Playing The AI Generated Scenario

Dave, Will and myself set to here in Darkest Rawnsley to play the AI generated scenario I mentioned in previous posts.

It titled the scenario 'The Last Toll', a British vanguard had seized a vital bridgehead and a small ruined hamlet.

Before they can dig in a German Battlegroup supported by a lone tank emerges through the adjacent treeline.

The British set up on the table and place three objective markers in three of the four buildings. The Germans enter the table on turn one.

The scenario set the game at the standard Bolt Action six turns, has we were playing along the short edge of the proposed 6x4 table I extended that to eight turns. To win the Germans must control two of the objectives and British must control two objectives and destroy the German tank. This seems a tall order for both sides. The forces suggested are a typical Bolt Action 1000 point composition.

British Defender	German Attacker
1x Regular 2nd Lt + 1 extra man	1x Veteran 1st Lt + 1 extra man
3x Regular Infantry Sections (with Bren guns)	2x Veteran Grenadier Sections (Assault Rifles/Panzerfausts)
1x Veteran Vickers MMG Team	2x Inexperienced Volksgrenadier Sections
1x Regular 6-pounder Anti-Tank Gun	1x Veteran Panther OR Tiger I
1x Regular Cromwell OR Churchill Tank	1x Regular Sniper Team
1x Regular Forward Artillery Observer	1x Regular 81mm Mortar Team

I opted for a Cromwell as it was typically used as a recon tank and would no doubt gave been in the vanguard. For the Germans in 1945 I thought that full squads of surviving veterans would be few and far between so treated these as regular. My Tiger as yet to be painted so the Panther was allocated.

The following special rules were suggested,

• ​"Desperate Valor" (German): The German units are a mix of veterans and raw recruits. Any Heer or Waffen-SS infantry unit that is Down or Pinned may ignore one Pin marker when taking an Order Test if they are within 12" of their Officer.
• ​"Running on Fumes" (German): German vehicles cannot use "Recce" or "Outflank." Fuel is too precious to waste on maneuvering.
• ​"Heavy Artillery Support" (British): The British have superior logistics. Once per game, the British player may call in an Artillery Forward Observer strike with a +1 modifier to the "Effect" roll on the Artillery Table.
• ​Mud and Slush: All "Rough Ground" (rubble, plowed fields) counts as Difficult Terrain for wheeled vehicles and tracked vehicles alike.
  

  How did it play out, the Germans attacked on a wide front, in hindsight it would have been better to concentrate on the left and risk finding a less difficult route through the broken ground. We decided that troops wishing to enter would roll a D6, odds they would only be able advance, evens they could run. 
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• The assault on the right soon bogged down heavy fire pinning and causing casualties. The supporting Panther was constantly being hit by fire from the 6pdr, whilst unable to penetrate the thick armour it caused pins and the having to test and failing the Panther ended up retreating to cover.
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• The Germans bring mortar fire down on the Vickers MG team in the building but misses.
  
  The Germans on the right are making no headway the squads on the left switch to the centre avoiding the broken ground.
  
• The British artillery barrage hits causing pinning and halts it. It is now turn eight and with no hope of achieving their objective the attack is called off.
• Could they have achieved it? Perhaps with an advance on the left in mass, the Panther not being pinned out of the game could have changed the outcome?  Or was failure inevitable?
• What do you think?
• An enjoyable game for us none the less and I will definitely try an AI generated scenario again at some point in future.
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• Until next time, toodle pip and KBO