Kingtiger said:
You ARE allowed to use the Luftwaffe over the Volga option against rolled AND purcahsed reinforcements (abiding by the restrictions given)!
Doh! That could've helped out some of the other rounds.
New scenario at Brummbar44.com - Stalingrad Factory Fortress
We were able to finish the game on Saturday. The final tally was Germany 50 Victory Points and Russia 87 VP.
The last couple of rounds the Russians were able to inflict quite a few infantry casualties to rack up the final points they needed to seal the deal.
I will post an analysis when I have a little more time.
TheKaiser33 said:
We were able to finish the game on Saturday. The final tally was Germany 50 Victory Points and Russia 87 VP.
The last couple of rounds the Russians were able to inflict quite a few infantry casualties to rack up the final points they needed to seal the deal.
I will post an analysis when I have a little more time.
OK. Thanks. That'd certainly be interesting to read. It's a bigger VP point difference than in any of my playtests and those done by Klausfritsch, but as you said, perhaps not using the Luftwaffe over the Volga option when you were entitled to do so may have had something to do with that. What I like about this scenario, if I may say so myself, is that there are many options: "OK, I lost, but what if I'd done this, what if I hadn't done that, what if I'd done this a bit sooner, what if I hadn't let my opponent do this…". In other words, I tried to design a scenario with a high replay value. I hope I've accomplished that and more than anything I hope you had fun!
It's also important to not let the Russians score VPs too easily by unnecessarily exposing your German forces to suffering casualties. For example, assaulting with a flamethrower and the 2 extra dice granted by the operations card "Merciless assault" will let you win many assaults, especially if you also add two adjacent squads. however, you will most likely also suffer some casualties yourself which will lead to the Russians scoring immediate VPs. So what you want to do as the German player is making those assaults when you've either already weakened the enemy squad(s) to say two max. two figures and/or disrupting them before assaulting which would mean they normally can't defend, but with the use of the desperate defenders op card can only defend at half strength (that's my interpretation of the desperate defenders card. Not sure if it's intended to work like that. Normally speaking the rules say that disrupted squads can't defend against assaults and the OP card reads that pinned and disrupted squads can still attack at half firepower. The question is whether defending against an assault qualifies as an "attack", but I play that it does).
Ok, the factory on the left hand side of the German deployment zone I'll call Factory 1, the one in the middle Factory 2, and the one on the right (by the balkas) Factory 3.
The Russians deployed their tank traps to the right of Factory 2 to pinch off the open space between the ruin hexes and slow the German tanks down. They deployed their machine gun in the most right-hand hex of Factory 2 with one of the AT guns deployed on the left-hand side of that same factory. They also deployed an AT gun in the ruins of Factory 3 covering the hexes leading up to the MG so that if they Germans decided to push past the tank obstacles they'd come under fire from the AT gun. This gun was concealed. The razor wire was deployed along the road in front of Factory 2 and in front of the MG squad in Factory 2.
In the opening moves the Germans used several infantry squads supported by concussive firepower of 3 tanks to blast the 3 Russian squads defending Factory 1 into oblivion and quickly capture Factory 1. The AT gun in Factory 2 was able to take advantage of its concussive FP, though, and knock out one of those attacking squads later.
In the center, the German tank behind the tank trap fired at the Russian MG to no effect. The Russian Engineer squad immediately fortified the MG hex with sandbags. They continued to do this on each subsequent turn until the max of 3 was reached. Visibility to the MG hex limited the amount of units that could attack that hex from the German side. The Germans began concentrating attacks against the Engineers once they realized what the engineers were up to. They knocked the squad down to 1 guy and a triple block prevented another attack from destroying them. The engineers then went concealed. Meanwhile, the Germans had moved several squads into the razor wire in the road. The Russians then decided to use their Instant Mine special action to deploy instant mines into 2 of Factory 2's hexes and 2 of the open hexes on the left hand side of that factory. Thus, halting the German advance. The German engineer squad was in Factory 1. The Germans sent a suicide squad into one of the mined rooms in the Factory which promptly failed its roll and detonated the mines. A bad roll saw that squad wiped out. Other German squads piled into the now cleared hex, including the Flamethrower unit. Meanwhile, the Russian, concealed Engineer squad had left the MG hex and moved into the AT hex in Factory 2 and begun super fortifying that hex.
The flamethrower squad supported by 2 fatigued German squads assaulted the center of Factory 2 and wiped out 2 Russian squads that were there. Unfortunately, the Russians counterassaulted with some of the reinforcements that they had rolled and destroyed the flamethrower unit. Factory 2 became a meat grinder. The Germans fed in several squads and the Russians continued to feed men in as well. The Russians had the advantage of two nine defense dice super hexes thanks to their engineer squad and without the Flamethrower unit, the Germans were sorely pressed to be able to capture the building. Most hits rolled against units in those hexes promptly being blocked by the Russian cover dice.
The Germans sent some squads around Factory 1 to make it to the Volga and begin picking up hexes over there, but then the Russians shifted their t34 to that line and managed to knock out several squads. The PZ3's having a hard time getting over to deal with the t34 which was tucked behind the house in front of the Balka on the Volga. The AT gun also kept the Panzer's busy, minor damaging 2 of them, thus making them only able to move 1 hex and still be able to fire.
Several squads were able to successfully assault Fatory 3 in the middle of the game after the first wave of reinforcemetns, however, this Factory was closest to the Russian reinforcement point so the Russians promptly counter-assaulted and recaptured it.
The Russians were able to bog the Germans down in trying to root them out of well-defended / covered hexes. The Russians typically lost several squad bases per turn, however, since they had a steady stream of reinforcements entering the board each turn, they could normally replace their losses. And every casualty they caused to the Germans they added Victory Points.
I did use the Luftwaffe over the Volga, however, this normally only knocked out 1 squad base or so. By the middle of the game, the Russians were rolling on average about 2 squad bases of infantry for special reinforcements and would purchase another 1 or 2 squad bases from cards. The largest mistake on the Germans part was moving the flamethrower squad forward too aggressively. I was trying to get them set up to assault the op fire MG squad on their next turn, however, when the Russians knocked them out it cut off most chance of capturing Factory 2. Trying to assault a hex defended by 2 or 3 full Russian infantry squads with 9 cover dice with only 3 German infantry squads was suicidal and would only serve to hand the Russians more VP's. Every time the Russian squads were reduced in strenght to manageable numbers in Factory 2, reinforcements would take their place.
Two bombing run cards and some good assaults did knock out some Russian mortars and a pile of infantry in the middle of the game, but then the next turn my friend rolled 3 squad bases and bought 3 more to replace all units that were lost.
If I had to do it all over again, I would use the flamethrower squad better and send all of the tanks rushing for the Russian reinforcement hexes to cut off their reinforcements.
It was a fun scenario over all.
TheKaiser33 said:
Ok, the factory on the left hand side of the German deployment zone I'll call Factory 1, the one in the middle Factory 2, and the one on the right (by the balkas) Factory 3.
The Russians deployed their tank traps to the right of Factory 2 to pinch off the open space between the ruin hexes and slow the German tanks down. They deployed their machine gun in the most right-hand hex of Factory 2 with one of the AT guns deployed on the left-hand side of that same factory. They also deployed an AT gun in the ruins of Factory 3 covering the hexes leading up to the MG so that if they Germans decided to push past the tank obstacles they'd come under fire from the AT gun. This gun was concealed. The razor wire was deployed along the road in front of Factory 2 and in front of the MG squad in Factory 2.
In the opening moves the Germans used several infantry squads supported by concussive firepower of 3 tanks to blast the 3 Russian squads defending Factory 1 into oblivion and quickly capture Factory 1. The AT gun in Factory 2 was able to take advantage of its concussive FP, though, and knock out one of those attacking squads later.
In the center, the German tank behind the tank trap fired at the Russian MG to no effect. The Russian Engineer squad immediately fortified the MG hex with sandbags. They continued to do this on each subsequent turn until the max of 3 was reached. Visibility to the MG hex limited the amount of units that could attack that hex from the German side. The Germans began concentrating attacks against the Engineers once they realized what the engineers were up to. They knocked the squad down to 1 guy and a triple block prevented another attack from destroying them. The engineers then went concealed. Meanwhile, the Germans had moved several squads into the razor wire in the road. The Russians then decided to use their Instant Mine special action to deploy instant mines into 2 of Factory 2's hexes and 2 of the open hexes on the left hand side of that factory. Thus, halting the German advance. The German engineer squad was in Factory 1. The Germans sent a suicide squad into one of the mined rooms in the Factory which promptly failed its roll and detonated the mines. A bad roll saw that squad wiped out. Other German squads piled into the now cleared hex, including the Flamethrower unit. Meanwhile, the Russian, concealed Engineer squad had left the MG hex and moved into the AT hex in Factory 2 and begun super fortifying that hex.
The flamethrower squad supported by 2 fatigued German squads assaulted the center of Factory 2 and wiped out 2 Russian squads that were there. Unfortunately, the Russians counterassaulted with some of the reinforcements that they had rolled and destroyed the flamethrower unit. Factory 2 became a meat grinder. The Germans fed in several squads and the Russians continued to feed men in as well. The Russians had the advantage of two nine defense dice super hexes thanks to their engineer squad and without the Flamethrower unit, the Germans were sorely pressed to be able to capture the building. Most hits rolled against units in those hexes promptly being blocked by the Russian cover dice.
The Germans sent some squads around Factory 1 to make it to the Volga and begin picking up hexes over there, but then the Russians shifted their t34 to that line and managed to knock out several squads. The PZ3's having a hard time getting over to deal with the t34 which was tucked behind the house in front of the Balka on the Volga. The AT gun also kept the Panzer's busy, minor damaging 2 of them, thus making them only able to move 1 hex and still be able to fire.
Several squads were able to successfully assault Fatory 3 in the middle of the game after the first wave of reinforcemetns, however, this Factory was closest to the Russian reinforcement point so the Russians promptly counter-assaulted and recaptured it.
The Russians were able to bog the Germans down in trying to root them out of well-defended / covered hexes. The Russians typically lost several squad bases per turn, however, since they had a steady stream of reinforcements entering the board each turn, they could normally replace their losses. And every casualty they caused to the Germans they added Victory Points.
I did use the Luftwaffe over the Volga, however, this normally only knocked out 1 squad base or so. By the middle of the game, the Russians were rolling on average about 2 squad bases of infantry for special reinforcements and would purchase another 1 or 2 squad bases from cards. The largest mistake on the Germans part was moving the flamethrower squad forward too aggressively. I was trying to get them set up to assault the op fire MG squad on their next turn, however, when the Russians knocked them out it cut off most chance of capturing Factory 2. Trying to assault a hex defended by 2 or 3 full Russian infantry squads with 9 cover dice with only 3 German infantry squads was suicidal and would only serve to hand the Russians more VP's. Every time the Russian squads were reduced in strenght to manageable numbers in Factory 2, reinforcements would take their place.
Two bombing run cards and some good assaults did knock out some Russian mortars and a pile of infantry in the middle of the game, but then the next turn my friend rolled 3 squad bases and bought 3 more to replace all units that were lost.
If I had to do it all over again, I would use the flamethrower squad better and send all of the tanks rushing for the Russian reinforcement hexes to cut off their reinforcements.
It was a fun scenario over all.
Great after action report!
Thanks for playing and glad you enjoyed it!
It's also important to note that Russian reinforcements MUST enetr on the 1 command point marker on the Russain baseline or in the adjacent Balka hex. This means that if the Germans decide to concentrate their attack on the other flank that the Russians can't as easily dig in and must first move to the other side of the board.
Kingtiger said:
Great after action report!
Thanks for playing and glad you enjoyed it!
It's also important to note that Russian reinforcements MUST enetr on the 1 command point marker on the Russain baseline or in the adjacent Balka hex. This means that if the Germans decide to concentrate their attack on the other flank that the Russians can't as easily dig in and must first move to the other side of the board.
Doh. We read the reinforcement rules for the Russians about the adjacent hex and also figured that that meant they'd be able to deploy units directly into the house next to the Victory Point marker, not just the balka hex. This made it harder for me to send units down the long balka in the early turns. My squad and half track got knocked out by reinforcements in that house.
TheKaiser33 said:
Kingtiger said:
Great after action report!
Thanks for playing and glad you enjoyed it!
It's also important to note that Russian reinforcements MUST enetr on the 1 command point marker on the Russain baseline or in the adjacent Balka hex. This means that if the Germans decide to concentrate their attack on the other flank that the Russians can't as easily dig in and must first move to the other side of the board.
Doh. We read the reinforcement rules for the Russians about the adjacent hex and also figured that that meant they'd be able to deploy units directly into the house next to the Victory Point marker, not just the balka hex. This made it harder for me to send units down the long balka in the early turns. My squad and half track got knocked out by reinforcements in that house.
Sorry, you're correct. This is what I posted over at Brummbars site:
Important errata and clarification!:
In the scenario details it says that Russian reinforcements enter on the Soviet baseline. This is not entirely true. In fact they must enter either on the “1″ Russian command point marker or directly adjacent to it on the Soviet baseline (so in the building or balka hex). Should such a hex be occupied by (a) German unit(s), then Soviet reinforcements may not enter there. Should it be German-controlled but unoccupied, then Soviet reinforcements MAY enter there.
As for the panzergrenadier and second-rate troop specilization tokens; these have not actually been released and therefore do not exist. They are specific to this scenario. Personally I’ve used the bronze and silver star tokens that come with the Normandy expansion for the second-rate troops and panzergrenadiers respectively. Obviously any other form of distinguishing these troops from regular and/or other specialized troops will do!