Red Golem Blog

I played my second game of Combat Commander: Europe by GMT Games. I was really looking forward to this second experience. I played Russians in my first game. I won by successfully storming the map (”For the Motherland!”) and keeping control of my objectives against an angry group of Germans. We played Scenario 12 this time: German defenders against attacking Americans on a map with lots of topography, buildings, and woods. I ended up playing Axis side. My forces consisted of:

• 3 leaders (Sgt. Esser, Sgt. Biermann, Sgt. Pfeiffer)
• 9 Volksgrenadier squads
• 2 Weapon teams
• 1 Heavy MG
• 2 Light MG
• 1 Light Mortar
• 1 Bunker and 2 Trenches

American forces were made of:

• 3 leaders (Lt. Blankenship, Cpl. Hubbard, Cpl. Jensen)
• 8 Line squads
• 5 Weapon teams
• 2 Medium MG
• 2 Medium Mortar
• 1 Light Mortar
• Additional Reinforcements coming into play during the game: Sgt. Smith and 8 Green squads

The picture to the left shows the initial setup. It does not take too long to prepare the board for a game: 10 to 15 minutes. That’s if all your chits are well sorted of course but my game partner seems pretty good at keeping his stuff well organized. Two objectives were identified with a value of 4 and 5 victory points. Both were on the large hill making half of the map. Elevation was a new concept for this game that we had to deal with (mostly line of sight questions). Also, we used mortars for the first time. Americans had to setup first. They divided their troops in two.

A small group was placed near an orchard close to the wooded area. The larger part of his initial troops was setup near the building in the other corner of the US side. The board became more crowded when reinforcements arrives (time marker reaching the “7″ space). Unfortunately, the troops were Green and not very effective at changing the outcome of the skirmish. One special rule that really affected game play was the FOG. This hindrance (-3) made all fire attacks really difficult to make all game long. The game would have been more lethal and probably over much sooner too. The CAVES rule allowed German snipers (which represent other events on the battlefield: bad luck, injuries, etc.) to affect enemies two hexes away instead of one. I used this rule quite a few times to break US units!

Being the defender, I got to setup second. I decided to put my bunker on the farthest objective and divide my troops in two groups. A small group was entrenched near an objective, keeping an eye on it. The other group was setup in what would end-up being called the Eagle’s nest. It was a building on the edge of the hill and surrounded by a stone wall. This proved to be a very strong point to lead my fire groups against US troops.

Summary of the game:

I did not move much. I used my orders/actions to Read the rest of this entry »

I found this solitaire scenario for AAM written by Der Leiter (thanks dude!). Here it is with a short battle summary and pictures at the end of the post.

My score was 76 points with the US reinforced Rifle Platoon and a M4A3 (105) Sherman. I got slowly slaughtered by the Japs with each successive tokens activating. I faced no less than 7 Arisaka Rifles, 3 SNLF Paratroopers, 6 SNLF Fanatic, 3 Honor-bound Hero, 1 Type 87 Armored Car, 1 Type 92 MG Team in Pillbox, 1 Type 95 Ha-Go, and 3 47mm Type 1 ATG! I managed to get my SHerman in the last town and revealed the last token: a 47mm ATG at close range! Opportunity Fire exploded my tank. That got rid of my last unit. It was turn 10. I enjoyed this game although I’d rather play against another opponent.

BACKGROUND
This game is more of a generalized scenario than a specific battle. It can be used as part of the Island hopping campaign of the Allies against Japan, or perhaps some of the action on the mainland. The objective could be a Japanese base, an occupied city, or a POW Camp.

CHOOSING SIDES & BUILDING ARMIES
You are the Allies. Your opponent is the Japanese.
A choice of units is listed below.
Japanese forces are chosen randomly; see below.

GAME MAP & DEPLOYMENT

Deploy your soldiers in the Read the rest of this entry »

After playing the Ludendorff Bridge scenario (see Tom Weasle’s Axis & Allies Miniatures blog), I was looking forward to try SgtFury’s (et al.) Eastern Betio Island scenario set in Central Pacific. This scenario pits 100 points of defending Japanese against 120 points of attacking US troops. US must control two of the three objectives by the end of turn 7. See blog above for army lists and scenario details. Maps (which are gorgeous by the way!) were printed in black and white for the game. There are many well-thought optional rules but we ended up only using the dug in bonus for Japanese units.

Note: you might notice on the pictures that there are many Chinese Kuomintang Rifleman fighting along Japanese troops. We did not have all our figures that night (= not enough Arisaka). KMT Rifleman were used as proxies for Arisaka Rifle…

Turn 1. US wins initiative and goes second: Japan stays entrenched. US advance through jungle. Amtrack land Marine on eastern tip of Betio island.

Turn 2. US wins initiative and goes first. BAR suppress-fire SNLF Fanatic; Flamethrower & M4A1 kill two Arisaka. BAR gunner dies from two Arisaka counter attacks.

Turn 3. US wins initiative (again). US kills disrupted Fanatic and another Arisaka with Vickers MG and Thompson Gunner. Japan Type 92 Machine Gun Team disrupts bold Amtrack!

Turn 4. US wins initiative (yet again!). Amtrack disrupts 47mm ATG, Flamethrower burns SNLF Paratrooper. Antitank Gun sinks Amtrack.

Turn 5. JP wins initiative (finally!) and goes second (”Let them come!”). Eastern part: Resourceful Hero dies from an Arisaka shot but kills a SNLF Fanatic before dropping to the ground.

Turn 6. JP wins initiative and goes last. US troops are stuck before a wall of tank obstacles & barbed wire. Many (in fact all but one Marine!) units fail their movement rolls to cross. One Marine Rifleman dies and four more units are disrupted! Losses are great also on the Japanese side: 1x MG Team, 2x Arisaka, and 3 disruptions! But the US is not contesting the second objective and must move forward!

Turn 7. US wins initiative and goes first. An Arisaka dies but takes its killer (a Marine) with him. M4A1 Sherman overcomes tank obstacle and drives next to the objective. Imperial Sergeant force a Banzaï Charge on Sherman with an Honor-bound Hero: tank is damaged.

Turn 8. JP wins initiative and goes first. Combined fire from Honor-bound Hero, SNLF Fanatic (Banzaï Charging), disrupted 47mm ATG blows the Sherman. Japan wins!

I am getting a bit tired of secretly building armies and then revealing them to your opponent to play a game. Often you realize that you are missing one or two units that would really make a difference. Therefore, I started to look at scenarios where you have prebuild armies and different rules. I’m hoping these games will be more balanced.

I found this Ludendorff Bridge scenario on Tom Weasle’s Axis & Allies Miniatures blog. The US must take the city on the other bank of the Rhine river by crossing the bridge. It is a 193 points US versus 199 points Germany battle. See blog above for army lists and scenario details. I printed the maps for the game in a hurry and found out my color ink cartridge was almost empty. That’s why maps are funny-looking, although it didn’t distract us from our game.

Turn 1. Germany wins initiative: going first. 2 Sandbagged MG get only a disrupt on a Thompson Gunner (on 4 rolls!). Werhmacht Sniper kills M2 Mortar; MG42 kills Quad50. US M1 81mm Mortar disrupt Sandbagged MG (cover roll at -1 succeeded); M2 Mortar disrupts Kar.

Turn 2. US wins initiative: they charge on the bridge! M1 Garand kills one Sandbagged MG; BAR covering fire on other SB MG. Panzer IV G reinforcements arrive. Fortress Defender kills Thompson Gunner. Two Garands start to swim across the Rhine river.
Turn 3. Germany wins initiative. A bloody turn starts! MG42 kills BAR; SB MG kills Garand; Sniper disrupts BAR; Mortar kills BAR; Kar disrupts Thompson; Kar disrupts Garand in water. US Garand disrupts remaining SB MG; M4A1 kils MG42.

Turn 4. Germany wins initiative. Another bloody turn for the poor Americans! Fortress Defender kills Garand; Panzer IV kills Thomson Gunner; Kar kills Mortar; Kar disrupts Garand; SB MG kills BAR. M1 Mortar kills SB MG (finally!).

Turn 5. Germany wins initiative: US must move first. Pershing destroys Panzer IV; M4A1 disrupts second Panzer IV; M1 81mm kills sGrW Mortar. For Germany, Kar kills another Garand; PAK40 explodes a M4A1 Sherman; Sniper kills another BAR Gunner.

Turn 6. Germany wins initiative: US must move first. M1 81mm Mortar kills Kar; M4A1 kills secondPanzer IV. Before exploding, Panzer IV destroys M4A1 at point blank range. Combined fire from the two PAK40 succeed in destroying the M26 Pershing (which fails its cover roll).

Turn 7. Germany wins initiative: go US boys! Mortar kills another Kar. Sd Kfz 251 kills last Garand; Panzerfaust destroys Jeep; and to end the game: Werhmacht Sniper kills Red Devil Captain (6 out of 6 success!). US is not contesting the city by the bridge: Germany wins!

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