Reply To: Hobby Weekender 19/10/2018 – The Directors Cut Limited Edition Box Set

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For what it is worth …

Battle Report Part 02 – 36th Ulster Division at Courtrai (October 19 1918)

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Okay, with the first big MG positions cracked on the German right wing, and with Lyons’ and McAuley’s platoons closed up with the Germans on the left wing, Captain W. Johnston “blows the whistle” and makes a general assault.

This … will get  messy.

Working our way from left to right, first we have Lyons’ platoon making a rush down the street toward Neumann’s platoon holed up in those ruins to the west.  The company mortar section drops in some smoke to help cover this, but Lyons will be taking plenty of opportunity fire from the front, plus Ritter’s platoon to the southeast, plus a back-up MG 08 nest.   I’m not sure how much cover that smoke is really going to give …

Meanwhile, McAuley’s platoon makes a shove straight at the MG o8 position facing him.  He has no smoke or cover, and his squads will have to dash across an open street, but that MG 08 is more or less alone, so he should be all right.

McCabe’s platoon is laying down fire from one wing of that eastern building to the next, trying to pin down Steiner’s platoon to help facilitate Johnston’s charge blitzing across the street, then through the ruins, and then finally straight into the teeth of Steiner’s position.

Flynn, meanwhile, will be flanking around the far Irish left, getting at the German mortars hopefully and unhinging their right wing.

Dice show the results of the German opportunity fire and McCabe’s attempt at covering fire. 

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German opportunity fire has been deadly.  Despite poor die rolls from Neumann and the MG 08 nest, Ritter has rolled very well against Lyons and mauled his platoon badly despite smoke cover.  The assault is now underpowered, and despite committing three grenades (after Lyons carefully applies casualty points to allow the maximum use of grenade counters), the assault fails!  The survivors of Lyon’s platoon are now pinned down in the street!

McAuley’s assault, as predicted, succeeds (it’s just hitting a <i>much </i>weaker target) – but he must still take casualties for breaching a building holding one German unit (half-squad, MG crew).

McCabe’s support fire didn’t do very much (just a bad die roll against heavy defensive modifiers), and Johnston’s assault barely succeeds against Steiner’s platoon.  Steiner’s position is wiped out, but Johnston’s platoon has paid a steep price.  Johnston softens the butcher’s bill by taking additional pinned (his men are being more cautious and less reckless, thus more immobilized and but taking fewer actual losses) – he’s relying on his -2 leadership bonus and his men’s “E” elite rating to rally before his pinned sections are counter-assaulted by Germans next turn.

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Irish rallies don’t go quite as well as hoped.  Although Johnston’s sections rally, the bloodied remnants of Lyons’ platoon does not (Lyons himself does, however).  It doesn’t look good on the Irish right wing …

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The German Turn 02 sees some wild reverses of fortune.   Starting from left to right …

Lyon’s men should be meat on the table – they are pinned down in a street, the smoke cover dissipating (note the +1 instead of +2) point blank German platoon in front, and MG 08 on their flank.  But they somehow survive!

McAuley, who was doing so well last turn, is not so lucky.  Ritter’s platoon counterattacks (after McAuley fluffs defensive fire) and McAuley’s whole platoon is wiped out!  He does take a nasty slash out of Ritter’s platoon, though.

The German Kompanie KP, meanwhile, holed up in the large, central objective building to the south, starts pouring fire down into McCabe’s position.  But Bothi’s platoon rolls boxcars – summoning another Irish sniper attack!  This time the sniper also rolls a six (best roll), inflicting automatic 6 casualty points minus any terrain bonus (-2 for ruined buildings) = 4 casualty points … Bothi’s section is wiped out!  Technically by its own attack roll! 😮

The rest of the fire (German attack fire, Irish defensive fire) is pretty ineffective.  Even after house-ruling all these buildings as -2 “ruined buildings” instead of the -3 “normal” buildings, these city battles just aren’t going to be decided by exchanging fire.  This is going to be about pinning, assault, trench knives and shovels (because both sides are now out of grenades).

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A quick close up on Lyon’s miraculous survival, McAuley’s last stand, and Bothi’s hapless encounter with an Irish sniper …

I plan to finish this game tonight.  Lets see how our brave Coleraine studio crew winds up in one of the closing battles of the Great War, 100 years ago this month!