Band of Brothers Ghost Panzers (Bob help required)

[JudgeDredd]

Turn 2
Russian Operations Phase
The Russian Operations Range is 3-4

It's time to soften up these German units and assault
Unit 1
The Russian MG squad in C5 opens fire on the German squad in E6


The Russian MG FP of 5 is reduced to 3 because the German squad is in a Stone building
A roll of 10 is a miss


The Russian squad is marked with a Used marker


Unit 2
The Russian MG squad in C6 opens fire on the German squad in E6


The Russian MG FP is reduced from 5 to 3 because the German squad is in a Stone building
A roll of 1 is automatic suppression


The German unit is Fully Supressed


The Russian MG squad is marked as used


Unit 3
The Russian MG squad in G7 opens fire on the German squad in F5


The Russian MG FP is reduced to 3 because the German unit is in a Stone building
A roll of 3 means the German unit is suppressed


The Russian MG squad is marked as used


Unit 4
The Russian squad in F7 moves towards the objective into F6 !STOP!


The German squad in F5 opens fire with opportunity fire


The German unit has to pass a morale check because it's suppressed
A roll of 8 means it fails it's morale check and cannot fire!


The German uses it's Command Point to reroll the morale check and a roll of 9 is no good and so the German squad cannot fire!


The German squad is marked as used


The other German squad in E6 could also open fire using OpFire, but a roll of 1 is required and so he does not do so

The Russian unit completes it's move into F5 and is marked as used


This ends the Russian's Operations Phase for this phase of the turn


German Operations Phase
The German has an Operation Range of 1-4

Unit 1
The German squad in E4 moves to F4 and loses it's Conceal chit and benefit


The squad is marked as used


Unit 2
The German squad in B3 was going to assault the Russian squad in C5 but decided against it
The squad would suffer at the hands of a modified FP of 7...the Proficient FP of 2 for the Russian squad modified with +3 for being adjacent, +4 for the German squad moving in open ground giving an FP of 9 but reduced by -2 to 7 because it's Final OpFire (the Russian squad has been used)

Bob - am I correct in my calculation of the modified FP above? It seems very harsh but I remember you saying it is a great tactical game in the sense that it really forces you to not charge about, using cover and suppression

This concludes the German's Operations Phase for this phase of the turn

[GJK]

What's the victory conditions JD?  You say in your intro to take 2 buildings but don't specify which.  I would assume that this is a "Guards Counterattack" type scenario with the Germans strictly defending; or is it a meeting engagement in that the Germans have to take two of the Russian buildings and vice versa for the Russian player?

[bob48]

Gary, its actually the GP Infantry Training Scenario. The Russians win if there are no German units in E6/F5 building at the end of the game (4 turns).

[GJK]

Gary, its actually the GP Infantry Training Scenario. The Russians win if there are no German units in E6/F5 building at the end of the game (4 turns).

Got ya.  These are fun types of scenarios in whatever tactical game system you use.  I'd take the Russians in this one any day just by the looks of it but the Germans could sure make it tough.  They must cover that D4-D6 road with as much firepower as they can; I'd look to move the squad in B3 over to D2 to assist with that.  That would allow the German squad to move back over to G4 where he can bolster up their left flank.

I'd think that the Russians can't be too fickle here.  They're going to take some losses but they have the numbers (as per usual) so they just need to swarm and overwhelm the VL building and take it and then let the time run out as the Germans make a counter-attack to try and take it back. 

Looks like fun!

[JudgeDredd]

Problem is, for the Russians, is the FP bonus the Germans get when the Russians try to cross open ground without suppressing the German units. For a start, there's a +4FP bonus for the Germans as soon as a Russian unit moves out into the open. Then there's a +3 for being adjacent IF the Russian unit moves next to a German unit.

The hope the Russians have - and they actually did quite well this last phase - is to fully suppress the German units. By suppressing the German units, you reduce their ability to pass a morale check and if they can't pass a morale check, then they can't fire.

In this scenario, the Germans have a Weapon Team in D2 watching the road south - but the real danger will come from the South East. Now the German units are used and suppressed, the Russians can close in. That's why, as the German player, I moved the German squad from E4 to F4 - to cover. I might have been better moving it one further to G5 though...but I was holding off so that if the Russian came adjacent then I could pounce.

[bob48]

Now, if the squad in H6 can reinforce the assault, then you have an extra chance of clearing the hex, and if the German squad fails its moral check, then its dead.

However, that will leave 2 Russian squads in that hex, and, if I were the German player, I'd spend a command point to take an action prior to the Russian (at the start of the next turn) and maybe do them some damage (from F4). 6+3-2 against both squads.

[JudgeDredd]

Bob

I have a question on the ending of a turn

As above, the Russians had 2 units left but their Operational Range is 3-4...so two questions jump up...

• Can the Russian player play the 2 units and end his phase...not meeting the minimum of 3 specified...or if he cannot meet the minimum, is he prevented from activating the two units?
• Can players pass? So if the Russian had 3 units left and the Operational Range suggests he must activate a minimum of 3 units, can he simply pass or if a player has units, he MUST play those units? If players are allowed to pass, that would mean he can wait until he's in a more favourable position to take on the enemy, wouldn't it? If the players are allowed to pass, when does this passing end...? When both players pass?

Thanks

[JudgeDredd]

Now, if the squad in H6 can reinforce the assault, then you have an extra chance of clearing the hex, and if the German squad fails its moral check, then its dead.

However, that will leave 2 Russian squads in that hex, and, if I were the German player, I'd spend a command point to take an action prior to the Russian (at the start of the next turn) and maybe do them some damage (from F4). 6+3-2 against both squads.

At the end of the turn, there's every chance that the German unit will rout at the end of the turn though, right?

[bob48]

JD. You can only pass if you have no eligible units left to activate (or are marked as Op Fire). If the other player has units left un-activated, then he continues activation until he has non left. In other words, the turn ends when neither side has any un-activated units left.

If you have less un-activated units than your minimum operation range, then you just activate what you have available and then pass to the other side.

Yes, if the German unit fails its moral check then it will rout. If there is not another friendly unit in the hex then the routing unit will be destroyed since it is now adjacent to enemy unit which is not in melee (the units in the hex that it has just routed from).

[JudgeDredd]

JD. You can only pass if you have no eligible units left to activate (or are marked as Op Fire). If the other player has units left un-activated, then he continues activation until he has non left. In other words, the turn ends when neither side has any un-activated units left.

If you have less un-activated units than your minimum operation range, then you just activate what you have available and then pass to the other side.

Yes, if the German unit fails its moral check then it will rout. If there is not another friendly unit in the hex then the routing unit will be destroyed since it is now adjacent to enemy unit which is not in melee (the units in the hex that it has just routed from).

Thanks for the help Bob. Sometimes a wee confirmation is a morale boost because it means I've taken something in.

oops...I hadn't thought about that.

Seems like that unit is doomed then (if it fails it's morale check in the rout phase) because I can't move any units into the hex with it and I can't fire into it (even if I had a unit that could fire). Also, I've used my Command Point for the Germans, so I can't re-roll if I fail the check.

Am I right? Is the unit doomed if it fails morale? I can't see a way of helping it.

[bob48]

If the Russian unit(s) in the melee are at full moral, then they obviously do not need to take a check; note that they would check first as the Russian player is the first player in the scenario.

So, if the German unit does fail its moral check, then it will indeed be lost. If there was a second German unit in the hex, then that would negate the loss.

Its quite possible that the German unit could pass its check and roll well enough to give 2 hits to the Russians whilst taking non in return (I have seen this happen on numerous occasions). They would then also both be fully supressed, and units in an on-going melee do not recover suppression, so they would now be at a distinct disadvantage.

The fact that stuff like this happens is what, to my mind, makes it such a good game system.

[JudgeDredd]

Yeah. I'm learning the importance of placement, suppression, careful movement...

At the scenario start, I was gobsmacked at the Russian units and thought they wouldn't stand a chance. Having read the rules several times and going through this scenario, I'm learning some important aspects of the system.

I thought those two German units would be harder to dig out than a tick on a sheep dog which is why I didn't place any German units to the east of the objective buildings giving the Germans more firepower over there...but actually, it turns out they are very vulnerable.

[bob48]

Good fun, innit? :-))

If I had been the German player, I would have tried to roll for Op fire with the fully supressed unit. If it had of succeeded, it could have done serious damage to the assaulting unit. Also, I would have reinforced the assaulted hex with the unit from E4 since the higher German FP gives them an advantage in melee; this would have also saved the assaulted unit had it failed its moral check.

[JudgeDredd]

Good fun, innit? :-))

aye

If I had been the German player, I would have tried to roll for Op fire with the fully supressed unit. If it had of succeeded, it could have done serious damage to the assaulting unit.

I was going to do so - but hadn't thought about it until I had moved the Russian unit into the German hex...by that time I had written some text for the AAR and also taken some photos - so I decided it was too much work to edit. I did mean to mention that in the AAR but forgot...but well spotted.

Also, I would have reinforced the assaulted hex with the unit from E4 since the higher German FP gives them an advantage in melee; this would have also saved the assaulted unit had it failed its moral check.

Yeah. I thought I was being clever. At the time, I was thinking about the German player getting a nice bonus on a unit moving adjacent to them - but I forgot about 2 things...1) The German unit wouldn't be able to fire into the hex with the friendly unit and 2) I forgot about the rout issue. I understood it, but kind of hadn't taken on board that the German unit exiting the hex would be moving next to the Russian unit wherever it went.

This was a learning scenario and that's exactly what it's doing though.

I just have to hope the German squad passes the morale check and doesn't have to rout! Obviously, with hindsight, I wish I had kept my CP - but I needed it back then to try and force the German unit to stop. If I had rolled a good morale roll, the Russian unit would've been history with a +4 in open ground and a +3 for being adjacent

[bob48]

I think its a really good training scenario - it certainly gets you thinking about what you're doing.