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!
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