No Retreat: The Russian Front

Played my first game of No Retreat: The Russian Front yesterday.  Quick verdict - great game!  I have the other two of the GMT versions as well and am looking forward to playing them and the upcoming France/Poland title as well.  Plus playing this one again.

Setup for the 1941 start. 

End of German turn 1.  Stars show battle hexes and lines are advance paths.  Armor can advance two hexes past the battle hex and others can advance one depending on terrain and weather.  In the south the result was an EX so no advance.

End of Russian turn 1.  The unit in the Surrendered box should not be there - cleared it up later, can only surrender if OOS counter is on unit at time of destruction.  Russian counterattack ended up in a counterblow (means the Germans have to attack the stack next turn if still adjacent).  A Russian card play caused a German step loss as well.  Finally, the Russians were able to place a destroyed unit back on the map in Kiev which will gum up the works for a turn.

End of German turn 2 (July/August)

Kiev and Smolensk are taken.  Odessa holds out.  Panzers on the outskirsts of Moscow!

Forgot to flip that one around, end of Russian Turn 2.

The Russians place reinforcements in the line (they can put them right in an enemy ZOC).  Devious German card play allows the panzers outside of Moscow to move during the Russian turn and they attack and take the city to the North.  A similar card play seals the fate of the unit outside Kiev which is eliminated OOS.

End of German turn3 (Sept/Oct).  Normally it would be mud but a card play last turn changed it to clear - not good for the Russians!

Moscow, Leningrad, and Odessa fall to the German onslaught.  The Russians are in a tight fix now.  The Germans just missed the Sudden Death victory this turn but are closing in on the turn 6 one.  Capturing one more Objective hex (Sevastopol is one) will also win the game.

End of Russian turn 3.

Russian unit in Deneprovosk(?) is eliminated by being OOS and a German card play that eliminates it before it could get back in supply (getting the coast would have done it).  Russians attack in the south and get a counterblow result.  Same thing in the center.

Russian Card play causes the turn 4 (November/December) weather to be mud.  This slows the panzers down but lets them fight at full strength, most likely it saved Sevastopol)

Russian unit in city outside Moscow eliminated by EX result, it had to go to since it was cutting supply to units in and east of Moscow.

End of Russian turn 4.  To the left you can see the VP marker one space shy of the Turn 6 VP victory. 

Russian units move to keep the Germans from taking the space south of Moscow - taking that would give the 1vp needed for the turn 6 win.  They also try to attack Moscow from 3 hexes but the Germans force them to also attack the panzers outside Moscow and the German infantry manage to hold.

End of German turn 5, first winter turn so there is a 2 left shift for any attack (which is bad news)  VPs are really at 22 since we figured out the Surrendered units did not really both surrender.

Germany reinforces Moscow and puts the unit to the south of it OOS.  If it is not put back in supply it will surrender causing a 1vp shift to the Germans.

End of Russian turn 5 and the game.

The Russians attack the Panzer outside Moscow in an attempt to free the OOS unit, they could have put a unit right next to the OOS unit but they thought the Germans had a card to force them to attack the units IN Moscow if they did so - as well as the Panzer unit West of Moscow.  The Germans did have a card to force a Left shift and another to double the defense strength of the Panzer they did attack.  The result was an EX which left the OOS Russian unit to die and the game ended with German victory.

What do wargamers do in nice weather - open up a window and keep on playing!

Final note - fun game, fast playing, reasonably historical.  Though it is not a card driven game (card enhanced is the term I hear) the cards add a nice random element to it.  You can never be sure if you opponent has a card that will allow him to move and attack, shift the defense, or a host of other things till after you declare a combat.  Cards are also used to bring units back from the dead pile or to strategic move more than one a turn or to force the opponent to attack a hex they do not want to attack.  Another interesting twist is that a single unit can attack more than one hex of defenders - the defender chooses which one to use as the primary target for terrain effect purposes and all of them suffer the results (this comes in really handy for the defender when they place counterblow markers - those are hexes the attacker has to attack in addition to what they chose to attack). 

Fireball Forward: Brigade Box (Tiger Variant) scenario

Umpired a game of Fireball Forward yesterday.  A little rusty so made some mistakes but it was a fun game.  The scenario was the Brigade Box Tiger Variant from the Villers Bocage supplement.  Third time playing or umpiring this one - 4 Tigers and 2 17lber AT guns, whats not to like?  The miniatures are 6mm GHQ.

Sorry for the pictures - blurrier than I would like.

Picture of the terrain from the German entry area perspective.  To the right is orchards, to the right is bocage and a small town.  In the middle is a stream (not a river, anything can cross rather easily).  Also in the middle is 4 woods sections (you can see into it but not through it).  Toward the read is more bocage and orchards and a couple other building zones.  Germans have to accumulate 12 VP in 8 turns.

End of turn 1

German entry area is now to the left.  Near the top and next to the bocage 2 251/9 halftracks take up firing positions.

Left side of German entry the Tigers and a platoon enter the buildings.  (has to be turn 2, infantry could not go that far so quickly)

Closer view of the 251/9 halftracks. 

Turn 2!

First Tiger destroyed - those 17lbers pack a wallop!  As an aside I forgot that a confirmation roll was needed before breaking a gun.  All the Tigers and both 17lbers would be broken by the end of the turn.  I then had them make the second roll and all were back in play...

Another shot.

A UK platoon exposes and opens fire.  This would be on the German left flank.  Just past the stream.  On the black felt means in a building "zone"  (I also forgot that all units in a zone are HIT when fired upon - will remember that for next game)

The 17lber that killed the Tiger.  The chit means it malfunctioned.

On the German right flank the troops move up through the Orchard.

Overview from German perspective.

A very very fuzzy turn 3...

Overview - Germans on left, UK on right.

Germans continue to push up the right flank.

Tigers were allowed to hide after finding out the 17lbers were not malfunctioned - hiding behind the buildings currently.

The other 17lber takes a barrage hit and is broken (I think, might just be suppressed).  A Bren team is broken and ran away from the woods (bottom left of picture is where he ran from - currently in the back building zone)

German infantry back near their start area are roughly handled and break.

The Tigers move out with the one 17lber out of action currently.  The far 17lber managed an LOS and popped a shot off at one and killed it.  The remaining two take cover behind the bocage but a UK PIAT team takes a shot from 5" away, rolls a 2 for the range die and a 6 to hit.  Tiger dies from the well placed PIAT shot.  The morale roll results in the last Tiger running away and the game is called in favor of the UK.

We are planning to give this scenario one last play through in two more weeks and then it is on to another one.  These have become my favorite set of WWII miniatures rules - easy to play, with choices to make.

ASL scenario ITR-8 Beyond the Slaughterhouse by BFP

Quick recap of the game Tycho and I played yesterday on VASL.  I asked to play a Beefy scenario after our last couple which were smaller outings - ping pong back and forth I do...

Situation at the start of the game.  In order to win the Russians have to control all the stone buildings to the south of Row S on the top board (all stone buildings to the left of the middle of the board including the big factory with all the German concealment markers on it).  By SSR any kind of gun can setup in a factory.

Highlights from turn 1 and the early game.  To the far left I had a gun with the Stielgranate thingy fire at the tank and promptly run out of ammo.  Fires twice more and I roll a 3TH, so close...  That would be the extent of my good luck, my defenders marked with stars in the factory try to blast approaching russians and lay down fire lanes, they manage to cower and not do anything.  The final star at the bottom is Russians running through a dummy stack.  At the bottom right is a 9-2 leader, HMG, and crew.  A massive hole is blasted in my defenses and I am convinced I am going to lose this one.  Even more so when the other HMG I have (top middle of map next to the 88) breaks on the second shot and thus another FL is toast.

In mid game the luck swings back my way, we both agree it was more or less even by end of game.  Highlights are a couple of CCs - one was in the factory to the left where the carnage started, one of my MMG toting squads got an ambush and declared HTH (allowed in this scenario) and killed his attacker.  Another CC (listed above went my way) but the one where I have a 9-2 leader and a crew ended up an ambush on them (granted the russians had a ? but still).  The FT tank (bottom middle of map) roasted one squad outright then went round to take out another one, K/4 and the resulting MC causes HOB which creates a HERO and battle hardens the HS.  Up near the top of the map my remaining troops manage to hold off the Russians just long enough - through the use of an MMG firelane and the 88s (one of which is shown destroying a tank to the left and the other one taking out a tank on the right).  With 2 movement phases left to go we called it in favor of the defending Germans.  (and that is ran to the roof, not rain, but with an FT tank around some rain would be good)

So far all the BFP scenarios have been fun, not all balanced but fun.  This one requires the Russians to MOVE.  The Russians in our game did a little farting around and that cost them the game.  I was sure I was going to get crushed after the first two turn debacle of bad dice and lousy setup on my part, taking all of those stone locations is a tall order though.

The US Civil War comes to a close.

Lawrence and I finished up our second campaign of "The US Civil War".  When we left off the CSA was on the ropes - Union forces just outside Chattanooga in strength with only 3sp in the fortified city and no LOC to the outside to bring in reinforcements.  In the East Lee had been pushed out of Virginia in North (maybe south) Carolina, and in the far west things were looking better but not by much.  The South had retaken most of the area but their forces were stretched thin.

Fall 1864 and the USA elections are coming up!  A chance to enlighten the Northern voters of their oppression of the south!

Robert E Lee and the army of Norther Virginia break away from contact with the Army of the Potomac and make a mad dash for points North chased by the AOP all the way!

Reinforcements are shipped into DC and they move south to intercept Lee, Lee intercepts them and crushes them in battle (the yellow marker just above the battle location at the top).  Lee and the CANV then move back down to the coast and take out a couple of union SP there.  Grant and the AOP follow and block the route to DC.

In the West Sherman attacks Chattanooga.  (could not find a GIF of Federal troops)

Sherman's attack on Chattanooga crushes the forces there.  If the south had gone first Longstreet was going to run away to prepare to defend Atlanta.  Atlanta has a fort built to prepare for it's defense.  Sherman does not end up marching on the city, instead consolidating his hold on Chattanooga (I thought for sure he would march on Atlanta right away).  Early chases and fights a small Federal force south of Atlanta.

The guy I had in the far west botched every roll and ends up in charge of a single strength point with no gains of any kind.  The writing is on the wall here - the only thing keeping the union from taking all of this area is lack of impulses to spend on it.

The Point totals were a couple points shy of an auto-victory for the South so the game goes to turn 20.  It is winter and the so the south may lose troops - the dice are rolled for the blockade runners and the total is 3 or 4 (forget, two weeks ago...) troops lost to attrition.  That is going to hurt since the union already holds a massive force advantage now.  Troops are removed and shifted away from Vicksburg (1sp left) and New Orleans (also 1 sp left behind) to shift them to Atlanta to face Sherman.

The south gets to go first.  In the East Lee moves back to North Carolina leaving militia behind to defend the state of Virginia.  While in the West the south start an upgrade to the existing for in Atlanta.

Sherman marches on Atlanta and attacks!  Both sides have a +6 to the combat rolls.  Sherman + another leader + a combat card, Johnston + Longstreet + fort.  The North has more troops but all the south needs is a tie to hold the fort - not out of the question...

The south rolls snake eyes (worst possible roll) and the north rolls above average.  The south loses 4sp and the north only 1.  Atlanta falls and with that I concede the game.  The forces in the area are less then half the strength of Sherman's stack (by a large margin, he could leave half his force behind as supply line guards and still have twice the strength).  This allows Sherman to keep moving after any battle and so there is no chance of stopping him from taking all the nearby production/vp spaces.

I conceded before any activation was done in the far west.

This is a LONG grueling game for the south.  As a player you better have fun running away and making feints since that is the majority of the southern strategy - and I still came up short at the end.  The CSA was 3 to 10 points ahead on the VP chart till the last two turns and then the Union forces cracked Chattanooga.  After that Atlanta will be attacked and VP smorgasbord awaits the union player.  Lawrence correctly pointed out that I could use cavalry to cut supply even after the Atlanta debacle but I think that would only delay the inevitable at that point.  If Atlanta had held for the one battle Sherman's forces would be demoralized and a follow up attack would take time - and face a +8 DR for the South since the fort would have been upgraded.

An excellent game, but as I have said it is grueling.  The north is constantly worrying about supply and trying to catch RE Lee (and any other defense level 2 general with cavalry).  The south is constantly trying to threaten the north by maneuver, to cut supply with cavalry, and to force the union to garrison ground that they take in order to slow them down.