Friday night's game saw the start of the 3rd CG Turn of Purple Heart Draw - 1230 Hours. We would complete turns 1 and 2 over the course of our usual 3 hours of game play. And after 2 turns, we continued to raise the bet...neither willing to call or to fold just yet...
The game opened with the wind change dice roll as with every turn...and it would open the game with an immediate friendly interrogation for the Americans.
The children of France continue to provide the Amis with valuable intel revealing the locations of my concealed Fallschirmjaeger.
If you think wind change dice rolls don't matter...you might want to rethink that...cause like many things in ASL...anything can and will happen to disrupt the best laid plans of mice and men.
Having received replacements including 4 new Tanks, the Americans were ready to press forward at 1230 Hours.
My Landsers had hung on just barely at the conclusion of 0930 Hours. They were determined to grimly hold the line for as long as possible...
Following the body blows I sustained in 0930 Hours, I established my 1230 Hours line based on the gully running diagonally across the battlefield. I strung wire in front of my primary force concentrations and HIP'd 2 Key Half-Squads...both with critical missions. This would be my first use of HIP in the game for non-AT Gun units.
The initial US assault was focused on securing the area around the bridge. Having successfully held he bridge through 2 CG Turns, I knew my time was running out. A Sherman Tank dropped WP in front of my 40LL AT Gun, while US squads converged on the gun. Despite the smoke, my AT Gun did manage to break and throw back one of the oncoming US squads. The supporting 5-4-8 failed to to do anything after rolling high. The US units north of the bridge moved to remove the roadblock.
The US forces on the east front are very well led.
The US forces in the center were the troops that Prep Fired. They hesitated to move in force due to the wire, which created a death trap in the open ground hexes and covered by a German MMG in N24.
My MG-42's have been the mainstay of my defense. I don't fire them willy nilly...but so far, when they bark...they bite.
My opponent, Big Kansas had a good streak of rolling nearly six "3"s, which of course did some damage to me...but it also activated my Sniper on 2 occasions, resulting in a wounded 9-2 officer and a broken squad. Once again, the German sniper is contributing effectively to my defense.
As in the previous two CG Turns, the Americans went strong once again along the west board edge. I was ready this time with an HIP surprise.
Patience...let them come closer...
US reinforcements make their way to the battlefront. Two more US Tanks and a few squads will spell trouble by Turn 4.
The US advance on the west edge received a bloody nose as squads were broken, caught on the wire or worse...as the US 9-1 group experienced as my HIP 3-3-8 with a Flamethrower hit them hard.
"It ain't supposed to be easy to sneak up on a US 7-4-7..."
It was nice to be on the opposite side of the flamethrower.
And in other good news, the US 8-0 finally broke his Flamethrower...but it served the US cause very well.
Back near the bridge, the US forces routed my supporting infantry and then jumped into Close Combat with my AT-Gun crew. Guess who won...??? That's right...not me. I continued my streak of lost Close Combats. In the next turn, the US troops would destroy the 40LL AT Gun.
I finally managed to get some armor support in the form of a STUH 42.
It hasn't done much yet after two turns. And Big Kansas is already looking to surround it with his squads in Turn 3.
Big Kansas boys struggled to remove the roadblock. It would take three tries. But by the end of Turn 2, the bridge is finally open.
We're in business! 
At the western edge, the US officer was the only survivor of the flamethrower ambush. Despite being wounded, he was able to successfully rout over the hedgerow to safety.
The US HMG in P19 suffered a hit, when the German Sniper would strike and wound the gun's 9-2 leader. This would also make it impossible for the US 3-4-7 manning the HMG to move it through the bocage. So Big Kansas would send help.
The US reinforcements continued to move forward and made good use of the bocage breaches made earlier in the game.
UGH...more Shermans....
Back on the west flank, the Amis concentrated their force to prepare for a decisive stroke.
In the east the Americans would come right at me.
A Sherman joined the US effort by parking hulldown in U18. The US armor played it safe in Turns 1 and 2. They have stayed well out of Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck range...so far...
The Sherman bounded fired against my German Engineers with the flamethrower...drats...time to get out of Dodge and fast!!!
Let's go boys...time to move!!!
In the east, the US forces are consolidating and will pose a huge threat going into Turn 3. Even a dang 3-4-7 in T21 survived a pointblank shot...I rolled high...what can I say....
Missing...usually not a good thing....
The US forces consolidated in P19 and will be able to make their HMG mobile once again.
My combat engineers were able to move back and will prepare for the next phase of my defense.
My forces that will have to hold the V-Row Road. Not near enough...
The situation as we head into Turn 3. The US Objectives are now visible...must keep them out of reach...
CVP after 2 Turns...
US = 5
German = 3
Due to the March Madness Tournament, the PHD CG will not resume until Friday, March 20th.
So time for a smoke break!
So time for a smoke break!
Looks like your building a good defence. That halfsquad flamethrower combi looks to serve you well
ReplyDeleteIan
I hope so Ian, but I have yet to see anything stop Task Force Brackney!!
Delete