Good afternoon, everyone
Okay, time to finish the game that @elessar2590 and I had a great stream Sunday (Monday morning for him) – recorded at http://www.twitch.tv/sitreppodcast/videos– where we play-tested my new 1982 IDF and PLO forces and first Lebanon board for Valor & Victory. He took the PLO (on defense) and I took the IDF.
This is squad based game – each piece on the map is either a single officer, squad, fire team (half squad), or support weapon.
Each hex is about 30 yards / meters across.
The game takes place during Israel’s “Peace for Galilee” invasion of Lebanon, June 1982.
The first two turns of the game are reported previously, here is the finish.
As always, try “open image in new tab” for best resolution.
So as we hinted before, Elessar was coming at my southern platoon with a very powerful assault. He’s really learning this game fast, consolidating his squads in his command phase, using assault move (for enhanced cover bonus against my opportunity fire) and using available terrain to provide the best covered approach. Still, that’s a pretty powerful reinforced squad in the hex, under personal command of my IDF company commander (Captain Masalha). I’m also able to use grenades at the point-blank opportunity fire, and again to repel to assault. PLO leader Zaid takes hideous losses in that date orchard, both against my opp fire and in the assault himself (he gets to throw in grenades as well, but only for the troops that survived the opp fire). The odds aren’t great, he has to roll a 5 or less on 2d6 … AND HE ROLLS A FOUR! The PLO assault succeeds! I think that’s pretty much the end of the game there, and here’s why. Remember that I only get 1 VP per casualty point, he gets 3. Actually he gets 6 if he “captures” them. Well, five more casualty markers were just created in that hex, and since he successfully assaulted, that means he gets the hex in which the casualty markers are placed … i.e., he just captured five IDF casualty markers, for 30 VP right there. HOWEVER, by the time Zaid pays for the required casualties he incurred himself, not only are all his men dead, but he’s pinned down himself. Since he’s pinned, he can’t “capture” the casualty markers. He can rally in the after action phase, I’m praying he doesn’t get the required 6 or less on 2d6. If he makes it, he’s no longer pinned, and those casualties are gone. Thank GOD he fails the roll. All said, however, he’s wiped out my company command team, a full squad, and even a medic team. Good job!
At the beginning of Turn 3, Lt. Armichai’s platoon immediately takes PLO cell leader Zaid prisoner, then pours down firepower on PLO leader Muzayin’s position in the north (the one who’s earned “valorous” on Turn 1). In the after action phase, Armichai and his men start furiously evacuating casualties (medics can evacuate one casualty marker per turn automatically, other units have to make a pretty tough roll, assisted by Armichai’s leadership bonus). Suffice it to say Armichai’s platoon isn’t going anywhere any time soon (busy processing prisoners, CASEVACing wounded, and pouring down cover fire for Lt. Gandelev’s platoon up north). Elessar2590 sees this and decides to go for another lucky assault on his Turn 3. I get opp fire, but I have no grenades left with which to repel the assault. Luckily for me, this assault is weaker, and Armichai’s platoon actually has more support weapons (point blank Negev and RPG fire). This time the assault is repelled, and I actually wind up with some more prisoners.
FINALLY my luck takes a hard, hard turn for the better when, on Palestinian Turn 3, Elessar rolls BOX CARS for Muzayin’s fire roll against Gandelev’s embattled position. This is the worst roll in the game, not only does Muzayin and his men decidedly miss, but an Israeli sniper appears out of nowhere and makes an immediate sniper attack. I can place him anywhere within 6 hexes and LOS of the “offending” units that rolled the box cars, and I put this ninja-sniper RIGHT BEHIND Muzayin, and then roll a 6 on my sniper attack (best possible roll). That’s four casualty points in addition to everything he’s suffered already in a crossfire between Armichai and Gandelev. Boom, that PLO position is wasted, and all in Elsessar’s FIRE PHASE. Now comes his movement phase, and he elects to try and flush the sniper. After their activation, snipers only get opportunity fire attacks in enemy movement phase, so one fireteam (4-6-2) is gunned down as “bait,” a full squad (8-6-4) then rushes in (my sniper only gets one opp fire attack a turn) and my sniper is automatically eliminated. But damn, that more or less shattered the whole PLO northern wing and took a nice gash out of the center as well!
In fact, by the beginning of Turn 4, there’s really no one left on the PLO side. One full squad occupies those northern trees. The question now is, can I manage my assets and remaining time well enough, in the face of that last squad’s opportunity fire, to CASEVAC all my wounded and get all my prisoners back to battalion HQ for interrogation – all while taking at least three objective hexes? It’s a tall order, but on Turn 4 I get to work. A big part is for Gandelev to leave one fire team on the northwestern objective hex, then hustle south with the rest of his platoon (plus his medic team) to where I’ve taken such a pounding in that date orchard.
Turn 5 – while Gandelev arrives from the northwest, Armichai leads two elements east and northeast to grab two more objective hexes. I take fire from the last PLO squad, but with no leaders to direct their fire, plus the fire hindrance of that stone wall, plus their own sandbags as cover, Armichai and his men are not hit. Another fireteam heads to the building where the DShK was hit by earlier Israeli mortar fire, while Gandelev’s men and medics CASEVAV more wounded and prisoners.
Ending state on Turn 6. BARELY I’ve managed to grab a third objective hex (DShK hex in the large building – lower right). All prisoners and wounded evac’ed in the nick of time. So I’ve succeeded in the mission, but again, barely … and did I take too many losses for this mission to be considered a loss?
Almost. In all I took eight casualty counters, which were all safely evacuated, x3 = 24 points. In all, 27 men have been hit to one degree or another, we’re assuming 7 KIA and 20 WIA to one degree or another. Meanwhile, I’ve taken out 17 PLO fireteams and all four leaders (including 2 fire teams and 2 leaders captured). For “kills” I get 1 VP (17 in all), for “captures” I get 3 VP (12 in all) for a total score of 29. So by just five points, I technically “win” this game.
So this was a great game, thanks again to Elessar2590 and to everyone who watched us on Twitch. Technically I won with the IDF, but really this is because a ridiculous turn of fortune on Turn 3 saved my ass. Literally we had double 6s by Elessar, the worst roll for him, followed by two more 6s for me on sniper attacks, best possible rolls for me. That’s actually 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 = 1,296:1 odds in my favor on Turn 3 … and even with this, I barely belly-crawled out of that one with a “win.”
Hey, we all cry when the dice gods punish us, and they punish me plenty. They punished me pretty hard on Turn 1 and 2 (I still can’t believe that southern PLO assault). But when the dice gods favor us, we need to offer reciprocal gratitude.
The real win for me here was the successful playtest of Valor & Victory 1982. This means Falklands, Gulf War 1991, Somalia 1993 … all are potentially within reach.
Of course I’m not done with Lebanon yet. I want to draw up some counters in “The Arab Israeli Wars” (Israeli Merkava 1s, M109 Paladins, Syrian T-72s, Israeli AH-1 Cobras), etc. And I have the beginnings of technical / BMPs / Israeli M113 “Zelda” APCs in Valor & Victory.
So stay tuned! More to come!
