[DS]AAR The Battle of Research Station Muriel - Again (Long)

I ran this Scenario several years ago (May 2001
http://lists.firedrake.org/gzg/200105/msg00337.html) but have now run it
again with a few changes to the terrain and Force Composition intended
to make the scenario more even.

A force of Tryanids attacked a research station being constructed by D
troop of 1er Escadron, 2eme Regiment Étranger de Cavalrie. The rest of
the squadron plus a supporting artillery battery rushed to the rescue.
The the battle is described below.

The terrain

A flat open plain studded with occasional clumps of trees. A single
river winds across the area. In a loop of the river on the side nearest
the Tyranid base line was a cluster of buildings representing the
research station, reached by a single road from the French baseline. The
river was fordable by infantry along its whole length. The banks of the
river were considered to give hull down cover from either side.
Most of the terrain is normal to GEV's with the exception of the wooded
areas (impassable), the riverbanks (difficult), the road (easy) and RS
Muriel (difficult). 
For everything else the basic terrain was normal, with other stuff being
difficult, except the road that was easy.

Organization and Equipment

Note: all infantry units were designed using Steve Gibson's alternative
infantry rules -
http://www.cowell.org/~andy/min/ds2/variants/sgib-infantry.html

French

1er Escadron, 2eme Regiment Étranger de Cavalrie (reinforced)
	Headquarters (Veteran/1)
		1 AC-8 Hovertank
		1 ACVI-3/PC Command Vehicle
		1 ACVI-3/VOA Artillery Observation Vehicle (attachment)

	A (Veteran/2) and B (Regular/2) Troops
		3 AC-8 Hover tanks

	C (Regular/2) and D (Green/1) Troops
		3 ACVI-3/TT MICV's
		4 line infantry elements (1 the troop commander)
		3 line APSW elements
		1 line LAD element

	1er Batterie Compagnie Autonome de l'Artillery d'Aurore
(Regular/2) (attachment)
		4 RAM Mortars (off table), 3 HEF Markers, 1 MAK Marker

Technically all the infantry can't fit in the 3 ACVI-3's but in order to
model the "real" unit the LAD and Command teams are counted as being
split across the three vehicles. See
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~dheb/2300/Europe/France/CDW2REC.htm
for a more detailed look at this unit.

AC-8 Hovertank
Size 3, GMS/H (ENH) MDC/3 Fixed, RFAC/1 (Turret), APSW, ENH Firecon, ENH
ECM, Fast GEV. 3/2 Armour

ACVI-3/TT MICV
Size 3, GMS/L (ENH) RFAC/1 (Turret), APSW ENH Firecon, ENH ECM 2/1
Armour, 2 Infantry Stands, 2/1 Armour

The ACVI-3/PC is an ACVI-3/TT but with command systems, the ACVI-3/VOA
is the ACVI-3/TT but with an artillery observer.

Tyranid

Swarm
	2 Exocrine Broods (3 vehicles) (Green/2 and Regular/3)
	2 Termagant Broods (5 elements + 1 warrior) (Regular/1 and
Green/2) carried in a total of 6 Mirins
	1 Genestealer Brood (5 elements + 1 warrior) (Veteran/2) carried
in 3 Mirins
	1 Gargoyle Brood (5 elements) (Regular/2)
	1 Hormagaunt Brood (5 elements + 1 warrior) (Veteran/3) carried
in 3 Mirins
	1 Lictor Brood (5 vehicles) (Regular/2)
	1 Biovore Brood (5 vehicles) (3 HEF Markers, 2 Biological
Markers) (Veteran/2)
	1 Carnifex Brood (4 Elements)

Exocrine MBT:
Size 5, MDC/3 x 3 (Fixed), RFAC/1 (Turret), APSW, BAS Firecon, No ECM,
Slow Tracked, 3A/2A Armour

Biovore Infantry Walker:
Size 2, Light Artillery, APSW, Infantry Walker, 2A/1A Armour

Lictor Infantry Walker
Size 1, RFAC/1 x 2 (Arm), APSW, BAS Firecon, No ECM, Infantry Walker,
1A/0A armour

Carnifex Walker
Size 3, Combat Walker, DFFG/5 x 1 (Arm), RFAC/2 x 1 (Arm), APSW, BAS
Fircon, No ECM, Backup Systems, 3A/2A Armour

Mirin APC (Brigade Miniatures)
Size 2, Slow Tracked, APSW x 1, BAS Fircon, No ECM, 2A/1A Armour, 2
Infantry Teams

Gargoyles
Move 12", HTK 3, Range 6", Firepower 2, Flying, IAVR (6")
Genestealers
Move 4", HTK 4, Range 2", Firepower 4 (Close Combat Only), IAVR (2")
Hormagaunt
Move 4", HTK 4, Range 2", Firepower 4 (Close Combat Only), IAVR (2")
Termagaunts
Move 2", HTK 4, Range 4", Firepower 2, IAVR (4")
Warriors
Move 2", HTK 5, Range 12", Firepower 4, IAVR (6")

Special Rules:
Genestealers, Warriors and Lictors are normal units. All other units are
subject to the following rules.
If they are not within 10" of a warrior then they act instinctively. For
Exocrines and Biovores this instinct is to remain stationary and fire at
the NEAREST enemy unit. For Termagaunts, Gargoyles, Mirins and
Hormagaunts this is to move towards the nearest enemy unit shooting if
possible, and if in range close assault, if they close assault and win
they must follow through. All units except Genestealers, Warriors and
Lictors are subject to panic at all times (irrespective of quality)
however if they panic they react according to instinct rather than loose
an action. Tyranids do not suffer the reaction test for use of
biological weapons.

Setup:
At the start D troop was placed among the buildings with the 3 ACVI-3's
parked hull down by the river. The French artillery was off table. The
Tyranids started with the Lictors and Carnifexes on the flanks intending
to move forward and interdict the French reinforcements. The rest
started so as move forward mounted and then do a dismounted assault on
the research centre.

Experience and leadership levels for the French were designed as part of
the scenario. Tyranid levels were done by pulling chits from an opaque
container.

Reinforcement Schedule (all French)
Turn 3
	B Troop
Turn 5
	A Troop
Turn 7
	C Troop
Turn 9
	Headquarters (no French rally attempts allowed until they
arrive)

I did not take detailed turn by turn notes but the general shape of
things was that the Tyranids carried out a fairly standard assault
against the research centre with the Gargoyles doing nothing more that
absorb fire. D troop failed their morale and fell back towards the
advancing B troop, meanwhile the Tyrnanid player (me) made a mess of his
first artillery barrage and dropped half of it on his own troops! 

The survivors of the assault moved into the research centre to try and
"dig in" while the A and B troops engaged the Exocrines in a long range
shoot out which the Exocrines lost. At this point I decided to try and
drop a bio weapon barrage on the newly arrived C troop, but no one with
a LOS on them seemed able to call fire, so I dropped the barrage on one
of the tank troops, which it could not affect directly, but it did force
a morale check for the entire force that lead to D troop routing and C
troop becoming shaken.

At this point the French HQ arrived and managed to rally the Infantry;
the French player (My brother in law Bill) worked out the significance
of the Warrior stands and started to concentrate fire on units that had
them.

The French then moved in to retake the research centre dropping a
barrage on the centre with great effect with the HQ unit's artillery
observer making his first roll. As he moved in for the kill the 6" range
of the surviving warriors IAVR came as a bit of a surprise taking out 2
tanks.

When the assault went in the French managed to push the Tryranids out
into the open and broke the surviving "infantry".

At this point we called it a day, the Tryanids still had some Mirins,
Biovores, Carnifexes and Termagants left but all the Warriors were dead,
on the other hand the French had lost some APCs, Tanks and Infantry and
were not in a state to follow up; RS Muriel was a complete wreck.

This seemed to go closer to my intention for the scenario than last time
I ran it with both sides having chances to attack and defend. As the
Tyranid player I really felt the lack of a dedicated artillery observer
unit and also felt that I could have done with a better long range tank
killer.

Chris Downes-Ward

**********************************************************************
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they
are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify
the system manager.
This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by
MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses.
www.mimesweeper.com
**********************************************************************