Apparently, Jason was fortunate on his depletion rolls, and received everything at full strength, but only generated one infantry leader. OTOH, Larry and I chirped with glee as we rolled up a 10-2 for the initial force, only to be balanced by getting a 6+1 on the next roll (must have been the division G-4, as you'll see).
Our plan of attack (sans Objective hexes, which we both had to assign past-tense after reading/comprehending that rule - watch out, it's hidden in the 'definitions section') was to take the heights around the set-up arrow, setting up a firebase with our glorious 10-2, and the 60mm MTRs (we opted not to exchange any at this stage for OBA). The 6+1, who is still quite effective at making men move out, would lead a two-platoon strike force forward through the woods. The turn two reinforcements would follow, reinforcing success, and possibly swinging wide south to make a grab at the fords in that area for the next CG date set-up. I really wasn't too set on getting the LVP building, but rather wished to make its position untenable for the second date if the Germans were able to hold on to it.
Things started out grim for the Amis - the German got battery access for his OBA on turn 1, with a good SR placement to boot. Scratch the heights, although everything I had up there was concealed and would force an extra chit draw on a scarce deck. I mantled up my mortars and prepared for the worst... Then his sniper is activated on a mortar shot, moving out and pinning one of my squads on the hill, giving him an aiming point. :-(
His turn 1, and the OBA comes in as harrassing fire. 8-straights across the board, and miraculously, I only break one mortar manning HS. I do manage to activate his Sniper again, who then promply kills my 8-0 leader advancing with the force on the right. Its getting worse...
My turn 2, and I need to get my boys out of the line of fire. I manage to plop a Smoke round on his forward infantry guys with the Spw 251/9. Oh joy...With my 10-2's force, I push forward off the hill, into a hail of MG fire and fire-lanes (unaffected by mist), only to suffer the indignity of watching the 10-2 break, and all the boys with him as well. To make things worse, his Sniper activates (again!) and Recalls my Spw 251/9!!! Well, we did say we were going to do this CG again if things sucked... In spite of this, my right flank infantry moved in sight of his LVP building, and all the reinforcements foolwed right up the woods. The 10-2 routs onto the hill with his merry band, and all seems lost on the north flank.
THEN...German turn 2 - success has gone to the head of Peiper...after drawing a red card (thankfully) for OBA, he decides to be rash. In an attempt to administer the coup-de-grace to my shattered northern flank, the Panthers move forward, CE, right up in their faces, shrugging off all thoughts of LATWs along the way. Then, we unleash the US's secret weapon. The reason the 6+1 (G-4) was there was to bring the supply trucks loaded with WP for my mortars & bazookas! 60mm MTR WP lands on both the CE Panthers, stunning one, and nearly getting the other weren't it for his 10-2 Armor Leader! :-( :-). But wait, there's more!!! WP lands on his forward foxholes, causing MC's that break another couple HS's!!! Not depleted, but tired of firing WP, one of the 60mms takes a shot at the MTR-carrying HT that is moving up on the north flank, and immobilizes it!!! Maybe we shouldn't throw in the towel after all!!
We decide to try one more half-turn before adjourning for the night. After all, if this doesn't work out, we can start anew the next session. We start off fine, with the 10-2 failing to rally! ^#^@!!!!!! Oh well, prep fire. WP again. Let's take a shot up the road at the VP building with WP from the BAZ45...SNAKES!!!!!! WP Crit Hit!!! Breaks the entire force in the LVP Building, wounding his only leader. Lets see what else we can do. MTR WP lands on the forward foxholes, breaking all the pogues he has there. We're free to move forward & exploit, albeit with Panthers in the mist in our rear. After the remainder of the turn being jockeying for position, we call it a night.
The conclusion.
German Turn 3: The Panthers are in a pickle, although one they should easily get out of. The SS Infantry, however, has left all their heavy SW in the foxholes that are forward, and the LVP building is devoid of troops. Rather than withdraw them, the Germans make a few OVR's on the hill area with the Panthers, breaking a mtr HS, but joy of joys, the Panther with the 10-2 Ldr breaks his MA!!!! The German Spw 251/9 also malfs his MA in an intensive fire shot! SS Squads move out to the now-vacated foxholes, getting pinned outside however due to a fusilade of Para fire. Rallied SS re-man the LVP building. The AA Trucks, in a semi-desperate measure, are brought up as a backstop to the building position. The Spw 251 sMG bogs while crossing barbed wire while trying to skate around the north flank! The German sniper is activated (again!!!), and finds the broken 10-2's hex, but not the rock he is hiding under. Whew!!!
American Turn 4: Feeling smug now, and the mist has dropped a level. The Panther and the Spw 251/9 both disable their MAs in repair attempts! Time to load up some more WP in my one good order mortar. He gets a whopping 4 consecutive rounds of the stuff, not even depleting (D#=8, due to elite status). One of those was even a critical hit, against the squad 'lucky' enough to be in a foxhole!. Both the forward SS squads break. For good measure, the MTR drops some WP on top of both Panthers. Troops move out smartly to ensure that the SS that are broken will surrender (unlike that bastard Peiper, we won't shoot the prisoners!). I find the minefield next to the building at the cost of a broken squad.. Troops move in to the orchard stream, and take the central ford (objective hex) south of the woods. The frailty of the unarmored trucks and halftracks is evident, with a couple of them going up in flames vs bazooka and 6 fp shots. About the only good news for the SS is that I'm starting to run out of WP rounds. The curtain is rapidly falling for the Germans.
German Turn 4. The toothless Spw 251/9 overruns a 747, but rolls a 12, thus immmobilizing himself. The Panthers do so more effectively, finally dispatching the menaces manning the mortars. The last of the truck backstops move forward to their destiny.
American Turn 5. A fusilade of fire takes out three more AA trucks. The Americans advance through dispersed smoke to try and toss WP grenades into the LVP building, but are unsuccessful. Fortunately, however, so is German return fire, and the Americans are poised to enter the LVP building with up to three squads. The 10-2 moves up and around the north flank to deal with the remaining truck menace. In advancing fire, the bazooka squad which has moved on the Panther hits it in the flank, wiping it out, although the crew survives. Now the German is demoralized, but still wishes to fight on. The German sniper, still hyper, finds the 10-2s hex again, but just can't seem to find _him_. A second Bazooka squad advances with the first on the remaining Panther. The Americans are in the LVP building, as well as ADJACENT to all remaining German infantry with 747s & MMGs.
German Turn 5. Mist drops again, and the German takes some last gasp shots. They break one of the two forces against them, but fail to do any more damage. Movement phase, and the remaining Panther is attempting to 'Sauve qui peut!' On the start MP, however, it is immobilized by a bazooka, and then hops out into the waiting arms of back to back 6 minus 1s, which break, then kill the crew. Further fire in the DFPh torches the last truck, and toasts the guys adjacent to the LVP building. With only one and a half GO squads, a single HT, and an immobilized MTR ht remaining on the board, the German throws in the towel and concedes not only the scenario, but the campaign.
Well, there you have it - a blow by blow of our first abortive attempt at KGP CGII. Little things we learned, and mistakes we made were many, but it still was a heck of a lot of fun. The critical factors in this game were mainly the effectiveness of the 60mm MTR WP, and the German-over-agressiveness that led to his ultimate demise. Once the tables had turned, subjecting those vulnerable AA trucks & HTs to fire was reinforcing failure, and would have probably been better in covering a withdrawal from the forward defenses into the villace area, to prepare a defense for the next campaign date. This caused the issue of the campaign to be completely decided in the first date, rather than over the course of four such scenarios. In summary, here are some things to remember
Slopes & Fire lanes - troops fired at from a FL that is up-slope are afforded a +1 TEM! Very helpful, as fire lanes are not affected at all by mist and can be VERY effective.
Barbed wire - currently CX troops can not cross! Note that you can cross, then become CX, however!
Objective hexes - Remember these, and plan them out carefully, with a mind to where you want to be able to set up next scenario, even if you don't achieve your bigger objectives (i.e. LVP Bldgs). Exactly which ones, however, I will leave up to you.
A question that came up regarding these is that in one definition of "Objective Hex," it stated that only "I" and "HW" type groups may designate them, while another later definition said only "I" type. We opted for both "I" and "HW" types, as it seemed more in the spirit of the rule. Comments?
Be careful of CPP expenditures - remember, if the German wants regular on-map setup, it will cost him an additional 3 CPP per group that does so. Remember, also, that CG maximums are _in addition_ to the forces provided in the initial OBs.
In retrospect, here is where we learned the most .
American - I would most likely make the same purchase again, as the overwhelming amount of infantry is essential to clear out the initial objective areas. There doesn't seem to be as much room for maneuver for vehicles on the first day, and it seems that having many troops allows you to recover from a disaster we had early on. There could be a convincing argument for OBA, whether by substituting it for three mortars (acceptable, I think) or purchasing it outright, but I'd probably do the same thing again.
German - The OBA wasn't a bad buy, but we all agreed that the Panthers were just too costly and used up too much of the German's resources. Same for the ht-equipped HW platoon. What the SS really needed was infantry, and plenty of it. This, along with a good use of FPPs, would have made that forward defense damn near impossible to crack. It would drastically change the face of the game, as well. I look forward to playing this with this as the situation.
Overall - I cannot stress the importance of looking at this campaign as a series of scenarios, and being able to determine when you should throw in the towel and admit defeat in a CG _Scenario_ in order to salvage your chances of CG Victory. The only benefit (other than area control) I see from winning a CG Scenario is that you get a + modifier on your Battle hardening table - Big Whoopee! :-) Had the German pulled back to the second LVP building, and set up a line to stop the US crossing at the ford, he would have still been in excellent shape and could have bolstered his position by copious Infantry buys for the second (night) scenario. I think this would have also save him the needless slaughter of his aa trucks & hts at close range. This points out the major change in philsosphy when playing a CG rather than a scenario. There IS a tomorrow, if only you know when to end today. From first impressions, the CGII looks very tough on the Americans, and I look forward to playing it again.
Later, Mike Reed, Asst Editor TOT/KE