From: Allan Goodall <agoodall@a...>
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2002 15:17:17 -0600
Subject: [SG2] PBEM AAR - Valley of Death - Report - 5b of 5
TURN 3 Once again Chris won the initiative. The mortar barrage had only one tube on target. That tube managed to suppress the unit and caused only one casualty, the SAW gunner. The NSL responded with their artillery barrages. On bunker D, one tube hit the bunker, suppressing it but not penetrating it. However, half of squad 11 were caught in the burst of tube 3. 2 riflemen were wounded and the squad was suppressed. The second strike hit bunker C, suppressing it. The EW team in the bunker became Steady, but the militia drop to Shaken. The IF heavy weapons team went on Overwatch. NSL squad 1P fired on unit 11. Two men are hit, including the AGL gunner. With three men down, the medics ran to 11 to do a quick patch up. Two of the riflemen were okay, but the AGL gunner was still wounded; he was stabilized. L1, the leader (independent character) ordered the medics back to the Civet. The NSL saw this, but refused to fire on them. The medics carried the wounded soldier back to the Civet. The leader's radio call to unit 11 did not get through. The NSL moved unit 11 across the stream and into the woods east of 2P on Ridge 122. As this happened, the IF EW unit attempted to break into the NSL battle net to spot hidden units. This was unsuccessful, as the NSL EW unit jammed their attempts. Unit 12 moved to the same woods as NSL unit 11. The IF militia command squad fired on NSL unit 22. The squad fired in two parts, with 6 riflemen and the SAW firing separate from the other four riflemen (i.e. the squad split its fire, with two different actions being used). The first blast wounded a regular panzergrenadier trooper. The second killed the leader. The replacement leader, the squad's ASL, turned out to be a better leader (the squad went from G2 to G1), but the squad still panicked. Unit 22 attempted to remove the panic, and succeeded (yes, the panic should have happened a turn earlier; I found out late that I hadn't been making panic tests and applied it at this point). The IF company missile team fired at the NSL PA unit 1P but missed. NSL PA unit 2P advanced to the edge of the dense woods on the south west edge of the ridge, just skirting the minefield, and went IP. IF unit 13 went IP, then fired on 1P with AARs, the SAW, the AGL, and two IAVRs. They hit the PA with nasty effect. The trooper with the SAW was decapitated by SAW and rifle fire slamming into his helmet. Another trooper, with an AAR, was blasted into tiny bits due to a direct hit from both IAVRs. The NSL's gunship arrived. It moved by Nap of the Earth (NOE) to a position on Ridge 122 on a direct line of sight to the far eastern bunker. As it popped up to Level 4 in order to clear the trees, the crew noticed a Civet on Ridge 121. The gunship turned to fire at the Civet. At that moment, the gunship's threat sensors lit up. A missile team between the gunship and the Civet was attempting to get a lock on them. Before a lock could be made, the gunship fired its RFAC at the missile team, suppressing it. Realizing they didn't have an effective AA unit for dealing with the gunship, IF team 1C contacted the company command and requested an AA vehicle. 1C then moved to the edge of the woods due east of Ridge 111 so that they would have LOS to the power armour. They were spotted moving into position. The NSL company commander issued orders to the gunship. The gunship fired on the missile team using its two GACs, wounding the missile operator. It then turned and dropped behind Ridge 122. The company commander tried to contact 1st platoon's commander, but the communication didn't get through. NSL squad 21 moved out of the woods south of the stream and into the woods near squad 22. The DFFG team, which had been moving away from the action, was redirected towards first platoon, getting as far as the fork in the stream. Squad 23 (consisting of one stabilized guy and an okay guy) attempted to unsuppress, but only removed one suppression marker. 1C, the first platoon commander, attempted to contact the first platoon mortar battery. At first they were unsuccessful, but finally succeeded in calling in an anti-armour barrage on the far eastern bunker. The EW unit became active automatically. The second NSL command squad, 2C, was more successful. They called on the platoon's PA squad to call for artillery support. They were able to call in a mortar barrage such that IF squads 13 and 1T would be caught in the burst. The PA unit then fired on the IF missile team 1T, killing the two missile operators. 2C contacted 22 and tried to coax them out of eating the dirt. The suppression removal attempt got rid of one suppression marker. Lastly for the NSL, they shifted their medics. 2M headed for 22 and treated the wounded. The AAR trooper was stabilized, but the SAW gunner was apparently only stunned. He was moved back into position. 1M made two combat moves, catching up to squad 11. IF squad 21 tried to unsuppress the far eastern bunker, removing one suppression marker. 11 removed both suppression markers on itself. IF unit 12 went IP. 24, in the second bunker on the right, attempted to call in a mortar strike on NSL squad 22. The first attempt failed due to the NSL trying to block it with EW. For the second attempt, 24 used special priority comm channels (used 2 support chits). The NSL went all out to block this attempt (used last 4 EW chits). In spite of the static, the communication got through! (Rolled 4 on a D4). NSL squad 22 was now targeted for mortar fire. See the Turn 3 maps for the positions at the end of turn 3: http://home.att.net/~agoodall/sg2/pbem/sg2-vod-t03.jpg Commentary: Roger should be commended for his roleplaying in turn 3. His response to the chance at firing on IF unit 1M was, "We don't fire on medics." This is interesting considering the IF were preparing to fire on what they thought was an NSL medevac VTOL. The damage to 1P is an interpretation based on the dice roll. The total of Chris' dice was 41, versus the D8 rolled by Roger for cover. Even PA can't handle this very well. When the 5 potential casualties were rolled, three PA were dead and one was wounded. However, the dice stopped favouring Chris at that moment. Rolling for random troopers to apply the dead and wounded, the wounded guy was number 5. The dead guys were numbers 2, 5, and 2. As per the rules, that meant that 5 was really dead and 2 was, well, really, really dead. In Roger's defense, it's tricky using aircraft in Stargrunt II. As Chris and I discussed offline, few of the TO&Es on http://www.stargrunt.ca have adequate anti aircraft protection. Aircraft are fairly rare in SG2 games. That said, I think there were some mistakes made with the gunship. The gunship is the NSL's primary weapon for taking out bunkers. As such, that should have been its primary mission. The gunship should not have switched to targeting the Civet. Roger was also more cautious with the gunship than he needed to be. Chris' multi-mode missiles had a pathetic D4 Firecon die. Assuming he got a lock on the gunship, Roger would always have the option of trying to break the lock (automatic if he dropped out of LOS, something easy to do in this terrain set up). This is a free move on the gunship's part, though it eats up the gunship's activation if it hasn't been activated yet. This made it unlikely that the IF assets on the ground would be much of a threat to the VTOL. Time is against Roger, as the IF now have better anti aircraft assets inbound. The first two bunkers (the far eastern one, which had done so much damage up until now, and the one beside it housing the EW team) could have been smoking rubble by this point. Now it's going to be a race to see if the gunship can destroy a bunker or two before the anti-aircraft vehicle arrives. TURN 4 Roger won the initiative. The NSL start with a mortar barrage against IF units 13 and 1T. The first tube was on target, killing four AR troopers (one of which was totally vapourized) and wounding the SAW gunner. In spite of this, the morale of the men didn't suffer. The single trooper in the missile team was hit with shrapnel, but his armour and the surrounding cover saved him. The second tube of the barrage barely missed the missile team member, but did catch Vehicle 5 in the open. The anti-personnel rounds failed to damage the vehicle, but the crew was Shaken. The third tube landed within a minefield. The explosions set off the mines, effectively clearing it for the NSL. The second mortar barrage dropped on the far eastern bunker. This time one set of rounds came very close to penetrating the bunker, sparking unit 21 to panic (yes, the test should have been done much sooner, on the first attack, but I realized I hadn't been making panic attempts up until this point). The near miss made communication difficult. IF unit 2C failed to get in touch with the AA vehicle at first, but a second attempt succeeded. The AA vehicle was moved into hull down position on Ridge 111. The NSL gunship slipped down the river and headed westward. Partway there the gunship spotted a lone IF trooper in the bushes. The gunship turned and fired the RFAC at the trooper. The trooper, the crewman for vehicle 3 acting as a scout, was suppressed and panicked. The missile team on top of the ridge, meanwhile, worked their way down the hill and set up in some woods. They achieved a lock-on against the gunship, but the gunship turned due west, headed past them, and then started to turn towards the north. IF unit 13 unsuppressed. The NSL PA unit 2P fired on missile team 1T southeast of Ridge 111. They managed to wound the trooper twice. He bled to death soon afterwards. NSL 2P called down yet another anti-armour mortar attack on the far eastern bunker. Just as the IF EW team activated, NSL 1P fired on IF 13. The squad leader was killed and the AGL gunner was wounded. The squad now had 5 members left alive, two of which were wounded and yet to be treated. NSL 12 bolted down Ridge 122 into dense woods along the north edge of the ridge. IF unit 21 noticed movement in the woods, but before they could get the message out NSL 12 fired on IF 1C (containing a rifle trooper, a SAW gunner, and the FAO). The gun fire was undisciplined but with the help of a sniper attached to the squad they killed the SAW gunner. The IF commander sent out a signal to the NSL, suggesting a ceasefire. The NSL shrugged it off as a ploy, as the IF were obviously trying to negotiate from a position of weakness. IF 11, sitting in bushes in IP, jumped up and ran for the bushes in the middle of the battlefield. They were spotted by NSL 2P, but NSL 21 couldn't see them for the bushes in the way. 11 arrived in those bushes, unseen by NSL 21 and fired on NSL 22. The fire was intense, killing the SAW gunner and wounding the GMS/P gunner. The squad, green and badly mangled, became suppressed yet again and broke. NSL 21 fired back at 11, but the fire was badly aimed and missed. L1, the IF leader, contacted 11 and 12, activating both of them. 11 fired back at NSL 21. An AAR trooper was wounded, and the squad leader was killed. IF 12 ran across the top of Ridge 122, skirting a nearby minefield, and ran down the southeast slope of the ridge. It was spotted by a number of units, including 2P, when it was on top of the ridge. 22 and 23 spotted it when it moved into position, but were unable to completely identify it. 12 fired on NSL 21. This fire killed the new squad leader, wounded an AAR trooper and wounded the SAW gunner. 12 attempted to go IP, but failed. The NSL commander contacted the IF, agreeing to discuss terms of a ceasefire. The battle was over. See the Turn 4 maps for the positions at the end of turn 4: http://home.att.net/~agoodall/sg2/pbem/sg2-vod-t04.jpg Commentary: Once again, I think the gunship would have been better utilized going after the things it can uniquely destroy: the bunkers. In Roger's defense, a single guy hiding in some woods looks a _lot_ like a sniper. In this case it was only a vehicle crewman. Even still, using the gunship to attack a single person is probably not the best use of a combat action. Chris did a really good job creating an interlocking field of fire this turn. Clumping 1T and 13 together was a mistake, as the mortar rounds proved. I felt 12 was badly placed until Chris moved it in to support 11. The interlocking field of fire on the NSL 2nd platoon left flank was devastating. Roger made an interesting decision attacking 11 with 21, splitting 21's fire in half in two actions. He was trying to maximize suppressions, a good idea given 11's position. The dice, though, were not with him. However, when doing this he'd have given himself a better chance if he'd split his squad differently. He had 6 guys, the GMS/P guy doing nothing constructive. He should have split his group as he did, but with the GMS/P guy taking up an IAVR and one of the other troopers taking up an IAVR, too. This would have dropped his firepower die for the first shot by a die type but added a D8. More importantly, his second shot would have been QD + SAW + IAVR. CONCLUSION The NSL failed to take their objective, and had most of a platoon mulched. Victory goes to the IF! The ceasefire was interesting. In my opinion, Roger had the tools available to win. He had three squads in 2nd Platoon beaten up, but he still had two PA units (though neither at full strength), and a mostly untouched 1st Platoon. He also had 2C, 1C and CC to activate. It would have been possible to swing 1st Platoon over to the left flank and suppressed 11 and 12. Unit CH (the man portable DFFG) never came into play, but it would have eventually. That didn't leave Chris with very much for support. This is the neat thing about blind games, though. The outcome was completely realistic. I've read of battles where the aggressor backs off after heavy casualties due to a lack of information. Given the data known to Roger, I would have agreed to the ceasefire in his situation, too. Great bit of roleplaying and gamesmanship (as opposed to playing out a scenario until the last man). Overall I think both players played reasonably well. Roger was a bit too tentative, particularly with the gunship. Chris completely disregarded orders, but it worked out very well for him. If he had lost, he'd have been made the scapegoat. Best move, Chris: Using 2C as an effective unit instead of putting him safely in a corner. Having a Regular unit in the far eastern bunker was a bold, but ultimately good, move. Best move, Roger: Using his PA as forward scouts. At first I cringed when he ran 2P into a minefield, but this was a bold move, made bolder when he moved them about _in_ the minefield. I am now a convert to the idea that PA are probably the best scouts available. Advancing 1P to support 2P was an excellent, and potentially game winning move. Worst move, Chris: It would be easy to mention the sniper, but I think it was a calculated risk that -- with the rules for snipers -- should have worked out for him. Instead, it was placing 13 and 1T in potential LOS so close together, allowing Roger to drop a single mortar shell on both units. Worst move, Roger: He was too set on using the mortars for anti-armour when it appeared they wouldn't do much to the bunkers. Dropping an artillery round on a bunker in order to pin it prior to a gunship assault would have been an interesting move. A better bet, though, would have been to drop smoke on the far eastern bunker, neutralizing it. That would have saved squad 23, and probably would have ended up saving 2nd Platoon. Quirkiest move, Chris: Using Vehicle 3's crew as a scout. It wasn't particularly well placed, until it convinced the gunship crew to fire on it! Quirkiest move, Roger: Sending 23 to the bridge. When he asked me if he could move the squad below the bridge, I decided it was possible but then I had to figure out what the stats would be for the bridge! (I figured probably Armour Class 2, representing a concrete bridge of about Armour Class 3 strength, but with no protection on the sides). The squad didn't make it, but while they were pinned by the sniper (and almost wiped out by the mortar), they resulted in the sniper being discovered and taken out. Scenario Considerations: It's obvious that in anything other than a blind game, the NSL should win. Neither side's vehicles came into play, but if they had the edge would have definitely gone to the NSL. I'm thinking that the bunkers should probably have Greens, not Untrained. This would give them some ability and give the IF player more flexibility. I would probably allow the IF to have a company commander (a "task force" commander, if you will) available so that they are on a par with the NSL as far as activations go. They would have an AA vehicle available, but they still would only have 1 mortar and one EW unit. Rules Playtest: We were playtesting some rules. See my "Notes" section, below. One rule I have used for a while is the +1 to communication rolls for command units trying to transfer an action to units that are not in LOS. I don't think it is strong enough to get rid of the "commander in the corner" issue, and it never had an effect on the game. I think I'll try changing this to a quality shift die down for the commander if he can't see the unit he is trying to transfer an action to. Firing at individual PA seemed to work well as a rule, though it's hard to say if it's too overpowering or not as Chris never killed any PA with his IAVRs. The other rules we were playtesting never came into play. FINALLY I want to thank both of you. I enjoyed running the game and "watching" your thought processes through your orders. In particular, I want to congratulate you on your gamesmanship. It's a lot more fun when players start playing rolls as opposed to treating their figures as nothing more than pawns in a chess game. NOTES: 1. PA make good troops to lead an attack where minefields are expected. The mixed density minefields did little damage to the NSL PA troops. 2. PA make pretty good scout troops. I usually see them as assault units, but they have speed and survivability. Plop good sensors on them, and they have what it takes for fast in/out scouting maneuvers. I'm going to rethink my PA doctrine in my own games and perhaps use them in more of a scouting roll. 3. The IF are severely hampered by D6 sensors against an enemy with D8 sensors. In particular, their missile fire was hurt versus NSL. 4. The IF are really nasty when they do get to fire. 11 guys, maximum, in a squad, usually with at least two support weapons are nasty. 5. NSL squads are brittle. Only having six guys (or less, if the squad is understrength) can be a major pain. Using 3FP AARs helps. 6. It's too easy to be spotted when moving into LOS, even under cover. I think two changes need to be made in the hidden movement rules for blind games. First, if the unit moves by combat movement the spotting range die should be shifted up 1. Second, the spotting attempt is made _after_ any attempt at going IP is made. (This second option needs to be playtested; the part about combat movement should work well.) 7. The military crest rules seemed to work well. While the players may have found it a little more confusing than normal, from my perspective they worked well. Players had to make tough decisions as to where to place their troops with the crests in mind. Should the military crest be hard cover or soft cover? If hard cover, should it disregard other cover. In fact, this is a hole in the rules. What happens if you are in woods on a hill, which takes precedence or should the cover be additive? The rules imply that woods are soft cover, hills are hard cover, so you have a choice of either hard or soft cover. I'll leave it like that, then. 8. I'm coming to the conclusion that EW isn't worth the effort. The players have a feeling of "doing something", but it takes up a lot of time and the end result is inconclusive. Usually the EW markers were used to counter the opponent's EW markers. Only if a player has an advantage in counters is it worthwhile. Even still, on one turn Roger used up 4 counters to drop a communication attempt to D4, and yet the attempt still succeeded. I think in future games I'd either 1) not bother with EW counters, or 2) only give counters to the player with more EW units, and then only the difference in numbers (in this game, Roger would get three and Chris none to start the game, Roger would lose his if he lost an EW trooper, and he would get an extra 3 if Chris lost his EW unit). 9. The activation rules seemed to work very well. I think this is the way to go with PBEM games. 10. Neither unit used smoke inherent with the squads. Considering it uses up an action to use, it's not very useful. See the current thread "Smoke" elsewhere