an odd little AT gun to complement their high-morale paratroopers. 1st Tank, though down to 8 platoons and a BDRM, is a force to be respected. The German Leopards, once again, completely dominate everything else on the board. They are ferocious opponents, rolling 4 dice out to 18 hexes, hitting on 4's. With an HQ, they roll 6 dice. A T-72 saves by rolling 4 dice, looking for 6's. No contest. At 9 hexes, it's even worse, and at 4 hexes, they hit on anything but a 1. That said, there are only 3 Leopards, and 1st Tank gets a designated formation marker, allowing it to activate as many times as the Germans do. In the end, it was a close game, coming down to a final chit-pull (just like the last game with Aaron!).

Test of Fire: July 21, 1861

Played at Uptown with General Kurticus commanding the South and yours truly commanding the North. We used an enlarged map with Battlecry pieces. Very nice looking game. Not a big fan of the pieces that come with the published game, but they're generic so you can substitute almost anything for them. The map and cards are very nice.

PLAY: I plunked a ford down on the Stone Bridge and spent the rest of the game slamming my head into the stone wall of Henry House Hill. In retrospect, it would have been better to have put the ford on one of the river sections beside the bridge, allowing me to get in around him to cut off the hill and allow my boys to cross the bridge in peace. As it was, I was only able to wrap around him very late in the game, and ran out of time.

DESIGN: The defense is very strong, as is appropriate for a Civil War game. I think it's important, as the attacker, to sequence your movements and attacks to stop simple retreats and convert them into kills, otherwise, frontal assaults are more or less useless if your opponant has 3+ men defending. I'm looking forward to playing again, to try to crack the code.

The Untold Stories #2: Sideshow, May 29, 1985

Aaron was the Dutch, I was the Soviets. We played on Map B instead of Map A which made for some interesting choices. I set my Marines and improved positions in Witzhave, south of the east/west river. Aaron attacked across the fields north of Grande, driving half-way in, then coming the rest of the way on foot. My Sagger unit got disrupted by artillery and stayed that way, allowing his forces to close in on the east side of town. He managed to force his way into the improved positions with waves of infantry assaults, until I was left holding the bridge with one dug-in, disrupted Marine platoon. By mid-game the T-80's of the Kiev Guard were arriving from the north and, despite the mild pecking they took from a Dutch F-16, took up position in the northern suburbs. Aaron's Prins Bernhard Stoottroepen stormed over the bridge, suffering heavy fire from lines of T-80's, but managed to get into hand to hand combat with them. In the towns, the lack of infantry told on the Soviet units. All T-80's were forced into the fields north of town and were unable to fight their way back in. At the last moment, Hero of the Soviet Union Sergei Platov launched a desperate charge along the southern bank of the river, breaking into the town just east of the bridge. The Dutch recoiled, and the Soviets began to dig in again.

Great scenario. Really tense, and victory came down to a chit-pull. There were four chits in the cup, one of them would end the game, the others would give Aaron a chance to chuck me out of town and win. The game-end chit was pulled! We pulled again to see what would have happened, and he did push me out, which gives you a sense of how close the scenario was. Infantry vs. unsupported armor is super tough. Awesome.

Death of 1st Panzer #2: Speed Bumps, May 15th, 1985

Solitaired this scenario twice more, trying to settle on a winning Soviet gambit. The Leopard II with HQ is an instant-kill every time it fires, and the rest of the german force can expect four disruption/reductions per activation (against BMP's).

SOVIET STRATEGY: The best I've come up with is to have the infantry enter the map on foot, and march towards Wittburg, accompanied by the HQ and one or more T-62's. That protects them from Milan fire from Talen (the HQ will draw fire, but hopefully it will survive or just be reduced). Second, have the full BMP force enter separately, moving out into the wedge-shaped piece of open country East of Talen. One or two will die, but the rest can sit patiently, threatening all moving german vehicles with a barrage of Saggers.

MID GAME: both Marder platoons will be destroyed, a handful of BMP's wrecked or disrupted, and a bunch of soviet infantry on the hilltop, ready to assault Wittburg. The BMP's will be out of command for most of the game, but they're mainly providing opportunity fire. Over time, a few of them will make their command rolls, so the soviets will have some direct fire.

END GAME: will feature the Leopard II sitting in Talen, plus a german infantry unit in the fields nearby, peppering helpless BMP's with Milans twice a turn. The Soviets will have most of their surviving units disrupted or reduced or both. The BMP force will be only partially in command, and odds are that that part will be unable to rally. Using those unreliable assets, the USSR has to march its infantry into the teeth of the German death-trap, more or less unsupported by what BMP fire there is (the forest to the East of Talen blocking their LOS). The game will end with the Germans holding Talen and the Soviets holding Wittburg.

VARIANT: I've played around with one variant so far: Give the Soviets one BDRM (another option for calling in artillery fire), and one Sagger (allowing soviet infantry to threaten the Leopard in the end-game). In my game, the BDRM drew immediate fire when it poked its head out, but assuming it survives, it can sit quietly, remaining in command, calling in artillery fire. In my game, this was a very minor advantage. The Leopard II shrugged off the infantry's Sagger fire (Sagger is 3 dice hitting on 4's vs. the Leopard in town at 5-6 dice saving on 5's).

RATING: Soviets will lose without some sort of force enhancement. Another idea is to add the 87th Motor Rifle, and get rid of the (admittedly cool) radio jamming SSR.

Death of 1st Panzer #1&2, Blind Sided & Speed Bumps, May 1985

We played the first two scenarios of World at War: Death of 1st Panzer tonight.

BLIND SIDED: Me (USSR) vs. Aaron (Germany). He managed to get his Jaguar up onto the hill in the backfield as I crested the large hill on the other side of the valley. So I charged my tanks into the shadow of Talen and assaulted it. I lost several stacks of T-72's before taking the town, and realized that there was no way for me to reach Walkerburg through his enfilading fire. I fled with two platoons of tanks, conceding the game to Aaron.

SPEED BUMPS: Second up was Kurt (USSR), vs. Aaron's germans. Kurt split his assault on both sides of the east-west river. Aaron dropped mines north of the river and set up a crossfire from Wittburg, Talen and his Leopard II, lurking behind Talen. That fire finished off the BMP-1's. Kurt's half-hearted attempt to rush Wittburg from the reverse of the big hill petered out as well.

GRADE: Both games are good teaching situations, but very difficult for the Soviet player to win without lucky chit-pulls. On the other hand, both were also great examples of what to avoid as the Soviets: exposure in the open, and dispersal of focus. The soviets, on the attack, have to mass overwhelming numbers in a safe spot, and wait for the right moment to perform a wave assault on a portion of the defender's force. I tried to change direction mid-game and instead found myself in a cul-de-sac with fire coming down on me from all sides anytime I tried to move. Kurt divided his forces and watched each of them get picked apart as he approached the german positions. Aaron had teams of Marders and Milan-equipped infantry in advanced positions (in towns) and in both games, they managed to use multiple activations to rip the heart out of the soviet formations.

Eisenbach Gap #4: Maelstrom, May 1985

Solo play of this big scenario

SITUATION: The US is defending the northern edge of the map from a wide soviet assault. To do it, the US gets Alpha and Charlie teams, and Charlie's limited to two Infantry Platoons, an M113 and some Dragon ATGM's. Team Delta will arrive on turn 4 from the north with 3 platoons of M-1's. The soviets get the vaunted 1st Tank, 33rd Motorized Rifle and the 87th Motorized Rifle (both somewhat understrength), and a pair of Hind attack helicopters. Their goal is to exit 6 full units off the north map edge by turn 11. The western edge of the map has the most covered approaches for the USSR. The center is open with commanding hilltops allowing good crossfires for the defender. The east has some cover as you move north, but a wide river cuts off access to the northern map edge except at two bridges.

STRATEGY: US set up with Alpha in the West, contesting the covered approach. A pair of Bradleys and the Chaparal attached (also Alpha), set up on the central hilltop. Charlie guarded the bridges in the east.

1st Tank and 33rd MR attacked in the west, moving into attack positions south of the hill where Alpha waited. 1st tank took a beating from Alpha as it advanced, but managed to knock out both Bradleys and forced the M-1's to fall back to the rear of the hilltop. When Delta arrived, they, with the remaining Alpha platoons, methodically picked apart 1st Tank until it was no longer a threat. Mid-game, Delta drove to the center of the board to support Charlie and two platoons of 1st Tank managed to get off the board with their HQ.

87th MR fought their way over one of the bridges with the help of the Helicopters, but their drive stalled out as Delta arrived, along with Alpha's helicopter and the two soviet helicopters left play.

33rd MR made a dash for the board edge, but were also destroyed by Delta's Abrams platoons, which suffered no losses.

RATING: Balanced. A very good scenario with a lot of interesting terrain and a good force mix. I used the Soviet helos badly.

Death of 1st Panzer #1: Blindsided, 5/14/85

"The Soviet 1st Tank Army is sweeping into West German territory hoping to take as much ground as it can in the opening phase of the war."

Feldmarshall Yandora commanded elements of 1/171 Panzergrenadier Battalion, I took elements of the 1st Tank Army (our confrontation took place after a delicious Lu-Lu's repast of noodles and Tom Kha Kai soup, and some You Tube browsing at the Phantom of the Attic in Oakland).

Jeff sniped one of my tanks as it emerged from behind Eben, then ran full speed for Walkersburg. He set up his units in defensive positions while my tanks made their way onto the hill in the southern map-edge. My plan was simple, get as close as possible to the hill-edge and hope for a good initiative pull to let me rush into close combat with his Marders in the southern tree-line. I knew I'd take heavy losses (that's the life of a Soviet soldier in 1985), but expected I'd wipe him out. Instead I miscalculated and moved into an exposed position along the crest of the hill where the Germans methodically picked me apart over the course of three unanswered activations. I was left with my HQ and 1.5 Tank platoons. The entire southern edge of the board was littered with burning wrecks. Comrade Moellerzovh decided to bug out and get reinforcements.

I love this system. It keeps me wanting more. Just one more crack and I know I can win...

Navia Dratp

Tessa and I played a game of Navia Dratp over the weekend. I'd forgotten what a fun game it is! Way to be Tess, your Navia Dratped with the best of them. It was only due to the awesome power of Hamulus Garuda that Navia Deborah was able to win out in the end.

We both just chose random Masetai this time (my criteria was that I only use painted figures, Tessa's was that hers were cute). Cordrycomp (sp), the immortal assassin and Hamulus Garuda were my star performers.

Line of Fire #7: Down by the River, 5/22/85

Another game of WaW with the injured Kurt Mericli this morning ended in a Warsaw Pact victory. We played Scenario 7, from the first issue of Line of Fire magazine. It was Kurt's turn to take the offense, with his tough U.S. team trying to force elements of the 33rd Motor Rifle out of Tanenhause.

Looking at the map, you can see that the battlefield is divided by an unfordable river running north to south. NATO enters from the western (left) map edge. The Soviets set up in the town of Tanenhause or in the large forest west of the river.

I debated deploying infantry in the forest, but decided I needed to be able to fall back over the bridge in an emergency, so I kept everything except a BMP platoon and two infantry platoons east of the river. I deployed my headquarters well out of sight in the southern end of town, and parked my second platoon of BMP's in the lone farmhouse and orchard north of the bridge. Team Bravo sent its platoon of Abrams tanks into the northern woods, where they were disrupted by fire from the western edge of Tanenhause. His infantry force moved into Brikhause, and were also disrupted (one of the M113's, along with its embarked troops were reduced in the process). Kurt had a number of single-activation turns, which negated the force-multiplier effect of his two activation chits. On the other hand, the scenario doesn't seem to have a turn limit, so there's no need for the U.S. to rush forward (correction: the scenario ends after 9 turns). Kurt began systematically bombarding my outlying forces. He reduced the BMP and infantry units on his side of the river (I revealed my Sagger to be the platoon west of the bridge), and I was the victim of several out-of-ammo situations. Eventually, after I pulled all of my vehicle units back over the bridge, he moved to the south of the large forest by the river and began taking up positions to approach the bridge from that protected route. I had three rifle platoons stacked west of the river though, and they assaulted, in waves, a hex containing Bravos' headquarters, M-1 and an infantry platoon. The first assault was 6 soviet dice to 7 US dice. He took two hits, I took three and fell back. The third platoon assaulted as well, wiping out the US infantry and killing his headquarters. My tanks drove over the bridge and occupied their jumping-off point as back-up. We called the game at that point because real-life intruded. It was a hell of a scenario, I thought. The attack, again, proved to be a tough proposition, even for nimble NATO forces. If Kurt had had a few more double-activations, it could have been much uglier for me. It's a good, tight little scenario. One I'd like to play again.

Gamer's Guide #1: Clearing Hell's Highway, 5/22/1985

We played a scenario from the World at War Gamer's Guide that used the map and units from Death of First Panzer. Soviet resupply convoys are being hit by German raiders as they push toward the Rhine. The Red Army's 33rd Motorized Regiment has been ordered to clear some woods where the raiders have been coming from. When their T-62's advance, late in the afternoon on the 22nd, it turns out the 1/172nd Panzergrenadier Regiment is waiting in ambush.

Kurt and I played at Uptown Coffee, and it was a really close game. My soviets nearly cleared the forest... the only Germans Kurt had left were his headquarters and a Marder platoon. The tensest moment for me was a period around turn 3-4 when I had my units out in the open, advancing on the woods, and the Germans got four activations in a row. I had to sit and watch my platoons methodically being annihilated, with no ability to run away, hide, respond... very demoralizing. I managed to weather it, but it felt like my capacity to hit home with a strong assault had been cut away. As it turned out, I was right, but it was a close game. Another turn might have seen the Soviets victorious.

Playing the Red Army in this game is a tricky thing, demanding a blend of aggression and caution. You only get brief windows of activity, and at the end of those windows, there's the possibility of an extended exposure to enemy attack. So it's a balance between getting your units forward, into positions where they can assault, pin down and kill the enemy, while avoiding being trapped for what feels like an eternity under enemy fire. A very cool game system that, similar to my experience with Combat Commander, takes repeated playings to master, particularly as the attacker.