With my game room again fully operational, I was excited to get a Remagen game in! I prepared for the game as we often do- the host sets up the board and makes 2 army lists, and then we roll to see who takes what.
For the board, I wanted it to look like the outskirts of an industrial region- a vital train depot AND crossroads with the US hit with a preparatory bombardment before striking. For this game, I ran Westfalen, and Jon ran the US.
US 3rd Armored Divsion Light Tank Company (Reluctant Veteran)
HQ + Recovery Vehicle (which I forgot to take out, but wouldn't have made a bit of difference)
5x Chaffees
5x Chaffees
Tank Platoon (2x M4A3, 2x M4A3E8)
Armored Mortars
Armored Rifle Platoon (dismounted)
Armored Recon
SS Westfalen (Fearless Trained)
HQ + Panzerschreck
Ersatz SS-Aufklarungs Platoon
Ersatz SS-Aufklarungs Platoon
Ersatz SS-MG Platoon
Ersatz SS-Tank Platoon
512. Schwere Panzerjaegers (2x Jagdtiger) (Confident Trained)
Panzer AA Platoon (2x Ostwind) (Reluctant Veteran)
Volks Rocket Launcher Battery (Reluctant Trained)
Volkssturm Platoon (Reluctant Conscript) (Xyzax)
The mission was Counter Attack.
The Westfalen deploy in the bottom right quadrant. Jagdtigers in ambush. I totally forgot about Combat Attaching my HMGs which probably would've made sense. In the front line is the Xyzax infantry. Behind them is the one Westfalen platoon. In the center around the objective are the HMGs. Bottom right are nebs. To the left is another Westfalen Platoon with attached schreck, and the CO so they can get moving to the other objective (off screen to the right).
an HMG sets up with a good field of view.
Volkssturm wear early war equipment.
The tankers of the 3rd AD know the end is in sight, and don't want to take too many unnecessary risks!
Chaffees and Armored Rifles prepare to swing wide before heading to the objective.
The tanks form a gun line.
The "west side" of the board is hilariously open.
Right off the bat, US Shermans open up on the Volkssturm, surprisingly causing no casualties.
Chaffees and armored rifles charge out!
Armored Rifles
The Jagdtigers drop their ambush.
And nail a Sherman, and bail an E8.
TURN TWO
Chaffees move out, ready to intercept German reserves.
US Armored Rifles take light casualties from the Nebelwerfers, but the CO urges them to keep moving. Jagdtigers and Westfalen shift left to move towards the objective.
Everything is starting to move left!
Mortars and chaffees smoke the JTs.
Jon kills the commander and a stand from the Volkssturm, but they hang in there!
Chaffees ready to pounce on German reserves.
Looking from Jon's deployment area.
Both German reserves arrive! The Ostwinds have no chance of surviving long, so they come out guns blazing.
The Panzer IIIs huddle in the corner, trying to deny side shots. Their fire is completely ineffective- bummer!
Jagdtigers make it to the hill, and nail two chaffees and bail a third (curse that 1)!
The Jadgtiger's laser beam is a force to be reckoned with.
The Ostwinds stormtrooper
And do their best to hide!
TURN THREE
Nebelwerfers placed smoke last turn to protect Jagdtigers from side shots at range.
The developing left flank.
The Panzer IIIs are in for a world of hurt.
Jagdtigers get smoked.
Jon redeploys his recon and tanks.
Despite being pinned, Jon is able to move most of his ARs into a wood. They remain pinned for quite some time.
Chaffees open up...
Ouch. First platoon down for the Westfalen!
Ostwinds lose one vehicle.
Westfalen nebelwerfers fire for revenge!
And bail one tank and kill one- the one killed tank just so happens to be the CO! No more re-rolls for reluctant tanks.
Jagdtigers nip at the heels of the battered Chaffee platoon; the remnants quit the field. We're both down one platoon now.
Everyone continues shifting towards the objective.
Jon is left with 7 Chaffees.
TURN FOUR
Sorry for the blurry overview!
In the previous turn I moved my HMGs out in order to try and intercept the Armored Rifles. Jon takes the opportunity to shoot them up, knocking out 2 guns.
Chaffees swing around and put enough .50 cal shots into the remaining Ostwind to bail him out. He then fails platoon morale- another platoon down!
Shermans and recon. The Armored Rifles still cannot unpin.
Jagdtigers pop another Chaffee.
The Westfalen infantry secures the objective. Here I make a critical mistake- I treat them like vets. I should not have let them hang outside of the wood.
TURN FIVE
The right side of the board. Jon's mortars pinned the Nebelwerfers in turn 4- they stay pinned for the rest of the game!
The left side of the board- Jon tears into the infantry, knocking them to half strength.
Jagdtigers and the infantry shift.
TURN SIX
With the objectives hot, the Armored Rifles finally unpin and start moving! They have a lot of distance to cross to make the objectives.
Chaffees zip forward, and MG the heck out of the infantry! I am left with two stands and the CO.
The Chaffees charge, but the CO puts a Panzerfaust into one of them!
But the infantry counter attack!
And knock out another Chaffee!
Editor's Note: We messed this rule up. If there are no teams within 4" you've won the assault! The end result wouldn't have changed, however... because Jon had the 2iC attached, and the Chaffee platoon was down to 2 surviving tanks, we both had to make a motivation check anyways... he failed his reluctant check, and one of my teams failed his 2+ enjoy the war, meaning the platoon had to make a sole-survivor check which they auto-fail. Bummed we screwed up this rule, but am relieved to realize it wouldn't have made a lick of difference.
Nothin' but us Jagdtigers chillin' over here!
Jagdtigers move out and fire on the recon (the recon has lost both jeeps to small arms, so nailing one of the M8s will force a reluctant check!)
TURN SEVEN
Jon again fires on the HMGs who are down to 2 guns and their commander. He knocks one more gun out, but the remainder pass their "Enjoy the War" check.
Mortars move out as an Ersatz SS platoon sneaks up through the ruins and gets too close for comfort.
Armored Rifles move up. Jagdtigers stay just out of assault range and then open up on the Shermans, knocking one more out.
TURN EIGHT
Jon tries desperately to wipe out one more platoon by again focusing fire on the HMGs. He kills the platoon commander, leaving the platoon with one gun. That gun passes his "enjoy the war" rule and fights on!
The Jagdtigers hope they can break Jon's company by knocking out both the Shermans AND the recon, and so split fire.
They knock out one of each, forcing checks on both platoons. Jon passes both.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
At this point we decide to call it, as it's about time for me to put my munchkin to bed. We'll call it a draw since I think Jon still has a chance with his Armored Rifles (slim though it is- they are reluctant and two turns away from my objective!). Eight turns is a long enough time to hold though, so I feel confident in a tournament game this would likely turn into a victory, but with no time limit set, Jon still has a chance and that's what I love about FOW! Well that, and, I would've never taken this list to a tournament anyway I don't think- it's okay but there's plenty it cannot do well. But for whipping up the two lists quickly, I think they made for a pretty good game!
As I said, my list was
okay. I would've played a bit different in a few places, but I was really impressed with the Jagdtigers AND the Volkssturm. The Volkssturm took a lot of fire but they still have a 3+ save!
From Jon: I was playing this one pretty loose - casual game, right? In the end, I was just shooting up stuff and killing platoons. If I knew we were analyzing this for tournament play, I would have done some things differently. Keeping the CiC back with the ARP would have been best to make sure they unpin. As they were dismounted, they could not keep up with the Chaffees - a major hindrance to this list. I also would have just kept smoking the JTs - which I could do easily. By the end, I was going for the long-shot company break, for sure.
While we are talking tournaments, lets turn to construction - I think dropping an Easy 8 upgrade to get .50cals on the armored mortars and giving half tracks to the ARP would be well worth it. I have never seen armored mortars without .50cals, and I think they are required. This makes them able to perform two more jobs - AAA and anti-infantry/soft skins. But who care, this was a casual game, right? Nice to see different stuff and just toss dice.
