Tretten in Flames - Batrep #2

With the Germans narrowly missing a victory in Game 1, the table was reset to exercise the scenario a second time.  In my post-game notes from the earlier battle, I wondered if changing initial deployments would make a difference.  Also, would playing the Germans more aggressively in the center aid their cause?  Those are two of the tactical changes made in Game 2.

11:00 Both sides deploy their forces with a few changes from Game 1.  The German MMG is placed behind the wall in the center so as to bring under fire much of the British positions.  The rifle sections having the extra LMG firepower are circled (these extra LMG wielding rifle sections I note as heavy).  Note the British place one of these teams in the deep snow on the high point of the battlefield.  This ought to improve this section's LOF to the German positions.  The risk to this position is that in deep snow, this unit may not be able to extract itself if pressed hard. 

Initial dispositions

At the start, the Germans lay down a covering fire from the MMG, infantry gun, and mortar and then step off on the assault of Tretten.  Both British heavy rifle sections are pinned in this initial fire.  On the German left, infantry advances under the cover of smoke toward the unoccupied building.  

Laying down fire before the advance

The British counter by placing the two heavy rifle sections in command.  The section on the heights recovers but the section in the building remains pinned.  This is a dangerous result for heavy rifle section in the building since another pinning blast from the enemy and it will be gone.  As the British advance on their right, covering fire pins the German heavy rifle section. 

British advance

11:10 German sections reach the southern most building unopposed and one of the mountain rifle sections eliminates the British rifle section on the heights.  The extra LMG is left to be picked up by another British rifle section if possible.  The MMG finishes off the pinned rifle section in the building in the center of the British positions.  Ouch!

Action heats up in the south

Destruction of two British heavy rifle sections

The British rifle section holding the building at the base of the hill, moves quickly up the slopes to take up the position vacated by its departed comrades. 

Quick reposition onto the heights

11:13 While fighting is intense all across the battlefield, not much noticeable damage is done.  Both sides have a bout of bad luck in scoring hits.  

A lot of fire but nary a scratch

The Germans use this brief lull to prepare their troops for an assault against British positions on the southern approaches to Tretten.

Preparing for the attack

11:18 In preparation for an assault on the southern buildings, the Germans soften up the defenders holed up in the walled garden.  One British section is pinned from the fire. 

Heating up in the garden

Wanting to concentrate on the northern sector, the British commander puts the pinned section and the heavy rifle section into direct command.

Taking command in the north

In the southern sector, the German defenders suffer casualties having two rifle sections pinned.

Payback!

In the center, the heavy rifle section on the heights pins one of the German infantry sections before it can make much headway across the open ground.

Caught in the open and pinned

11:27 After several minutes of hard fighting, both sides take a breather as the firefight finds no new targets.  The Germans in the south pull back to recover before assaulting the British positions yet again.  It was not so much that the firefight reached a lull by mutual agreement but that the many out of command units failed to pass their initiative command roll.  Fatigue must be setting in.  

Battlefield lull

British outnumbered in the south

11:35 As the German attack presses on, the British give the Germans a bit of a sting.  Both sections in the southern-most building are pinned as is the ski troop in the woods near the northern-most building.  The British on the right are holding firm in the walled garden with support from three rifle sections to their rear.

British holding firm

Close up of the action in the southern sector

British reserve is ready

11:42 Still in a quagmire on the German left, the German command puts its emphasis on the center and right.  While the enemy advances upon the heights, the British heavy rifle section falls back in search of better cover.  

Germans advance in center and right

11:54 With a time advance of 12 minutes, Random Events are triggered.  For the Germans, they roll an Infiltration.  With that result, the Germans push a rifle section into the building at the base of the heights.  For the British, Sniper result is rolled.  The sniper immediately pins the section that just occupied the building.  Take that!

Random Events

With only two of the five objectives in German hands and time low on the clock, the Germans make a last ditch effort to secure two more objectives.  They target the northern-most building and the walled garden.

Heavy fighting in the south

Firepower from multiple sources pins both British rifle sections in the walled garden.  Not yet destroyed, they fall back into the adjoining house.  The Attackers move up to occupy the walled garden.  In the north, the ski troop is repulsed from its attack on the defenders.

The walled garden is unoccupied

Having run out of time on the clock and having taken only three of the five objectives needed, the Germans fall short of victory a second time.

Final tally

Looking at the table, with three objectives in German hands, the Germans really are close to victory.  Having pinned British in two remaining objectives, one more turn may decide the issue.  With attackers in place to assault both remaining objectives, I opted to play one more turn. 

In that final, extra turn, the Germans took both of the remaining objectives in their part of the turn only to lose both southern and central objectives in the British half of the turn.

Another very close battle that went down to the end.  The battle turned into another nail biter.  With a little better shooting and avoiding a twelve minute clock advancement at the end, one more turn could have been squeezed into play.  As my extension demonstrated that extra turn did not bring a German victory but it may have.  Casualties were much lighter in the second game than in the first. British lost three units to the Germans' two units. One facet of Tigers at Minsk, a player cannot do everything with each unit each turn.  The primary effort for the turn must be decided and those three hexes put into command.  Everyone else is on the his own to act or stall at the whims of the initiative command die roll. 

Having a loss for the Germans in both games, is play balance off?  No, I do not think so.  In both games, the German could have reached the five objective count within the 60 minutes on the game clock.  If not for some poor rolls from the MMG in the center, the outcome could have been much different.  Still, the PzII barely got engaged in the action.  Perhaps, its arrival timetable should be advanced so that it can have a chance at participation?  Also, an earlier arrival for the tank provides something for the ATR to focus on.  All in all, a very challenging contest that suits solitaire play well. 

Tretten in Flames - BatRep

With game set up completed, victory conditions checked, and QRS in-hand, the scenario was ready for its initial trial.  As First Player, the German side acts first.

11:00 On the German left, the Germans begin their advance upon Tretten by moving on the two, unoccupied BUAs positioned between the two opposing deployment areas. The Germans lay smoke and then advance.

Germans in the south advance

Almost immediately, the German advance draws fire from the British held building at the base of the hill.  The Germans suffer no casualties as the British section is marked with Op Fire.  On the German right the mountain troops, on skis, advance toward the hills overlooking Tretten.  German support weapons deployed in the center add into the advancing fire.

Germans taking fire on the move

Before the advancing Germans can reach the BUAs, the British shuffle rifle sections into the house and garden to set up a defense to thwart this move. 

British take the house and walled garden

British reach the building first

11:06 Outnumbering the British holed up in the house, the Germans assault the somewhat isolated British section.  Fire bursts from the house as the Germans close.  As the assault goes in, the British remain defiant.  The German attack is repulsed with the attackers suffering one hit (Pin) and returning to their jumping off point.

Germans attack!

The British rifle section (with the second LMG) moves into and deploys in the adjacent garden.  It takes fire from the section to its front as well as from the machine gun in the woods in the center.  The cross fire pins the British within the garden walls.  Encouraged by the repulse of the attack upon the house, the British CO orders a second section into the house.  Perhaps this is a defensible position?

British defending walled garden

11:16 While the Germans (recently repulsed from their assault on the house) recover, one British section in the house is pinned by covering fire.  The mountain troops to the north make their way across the valley floor.  Realizing that being pinned in the garden is no safe place to linger, the British section falls back to safety under the covering fire of their comrades. Two German sections are pinned from this effective covering fire.  One of the ski troops is pinned as well.   

Firefight heats up

11:25 Recovered from their assault against the house, the two German sections are ordered back into the fray.  Under the cover of smoke, the Germans charge in.  With one British section pinned, the second attack is successful.  The British take two hits to one.  One Brit section is killed and a second is pinned.  The attackers take one hit resulting in pinning one German section within the building.  The surviving Brit falls back out of the house.   

Germans assault a second time

Fighting in the building

Germans throw the defenders out

Building held by Germans

11:31 Random Events. Germans roll a HQ Suppression result while the British roll Infiltration result.  With a HQ Suppression, each hex must roll to be in command.  Few German units manage to overcome this paralysis with the exception of the mountain troops in the north and a few rifle sections in the south.  On skis, the mountain troops continue their advance upon the Tretten Heights.  

Current situation

For the British, the infiltration roll allows them to move one unit into an adjacent, non-occupied hex. They move the section to the top of the hill covered in deep snow.  This stealthy move allows the British to take up position in the deep snow and bring fire down upon the German mountain troops in the valley below.  With some good marksmanship, one surprised German squad is destroyed.

Destruction of ski troop

11:38 Placing the southern sector back into command, the Germans move forward against the walled garden.  The sections in the adjacent house provide covering fire.  German units, having been held in reserve, begin shifting to the center.  The PzII is seen in the northern sector slowly crawling forward through the snow as the ski troops continue to glide toward the northernmost house.

The British unleash a wallop of firepower pinning several units and destroying a second mountain section as the Germans move up in the north and fall back from the open ground in the south. 

Cross fire hurricane

To open up a fire lane from the machine gun to the garden, German sections fall back to a safer position allowing the MG to open up.  The MG and supporting rifles do their job and eliminate the defenders in the garden.

Fallback to open a fire lane

While the Germans fall back to clear a fire lane in the south, the German center snaps into action.  Finally, the German reserves begin to advance in the center with support from the PZII.  Despite seeing the destruction of one of their sections in the walled garden, the British reinforce defeat.

Germans advance in the center

11:46 The German advance in the center continues but this late attack may be running out of time. MG fire from the woods pins a British section in the walled garden. 

Center push

After spending much of the last 30 minutes pinned inside a building, the British rifle section with the extra firepower of the LMG, sends a devastating burst into the German occupied building next to the garden.  One rifle section is destroyed.

Devastating fire

11:50 With the Germans advancing in the center, several defeats in the north and a seeming battle of attrition in the south, the German command reassesses what needs to be done to push through into Tretten.

Situation 11:50

With a clear fire lane into the walled garden, the MG and its supporting rifles pour withering fire, once again, into its defenders.  The heavy firepower from the MG position kills one rifle section. The remaining pinned rifle section is finished off by cross fire from nearby German infantry. 

Withering fire into walled garden

Under cover of smoke, the German center advances into the deep snow to threaten both of the buildings situated on the northern half of the battlefield.

Germans advance in deep snow under cover of smoke

As the Germans reoccupy the house adjoining the garden, British fire eliminates any defender unlucky enough to find itself there.

Another one bites the dust

11:56 The Germans in the center come down from the hill to assault the British occupied homes

Situation at 11:56

after the defenders are softened up by MG fire.

Assault goes in

The German attackers finish off the defenders and then occupy the house.

Success in taking one of the northern houses

With the loss of that unit, the British defenders' Morale Level reaches zero.  Each remaining unit must now test morale to either hold its ground or fall back.  Three of the remaining defenders break and fallback.  One unit retreats off table. 

British morale breaks!

12:00 With the noon turn being the last turn of play, the Germans advance to consolidate their gains and capture the spoils.  The circled objectives show the BUAs held by the Germans at game's end.  Having taken four of the five needed for victory, the Germans fall just short of a victory.  German casualties were kept under 50% but they needed to take one more BUA to secure a victory.  

Close but no cigar

Well!  This battle turned out much closer than I expected.  Action ebbed and flowed throughout the contested hour-long battle.  At times, I figured the Germans had little chance.  Then, my sense was that the Germans had little chance.  Finally, on the last turn, the Germans made great strides but fell one BUA short.  Some of the firefights were extremely bloody.  Assaulting is very chaotic and a high risk venture.

The British suffered heavy casualties but held on by the skin of their teeth to deny the Germans victory.  With one more turn, the Germans could have sealed the victory but it was not to be.  In hindsight, there are different tactics I would use for both.  For the Germans, they waited too long to launch their attack up the center.  Their MG was misplaced too.  For the British, their initial deployment could be better thought out to provide more crossfire opportunities with improved lines of sight.  I will give it another go and see if these adjustments make a difference to the outcome.

The victory conditions and game length seemed appropriate in offering both sides a fair chance at victory.  I will replay and see if my initial impressions change.  A few rules' questions came up during play as well as thoughts on tactics.  I need time to ponder these questions before reaching a conclusion.  For me, this was an interesting battle with more tension than expected.  Much more interesting than I thought after first finding and then converting this ASL scenario.