It has been a while since I was able to run a micro armor play test. I had a few players interested, so thought it was about time. I went through another mechanic update over the fall and wanted to try it out. I felt that the suppression mechanic worked well, but required far too many suppression markers on units. Sometimes with stacks of thirty or forty on large formations….
I also was not getting enough “push” in the game, which was desired to show units being forced back. The fights were coming down too heavily on hard casualties. So, I re-jigged the saving throws, close range fire bonuses and suppression caps. The intent was to base the spent and worn status on number of suppressions verses the company count (as opposed to the platoon counts).
The best way to try this out, would be to run the same scenario as before. My buddy brought his 1940 French, so we were set. I arrived early and set up the table and organized the troops.
The scenario victory conditions were based on each side getting five points for each of the objective towns and one point for casualty caused. The higher scorer would be the winner. The game would be eight hours long.
The French started with their forces deployed on the table, with one company coming on later as a reserve on turn three. The German would enter the table from the south east side. The two panzer battalions entering on turn one, with their light companies entering on turn two. This would be followed by their infantry on turn three, their AA on turn four and their last tank company on turn five.
The Germans also had six air strikes on turn one and had four pre game bombardments that had to be spread out across town squares by batter. The airstrikes ended up being waved off, as they did not find their targets. The pre bombardment did cause some suppressions and even took out some infantry guarding the trip wire town at the front.
The Germans marched on and went into the attack on the left. Their plan was to concentrate all their forces through the main town of Merdrop and Destry the French and then continue from there. The French plan was to react to the Germans and use their superior armor to strip the heavy panzers.
The German attack went in and started their assaults. There better communications ensured they had no problem moving forward. The French struggled to get their forces going, as their communications continually failed them.
The French tried a local counter attack in the open and were swarmed by the German tanks. The Germans did not have it in them and fell back cross the front, once the dust had cleared. It would take another attempt.
The Germans cleared their suppressions and went back in with more concentration. This caused the French infantry to fall back with their unit being spent. The trip wire company in the forward town of St.Josephs was also cleared.
With all the Germans now free to concentrate on Merdop, the Germans went in. The French maneuvered within the town and readied for the assault. Once again, the Germans were forced back, but the French casualties became more pronounced.
The French reserve arrived in Merdop, just in time to solidify the defense. The Germans went in again and forcing the French tanks back, causing the formation to go spent. The reserves arrival turnout out to be timely, as they were the only thing holding the Germans back. The fight would continue.
Realizing that the attack plan was not working, the Germans decided to sent their remaining reserve company to Jardrain and threaten another town. This attack went in on the last turn. However, they were thrown back totally spent in the base of overwhelming French forces int he town.
The Germans continued to push through Merdrop, clearing the French from most of the town. However, they still held a portion, keeping the town contested. The Germans had taken a decent amount of losses and the French needed to pull one of their tank units back to regroup. However, they still held on.
The game ended after eight turns and it was time to see who won. Merdrop was contested, so no one got points for that. The other two towns were firmly held by the French, so ten points! Counting up the actual casualties, the French had thirteen. Counting up the Germans, they also had thirteen! So, the French had successfully filled the breach and beat history. A counterfactual French victory!
- Manteuffel