Local Tourney Results (my first win!!)

This past Saturday, Mike (cornishkeebler) ran a local tournament for the group.  We wanted to call it the "Wisconsin Championships", as we tried to invite everyone from the state to the tournament.  We did get three great players from LaCrosse to come down and play!  We had a total of 12 players.

Before I get into the details, I did want to thank my three opponents - Rob, John Pickle and Bill "Mad Hungarian".

The tourney was a Mid-War 1,625 with three rounds.  The missions were Fighting Withdrawal, Breakthrough and Free For All.

My list for the tournament:

US Rifles - Confident Trained

HQ - 2 Command Carbine Stands
Platoon 1: US Rifles (with 'zook)
Platoon 2: US Rifles (with 'zook)
Platoon 3: HMG platoon (combat attached to rifles above)
Platoon 4: Tank Destroyers (4 M10s)
Platoon 5: 4 Shermans
Platoon 6: 57mm AT Guns (3) with 2 bazookas
Platoon 7: Arty - 4 105mm Guns
1,620

Round 1:

I drew Rob in a Fighting Withdrawal mission.  He ran a FJ list with 2 FJ platoons, a Tiger platoon (Tiger and Panzer III) and a Ferdinand.  We diced off and Rob was attacker.

Here is a picture of the end state -



I put my objective in the back middle, slightly off center to the left.  It is located just between the building and the road.  Rob put his on the left in the field and the right in the field.  Rob pushed forward in the middle with one FJ platoon, the right objective with another FJ platoon.  He ran the Tiger on the far left and the Ferdinand went up the middle.

I deployed the 105 on the far right, a rifle platoon inbetween the rigth and middle objective, another rifle on the left objective that also strattled the middle objective, Shermans and Security Section of the TD in the middle with the AT guns in ambush.

Basically, I was able to get MG shots from the Shermans on the FJ in the middle, I smoked the Ferdinand every turn I could and I sent the TDs to take the Tiger platoon.  On Turn 4, I was able to kill the Ferdinand by concentrating the Shermans, the AT guns to bail and then assaulted with the two bazookas.  The end result was a dead Ferdinand.  The M10s took care of the Tiger and the Panzer escort.  Basically, I pulled the 105s and then the AT guns right after the assault on the Ferdinand.  That left Rob with 2 FJ platoons and there was no way he was going to do anything.  We shook on a 6-1 win for me.

Round 2:
Breakthrough vs. Pickle's German recon list

Here is the end picture -


Basically, Pickle put everything in Reserve that he could.  He put an 88 gun, nebs, Pak 40s and another light AA gun on the board.  His foot soldiers were in Reserves, with Marders.

The short version is that I just couldn't move and dig-in again without getting blasted.  And I could not kill his stuff quick enough.  Bloody battle ensued when his Reserves came on, but I could not break him.  It was really close, but in the end I came up just short for a 3-4 loss.

Round 3:
Free For All vs. Bill's Hungarian Armor

Bill did not have a list for me, but this is what I remember:

HQ - 1iC and 2iC in a light tank I think
Platoon 1: Hungarian Panzer IV
Platoon 2: German Marders
Platoon 3: Hungarian Panzer III
Platoon 4: Hungarian Recon tanks
Platoon 5: Hungarian SP AA Whirblewind or something like it
Ok, I did not get any pictures, but here is a picture of the empty board -


I defended on the bottom edge.  Bill put an objective just to the left of the orchard trees and just to the left of the building in the lower right of the picture.  I put my objective in the large bombed out building in the upper middle and in the far upper left corner.

The game was tight, until Turn 4 or 5 when I was able to wipe 3 platoons off the board at the same time.  I had already killed the SP AA, but then I added the Recon Tank, the Panzer III and the Marders to the kill list.  That caused Bill to roll for Company Morale and he did not make it.  However, had he made it he would have continued to roll.  Even if we got to turn 20, he would have eventually lost.  6-1 to me.

My final score was 19 points, since the tourney added 2 points for a 6-1, 1.5 points for a 5-2 and 1 point for a 4-3.  I went 6-1, 3-4 and 6-1.

However, the players above me ended up in a "draw" (3-1) and Pickle had another 4-3 bloodbath.  That caused me to "submarine" to win!  I was shocked, but two 6-1 wins go a long way.

And that was how I won my very first tournament!

Wohoo!!

AAR - MW 1,625 Fighting Withdrawal

Ok.  I think my browser issue is under control, so I can now put up a posting without it looking like a ransom note.

In preparation for a tournament that is upcoming this weekend, we ran a 1,625 MW mission during the regular Wednesday night games.  With 7 players in attendance, we rolled off to see who would fight each other.  I got Joe...  Ouch.  Great player.  With a Soviet Lee Horde list.  Ugh.

I ran US Rifles for the first time in a really, really long time.  So a first in V3 for me!

My list:

Confident Trained USA Infantry
HQ - 2 Command Carbine Teams.
Platoon 1: Rifle Platoon with zook
Platoon 2: Rifle Platoon with zook
Platoon 3: MG Platoon that was combat attached to the Rifle Platoons, resulting in a 13 stand platoon!
Platoon 4: AT Platoon with 3 57mm AT Guns and 2 zooks
Platoon 5: 4 Shermans
Platoon 6: TD Platoon with 4 M10s (CAN'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT TDS NOW!!!)
Platoon 7: 4 Gun Arty Battery of 105mm guns

Joe's list:

Fearless Conscript Soviet Tankovy
HQ - Battalion commander in a Lee
Company 1: 10 Lees with AT 10 (long barrel)
Company 2: 10 Lees with AT 10 (long barrel)
Company 3: 10 Stuarts (M3)
Platoon 4: 3 BT 64 or something like that

Ok, no pictures.  I need to take more with my phone, but I just forget to do so!!  And folks want pictures!!

I defended and placed my objective off center.  Joe went with his objectives on each flank.  The terrain was heavy, but there was a natural alley for Joe to move down each flank.  In addition, I could not see across my deployment zone, so each flank would be isolated.  Think of it this way - the middle could only see the middle and the ends could only see the ends.  This could be bad...

I attached the HMGs into the Rifles and put one platoon one each flank objective.  Since Joe did not have any templates, I bunched them tightly together in order to maximize Defensive Fire shots and bring more stands in the Counter Assault.  One the far left, I placed the 105mm and put the commander and staff team out of LoS in woods.  Shermans were dead middle and the TD Security Section was also dead middle.  I put the AT guns in ambush.

Joe massed everything and I mean everything for a rush on the far right objective.  Recce moves saw me move the Sec Section into an area for TD deployment.  Joe’s recce moved forward to 16.1” from the Rifle platoon.  I put my 1ic and 2ic in the platoon of Rifles on the far right objective and the observer in the open (dug-in) that had clear LoS all the way up his alley.

Turn 1:

Bullrush.  His recce spread out to prevent my TD ambush from popping in woods near him.  Lees and Stewies blast forward.  Few shots, nothing killed or pinned.

I move the Sherms to the right flank.  I double time the Rifles from the left – but still in a position that I can run back if he decides to switch up.  This is unlikely as he is only a few inches from the far right board edge.  I popped the TDs feeling that I had to do so or I would risk letting him get in a position that would really prevent me from getting the TDs out.  I also popped the AT gun ambush because I wanted the Recce gone.  I moved the M10s into woods and positioned myself where my 6” range for LoS would get his Recce only.  After shooting, all recce teams are gone as he could not disengage due to shooting them at the Rifles.  One platoon down.  I did range in the 105s on the first roll, so ToT!  I have 11 tanks under the template, but only bailed 1 and killed 1.  Oh, the AT guns never fired because the TDs wiped them out.  Oh, well – better to have them and not need than to need and not have…

Turn 2 / 3 / 4 / 5:

Got to be a blur.  Joe did kill the TDs, but it took him 2 or 3 turns to do so.  He also wiped out the Shermans, but that took until turn 4 or 5.  He assaulted the Rifles, we traded two rounds, then I pulled back.  Rifles did not dig back in for 3 turns, but survived all firing.  I ranged in from the 105s in turn 2, got ToT again and only bailed one tank! Ouch again!

But the hero platoon of the game were the AT guns!!  RoF3 at Conscript tanks is just ridiculous.  I wiped the Stewies down to the flippin’ commander and Joe hid him after that.  I gutted the Lees to a Company of 1 tank (no Commander) and a Company of 4 tanks (with Commander).  Battalion (ok, Batalon) Commander was still around, but he was over with the lone Stewart.  I pulled the 105s in Turn 3 as I had 6 platoons on the board at the time.  At the end (time / store closing), Joe did a suicide Assault on the remnants of the Rifle platoon.  I killed both the 1iC and the Stewie commander.  My other Rifle platoon was able to get to the middle objective, dig-in and even get some ‘zook shots off on a Lee Company.  In the end, 4-3 USA.

Ending Thoughts:

By Turn 5, Joe was playing for the Company Morale roll.  It was a bloody mess and there were something like 30 buring hulks of Soviet and US tanks on the table.  Conscript is tough to play with - they simply get hit a zillion times.  Yes, they get a crap ton of attack dice, but assaulting with Conscripts is tough to pull off - especially with integrated AT and AT in support.  Once the Rifles were close enough to drag the AT guns into Defensive Fire, that platoon was safe from assaults.  So the last turn move of Joe assaulting was a desperate move based more on time than any tactical mistake on his part.

Fun, bloody, 4-3 that could have gone a different way with a few roles.

My kind of game!

TDC / TFA

As the discussion continues to wage regarding the Tank Destroyer Company / Fask Force A, I thought I would share a few thoughts on possible "enhancements" to the rules / forces that might mitigate problem.  The current "nasty" version of the TDC has two M18 platoons, a towed platoon, armored rifles and Patton.  I don't have the specifics right in front of me, but at 1,750 you can get 6 platoons.

In my view, there are three groups of people that are forming when we discuss TDC / TFA.  While I understand some frustration over the rules governing a single platoon (I still remember the look of cornishkeebler's face when I pulled TFA out for the first time in V3), the big issues arise when you have three.

So here are the three groups:

1) Those that think there is a problem with the TDC / TFA.

2) Those that do not think there is a problem with the TDC / TFA.

3) Those advocating more data.

I have no issue at all with whatever group folks fall into.  I have my view and it continues to evolve.  I happen to fall into #1, but I do not believe TDC / TFA is wacked out like the BAR.  So a gentle hand may be all that is needed to "fix" the issue.  If - and that is a BIG IF - Battlefront does something, I hope it is after time / testing and that the changes represent "tweaks."  Some suggestions (most are other folk's thoughts):

1) Remove recon ability

2) Reduce RoF when the ambush pops

3) Do something to make the Sec Section "count"

4) Remove the ability to "suicide" the Sec Section by moving at the double

5) Remove the recon ability from the TDs themselves

6) Do not give the Sec Section a recon move

7) Do not allow the "jumping" of terrain, obstacles, etc. when the TDs pop.  Something like the TDs cannot be closer to an enemy team than the Sec Section...

8) Do not give the "non-TD" teams recon ability (command carbine and bazookas from the towed platoon)

9) Do not allow the lifting of GtG the turn that the TDs pop

10) Force the TDs to be IN terrain or completely out of LoS when they pop

11) The ever-popular increasing of points

12) Do not allow the TDC to take Patton

13) Do nothing - that is always a choice...

It goes without saying that doing all 11 would be nuts.  But if anything is done, it has to be a gentle change because I do think the list is not invincible by any stretch.

Nerf US TDs!?!?!?!

And so it begins...

The "long awaited" Nerf US TD thread was started.  Feel free to check it out on the FoW forums.  I will wait for a bit before I expand even further on my post.

Having said that, this is not the BAR.  That was a whole different level of wackiness!!