Post by boomerbill on Apr 3, 2018 19:12:00 GMT
I introduced a new gaming acquaintance to AAM with a two-map take on the Falaise Gap, with a Polish and Canadian force on the heights overlooking the road to St. Lambert at the River Dives.
Gerry is not a Foruminian. His special area of interest is the Seven Years' War, in 15 mm. And he is North America's main source of after-market die-cut counters for Avalon Hill board games. I talked him into trying AAM, with the understanding that he would introduce me to 15mm SYW.
After having a good look at the options, we decided to roll a die for sides, and Gerry won the Axis.
The Axis had 139 points; the Allies, 129. An Axis victory would be getting more than 80 points over the river; an Allied victory would be holding that to less than 60 points of escaped men and material. Anything in the middle would be a draw.
Here was the Allied lineup:
Here was the Axis lineup:
The Allies occupied the ruined villa on Mount Ormel (thanks to Dano for the 3D terrain), with good sight lines along the road and the fields, but with patches of forest that might help some units find cover if they tried a southerly route to the river.
The Axis set up on the first turn within two hexes of the east edge of the map (here, to the right).
Here's how it looked going in:
The Axis decided it was better to eliminate the blocking force rather than try to dash for the river.
The Axis won the initiative and through a series of awesome die rolls, damaged one Cromwell, destroyed the Firefly and removed half of the Allied infantry.
But the dice were just as hot for the Allies. The damaged Cromwell went nose-to-nose with one Panzer IV and destroyed it. The Firefly took out the other Panzer IV. The mortar trashed the Hanomag, and the undamaged Cromwell made hash of the Panzerspahwagen.
There were a lot of flame markers on the board.
And the Grizzled Veteran hadn't even been placed yet.
With the StuG, the Kubelwagen, the two trucks and a number of Axis infantry still on the board, the best the Axis could hope for was a draw, and that was assuming that StuG could erase the undamaged Cromwell while the German infantry finished off the other.
So the Axis conceded.
It was truly a bloody first turn.
Gerry is not a Foruminian. His special area of interest is the Seven Years' War, in 15 mm. And he is North America's main source of after-market die-cut counters for Avalon Hill board games. I talked him into trying AAM, with the understanding that he would introduce me to 15mm SYW.
After having a good look at the options, we decided to roll a die for sides, and Gerry won the Axis.
The Axis had 139 points; the Allies, 129. An Axis victory would be getting more than 80 points over the river; an Allied victory would be holding that to less than 60 points of escaped men and material. Anything in the middle would be a draw.
Here was the Allied lineup:
Here was the Axis lineup:
The Allies occupied the ruined villa on Mount Ormel (thanks to Dano for the 3D terrain), with good sight lines along the road and the fields, but with patches of forest that might help some units find cover if they tried a southerly route to the river.
The Axis set up on the first turn within two hexes of the east edge of the map (here, to the right).
Here's how it looked going in:
The Axis decided it was better to eliminate the blocking force rather than try to dash for the river.
The Axis won the initiative and through a series of awesome die rolls, damaged one Cromwell, destroyed the Firefly and removed half of the Allied infantry.
But the dice were just as hot for the Allies. The damaged Cromwell went nose-to-nose with one Panzer IV and destroyed it. The Firefly took out the other Panzer IV. The mortar trashed the Hanomag, and the undamaged Cromwell made hash of the Panzerspahwagen.
There were a lot of flame markers on the board.
And the Grizzled Veteran hadn't even been placed yet.
With the StuG, the Kubelwagen, the two trucks and a number of Axis infantry still on the board, the best the Axis could hope for was a draw, and that was assuming that StuG could erase the undamaged Cromwell while the German infantry finished off the other.
So the Axis conceded.
It was truly a bloody first turn.
