After our little FtF Italian DASL foray, we went with the only other DASL scenario with Italians for our next Vassal game. DA11 has everything. DASL. Rare nationality (Italians). Mines. Demo charges. Roadblocks and foxholes. Alternate terrain (olive groves). Night.
Well, no tanks and no ordnance.
ROAR has a pretty even record, and since Patch got the Italians last time, I took them this time. ELR 1. sigh My main group sets up on/near the hill on board e. I also get four auto-HIP squads on board h, but one squad and the only available leader must setup with the roadblock, which must be in hH2 or hK2. The former is closer to the rest of the defense, but the latter is also a bit further from the American entry at the bottom of board f. Patch needs to take all four level 2 hexes of the hill and the roadblock in seven turns.
Hmm. The VC mentions that the Americans win at the end of any Game Turn where he controls them, so I'll always get a final counterattack. Assuming there's anyone to counterattack with, of course.
I opt to put the roadblock in hK2. I hope it splits up the offensive for a little bit.
Even with DASL boards the first turn is quiet as the first wave of Patch's troops can't get to my positions in one turn. (He gets a nearly identical set of troops on turn 2.)
Situation, turn 1, showing my visible setup.
Patch quickly moves into hH2, and finds the roadblock isn't there. He tries moving around it into J3, but finds a HIP squad who breaks his... HS. He then moves another Cloak directly into H2, revealing the garrison and roadblock... facing the wrong way. SFF breaks that HS. I was worried I'd just malfunction the LMG instead.
One problem with Night is there's enough things going on that you're bound to forget something. Patch should have had to roll for straying with one unit. Of course, he forgot road bonus on the first turn.
I'm a little surprised when one of his Cloaks splits off a couple '?' in advance. Obviously, he's needing to reshuffle a bit to get leaders to the HSs.
Situation, American turn 2.
For my second turn, the NVR went up to 4. I tried pulling out of the roadblock area, but entirely mis-read what he had left in Cloak E in hK2. After the split into I2, I expected a leader and maybe a squad. It was two squads + BAZ and an 8-1 (which is as bad as his leadership gets...). My attempt to move up the road got hit by a 12 -2 attack that generated a 1MC on my squad, and a PTC on the still concealed leader. Naturally, I broke and Pinned.
For DFPh, Cloak B revealed another two squads and 9-1 in hE3. He fired on E5 across the way for no result. This also released a number of troops from their No Move markers. I self-broke the 7-0 to keep him with the brokies and get him further away from the advancing American tide.
Situation, Italian turn 2.
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Gah. Sooo far behind on all of this.
US Set up
Trouble with letting this sit for so long. What the heck was I thinking?
Ok, the forces are about even, and I certainly have the FP advantage, but there's an awful lot of HIP and mines out there. Night makes movement a bit slow, though I'm not that worried about straying on this map as a single starshell will illuminate a good portion of it. On the downside, that will make it harder for me.
I have two goals - control of the roadblock, and control of the 4 level 2 hexes. I expect the roadblock to fall easily, but the hill will be a tough one to crack. Ideally, I should let the turn 2 forces deal with the roadblock and use the extra time to head for the hill. Wish I'd thought of that earlier. :P
US Turn 1
Nothing to do but head straight up the road. I'm clustered in stacks, with three HS scouts and only 1 dummy. I'm going to try and leave Rindis guessing as to the identity of the main stacks as long as I can, and hopefully get some use out of the dummy. One HS heads down the sunken road to flank the roadblock if it is indeed in hH2, or get and advance look if it is in hK3. There's an awful lot the mortar can't hit on this map, so I want to get it into place around hH3 to fire on the woods and on some of the hill hexes as the game progresses.
US Turn 2
I move into hH2, and no roadblock is there. I shuffle west to hK2 in search of the roadblock, which is a mistake as I should have used these forces to push on the hill. I find one of the roadblock squads in hJ3, and a second squad in hK3 with the roadblock and the 7-0 at a cost of two broken HS. I break apart a cloak to allow my mortar HS to move into position without tying up a leader. I shuffle east through the hF1 building in search of more hidden units. I probably should have moved further east to flank, but elected to make a straight run in instead in the hopes my FP can punch a hole.
My reinforcements follow much the same path as Turn 1, with a second HS moving along the sunken road to help flank the roadblock.
Italian Turn 2
The NVR goes up to 4. Not good for me. Rindis abandons the roadblock and moves to reinforce the hill, but I reveal a stack in hK2 that breaks one squad and pins the 7-0. With his broken morale of 5 I have high hopes that his broken squads will stay broken for a good long time. I reveal a second stack in hE3 that tries to lift concealment on hE5, but fails. That's going to free up a lot of No Move counters, but I've also reached the point where movement will be in his LOS, so I have to start lifting some of his concealment and break units.
Patch initially forgets self-rally on his turn, and when I let him do it anyway he promptly rolls a '2' and generates an 8-0 leader. I have a leader deficit as it is, I don't need that sort of help.
hE3 Preps to no effect. One of his first moves is into hF2h1. He had commented earlier that that was a good spot for someone to be hidden. He was right. I need to be a little less predictable. An interesting note is the fact that if I fire on the American HS in the same hex, I won't be able to SFF on anyone else (well, unless they go into hF2h0 also), but I can still Final Fire on an adjacent hex. I fire, planning to Final Fire on E3 later, and end up malfing my LMG.
Patch then raced the main stack in hK2 through the back way and around to the north flank of the hill. However, thanks to the high NVR, I got a good shot that pinned his leader and broke both squads. He then stumbled into my last surprise from the roadblock guards. I didn't care to fire into two squads of annoyed Americans, but it slowed the advance.
As further second-wave Cloaks move up, I belatedly remember to attempt starshells and get one in G3, in a good place to force his Cloaks to either go slow, go far around, or lose the Cloak. He gives up Cloaks on a couple of HSes, and I lose a lot of No Move counters.
Managed to forget Straying again until just after the one move that should have rolled.
Most of his AF is ineffective, but he does break my squad in hF2... at too high a price. My Sniper activates, mortally wounds the the 9-1 in hE3 and the LLMC breaks both squads with him, one getting a '12' to CR and ELR to boot.
In Advance he moves into hF2h1 with my broken squad and dispatches it. He also piles everything into H3, giving me pretty hopeless odds. I narrowly avoid an ambush, and refuse to attack to keep '?'. It's still 2:1 -1, and thankfully he rolls a 10 (Final 9) for a miss.
US Turn 3
The joys of a friendly game. I forget my self rally, Rindis lets me do it anyway, and I promptly roll a '2' and generate an 8-0. Thanks!
My next move is going to be across OG just about no matter where I go, so I need to start whittling down units. But despite a rather nice 6(+0) against hE5 for the second time, I fail to get a result. Looks like I need to scout things.
Building hF1 is a dandy place to hide more Italians, so I send a HS to check if anyone's home. There is, and I find a squad in hF2h1. I'm not at all used to night and believe it is more protective than it truly is, and an enterprising end run with an 8-1 and two squads gets nailed in eF3 with two squads breaking and the leader pinning. I send what else I can that way to try and screen the broken units and continue the flanking push, and run into the last hidden squad in eH3. A starshell goes up and I can't take the time to skulk up and retain concealment, so I shove HS up and lose their cloaking, freeing up a lot more No Move counters. Well, had to happen.
Defensive Fire is pain free, but in Advancing Fire I activate Rindis' sniper, who attacks hE3. With his '1' result he kills my 9-1, both squads break on the LLMC(+1), with one suffering CR and ELR on a 12.I at least break the squad in hF2h1, but when I advance into hH3, I fail to kill the pesky squad therein.
Ok, this turn went poorly. I have 4(!) squads down, and no significant firepower facing the Italian line. I'm about 3 hexes back from where I want to be, and with the widespread loss of cloaking (and expected starshells), movement is going to be difficult and costly. Plus, I've not yet found the (potential) 4 minefields out there. Sending stuff to the west was a mistake, I think. I'm wondering if i should have left the roadblock to the follow-on forces, and tried to take it out around turns 3-4 instead. That would have placed much more up front facing the hE5/F5 woods and the base of the hill.
No luck at all in my rally; Patch got a HS back and removed DM from a squad in eF3. For Prep, I fired on eF3 again, and CRed both squads. The 8-1 still refused to break though. Patch got one starshell on three attempts and lit up the southern side of the hill.
I attempted to fall back, but the squad in hH3 got hit as he pulled out and broke. In DFPh, a HS hit my little firebase in eI4 and broke it. They'd already done their share, but losing the LMG certainly hurt.
In Advance, I reshuffle the defenders quite a bit, including a pair of rules faux-pahs that I didn't understand for quite a bit, and sadly, part of my defense was built around.
Situation, Italian Turn 3.
In his rally, one of the HSes in eF2 goes Berserk! In addition, he gets a squad back in hF1. All that happens with me is my 7-0 in hL5 loses DM.
In Prep, the just-assembled MTR shells hE5, and discovers there's a foxhole there. Sadly, the squad there blows it's roll, and the reduction from a 1MC to MC doesn't even begin to help. The 'Zerkie starts to charge eJ3, goes out into the road for better movement, and discovers a squad in eH4. They shrug off my TPBF, but my Sniper activates (2, warm), hitting hF1 and yahtzeeing the entire stack. The 9-1 dies of the wound, and while the subsequent checks fail, both fail the LLMC, re-breaking one squad and CRing the other.
With the north side of my defense neutralized, Patch rushed a couple more HSes around the back way and into the area. I revealed my MMG in eJ4 to try and get Patch's big stack in hH4. It was about as good a target as I could wish for. No luck of course. His return fire was a k/2 which ELRed the remaining HS. Not the type of result I can afford.
In rout, I have little choice but to send eH5 into eI5, which has a 8-factor minefield in it. Thankfully, they take the MC in stride. In CC, my squad and the 'zerkies kill each other. eJ5 turns out to be a Dummy.
Situation, American Turn 4.
Italian Turn 3
I rallied a HS and lifted one DM, but couldn't get anything else on-line. The NVR continues to remain '4'.
Rindis opens his Prep Fire by firing on my 8-1 and broken units in eF3. He gets a 1MC on a 4(+1), and both squads fail! Two HS are plunked from the board, and I'm now down 1 squad with several others broken. Rangers my fanny -- these guys are going down like conscripts. I send up only one starshell, but it's enough to illuminate a good portion of the board. Rindis needs to redeploy on the hill, and I need to get some shots off wherever possible. I'm able to break a concealed squad making a run from hH3, and I break the annoying squad in eI4 that caused me so much trouble. But Rindis is able to move up into hC4 and hC5, threatening the midboard road and a flanking movement when I go up on the hill.
US Turn 4
Halfway through the game, and I really need another turn to reorganize. I just don't have the FP to lift those concealment stacks with any efficiency. Matters don't help when I rally one of the broken HS in eF2 and it goes Berserk! Where's the fanatic unit and Hero combination when you really need it?
I fire my newly assembled Mtr in hH3 against the hE5 woods and find a foxhole, but still break the squad therein. Huge help there, but I can't get a result against hF5 which I suspect may contain a second squad. In Movement the 'zerkie charges towards eJ3, enters eG3, sees the unit in eH4, and changes target. He makes it in, but his Sniper activates yet again and hits hF1 where he kills my 9-1 and nails yet another HS. I have no 9-1s left in play, and the 8-0 I generated earlier is really needed now as there's no officer on that flank anymore. I move the 8-0 over to hF1, and shove everything I can to the eG3 area. Since eI5 didn't fire on the Berserk unit, I figure he's a dummy so I'm not concerned about crossing the road again. I also get two squads and an MMG up to hE3, for a 16FP stack that can finally dish out some damage.
Rindis reveals his power stack, a 346 with the MMG, in eJ4, but it's rather anticlimactic as he fails to get any result in Defensive Fire, but I hit him with a K/2 in Advancing Fire. As the turn ends my Berserk HS and the Italian squad kill each other off, and I discover that the concealed unit in eJ5 is a dummy.
A mistake goes unnoticed this turn as Rindis reveals an 8-factor minefield in eI5 when a berserk unit moves into it. He had failed to roll for an attack when the concealed stack entered, as it indeed is a dummy, and he thought dummy units ignored minefields. Neither of us noticed this mistake, and it pops up again later.
This turn came around better than I had hoped, even with the loss of my second leader and another HS. I have some firepower developing up front, and I'm finally at the base of the hill. There is the risk of the broken Italians in eH5 rallying and threatening the roadblock, but I'm gambling on them not rallying, and I think a lone 347 is sufficient to guard that victory hex. In Turn 5, I hope to be on the leading level 1 hexes, capture 1 or 2 level 2 hexes on Turn 6, and Turn7 will be the final rush for the final two hexes, eM2 and eM3. Those will be difficult to reach, as they are fairly far away MF-wise, especially at night.
This is the most active SAN 4 I've ever seen. I had fewer successful attacks with my SAN of 6 in North Bank. Unlike most games, I'm actually concerned about the Sniper activity but there's little I can do.
My rally goes poorly. My 7-0 in eC5 manages to to remove DM again. My 1st MMC self-rally rolls a '3' to not generate a leader and not self-rally. Also, it was in eK5 where the adjacent American HS keeps him from even losing DM. My next roll in J3 is a '2' for HoB. Given that I'm Italian, I don't want HoB... not that it mattered; the subsequent '12' would have forced anyone to Disrupt. Patch meanwhile rallies a squad in hF1.
I attempt to put up a starshell to light up the center of board e, and possibly blind his troops. It goes off course to eC4, which is certainly far better than some of the alternatives. Patch puts up a second that lights up part of the hill, but I have some area to work with.
Movement is uncontested, though I lose my Dummies in eI5 to a minefield attack. Patch points out that the hills would have been OG anyway (he can see up the slopes I'd go up) and even with AM, I'd lose them. In DFPh the MTR malfunctions, he strips concealment on my Dummies in eK4 and CRs the brokie in eI5. I note we both missed a mine attack on the remaining HS when they routed. The times getting tough, eL3 advances into K4 and into the previously hidden foxhole.
Situation, Italian turn 4.
For rally, Patch gets a HS in eF2 back, the MTR is repaired and his 8-0 grabs a spare DC. I can't roll below a 9.
The MTR pounds eJ4, killing the broken HS. I make two starshell attempts and get one to light up the north side of the hill. Patch almost immediately runs into the ever-shrinking number of surprises I've got left as he moves into eI2. One of his last cloaking counters is in I3, and I haven't kept track of his numbers. However, given how it's acted, I assume it's a Dummy and open fire on H2. He passes the resulting 1MC (and his Sniper doesn't go off), but activates my Sniper who Pins the MTR crew (a little late...).
I look on very nervously as a couple HSes, a squad w/BAZ and a 8-1 w/DC climb on to the shoulder of the hill in eI4. In DFPh, I reveal the 346 still HIP there, who, with the 9-1 gets a K/2. RS yahtzees the two HSes and breaks the leader and squad. Very lucky, but that's why the 9-1 was there. I'm not sure if Patch just thought I was desperate to rally two squads already visible. Advancing fire eliminates more Dummies in hC5.
Patch mentions the initial goof with Dummies and minefields, but I'm in the middle of figuring out if I have to reveal the foxhole in eJ3 and don't get what he's saying. So, he's quite annoyed when he stumbles into my second goof in eM5 with a minefield that had started with dummies in it. I was thinking in terms of not needing to pay MF for HIP Fortifications at night as long as no one is in LOS. If I'd realized the minefield trouble, I wouldn't have set up as I did.
The one HS still adjacent to eJ3 moves in for CC with J4, while Cloak C moves to J2, pretty much confirming it's Dummy status. Thankfully, he just misses his CC roll, while I get just enough for a CR that eliminates him.
Situation, American turn 5.
Italian Turn 4
Rindis lifts DM from his 7-0, but there's still a long way to go before he can rally himself and that squad, so I'm not worried about that section of the board for now. Rindis fails to rally a squad, but I am able to bring a 667 back into action in hF1.
We both put up starshells this turn, but most of the hill is uncovered which leaves several paths available for Rindis to reshuffle his defense since an illuminated unit cannot see into a non-illuminated location. It's a fairly quiet turn, with the only big results coming when I reveal a dummy stack on the hill, break my mortar, and Rindis reveals a foxhole on the crest when he advances another stack into the brush.
US Turn 5
Three turns left, and getting on top of an unoccupied hill is looking to be a chore. Movement at night is a bear. Rally is good to me as I repair the mortar, grab a DC, and rally a HS. My troops are finally recovered from that horrendous Turn 3. Rindis fails to rally once again, and with his morale levels I'm not surprised. However, broken units can still be effective combat troops as I can't move through them, and they're blocking my movement paths.
In Prep my mortar nails J4, killing the broken unit there. A frontal attack just won't have sufficient time available to push for all four level 2 hexes, so I start flanking around both sides of the hill. With the time elapsed playing this game, I've completely lost track of the number of HIP/possible dummy units remaining. I'm pretty sure the stacks in C4/C5 are dummies, and ignore them. Movement is helped on that end by the starshells which shield fire from the hill, but I have to deal with all the light to the north. I find a HIP unit in the wheatfield, which really shuts down movement on that side. I push up onto the hill, but a second HIP squad pops into play in J3, and nails I4 with a k/2 result that kills two HS's. I really wanted to wipe out that little firebase, and so threw a HS into CC hoping for a melee at the worst. Unfortunately, Rindis kills him with no result on my end, so I've lost 1.5 squads this turn. I also discover the second 8FP minefield in M5, but luckily don't break. I've made it onto the leading edge of the hill, but I'm still far behind. I really need to kill units over the next turn, or Rindis is going to win on time.
With the excitement in eJ3 I forgot about another event at the time, and now again in this AAR (caught it right after the Wind Change DR). The MMG squad advancing into K5 found a HIP squad. Thanks to being concealed, I narrowly avoided being Ambushed, and stayed Concealed rather than risking 2:1 odds. In rally, I get nothing (not even with the 7-0 no longer under DM), and Patch gets a 8-1 and squad back in eH3 (despite DM). My only Prep shot is the entrenched squad in eJ3 who manages to Pin the squad and a half in J4.
Patch put up two starshells on four attempts and lit up everything but the back end of the hill. Reshuffling troops is a bit hard when there's lots of firepower around and the movement costs preclude AM in many cases. Annoyingly, the squad in CC (not Melee...) broke as they pulled out of L4. I'm running out of intact troops all too quickly. The MTR causes more problems in DFPh as it promptly hits eK4 and breaks the squad that had just advanced into the foxhole there. His HS in M5 gets a good shot and reveals more Dummies in L4 (I would have loved to have pulled them out, but I couldn't AM anywhere...). As I shuffle around for another line of defense, there isn't much left, though Patch seems less than pleased when yet another unit goes into the K4 foxhole. The problem is that he's about all that's left to cover the SW half of the hill.
Situation, Italian Turn 5.
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