[A.A.R.] CC-01 Pavlov's House (Conflict of Heroes - PC)

[Double Deuce]

I am going to play through the new scenario I recently created and post the AAR here in this thread. It has not been released yet but it will be soon. I am giving it more more final play through from the German side.

THE SITUATION: At the end of September, units of Rodimsev's 13th Guards were ordered to seize buildings on Lenin Square and form strongpoints. A damaged apartment building was attacked and occupied by Sgt. Jacob Pavlov and his men, who formed a defensive position with some meager reinforcements. Since it sat astride the German line of advance to the Volga only 250 meters away, his strongpoint came under frequent attack. On October 20, as part of the general German effort to complete their seizure of the city, one of the strongest attacks to date was launched against Pavlov's house.
 
NUMBER OF TURNS: 6
 
GERMAN ORDER OF BATTLE:
 
AT START:
1x Rifle Squad - Lt. Stahler (Elite)
1x Rifle Squad - Sgt. Kelso (Veteran)
1x Rifle Squad - Cpl. Uhl (Regular)
6x Rifle Squad - (Regular)
1x HMG (Experienced)
3x LMG (Veteran)
1x Pz IVf2 - 1st Sgt. Berg (Experienced)
1x Pz IVf2 (Veteran)
REINFORCEMENTS:
None
SUPPORT:
None
 
My OBJECTIVE is: Capture at least 3 of the 5 buildings that make up "Pavlov's House" by scenario end. 
 
Here is my deployment (the 2x PzIVf2's are just behind the infantry line, out of the picture). On the right, Sgt. Kelso will lead the main assault around the Russian's left flank with 2x LMG'x and 4x Rifle Squads, supported by the 2 tanks. On the left and in center, Lt. Stahler and Cpl. Uhl will provide supporting fire with 5x Rifle Squads an LMG and HMG from across the open area of Lenin's Square.
 
Expected enemy forces include;
 
1x SMG Squad - Lt. Simovitch (Elite)
1x Rifle Squad - Sgt. Pavlov (Veteran)
2x Rifle Squad - (Experienced)
1x 45mm ATG (Veteran)
1x 50mm Mortar (Veteran)
1x Maxim MMG (Veteran)

DESIGN CREDIT:
This is a derivative/conversion of the Squad Leader Tournament Scenario #2 "Pavlov's House" scenario published in ASL Journal #5 from Multi-Man Publishing.
Original design by Burt baker, Development by Jom Mishcon and Joe Suchar. The TS Scenarios were used in the Origin 1983 COI/COD Tournament. Published in the GENERAL (Volume 19, #5).




 

[Keunert]

great to have another aar and most of all one of a game i am still guessing if i would like it or not.
looks like the buzz calmed down real quick on this one, compared with the high anticipation.

looking forward to you posts!

[TheCommandTent]

Nice start, looking forward to following this one.

[Double Deuce]

TURN 1
 
Sgt. Kelso leads the attack around the flank, sticking to the buildings and woods, trying to stay out of sight until they are in position to conduct the assault. 
 
On the left and center, the main line moves forward slowly but as they reach the buildings directly across from Pavlov's House they are taken under fire by a 45mm ATG and 50mm Mortar. An LMG is pinned and Cpl. Uhl is killed when his squad is wiped out by cannon fire. As the advance presses forward I decide to shift one of the tanks further to the left so that they are on opposite sides of Lt. Stahler's position in the center. Hopefully this will give me better supporting cover fire all along the front.



 

[Double Deuce]

TURN 2 and 3
 
On the right, Sgt. Kelso continues leading the attack around the Russian flank, trying to remain hidden in the buildings and woods however, they are quickly spotted by a Russian Rifle Squad and begin taking fire. As they advance, the Russian 50mm Mortar switches from the German left to the the German right. Fortunately doing little more than causing occasional suppression.
 
On the far left, the HMG finally gets into position but before they are able to begin laying suppressing fire both of the supporting Rifle Squads are lost to Sgt Pavlov's formerly concealed Rifle Squad. By a stroke of good luck, a newly positioned Pz-IVf2 manages to silence the 45mm ATG, ending the immediate threat to the German supporting armor.
 
In the center, Lt. Stahler's squad is suppressed and unable to return fire while another squad moves up from behind, ready to pass through and assault the objective.

[Double Deuce]

TURN 4
 
The assault begins! As an LMG is shifted left to provide covering fire, the main assault is launched from the center and right flank,  Lt. Stahler and Sgt Kelso leading the way. In the initial charge 2 buildings are captured with both a Russian Rifle and SMG Squad being overrun and eliminated in close combat. Unfortunately, in the close combat 2 more German squads are eliminated with 2 more being suppressed and unable to rally. Seeing the assault deteriorating an LMG who managed to reach the 1st building immediately sets up a hasty defensive position hoping the supporting squads manage to rally.

[Double Deuce]

TURN 4
 
A second view of the assault.

[Double Deuce]

great to have another aar and most of all one of a game i am still guessing if i would like it or not.
looks like the buzz calmed down real quick on this one, compared with the high anticipation.

Honestly, I must say I am disappointed in the game as it is so far. There are very few included scenarios and the custom scenario design process is not a simple feat. I found myself doing a lot of trial and error stuff to see how things worked and take many personal notes for future reference. The map import features has been kinda hit or miss for me (some terrain does not get imported properly and even imported the same JPG yields different results). It also needs more unit types and cards included in the PC version (at least to those that are in the board version).

BUT, I have to say I "really" do like the game design and think it has a great deal of potential and models the boardgame overall very well. Its just not there yet.

[MetalDog]

DD, glad to see you back.  And nice AAR.

[jomni]

I quickly lost interest in the game because it's just too gamey.

[Keunert]

nice aar! i am really interested in the game. but the more i read about it the less it became the must buy i first thought it was. it is a scenario based game, right? no immersive campaign?

[junk2drive]

No campaign but it has been talked about. I'm not sure it would be a good idea though. Typical game is 4-5 turns, not the 30-40 we are use to with our turn based games. Jamm has done a quasi campaign by making a larger map and creating 3 battles on different parts of it. The final battle requires you to only purchase what survived the first two battles thereby making it a carryover campaign. We stopped testing when I installed the beta update and now I can't join the MP server.

[Double Deuce]

TURN 5
 
Sgt. Kelso manages to rally his and another nearby squad and the final push for Buildings #4 and #5 begins. Sgt. Pavlov's squad is damaged and unable to rally seemingly leaving the rest of the objective unprotected however, before he is hit  he manages to suppress Sgt. Kelso's advancing squad again and turn back to face the circling German armor. The rightmost Pz-IVf2's shifts back around to the northern side of the objective to take up a fire by support position next to the left of his wingman. The LMG and HMG sitting behind the tanks continue hammering away at any exposed Russians. Its starting to look like a clean sweep for the Germans.

[Double Deuce]

TURN 6 > END
 
Another building on the objective is secured as Sgt Pavlov and him men are overrun killed.  The remaining Russians, about 1 squad, flee out the back door of the last building headed for the Volga. 
 
Final result. A German Victory (Germans 4, Russian 1)

[TRDG]

It looks like it is just like the board game DD, I have The Russian Bear and Kursk.  Interesting for a time but, in the end kind of lost interest in some of the game mechanics, at least for the board games.

Cheers, good to know what I am, and am not missing for this game system

Tom