MSH - First Course

Saturday evening Z and I were able to test the MSH scenario that I recently put together. I have to say - the scenario worked out beautifully and I'm very pleased with the results. The basic setup is that NATO has gone on the offensive on the Central Front and has pushed through East Germany. This battle occurs as Dutch and West German forces cross the border into Poland. As usual, Ziggy took charge of the NATO forces and I controlled the Polish.

My setup. That's a Motor Rifle battalion in the center and an Airborne battalion holding the other town further back.

Dutch (orange) and FRG (blue) forces. The Germans have another battalion timed to enter on turn 3.

Airborne battalion (with an attached tank company)

And the MR. The rivers put my forces on a bit of an island that kept them safe but at the same time really limited their maneuverability.

The Panzers move out behind a smoke screen. One of my T-54s on the outskirts took out a Luchs recon stand at the head of the column.

The defenders. I've redeployed one of the T-54 platoons from the south outskirts to the north to be able to engage the incoming tanks.

The German Panzer battalion received a change order at the end of turn 3 and headed towards the town to engage the defenders. In hindsight, I think they'd have been better off just moving at full speed towards the eastern edge (my side of the board) instead of taking pot shots at a few old tanks.

A turn later the last of those T-54s has been taken out.My mortar managed a Suppression on a Leopard platoon. I love when that happens.

German focus shifts to the next town. The FO helicopter camps in front of my tanks in the woods. Smoke fails to materialize. The tanks fail to make a dent in the incoming tanks but the AT-4 teams in the outskirts of the town makes short work of the first platoon. The remaining tanks blast the Polish teams into dust.

The smoke eventually takes form and blocks my remaining T-54 platoon.

And after a quick exchange of fire, another Leopard platoon is eliminated by the airborne in the woods who, along with the T-54s, is taken out by return fire.

After many futile attempts, the Air Force finally responds to calls for help. Rockets tear into Marder platoons, eliminating one. There was some talk of this becoming the highway to the DANGER ZONE!

The Germans assault the platoon in the outskirts. The Dutch have been engaged in a firefight with the Motor Rifle battalion in the center, giving better than they got. The airborne platoon destroyed one platoon during the shooting phase and the other during the assault phase. Heheheh. 

The remaining tanks form a gun line and pound the elite troops out of their positions.

The MR battalion has been pounded good but passed their morale check.

I called the game at this point (11 turns in). I didn't have enough on the table to slow them down - it would have been a case of delaying the inevitable.

I cheated myself. I had a battalion of T-72s in reserve to arrive on turn 10. At the end of turn 9 it looked like Zig was in dire straits. We discussed it at that point, and since this was a playtest, and they seemed like overkill at the time, I agreed to leave the T-72s off the table. A turn later the dice reversed themselves and I really needed those tanks. It was game over for the Polish forces. It turns out, my scenario creation skillz are pretty well tuned. Ah well, it was a very entertaining game. I'm going to post the scenario details to the SH Yahoo group.

If you are not a member of the Yahoo Spearhead Group, the files are here in a ZIP file.

Happy Easter!