Paul’s German Defenders defeated Steve’s Attacking Canadians
This scenario is played on the Riley’s Road map from Operation Veritable – lots of plowed fields broken up by lengths of hedge. The area the scenario is played on is dominated by a large one-level hill mass.
One of the tricks to this scenario is that the Canadians must secretly decide BEFORE setup which of two Victory Conditions to pursue: To capture one building in 5 turns or two buildings in 7 turns. It’s a very interesting little mechanic that is likely the toughest decision the Canadian player has to make.
RR SSR are in effect for this scenario, and the stone buildings have Cellars, which ended up being crucial to the German victory.
Steve started well with Mortar Smoke to cover his advance up to the ridge line, including smoking out a dummy unit. His “amoeba advance” (lots of deploying and half-squads running around) was so rapid that I decided to Voluntarily Break a squad in an effort to get it back to safety, because it was set up too far forward. During my turn one Rally phase, I rolled a 12 for that unit, reducing him to a HS before Steve ever fired a bullet.
The main impediment to Steve’s advance was a 5-4-8 + MMG and 8-1 at level one of a building behind the victory building. The MMG got one or two good tears, breaking two or three units in a phase, but Steve was giving me too many targets to deal with very well. I should mention that in one fire phase, he formed a 10-hex firegroup (mostly HS, but still…) to pour concentrated hate into the Cellar of the victory building.
The main floor of the victory building was a deathtrap for the Germans, with the German 9-1 getting wounded very early. The Germans scuttled into the Cellar, though, and were able to keep it together long enough for the time limit to run out. Steve had chosen the quick VC, but I think that if he had chosen the longer VC, he probably would have won.
This scenario is a great exercise in Personal Morale Check. I felt like I was losing this scenario from the first WC DR, but managed to pull a win out of it. A better setup would have made me feel a bit more secure right from the start. I should have started a unit with a MG in the cellar.
Had I gotten the Canadians, I would have played the amoeba offense like Steve. It’s really the only way to do it. I’m not sure I would be in a hurry to play this again.