Saturday, March 21, 2015

Wallenberg VS Canuck Armour



The Blooding
Game one with the Wallenberg briefing from Nachtjäger

Points limit: 1700
My list: Panzerkampfgruppe Wallenberg
As much infra-red equipment to take advantage of the spearhead move as I have models, so in went 5 Panthers and a Panzersturm platoon. The idea is simple: spearhead towards an objective, supported by the rest of the army. Get close to take advantage of the Uhu’s rules. Pin enemy infantry, assault and push them away. With Reluctant I have to be careful to take too much damage in one turn to get a motivation check, so I need to watch my placement.



army list by Forces of War






My opponent’s list: Canadian Armoured Squadron
I battle this opponent quite often, as he is considered one of the best players locally and is an all-round nice guy. Games against him are always enjoyable, as we tend to have the same problem with dice (aka, not rolling well when we should). His army was what he had in his bag and is the same I already lost two times to. I expected and hoped for a different list, but alas.


army list by EasyArmy

Scenario: randomly chosen, Pincer




Deployment:
I decided to use the Night Attack capability of the briefing, as that meant I would be attacking. I wanted to test how effective the spearhead could be, coupled with the infra-red equipment and the abilities of the Uhu’s. With my deployment, I wanted to make sure my opponent wouldn’t know immediately which objective I was going for. He had one platoon of Shermans on the table on one objective, the infantry platoon on the other. The other Shermans were in Ambush, so I wanted to try to push up and deny him the opportunity to ambush from concealing terrain.
With that, my spearhead move was mainly towards the middle of the table, and the small patches of woods around the lake. Also, I wanted the Panzersturm to use the forest near the objective where the Canadian infantry was sitting, and be supported by the Panzergrenadiers and 251/17s.


After deployment and the spearhead move




Turn 1:
Not much happened, but it did demonstrate the speed of the army despite the Night Fighting rules. Every platoon moved the maximum distance, with the Panzersturm halftracks ready to deliver the infantry into the woods in the next turn, and the Panthers all ready for an ambush.
And he does pop his ambush! Oh fudge. And he still has room in concealed terrain. Uh oh.
The Shermans lets loose, but he misses everything. Wow. I know, Veteran + concealed IS difficult to hit, but still. I got very lucky there as he got shots at side armour.


The end of my turn 1.




Turn 2:
The Panzersturm left their halftracks and pushed up through the woods. The Panzergrenadiers and 251/17s moved up to support the coming assault. Then I try to pin the Canadian infantry with everything I got, but guess what, I roll too low for the Panzergrenadiers and 251/17s regarding visibility. I only get a few shots in, but make 5 hits! Mainly due to the Panzersturm, as all bases are within range thanks to the Uhu.
All the Panthers stand still, get 2 shots each, aaaaaand... I bail two tanks. Uh oh.
Then the assault on the Canadian infantry comes, suffering no casualties in defensive fire, and I kill two bases. He fails his motivation check and is pushed back as far as I can move my bases.
I succesfully Stormtrooper all my Panthers away from the Shermans, as he’s not going to roll poorly again. Well, I hope he does, but I can’t count on it.
He starts his turn by remounting both Shermans, moves two Shermans into the side armour of the Panthers there, but misses these shots, together with his Firefly (yay)! He then smokes the Panthers in the middle with the remaining Sherman. He digs his infantry in to enhance their survivability, and gets his 2iC in to support them.


The end of my turn 2.




Turn 3:
I deploy my Panzergrenadiers from their halftracks to help with the Canadian infantry, move the rest of the halftracks up, and get my Panthers into range of his Shermans. I shoot everything I have at the infantry, but don’t kill anything. The Panthers open up, get hits, and I blow up the Firefly thanks to a successful gun-tank roll. I also bail a Sherman. I try to assault with the Panzersturm again, but they fail their Tank Terror test (thanks to the 2iC Sherman which was now there). Good thing I brought the Panzergrenadiers as well! They assault, get hit 4 times in defensive fire and avoid getting driven off, and kill three bases. The Canadians then fail their motivation roll, and at the end of the phase, fail their platoon morale check.

My opponent then rolls high enough to end the darkness, doesn’t get his reserves, but does get his Typhoon with 2 planes. There’s no place not being covered by anti-air, so he goes for broke and attacks the 251/17s. He proceeds to move his remaining Sherman platoon out of the woods towards the other side. In the middle, the Sherman still in the woods stays bailed, and he once again tries to shoot my Panthers in their sides... but misses again. Wow. Seriously? His 2iC kills two Panzersturm bases and I fail the platoon morale check. And then his planes are (predictably) shot down.


At the start of his turn 3




Turn 4:
I start by pushing my right flank further up and spread out my halftracks for the inevitable Canadian reserves and get the Panzergrenadiers ready  to assault the lone Sherman.
The Panthers move up and finally do something constructive by forcing the nearby Shermans to take a platoon morale check, which they fail. My CiC takes a single shot at the lone 2iC Sherman and blammo, he kills him. I make use of the abandoned positions rule to assault the wrecked Sherman and move up my infantry bases, and place my CiC Panther in the way of the Shermans with a Stormtrooper move.

In his turn, he gets one reserve, and he brings up the Stuarts. Lucky for him, as there were no Canadians anywhere near the objective! He puts them near the objective and targets the 251/17s. A single Typhoon shows up and he places it near the Panther which was the furthest away.
The Shermans move towards the CiC Panther, with the Firefly remaining behind to take two shots with Semi-Indirect fire. The 251/17s all survive his shooting, but I do lose a Panther to the Firefly. Luckily, my CiC isn’t killed and can switch tanks.
The Typhoon hits the Panther, despite it being a single flight, and then I roll a six to bounce the rocket. Whatever the outcome of this game, I really have to give Lady Luck a call about her comings and goings.


At the start of his turn 4




Turn 5:
Shermans out in the open? Good times! I move my Panthers up, and shift the 251/17s to get side/rear shots at the Stuarts. A round of shooting later, and now only two Shermans still stand. Also, the Canadians no longer have a CiC! I roll badly against the Stuarts and cannot convert my hits into successful firepower tests, just bailing one.

No airplane this time, but he does get one reserve. He brings on his Wasps, and moves them into an optimal position next to all the open-topped halftracks. This is going to hurt. He flames the 251/17s and Panzergrenadiers halftracks, lose 3 and 2 respectively, meaning a platoon morale check for the Panzergrenadiers, which I fail. The Stuarts add their fire, but fail to add to the damage.


At the end of turn 5



Turn 6:
I suddenly realize that I only need to kill one other platoon to force a company morale check, which will be failed automatically. I move the Panthers into LoS of the Shermans, and luck out with two hits and two successful firepower tests. There’s no need to continue, and we call it a game.


Chaos in the middle of the table

Hindsight and learning points
I had quite some lucky breaks during this game. The Shermans not hitting my Panthers when in their side armour for example, bouncing a Typhoon rocket on top armour, my opponent not getting his reserves until later, it really helped me. On the other hand, I also suffered some unlucky rolls.

Reluctant motivation is a whole new thing for me, as I’m usually playing with Confident briefings. Switching from a 50/50 chance to succeed, to 1 in 3, it’s not to be taken lightly. Since Panthers don’t have Protected Ammo, I was really hoping not to get bailed.

So how did the briefing feel? It gave me a sense of control. Spearhead, together with the rules of the Uhu and the infra-red equipment, meant that for the first few turns, I was dictating the battle.
The scenario also helped in this case, but for a first game, it went well.