Victory Conditions

Every once in a while, you encounter a scenario so cinematic that both players collaborate to see the ‘movie’ unfold. This is one such scenario. No. 3 Commando was onshore in support of the Dieppe attack. They were discovered and had to evacuate.

I hope scenarios like this expand what the average ASL player thinks a scenario can be. The Allies had 8 VPs worth of personnel in the Grain Field on the left and 11 VPs of personnel on the right. The Allies win by gaining more VPs than the Germans. The Allies on the left gain points every player turn they remain in the Grain Field. They also earn EVP for infantry units exited or within 5 hexes of the upper edge. The Germans win VP by capturing or killing Allied infantry units.

The scenario features 11 German squads with 2 mortars and 3 LMGs against 5 Allied squads (with low ammunition), 4 damaged Higgins boats, 1 MGB, and 1 additional Higgins boat coming in. My plan was for the left group to stay and for the right group to run. The 4 damaged Higgins boats had 3 facing landside and 1 facing seaward for a quick getaway. We needed to eliminate the 2 German mortars as they posed the biggest threat to the boats.

After Action Report

(… chirp, chirp, chirp ….)

The Germans appeared! The Germans on the left advanced into the Grain Field. Two conscript squads and two mortars ran straight past us towards the shore. Our mortar was boresighted to where we expected them to bypass the Woods, but we missed that shot anyway! It’s rare that I could square up this opponent of mine in my sights, but the dice is the ultimate boss.

On the right side, the Germans got the entrance hex to the gully lined up. The Allied troops fought all temptations to run and edged carefully towards the Gully entrance. Note that we couldn’t possibly get into a crest position in the Gully because of an SSR specifying “Cliff sides.” We scored 7 VPs by staying vertical in the Grain Field on the left.

The MGB swept in! The waiting Germans opened fire and scored 2 DP (out of 5) on the MGB, almost setting it on fire! The troops in the Grain Field were skulking where possible but shot back when they couldn’t. We reaped 10 VPs at the end of the last turn. The troops on the right continued to edge towards the gully entrance. The teams already at the Wire tried to remove it but to no avail.

The troops on the left moved off the Grain Field towards the middle clump of trees. We needed to keep a portion of the Germans tied down, even if we couldn’t stay in the Grain Field for more VPs. The German conscripts on the left were digging foxholes for the mortars but kept getting shot up by the MGB. A commando 9-1 and a half-squad rallied and dove back into the Grain Field, but it was not to be!

Over on the right, the big German 9-1 stack broke cover and ran for the shore after the escapees. The 338 rearguard had one shot, and it connected! The 9-1 was killed, and everyone was broken! One of the German conscripts went berserk and started charging the woods in the middle of the board since they couldn’t see the fellows slipping off in the gullies. We were now at 16 VP, which was the VPs the Germans would get if they captured everyone on the left.

Our 8-1 and a half-squad in the (middle) Woods rallied and started waving the berserker over. We planned to lead them into the melee so that the Germans couldn’t go for a capture and earn double VP. The commando half-squad kept the fight going as the Germans piled in! The MGB kept the pair of mortars suppressed on the left. The DM’d German stack at the bottom of the map would rally and make a desperate last move. Meanwhile, the units on the left were about to board a Higgins boat, the one with the bow facing seawards.

A German team with a last-minute hero, a 447, an LMG, and a leader ran towards the shore for a final hit on the departing Allies. The MGB took them out as well, leaving the troops on the right to board and depart Fortress Europa.

Thoughts

There are a good number of issues to consider when playing this scenario

* When to go slow and when to run – it took a while to go through the Gully and into the boats and about 2 turns for the boats to get past the VC line.  You really need to get your timing straight as the British.  We figured boats don’t have to Beach with their bow.  I had 3 beached with their bows, so that their armoured sides faced the continent and the other one with its stern so it could make a quick getaway.  

* The pair of German mortars were the most serious threats to the boats.  

* Should we run the Grain Field forces off?  Should they go into the Woods in the middle and help out the right?  Should they fight to the last man so as to get as many points as possible?  We got lucky, we got the full 16 VPs to breakeven with the Germans should the whole Grain field team’s captured.  

* How much troops should you allocate each side as the Germans?

* The Commandos could climb.  Should we entertain that notion?  The Hinterland stops with a 4 level Cliff side to the beach.  That’s 4 turns of Hazardous Movement to get down.  We only have 7 turns in the game.  

* We got lucky in that the 338 rearguard on the right was able to shoot up most of the pursuing Germans.  We were also lucky in that the pair of German mortars was only able to take 2 DPs off the MGB’s 5 and didn’t set it on fire.  

* The Melee’ing HS (in the Woods) was magnificent turn after turn.  The Germans were hindered by their desire to capture and not to kill.