If you follow this blog, you know that when we play FOW, it is most often how brew scenarios that are based on various historical fights. The focus is more on the actual forces and terrain. Once and a while, we will just do through down games to cover the table with tanks. However, we manage to squeeze in the occasional tourney style scenario. That was the case the for our last Friday game.
The scenario chosen was Breakthrough from the FOW rule book. In this scenario, the defender sets up in opposite quarters and has to hold two objectives located in the other quarters. The attacker sets up in one quarter and has their reserves enter the opposite quarter. The scenario requires the defender to hold and maneuver to the objectives before the attacker can get their forces to bare.
The game was set up as an urban fight. The set up used the BF urban play mat. Wherever there was a road, it was often terrain. Wherever there was not a road, was rubble terrain. This made for a very infantry friendly game and made using armor a challenge (particularly for the attacker).
Just to do something a little different, the forces were the Bagration Hungarians Soviets. The forces were built using the standard points and cards. The Hungarians were primarily an infantry company with a platoon of Pak40s, Zrynis, 44M rockets and two batteries of mortars in support. The Soviets were more heavily armored. Their force started as a SP group with SU85s, SU100s and ISU152s. These were supported by two motor infantry companies and two batteries of artillery.
Once the board was set, the players placed their respective objective markers. One was in the center of the board and the other in the center of the rear quarter. The Hungarians set up first and then the Soviets. The game started with the Hungarians making a mad dash for the objectives, as the Soviets advanced cautiously while awaiting their reverses. Unfortunately for the Soviets, the Hungarians got all their reserves before any Soviets arrived. This made the fight a bit of a sticky wicket.
Once the Soviet reserves arrived, they entered and tried to work their way to the rear objective. The Hungarians had already deployed to protect it from attack, so the Soviets were somewhat backed up on the edge of the board, trying to use their armor to give them an advantage over the swarms of Hungarian troops.
The forward attack went in against the defending Hungarians, but was also bogged down by the Soviets inability to pin the defenders. The Soviets brought their armor into the center to try to tip the balance in their favor. This triggered the Hungarians ambushing Park 40s and late arriving Zrynis that were able to trap the Soviet armor in a bit of a cauldron. Fortunately, the terrain helped and the Soviet armor was able to hold on, but was not able to substantially effect the infantry fight.
The fighting in the rear bogged down at first, but the brave Hungarians were able to take out the supporting Soviet SU85s with direct assaults, supported by the close terrain. The infantry itself was under constant bombardment and the losses began to show.
At this point it was clear that the attack was not going to be successful and the Soviets conceded. Their rear attack was on the verge of elimination, their forward infantry was bogged down and their heavy armor was starting to get whittled away. With that, it was a Hungarian victory!
- Manteuffel