The Empire etc.... Crossfire
Experiment Two
The Attack..
Since our reconnaissance, the enemy has aggressively been pushing patrols across the stream
and, it is suspected, digging-in. It has therefore been decided that
an attack in company strength, with tank support, is to take place in
order to clear the enemy from the valley.
Three tanks and a
first wave of two platoons will lead, with HQ and the fourth platoon
as second wave/reserve.
[Rules as before, but with some
tweaking for the armour and the enemy possibly having set up some
kind of defences.
I've been looking at with some of Lindybeige's house rules re. multiple attacker variants etc. - some of which look really worthwhile experimenting with.
Also, as this is a more
of an "attack against an enemy occupied area" scenario, rather than a scouting mission I will use a throw of 6 on a 6D as
the card trigger.
Second wave and stationary/hidden units will
trigger on a two throw process (i.e. a 6 then another 6 to
trigger).
In the deck I will use all red cards but Spade Ace and
Court cards only (i.e. both red suits, one black).
The court cards and Aces will act as follows (and
be discarded after one use).
The deck will be reshuffled after each
court card draw.:
Red
Jack: MG. fire from previously-concealed enemy blockhouse (first
wave/attackers only. Ignore and return to pack for second
wave/stationary).
Red
Queen: Enemy AT rifle fires at nearest tank to testing unit.
King
of Hearts: Enemy tank appears and fires.
King
of Diamonds: Enemy infantry counter attack. (Note if this card is
drawn at once draw another card. If that card is ANY Red card then
there is, immediately before the enemy infantry are placed on the
table, an artillery barrage of ten "bursts" across the
table targeting my troops. The second card is then returned to the
deck.). Throw one Ave D. Throw 2x6D per pip shown on Ave D. This is
the number of enemy charging.
Spade
Jack or Spade Queen: Mine (A/T or A/P as per triggering unit).
Spade
King: Friendly artillery barrage of 2xAvdD bursts.
Once used this is
returned to the pack, which is shuffled, but value changes to
"Infiltration Success": one enemy flank has been turned by
forces operating on our flank. Dice for which.
Enemy on this flank
come under fire from 4 x AvdD friendly troops.
Ace of
Spades: IF my men have reached or crossed the stream I get an
Order to Withdraw - the flanks have gone. I must pull back in good
order. ALL friendly units must test for cards. The enemy will pursue.
Jokers:
mortars (black friendly, red enemy) - as before.
Also, in the last game I
forgot to clarify the use of scouts and snipers.
Scouts can prompt the
enemy to expose themselves. However, a scout being pinned or lost
does NOT automatically mean that the side affected loses it's
Initiative, but IF the scout IS lost or Pinned in clear line of site
of a friendly unit THAT unit must Test for Pinning. If it fails the
test then treat as a normal loss of initiative. Likewise, Initiative
is not lost simply because a sniper fails to achieve a Pin result.]
The Game:
The game played out well.
Initially my right and right-centre made good progress, but enemy fire held my left centre.
There was also some opposition in the village, but a couple of shells from one of the tanks soon cleared that.
Another of my tanks got the opportunity to clear the enemy my side of the stream on my left by flanking them along the riverbank. My left and left centre had been slowed, but not disastrously.
While my left and left-centre were sticky, things were looking good elsewhere, with my right making progress right up to the stream.
But, as they pushed across the riverbed, my right units started running into problems. Sudden enemy fire pinned them in the swampy patch, then, to make matters worse, towards my rear right flank some more enemy entered the field and pinned my LMG support there.
I lost the initiative for a while, then, when I did get it back, my right centre rushed the river to support my right. Again, all good.
With my centre stilled pinned down, suddenly an enemy light tank appeared to pepper them. Things looked sticky - but a lucky hit from my own armour soon dealt with THAT.
Then I lost initiative again when the cards prompted a friendly mortar support barrage which failed miserably and, to top that, my men on my right did the enemy no damage at all.
Meanwhile, enemy fire from beyond the swamp downed two platoon commanders. Unable to rally, and taking casualties, my men were driven out of the swamp and back across the river. The same then occurred with my right centre...!! My right and centre scurried back to the village to regroup.
To add to my woes, more enemy appeared, facing my left. These pinned, then forced my leftmost platoon, rushed the hill with the stupa as my men withdrew, destroyed my leftmost LMG and set themselves up by the old walls to outflank me.
On my right rear the enemy advanced - few of them, but enough to cause me grief.
With my attack blunted, several officers down, my tank commanders becoming cautious and the enemy threatening to cut me off in a pincer movement I decided to hold in the village and try to rally my guys enough to break out.
The enemy (still outnumbered) did not press the issue, but with too many officers down, and my men's morale fragile after our significant losses, it was clear that the attack had failed.
Conclusion:Again, a tense, unpredictable fight.
My men did well on the right, till the attack was blunted when they tried to push through the swamp, but the hidden enemy delaying and pinning my chaps in the left/left centre - and then the (small) enemy flanking force coming in to run interference on my right - were key. The tanks were useful to clear guys my side of the stream - and had I had better luck retaining the initiative, might have been more active and been able to provide supporting fire to the chaps crossing the watercourse..
The Crossfire concepts mixed with my Hidden Enemy conventions DO work very well for Solo - forcing me to make hard decisions in the face of unknown quantities. My "tweaks" work for me, but I need to write everything up and formalize further some aspects (there was a wee feeling of "Free Kriegspiel" at times; not itself a bad thing in my book, but....). The Lloydian ideas for "Phasing Fire" for larger forces will be worth looking at I think.
I maybe need to think more re. "Overwatch" and other reactive mechanisms, but all in all this gave me an interesting, challenging game and, best of all, what I want out of a game; a convincing narrative flow, with plenty of imponderables, and with C&C issues being key.
As always, thoughts, comments etc. are welcomed.
