In The Trenches: Devil Dogs - First Try

Started by UBoater, April 12, 2016, 01:10:01 AM

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UBoater

Having just finished making a VASSAL module for John Gorkowski's In The Trenches - Devil Dogs, it's time to take it for a spin and start learning the game system. From the beginning of the rule book:

"In the Trenches (ITT) is an historically accurate, fast-playing board game of WWI battles played from the perspective of company and battalion commanders. During the game, players move platoon-sized units across a map superimposed with hexagons to regulate fire and movement. Each hexagon spans 100 yards and each turn covers 5 minutes. A typical Operation plays from start to finish in a few hours."

This is Tiny Battles reprint of the first release of the system under Grenier Games from 09. I have 2 of the 3 original Grenier Games (Opening Engagements and the Lost Generation) but never actually played them. Tiny Battles has reprinted and updated the packaging to smaller games. So far there are 2 base sets (Devil Dogs and Dough Boys) and one expansion (Coup De Grace). A quick comparison of the rules and counters between the earlier Grenier Games version and the current Tiny Battles version shows that they seem to be compatible. This means I can use the counters from the earlier games (French/British/Japanese/Russians) as well as game maps and scenarios with the current game version. Tiny Battles/John Gorkowski has said they intend to eventually reprint all the older scenarios/counters/maps in the new version.

This AAR will be my first play thru of the system. I'll start with the first scenario titled Hill 142. From the scenario description:

"The Kaiser's last spring offensives rolled to a halt on June 3, 1918, near Chateau Thierry, France when the 461st Imperial German Infantry Regiment (1,169 men) tangled with the 5th U.S. Marine Regiment at a so-far-unscarred place called Belleau Wood. With no way forward, the Germans entrenched. On June 6th, the Marines counterattacked. Before dawn, the first battalion of the fifth Marine Regiment (1/5) struck east at the local high ground – Hill 142. Two companies surged forward. German machine gun fire inflicted terrible losses, slowing them to a crawl. Then two more companies piled on to carry the fight uphill into bloody hand-to-hand combat. At a cost of 9 officers and 325 Marines, the Americans had captured the summit by 0700."

Below is the initial setup - the Germans are entrenched on the Hill with a supporting MG and Mortar unit at the crest. The Marines/Devil Dogs are about to leave the stream bed and move forward thru the morning mist to attack the Hill. But first there will be a brief preliminary bombardment of the hill. The stage is set.


"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Santayana

Starfire Saga ISW-1:
First Contact: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19664.0
Return to VX-134: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19773.0
Battle of Orphichon: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=20012.0
The Federation Strikes: http://www.grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=24520.0

UBoater


This AAR may be a little slow in development - real life is picking up.

First up is the preliminary bombardment - saturation bombardment. The target is Hill 142 and for saturation bombardment any units not in cover are eliminated. All the German's are in trenches which gives a cover modifier of 3. So for each hex 1d6 is rolled - if 1-3 no effect/if 4-6 the units are reduced and set to spent - meaning they can do no actions for the coming turn. So the bombardment is both to eliminate and suppress the enemy before the Marine advance.



The rolls for the 5 hexes result in 2 rolls greater than 3 so those hexes are reduced and spent. One hex is an Infantry unit but luckily for the US the other hex is the crest of the hill with the MG and Mortar units. All are reduced but maybe more importantly all are spent and so can not fire at the approaching Marines in the coming turn. Lesson learned - stacking units may not be a great idea...



Next up the Marines advance on the Hill under the limited concealment of morning mist...
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Santayana

Starfire Saga ISW-1:
First Contact: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19664.0
Return to VX-134: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19773.0
Battle of Orphichon: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=20012.0
The Federation Strikes: http://www.grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=24520.0

bayonetbrant

The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

UBoater


Turn 1 starts both sides roll 2d6 to determine initiative and the number of activations for the first round. The German's roll higher by 2 so they go first and are allowed 2 activations. Each activation a unit can move, fire, dig-in, close-combat - but each action increases the commitment level of the unit by 1. So a 'free' unit can dig-in/move/fire/close-combat and then they are marked 'Engaged.' An Engaged unit can do a fire or close-combat action and then they are marked with 'Spent.' A Spent unit is done for the remaining rounds of the turn. Once all units on both sides are Spent the turn is over - unless on an initiative roll (except for the first round) both sides roll the same which immediately ends the turn. Because of the results of the pre-lim saturation bombardment the German MG/Mortar/reduced inf are already Spent and can do nothing this turn.

So the Germans start with 2 activations for individual units or multiple units in a formation. A formation is 2-4 units of the same type and same letter designation and adjacent and stacked with another unit in the formation. This motivates the player to keep all units of a formation adjacent so they can move and/or fire together for just 1 activation.

The Germans use 1 activation to move the 2 further infantry units up to stack with the 2 closer infantry units. The first number on the counter is the firepower and the small superscript number is normal range. Units can also fire at extended range (x2) but at half firepower. The German units are now setup to all open fire together starting at extended range as the Marines approach. The moving units are marked Engaged and can only fire the rest of the turn.



Next the US gets 2 activations. There are 2 Marine Formations (A and B) and they are all adjacent so all the units in both formations can move for 2 Activations. They march forward their full Movement allowance (3 - last number on counter) thru the mist. It costs 1MP for clear terrain - and next turn to go uphill it will cost 2MP.



Next the Germans can do reaction fire with their un-Spent units at extended range.

Once I get thru the initial description of the rules the pace should pick up.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Santayana

Starfire Saga ISW-1:
First Contact: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19664.0
Return to VX-134: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19773.0
Battle of Orphichon: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=20012.0
The Federation Strikes: http://www.grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=24520.0

UBoater


Now the German reaction fire as the Marines start appearing in the mist. 3 German's can fire - the 2 Engaged and 1 Free Infantry units. After all modifiers (which will be explained shortly) the Firepower Value/Volume of Fire must be greater than 1 - if not they fired but no effect. So the 2 Engaged Inf will combine to fire and the 1 Free Inf will fire separately. The targets are the 2 middle stacks of Marines.

First the 2 Engaged Inf:
10 Firepower to start then 1/2 for extended range - 1/2 again for being Engaged - and finally 1/2 for the concealment provided by 2 intervening hexes of mist (if it had been 3 intervening hexes LOS would be blocked). So it is 10/6 = 1.6667 . This is greater than 1 so they can fire. Next a dieroll modifier is determined first by taking the 1.7 / 3 = 0.5667. Any terrain cover modifiers are applied to this - the Marines are in the open so there is none. Finally any fractions are dropped - so the dieroll modifier for fire is 0.

Now it is time for the Casualty Die Roll (CDR). 2d6 are rolled, modifier applied if any, then the result is compared to the target unit's resolve (middle number on the counter). Less than or equal no effect. Greater than but less than 10 then increase commitment level by 1. If 10 or greater unit is reduced/spent and retreats 1 hex. The roll for the hex is 9. The Marine resolve is 8 which it exceeds, but since less than 10 it only increases the units commitment to Spent (from engaged). These 2 units are done for the turn. The German's who fired are also increased from Engaged to Spent and are also done for the turn.

Next the free German fires at the uper middle stack. 5 Firepower 1/2 for extended range and 1/2 for 2 hexes of mist so value is 5/4=1.25 . Greater than 1 so can fire but then divided by 3 for modifier 1.25/3=0.4167 . Marines in open no terrain modifier and fractions dropped so 0 for CDR modifier roll again. And the roll is 9 again. The 2 Marines are spent and the German is increased to engaged - he can fire one more time this turn.



So going into the next and possibly last round of turn 1, the single engaged German and the 2 outer stacks of Engaged Marines are still able to fire.

This gives a taste of Infantry Direct Fire - moving on to round 2 initiative rolls.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Santayana

Starfire Saga ISW-1:
First Contact: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19664.0
Return to VX-134: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19773.0
Battle of Orphichon: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=20012.0
The Federation Strikes: http://www.grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=24520.0

UBoater


Germans roll higher by 2 so they go first and each side gets 2 activations.

The Germans only have 1 Engaged Inf unit that can do anything - all other units are Spent. If a unit is Engaged all it can do is fire or engage in close combat - no moving. And now if the single German fires it gets an additional 1/2 to its firepower for being Engaged. So the calculation would be 5 halved for ext range/halved again for 2 hexes of mist/and halved again for being Engaged. That would be 5/6 which is less than 1 so no effect.

The US on the other hand can fire from the 2 outer Engaged stacks separately. In each case they experience the same halving (Range/Engaged/Mist) but they each combine for 10/6=1.6667 . Greater than 1 so can fire. This is then divided by 3 to determine the modifier 1.7/3=0.5667. But their German Targets are in trenches which provides a cover modifier of -3 - so 0.6-3=-2.4. Fractions dropped so final modifier on the CDR is -2. I am slowly getting the hang of this...

First the lower stack of Marines fire at the lower 2 German Inf and the roll is 9-2=7 . German resolve is 7 so no effect and the Marines are spent. Next the upper stack of Marines fire at the upper stack of German inf and the roll is 3-2=1 . No effect again. And this effectively ends turn 1 since the only unspent unit cannot fire for any effect.

It is now the Recovery phase and all Engaged/Spent markers are removed.



Next turn 2 and the Marines will start climbing the Hill to engage the Germans - but the MG and Mortar on the crest can also fire now...
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Santayana

Starfire Saga ISW-1:
First Contact: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19664.0
Return to VX-134: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19773.0
Battle of Orphichon: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=20012.0
The Federation Strikes: http://www.grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=24520.0

UBoater


Turn 2 begins and first up is the initiative roll. The US wins with a spread of 4 activations so they can start their charge up the hill. Since I am relatively new to the system I am going to keep the strategy simple and come straight at the hill while trying to draw out then hopefully overwhelm the German reaction fire to my movement. The problem is it costs 2MP to go up the hill so all the Marines can only reach the front 3 level 1 hexes of the hill. From there if they survive they can move into the German trenches the next level up next turn. I have a feeling this is going to be bloody.

And I am right - I activate the northern formation first and send them up one unit at a time to draw fire. The morning mist has burned off so that concealment is gone, and when moving adjacent to German Infantry their Firepower is doubled. The first few units are thrown back taking heavy casualties. But even with the MG and Mtr thrown in 2 units survive on the level 1 portion of the hill adjacent to the German trenches.

The southern formation does not fare as well as all units take casualties and are thrown back by the volume of fire. Here is how it looks after all units on both sides are spent



Should some of the Marines have maneuvered further around the hill to surround it first? Should they have paused in place and fired at the Germans before charging - even though the German's have great cover from their trenches? But if they had done either it would have been one more turn of enduring German fire before actually closing with the enemy and the objective. Besides, these are USMC Devil Dogs - they would charge...

Here is the setup for Turn 3 - initiative is critical now.




I really don't know if the Marines can pull it off...
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Santayana

Starfire Saga ISW-1:
First Contact: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19664.0
Return to VX-134: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19773.0
Battle of Orphichon: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=20012.0
The Federation Strikes: http://www.grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=24520.0

UBoater

#7
At this point I gamed out the next 2-3 turns a number of times. The majority of them resulted in German victories. The Marines could not overcome the German advantages in combat and movement from the cover provided by the trenches and increased movement costs to get up the hill. In most cases the Marines would get adjacent and then either be thrown back or ultimately eliminated.

Below is a play thru where the next round at least went the Marine's way. After a few play thrus I was getting a better understanding of the game's systems - in this case after winning the initiative roll one of the adjacent Marines and the reduced Marine lower down the hill fire on the adjacent German's in the trenches and succeed in decimating and causing the remaining German to retreat up to the crest. The German return fire misses which sets up the 2nd adjacent Marine who did not fire to advance into the vacated trench hex. The next group of German's reaction fire but now thanks to the cover provided by the trenches the Marines hold their ground, although they are now spent. Can this momentum and luck be maintained...



If anything, assuming the Scenario force levels are realistic, this illustrates the real life Marines' courage and determination in actually succeeding in capturing the hill.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Santayana

Starfire Saga ISW-1:
First Contact: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19664.0
Return to VX-134: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19773.0
Battle of Orphichon: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=20012.0
The Federation Strikes: http://www.grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=24520.0

UBoater


Continuing on with the previous advantageous Marine play thru - turn 4 starts with the US getting the initiative and a +3 spread. The focus is to attack the trench hex containing the 2 full strength German Platoons. First Company B rushes the hill mainly to draw the German's fire - and they pay for it with 2 of 3 platoons eliminated. But the Germans are now engaged.



Next the Marine Platoon adjacent to the German's fires point blank and succeeds in raising their engagement level to spent. This sets up the rest of A Company to close on the German's with just the fire from the crest to oppose them.



The remainder of A Company rushes the German infantry in the trench - The reduced Inf/Mtr/MG on the crest each fire individually at the Marines but thanks to the cover of the trenches their fire is ineffective.



And for the 3rd activation all the Marines in A Company are activated and... fire at the German Infantry. It would not be wise to initiate Close Combat yet since the German's are slightly stronger than the Marines currently in their hex. So attempting to reduce them with fire before initiating close combat makes more sense. And the Germans are reduced and forced to retreat to an adjacent trench hex.



The Marines are now in 2 trench hexes but must take the crest hex to win. As I work more with the game system I am beginning to see its "richness" (to quote another reviewer). Many decisions over what, how, who, and when to take actions. But the dice still play a major role especially with initiative and combat resolution.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Santayana

Starfire Saga ISW-1:
First Contact: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19664.0
Return to VX-134: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19773.0
Battle of Orphichon: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=20012.0
The Federation Strikes: http://www.grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=24520.0

UBoater

It is now the start of turn 5. Before continuing let me say again this is based on an advantageous play of turn 3 for the Marines for the sake of the AAR. As my experience with the system grows I will revisit this scenario to see if there is a better way to do the approach to the hill to increase the Marines survival chances.

B Company was decimated last turn - but A Company is still relatively intact and poised to rush the crest.



The Germans win the initiative roll with a +3 spread giving them 3 activations this round. First they activate the 3 reduced infantry platoons of Company A as a formation and fire on the adjacent full/reduced strength Marines. Since they are adjacent their firepower is doubled to 12/3 = +4 modifier - but the Marines are in the trenches now so that takes it down -3 to a +1. And the Germans roll... poorly - no effect. Cover makes all the difference. Next the Germans activate the MG unit that gets a 6FP/3 = +2 but again the trenches reduce that to -1. And again the die roll is no effect. Finally the Mortar is activated and takes a shot - 4/3 = 1.3 - the -3 trench cover is applied and fractions dropped giving a -1 DRM again. And the Germans fail the roll one more time. Things are looking up for the Marines.

Now here come the Marines - first they move the reduced Inf platoon up to the crest hex to draw the German fire - but the Germans wait for the full strength Platoons to move before reaction firing. The first full strength Marine platoon moves up to the crest and all the Germans on the crest have to fire before the last reaction fire gets an adjusted 9 which makes the Marine platoon spent and unable to fire/close assault this turn. That leaves only the 2 adjacent German platoons to attempt to prevent the 2nd Marine platoon's advance on the crest - and they fail.



The remaining Marine platoons advance into the cover of the front trench hexes and are in position to reinforce the assault on the crest next turn if needed.

Now comes decision time. Since one of the Marine Platoons is spent it cannot participate in close combat during the last activation. The remaining units of A Company could fire at the German's this turn - 9/3 = 3 DRM reduced by -3 for trench to a 0 DRM. The Marines would need to roll a 10-12 to eliminate the reduced Germans on the crest. And if they failed next turn all 3 Marine Platoons could participate in close combat - unless the German's got the initiative and got lucky with the die.

The other option is to initiate close combat now with the 2 unspent Marine platoons. Close combat is calculated by multiplying the number of steps of unit type by its close combat value. Infantry platoons have a CCV of 3 while ordinance units have a CCV of 1. So the Marines have 3 steps x 3 CCV = 9. The German's have 1 step inf x 3 CCV plus 2 steps ordinance x 1 CCV =5. The odds 9:5 - rounded down to 1:1. If the US waits for the other full strength platoon to participate next turn it would be 5 steps x 3CCV = 15 jumping to 3:1. The conservative course of action would be to take the direct fire this turn and win outright on a 10-12 - but taking a chance for failure and then possibly giving the German's a chance to react next turn before close combat. Close combat this turn at 1:1 is a 50/50 shot on the close combat table. Even odds to win or lose...

But these are Marines with their blood up - so I go ahead with the close combat at 1:1.
And they roll an 11 and wipe out the Germans while losing the reduced platoon.



It looks like victory for the Devil Dogs - unless the German's can pull a rabbit out of their hat next turn...

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Santayana

Starfire Saga ISW-1:
First Contact: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19664.0
Return to VX-134: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19773.0
Battle of Orphichon: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=20012.0
The Federation Strikes: http://www.grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=24520.0

bob48

I'm really interested in this game, and it now has 2 expansions, so thank you for the AAR. Its just a pity that as far as I can see, non of the UK retailers sell games by this publisher.
However, after talking to panzerde about it last night, I have emailed them to see how much shipping would cost.
'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'

'Clip those corners'

Recombobulate the discombobulators!

panzerde

This is great stuff, thanks for the AAR! I ordered all three modules of this yesterday and can't wait for them to show up. Any chance of making the Vassal mod available?
  O0
"This damned Bonaparte is going to get us all killed" - Jean Lannes, 1809

Castellan -  La Fraternite des Boutons Carres

UBoater

Thanks, I've enjoyed getting familiar with this game system (finally). There is still the artillery - on and off-board - major section to test drive and then all the rest of the WW1 chrome - tanks, gas, wire, etc. I plan on revisiting this system often as it grows.

Since I play all my games PBEM or Solo via VASSAL I really like the option of getting the games inexpensively digital and then making a VASSAL mod. I have also picked up digital copies of TinyBattles' Sticks&Stones modern combat, and Richmond Civil War Series and am looking forward to getting those up and running soon. I have a few tweaks for the ITT VASSAL mod I have been using but will let you know when I am done and shoot y'all a copy for "testing." I need to check w/the publisher before I release it to the wild...

The developer of this system also has 2 more WW1 systems/games I want to try. Red Poppies is the next level up from this system - kind of like SL vs PzB. And then I have been reading only good things about his monster WW1 strategic game - Balance of Powers/Compass Games.

So many games and not enough time. But first I need to play out the rest of this scenario.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Santayana

Starfire Saga ISW-1:
First Contact: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19664.0
Return to VX-134: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19773.0
Battle of Orphichon: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=20012.0
The Federation Strikes: http://www.grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=24520.0

UBoater

Turn 6 starts :



First the initiative roll - US wins by +2. This could be the end.
Either the US can brave reaction fire and move into the German hex for close combat - or all of A Company can open fire hoping to roll >= adj 10 to eliminate the remaining 2 reduced German Inf Platoons.

The US FP is 10 x 2 = 20 (1 or less hex range double firepower) for the adjacent US Marines. Add in the remaining A Co Platoon 2 hexes away for a total FP of 22. This is important as 22/3 = 7.3333 DRM for firepower. Next subtract the trench cover modifier of -3 for a DRM of +4 after dropping fractions. So on a 6 or more roll the German's are eliminated - and the roll ironically is 6 + 4 DRM = 10 - reduced/spent. But both German's are already reduced so instead they are eliminated. All German's have been cleared off the Hill and the Marines are in sole control for the victory!



Next up a summary/wash-up.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Santayana

Starfire Saga ISW-1:
First Contact: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19664.0
Return to VX-134: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19773.0
Battle of Orphichon: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=20012.0
The Federation Strikes: http://www.grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=24520.0

UBoater

This play thru provided me experience with the basic system. In future games I plan on delving more into the chrome as I mentioned previously - artillery/indirect fire, tanks, gas, wire/fortifications. I'm looking forward to it.

Some general strategy observations:

   1. Don't bunch up/stack while under fire if at all possible. It's a single roll for the entire hex so one bad roll could decimate your force if they are not spread out.
   2. Do stack when it helps - specifically close combat. You need the max CCV for the best odds.
   3. Avoid/minimize moving in the open under fire. First no cover modifier and then a +1 for moving makes this a very deadly practice. Throw in wires later slowing movement even more and the game seems to realistically portray the slaughter involved with "going over the top"
   4. Close with the enemy as quickly as possible instead of taking potshots in the open while they are in cover. Once the Marines got in the trenches their higher/consistent resolve of 8 compared to the German's 7/6 resolve began to be a factor.
   5. Timing is critical when moving/firing. Draw fire and raise the commitment level of the enemy before committing your main attack. In this game B Company was decimated charging the hill but this aided A Company getting into the trenches. Also moving single units instead of stacks forces more spread out enemy reaction fire.
   6. While it was not seen in this game - machine guns are deadly.
   7. My feeling is the system favors the defender, especially if in good cover. Once again this seems realistic.

Next up a return to vMinis - specifically Fantasy Skirmish. Then I will probably be back in the Trenches for another run thru.

Thanks for reading and your comments are appreciated.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Santayana

Starfire Saga ISW-1:
First Contact: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19664.0
Return to VX-134: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=19773.0
Battle of Orphichon: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=20012.0
The Federation Strikes: http://www.grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=24520.0