J108 - DANICA AIR

INITIAL THOUGHTS

Not sure what to think about this one, he has 20 squads entering from 3 different board edges and has to take 2 buildings and 3 ammo drop counters all located in the centre of an airfield. Sometimes I think it will be a walkover for him and other times I think the opposite which probably means it will be a close run thing.

He must enter from the north, south and west edges which makes my rout options extremely low once they are engaged, he moves first and is able to get LOS to the perimeter of the airfield after his 1^st turn so I am unable to expand my perimeter and do a fall back style of defence.

SETUP

I feel that this game is a stand-and-hold type of game as I only have 2 leaders to rally troops defending across 3 sides so I have set up 9 of my squads, both MMG, MTR and LMG on the eastern edge of the board so they can at least rout out of the front line as east will be the only direction that does not have partisans on it. Obviously the squads are in my fortifications which are set in an arrow head formation incorporating 2 of the 4 buildings I must defend as well as 3 of the ammo dump counters, which makes the J8 building the most important piece of real estate on the map.

G6 - 1+3+5 pillbox C/A H5/H6 and a squad + LMG.

F6 – Trench, 2 squads, MTR, MMG and 9-1 leader.

F7 – 1S Foxhole squad and a MTR.

E7 – Trench, squad and LMG.

C8 – 1S Foxhole, 1 squad

C9 – 1+3+5 pillbox C/A D8/D9 (unoccupied)

B9 – Trench, 2 squads, MMG and 8-1 leader.

D5 – 1S foxhole (unoccupied)

These in conjunction with the 2 buildings (D7 and E6) will allow me to get some good firegroups going, the 2 MMG will eventually enter the pillboxes as they have become bunkers as per B30.8 – all of these hexes can be accessed by my troops in advance phase thus negating any movement in the open running to and from buildings and foxholes.

My HIP’s are in:

J8 – 1 squad – this is a building that he needs for victory and so this guy is a last little surprise in case he is able to get across the open ground alive.

M10 – Half Squad

G10 – Half Squad both of these half squads are in brush or swamp so I am hoping he will avoid entering them due to their MP cost or lesser TEM. They will also be a surprise for when he tries to get the J8 building or they can expose themselves to block rout paths of any of his broken troops on the airfield.

I also have 5 small stacks spread across the woods at the south of the air field although 3 are dummies and the other 2 are my crew counters – so chosen for their self rally abilities, they will hopefully slow him down for a turn or two.

THE PLAN

He should put some heavy weaponry on the hills at the south of the board but all my trenches etc. are more than 10 hexes from most of them so their firepower will be halved and I am not too worried about his mortars as I will have a +2 TEM vs their 2 FP. Being setup on the far eastern edge will hopefully mean his troops will be engaging in groups rather than as an entire force and so I want to put a massive weight of firepower on each as they arrive which is why my MMG are starting in trenches for their all-round vision rather than the pillboxes which have been turned into bunkers so I can always advance into them whenever I want. I want to put fire lanes from the G6 pillbox (MMG) to M9, another from the C9 pillbox (MMG) out to M9 and one by a LMG from E7 out to J9, this should sew up the area in front of the J8 building and if not then I still have Mortars and small arms fire. 

TURNS 1-3

He started entering the board with units ranging from my extreme left clockwise to my extreme right flank and I was glad I had set up the way I did, only one of his units came into my LOS and I exposed and fired a MTR and my SQD,  MMG and 9-1 leader which scored a K/ result but the Mortar malfed and would gak its repair roll in my turn 1. I did little except sit and wait.

His turn 2 saw a number of troops arriving into the front line as well as a determined attack by 3 partisan squads against my single crew down in 38D1, the crew fired and got some support from my 9-1 etc. but eventually died in CC. I was concerned about this as if these units get into the trees at 38A4 they can use them as cover all the way to 38C5 and get quite close to my troops and rout paths. On the hill at 2L7 he opened up with a pair of MMG’s and a 9-1 leader but they were fortunately at long range and did little damage for most of the game (I said “most”; they were killers in turn 5)

Turn 3 saw nearly all of his troops in the front line and I fired all my support weapons including MTR, MMG and LMG but still kept individual squads concealed, I managed to cause some losses and breaks but at the moment it is looking good for him as he also exposed my J8 HIP squad by getting “bounced” (and CR’ed) back as one of his squads tried to dash from J10-J8. I moved my MMG into their bunkers in my turn as I could not risk having any of them break and I expect him to fire for a turn and then attack in turns 5 or 6. My 2 crews and dummy stacks had all been destroyed by this stage and they slowed him down the same way a rabbit on the road would slow down a speeding semi-trailer, basically they were a waste of time.

TURN 4

He decided to try and take the objectives which surprised me as he could have sat and blasted at me for a couple of fire phases, (my 9-1 had moved into a vacant trench to rally a nearby broken squad as I assumed he would just be blasting away at me for a turn, that shows how surprised I was that he was taking the chance now) his 2L7 MMG stack broke my squad in J8 which leaves the way open for him to snatch victory early and force me to counter-attack. His men poured in from all sides and I First Fired and SFF’ed every squad and MG at them. My 2 remaining HIP half squads also opened up and one of his broken squads would be eliminated for FTR due to one of these guys. I eventually ran out of units to fire and by the end of the turn he had taken large losses but was able to advance men into 3 of the required ammo dump counters as well as J8 – things are not going well for me at this point.

In my turn he was able to get control of all 3 ammo counters in rally but can not destroy them until his defensive fire (so he must be in good order) which gives me prep fire to break them. I blasted away at all his units that were within range and scored some good breaks and kills with the –1 DRM for being on the runway certainly hurting him. My sole remaining Mortar scored a KIA against one of his squads in the trees near J8 and then broke another squad in trees covering the J8 building as well. Over at 38M5 the squad that had recovered an ammo counter was broken in Prep fire and when it routs away the counter will be alone and recoverable (but is still technically in his possession) although it forces him to defend it as well as the J8 building. I advanced my MMG out of their bunkers and into trenches so they can prep fire at anyone I deem a serious threat.

TURN 5 - PART 1 - CONSOLIDATION

He is now trying to pull his men back from the open ground near my fortifications and get his squads into positions where they can cover my counter attack, I had left the 38G6 pillbox empty hoping he would enter it to defend his dropped ammo counter which was not my intention but its covered arc does not cover the J8 building and I was hoping he would waste a squad in there, alas, he failed to take the bait. My defensive fire caused more losses and breaks with his vital J8 squad breaking leaving the way open for me to re-claim the building without having to face point blank fire.

TURN 5 - PART 2 –THE COUNTER ATTACK

The stage is now set, I have 7 G.O. squads to retake the J8 building and he has 6.5 squads as well as his MMG fire group to defend. I Self Rally a vital squad with LMG in 38C5 and start Prep Firing. He had 2 squads still in the open at H4 and H5 and both were KIA’ed in prep fire. I had fired 4 squads so I now have 4 squads (one of them deployed) to retake the J8 building, he now only has 3 squads and the MMG stack within range of my projected path (1.5 of his squads will be out of range or with no LOS as I will use the J8 building  to block LOS) My first unit, a half squad, moved from 42H1 and was killed by one of his MMG shots at long range at 38I10. A full squad tried his luck and charged along C9 but was also killed, however, he took a few shots at it so the amount of fire he has is dwindling. Another squad from E7 was also killed as it crossed the runway but had drawn more fire. I sent a half squad which nearly made it to adjacent to the target building but was killed when he set a 1fp fire lane from K4 to H8. I now had only one squad left and I would have to enter some 1FP residual fire on the runway (-3 DRM!!) or move closer to squads in K4 and M5 which had not fired their inherent fire power due to only having a range of 2. I chose to try the 1 –3 option and passed the MC – phew!!! The way is open!!!

No its not…. Legion Sustain fired his MMG’s at him and he was pinned on the 1MC.

So Legion won?

No he didn’t!

I grabbed the rule book and started reading everything about sustained fire, Leadership and first and final fire etc. To his credit Legion noticed the error as he had SFF’ed the MMG but my squad had been at a range greater than normal AND there was a unit of mine closer so the shot was not allowed and my CX squad skirted beyond the range of the fire lane all the while keeping the J8 building between himself and the partisan at M8 and he made it to I9 where he advanced and took control of J8. Now all I have to do is survive his counter attack…

TURN 6 –THE COUNTER-COUNTER ATTACK

The stage was set yet again, he has 2 squads near 42E2 and one each on 38K4, M5 and M8 while I have 4 squads with 2 MMG and an LMG at my defensive area and one CX squad in the J8 building. His prep sees his MMG stack break my CX squad in J8 and now I am worried, all he has to do is get adjacent and he wins in advance phase. He starts by sending the squads from 42E2 across some open ground to draw my fire and I waited until it got to G9 before firing and breaking it. The other squad from that area snuck around the woods but was eventually pinned only 2 hexes away from its objective. He also had a 7-0 leader there that went all the way to a spot adjacent my troops to stop me from SFF’ing but I had little option and really could not afford to fire at him. (Besides as previously noted; SFF can only be at normal range and I will be firing long range at the rest of his troops so it was no real issue.) He sent a Half squad from M5 to K8 where it died from a 1FP firelane I set up. I now only have a squad and MMG along with my 9-1 leader left to fire and he has 2 squads he can move. He sent the K4 squad to skirt the end of the fire lane and now I have to fire, I chose to fire at long range while he was on the run way with the squad and using the leader so it wont cower thereby allowing me to fire my MMG at the last squad (assuming this is successful – and the last squad will be out of rifle range anyway) the 2FP – 4 shot rolled a ‘7’ which was good enough to make a 1MC and he obligingly failed. That only leaves the partisan at M8 to move and I fired the MMG (I only have available 1 shot due to LOS blockages…) the 4FP –2 shot rolled a ‘4’ for a K/1 result and he failed the MC thus giving me the win in an absolute nail biter.

CROATIAN VICTORY

FINAL THOUGHTS

What a ripper!! Great scenario, a good “stand and fight” defence and the attacker will love all the options open to him as well. Admittedly Legion was “diced” as I rolled about a dozen “4”’s and nearly all were with a –2 DRM for a K/ result but at the end of the day the attacker will face anything up to a –4 DRM so losses or at least breaks will occur regularly and assuming the Partisan player has his 9-1 with 1 or 2 MMG’s that leaves only 3 leaders for the remaining 19 squads so rallying (especially as the partisans have a lower rally morale) troops back up will take time and broken all game has the same result as dead. 

I thought both of us could have improved on our game.

I feel Legion attacked too early thereby giving me time to break or kill his defenders, I think the count was around 4 or 5 squads out of the game for one reason or another by the time I counter-attacked. I also feel that his MMG’s were not as effective as they could have been, he never had them in normal range and a 4FP +1 vs my foxholes is not nearly as bad as 8FP +1.  A MMG in 42F2 would be a good spot so it can pull back to 42I3 and lay a firelane all the way across the board to 38I3 thereby isolating the vital J8 building.

My dummy counters and crews were wasted quickly and did little more than make him raise an eyebrow. I also feel I did not defend my left flank enough and if I were to play again I would definitely put a foxhole in 38B3 to defend this area, he only put 3 partisan squads in to his attack but if he had put a more determined attack of 4-5 squads he could have broken more of my squads as he would be in normal range and they could also limit my SFF options by attacking the trench line as he tries to take his objectives.

My Mortars were very effective as a number of his troops were in the tree line (he doesn’t have a choice…) while his mortars did little damage due to my +2 TEM, in fact one of his Mortars went on a spree (with a clrd dr ‘1’ every time mind you….) and fired 7 times at my mortar squad even scoring a CH and by the end of the 7 hits I was left with a fanatic (I got a HOB) pinned, half squad (the CH scored a K/3 which it passed)

THE BALANCE SHEET

He started with 19 squads and 2 crews and lost 10 squads.

I started with 11 squads and 2 crews and lost 5 squads and both crews.

A Total body count of 15 squads and 2 crews between us – it was a great stand up and knock ‘em out fight with very little finessing and no using movement to break up the defence. Very re-playable and I recommend it.

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