So what Starter Kit Scenario have you played recently?

[custardpie]

Hi guys. Already we have the very well trafficed what scenario's have you played recently? on the main forum but I don't see much in the way of reports for starter kits scenario's. I use that list for a way of checking out scenario's to play/avoid so thought it might be usefull here to.


Mod's if this gets enough intrest how about making it a sticky as per the other. Otherwise let it live/die by intrest.

[custardpie]

OK best log one.

I played S41 Sinks Encouragement from the SK Bonus pack against a new player via PBEM. This was his first game and I have 25+ years of SL onwards so it was never going to be a fair fight!! The idea is that we will play the scenario and switch sides and continue to do this awhile to get a few tips and understanding of the rules.

I was the defenders and the Ami artillary could not be more accurate, even the ones that were not perfect drifted into better positions. The net result was a handful of broken squads to the rear whilst the forward troops survived the fire. Rookie mistake number one was not charging forward to take advantage of the thin line. Within two turns I had the lot back and the Ami tended to fire rather than move. A few moves got him broken tending to reinforce the don't move idea. In the end I was able to do a limited counter attack to throw off his timing and keep a squad from rallying (DM'ed him again). He really got unlucky with smoke attempts pinning two of his squads. I ended up with a comfortable win but we both enjoyed the game.

Roar now has this as 4-1 in the Germans favour, too early to say but I personally think it is hard for the Ami's to dig out the Germs and would recomend the balance of an extra 7-4-7 and MMG as scenario card. The new map is fun to fight over.

[ChrisM]

I played S41 Sink's Encouragment about three weeks ago as the Germans. I spread out my defense way too much - worried about a concentrated American artillery strike.

Big, big mistake.

The paratroopers broke me defneders on teh right flank and moved aorund them. next thing I know, they are cutting rout paths and moving on teh center of the viallage in good order and with surprising speed. as I pulled my west flank guys back closer to the town to shore up the defense, they got shredded by Defensive First Fire. The couple of squads covering the victory buildingswere quickly overwhelmed.

It was an awful beating and after the agme my opponent let me reset the German defense in a much more concentrated and tighter force. we even played out the artillery strike and I came through with only one squad broken, depsite a couple of units taking tow 16 FP table attacks.

I agree - with a halfway competent German setup, this one looks kinda tough on the Screaming Eagles.

[BattleSchool]

Played S7 Festung Brest with my wife last night.

She hadn't played in some time and was a bit rusty. So I recommended that she take the defence. She placed most of her Germans up front in the R row. The 9-1, a pair of 4-6-8s and an LMG were in R8. A 5-4-8 covered the orchards from R1 and a 4-6-8 in R3 held the north end of the building. Her reserve, a pair of 5-4-8s, an LMG and the 8-0 began the game in P3. I thought that I would teach her a few lessons in this one, namely: the perils of stacking, the importance of a layered defence, and how to isolate a sector of the battlefield with fire, as the main attacking force steam rolls over the isolated defender.

Her first turn DFF managed to break an Ami squad, but otherwise did not impede my move forward. At the end of the turn, I had the 8-1 with three squads and a pair of MMGs in U4. This hex was out of her LOS. I would get first shot if she moved forward or tried to shift forces to the north. In the north, I managed to push six squads along the board edge at the cost of one brokie who routed to T10 where my 8-0 awaited. A pair of 6-6-6s were in S9, with the other three squads in separate OG hexes outside this building. I figured that the 9-1 would get the message and fallback rather than face the possibility of a 24 FP attack from the adjacent 6-6-6s and another 24 FP attack from the 8-1 stack. I was wrong.

Her 9-1 was made of sterner stuff. She prepped and broke both squads adjacent. Then she moved her 4-6-8 and 5-4-8 forward to S3. My 8-1 stack took the 24 up-two shot on the 5-4-8 to no effect! However, I did manage to pin her 8-0 and break the 5-4-8 with the LMG as her reserve stack crossed the street in Q3, with a two-down-one shot from a CX 6-6-6 in the north.

During my second turn, I failed to budge the 9-1 stack with a 24 FP attack from my MMG stack in U4. So I had to draw fire with a pair of 6-6-6s in order to get the rest of my northern force round her northern flank. With a platoon and the 8-0 in the block of houses east of the Q row, I was feeling confident, too confident. During her DFPh, she managed to not only break a pair of squads in the north with her 9-1 stack, but more importantly, scored a 1MC on my killer stack with an eight-up-three shot! Predictably, the 8-1 pinned and everyone else broke. One squad boxed the MC and presto: a 2-3-6. The second squad ELR'd, while the third, mercifully, merely broke! And I was going to teach her something about stacking

The game quickly went downhill from there. On my third turn, I tried to press the attack in the north. I drew her fire with a couple of squads until she had Final Fired the stack. Then I ran a squad into R8. (At this point, her 9-1 stack was occupying S8.)
She sighed, "I guess I can't fire on him because I'm done firing these guys?" "Well, actually, you could FPF," I said, "but it's risky." "You could break the entire stack and malf the LMG if you roll ten or greater," I cautioned. She liked these odds and fired. I shouldn't have told her that she could FPF as long as I moved troops adjacent to her stack. She fired again, and kept on firing at every squad that moved adjacent. After five or six FPF shots, I was left with a brokie in T8, a CX squad in S9, a broken squad in R8 and a pile of bodies in R7 where my 8-0 and 6-6-6 had been. After breaking my 8-0 stack--this being her fourth or fifth FPF shot (I lost count)--she decided to go for broke and fired again at these brokies. She was surrounded, she said, and figured that she had nothing to lose by trying. Surrounded indeed she was, by broken and CX squads! So she fires her last FPF salvo and rolls snakes. The 8-0 wounds on the K/2, rolls a five and dies. The previously ELR'd 5-5-6 fails the 2MC; the surviving HS fails the LLMC! Brilliant!

During the DFPh, her annoying stack in S3 fires on my battered 8-1 stack, eliminating the second-line HS with another eight-up-three shot! For giggles, I advanced a CX 6-6-6 into the hex with her 9-1 stack. She minced it in CC. Fortunately, she had to get up early for work this morning, so I was spared another pasting. The Amis need a new plan.

Pretty straightforward scenario. The Amis are going to break a lot as they move forward. I gather that they need the turns to rally the troops and continue to press forward. Elite Krauts in stone buildings can be tough to evict, but the Yanks have FP in spades. A conservative attack moving forward steadily should do the trick. I think the Germans need to be concerned about the Amis slipping through the orchard in the south, so R1 is an important building to hold for a couple turns, but can become a death trap. The O-P block seems to be the obvious choice for a last stand by the Germans. Therefore, the Germans can't afford to let the Yanks have the R row too early. Frankly, once an Ami squad or two gets past the German lines, I don't see how the Germans can restore the situation. In my game, I could have simply kept running east and collected stone building hexes like so many easter eggs. But then, my wife wouldn't have had as much fun shooting up my men as she did.

I didn't see this scenario on ROAR, so I don't know if it favours a particular side. However, I'm inclined to think that the Germans can lose this scenario very quickly to some bad choices on their part. They need to be able to place as much resid as possible in the path of an American rush. Even one-down-two shots will be tough on six-morale troops. A good American will bid his time and reduce the Germans with FP before risking a rush--unless an opportunity presents itself earlier, of course. The Amis can afford to make a few mistakes along the way, but they need to recycle their brokies quickly to maintain momentum and keep pressure on the Germans. Keeping broken Germans DM is also important, as they are hard enough to break in the first place. To this end, the German player needs to think hard about where her rally points are situated. A good, quick-playing scenario. High German morale makes this scenario tougher than it might appear initially for the Amis.

[Lorenzo26]

Do you know this one was originally designed to be played on board "y", not "z" ?
It's an other game ;-)

Laurent.

[BattleSchool]

Do you know this one was originally designed to be played on board "y", not "z" ?
It's an other game ;-)

Laurent.

Hi Laurent:

I did not. Not sure which side it would have been tougher on. Did you play the board y version?

Chris

[Lorenzo26]

yes we played with board y in France ;-)
The game is more fluid and germans less protected.
There is more open space...
Board "z" is for urban warfare ; here with board "y" it's "rural".

Laurent.

[BattleSchool]

Actually, I find board z surprisingly "open" due to the smallish buildings. There are so many LOS that it is tricky to cross a street without getting shot at. The new board r (Expansion Pack) is going to be even nastier to fight on. I find that many of the SK boards are quite challenging to fight on because of all the close LOS.

Well the Canadian team just won the Gold in Men's Hockey , so now my wife is ready to resume playing the scenario

à bientôt...

[serpico]

"To this end, the German player needs to think hard about where her rally points are situated. A good, quick-playing scenario."

You can't get over the fact that she beat you eh? :>}}

Just having fun......

[BattleSchool]

"To this end, the German player needs to think hard about where her rally points are situated. A good, quick-playing scenario."

You can't get over the fact that she beat you eh? :>}}

Just having fun......

Actually, that came up during our post-game analysis. She asked what I thought she could hav done differently--beisdes rolling low, that is.

She was actually done by the end of Ami turn 2, once I got a platoon into her backfield. But why play nasty with SWMBA* when she's agreed to play a game? So, I turned round and attacked. The crumbled 8-1 stack was not important at this point. In any case, she had a blast and got to brag to her brother, who usually gets trounced by me. (He's also a newbie, but heck, I don't have to live with him!)

*She who must be amused.