Wednesday 3 August 2016

Tank on Tank: Westfront - Stab to the Flank


This scenario was the first time I used infantry and anti-tank guns, which proved to be really effective when dug into town hexes, especially as the AT gun gets a 'free shot' against  hard targets without expending AP's. The objective of the Americans was to capture the town in the centre of the map and to exit via the top edge. The Germans had to stop them, using a combination of  Mark IV's, infantry, an AT gun and a Tiger Ace.



The Americans started out well with a Sherman company advancing on the right flank to knock out two Mark IV's in quick succession. However, the Germans gradually wore them down, holding off a Sherman assault on the town and knocking out tank after tank from Turn 4 onwards. The Tiger appeared in Turn 3 as a reinforcement but achieved very little, even though it had an ace crew. The Americans tried over and over again to knock out the dug in AT gun and infantry but with no effect.



In response, the Yanks decided to throw in their other Sherman company on the left flank, which eventually managed to knock out the AT gun but too late to advance into the vacant town hex. This gap was filled by the German infantry instead, denying an extra VP to the Americans. The final score was five Shermans knocked out for two Mark IV's and an AT gun, giving the German defenders a three point VP lead, once the objectives were factored into the equation.



This game really illustrates how effective AT guns are in defence and how difficult it is to dislodge infantry iyn urban terrain. It also showed how comparatively useless infantry are in an offensive role, as the American units really didn't contribute much due to their limited movement and the selective use of AP's. The Tiger didn't really do much for a change but would have been able to stand off and knock out the remaining Shermans had the scenario continued beyond Turn 9. Good game.

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