Hello Everyone,
Sunday the 6th was a happy day for me. I got a chance to attend my 2nd tournament in a row over 2 weekends! :) After a decent performance in the Mid War 1650 tournament (although with what turned out to be a suboptimal list) I was soooo ready to get some more action. This time we were playing Late War 1650 in a local club room. Because this event was directly after the big one in Poznań, we only got 13 players in total (one of which could only play one game). Nonetheless, we were eager to roll some more dice! :)
For this tournament, I used a modified version of my favorite Romanian Puscasi (infantry company or rather a battalion). Since I did not have the time to think twice about reworking it to fit the new point allowance, I just added a 100 points Stukas to it. That simple :P
Anyways, the missions we played were:
Counterattack
Surrounded
Encounter
In Counterattack I was assigned to play against a US glider company. The composition of the enemy force was something along the lines of:
Confident Veteran infantry company
HQ: 2x SMG (or some other type of team - cannot remember exactly)
Platoon 1: glider platoon (with extra bazookas and 0.5" mgs)
Platoon 2: glider platoon (with extra bazookas and 0.5" mgs)
Platoon 3: 3x 57mm guns (late)
Platoon 4: 3x 57mm guns (late)
Platoon 5: 2x E8 Sherman + Jumbo (C/T)
Platoon 6: M8 Greyhound + mortar jeep + recon jeep
Platoon 7: 3x 105mm pack howitzer
Platoon 8: 4x 155mm howitzer (C/T)
Limited P-47 Thunderbolt
A decent list overall, although I do not understand the 0.5"s on the infantry. Maybe my opponent felt he needed some extra direct fire anti-infantry or anti-light vehicle shots. Also, as you might know, I am not a fan of using some types of artillery with infantry lists. It just eats up the points and gives very little in return.
In any case, the attacker/defender roll went to my advantage (at least in my opinion) since I was nominated to be the attacker. The table was pretty crowded with some LoS blockers and other obstacles. The opponent selected his corner and set up his forces so that one platoon of infantry could run towards the far objective, supported by the Shermans. Also, he placed his recon element in mobile reserves.
My skill/morale rolls were not so good (plenty of reluctant/trained units) but I was not going to give up easily. I divided my forces roughly into 2 parts: all the guns facing the enemy lines directly and a small, mobile force of a reluctant/veteran infantry unit, German tanks and scouts ready to make a dash towards the exposed objective.
The first couple of turns went in my favor. I managed to drop a heavy mortar template on the US tanks and killed 1 E8 (2 hits - both had to go to the E8s according to the 'Jumbos Lead the Way' rule and Jumbo being TA2). Also, my planes killed a 155mm howitzer, while my guns destroyed another one as well as one of the three 105mms. This limited the role of the enemy artillery to just being able to pin my units into infinity (they did not do any significant damage until the last turn). One of his 57mm was also not so lucky and it was quickly missing 2 of the 3 guns. This forced the enemy to reveal his ambush of the second platoon of 57mms near my positions. It was like an invitation for my tanks to go in and hunt the remaining Shermans.
Since the Pz IVs were already on their way, this did not take much time. In turn 3 or 4 I managed to line up 3 close range shots using my own advice and only being able to see the E8. The US tank failed the save, I succeeded in rolling my firepower test and after a few seconds, the whole platoon was gone due to a result of 2 on the morale check (the CiC was not there to help either).
This was a turning point in the battle, as it opened an opportunity for my foot troops to move quicker towards the far objective, supported by the victorious Pz IVs.
A couple of turns later, I was loosing an artillery duel with the remaining 4 57mms (who refused to die even though I forced them to take numerous saves) but I kept them occupied enough to set up an assault against the lonely glider infantry platoon making its way towards the empty objective (well, almost empty - it was guarded only by the recon platoon). With 2 successive assaults - first by cavalry and then by the infantry, I managed to wipe out a big part of the foot unit while in the meantime, my Pz IVs were clearing the objective are of the mobile recon element. The enemy response was now limited to only disengage moves and dropping artillery/air templates on my troops. Fortunately, due to reduction in artillery numbers and a successful air interception attempt they did no real damage and my brave cavalry took the chance to capture the objective.
The win goes to the Romanians!
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