Turn 005 - Tactical Highlight (played 2011-08-03)

This post is a detail of the encounter between the Welsh Guards armored regiment of the British GA Division and the 1st battalion of the 16th regiment of the German 7th Parachute Division.  The Welsh Guards are driving up the right (east) flank of the main British advance and the German paratroopers are blocking their advance into Valkenswaard.  Valkenswaard is about halfway between Eindhoven and the Start Line and has some important road junctions.  The rest of this post will break down this battle Phase by Phase.



1.  Allied Command Phase.  In this phase the Allied player (me) determines the supply status of all Headquarters (HQ) units, attempts to remove disruption, places airstrikes and performs construction activities.

Turn 5 - Start and Welsh Guards HQ supply determination

The picture above shows the relative positions of the forces.  The Welsh Guards regiment is subordinate to the Guards Armored (GA) divisional HQ.  So it has to trace supply to that HQ or the Allies ultimate supply source, which is the south edge of Map D.  A subordinate HQ such as this has 8 Movement Points (MPs) to get to a supply source.  Using Travel Mode on a Trail costs 1/4 of a MP and on a Road costs 1/8th of a MP.  Using the road indicated, it is apparent that the Welsh Guards HQ is indeed in supply.


I had some Airstrikes to burn.  They are pretty useless with the rules as written.  But in this case I can use them to fix the Germans in place (so they don't run away).  This is because if Steve puts the targeted units into Travel Mode in the next Phase, they will probably suffer a hit and become disrupted.


There aren't any Disrupted Allied units involved in this little battle, and there is no Construction (like bridge repair) either.  So this concludes the Allied Command Phase.

2. German Mode Phase.  In this Phase the German Player can make voluntary mode changes to all of his units.  In this instance, Steve did not make any changes.

Turn 5 - at the conclusion of the German Mode Phase

3. Allied Conditional Fire Phase.  What makes it "conditional" is that units which fire in this Phase may not move in the next Phase. 

Turn 5 - Allied 1st Conditional Fire Phase

I want to move my armor, so the only fire I choose to execute is with the artillery, as shown above.  Two of the artillery units attack the German Para unit on the right.  That attack is within their range of "2" and the attacks have a Combat Effectiveness of "8".  That is devastating for units in Concentrated Mode and the German unit suffers a Strength Point loss of 4, and is dispersed.  The third artillery unit in the stack doubles its Range and halves its Effectiveness to attack the other German para unit with a Combat Effectiveness of "5".  That attack results in a loss of one Strength Point and the unit is dispersed.  That concludes this Phase.


4. Allied Conditional Movement Phase.  Now the Allies can move any unit that didn't fire in the previous phase, which in this case is everything but the three artillery units.  Each unit can be moved up to the limit of its movement allowance of 4, but it has to be executed in one movement.  It is not allowed to move a unit a portion of its movement allowance, move another unit, and then come back to the first unit and use the remainder of its movement.  So it is important to sequence movement in a way that maximizes your capabilities.  This is especially important when executing Close Assaults.

Turn 5 - 1st Allied Conditional Movement Phase

The first order of business is to move one of the Anti-Tank units (in the lower right) belonging to the Guards Armored division forward one hex and drop it out of Travel Mode.  Now it can observe for the GA divisional artillery, which is off the picture to the southwest.


Now for the first Close Assault.  One of the Tank units in the 2nd row of the advancing column moves forward as indicated in the picture above, attacking the German Para unit on the right.  This unit suffered four Strength Point losses from the artillery attacks in the prior phase, so it has a current Strength of "2".  It is so weakened that it is no longer effective against armor, so there is no Opportunity Fire.  The attack is resolved at 2-1 odds with an Close Action Value of "8" and the German unit is eliminated.  The attacking Tank unit occupies the hex held by the German unit.  That opens things up a little on the right side, so a second British Tank unit from the stack moves forward and occupies the Woods hex adjacent to the German artillery.


Next, the dispersed and damaged Tank units in the lead on the left move left one hex to get out of the way of the units behind them.  I don't want to use them in the attack because they are not at full strength.  They are in a Town hex which has a Stacking Limit of 12, so an attacking stack can't move through them.


Now it's time for the second Close Assault.  The three Tank units in the 2nd row of the advancing column on the left move forward in a stack as indicated in the picture above, attacking the German Para unit on the left.  This unit suffered one Strength Point loss from the artillery attack in the prior phase, so it has a current Strength of "5" and is dispersed.  It is able to Opportunity Fire with a Combat Effectiveness of "2", but there is no result.  The attack is resolved at 2-1 odds with an Close Action Value of "7" and the German unit is Disrupted and must retreat one hex.  The attacking Tank units occupy the hex held by the German unit.


Finally, the remaining units advance as far as they can.  I noticed that the Welsh Guards HQ was within the German Artillery unit's Range of 5.  Headquarters units are extremely vulnerable to fire combat because they are not permitted to disperse.  They take extra damage instead.  So I retreated this HQ one hex to lessen the risk.


The airstrikes placed during the Allied Command Phase are now resolved, and the German Headquarters unit is disrupted.  That means that it can't move or provide supply to the units that belong to it.


5.  German Conditional Fire Phase.  Because all of the German units are now out of supply, Steve chose not to fire and risk Depletion.


6.  German Conditional Movement Phase.  Only the German Heavy Weapons company was able to move and Steve chose not to move it.

Turn 5 - at the conclusion of the 1st German Conditional Movement Phase

7.  Allied Free Fire Phase.  Because I have a spotter now (the Anti-Tank unit in the Woods with the designation "GAxx"), I can call in the Guards Armored divisional artillery (not visible in the picture above).  The German Artillery and Heavy Weapons units are just within range.  I have six attacks with a Combat Effectiveness of "9".  The result is that both German units are eliminated. The only other attacks available now are the Tanks in the lead on the left attack into the Disrupted German Para unit with a Combat Effectiveness of "7".  None of those attacks do any damage.


8.  German Command Phase.  This is just like the Allied Command Phase (Step1), except that it is the German Player performing the actions.  Steve successfully removed the disruption from his Headquarters, but not the Para unit.  Now his units are in supply again.


9.  Allied Mode Phase.  In this Phase the Allied Player can make voluntary mode changes to all of his units (similar to Step 2 for the Germans).  I concentrated the dispersed Tank unit and that was it.



10.  German Conditional Fire Phase.  There are no opportunities for German fire.


11.  German Conditional Movement Phase.  Only the German Headquarters was able to move and Steve chose not to move it.

Turn 5 - at the end of the 2nd German Conditional Movement Phase

12.  Allied Conditional Fire Phase.  The remaining German units are out of range of the divisional artillery, and I chose not to fire with any of the units from the Welsh Guards.


13.  Allied Conditional Movement Phase.  So here is the payoff.

Turn 5 - 2nd Allied Conditional Movement Phase

Disrupted units have no Strength, no Effectiveness and their Morale is current Morale - 3.  So essentially, any unit can Close Assault a disrupted unit with 100% chance of success.  The top unit (only) of the lead stack on the left Close Assaulted the disrupted German Para unit and eliminated it.  Then 3 Tank units from the middle stack moved up the railroad (dotted line) and Close Assaulted the German HQ as shown in the picture above.  The HQ's Opportunity Fire had no result and the Close Assault resulted in a disruption and retreat.  The German HQ retreated as shown by the blue arrow.  The last attack was carried out by the Tank unit on the right that started in the Woods hex and was automatically successful (shown in green).  Now all of the German units have been eliminated.


Finally, all of the remaining Allied units moved to the railroad and moved north along it to the limit of their Movement Allowances.  The lead unit of the Welsh Guards ended the Turn two hexes from the center of Valkenswaard.

Turn 5 - at the conclusion of the 2nd Allied Conditional Movement Phase

14.  German Free Fire Phase.  There are no German units.


15.  Bookkeeping.  Performed at the end of each Turn.  Victory Points are calculated.


CONCLUSION


This battle demonstrated all of the important game mechanics.  In addition, it showed how devastating the combination of massed artillery and tanks can be against infantry - especially in open terrain.

Turn 004 - 1800 Sep 17, 1944 (played 2011-07-28)

OVERVIEW of Turn 004

The only remaining special rule is that all of the Allied paratroopers are automatically in supply until the end of this turn.

The XXX Corps advance continued while the fight near Best intensified and a new struggle developed near Grave.

XXX Corps (Map D)

On the west (left) flank, the Germans continued their slow and steady withdrawal.  The Allies used the space created by the first German movement phase to pull out the 15*19 independent tank regiment and replace it with the 32nd Infantry Brigade of the Guards Armored division.

In the center and east, a couple more German units were eliminated by the massed fire of the Guards Armored divisional artillery.  This created a larger gap that sped up the pace of advance and infiltration.  As the infiltration continued, the Germans withdrew the remaining mobile units in the third row of entrenchments to the last row, leaving behind a single static Flak unit in the second row to stem the tide.  That unit was eliminated by fire in the Allied Free Fire Phase.  The Turn ended with the Allies regrouping and moving forward in preparation for an attack on the last entrenchment directly on the highway.

On the east flank (right), the Welsh Guards tank regiment took advantage of the gaps created by artillery and advanced up to the retreating German paratroopers.  In the pictures below, you can see the 15*19 Regiment, that started the Turn on the east flank, in Travel Mode moving in behind the Welsh Guards.

Behind the lines, German units moved to create new strong-points to delay the Allied advance.

32nd Guards Infantry brigade takes over in the west

Guards Armored advance in the center and east

German build-up in Eindhoven

Map D - Start Line to Eindhoven at the end of Turn 4

101st Airborne (Map C)

With the main highway bridge blown at Zon and the crossings secured at Veghel, all of the action centered around the German counterattack towards the 101st's drop zone.  The Americans finally destroyed the last German Flak unit in the Broken hex on the south end of the German line and used their numerical superiority to infiltrate the German positions, forcing them to pull back.  Heavy casualties were inflicted by both sides with the Americans losing at least 6 Strength Points and the Germans losing their Artillery and Heavy Weapons units plus some damage on their only Headquarters.

The battle near Best

Map C - Hell's Highway from Eindhoven to Veghel at the end of Turn 4

82nd Airborne (Map B)

While the 505th Regiment patrolled the drop zone and the reduced 508th regiment crossed the highway bridge at Nijmegen, the 1st and 2nd batallions of the 504th tried desperately, and unsuccessfully, to eliminate the Flak unit in Grave before a large counter-attack exploded in front of them.

The 505/82 Regiment enjoys peace and quiet in the drop zone

The calm before the storm at Grave

Map B - Grave to Nijmegen at the end of Turn 4

1st Airborne / Arnhem (Map A)

Another relatively quiet turn in the North.  The only combat was the destruction of KG Kraftt via artillery and direct fire, followed by a Close Assault.  After that attack, the units of the Air Landing Brigade rushed to their positions on the front line north of Arnhem.  The Germans advanced towards Arnhem from the northeast.

The Air Landing brigade rushes to the front after eliminating KG Kraftt

A front develops north and east of Arnhem

Maps A & B - Nijmegen to Arnhem

CONCLUSION

We performed the End-of-Turn procedure and that ended play for the day.

The Victory Point totals at the end of Turn 4 are:

Allies - 108

Germans - 56

The Allies awarded numerous sharpshooter medals as an above average number of 2's, 3's and 12's were rolled throughout the operational area.

Turn 003 - 1600 Sep 17, 1944 (played 2011-07-18)

OVERVIEW of Turn 003


This is almost a normal Turn, except that the XXX Corps units may finally leave Travel Mode, the Allies may use any leftover barrage points from Turn 2 (I have 3.), and the Germans may finally attempt to remove Disruption from all of the units on Map A.


So XXX Corps begin its push northward and the Allied airborne divisions moved to improve their positions.  Meanwhile the Germans began a counter-attack in the 101st Airborne division's sector (Map C).


XXX Corps (Map D)


On the west flank (left), units from the 15*19 independent tank regiment dropped out of Travel Mode on their first movement impulse.  The German infantry from the 10th SS Panzer division pulled back to the limit of their movement allowance, leaving one company behind to block the bridge. Then the British tanks Close Assaulted across the bridge on their second movement phase.  That attack was successful and the blocking German unit retreated into the nearby Forest after being Disrupted as a result of the attack.


In the center, 3 of the 4 German 2nd Parachute Regiment's units in entrenchments on and near the main highway were Depleted from their attacks in the prior turn.  This allowed the tanks of the British Coldstream Guards to assault them successfully one-by-one while still in Travel Mode.  Meanwhile another battalion of the 10th SS Panzer infantry got pounded by the awesome power of the Guards Armored (GA) divisional artillery.  The tanks of the Irish Guards regiment prepped to assault two entrenched positions that did not contain Depleted units and provided a screen for the Coldstream Guard units that were forced to remain in Travel Mode after their assaults.


The Germans re-positioned units in the 2nd and 3rd rows of entrenchments and retreated the vulnerable units from the entrenchments to the left of the highway.


Then the British had their second Fire/Movement Phase and the assault began in earnest.  The Irish Guards successfully assaulted two entrenchments.  The Coldstream Guards rushed through the gap on the right of the highway created by their earlier assault and the destruction of the blocking units by the GA artillery.  They occupied one entrenchment in the second row and began encircling the 2nd and 3rd rows of entrenchments.


On the east flank (right), the Welsh Guards used their first Fire/Movement Phase to drop out of Travel Mode.  The Germans continued their orderly withdrawal.  By the end of the two German Movement Phases all of the entrenchments on the Start Line were vacant.  The Welsh Guards used their second Movement Phase to occupy all of the entrenchments and to close up on the retreating German units.


Finally, to the north, reinforcing units from the German 180th Infantry division moved into the Eindhoven area.

Map D - XXX Corps left flank after Turn 3

Map D - XXX Corps center, Irish Guards on the highway, Coldstream Guards in the lead to the right

Map D - XXX Corps right flank after Turn 3

Map D - German 180th Division arrives

Overview of Map D - Start Line to Eindhoven at the end of Turn 3

101st Airborne (Map C)


On their first Movement Phase the Americans approached the bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal at Zon and the Germans blew it up.  They were once again unable to remove the German Flak unit in the Broken terrain east of Best.  North in Veghel, the Americans cleared out the lone German garrison unit and captured all of the bridges intact.


The Germans reinforced their counter-attack in the Best area with the tanks from the 9th SS Panzer division that were blocking the canal crossings, then pushed forward towards the drop zone of the 101st Airborne.


With the Zon bridge blown, the 502/101 regiment moved to assist with the defense of the drop zone.

Map C - the fight at Best

Map C - to the north at Veghel

Overview of Map C - Eindhoven to Veghel

82nd Airborne (Map B)


The Americans captured the bridge over the Maas-Waal Canal near Heumen, eliminated the German garrison blocking the north end of the Nijmegen bridge and moved to reinforce the 1st battalion of the 504/82 in their attempt to secure the highway bridge at Grave.


Meanwhile the Germans advanced almost all of the mobile units they have towards Grave to support the single Flak Unit blocking the highway there.

Map B - the looming struggle for Grave

Map B - Nijmegen

Overview of Maps B & C from north and east of Veghel to the Nijmegen suburbs

1st Airborne / Arnhem (Map A)


The only combat that occurred this turn was the 1st Airborne's divisional artillery attacking KG Kraftt.  One German company was eliminated as a result.  Other than that it was a war of maneuver as both sides sought to improve their positions.  Victor Graebner's Recon battalion arrived, but was unable to perform its historical dash to Nijmegen because the British have complete control of Arnhem.

Map A - Arnhem at the end of Turn 3

Map A - KG Kraftt tries to escape and points west

Map A - KG Allowarden and Spindler get moving NE of Arnhem (they start the game disrupted)

Overview of Maps A & B from Arnhem to Nijmegen

CONCLUSION


We performed the End-of-Turn procedure and that ended play for the day.  There was so much going on with XXX Corps that we ran overtime a little.

Turn 002 - 1400 Sep 17, 1944 (played 2011-07-13)

OVERVIEW of Turn 002


This is the first full turn, but has some special rules.  In particular, the Allies get a pre-Turn bombardment that simulates the actual artillery barrages and airstrikes the Allies executed prior to the kickoff of the Guards Armored assault.  In earlier games, this was relatively ineffective because the Germans had the opportunity to disperse in the prior Turn.  With the Phase 13 start, they do not have this option.


All of the airborne units raced to their objectives with varying degrees of success.


XXX Corps (Map D)


The pre-Turn barrage was moderately successful, with no damage inflicted on the west (left) flank, but heavy damage inflicted on the entrenched units in the center.  The central tank columns moved up a little in preparation for the real assault beginning in the next Turn.


Meanwhile, the Germans worked to move their Headquarters from their terrible starting positions to useful locations.  (You can't see them in the pictures.  They are in Entrenchments on the main road.)  They also moved up units from the rear-area Entrenchments in an attempt to block the Allied infiltration of their positions.

Guards Armored units advance prior to Turn 3 assault.  German units move up on center-right.

Overview of Map D - Start line to Eindhoven

101st Airborne (Map C)


The Allies cleared the two German Flak positions northwest of Zon, but accomplished little else as the Germans brought up tank elements from the 9th SS Panzer division to block all of the crossings over the Wilhelmina Canal and began a counter-attack in the area of Best (bottom-left in the detail below).


Further north, units from 501/101 seized the main highway bridge over the Zuid-Willems Canal at Vehgel and established a defensive perimeter along the west side of the highway.

Turn 2 action along the Wilhelmina Canal

Detail of the Vehgel area

Overview of Map C - Eindhoven is just off the bottom of the picture

82nd Airborne (Map B)


The 82nd had a relatively easy time of it because there was almost no opposition.  Part of the 504/82 captured the highway bridge over the Maas River at Grave, then moved on to Grave itself to remove the German Flak unit there.


A little to the east, the rest of the 504th Regiment advanced on the Maas-Waal Canal and captured the secondary road bridge at Malden.  On the other side of the Canal, part of the 505th Regiment advanced from the primary drop zone towards the Canal and captured the railroad bridge at Mook.  The rest of the 505/82 moved to secure the primary drop zone area.


The 508th Regiment moved towards Nijmegen and the Germans brought in reinforcements south of the Maas River near Mook.


The disrupted units in the pictures below are German Flak units that were disrupted in the pre-Game airstrikes by the Allies.

1/504 at Grave

Turn 2 action along the Maas-Waal Canal

Detail slightly to the east of picture above showing the 82nd's drop zone

508/82 advances on Nijmegen.  Two lonely German defenders wait for them.

Overview of Map B

1st Airborne / Arnhem (Map A)


After the disastrous landing, the 1st Airborne moved out to its objectives.  The 1st Para Regiment (1/1) occupied Arnhem in force.  KG Kraftt attempted to escape encirclement by the 1st Air landing Brigade (1AL/1) while the 1AL/1 moved forward to do just that.  A Recon unit reached the railroad bridge south of Oosterbeek, just as the Germans were blowing it up.  British Anti-Tank (AT) units occupied key intersections to block German reinforcements and movement (the Panzer AT gambit).  Finally, Model made good his escape and set up a new position far to the west.

The main area of operations - Oosterbeek on the left, Arnhem on the right.

To the west.  (Note that this picture is upside-down relative to the rest.)  Model is on the upper right edge.

Overview of Map A with a good bit of Map B at the bottom

CONCLUSION


This concluded play for the day.  We did the Setup, partial Turn 1 and full Turn 2 in just over 5 hours.  

Turn 001 - 1200 Sep 17, 1944 (played 2011-07-13)

GAME REBOOT

After the last post, Steve sent me a note that said, "Hey, you know the game is supposed to start on Phase 13 of Turn 1, right?".  We obsessed over and discussed that for a week, but ultimately decided to forge ahead.  Then after our play session last week, Steve sent me another note that said, "Hey, all those German units on Map A that start the game disrupted come back in Dispersed Mode.".  After some consideration, we decided to restart yet again.  I (Dave) am still playing the Allies and Steve is playing the Germans.

Check the earlier post called "Interlude" to see the game setup and introductory pictures.


OVERVIEW of Turn 001


Turn 1 now starts on Phase 13.  That essentially means that the only thing that happens on the first turn is the Allied airdrop and some limited Allied movement in the XXX Corps sector.


I decided that the hyper-aggressive advance from the last game was not a good idea and with the changes to the Game Start, probably not necessary.  However, I wasn't playing very well for some reason and rolled even worse.  Steve punished me severely for those failures.


SETUP


The German Player places all of his starting units on the map.  Then the Allied Player places the British units of the Guards Armored division on Map D, south of the Start Line.  Finally, there is a  simulation of the Allied air forces attempt to suppress the German Anti-Aircraft capability in the area of the invasion.  This was largely successful both in the actual battle and in this game.  I disrupted 10 of 16 German Flak units.

Guards Armored division on the Start Line without Travel Mode markers

This is bad play on my part right off the bat, because the leaders of the tank columns on the left and right edges of the picture can be shot at by German units in Concentrated Mode.  It is unnecessary for these units to be at risk this way because the Germans can be observed by other units.


XXX Corps (Map D)


Turn 1 began with the German attempt to destroy the bridges over the Meuse l'Escaut Canal.  All five of the bridges remained intact.  This was Steve's worst die-rolling of the day.


The Guards Armored division advanced slowly, mainly to prepare for the upcoming bombardment at the beginning of Turn 2.  German units have to be sighted to be attacked, and in order to see the Germans in the Town and Woods hexes a unit has to be next to them.


The Germans countered this advance in their Free Fire Phase and did considerable damage to the British units that they were adjacent to.


101st Airborne (Map C)


The American 101st Airborne division landed without casualties or scatter.

501st Regiment of the 101st Airborne (501/101) lands near Veghel

502/101 and 506/101 land north of the Wilhelmina Canal

82nd Airborne (Map B)


The 504th Regiment of the American 82nd Airborne division (504/82) landed without incident west of the Maas-Waal Canal.  The 505/82 regiment also landed without incident in the primary drop zone near Groesbeek.  Unfortunately, the 508/82 regiment was not so lucky.  One battalion scattered into Germany and another was aborted, leaving the push toward Nijmegen and the bridges over the Waal undermanned.

504/82 after drop

505/82 after successful drop.  508/82 off the reservation at the top of the picture.

1st Airborne / Arnhem (Map A)


The drop of the British 1st Airborne division west of Arnhem began successfully enough, with the 1st Regiment (1/1) landing unscathed in the tiny clear area north of the village of Oosterbeek.  Then the gliders came down - literally.  The first string of the Air Landing Brigade (1AL/1) scattered into the forest and lost strength points and was disrupted.  The second was about to be scattered directly onto KG Krafft where they faced imminent destruction, when a divine wind came up and blew them to a spot southwest where they were only disrupted.


General Model seeing disaster looming almost on top of him, immediately began evacuating the area.

1st Airborne landing west of Arnhem

That ended Turn 1 and it was just barely noon.  We totaled up Victory Points and rolled on...