Our Saturday Game - Le Franc Tireur FT223 The Kings of Bollersdorf

Well....here we are again...yes...I'm still smarting from last week's butt-whipping. It's funny how those things color your week as you dwell on all the mistakes and missed opportunities of your most recent defeat. Anyway, as I normally do, I quickly set up the next scenario and try to focus my mind on preparing for that scenario. I find that it helps to move on to the next game and start looking forward to it rather than looking back at a past nightmare. I still have not come up with a dice tower...but hopefully soon. 

It was my turn to pick the scenario and I would turn to Le Franc Tireur's From the Cellar Pack 8 for a scenario I have wanted to play for quite some time.  FT 223 The Kings of Bollersdorf (designed by Xavier Vitry) has intrigued me since I first ran across it at the 2018 St. Louis Tournament. I had hoped to play it with David Ginnard, but he opted for a DASL scenario instead. 

But Dan would be my huckleberry and was excited to give this scenario a shot. ROAR has this scenario with 12 German and 11 Russian wins. The ASL Archive has it with 2 German and 2 Russian wins. This would seem to be pretty well balanced and good grief I need all the balance I can get!!!

This scenario has some heavy armor with 4 x King Tigers and  3 x IS-II's with lots of T-34/85's for fun! It also has some interesting infantry on both sides. At first glance, it seems like pretty good armor/infantry combo. The Victory Conditions have the Russians winning immediately if an IS-II enter hex 63S8 or if 3 Russian Tanks exit off the west board edge or if all the German tanks are eliminated or recalled. Of course trying to run past King Tigers is never an easy task.

The scenario depicts the fighting on April 19th, 1945 as the Russians prepared to exploit breaches through the Seelow Heights defenses and push towards Berlin. IS-II's would lead the way to open the way for a large number of T-34/85's to rush down the Strausberg-Bollersdorf  Road. After wading through pockets of Hitler Youth and Danish SS, the Russian tanks emerged from heavy woods to find themselves under the watchful eye of a King Tiger. And this single King Tiger would soon be joined by three more. The Royal Tigers with an open battlefield were in their element and inflicted devastating losses on the Soviets. But it would be a last mighty roar before the Tigers were silenced for ever.

A view of the battle space for this scenario. The Russian enter from the right (east edge) and have to punch through a wooded area crawling with  German Panzerknaeckers. Then on the other side they will fall under the watchful eyes of the King Tigers.

As the defending Germans, I would command elements of a Hitler Jugend  Panzerjaeger Regiment, elements of SS Panzer Regiment Danemark and SS Schwere Panzer Abteilung 503. My force would consist of 1 x 4-4-7, 2 x 4-3-6's, 4 x 6-5-8's, and 1 x 5-4-8 led by a 9-1, 2 x 8-1's and 8-0 with 2 x LMG's, a DC, and 3 x Panzerschrecks. For support I would have 4 x Tiger II's with a 9-2 and 9-1 Armor Leader. A very solid force to say the least. I would only have a single Tiger II on Turn 1, so my Panzerknackers would have to hold the line in the woods for as long as possible and inflict losses on the Soviet Armor. The Soviet infantry would be a secondary concern.

As the attacking Russians, Dan would command elements of the 1st Mechanized Corps, 49th Tank Brigade and 2nd Guards Tank Army. His force would consist of 9 x 4-5-8's led by a 9-1, 8-1 and 8-0 with 3 x LMG's, and 2 x DC's. Supporting the infantry would be 3 x IS-II's, and 8 x T-34/85's with a 9-1 and 8-1 Armor Leaders. Nearly 3 to 1 in Tanks would certainly give Dan a good chance to get at least three across the finish line. Much would hinge on how the initial advance against the German infantry goes. A successful board edge creep could break the Russian Armor free and into the open before the reinforcing Tiger II's show up. Every movement turn will count.

Who will be the King of Bollersdorf!?!

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

“The Russians must get past the German infantry on board 75 and park a tank on 63S8 or exit three tanks.  This looks easy with 11 tanks.  But the German 8 squads can effectively block each exit area from board 75.  The Russians will need to fight out.  My plan is to go for the south edge exit.  This is because the terrain is not as restrictive.  With open hexes to drive through instead of woods bypass or woods roads.  The first group of tanks will try to clear the way by off loading infantry and making a deliberate clearing attack.  The second group will attack simultaneously to overwhelm the PF toting Germans.  The third group will attack to break out the other side or move around the Germans to use the open southern door.  Hopefully the Russians will not lose more than three tanks to infantry and the other 8 can go for exit.”

Now, my last few games have involved less than stellar dice rolling on my part. I was hopeful that my dice would let up on the 12's a bit and just give me some good average rolls. (My favorite moment from the movie Jo Jo Rabbit...which we'll talk about more a bit later in this AAR.)

The good news for me would be that my dice would let up on me during this game, and I would avoid wounding myself with my own dice. Such a wonderful thing...

 My defense was built on my infantry. I needed them to at least take down 3 of the Russian tanks. I deployed one of the SS Squads in the south and set my leaders by themselves. With it being 1945, I had a very good chance of both SMC's and Half-Squads making a successful Panzerfaust Check.  My infantry had one goal...take out tanks. I knew Dan's infantry would press in on them, but I would have to ignore them as much as possible. I needed my infantry to hold Dan back till at least Turn 2, when I would get 2 more King Tigers.

Much would be needed from my grenadiers.

 Dan's boys came on the board from the lower road and made for the south edge. Fortunately for me, my better troops were positioned here. Danish SS were waiting to stop as many tanks as possible. Dan would dismount his riders to begin moving through the woods to flush out my infantry.  I would succeed in destroying my first T-34/85 with a Panzerfaust. My boys were off to a good start.

 In my part of Turn 1, I would take out another T-34 with a panzeraust. I also pulled my boys back all along the line to prepare for Turn 2. By SSR, Dan had to secretly designate the Turn 2 entry on either the north or south board edges. Then on Turn 3 - his next group of reinforcements would enter on the opposite board edge. I figured Dan would come in from the south to reinforce his T-34/85's already moving there.

My Danish SS Grenadiers were holding strong in the south. I had feared that they would be quickly overrun, but against all odds, they would hold out until the end.

 Turn 2 - Dan's heavy tanks rolls right into me on the south. I manage to take down another T-34/85, but then Dan's infantry are on top of my boys for close combat.

On my part of Turn 2 - two more King Tigers were arrive. I would send them to control the southern sector and go after Dan' IS-II that had broken into the open. The other two IS-II's would fall prey to my King Tiger on the hill and a lucky panzerfausts shot. My Danish Grenadiers had taken down four tanks. Then in Advancing Fire, my Tiger II with my 9-2 would take down the third and final IS-II. At the end of 2 turns, I had managed to eliminate six tanks.

No one was more surprised than I was at the outcome of the first two turns. Dan still had four more T-34/85's yet to enter the game, so he still had a chance to pull out a win by either exiting 3 of them off the west board edge of eliminating all of my tanks. The next turn would be a decisive turn.

In the south, Dan would continue to try and eliminate my pesky grenadiers. Dan would eliminate two full squads, but my 8-1 would survive and continue to fight along with my 5-4-8, who was in melee with a Russian 4-5-8.

My  8-1 turned in a surprising performance. He would even fire at least one Panzerfaust, but not get a hit.

Turn 3- Dan's final reinforcements prepare to enter from the north. right in front of them was a 4-3-6 of HJ volunteers. These boys would be forced to fire at the Russian infantry. And they would succeed in DM'ng or pinning them as two squads and an officer attempted to throw a DC on them. They would go for Final Protective Fire and break and disrupt in the attempt. But they had done their job.

I have played a few scenarios that involved HJ troops, and sometimes it feels a little problematic to play those. My AAR's poke a bit of fun at the game and humor is a big part of my blogs...in as much as is appropriate. So, poking fun at the use of child soldiers by the Third Reich is one of those things that really isn't all that funny. The horrors of the Third Reich really had no limit and evil men would send so many of their nation's future generation to their deaths for no useful purpose.

So having said all that...I'll jump down off my stump and recommend that you check out the movie...Jo Jo Rabbit. I wasn't sure what to expect from this film, but found it to be a near perfect blend of humor, seriousness and pathos.  Honestly, a very good movie, well worth your time.

OK, back to the AAR in progress. Dan's infantry managed to open a Panzerfaust free entry for the four T-34/85's that followed them.  As the four Tanks in the north began racing for the exit. The last remaining T-34/85 in the south would do likewise. It would fall victim to a King Tiger. In the north, one tank would fall to a Panzerschreck and another would be destroyed by the King Tiger on the hill. With that, Dan was down to two tanks and his only path to victory would require the elimination of my four King Tigers.

My infantry both north and south had succeeded in destroying five of Dan's tanks. Far more than I could have hoped for.

A final look at the battlefield. With only two tanks remaining, Dan offered the concession at the end of 2-1/2 turns. On my part of Turn 3, I would get my final King Tiger and with four of them on the field, it would be nearly impossible for Dan to eliminate all of them. So, it was game over and a German victory.

My King Tigers claimed four of the nine total tanks knocked out in this scenario. They had definitely proved themselves to be the Kings of Bollersdorf!. 

My thanks to Dan for a great night of ASL. 

And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:

“The plan did not work.  Good shooting by the German infantry eliminated 5 tanks.  The German tanks did the rest and shot the Russian to pieces.  Grumble Jones had average dice and got hits.  At this stage of the war a hit is a kill.  Russian tanks were ineffective at return fire or at the infantry.  The Germans made good use of deployment to cover each path through the woods.  Well played by Grumble Jones!  This scenario is great fun with lots of options for both sides.  Highly recommended.  My thanks to Grumble Jones for a great game.”

I wont' lie, it  was nice to have a game where I was able to execute to plan. My dice were nice and average. So, yes I was happy to have some mojo back.

That's a wrap for now. 

Dan and I will be back next Saturday for another visit to the deserts of North Africa. 

Dan and I will be playing ASL Scenario 39 Turning the Tables. 

We will see you then!