Although the 3rd Battalion command post had been overrun during the night, and Lt. Col. Reilly was wounded, he was evacuated to the battalion medical post and by the morning was able to give orders to organize a counterattack to take back the vital high ground lost during the previous night's onslaught, which very nearly wiped out his command. The enemy could not be allowed to retain such dominant ground come nightfall, which would give them another chance from even better ground to finish off the Polar Bears, as the regiment was known. Fortunately for the 3rd Battalion for some reason the Chinese had failed to destroy the guns of A Battery whose position they had overrun in the night and whose ground they now gave up as they retreated into the greater safety of the higher heights of the surrounding hills, fearful of UN airpower.
Attacker: American (3rd Battalion and A Battery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 31st Regimental Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division)
Defender: CPVA (4th Company, 2nd Battalion, 239th Regiment, 80th Division, 27th Chinese People's Volunteers Army Corps)
6.5 turns
Players: 2 OBA: None Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:12.0 D:12.0
AFVs: A:0
AFVs: D:0
Guns: A:5
M2A1 105mm Howitzer x 4 M1 81mm Mortar
D:0
Misc Rules:
TF-F SR, M2A1's: Elite (C8,2) for Ammo Depletion (C8.1)
This scenario sees a rag tag, but well supported, American force trying to retake a series of crest lines from the CPVA.
The CPVA are a quite capable force of 437s and 337s with adequate leadership and SW.
The US vary from Katusa, to 667 and are supported by a battery of 105s in the valley (direct fire only), a HMG and 81mm (limited in movement) and a pair of MMGs.
Time is on the US side. 6.5 turns. The map features, as well as steep hills, many slopes. Both sides need to be careful lest the Chinese setup accidentally in view of the 105s or the American assaulters run afoul of a unseen los. The PDP areas do somewhat obscure the slopes.
Having played on this map many times the first thing I planned as the US was to move the mortar and HMG as far up the hill as possible. The snow and the steep hills make these moves slow. The MMGs setup on the far right and moved into the edge of the light woods to be able to see over the saddle between the VC areas, negating the hill side scrub. I left a couple of Katusa HS amongst the 105s as sniper bait.
I attacked along the right-hand side and immediately ran into the best supplied MMG in the Chinese army.
However, my opponent had setup some of his units in view of the 105s and area fire started to stripe and pin in place some of his defenders. My MMGs, being able to see over the hindrances, caused a few MCs. The CPVA were reverse sloped, and my assault force found defilade as his defenders moved out of line of fire of my guns and SW.
His sniper was placed well forward, so my chubby little Katusa HSs started a slow jog forward for the victory area on the left. My opponent moved the bulk of his force to the right of the map to counter my assault, needing to burn MP to move them down the back of the ridge to avoid my professionally placed MGs. At this time, my HMG got into position and assembled and threatened a FL across the saddle preventing oppo from reinforcing the left-hand side VC hexes with the forces he had just moved right, so my assault force ran to the left, linking up with the forever CXd Katusas.
My FL slowed his forces trying to get back to the left and I got a strong assault force into place for the central VC hex and 2x126 and a concealed 346 (which my oppo thought was a Katusa) in place to assault the left VC hex.
In the CPVA’s last turn my erstwhile got a stack into the centre VC hex and a concealed HS into the left hand hex. My assaulting force in the centre was reduced, by advancing fire and CC, to one concealed squad but the 105s stripped all of the important concealment on the CPVA.
In my last turn I just needed to win 2 CC. I won one and not the other. CPVA win.
My opponent used to be a real whiner over dice. He’s better now, but this is the first time I’ve heard him complain that his dice were too hot to touch. He mentioned that he diced me. Indeed, there were more KIAs and lucky assault fire shots and lucky CC rolls than expected, but I did manage a crit and did not malfunction any of my SW. So, despite him using my own precision dice against me, it was a close game.
The winter camo for the Chinese is key, as is the ability to see the slopes. Understanding slopes, steep hills and the effects of snow on elevation change is also crucial.
I’m in a continuing publicity campaign for the power of the IPM. In this scenario there was only one instance where the need for an independent movement TC really caused a problem for my opponent. Apart form that, IPM allowed him to move waves up and down steep hills in snow with ease. Another win for IPM.
I like the scenario; indeed, I love the whole TFF pack. This once again shows off the abilities and limitations of the CPVA. Their range is poor and they often, on defence, need to remain motionless and get shot. To counter this, they have W7.95, which, apart from the ability of units to leap from a building into a water obstacle, is my favourite ASL rule. The ability to grow concealment when in LOS is game changing. In TFF Steep hills or hill side scrub provides the concealment terrain, winter camo gives a +1 hindrance and even a bit of scrub give the second. At night even the scrub is not necessary.
Steep hills are also a very interesting ruleset. The main effect is the subtle change to units carrying equal to their IPC. This is not a problem in other areas of ASL unless CXing. Here it adds a difficulty to the movement of MMGs that is absent in other ASL. It’s clearly a first world problem as the CPVA don’t really have many 3PP SW.
Good scenario, options for the attacker, covered routes for the CPVA as long as they know and can identify the slopes. 8/10 recommend.
