You now that feeling - when you set up a scenario and the game offers almost everything you imagined, all tempered with the ability of players to see things a little differently and take the game in (to you) surprising directions that add to the interest and enjoyment. Well, I hope you know that feeling. It's pretty much what this week's Great War Spearhead game offered.
I set this fictional scenario during the German 1918 Spring offensive, with a German divisional attack against some American troops that had been rushed to the front to try to prevent another breakthrough. I followed my usual practice of trying to capture elements of a particular battle or campaign in a fictional scenario while making the game both interesting and appropriate for the players.
So in this game I added in air support and armour. The German air support (two flights of fighters capable of ground attack) was available on demand, but only in the first four turns. The American support (two flights of F2Bs in ground attack mode) wasn't available until turn 4, and then with an ever decreasing random roll (being guaranteed by turn 7 if it hadn't arrived before.
The Germans had one section of A7Vs, which I decided would count as support stand, and so could fire through fighting stands.
The American armour (5 sections of FT17s), along with a regiment of reinforcing infantry) was available from turn 5. However the American armour counted as a separate fighting 'regiment' and so couild not fire thought other fighting stands.
The Germans were all regular, with a battalion of veteran Stosstruppen. Their Corp artillery had gas shells available to use in counter battery fire if they were employed in that role. The Americans started with two regiments and one artillery regiment in hastily constructed defences (including a redoubt). One of the regiments was green.
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| The battlefield seen from above the American left (at the bottom of the photo). The Germans attack from the right of the photo. |
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| The German plan of attack, featuring a 'deep flank march' on their right against the American left, timed to arrive turn 3. The players were successful in rolling the required score to have the flank attack arrive |
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| The American player nominated the entry point of his reserves bottom centre. The attack arrow was drawn at the end of Turn 4, when the reserves were available |
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| The German attack begins, on the left of the photo |
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| The German right advances in something of a close order column. There are of course historical accounts of German infantry doing just that during the Spring Offensive |
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| American infantry defending their centre in a wood |
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| The defensive line on the American left, in hastily dug (level 1) entrenchments with wire |
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| The redoubt on the American centre/right. The German plan completelys bypassed these positions and focussed on the American left |
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| Fire is exchanged against the main American line: preplanned German artillery falls on the trench line, and American mortar and small arms ambush fire hits the advancing German regiment |
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| The German plan includes a flank march which catches the American left |
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| American defenders in their 'front line' on their left caught in the flank and attacked from the front |
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| Heavy exchanges of fire are taking place in the centre |
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| A flight of German fighters swoops across the landscape and attacks troops attempting to move from the extreme America right to shore up their left flank. In the case the Americans get away with no casualties (i.e. the German player rolled two 1's and a 2' ) |
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| However a flight of F2Bs arrives and attacks the German troops attacking the American left causing significant casualties, and allowing the defenders time to begin to re-orient themselves in the face of this attack |
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| The American front line on their left continues to fight for its life, with a series of melee combats. Troops from the American centre are being shifted across to support their left too. |
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| The German attack against the left flank town is caught in the open when the divisional 150mm howitzers are successfully called in causing significant casualties |
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| The threat to the American centre has all but dissolved |
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| However a second German air attack arrives with devastating consequences.. |
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| German Stosstruppen supported by the armour, with a regiment of artillery in support, pushes ahead on the extreme German right against the embattled American left |
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| The American reserves arrive |
At this time the counter battery battle also takes a turn with the American Corps 150mm howitzers silencing the German Counter battery fire.
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| The race is on .. can the American reserves stop the German flank march infantry from breaking through (exiting from the American base line)? |
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| An American battery of 18pdrs is caught trying to flee from the flank attack on their left |
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| The American reserve advancing with some haste (i.e. at full speed) |
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| The Americans left is holding out against the frontal attack, and has so far held off the flank attack |
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| The attack against the centre has been eliminated |
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| The reserve armour pushes forward |
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| I just like this photo of the 18pdr limber and horses.. yes, it's from the old Airfix set |
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| A nice photo of the Armourfast FT17s .. just because I could |
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| The artillery supporting the German right is finally deployed.. unfortunately too late |
The German players had to exit one regiment from the American baseline.. my victory conditions needed to be more tightly expressed.. they should probably have said any regiment that hadn't flank marched, because this all became a bit too easy for the Germans ...but.. this was still a wonderful wonderful game. Unfortunately the armour never really became engaged. That would have lifted it yet another level. Next time.
This is a panoramic sweep of the battlefield at the end of play. We managed seven turns in the evening, with four players.
My overall aim with the scenario was to set some degree of urgency on the German players, giving them some force superiority in the first four turns, but then shifting the balance against them and in favour of the defenders in what I imagined would be the second half of the game. I wanted the feel of some slight desperation in the face of initial German attacks, and then the fight as reinforcements arrived to halt the attack.
Because of the flaw in the victory conditions we didn't quite get there, but it still created an interesting and (I hope) a challenging game for all four players.
