GTotH 1 CO/II BN/233 RGT/102 ID Mission #1 - Official

[DoubleDeuce]

This scenario was Mission #1 for a recent Group Tigers on the Hunt game being organized hereon the Matrix Games Forums. Please note that this scenario is NOT balanced as it is an SASL adaptation and should only be played from the German side.

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TO THE GERMAN COMMANDER: 1 Coy/2 BN/233 RGT/102 ID

MISSION: Cautious Advance
DATE: Day, June 22, 1941

BRIEFING: Your orders are to advance forward across the German-Russian frontier and penetrate the enemy
defensive lines. Area reconnaissance has identified that the enemy is defending in depth in your sector. While the strength of the enemy is not known, their positions do not appear to be heavily fortified. Specific objectives have been assigned to your unit which must be captured and held and are marked on your map.

CORE FORCE: The following is your core force;
1x LEADER: Lieutenant B*
1x LEADER: Sergeant C*
1x LEADER: Sergeant C
12x SQUAD: 1st Line
2x HALF-SQUAD: 1st Line
2x CREW
2x SW: LIGHT MG
2x SW: AT RIFLE
2x SW: LIGHT MTR

VICTORY POINTS: Victory Points will be awared as follows;
* - Each side gains VP for control of VPO (as indicated on the map).
* - The ENEMY gains VP for casualties inflicted on your force.
* - You gain VP for each ENEMY AFV/Gun destroyed (Gun VP are awarded when the CREW is eliminated).

DIRECTLY ATTACHED: Battalion has attached the following units to your command for this Mission;
2x CREW w/MMG (from the BN MG Company)
1x LEADER: Sergeant C w/Radio (BN 81mm MTR) as you have Priority of Fire

REINFORCEMENTS: Shorty after you cross the frontier, the following units will arrive from a nearby unit. They will fall under your command upon their arrival.
5x SQUAD: 1st Line
1x SW: LIGHT MG
1x LEADER: Sergeant C*
1x LEADER: Sergeant D*

MISSION END: At the end of Game Turn 10, and at the end of each Game Turn thereafter, TotH will perform a 'dr'. If the 'dr' is <=2, the Mission ends immediately. If the 'dr' trigger is not met, the game will end at the conclusion of Game Turn 16.

HOW TO BEGIN:

1. - Launch TotH, locate and select your Mission Scenario file, Select New Game.

2. - Set the following in the Scenario Configuration Dialog screen;
> SIDE A: COMPUTER PLAYER
> SIDE B: HUMAN PLAYER
> DIFFICULTY: NORMAL
> Fog of War: ENABLED
> Path Quality: HIGH
> Check the 'Russian Radioless AFV Rule in Effect' box if available
> Click OK

3. - BEFORE deploying any units please review in detail each of the following under the Menu tab;
> Scenario Attributes (be sure to check the 'Visibility' setting)
> Scenario Victory
> Scenario Description

4. - Play the Mission to completion.
5. - If you want to give feedback please use the fillable .pdf form in the download to submit an AAR to this thread. The detail level of the AAR is up to you but the more information provided will help with future GTotH scenario design.

Download the scenario by clicking this link GTotH 1 CO/II BN/233 RGT/102 ID Mission #1 - Official

Any questions PLEASE feel free to hit me up.

[DoubleDeuce]

Just a quick note. Anyone is free to play this mission. It's being released to the community as a single scenario for those brave enough to take it on. [8D]

[UP844]

The PDF form is really outstanding, but Adobe Reader 9 does not allow saving the filled form [:(].

[UP844]

Disregard the previous post: I updated to Adobe Reader 11 and the new version saves the filled form [;)].

[DoubleDeuce]

ORIGINAL: UP844

The PDF form is really outstanding . . . .

Thanks. If you can think of anything that should be added or adjusted let me know, I'm sure I missed something that would be helpful to players.

[UP844]

Just a couple minor remarks:

1) Is it really necessary to duplicate the VP count window? Isn't reporting the Victory Level (and VP count, if required) enough? I'd rather use that space to enlarge the AAR notes area: I understand 99% of the players are not verbose as I am [:D], but some more space to take notes would be nice.

2) The "Mission ratings" lines allow multiple selection (this is a remark only a really diehard hyper-rivet-counter could make [;)]).

[UP844]

May we poor victims (I mean, players [:D]) expect to see some of our tanks, sometimes? Even some light ordnance will be fine.

I'm sure okiefire_ssl and I could easily make a lot of money writing "Tank Hunting with Bare Hands for Dummies", but it would be nice to see some Panzers around, just for the sake of change.

[UP844]

I just managed to get a Minor Victory.

I provide sketchy AAR, since I won't be able to prepare the usual novel until next week (from tomorrow I must return to my work chores [:(]).

There are 5 VP hexes in two clusters: 3 in the south village 2 near the north bridge. The bridge is much closer to the German deployment area, but there is little cover; in the south, conversely, there are some nice woods providing cover for the approaching troops. The road embankment west of the village, moreover, looked promising to set up Lt MTRs and MGs.
Since I don't like much charging bridges from open ground, I decided to start from the south, attack the village and then proceed northward.

The plan worked quite fine, but taking the village (and fending off the pesky Russian tanks) required too much time: around turn 10, the VP hexes in the villages were all in German hands, but I was not able to clear it from Russian troops until turn 12. At that point, it was to late to mount a serious attack on the bridge and get the last VP required for a Major victory.

I incurred some losses: at the end of the scenario, I still had 6+2 squads and 2+2 HS (1st/2nd line) out of the initial 12 squads (~17%). Unfortunately, the elite reinforcements suffered a 80% casualty rate: only 1 squad (degraded to 1st line) and a leader (wounded) survived of 5 squads and 2 leaders. Overall, I lost 6 squads out of 17, about a third of my force. It's still better than the 75% casualty rate in my own Mission 1 [:)].

The Lt Mortars performed well, eliminating 2 guns through straight crew KIA and pinning the crew of a third, allowing my infantry to engage it in CC. They were especially effective against targets in woods (is the -1 TEM for indirect fire implemented?)
MMGs generally had a bad day, not achieving much.
ATR scratched a lot of paint from the Russian tanks, but only managed to immobilise one of them; the only quick way to dispose of enemy tanks remains entering CC: the heroes of the day were a C* leader and 2 Elite squads who killed three BT-7A. Unfortunately, they came under fire of a 37mm ATG with a berserk crew that kept ROF five times [:(].
OBA was effective until the fight moved in the village, then it became more dangerous for my men than for the enemy.

@Double Deuce:
1) A D* leader was generated following a CC: if this was a GTotH campaign scenario, would it have been retained in the Core OOB?
2) The scenario lasted the full 16 turns. I suspect there is something wrong with the variable scenario end, as it does not seem to work.

[DoubleDeuce]

ORIGINAL: UP844

@Double Deuce:
1) A D* leader was generated following a CC: if this was a GTotH campaign scenario, would it have been retained in the Core OOB?
2) The scenario lasted the full 16 turns. I suspect there is something wrong with the variable scenario end, as it does not seem to work.

1) Still working this out for leaders but for squads, pretty much all changes for them, casualty reduction, battlehardening, etc, during a mission will carry over to the next one.

2) I've been wondering about that too. I have seen a few test runs go to the last turn and not end early. I think you reported that in the tech support thread already??