This AAR on the final scenario in Pegasus Bridge has been a while in coming. It's a large scenario, with a lot happening spread out over a large area. So setup took a while for both of us. I've been busy with a con that I sat in the dealer's room in... and I've been a bit intimidated.
That said, we did most (and certainly the most exciting parts) of my (British) movement last Wednesday, and are now finishing off the turn.
This last scenario features hard-pressed airborne troops still defending Benouville and Le Port when the landing forces from Sword beach start arriving on the scene. This happens late in the day, and Turns 9-12 will have a +1 LV Hindrance for dusk (11 1/2 turns... yeesh. I hope it's long enough).
The Germans are technically defending, but have a marked local superiority in Benouville, while the contest in Le Port would be reasonably even without the reinforcements.
General situtation at the end of British Turn 1.
Patch is having some amazing luck, having broken a MTR, a MMG, a HMG, and a PzIVs BMG and CMG during his defensive fire. I haven't broken anything, but I haven't had any effective fire yet either (despite getting a BFF Improbable Hit), and have managed to loose a Stuart.
Detail of Benouville, end of British Turn 1.
Obviously, I'm going to have to start pressing the Germans back in a hurry, and then send what I can afford down the road to Benouville before the Germans really get into the swing of things down there.
Detail of Le Port, end of British Turn 1.
![Patch_Bunny is respected by those who aren't totally worthless [1-99]](images/reputation/reputation_pos.png)
I'm awaiting Rindis' Defensive fire response, so there's no point in posting images yet for my Prep Fire and Movement.
Turn 1 is most definitely not going well. I was lucky on Turn 1 and popped a Stuart, but failed in Prep to Deliberately Immobilize a Churchill that's staring me in the face. Unless Rindis repeats my Defensive Fire feat (5 broken weapons?!?!)
Le Port is proving difficult to defend. It's one thing to look at the British OB and know what's coming -- it's another to see it march across the board. VC require him to remove me from all buildings on board, so I'm trying to simply delay him there as much as I can. Every squad and AFV that turns north to kick me out is an squad and AFV not moving south.
I was successful in PB5 in kicking the Brits out of Benouville rather quickly, and I hope to repeat that before too many reinforcements arrive. I believe I have until turn 3 or 4 before I start having trouble, but If I can get dug in out to hexrow Q I think I'll have a nice perimeter.
This is my first large scale game for some time. I find that my weakness in predicting how things will progress in turns ahead is proving a severe handicap, as it's key for what will be a fall back defense. If I can't get these damn MGs repaired, though, it's not going to matter.
Things have certainly gone better for the Germans this series. I failed to repair any of my 5 malfunctioned weapons, and lost my CMG.
Prep Fire resulted in the failed Deliberate Immobilization attempt of a Churchill, and Intensive fire fared no better. Movement was a fair amount of skulking in Le Port, and my offensive in the south continued as planned, with the 105 SPG and a MkIV assuming flanking positions on the crest. Rindis flamed the offending halftrack in Le Port, avenging the Stuart, and taught me to keep OT AFVs out of range of light Mtrs as he hits the 105 SPG with a -2 Acq. Didn't notice that when I moved there...
G2 ended with me in a good position to take N11/O12, and little damage to the north aside from the loss of the halftrack.
UK Rally 2 resulted in the loss of a CMG and a 50mm Mtr. Nothing else was repaired, leaving me without my MG interdiction base. The main reinforcements are too far away to be an issue this turn, I think, but I need those mg's back in action. Very little Prep Fired before we broke for the evening, but the 105 SPG survived another Mtr shot which was my biggest concern. There's a lot of Brits poised to race down the canal road, but I don't see them preventing the loss of a few more buildings in Benouville next turn, which is key for me.
I'll know more tonight. The Limeys advance at 7!
Turn 2, and... things could be going better. Lost a Churchill when I started it and a concealed squad pulled out a Panzerfaust and flamed it.
Probably trying to hurry a bit much again. He managed to stun a CE Churchill. Despite the problems with him firing down the JJ12-KK18 road, I am finally getting vehicles past it, and should be able to get something into the outskirts of Benouville next turn.
I could definitely wish my fire was a bit more effective, I disrupted a conscript squad during PFPh, but I'm going to need to do a lot more than that if I'm going to get anywhere....
Situation near Le Port, end of MPh, British Turn 2.
Boy, there's sure a lot of stuff heading for the KK13 building.
Rindis is effectively bypassing Le Port this turn. I had a squad and lmg in KK14 to close the canal road, but he got chased off by an enormous amount of firepower. Rindis ran a CE Churchill down the road, and units in JJ13 managed to stun the sucker and lay some residual. Further fire into KK16 left some nice blocking fire for the line of Bren carriers, but with some fancy maneuvering and numerous bog rolls (don't those damn things ever get stuck?) he got four carriers shoved down the road. Rindis got cute and sent another Churchill after my remaining halftrack. It's outside of PF range so it's up to an undergunned, underarmored rattletrap to take it out. With luck I can immobilize it in Prep.
My remaining mtr CR'd a squad working his way into the outskirts of Benouville, and the tanks broke three squads. Benouville is looking good for next turn. If things continue to go well, I may shove him past the Q hexrow. Reflection on the slope hexsides and LOS revealed the Marder in H16 can see some of those pesky carriers, and took a shot at the one towing the ATG. Missed (27 hexes, +2 moving, +2 size, of course I missed), but I hope to have Bren flambe in my Prep.
I missed stating that the HMG died in the rally phase. I'm really missing those MGs in the Chateau.
Benouville, End of G2 DFPh
Just had our Monday night on-line session. It's now the beginning of British Turn 3 movement, and things have been happening.
Patch really needs to find a new mechanic as he's managed to get a Low Ammo counter and break the MA on two AFVs, one of which was the PzIV that broke both its MGs the first turn. During my RPh he managed to repair the BMG, so it has a functioning weapon. The other was on the remaining HT in Le Port, which has now been put out of its misery by my Churchill.
The fight in Le Port has been going well, and a bit faster than I expected. I guess I've just never had that kind of overwhelming superiority before. Anyway, there's now no intact Germans left east of hexrow 10. He's got two concealed stacks left, a conscript on the outskirts of town, and a kill stack in the open, next to a couple of my squads. I'm not sure what Patch was thinking when he advanced them there, but when I whiffed a 24FP +3 attack, it sure put a crimp in my plans to clean the place up.
Situation in Le Port, beginning of MPh, British Turn 3.
Benouville is not doing nearly so well. Most of the original garrison is broken, and they're refusing to give me a RPh miracle. One squad is going to go away in RtPh, and the primary rally point with a leader and a squad and a half (CRed on Rally) is going to have a hard choice of ending up in the open, way too close to lots of Germans, or taking multiple Interdiction checks. The one intact squad in P11 got pinned by the Sniper, so he's not getting away.
Both MGs that Patch set up as a nice long distance kill stack in the Chateau have evaporated, so he's currently moving a MMG back to it. Sadly, I have no way to prevent this.
Situation in Benouville, beginning of MPh, British Turn 3.
So my main focus is getting troops to the Town Hall as fast as possible. With the PzIVs closing in (O9 and Q9), I do have one question: anyone have good advice for setting up an ATG under fire? (Patch found a nice gap to fire his Marder between the two sections of half-orchard lined road. Thankfully, he missed, and I should be about to pry that -2 off the Loyd Carrier as soon as it moves.)
Overall situation, beginning of MPh, British Turn 3.
I’m at serious risk of losing this game due to my die rolls. Another MA malfunctions, but I get the BMG repaired. I’m now 1 for 7 on weapon malfunctions, with 5 permanently gone. What is truly tragic is I nearly rolled the MA first instead of the BMG for repairs, but I’m so nervous about repairing weapons now I didn’t want the MA going first. The loss of that MvIV hurts big-time.
Le Port collapsed a game turn quicker than I had expected. Rindis finally got his DR’s, and my front units have crumbled. Building JJ10 has become a deathtrap and I’m struggling to evacuate units into the HH9 cluster where there’s some retreat options. The burning AFVs are offering both help and hindrance to my escape. Thankfully my retreating units didn’t break (though my covering units did, except for a mighty 436 that flamed a Churchill. Can he be a hero again?), so there’s something to salvage for now. With luck I can maintain Le Port the situation until turn 6 at least. The more units trying to dig me out of Le Port, the fewer head to Bénouville.
Bénouville, on the other hand, is going splendidly! The Brit paratroopers have collapsed quickly, and I expect kick him past the Q hexrow and wipe out most of his starting force if not this turn, the next. I still need to shuffle units about for the upcoming assault by his reinforcements, but I’m in excellent shape. Except for the loss of 5 weapons on this half of the board, which is a severe disadvantage). I don’t expect meaningful Brit units at Bénouville until turn 6, with an all-out assault starting on turn 7.
My tanks are moving up to take advantage of interdiction possibilities against fleeing units. The Marder is eyeing the numerous carriers headed my way, but at a base +4 to hit (+2 size, +2 moving) I don’t expect to hit much. Still, it is keeping Rindis wary, and there’s a MkIV there to back him up.
The Churchills are key to the UK assault, I believe. I’ll have a hell of a time killing another one given what Rindis learned about Panzerfausts this game, but killing one and stunning another I think is a good show for the Le Port forces. If only I’d managed to immobilize another...
Rindis is making a few mistakes in his game, which I will not reveal as I need him to continue those mistakes to pull this one off. It will make for an interesting discussion later.
Actually, I already knew, seeing it happen was another thing. And of course, it happened as soon as I got careless and forgot he was there....Originally Posted by Patch_Bunny
Just remember to point them out afterwards....Rindis is making a few mistakes in his game, which I will not reveal as I need him to continue those mistakes to pull this one off. It will make for an interesting discussion later.
I'm reasonably happy with the situation. Both towns are falling apart faster than I had hoped/expected. I shudder to think of what Benouville would be like if he had those two MGs in the Chateau still. Beyond the extra firepower, they'd be a really nasty threat to anything approaching the town, and I'm not sure what I'd do with them there. Defending that place is a puzzle I've yet to figure out.
Nice AAR guys. Great screen grabs.
Looking forward to you doing the CG!
You think defending it is a puzzle? Turn 3 Defensive fire has resulted in the loss of the second mortar, my third tank MA, and an LMG (I was fortunate to roll my 4th boxcars of the phase on a UK MC during our email exchange). I think this brings my total Gun/SW loss to 10.
Bénouville is closer to Le Port than it looks, and carriers are swarming the northern limits with CX infantry. With my loss of weapon support I'm hurting to slow him down. Good news is the original defenders of Bénouville are all broken and are looking to perish (or be further hurt). Some happiness at least.
Bénouville, End German DfPh, UK 3
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