36 replies to this topic

[Trotsky]

At the end of the game the Soviets had lost 7 squads. The Germans had lost 2 and occupied the Victory objective. Victory to Iven, the whole game took about an hour. Here is the Soviet company commander contemplating his future – my advice is to desert, I can’t see a warm welcome for him back at battalion HQ.

[Trotsky]

In terms of the revised infantry FP stats and the reduction of ROF to 1 this was a positive experience. Generally troops moving in the open took casualties and were suppressed. Out to 18” the German squad firing on Soviets in the open caused casualties 35% of the time and caused a suppression/pin 80% of the time. This felt right. Most of the fire was at the 6”-12” range again the Germans firing at the Soviets in the open caused casualties 45% of the time and suppression/pin 90% of the time. This game used only light cover (apart from the victory building) and this did have a dampener on the casualties taken but suppressions and pins were still liberally given.The biggest impact in the game was the attitude of both players. With ROF of only 1 we were more adventurous in our moves, risking more which in turn led to a far more mobile (fun!) battle. Previously, when the ROF was 2 any adventurous movement was heavily penalised, sure you might survive 1 bad roll, but not 2. After the battle it was interesting how we both said we really missed our support weapons, a mortar or two or maybe a MMG would have been really useful tactically. I see this as a positive as the whole point in the development of these weapons was to enable tactical options, where previously a ROF2 German squad was a pretty awesome unit who could single-handedly blast the opposition away, now you need mortars, MMG’s etc..The Soviet FP felt about right as well, not as good as the German but used well could be a match (obviously not by me!).For the next playtest we will fight a small infantry battle in an urban setting to see if the lack of ROF causes playability issues in a hard cover environment.

[Trotsky]

After being beaten by my wife and son recently my next opponent should not prove so tough.

[Bob Benge]

Another excellent AAR Dave! :)I am buoyed by your experience. I hope the next game comes out as well. The Russian numbers being a little lower is actually a good thing. The Russians for the most part did rely on numbers in their attacks to overcome the firepower disadvantage. Manpower losses ment little to the Commisars.By the way, your family is worth its weight in gold as playtesters. If the cute dog takes you in the urban game, then I know you will have a tough road to hoe to recover your honor. :lol:

[gregoryk]

Be careful - your next opponent seems to be cooking up some plans...Very good AAR, and a good method for setting up a quick scenario. Great to see all the different elements of the game coming together. Question: do you find it difficult using the morale and command rules with infantry?Cheers,Gregory

[Trotsky]

Command and morale rules worked very well. There was a great deal of action from both CO’s in this game, mainly giving a movement bonus and morale boosts. I have posted a comment on the Command forum regarding CO’s ability to give a +1” to bonus moves now bonus moves are 3”.Morale rules work very well, lots of shaken results, giving real concerns when a stand was left in an exposed position unable to advance. The Soviet platoon that was caught in the open at the start of the game were initially suppressed but quickly became shaken, which felt about right. The flank fire bonus was an effective modifier when you manoeuvred to gain it.In the last two mini-games we have had a 20 rolled for a morale check, the drop in morale to broken has led to some interesting situations and has heightened the fun in the game. In each case the units concerned have recovered so the effect has not been disastrous. For the next game, Dutch the dog, and myself will use similar forces (maybe a couple more soviet squads) but add some support weapons, a MMG or a couple of mortars, just to help in the hard cover environment.

[Jonathan Coulter]

Another excellent AAR!Note to ODGW Staff ... I really like this setup (board size). Let's consider using a 3' x 3' "board" for all our demos. It would contain the game, look nicer than what we have now, and get opponents into combat much quicker.

[Trotsky]

We have been impressed how well the rules have worked for these mini-battles. We were using them only to allow quick short battles for playtesting, however they have been real fun and a lot of challenge. The games only take and hour to an hour and a half to play and have opened a new angle for playing for us.Presently we are waiting for the log cabin in my garden to be completed in order to get back to some large actions, but we will definitely play ‘mini-battles’ again.

[Joel Tompkins]

Posted here with Mr. Trotsky's permission. [Thank you.]A very similar (inspired) game between me and a pal. Two points balanced infantry forces of roughly a company each attempt to take a cabin in the middle of the board. Russians and Germans. Terrain is mostly open woods with patches of dense stuff. There is a clearing on the hill.[img size=499]http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/8919/aproach12pv.jpg[/img]First Russian platoon on the advance.

[Joel Tompkins]

http:ize=499]http://img434.imageshack.us/img434/4152/aproach25an.jpgWider shot with objective and opfor in background.

[Joel Tompkins]

http:ize=499]http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/8105/bldg1g5xh.jpgThe battle is joined. At this point the Germans are in possession; though IIRC the Russians were the first to take it. We are using 1"=25yds nominal so most units are already within reaction action range (4-inches).

[Joel Tompkins]

http:ize=499]http://img333.imageshack.us/img333/690/bldg3r6hs.jpgNow it's mine again. We were playtesting a my own version of close assault ... but I'd better not mention that anymore today. :( A "20" moral roll, however, caused a substantial part of my healthy forces to make for the dense woods at the bottom left.

[Joel Tompkins]

http:ize=499]http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/9505/bldg4g5lc.jpgThe Germans finally manage to hold the cabin at the end of two consecutive turns and win the game.We were using the latest infantry values and ROF 1 machine guns. Everything flowed well and didn't cause any hickups. I only wish the one MMG on the board had gotten into play; but, as it was, it spent the game hopelessly out of position.Toodles.

[gregoryk]

Joel,Weren't you going to post another AAR earlier? Would love to see more games posted here from different groups.Cheers,Gregory

[Joel Tompkins]

I am photo inept. Starting to get the hang of it, though. Hopefully my next game will come out better. [In more ways than one.]

[gregoryk]

Let me know what I can do to help. I have adjusted the website allowed sizes for larger sized image files.Cheers,Gregory

[simanton]

Pass to the Soviet company commander....rumor has it that General Vlasov is recruiting!