Over the years, Memorial Day weekend has been a special gaming time for Dan Best and me. We have generally set aside time for many games. This year would be no different. And to add some additional spice, we decided to play three straight scenarios from BFP's outstanding Mannerheim Cross pack. It's been a while since we played Finns. Finns are tough and I usually prefer to be the Finn rather than trying to fight the Finn.
You definitely want to avoid close combat with Finns. That would never be truer than in our first game.
Neither Dan nor I had played any scenarios from Mannerheim Cross, so we were both pretty stoked to dig into this pack. This pack has 44 scenarios, which is a ton. It's amazing product and as Dan and I discussed, BFP does intense play testing and as a result the scenarios are very tight and if you make too many early mistakes or your opponent has a lot of luck, you will be likely be on the losing side of the game. In our first game, Dan would thrown down 4 snake eyes. Three of these would be in Close Combats. They would have a severe impact on my attacking Russians. And I believe they secured the win for Dan. All three of our scenarios for this weekend would be designed by BFP's prolific scenario creator Chas Smith.
Our first game, played on Thursday evening would be BFP-184 Blick's Black. This is an intense village fight set in the summer of 1944. The Russians must take 6 of the 7 victory locations for the win. A very tough ask against dug in Finns.
As the defending Finns, Dan would command elements of the 44th Infantry Regiment, 5th Division. His force would consist of 4 x 6-4-8's, 8 x 5-4-8's and 4 x 4-4-7's led by a 10-1 and 9-1 with an HMG, 4 x LMG's and an ATR.
As the attacking Russians, I would command elements of the 3rd Naval Infantry Brigade and 114th Rifle Division. My force would consist of 3 x 6-2-8's, 9 x 5-5-8's, 4 x 5-4-7's, and 6 x 4-4-7's led by a 10-1, 8-1, 7-1, and 8-0 with 2 x MMG's, and 6 x LMG's.
The Russians only have six turns to take control of 6 of the 7 available victory location buildings. You don't have a lot of time for a protracted fight. You have get buildings quickly. I suffer from conservative attackitis. I generally enter the game slowly on Turn 1. I did that again in this scenario. I should have been much more aggressive.
Turn 1 Russian - nothing very exciting happened. I moved in cautiously and the Finns just casually watched my boys creeping through the forest.
"Torsti...if you look over there, you can see some Russian dudes trying to be sneaky..."
Turn 2 Russian - I managed to eliminate a bunch of dummy stacks and actually made some progress in the center. I actually felt pretty good at this time in the game.
It wouldn't last...
I managed to take my first victory location and was nearing two more. I would send a 5-4-7 into CC with a Finnish 4-4-7. It would not go well. Dan would roll the first of his three Close Combat Snake Eyes.
Turns out...I wasn't actually invincible...
On the west flank, Dan's Dummy stacks and at least two real units began to head towards the center to confound me.
Russian Turn 3 - I would get reinforcements and sent them into the fight. I still only had a single victory location. L6 and W4 were proving to be very difficult nuts to crack. I was bleeding time...
Close combat...I hate it...especially against Dan. I always roll badly...doesn't matter the odds in my favor I'll usually throw down an 11...cause I don't really want to win. Dan usually rolls well and I would pay dearly. I sent my 8-1 and 2 x 4-5-7's with both of my MMG's into CC with a 4-4-7. I rolled an 11 and Dan rolled his second Snake Eyes killing my 8-1, a 4-5-7 and destroying one of my MMG's. I was sick to my stomach.
It was a devastating blow...
Pretty much...yeah...
I would find some momentary success in the center and eliminate two squads of Finns. A little payback.
Turn 4 Finns - Dan gets his reinforcements...4 x 6-4-8's and a 9-1. He didn't even need them.
"Let's go boys!! Grumble Jones personal ELR is falling fast!!!"
.JPG)
But Dan wasn't finished mauling me. I had two squads in the Melee on the west side. His fourth snakes would KIA on of the squads. His W5 and L6 squads had basically won the game. My failure to take out these flank victory locations was costing me the game.
Turn 5 Russian - I managed to finally take the W5 building after my 10-1 stack broke both the Russians and Finns in the Melee...it was the only way. After my part of Turn 5, I gave the concession. I only had three victory locations and there was no path to taking three more. So I conceded and congratulated Dan on a great win. His Finns stuck it to me...literally. But it doesn't hurt when you roll four bone crushing snake eyes. Three in Close Combat in one game is really unheard of and it crushed my spirit in this game for sure. But, despite the difficulties, this was a really fun scenario. Both Dan and I enjoyed it. We shall see how the other two end up!!
Our second game, played on Friday evening would be BFP-186 Tali Whacker. This is another scenario set in the summer of 1944 and played out on BFP Board S. The Russians win this scenario by controlling at least 18 buildings. Joy...
As the attacking Russians, I would command elements of the 30th Guards Rifle Corps. My force would consist of 3 x 6-2-8's, 9 x 4-5-8's, and 3 x 4-4-7's led by a 10-1, 8-1 and 8-0 with 2 x MMG's, 3 x LMG's, 3 x IS-2's and 3 x ISU 122's.
As the defending Finns, Dan would command element of 2nd Border Battalion, Battle Group Bjorkman. This force would consist of 15 x 5-4-8's and a 2-2-8 led by a 10-1, 9-0, and 8-0 with a 1-4-9 Hero, 2 x MMG's, 2 x LMG's, 3 x Panzerschrecks and a 76* ARTY.
Observation: So wanted to take a second to remark on the number of squads between attacker and defender. Blick's Balk was 22 attacking vs. 16 defending. Finns needed to hold 6 buildings..plenty of force to hold those troops. Tali Whacker is 15 to 15. As the attacker, I really scratched my head as to just how I was going to take 18 building away from 15 x 5-5-8 Finnish squads. Historically, the Russians failed...I can see why.
Once again I found myself trying to take the BFP Board S village...but 18 buildings instead of 6 this time. Oh joy...so much fun. My initial concerns about the 15 to 15 match up would prove to be well-founded. I decided against a Schwerpunkt. I wanted to go for the Winfield Scott Anaconda Plan and constrict the Finnish perimeter from as many locations as possible. This naturally dispersed my forces, but I felt that my armor advantage would give the me added power to make this plan work.
I waded forward!!
Turn 1 Russian - the 76 ARTY would break a squad in its bore sighted hex. (I hate bore sighting.) But otherwise my initial advance went remarkably well.
I managed to secure control of 7 buildings on Turn 1.
My Anaconda plan was taking shape.
But Turn 2 would bring me back to reality as Dan's dice bent me over a second game in a row. A HIP 5-4-8 would be overrun by a IS-2. The pinned squad would need Snake Eyes to take out my tank in Close Combat. Naturally, Dan rolled yet another Close Combat Snakes and destroyed the first of my tanks. His 76* ARTY would pivot, retain rate of fire and CRIT Hit my 10-1 stack on the next shot. My 10-1 died along with a half-squad. Another squad would be broken. The gun kept rate and switch targets yet again. This gun would inflict considerable damage on my force in the course of the game.
Indeed...
Dan's success would be severely tested in his next movement phase. Dan is as aggressive in defense as in offense. But this three moving squads would all be broken as Dan's morale check dice let him down hard.
Progress on the west side was lagging behind the east side but I was a bit more concentrated on the east side. My biggest weakness was having to hold the buildings I took, because Dan's Turn 4 reinforcements could literally come in from anywhere and take back my hard won gains.
Good progress would be made throughout Turn 3.
The blue circled unit would be Dan's HIP Panzerfaust Hero Boy. He would boxcar the Panzerschreck shot. In the picture below, he would attack the tank and be KIA'd.
That's right...
Tali got WHACKED!!!
As many readers know, I suck as the Russians with a 40% win rate. I also have a 43% win rate as the attacker. So losing as the attacking Russians has always been normal for me. I roll too many 11's, which MALF Russian weapons with frightening regularity. Of my six tanks in this game, I would MALF and Recall three of them. I'm quite certain that play testers didn't factor in that kind of catastrophic dice rolling. The loss of these three tanks would be a disaster for me.
Sometimes ASL just blows...but I having trouble remembering why...
Dan's fortified goose egg was keeping my Russians at bay.
The dreaded Turn 4 - Dan's reinforcements were setting up to take away my victory locations. From a design standpoint, I don't believe these reinforcements are necessary. Additionally, it's pretty gamey to allow them to come in from three different approaches. As the Russian player, it was just one more demoralizing aspect of this scenario. It damn hard enough to pry 8 morale Finns from buildings and then have them come at you from behind as well. I knew that I wasn't going to win this game at this point.
"Time to make Grumble Jones cry boys!!!"
But then things went a little bit squirrely for Dan. I would break a 5-4-8 on the west side and pin the 5-4-8 moving with the 8-0 on the east side. But one got through and that was enough to take away my real-estate.
I had been ready to concede the game, but I was still in it and couldn't justify giving up. I managed to break two more positions and still had three tanks in the game. One of these (low ammo tank) would soon be recalled.
Turn 5, I went back on the attack in the center. I would take the church and get into CC with the northernmost Finnish unit. I would lose a tank to a Panzerfaust shot.
Nice shooting Texsti..
Me and Close Combat are not friends. I like to roll 10's and 11's. Dan would miss, but eliminate one of my two squads before it was all over.
Dan's squad in the west would take away the first of my locations. His 8-0 and 5-4-8 would move up on my boys in the east. I would hit him with a 16 and an 8 factor shot. Didn't do S@#T to him.
The 8-0 would go into CC with my boys. UGH!!!
As Turn 6 Russian ended, I gave the concession. Dan would take back three buildings from my hard fighting Russians. I would be down to 16 and that was game. I was 2 short of the victory. Dan and I both enjoyed this scenario. It's a lot fun. We both had some serious moments of frustration with just plain bad dice. Good plans will be impacted if you MALF you stuff. For Dan, his morale check rolls were on the bad side. Too many 8 morale Finns were breaking, which gave the Russians a better chance at winning than was likely. Overall, I was happy with my effort. My Anaconda plan nearly got it done. And had Dan thrown a few less snakes and me a few less 11's...it might have swung to the Russians for the win. Another good game!
Game 3 is coming up next. Will Dan get the sweep?? (probably)
Our third and final scenario (played on Saturday) would be BFP-191 Brotell: The Finish Ace (also a Chas Smith design). Our final Finn vs. Russian contest would be yet another hard fought and intense battle. Honestly, these three scenarios absolutely wore me out. Attacking three times in a row against tough Finnish defenses was really exhausting. This game was also to see my dice rolling luck change with the majority of snakes belonging to the Russians. It would make a huge difference in the game.
.jpg)
As the defending Finns for the third time, Dan would command elements of Armored Division Lagos. His force would consist of 7 x 6-4-8's, 3 x 2-4-8's and a 2-2-8 led by a 9-1 with an MMG, 2 x LMG's, a 50L AT Gun and 3 x STUG's with 10-2 Armored Leader (2nd Lt. Brotell).
As the attacking Russians, I would command elements of the 92nd Rifle Division. My force would consist of 6 x 4-5-8's and 9 x 4-4-7's, led by a 9-1, 8-0 and 7-0 with 2 x MMG's, 3 x LMG's, 2 x ATR's and 7 x T-34/85's.
As the Russians, my objective is two-fold, I have to control the six building locations and must get 25 VP on or past Row P.
Turn 1 Russian - I'm off to the races. There are two HIP 2-4-8's with Panzerschrecks. Naturally I will find them.
The first 2-4-8 fires and misses. The second one fires and kills the first of my T-34/85's. By SSR there is no crew survival for either side.
Turn 1 Finns - Dan's other Panzerschreck team gets a hit and my second T-34/85 is knocked out. In less than two turns, I'm done a third of my tank force. But then Dan makes a very aggressive and unexpected move. His center STUG reveals (crewed by Botell, which I didn't learn until game end.) The STUG attempts to enter the woods and bogs. It would fail to hit my T-34/85 in Advancing Fire and I would miss in Defensive Fire.
Turn 2 Russian - In PREP Fire, I would knock out Brotell's STUG. Dan would not reveal the 10-2's death, so I assumed (incorrectly) that the 10-2 was still waiting to ambush me.
At the end of my second turn, I was nearing the 6 victory building locations.
On the east edge (top), I would successfully win the first close combat.
Turn 3 Russian - I begin my assault on the building locations. I would get lucky as Dan's boys broke under the weight of Russian fire. This allowed me to move up get adjacent to the buildings.
I had managed to take my first two building locations. I had also created a Hero, that would come in very handy as the battle progressed. My tanks were also doing good supporting work for the infantry.
Two Close Combats were in progress. The uppermost one would go to Dan as I lost a 4-4-7 that had been pinned. In the center, we would remain in MELEE. Dan's 9-1 squad and 6-4-8 in the Y8 building would both be broken. At this point, the village was falling to the Russians.
My next turn would give me control of the village except for the building still in MELEE. With the fight nearing its conclusion in the village, it was time to start moving forces towards Row P and the second part of the Russian victory conditions. My tanks would begin their advance. I knew the 50L AT Gun and two STUG's were waiting to greet me. One of my tanks would be shocked as the first of the two STUG's revealed.
.JPG)
My boys would win the final CC and take possession of all the building victory locations.
The second STUG would enter the fight. The German 50L AT Gun had taken some shots, but didn't get APCR so struggled to penetrate. I would snake a T-34/85 shot that had targeted the gun. It and the crew were eliminated. Dan's uppermost STUG would hit and knock out another of my T-34/85's. My bottom T-34/85 had MALF'd it MA and would be recalled. I was down to two tanks vs. two STUG's.
I had begun to despair after yet another of my T-34/85's was knocked out. But there had been an error, which Dan quickly pointed out. I had that STUG with a covered arc facing away from my center T-34/85. Dan said it was looking at me, so I figured I had messed up it's covered arc (this can happen when playing cardboard via TEAMS). It turned out that I had been correct and Dan's tank had in fact missed me. You will see that tank back in action in the second picture after this one. Thanks to Dan for pointing this out.
I had advanced my infantry forward. Both of Dan's STUG's were fighting it out Crew Exposed. I had a captured Panzerschreck, but would roll an 8 on my only shot and X it out. So, shooting at the CE crews was my only chance to affect the STUG's. My Hero had gone into MELEE with the bottom STUG.I needed a 4 to kill...but couldn't get it. A single Finnish 6-4-8 was still in the game as well. I had to eliminate these barriers, it I had any chance of getting the 26 VP across the P line.
The final picture as Russian dice would roll more snake eyes on the CE STUG crews. Incredibly, a 4-4-7 would roll snakes and a 4 under 2 was a 1 check. Dan rolled boxcars and the STUG was Recalled. The second STUG would escape my Hero and rumble forward. My infantry fire would pin the crew. The my other fire would break the final 6-4-8. At that point, Dan gave the concession and the Russians had their first victory of this three game series.
Our Mannerheim Cross 3 Game Weekend had come to an end. Dan would get two wins to my one. All three games were intense and hard fought scenarios. We enjoyed all three...but will be glad to leave the forests of Finland for a bit. My thanks to Dan for three great games. And congratulations on the two wins.
With that we wish you a great night.
Dan and I will return to man the Walls of ASL before you know it!!
WE WILL SEE YOU THEN!
As I do each Memorial Day, I give thanks for the sacrifices of our many Veterans who gave their lives in defense of this nation.
I also remember my friend and mentor, Sgt. Don Boelhauf.
Wishing you all a good Memorial Day.
No comments:
Post a Comment