AAR: Eagles Strike - Buchholz Station

[Rabbit]

Turn 5 US:


START OF TURN:



Retreated the disrupted squad in the upper front to the hex with its leader to help rally them from their disruption.

Successfully assaulted the German bazooka to the left of the middle objective, which has the extra benefit of putting that squad in the tree hex controlling all of that open ground.

Moved the squad and leader down the roadway into the hex just below the ridge. Unfortunately, they might be too late for us to retain the objective at the top of the ridge. Moved a bazooka squad into the objective hex at the top of the ridge to support the lone machine gunner there. Moved a pinned squad from the hex below the objective hex to the hex containing the leader so they could be rallied and replaced them with an unpinned squad from that hex.


FINISHED MOVE:

[Rabbit]

Turn 6 Germans:


START OF TURN:



The German units in the northern and middle fronts provided some basic fire just to keep the US forces up there busy. The German units in the rear (far left) provided supporting fire against the US units along the ridge.

The Germans attempted an unsuccessful assault against the objective hex. The lone machine gunner was eliminated but the two bazooka troops held their ground. Seeing a machine gun squad plus a squad of about 10 men for the US in the hex immediately below the objective hex, I poured some heavy fire into that hex, but failed to pin those units. Unfortunately since those units are not pinned, the US will be able to move them into the objective hex during their next move, greatly increasing the difficulty for the Germans to take that hex. With that in mind, I moved the remaining German squads into the hexes just below the objective hex (joining the pinned German squads in those hexes). I also moved leaders into each of those two hexes so that they could rally German units in those hexes. The Germans will only get a few more chances to take the objective now that they are down to only two turns left.


FINISHED MOVE:

[Rabbit]

Turn 6 US:


START OF TURN:



The units in the uppermost front continued to apply heavy fire onto the nearby German units. With that front well contained, the US units in the middle as well as the units in the rear (the far right) concentrated their fire against enemy units near the ridge that were visible, particularly the hex immediately above the objective. This yielded positive results as the German leader in that hex was killed.

The US squad in the lower left-hand corner continued to keep the two nearby German squads pinned down. As much as I would love to use that squad up on the ridge, the single squad is keeping two squads and a leader neutralized so it is a worthwhile tradeoff at this point.

The US units below the ridge moved their way up towards the top of the ridge. The battle at the top will come down to a numbers game, hinging upon how many US units I can get up there as compared to how many Germans units can assault. The ten units that just moved up there should be very difficult for the Germans to dislodge. Getting another ten units up there will make it virtually impossible for the Germans to take it.

Bear in mind that pinned units cannot advance towards the enemy. Hence, enemy units you pin making their way up the ridge won't be able to make it to the top without being rallied. Therefore, it will be vital for the Germans to either take the objective this upcoming turn or else pin the US squad of ten men that is in the hex immediately below the objective. Failing to do either of these two things, will mean the Germans will have to assault uphill against 20 men which would be virtually impossible for them.


FINISHED MOVE:

[Rabbit]

Turn 7 Germans:


START OF TURN:



The Germans decided to try and pin the US squad that was trying to ascend the summit as opposed to concentrating all of their firepower towards the summit prior to an assault attempt. The rationale was that an extra turn might buy the Germans some time to weaken the US forces at the summit prior to an assault. Unfortunately this strategy failed as the Germans could not pin the US squad despite a very heavy barrage. Failing to pin that squad, the Germans decided to attempt a hasty assault on the summit, knowing that the US would have nearly twice as many units on the summit the next turn. However without much advance fire, the chances of dislodging the US troops were slim. The odds prevailed and the Germans will likely begin their final turn needing to dislodge 20 men who are at a higher elevation.

Meanwhile, German units in the northern front retreated so as not to continue taking losses against superior numbers. Other German forces headed towards the ridge, but will not arrive in time to be of much assistance.


FINISHED MOVE:

[Rabbit]

Turn 7 US:


START OF TURN:



Once again the units in the middle section and far right-hand sections concentrated their fire against the hex immediately above the objective. And once again, this yielded positive results by killing a German leader who had moved into the hex the turn before and also demoralizing one of the two squads in that hex.

The units at the summit fired down onto the two hexes immediately below so as to keep those units pinned down. The units south of the objective ascended the summit as planned. Also, the leader to the right of the summit also ascended the summit.

A squad advanced to the hex below the objective so as to provide some extra firepower against the pinned German units when they attempt to rally.


FINISHED MOVE:

[Rabbit]

Turn 8 Germans:


START OF TURN:



This time, the Germans concentrated all of their firepower against the summit. However they were unable to rally any of their pinned units in the hex immediately above the objective and in the hex just to the upper left. Not being able to advance, they fired at the summit. After all the firing, there were only eight pinned US troops left at the summit and eight disrupted German troops in the hex to the lower left. The Germans final assault killed one of the defenders, which meant the outcome of the assault hinged on a morale check. Alas, the bloody uphill battle had taken its toll on the Germans. With their morale gone, the Germans retreated from the summit having come ever so close to their goal.


FINISHED MOVE:

[Rabbit]

Turn 8 US:

Having successfully defended all of the objectives and with victory in hand, the US troops held fire for the remaining turn not wanting to take any further losses.

START OF TURN / FINISHED MOVE:

[Rabbit]

FINAL OUTCOME:



The Germans suffer a major defeat. This is not overly surprising with this scenario as it is heavily favored towards the US.

The Germans could have done a few things better. For instance, they should have avoided using the northeastern side of the ridge for attacking the summit because it was exposed to much of the US forces and, not surprisingly, the Germans units in that hex were easily pinned and they also lost a pair of leaders in that hex. The Germans wasted two squads and a leader by sending them too far down the road to the south where they wound up getting pinned by a single squad. And finally, the Germans might have been able to take the summit had they gone all-out for it in Turn 7 rather than trying and failing to pin the ascending US squads.

On the other side, the US didn't make many mistakes. Their decision in the beginning to push most of their troops to the very front - especially rushing them to the ridge - paid off as they were able to hold those lines. It was a risk to leave their flanks exposed, but the US correctly surmised that the Germans would be hard pressed to take advantage of that due to the brevity of the scenario.

This is a fun scenario to play for either side - even if it is skewed in favor of the US - primarily because both sides have a good amount of flexibility in how they position their units. I probably would consider this a "hall of fame" type scenario if it were just two turns longer.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ END OF REPORT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[TheBigRedOne]

Nice work, Rabbit!

Not a critique or criticism, but one thing I will comment on that struck me was your initial advance with the Germans. You had the knowledge of where the US forces were, so it couldn't have hurt you here, but you kept your German soldiers upright for a long, long time, and in stacks as you marched down that road into position.

Had the US forces been occupying ambush positions in those tree-lined hexes or buildings closer to your point of entry into the town, you could have had taken some pretty severe losses, especially if the US had held fire until you were right up close.



For any SB newbie types who are reading this AAR, I'd recommend having your men hit the deck at the end of each and every turn. It really preserves your losses if your enemy is wise and is 'holding fire' until you get up real close.

Just my comment. Great work, Rabbit!

[Rabbit]

Good point! I should have noted that I have played the scenario once before, which greatly impressed upon me how very short the scenario is and how challenging it is for the Germans to get very far. And that definitely factored into my overall strategy.

It only costs 3 movement points to get up from Ground Mode, which is the cost of moving a single roadway hex, so it usually is worth giving up those 3 movement points for the extra safety provided by Ground Mode. And the importance of not "stacking" your troops cannot be emphasized enough to new players.

By the way, I definitely welcome and encourage further critiques/discussions, as it would certainly be helpful to new players to hear other viewpoints and advice. Plus I certainly don’t mind free advice on ways to improve my own game. : )