Ed: Germans
Ralph: Canadians
Ralph came ready to play a Christmas themed scenario, having selected 5 jolly options. They include Frosty the Snowman, and Under the Noel Trees. Shrapnel flying over open fields, MG rounds nipping at your heels and all. We chose CDN14 Two Shooting Days Till Christmas with Ralph taking the Canadians. At first glance you would think the Canadians have everything going for them, significantly outnumbering the Germans plus they get 5 Shermans against nothing but 1 hex range panzerfausts as a significant threat. But nothing says Christmas in Italy like wet, muddy EC and the hill objective is crowned with Germans. The mud neutralized a potential Canadian advantage, SMOKE. I had most of my troops shifted more to my right with my HMG assigned the left as compensation. Ralph weighted his attack to my right with a decent sized pinning force on my left. First roll of the game was boxcars resulting in Rain. Now the hill became a real slog, costing infantry 3.5 MF to go up hill, 2.5 down. The Tanks cost 7 MP to go up hill, so they could only increase one level per MPh without risking Excessive Speed Breakdown. On the first Game Turn my HMG went on a ROF tear, leaving abandoned Canadian SW strewn in the mud. The tanks moved slowly to control bog risks. The first tank did bog on the second turn but freed itself on the next. But on that turn two more tanks bogged. Not a real problem since they were still in a position to blast my positions. Ralph was able to neutralize my HMG, a real necessity as it had wiped out about 5 squads, as well as the replacement squad to keep it out of the game after the second turn. The Canadians were starting up the hill but the attack was faltering as I was able to move units around to maintain a tenuous defensive line. As the game neared its conclusion the Rain became Heavy Rain making my Height Advantage even more potent. We realized that the Canadians could theoretically reach the top of the hill but would not have enough movement to control enough hexes once there, so we called it a day. This scenario really gives you a feel of the horrible conditions in Italy. It had to be the worst EC of any scenario I've ever played. I think Ralph was fighting the weather as much as he was the Germans.
Looking forward to see you here in January. Come ready to play test.
Thanks
Ed
