Re: AAR Rheindahlen

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Just my 2 bits owrth...

On Tue, 13 Mar 2001, Frits Kuijlman wrote:

> Ok,
> I clearly opened a can of worms with the close assault questions.
> I'll read the rules again really really carefull before continuing.
> 
> In the meantime, here is a small AAR of the Action 2001 show at
Rheindahlen
> JHQ. Derk has probably some corrections and extra tidbits.

I'll do my worst.

<snip bit about the rest of the guys arriving late ;) >

> I shot some photos on film, and I will put these up on the Murphy's
Heroes
> website when the film is full.

I took some as well, will scan them once I finish the film. 
> After saying hello to everybody we set up our table and were ready to
start
> the first scenario at about 14.00. This was an ambush scenario were an
> attacking force had to cross the table diagonally and the defender was
hidden
> all over the table using counters. The attacker had 4 squads, a walker
and one
> sniper. The defender had 3 squads, 2 snipers, 2 minefields and about
10 dummy
> counters. This scenario was great fun for everybody, even for the
attacker
> who got a bit paranoid after his sniper got too close to one of the
minefields(
> we didn't tell him the range was 2 inches). 

He actually got very paranoid well before that, when my green sniper
opened up fire on him. The two snipers kept all his troops occupied for
a
good while, completely stopping his advance in it's tracks. If he'd
pressed on against the snipers he'd probably taken less casualties than
with the careful approach he took now.

> His sniper wasn't even wounded, but
> he was a lot more carefull after that in scanning everything and
clearing out
> the table step by step. It didn't help much that both his eyeball Mk1
and
> enhanced sensors didn't have much success in identifying counters.
> The scenario ended at about 10.00 or 11.00 late at night when the
defending
> players last squad was badly mauled.

I'd like to point out that by then, I'd taken out all of his armour (1
walker, but that doesn't sound nearly as cool), pretty much annihilated
one squad and seriously hurt another. I didn't die completely in vain...

> The one mistake with this scenario was that I didn't put a timelimit
on it.
> This meant that the attacker could take his time clearing out
positions before
> advancing a bit, instead of taking more risks/casualties and crossing
the
> table in good time.

Yes - he could pretty much concentrate his entire force on one bit of
terrain, take it, then concentrate on the next, etc. He didn't make
anywhere near as much of an advantage of that, as he could have, though.

> Scenario 2 was one I downloaded. There is an airstrip with lots of
buildings
> and a control tower. The control tower has to be taken within a time
limit
> so that a landing can take place. The defender had 1 squad of
technicians who
> had to be kicked out of the tower before they could perform any acts
of
> sabotage and a few other squads. The attacker came in with 4 squads
and a
> walker. The original scenario specified more armour which we didn't
have, so
> we increased the time limit from 15 to 20 turns. This was a really
close
> scenario which eventually was won by the attacker with only 2 turns
left.
> This scenario was ultimately won by a close assault from one of my
squads on
> the building with the technicians. They were kicked out, but my squad
was
> badly mauled as well. After that an enemy squad in a nearby room close
> assaulted me. This really was an example of a close assault being very
> dangerous. My squad failed its reaction test and retreated. In the
followup
> he caught me and we did a hand-to-hand combat, which my squad
fortunately won.

It was a very fun scenario, even if everyone was getting very tired when
we had to break for the night.

> During this scenario we had several problems with close assaults and
the use
> of buildings. We used buildings as hard cover, while we should have
made them
> armoured point targets. I found some additional info on bildings on
the web,
> so we'll try to accumulate a lot of info before trying something like
this
> again.

One problem we had was again the lack of overwatch. If you start close
enough, it's possible to walk up to a building and fire in through the
windows, before the defender has a chance to react. This proves a heck
of
a lot more effective than close assault, but is this a desired effective
tactic????
  
> This scenario took a long time so around 2.30 at night we called it
quits.
> As it was a military base breakfast was between 8.00 and 9.00. To be
able
> to get anything before the food was either cold or gone we had to get
up at
> 7.30 (argh!). We continued the scenario at 9.00 and were finished
around 11.00.
> 
> After that we started the 3rd scenario which was a rescue mission.
Even though
> we didn't get to finish the scenario before the show ended at 14.30,
we had a
> lot of fun as the outlook for winning the game changed a few times
during the
> course of the scenario.
> 
> Setup: a table with lots of cover and a big clearing just to one side
of the
> center of the table. Close to the center of the table a group of VIPs
has
> crashed who have to be rescued. Most of them are wounded, so they have
to be
> treated before they can be moved.
> The enemy has several squads, a walker and a sniper who arrive at
random times
> at random points on the edge of the table.
> The rescue mission consisted of 1 command squad and 3 other squads who
have
> to be dropped on the table. Each squad had a medic.

I'll elaborate a bit here, since I've got the inside scope on this one.
The scenario was as follows. A shuttle with VIP's had been shot down and
crashlanded smack in the middle of hostile territory. The friendlies
dispatch an emergency rescue operation, to amn area under hostile air
cover. The hostiles have approx. a platoon in the area, which will
respond, trying to capture the VIPs to interrogate them.

The terrain was heavily wooded, with patches of woods seperated only by
narrow parths covering most of the table but for a clearing in the
middle.
The only conscious VIP has already moved his collegues to a bit of cover
near this clearing, set a beacon, and popped smoke for visual
recognition.
As umpire, I had created a large open space so that the NAC player could
opt for a relatively safe dropzone, with only extreme rolls resulting in
casualties. This was not to be ;)

In order to extract their VIP's, a rescue operation had been mounted in
a
great hurry by NAC-like forces. The rescuer (NAC-alike) had at his
immediate disposition one Pathfinder group of 6 figures in full armour,
as
well as two infantry squads and platoon HQ squad (8 fig each). The
troops
were on average veteran quality (I had the pathfinders drawn from a
50/50
elite veteran mix of counters, and removed some of the elite and added
regulars for the infantry) All squads included one medic, for this
mission. Mission motivation was medium, and the troops were fresh,
starting as confident.

The opposing player had a force consisting of 3 8 figure squads in
heavy armour, with a missile launcher and gauss rifles, one command
group,
a sniper, and a recon walker. Also, the player could call on a 3-tube
mortar battery. The player was told to create two patrol groups, before
being given any further briefing; he made a group of 2 squads, and a
group
of the remainder. They were patrolling the area when an urgent command
to
get their asses to the crash site and capture the VIP's was received. 

His closest group (the one w/o walker) had a chance to arrive from turn
2
on, needing a 6 on d6 to arrive, 5,6 on the next turn, then 4-6, etc. On
a
succesful roll the first squad would arrive, with rolls continuing the
next turn. The setup for the other team was similar, only starting a
turn
later, and needing an 8 on d8 to start with.

Upon arrival of the first squad, an entry point would be decided at
random, anywhere around the table, with the exception of the NAC
EVAC-direction. Further squads of the same group would arrive from the
same point. All squads would arrive in single column.

The NAC player had the option of EITHER air-dropping all troops, or
choosing to do an earlier, orbital drop with the pathfinders. 

> I chose to do an orbital insertion in turn 1 for my first squad so
that I
> would have a secure position around the VIPs. The other squads would
> be parachuted in turn 3 or later. The orbital drop was right on target
on
> the VIP's position. It took me only one turn to get most of the squad
> reorganised around the VIPs and another turn to get the remainder in
place
> as well. Unfortunately the medic disappeared head first into a nearby
swamp,
> so I had to wait a few turns for a medic from another squad before
starting
> the evacuation.

This rather daring drop surprised me, and was incredibly risky. But it
worked out well enough, except for the medic.

> I chose the drop point for the other three squads near the edge of the
clearing
> so I could secure a route of the table for the evacuation.
> The first squad that was parachuted in landed relatively close
together,
> except for the medic who hit the only rocky outcropping nearby. Splat!

And another medic down the drain....

> Around this time an enemy squad entered the table near my projected
evacuation
> route, which wasn't good as they were also very close to the drop
point for
> the remaining 2 squads. 

Especially since the enemy had a line of sight on the infantry squad and
opened fire right away. Luckily for the NAC, they suffered no
casualties.

> My command squad landed on one side of the rocks,
> while the enemy had moved up to the other side. 

This was the first example of madly bouncing counters in the game; the
counter skipped 30 or so cm off to the side, landing smack in the middle
of a hill, 10cm from some very surprised hostile forces.

The first squaddie lands right there, the next on a rock, crashing to
his
death. Due to some incredibly lucky dicerolls, the command group mostly
lands exactly on the opposite side of the hill.

> Of course the medic chose
> to do something exciting and landed in the middle of the enemy. 

As in, just about on top.

> Fortunately
> I had the initiative, so the medic could run away to his squad. 

Actually, you didn't. The other guy did, and gave some effective fire,
shredding the squaddie on the hill, but missing the medic. The medic
legged it for dear life, and astonished everyone by getting away.

> On the other
> hand his squad was now pinned down behind the rocks, so it was
unlikely they
> would reach the VIPs anytime soon.
> About this time a second enemy squad entered the table at the same
corner and
> reinforced the first squad. This wasn't good as my last squad landed
in the
> middle of the clearing and immediately caught fire. The took two
casualties
> but eventually managed to get to safety.
> 
> Things looked grim. Four out of five VIP's were wounded and no medic
in sight.
> The commanding officer made a potential disastrous career choice and
decided
> on field dressings. Two VIPs completely recovered, one was stabilised
and one
> died. This left enough VIPs to carry the wounded and dead one, and
left the
> squad free to provide security.
> >From this point on things began looking better. The other three
squads together
> with the accompanying squad managed to suppress and contain the two
enemy
> squads. The VIPs and the accompanying squad managed to move around the
safe
> side of the clearing and were about halfway to safety, and the
remaining enemy
> was late in arriving on table.

As umpire, I felt both players seemed to forget the essence of their
mission, here. The opfor player had a bit of a hard time since he had
one
squad pinnen nearly continuously, but the other  was free to move - and
COULD have mocved due to abundant cover. Similarly, the NAC player could
have fallen back onto the EVAC route, overed the approaches, and guide
the
VIPs to safety.

Instead, ALL NAC squads were engaged in a firefight with only 2 enemy
squads, eager for blood. The VIPs were told by the accompanying squad to
'head yonder way' while they were taking long-range potshots at the
enemy.
The VIP's didn't quite feel comfortable with that, I mean, this is enemy
territory, right? 

> At this point I found out how fast a walker can walk. The thing did a
double
> move(24") and came into sight of the VIPs, who promptly
panicked(green3).

Who were about 12 inches or so from the nearest friendly unit.

> After that the walker only caused a suppression before being blown to
bits by
> a LAW. However, it had done its job in that it took the VIPs 3 turns
before
> getting unpanicked. By this time another enemy squad and a sniper had
closed
> in on their position.

Also, the VIP's had gone from their initial shaken morale to broken, and
were trying to make it to cover. Since they were not on the radio
network,
the player was infromed he needed to get a squad to them in order to
rally
them and get them moving again.
 
> We had to stop at this point as the show closed. However, the outcome
was far
> from sure. One of my squads was moving to reinforce the VIPs and their
> accompanying squad. My two remaining squads were trading fire with the
first
> two enemy squads who were by now unsuppressed because I had to
concentrate on
> the walker. On top of that an enemy squad was close enough to begin a
close
> assault. These were green as well, but I didn't know that.

In addition, an other enemy squad had finally disengaged from the
firefight and was moving in a supporting position to aid the close
assaulters.

> All in all we had great fun, but we had some problems interpreting the
rules
> (close assault), and we also did some things wrong(buildings).
> After the first two scenarios we introduced some rules for overwatch
which we
> felt was something that was clearly missing. After browsing the
internet I
> found some rule sthat were fairly similar to what we did.

The overwatch rules I intriduced were fairly simple. A unit could
declare
to go into overwatch, and would get an arrow counter to indicate the
direction. They'd then get to try and interrupt any enemy action within
a 45 angle around this arrow. To do so, they'd need to test quality vs
an
unmodified range die.

Well, that's it pretty much :)

Cheers,

   Derk
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.4 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Made with pgp4pine

iD8DBQE6rk2sJXH58oo6ncURAlBOAKDeBMPfgnGI0SIkxRq7pMCZbTIuYQCeJ7dF
l9QnGK+SB4SWrEwPCEXbvMo=
=B3Zr
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----