Italy Campaign Long Weekend....part 2!

My second game of the Dice Devils Italian Campaign had me facing off against Tristan and his US Armored Rifles. He also had a platoon of Chaffees and Shermans for armored support. I went with a Panzergrenadier Company, throwing in some Panzer IV and Elefants to bolster up the offensive side. The table was little more open and made for a great game in the later part of the afternoon!

The Americans dig in for the long term!

The mission we played was Counterattack, a mission I have gotten used to when it comes time to deploy. I think this is key, as you have to get to one of the objectives in a hurry and also be wary that you may have your ass hanging out in the wind when your opponent get's his reserves on the table!

German deployment, waiting for the starting gun to go off!!

My plan for this game was to get my armor to the objective, have the infantry hold off any reserves that would have to 'work' their way through it all, hopefully slowing down Tristan and his ability to react. He had a ton of bazookas and a few armored options that would make life tough if I lost any units early on.

The Elefant (top) survives a US Anti-Tank gun ambush and comes out only bailed!! Remount you cowards!!!

Pushing through to the second objective after a short contemplation of trying to get to the US one at the top of the table, I left the US forces eating my dust and raced forward.....eight inches at a time with the Elefants, because they are SO SLOW!! The tracks made it tedious for the Panzer IV's as well.

Wunderbar!! I've reached the objective and dug in my infantry...now its a waiting game!!

So now it was Tristan's turn to start getting his reserves and his A.R.P. into action! He came at me with a few bazooka induced assaults, and sporadic fire from his self-propelled Priest platoon. I was starting to lose tanks, Infantry teams and he was trying to push me off the objective, or at least contest to keep the game going.

US Shermans knock out a Panzer IV!

Elements of a US platoon attempt an assault and also fire their Bazookas at the Elefant.

I tried to block off the objective from the east as well, the US Chaffees were now on the table and looking to secure the abandoned fort and drive the Germans off the objective. I had forgotten that you can drive THROUGH enemy teams, you just can not end up on top of them and must be 2" away when you are done moving them near Infantry teams. The other half of Tristan's Armored Rifles showed up with their half-tracks and attempted to join the assault on the Germans defensive line.

AT 10 to side armor 8! The US destroys one of the German Elefants!

The Americans try a last ditch effort to gain some ground.

The last big 'push', the US is unable to mount an effective assault.

The game ended with a German 5-2 victory, my plan of just getting to the corner before the US could bring all of it's 'toys' to the battlefield worked to my advantage. I think I would have a better grip in games like this with more Infantry support, rather than take the little platoons just to get the mandatory numbers. There is something to be said for Veterans once they are dug in, but you have to get them there unharmed. In retrospect, I did have them as 'tank riders' but dismounted them a little sooner than I had planned, but when reserves did not arrive, I had some more time to get organized.