June NorCal Tournament

Our June event was yesterday at Great Escape Games in Sacramento. We played Mid-War 1675 points and had 22 players total, 11 Axis and 11 Allied.  I brought the Panzerkompanie I tested out vs. Reno and Riha the last few weeks.

HQ with Rettemeier in a Panzer IVG, Panzer IVE
Panzer platoon with (4) Panzer IIIN
Panzer platoon with (3) Panzer IVG, (2) Panzer IVE
Light Panzer platoon with (3) Panzer II
Gep. Aufklarüngs platoon with (5) MG teams and (3) SdKfz 250

I ended up winning the event, but all of the games could have been very different.  Failed Fearless Morale rolls were the difference for my opponents.  Great event and everyone seemed to have a great time.  See you all at Historicon!

Round One of the event I faced off against Forest Kerstetter and his Mixed Tankovy in a Fighting Withdrawl.  His list had a bunch of KV-1s and even more T-26s, backed up by some 57mm ZIS guns and IL-2 Air Support.  Terrain was pretty straight up, the dry stream bed was Slow Going, hills we used LOS.  No special Desert rules, so no Dust Clouds.

Deployment:  Forest had a company of T-26s on each flank Objective, and the KV-1s spread to cover two.  ATGs in Ambush.  I deployed my Panzer IIIs on the left side to try and keep his heavies spread out, Aufklarüngs in the middle (they really had no purpose in this one) and the HQ, Panzer IVs and Panzer IIs on the right side.

My Turn One:  Panzer IIs Recon forward to cover the hill as a potential Ambush siteand also contest the Objective.  Panzer IVs try to spread out and maybe stay near a few palm trees,

Halftracks move forward.

Panzer IIIs move forward, but only as a distraction since they can't kill the KV-1.

Forests Turn One:  I should know this by now, but every time I play Forest he has Air Support and it seem to appear EVERY TURN.  The IL-2s only failed to show up once all game.

Forest begins to shift the KV-1s to the main thrust of my Panzers.  His T-26s also move.

The Ambush is sprung! The Panzer IIs have done their job and forced them to deploy in a sub-optimal location.  Two must be deployed over 16" away, since they are in the open, and the other two, because of the Recon, limited command distance,and other teams in their way, must move if they want to shoot this turn.   They only Bail one tank, even with eight shots.   T-26s move to contest.

The Sturmoviks do some damage...

My Turn Two: Panzers presss forward and fire at the ATGs, killing two.  Recon holds position.

Panzer IIIs shift to fire on the T-26s, killing two.

Infantry cross the dry stream, but really have no idea where to go or what to do.

Forests Turn Two: IL-2s come back and can barely get the 2iC and keep over 16" from friendlies.

KV-1s keep rolling to the Panzer party.

Combined ATG and T-26 fire kills one more Panzer IV, two more are bailed by the IL-2s.

My Turn Three: Panzers must continue to close on the enemy or risk more air strikes.  They fire on the ATGs and T-26s, killing the remaining two guns and bailing two T-26s.

Infantry are lost in the desert...

Panzer IIIs must risk fire from the KV-1s to focus on the T-26s.

Forest's Turn Three:  First Withrawl counter is gained.  T-26s fire on the Recon but miss.

The KVs are distracted by the Panzer IIIs and stop to fire, but miss.

My Trun Four:  The only chance I have to win is to try and kill every platoon besides the KVs and hope for a Battalion morale break.  The 2iC and Panzer IIs move to fire on the remnants of the ATG platoon while the Panzer IVs fire on the T-26s, killing two and bailing three.  2iC assaults the ATG command but they break off.  They make their Morale check.

Panzer IIIs push forward and kill three more T-26s, which then fail their Morale and flee.  Infantry move closer to the center  Objective to try and distract the KVs.

Forest's Turn Four:  Still no Withdrawl, second Counter gained.  KV's keep moving towards the Panzers and kill one, forcing a Morale, but they pass.

Guess who comes back?  At least he missed...

My Turn Five:  I'm beginning to sense the pressure of Fighting Withdrawl.  Forrest gets to withdraw a platoon on his turn so I get a little over aggressive.  2iC and Recon Panzers fire on the T-26s, hoping to do some damage but miss.  They assault the ATG command out of desperation, and are bounced back from the massed T-26 fire.  Both Panzer IIs are bailed and pass their Morale check.
Forest's Turn Five: He Withdraws his ATG platoon and concentrates fire on the Panzers.  The Panzer IIs survive a few double bail morale checks but another Panzer IV is lost.  They pass another Morale check.  The Panzer IIIs are decimated by KVs and IL-2s, only one survives, but passes his Morale check too.

My Turn Six:  The last Panzer IV makes a run for it and hides from the now numerous KV-1s.

The 2iC hold position and kills another T-26, which then fail their Morale check.  Forest failed his second Battallion Morale check on Turn Seven.  The whole game came down to these checks, Forest failed all but one of his Fearless checks and I made all of my Confident checks.  This game easily should have been a 4-3 win for Forest, but I got a bit lucky and came away with a 6-1 win.

Round Two I was matched up against Travis Hiett's Fallschirmjäger company in Breakthrough.  I forgot to take any pics until Turn Five.  At this point I was about to take the Objective.  Panzer IIIs and Recon have broken through his FJ platoon but they remain on the Difficult Going hill.  Once past them they were able to assault a Heavy Mortar platoon behind the hill.

Panzer IVs have made their way across the board, but were pursued the whole time by angry FJs with Panzerknackers!  My flank attack was the infantry, who got lucky and shot down a pair of Stukas with their AA MGs!  They have moved into position in the tree line to prevent the FJs from contesting.  

I claim the Objective on Turn Six.  Travis' Stukas arrived every turn, but some of those he was unable to place, due to proximity of friendlies.  I was just able to outmaneuver his infantry and get my tanks and armored infantry to the Objective first.  When it went live on Turn Six, he was unable to get to it to contest.  6-1 victory.

Round Three I played Riha in Encounter.  Good thing we practiced last week, right? He had the same Tankovy list with T-34s, M3s, SU-85s and armored cars.  Riha started with T-34s and SU-85s on the board and his M3s and armored cars in Reserve.  I started with the Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs on and the infantry and Recon off.  Turn One we just maneuvered a bit, though Rettemeir did kill a T-34 at extreme range.  That will be about all he did all game...  

My Turn Two:  Panzer IIIs move to confront the T-34s, but don't do any damage.  Panzer IVs stay in the trees and try to get shots, but miss.  

Riha's Turn Two:  T-34s continue to move forward in what we like to call Standard Soviet Formation.  His SU-85s fire at long range and kill a Panzer IV.  Sixes will become the standard roll for The Riha...

My Turn Three:  All Panzer fire on T-34s, all miss or are bounced.  Reserve Panzer IIs arrive on the left corner.
Riha's Turn Three:  He breaks formation and brings his SU-85s out of the trees.  He kills two Panzer IIIs, on sixes.

My Turn Four:  Fire from Panzer IVs and Rettemeir kill three more T-34s.  Panzer IIIs are ineffective.
Riha's Turn Four:  SU-85s and T-34s kill the last Panzer IIIs.  1iC is Bogged and transfers to a T-34.

My Turn Five:  Last reserve arrives in the same corner.  All fire is ineffective.
Riha's Turn Five:  M3s arrive right where I didn't want them.  They cross the river and close in on my Objective, lightly defended by the infantry and Recon.  Armored cars also arrive and charge for the uncontested Objective.

My Turn Six:  The Panzers finally find their mark.  Three SU-85s are killed, the last one runs!

2iC fires on the armored cars, killing one.  About Turn Eight the M3s are in position to kill the Panzer IIs and then assault the infantry, easily capturing the Objective.  Before the inevitable could occur, the Panzer IVs kill the rest of the armored cars and Rettemeier finally hit something, killing the M3 that is now part of the T-34 company, causing it to go under half.  They fail Morale and the Battalion Commander fails the re-roll.  I pull out a close victory, but just barely.  5-2 for me.