Andrew Offen - Jun 12, 2009 8:25 pm (#17026 Total: 17374)
BookmarkEmail to Friend
Expo game AAR.

Hi Guys. I am the poor miserable colonial who took on the task of beating down
Sal's defence of the Reich at the last Consimworld expo. Thought I would give
you my view of the game and how it went. We played the 1943 scenario with two
players, although Thomas Prowell took one turn as the Russians in late Summer of
43 before abandoning me to my fate.

The war in the East started with a rapid German withdrawal. The Germans
immediately pulled back 3 to 4 hexes to avoid the initial clear weather combat
and the Russians spent the first part of the summer struggling to catch up. Once
engaged though, it became a dour affair of attrition. Plentiful German HQ's gave
them the ability to stand in place and the Russians spent the rest of the summer
and the autumn pounding away at low and medium odds attacks to reduce the
manpower of the German army. A concentration of shock armies and armour in the
South by the Russians saw the fall of Sevastapol and the German line pushed to
breaking point around the Dneiperpetrovsk/Nikopol area. Odessa ultimately fell
but in the final run the line held – barely.

In the West the Allies toyed with the idea of a thrust into Sardinia and Corsica
but in the end I was talked out of that and opted for the historical run into
Sicily and up Italy. Sal quickly occupied Italy and rushed German defenders to
the boot. I was able by some good luck to take Naples, but that was it. A
combination of HQ's, forts, mountains and good German infantry stopped the
advance dead in its tracks at Casino/Pescara. Some expensive Anzio style forays
into the German rear all ended in tears and Sals declaration that he would
consider the game a morale victory so long as Italy was spared the yoke of
Allied oppression convinced me that further pushing up the boot of Italy was a
mugs game (first example of such fanaticism ever seen in an Italian). End 43 saw
the W Allies stalemated in Italy and the Russians continuing to try and bleed
the German army dry either side of the Pripet marshes.

It is worthy to note that at this point there was a spirited debate about the
appalling political insensitivity in the game – describing Australians as
colonials and Australia as a British dependent (when of course the reverse was
true). This threatened to derail proceedings but having secured the morale high
ground I bravely soldiered on.

The campaigning season of 44 saw some big developments. In the East the Russians
switched emphasis to the North and finally broke though in East Prussia. This
prompted another German strategic withdrawal in the Summer of 44 abandoning the
Ukraine and Rumania and pulling back to a line which effectively ran from Danzig
straight down to Budapest. With muliple German HQ's concentrated in the North
progress there slowed and the Russian movement allowances allowed the Germans
the chance to consolidate the line in the south by the time mud hit in the
Autumn of 44.

In the West the German focus on protecting sacred Italy allowed the Allies a
relatively easy landing in France over the Normandy beaches and by the end of
Summer a US armoured thrust had secured Brussels and the Ardenne and the
British/Canadian "colonials" were assaulting Metz. In the south, ignoring advice
from the experts, I assaulted into Albania in the Summer of 44. Greek partisans
then assisted in the liberation of Athens while Yugoslav partisans helped screen
the northern border. After Athens had fallen an Australian/Greek (and US) column
then struck north up the road to Belgrade with the brave Aussie lads liberating
Belgrade with the bayonet as the rains started to fall.

At this point we stood back and assessed the situation. There was no doubt
Germany would fall, but the pre-emptive German withdrawals in the East had left
enough of the German army intact that it was going to take most of the Summer of
45 for the Allies to fight through Germany and meet in the middle. There was
little doubt that by VE day a core of German strat hexes would still be in Axis
hands. Sal was able to claim a morale victory by holding Rome. I was able to
claim the same by expunging the slight of being labelled colonials with the
Australian liberation of Belgrade. Pride thus satisfied by both parties, the
relatively unimportant issue of victory was assessed in the Germans favour.
Allied Crusade 2 or maybe 3 at a push by VE day did not get us far enough up the
VP track to beat an Axis Tide counter on the 3 VP box.

I have to say the game played very well . The new support unit rules around
supply convoys and troop convoys were initially a bit confusing for my jet
lagged head but once you get it, they played very well. The toned down CRT,
stronger Russian capability and new cards improved the feel of the game
significantly for me. I would call the game a success and ready to go.

Thanks to Sal and the rest of the guys there for putting up with me. I had a
great time and really enjoyed meeting you all. Would love to make it back there
at some stage, jet lag not withstanding.

Regards Andrew