ACROSS THE LITANI
9AM Game
Legion defending as the Vichy French
Murrey McCloskey attacking as the British / Australian Commonwealth Force
The results from the Night game were spectacular... but unfortunately I have very little in the way of reinforcements while he is going to have 2 depleted companies coming on this turn (8x 648, 8x 458). I shall have to try to hold them off until the PM game when I too start to get some more infantry available for map entry.
The Mapboards:
The Litani River and Ridge
Thankfully I held him out of his objective here, the Northern Ridge, which goes to show how worried about the positions here he must be. He did not even attempt to attack The Barracks area, so my defence is intact here too, as well as my defensive positions on the Southern Ridge. He has taken some locations, and they are in the centre of the map and though he does have some units in the foxhole on the Northern ridge, they should not last too long!
Un-revealed HIP units are not required to be revealed... this is a no-brainer as units are not allowed to change locations anyway!
North Ridge (Rows V-GG)
Wire 15BB4, 15EE5, 15FF5, 15GG6
15Y6 81mm MTR 228 (CA: X5/Y5)
15Y5 75mm ART 228 (CA: X4/Y4)
15CC5 HIP 75mm ART 228 (CA: BB4/CC4)
I am in some danger up here due to the loss of the MMG position. I shall be moving units over here ASAP to help shore up the defence. In the meantime I have readied my Guns to help interdict his fording of the river.
South Ridge (Rows A-S)
Nothing has changed here, except for the digging of a few more foxholes
Wire 15A3, 15B3, 15C3, 15D2, 15G2, 15S1
15C4 1S Foxhole, 457
44C4 Pre-Reg Hex - 70mm OBA Pre-Reg hex
15F2 1S Foxhole, 457
15F3 Trench, 457 LMG, 8-0 , Pillbox (CA: F2,/G3) - These guys will start outside the Bunker
15G3 1S Foxhole, 457
15I2 1S Foxhole, 457
15L3 Trench, 457 MMG, Field Phone 8-1, Pillbox (CA: F2,/G3), 457 - The Phone is HIP here
15L4 Trench, 457
15M5 Trench
15N4 Trench, 457 HMG MMG, 9-1, Pillbox (CA: F2,/G3) - These guys will start outside the Bunker
15N5 Trench, 457 LMG
15O3 HIP 237
15Q4 1S Foxhole, 237 60mm MTR
15Q8 237 LMG
15R4 1S Foxhole, 457 LMG
15R5 1S Foxhole, 457 LMG
15R8 237, 6+1 - This has got to be the Command Post!
15S5 1S Foxhole, 457
The Barracks
Again there have been no changes here... he has no AFV so I have not changed the location of the AT Gun (I can protect it better where it stands).
44S6 1S Foxhole, 458 60mm MTR
44S7 ATR 7-0
44S8 HIP 458 HMG, 248 MMG, 8-1
44R7 HIP 25LL AT 228
44P8 1S Foxhole, 458
Kafr Badda
With the loss of the bridge and it's defenders I am going to be hard-pressed to take it back. I do get some reinforcements over on this side of the map (AMD 20, 2x AMD 50, 2x AMD 80, 8-1AL) but they have a dr-driven entry time. Also with his 9-2 leader and the ATR I must be very careful not to end up wrecked. Otherwise, I shall be moving these units on-board to shore up the Artillery Park and help cover the bridge from a-far. I will just stand off and pepper the defenders with MA and MG fire.
The Artillery Park looks safe enough for the time-being, but if he gets many more men onto this map-set then I am going to be in big trouble
North of The Bridge (33R8)
This guy is the only one to survive his attack on the Bridge
33P8 237
The Artillery Park Plateau (11Z5)
All ART must face to the SW; they cannot move nor can they change CA.
11T7 AMD 20 (CE)
11W6 HIP 155mm ART 228
11X3 155mm ART 228
11Z7 1S Foxhole, 457 HMG, 8-1
11AA8 155mm ART 228
11BB6 1S Foxhole, 457
11CC4 HIP 155mm ART 228
11DD3 1S Foxhole, AM Dodge (CE)
It is all there in the rules... but I am totally amazed at the masses of men arriving on-board for this turn.
Kafr Badda
He only has a few extra units here, they are the men he exited in the last game and thus they will enter from off-board. The rest of him men are clustered around the bridge and there really is no way I can think of attacking them there. He also has units close to the Plateau, these are obviously there to take any opportunities I might present to him.
Litani River and Ridge
Here the numbers are truly worrying. He has still got his few units left from the last game scattered over the Northern end of this map, they will be easy to isolate and eliminate. But the forces that have spread through the South Bank of the Litani River and even across the river (3x MMC, a Ldr and LMG may setup North of the River) mean I have very little chance of rushing down to pinch off his beachhead. He has a lot of troops available for entry too, they will have to cross the river at the Ferry location (44FF3 - played as per Wire) which puts them out of the LOS of my OBA and my MGs/Guns.
There is not much more to say... my men are having to cover a lot of ground and especially on the Kafr Badda map they are really up against it. I am not too happy with the inability of the French to reposition themselves, I fail to see why Guns can move up to 3 hexes but infantry or AFVs cannot. This essentially means that the defence for the 8/9 Night games has to be designed to also deal with a possible onslaught during the the 9AM game.
On the Litani River and Ridge map I shall try to reinforce the Northern Ridge with a few units and some LMGs, otherwise I shall attempt to hold ground and interdict his Northward movement as much as possible.
The Kafr Badda defence is in terrible shape and unless my reinforcements come quickly I might have to face the loss of this position under a tidal wave of irate British Commandos.
The Allies have a mass of units and start to cover the area of their advance with a mass of SMOKE... a nice ROF run allowed for lots of SMOKE to cover the ferry position (44F3). He also managed Radio Contact (despite the extra Red chit thanks to the Vichy still holding 3 ART in the Kafr Badda Artillery Park) and dropped the SR on the South Ridge's 15G2 Wire. Next in the British agenda was Foxhole digging and he managed to dig 2 of the 5 he attempted (44F1, 44DD2). He then started to move masses of men across the ferry into the neighbouring woods... I had no way to hit them so had to settle for ELR CRing a 648 on the North ridge (44X3 - he was KIA by an ART shot in my Prep) and placing my SR (44Z4) thus making him aware of the danger of exposing himself to my LOS. I start moving units towards the North ridge to bolster the defence here and to allow for attacks on his units trying to get off-board.
Things change a little on the SMOKE front with a lot of his MTRs running out - he is forced to use his OBA to cover the hill in SMOKE (centred on 15G2). He digs more foxholes (44CC3 & 44EE4) and then starts to make a move towards the Southern bunker's position on the hill. He gets a little careless when he moves into the LOS of my HMG/MMG position on the hill - the dice are lethal killing a 9-2 and accompanying 248. The dice get their revenge when they Malfunction one of my vital ART on the Northern Ridge (15Y5). The same happens when I go on a ROF tear that eventually breaks his 15U2 HS - there is a SAN result from this that breaks one of my own 457s.
My turn is where I start to close down some of his options in the middle of this board. I unHIP a HS (15O3) and rush him over to force the surrender of the broken 338 (15U2). I also drop SMOKE on the ? unit in 44M3 which allows me to move a 457 from The Barracks to adjacent; he is a 648! - ouch, but his shot only causes a HOB result which leaves me with a Fanatic 457 and a Hero - I back out of this battle while I still can through!
Again Murray just plasters the saddle of the hill (between the two 3rd level areas) with SMOKE and then continues with his Entrenching routine (44FF6). In his movement though he makes what might be a big mistake as he moves a huge stack right into my OBA LOS, they are in a Stone Building and will soon be in Trenches, but I have a chance to hit them now - the OBA comes down and despite the 8ML there is not a single unit who passes the 1MC while a HS is Fate-CRed to death. I also fired at a HS as he moved in the open, the shot hit, and again Fate killed the HS - this has happened so many times that even I am getting tired with it. At least there is a little balance when my 82mm MTR also rolls 6,6 and malfunctions (3x 6,6 in 7 rolls!). I use my MTR at the Barracks to terrible effect: it hits the 44G4 hex with 3x 648 who entered this turn, by the time the ROF run is over there is a Hero (from a HOB) as well as 2x 648 Pinned and another broken - a SAN result also broke the 648 in 44M3 which has really demolished his units away from the Bridgehead. I un-HIP my HMG & MMG stack at The Barracks, they fire at the same hex and call ANOTHER 6,6 to CR break one of the Pinned 648s.
I lose the MTR to a '6' on Rally... sigh... he was very necessary to my defence! Again Murray whips out a 6,6 and loses another HS. My first shot of the turn is to use the Barrack's MTR against a HMG position he had set up (8-1, HMG 248 - 44CC4); naturally the 8-0 leader rolls 6,6 for the MC and the HS is broken from the ROF tear. I manage to recapture the building I lost last game (44M3) and take a 648 prisoner in the process. Unfortunately I lose a 457 when he is forced to Rout through my own OBA.
Things start off poorly for the British attack when they lose Radio Contact and then another HS through a SAN result. They are moving with some strength towards the Saddle now but are continuing to take hits and they are not able to move far North without taking more hits and consequently more losses. I fail to maintain my OBA due to a Red-chit. He starts to claim trenches on the hill and I am under a lot of pressure to try and stop him. CC sees one of his HS ambushed and eliminated.
My OBA comes back and I drop it on the pre-registered location to make sure I get it on-board quickly. His situation is better as he is starting to rush units to the Saddle, but I am able to start to fire again without the bother of the SMOKE and this causes some casualties for him - though, for a change, his men are passing MC easily which is a bother... Even more of a bother is the run of malfunctions I get with both a MMG and HMG being lost. My moves are mainly re-arrangements to cover against a possible later breakout and to prepare for a more solid defence; though I make a foolish move with an LMG 457 into the LOS of a British 6FP -3 shot and pay the ultimate price! At least he ends up with an 8-0 Wounded as a result of the SAN that came from the great shot. I am under a lot of pressure, especially around the 15F3 peak area, but, for the moment, my men are holding firm and causing him all sorts of grief.
I am able to repair the MMG in the Barracks and much more importantly the 15Y5 ART... I really needed this bad-boy back up! Due to no LOS to his last SR Murray must again take another Subsequent Chit Draw to move his SR... a Black chit allows him to place it on the ridge. Then he lucks out with a SAN result and breaks my lone unit holding the extreme South of the board (15C4). As he rushes units in to take this newly-broken unit's foxhole I start to get a bit of luck too, a single LMG shot KIAs a 338, then a 7-0, 247 are broken as they rush across Open Ground, finally I Pin his 9-1 and with my last shot NMC a 648 - this guy rolls YET ANOTHER 6,6 and CR breaks. My OBA comes down with a vengeance and breaks his Radio carrying leader (44DD7). My MMG on the hill (15N4) breaks another 648 and Wounds another of his 8-1 leaders, but then suffers a malfunction to make both MG (a Heavy and a Medium) in this hex useless. I kill off a 8-1 through a SAN intervention, but not before this guy throws his DC and CRs a Vichy Squad.
My turn starts off with a flurry of shots, the OBA comes down on-target and hits the occupants of the foxhole again, this time the HS here breaks but the Broken Leader survives. My Barracks HMG goes on a bit of a rampage and KIAs a HS but then has to stop firing due to lack of targets! On the whole I have to waste a LOT of shots but I finally am able to severely mess up the attack he has launched onto the Saddle (15H1) area, there is just a single Squad left in this area and the rest are broken and in danger of being captured or overrun.
He has poor luck with his rallies, and then with his very few Prep Fire shots... the Commonwealth forces are being bled dry here and have few men left to move. A quick look at the situation makes me think I might be able to grab some of his own foxholes. After a very short movement phase the slaughter continues with the men on hill taking the brunt of it (8-1 and 2MMC KIA, HS ELR - both HS become Prisoners) though there are losses all over the board to breaks or CRs.
Things continue in the same vein with my 457 in the now vital 15C4 foxhole region being rallied, and the MMG in the hilltop bunker position repairs too! Then the pain continues with a CH from a 60mm MTR eliminating a 457 while the MG nest on the Level 4 peak wipes out a broken HS. Movement allows my Vichy to re-take all the territory I had lost to his attack as well as helping me bring forces in closer to his river crossing zone. He is going to have to make a choice in his next turn... pull back and lick his wounds or make a push for the only Control Location that he still has a (very slight) chance of taking, the 15C4 foxhole.
His men are being hemmed in from all sides. He does the smart thing though and starts digging foxholes to allow for a place from which to build up for the next battle. My OBA just keeps on falling and although it is unable to do much damage to the occupants of the foxhole it is attacking it is keeping his OBA out of the game by making sure the Observer is under DM. Other than that the game continues in the same vein; my French have a decent chance of hitting, and do... his Commonwealth forces have a decent chance of passing MCs and don't! At least the traditional 6,6 from a HMG shot doesn't pass me by as yet again I have a MG malfunction.
Poor Murray, the 6,6 curse hits him again as he loses a HS in a Rally Attempt. His men are falling like flies as I usually have multiple shots on the places where he has Routed to. There is little movement to make as I consolidate my positions and start to move Prisoners up the hill to places where their Guards will be less vulnerable to SAN results.
With even fewer units left to move the situation for the British is grim indeed... he attempts to dig in some more and takes a few half-hearted shots... but there is little left for him to do. I eliminate a Hero (who charged a Vichy foxhole single-handedly!) and also a HS who had routed into my N4 MG nest's LOS - this naturally left me with a malfunctioned HMG as seems to occur every turn!
Map transformations after the 9AM game.
The Commonwealth Zone is in Red
The Vichy Zone is in Blue
French Losses: 237, 2x 457
82mm MTR, HMG
CVP: 33 +12 (prisoners)
Allied Losses: 1x 338, 8x 457, 4x 648 (247, 338, 2x 648 Surrenders)
8-0, 2x 8-1, 9-2
DC, LMG
CVP: 7
Exited: nil
The few reinforcements he has up here are attacking in force in the 11GG10-GG8 region (top, Eastern Grainfield) so I reverse my AM Dodge to 11CC4 to prepare for the onslaught, I also send a 457 over to help. The rest of his units seems to be content with grabbing my dropped HMG and AT from last game.
His off-board reinforcements are edging closer to my 11CC4 HIP ART and AFV and they look to be in an unsalvageable position, but I also score my reinforcements this turn and bring them on as Platoon Movement with 3 AFV going South of the River and 2 of them to the North of the river. I know he has quite some ATR available so I don't want to expose these AFV to his LOS but as my AM Dodge is making a run for it (and messing up an OVR on his 338 HS at the same time) Murray exposes and fires one of his ATR... and scores a breakdown... what terrible luck for him. My 3 AFV enter the plateau and bolster the poor defence there.
He Preps away and really misses some chances to hurt me when firing on the unarmoured AM Dodge adjacent to his reinforcements. Then in his movement he passes a NMC and wanders into a HIP ART (11CC4) which is a real setback for me, especially as the ART Crew is broken and has to low crawl away.
Murray's Brits capture my 11CC4 ART and when I try to fire at them all I can manage is a HOB which makes the 338 HS Fanatic. As my AM Dodge leaves he Is Immobilised by a HS hit against him, but as a parting shot he also fires at the offending HS and scores a hit - that hit only upsets the Elite Brits and they end up Berserk but are Eliminated when they suffer a KIA as they enter my AFV's hex from TPB CMG fire.
I am able to break the Fanatic 338 who had taken one of my foxholes (11BB6) and this unit is going to have to run this turn to escape my newly recovered 228 (Who gains an 8-1 leader through a Leader Creation dr!) - I can re-claim this hex immediately. Mostly my moves are to consolidate my defence up here, I move an AFV to cover against him moving up onto the Level 1 plateau.
It has become a Sitzkrieg over here with my men not being strong enough to push him out of positions he has taken, and his men are too scattered and few in number for him to push against me. I get my first bit of uber-luck over here when my Immobilised AM Dodge goes on an ROF and HE hitting tear that leaves his 11DD3 foxhole quite badly shot-up, though this ends with the usual malfunction leaving this AFV quite useless. With this result I decide to shift some of my AFV over here to further harass his Broken Fanatic unit and to put pressure on the units who are essentially isolated in the foxhole.
I am able to rally the broken 457 here and this finally gives me some tactical flexibility, as well as the chance to re-capture the ART. I push against the British foxhole position with both the Squad and an AFV and am able to eliminate the leader here for FTR but he gains a Hero with a bit of luck from a HOB roll (and he is owed quite a bit of luck due to the carnage in the South)
The 12.7mm MA of one of my AFVs is able to break the HS in his pesky foxhole and that will mean FTR penalties for him... I am going to be able to capitalise on this despite a well placed bit of fire that broke the 457 I had brought up to attack this position; I use a 8-1, 228 to attack the ART and the foxhole. At last some luck seems to flow Murray's way as he manages a CH on the AM Dodge and it is destroyed (this is the one that was Immobilised with MA Malfunctioned). On the other hand I manage to gain the foxhole here (11DD3) when a Crew kills his Wounded Hero in CC.
His only mobile men, the 2x HS left from his off-board attacking force come close to the Mobile AMD 50 whose RMG manages to break one of them; the AMD 80 in this area then scores the kill with his IFE. Despite these losses Murray attacks my Mobile AMD 50 in CC and manages to cause it's RMG to malfunction... but, as usual for this game, he then rolls a 6,6 for himself (in the Refit Phase CC continuation) that causes the loss of the attacking 338 as well! Sigh... even my Vichy are feeling bad for the enemies terrible luck!
Map transformations after the 9AM game.
The Commonwealth Zone is in Red
The Vichy Zone is in Blue
French Losses: 155mm ART, AM Dodge (no MA)
CVP: 7
Allied Losses: 338, 2x 648, 8-1
CVP: 5 (self-destroyed the AT Gun, losing the captured 2CVP bonus)
Victory Points Score
LVP
Commonwealth: 6
Vichy French: 15 (12 locations and 3x Crewed ART)
VP
Commonwealth: 18 (last game) + 18 (12CVP + 6LVP) = 36
Vichy French: 38 (last game) + 67 (52CVP + 15LVP) = 105
I do poorly with my end of game rolls for captured weapons, I end up losing 3 of the 4 SW I captured from the British: 2x LMG(b) and a DC. I do manage to repair my RMG on the Kafr Badda AMD 50 and the 15N4 HMG, but I lose the Barracks HMG which could have potentially disastrous results
Conclusion
This has been a catastrophic game for the British, but it is along way from being over yet and we have to see how it all plays out. Without a doubt though the CVP and LVP score is going to make it VERY difficult for him to recover without a pretty spectacular next game. In terms of men he lost almost the entire compliment of reinforcements he received for this game. I have used the opportunities in this battle to spread my men over the board and prepare for the arrival of his AFV, there are LMG in foxholes in quite a few good locations and though I do suffer the possibility of being rolled by a concerted attack I can cover my men from the well-held hill and the Barracks.
I feel that failing to take the Barracks in the first game was a big mistake. The British have not had anyway to ensure the safety of their flanks while the Barracks continue to be held and that has the potential to be a very expensive mistake in the later parts of this game. With the passing of the initial Night opportunity to attack they now have to face attacking during the daylight hours (against support from the hill) or waiting for the next night game.
I found the lack of ability to change my unit's setups at the start of this game (and indeed all the games) to be very dissatisfying. I think it is strange that Guns can change locations by 3 hexes, but more mobile AFV and Infantry cannot... if I were able to move my men only a few hexes it would have given me some chance to better defend against what is a brilliant game-start setup for the Commonwealth forces. I can understand that the Vichy were in disarray and that their tactical position is already strong, but the chance to do some minor changes might not hurt too much. [edit: Murray has modified the rules to allow for the AFV to change their position by up to 3-hexes as long as they end up in a Controlled Location]
The inability to move troops from the South map to the North map is difficult for the French. Though I can totally understand the rationale for this. I am really only holding on by the skin of my teeth in the Northern Kafr Badda map - it really does make one think about the need to stop those British AFV BEFORE they get a chance to cross over to the North.
I would like to also make the comment here that this game was really amazing for the influence that the DRs had on it... Murray's Allied forces suffered a very large percentage of their losses in the first 4 turns from plain-old-bad-DRs. The amount of 6,6's that were rolled was really unbelievable and to be honest I felt quite embarrassed to be doing so well out of it. When the dice settled down a little he was quite weakened as a result and the DRs did, in a large way, account for the failure of his attack on the Saddle of the Litani Rigde. I am really impressed with the Personal ELR of my opponent, in the face of what was a demoralising run of bad luck for him and good luck for me his spirits did not waver one bit; he was courteous and good-natured even in the worst moments. I take my hat off to you Murray!