The rule in itself is already quite ambiguous. There is no Faq or official clarification on the roll of 6 at 7+ rule; let alone that there is some explanation that helps us with the Heavy Cannon SA. The best solution IMO is to decide for yourself, or discuss in your gaming group.
Personally, I would say that at 7+, rolls of 6 get -1. As a result, the heavy cannon would hit for 2 instead of the normal 3.
Question. I gave the new Japanese fighters Jack and Frank an armor value of 3; the George got 4. I'm not shure this is correct. 4 for the George probably is, but what about the Frank and Jack?
BTW- Nice job Toyama. What did you use for the model that was destroyed? WoTC, or aftermarket unit?
The Stug was a Zvezda 1:100 model if I'm not mistaken. This model comes with 2 different decks and cannons, so I planted a left-over deck&cannon in the pile of rubble.
In the Netherlands, yesterday we remembered all who had fallen in WW2 and in other conflicts in the Netherlands, the East Indies or abroad. Soldiers, resistance fighters, civilians and even enemies (because they are victims as well). Today it is Liberation Day, the National holiday in which we celebrate the end of World War 2 and living in peace.
So, in celebration, here is another AAR that brings us that bit closer toward WW2's final stages:
Gran Sasso raid (Aka Unternehmen Eiche) 12 September 1943
On the night between 24 and 25 July 1943, a couple of weeks weeks after the Allied invasion of Sicily, the Italian Grand Council of Fascism voted a motion of no confidence (Ordine del Giorno Grandi) against Benito Mussolini, Italy's Duce of Fascism. On the same day, after a meeting with King Vittorio Emanuele III, Il Duce was arrested. German leader Adolf Hitler, having just met with Mussolini on 19 Jul, was outraged. On 26 July, he ordered Mussolini to be rescued from captivity and delivered to Germany. Airborne officer Kurt Student was recommended to head this operation. He was immediately accepted by Hitler. Unwilling to let the opportunity of fame go by, chief of the SS organization Heinrich Himmler insisted that his SS troops were to play a part as well, which Hitler agreed. Himmler's man on the operation was Otto Skorzeny, who had little to no espionage experience.
The initial search efforts to locate Mussolini were not encouraging. German intelligence in Italy had very little useful information on the former Prime Minister's whereabouts. Mussolini was being transported around Italy by his captors, repeatedly eluding German intelligence. At 8 September, when Italy publicly capitulated to the Allied powers, the Germans finally had a certain degree of confidence that Mussolini was imprisoned at Campo Imperatore Hotel, a ski resort at Campo Imperatore in Italy's Gran Sasso massif. By now it was feared that, with Italy switched sides, Mussolini could be delivered to the Western Allies very soon. There was little time to plan and execute the rescue raid.
Skorzeny and Student agreed that the only assault possible was by gliders landing on a patch of grass near the hotel. After landing, three platoons of Luftwaffe airborne troops and one platoon of SS troops would rush into the hotel for the rescue. The airborne troops were well armed with assault rifles, machine guns, and grenades and were supported with medics. Skorzeny's SS troops, on the other hand, were lightly armed and had much less experience with raids. To Student's annoyance, Skorzeny interfered with the planning and bumped off several Luftwaffe troopers so that he could have the SS detachment be accompanied by a photographer and a journalist, serving propoganda purposes. A second component of the rescue force consisted of 20 vehicles carrying troops that were to secure the lower cable car station that connected the mountain top hotel to the rest of the world.
On the Italian side, about 100 Italian Carabinieri policemen guarded the hotel itself, while another 100 guarded the lower cable car station.
The operation launched in the early hours of 12 Sep 1943 with the ground column taking the route toward Gran Sasso; later that morning the glider team was to take off from the airfield at Pratica di Mare, south of Rome.
Battle Report
A game of AAM hexless seemed to be the perfect way to replay this raid, 100 points to each side. The German force was split in two: one part contained the high-cost Fallschirmjäger, the second part represented the SS-ers with Mausers and machine guns.
(SS-ers in the 3 columns to the left; Luftwaffe paras in the 3 right columns)
The Italian Carabinieri were modelled by a mix of Italian troops.
(the Italians outnumber the Germans by 2:1, historically quite accurate)
The Gran Sasso hotel was replaced by a model of an Alpine stronghold, with Mussolini placed as single objective high up in the Donjon.
(Benito 'Rapunzel' Mussolini crying 'Save me!' from the balcony)
After dicing it out for initiative, the game was started (Germany had the Initiative all throughout the scenario).
(Carabinieri still quite unaware of the arriving gliders)
Immediately after crash-landing the glider, the assorted SS-ers sped across the open terrain towards the nearest stands of trees.
(Go! Go! Go!)
Covering fire from their machine guns destroyed an Italian MG team and a fusilier on the keep's causeway, but failed to protect the sprinting raiders. No less than three Mauser teams fell before they reached the safety of the treeline.
('there's our objective')
By now, a Brexia mortar had taken position in cover of a hedge lining the castle's access road, with view to the advancing SS-ers. At the limits of the mortar's range, they managed to take out one of the MG teams, shortly followed by a kill on another Mauser Karabiner 98K. Even though the Italians lost some more troops in return, the brunt of the SS assault was broken. When the Germans also saw their second MG team go down, together with the final remaining Mauser team, it became apparent that Mussolini wouldn't be liberated by the Schutzstaffel contingent of the raiding force.
(unexpectedly, the Brexia Model 35 rapid firing mortar appeared to be priceless)
Meanwhile, on the other side of the stronghold, the German paratroopers had landed behind a patch of wood, outside Italian view. Cautiously, strictly adhering to bush cover, they approached the outer walls of the ancient fortress. There they walked into a spray of covering fire from a plethora of Italian muzzles. Their high level of training and discipline made itself count, as most of the Italian barrage was ineffective. Only a single Fallschirmjäger team fell to enemy fire, while a multitude of Italians had to bite the dust.
(Fallschirmjäger walking into massed defensive fire)
Pressed to get to Il Duce as fast as possible, the para Hauptmann decided to not just stay and fight it out with the Carabinieri, but ordered his men to advance onto the keep's perimeter. And so, while pinning the unexperienced Carabinieri on the go, the paratroopers pushed into the castle's ring road. Any disruptions on the paratroopers were brushed aside by their Hauptmann. ('It's only a flesh wound! Please exert some will!')
Miraculously, they stayed largely untouched. Wading through superior numbers of Italians, they reached the center building. There they met with the last piece of Italian defense: a stalwart Lieutenant. Stalwart or not, it took just a single Luftwaffe salvo to finish this last barrier that stood between them and Mussolini. Exercising the final available move of turn 7, a single Fallschirmjäger reached Mussolini's cell and freed the fascist dictator.
('Benito Mussolini, I presume?')
An Axis victory!
Epilogue
With some delay, at about 1400 hours, the ground column reached the lower cable car station. A brief firefight scattered the outgunned Italian Carabinieri personnel, and in 15 minutes the Germans radioed the mission completion signal back to the operation HQ.
As for the gliders, because they had arrived late, the 0700 departure was postponed until 1300. Then, during takeoff, the first two gliders struck bomb craters from a recent Allied air raid and crashed. A dozen gliders made the trip to the Gran Sasso massif. As the gliders approached the landing zone, Skorzeny discovered that the level patch of grass seen in the high-level reconnaissance photos was actually a rock-strewn incline. Countermanding orders to abort in such a situation, Skorzeny ordered the pilot to crash-land as near to the hotel as possible. With heroic effort, the pilot landed the glider thirty feet from the hotel. As the other gliders were still making their approach, Skorzeny and the handful of commandos from the first glider rushed into the hotel. General Fernando Soleti of the Polizia, who also flew in with Skorzeny, told the defending carabinieri to stand down or be executed for treason. Three minutes later, Skorzeny stood before Mussolini and said, “Il Duce, the Führer has sent me to free you.” Mussolini hugged him and said, “I knew my friend Adolf Hitler would not leave me in the lurch.” Not a shot had been fired in the hotel. Mussolini and Skorzeny departed the hotel area in a waiting Fieseler Storch plane and landed a short while later safely at a Luftwaffe airfield. Mussolini then boarded a Heinkel He-111 bomber for the flight to Wolf’s Lair, Hitler’s headquarters at Rastenburg in East Prussia.
As a foot note, according to some historical researches, the Gran Sasso raid was the possible result of a secret, rigged deal between the Italian and German government. Nevertheless, the operation granted a rare late-war public relations opportunity to Hermann Göring, with German propaganda hailing the operation for months afterward. Mussolini was made leader of the Italian Social Republic (a German puppet state consisting of the German-occupied portion of Italy). Deserved or not, Otto Skorzeny gained a large amount of success from this mission; he received a promotion to Sturmbannführer, the award of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and fame that led to his "most dangerous man in Europe" image.
Much respect goes out to Outpost eagle and armchair general for their tireless efforts to move threads from the old forum to the new forum. Your work has not gone unnoticed! :salute: