First Test of 3 Players

Saturday Dad came over with Eric and we gave the rules a go for the first time with three players. I'm glad to say that it worked really quite well. In addition, we set up the board in a 6' x 4' configuration for the first time. The addition of the third player and the increase of terrain by 50% increased the game time, but that's expected. We were averaging 2 1/2 hours a game, and that includes teaching/learning time.

Anyway, on to the game. This is the second game we played. Dad is the German commander defending the 88mm Flak up there in the plowed field with a squad of 14. Eric is the British commander, and I lead the Americans in the attempt to destroy the cannon, each with a standard squad of 9.

Eric set up his forces mostly in the center, some in the trenches and some in road behind the cover of the hill. I did the same but split my forces further apart, pretty much ending up with two four man fire teams operating independently.

The Germans won the initiative, which was damn unfortunate for us. Dad did little except place almost everyone into a state of Overwatch, which was obviously the best move. The British went next and would simply have none of it, so they charged. One Tommy popped off a few shots, but mostly they just lept from their trench and charged down into the creek. Almost all of them ended up wounded on their way down to the water due to the German machine guns that were patiently waiting for just such an action.
The Americans took their cue from their allies and likewise lept from the trenches. Half stormed across the creek itself, and half daringly sprinted directly across the bridge, right across the German machineguns field of view. They were wounded too.




The American attack on the far side of the bridge went...well...poorly. As you can see, one soldier is dead (the upturned base) and the rest are all Heavily Wounded. They are still able to move a little, or shoot a little, but in reality they are pretty much out of the fight at this point. The second American fire team followed the British over the hill and down into the creek.
The British didn't fare a lot better. In point of fact, that little creek there is flowing off the table with a deep crimson hue from all the blood the soldiers left in there. And that's assuming the creek was able to flow at all considering the dam the bodies of the dead must have formed. In other words, it wasn't going well.


These two turned out to be our last hope. The Brit Eric had held back as a sniper, and he was really doing quite well, but we needed his unwounded hands to plant the bomb on the 88. The American Sergeant I held back for this reason, but I didn't mobilize him fast enough.




In the end, the 88 was left completely safe. In this last photo you can see the American Sergeant on the right. That was as close as he got, a German grenade killed him and the British soldier beside him. The British sniper moved further forward, but in the end he too was killed.
The Germans kept their 88 safe for another day.

Comments

Anonymous said…
The rules seemed to play fair with both sides. The board with the realistic scenery and river bed made the game fun and required strategy to both seige the gun and defend it.

I hope we play it again when we are together