New England Regional - April 16 +17 - 2016 AAR
Apr 17, 2016 17:29:39 GMT -5
Post by captainecho on Apr 17, 2016 17:29:39 GMT -5
Hosted by the CT Valley Gamers Club, and taking place at The Portal Gaming Shop in Manchester CT, the New England Regional Tournament was a 1420 pt LW tournament over 5 rounds. My friend Greg McNally and his son Payton made the trek up from Southern New Jersey for the event, and stayed over with me Friday and Saturday night. The trip was a hour, which wasn't bad at all, and the tournament venue was spacious, inviting, and easy to find. Across the street was the largest toy and model store I've ever seen. The Store owner was also nice enough to give us 20% off FOW during the tourney and a free old blister with each purchase of a box. They were mostly stocked up on team yankee stuff, but they had a decent selection. I picked up a German Heavy Artillery Battery, some more British Paras (because they were there) the new Gungho book, and a destroyed Sherman objective.
There was a wide variety of lists represented, and Phillip Messier of FOW Masters fame, took overall honors by the end of it all. With 28 players, we had a full house, but the venue was spacious enough that it didn't feel crowded. Of the three of us, Greg did best with his Polish Home guard list, complete with street barracades and a mix of piats, panzerfausts, and a rogue Panther that scared everyone pretty good. Finishing around 24 points and close to placing 5th. Payton, winning 3 of 5 games with Kampfgruppe Pieper and 12 Panzer IV's finished 1 point behind his dad. Something I know greg will NOT let him forget. Payton and I even had a chance to get in a game of Axis and Allies on Saturday night, with Payton helping the Japanese to a resounding victory over the allies. It was part of a theme of failure for the weekend for me, But I've never had so much fun losing, and I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday weekend. Huge thanks to both of them for making the trip.
My List -
I don't think I've ever spent this much time thinking up or retooling a list as I have this 1420 Brit list.
Here, after 9 play testing games, was what I thought had a good chance of taking me to the top.
Nachtjager Digital - Mechanized - Confident Veteran
cmd infantry teams
1 - full rifle
2 - full rifle
3 - 3 comets
4 - 4 25pdrs
5 - 5.5" guns
6 - 2 bofors self propelled
I thought I could do some night attacking, would be able to dig in and defend, and use my tanks to be somewhat mobile in a few missions. It did not work out that way. In 4 out of 5 missions I was defending and in 3 of those I had to keep 1/2 my platoons in reserve. Also...since this company is considered mechanized, but isn't, I get all the disadvantages of being mech, with all the disadvantages of being a mostly leg infantry platoon. Combine that with overly expensive platoons and only 5 effective combat options, and you have a recipe for disaster. Additionally, most players had found ways to min/max to the extreme. KT's StuH's and auto attacking were themes. The lists that tried to be the most balanced were the ones most hurt by the 1420 limit. In attempting to be everything, they were nothing.
In summary, My list turned out to be straight up trash.
On to the Games
Day 1
Game 1 - Hasty Attack vs. Phil Messier's Puma Company
his list -
2 cmd pumas
3 squads of 2 pumas each
4 StuH42s
2 KT's
2 nebs
All confident Vet.
I got to keep half my platoons in reserve. I started with the 5.5s, an infantry, and the comets on table. I had both objectives covered, but the board was a dense city board, which allowed for no spotting of artillery, and at the same time left me no where to deploy the guns where he would not be able to snipe them with the StuHs.
See below:
The Comets zipped around his right to threaten his nebs and the objective on his side (since I had failed the roll off and was defending he had 2 objectives to go after, I had 1.) But he felt no need to move in, when he took out 2 guns and a cmd team with the opening volley of StuH shots.
My scattered reserves came on in time to feed the objective with dead bodies, and the comets were whittled down as his tigers somehow always managed to spot me in the hellscape that was this board.
When I asked him after the game what I could have done differently, he said something to the effect of, "I mean wow, I don't think anyone could have beaten my list with yours on this board." I agreed. Phil was courteous and friendly throughout, but I wish, having the opportunity to play against such a top tier opponent I could have done so on a board and with a list that had a chance in hell. 1-6 game one.
Game 2 - No Retreat - Will Shoemaker's Japanese Tank Company (that's right, the Pacific LW lists are here) Will saved me the trouble of losing a roll off and night attacked me.
This was quick.
I again started 1/2 off. 25pdrs, an infantry platoon and some comets in ambush were all that stood in the way of 8 platoons and 14 tanks. 6 shots aren't going to get the job done. And these tanks in assault are monsters. Even bailed, they swing and kill infantry.
I was wiped by the top of turn 3. I killed one tank and 6 infantry stands. In the first round of shooting, he doubled, but I couldnt' see past 10 inches with anything, and so he crossed 4 feet of board without taking a single hit. His list did exactly what it was supposed to, and Will was a really friendly guy. He was nervous for a bit, but he need not have been. I was getting smeared from the time he decided to night attack. at 1420, this list is a monster. at higher point levels, probably not as good. He wound up finishing 3rd overall. Not bad for Japanese tanks!
Game 3 - Free-For All - Joseph and his SS Totenkompf (Fearless Vets)
I won the die roll, chose a side, and finished deploying first. This would become a back and forth slugfest.
Joe's list was
2 platoons of panzer grenadiers 1/2 w panzerfausts and all w MGs, 2 Sturmtigers, 3 Hummels, and 2 platoons of Pak40's.
My plan as we opened, was to push one infantry platoon to the right, and prepare behind the hill, the orange platoon would move through the town and pull his Grenediers into the open where I could artillery them to death. The Comets would keep him honest, and if lucky, take out a Sturmtiger and the hummels.
I played the comets stupidly (a theme for this tourney) but the infantry did some work.
below the right flank
the left flank
After an artillery bombardment, some MG shots, and whittling down a 7 stand platoon to 3, the comets assaulted, but were savaged by panzerfausts. stupid move by me, but they were about to be shot in the but, and I thought this would be a better use of them before their death.
Cat and mouse with the Sturmtigers, an infantry platoon assaulted them and forced them back into the clearing.
on the right, the artillery killed a Pak40 platoon, and some infantry, followed by the 2ic, and some halftracks. after getting into range, a brutal series of assaults gutted everything on the flank. even the bofors got in on the action, finishing off the panzergrens.
After direct fire 25pdrs and a lone pistol shot killed the last pak 40 on the left flank, Joe was down to 2 platoons, I still sat at 3. he started to take company morale, and by turn 6 he failed.
4-3 for me.
at 6 points in 3 games, this was my worst start to a tournament. My goal went from winning to trying to finish in double digits.
Day 2
Game 4 - Payton McNally and Kampfgrupped Pieper in Pincer
I was very glad to have gotten this game. I wanted to see Payton's list in action, and thought I could give him a run for his money. I made several costly mistakes, and he played it beautifully. his spearheading platoons assaulted my spotters on the first turn and killed them. Then he hit the infantry on my left flank and pushed them back.
I popped my ambush figuring I could kill 2 tanks. I killed one and bailed one. But fearless and protected ammo means killing them all is the only way.
Then...they closed in....
The artillery was able to spot for itself and consistently kill halftracks and some of the infantry. but the guns had a horrible fate awaiting them when Payton pushed through the comets and launched his assault on the 5.5s
Before he did that, we took this picture to commemorate what could have been had he not been in the woods with no spotter nearby. I hate you Payton.
here they come...
He pinned down the guns, and my defensive fire missed all 4 shots.
I tossed in some more platoons, and managed to kill the Pumas before the game ended with him in possession of the objectives. This was by far the most fun game I had this weekend. Lots of back and forth, and close calls.
Game 5 - The final countdown. with 8 points, my goal was to not get 6-1'd for a 3rd time.
I played Scott McLemore (may have name wrong) and his Panzer Leer company of confident vets in Breakthrough.
The deployment
He elected to not mess around with running for the other objective, and coming straight into the teeth of my guns and infantry.
one hero Piat, managed to destroy 3 tanks, and finish off a tank platoon.
At the first turn, his shooting and assaults took out 3 guns and pushed back my infantry. But he ran out of steam, couldnt' unpin the infantry and lost tanks rapidly to Comet fire.
His Pumas zipped around and tried to contest the other objective, but my infantry were able to get into a house nearby and dig in. My 5.5's continued to whittle down tanks and infantry. He tried to steal a point at the last by killing some Bofors, but he couldn't breach the gun shield.
His dice were among the worst I've ever seen. He played the initial assault perfectly, and then his dice betrayed him. one more turn of his luck holding and I think he would he pushed me back and broken my company.
But I held, and won 6-1
The only criticisms I have of the tournament was a lack of prize for best painted, which should have gone to Chris Johnson from Catskill and his IS2 and soviet urban infantry. (sorry for no pics!) It was a very friendly group of players too. But I do like the idea of having an army parade and judging painting, or of people voting for "favorite army" Its an aspect of the hobby I like to see rewarded. They didn't have sportsmanship, and I think it worked better without that.
This are minor gripes though, and this was a great way to spend a few days.
Thanks for reading!
There was a wide variety of lists represented, and Phillip Messier of FOW Masters fame, took overall honors by the end of it all. With 28 players, we had a full house, but the venue was spacious enough that it didn't feel crowded. Of the three of us, Greg did best with his Polish Home guard list, complete with street barracades and a mix of piats, panzerfausts, and a rogue Panther that scared everyone pretty good. Finishing around 24 points and close to placing 5th. Payton, winning 3 of 5 games with Kampfgruppe Pieper and 12 Panzer IV's finished 1 point behind his dad. Something I know greg will NOT let him forget. Payton and I even had a chance to get in a game of Axis and Allies on Saturday night, with Payton helping the Japanese to a resounding victory over the allies. It was part of a theme of failure for the weekend for me, But I've never had so much fun losing, and I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday weekend. Huge thanks to both of them for making the trip.
My List -
I don't think I've ever spent this much time thinking up or retooling a list as I have this 1420 Brit list.
Here, after 9 play testing games, was what I thought had a good chance of taking me to the top.
Nachtjager Digital - Mechanized - Confident Veteran
cmd infantry teams
1 - full rifle
2 - full rifle
3 - 3 comets
4 - 4 25pdrs
5 - 5.5" guns
6 - 2 bofors self propelled
I thought I could do some night attacking, would be able to dig in and defend, and use my tanks to be somewhat mobile in a few missions. It did not work out that way. In 4 out of 5 missions I was defending and in 3 of those I had to keep 1/2 my platoons in reserve. Also...since this company is considered mechanized, but isn't, I get all the disadvantages of being mech, with all the disadvantages of being a mostly leg infantry platoon. Combine that with overly expensive platoons and only 5 effective combat options, and you have a recipe for disaster. Additionally, most players had found ways to min/max to the extreme. KT's StuH's and auto attacking were themes. The lists that tried to be the most balanced were the ones most hurt by the 1420 limit. In attempting to be everything, they were nothing.
In summary, My list turned out to be straight up trash.
On to the Games
Day 1
Game 1 - Hasty Attack vs. Phil Messier's Puma Company
his list -
2 cmd pumas
3 squads of 2 pumas each
4 StuH42s
2 KT's
2 nebs
All confident Vet.
I got to keep half my platoons in reserve. I started with the 5.5s, an infantry, and the comets on table. I had both objectives covered, but the board was a dense city board, which allowed for no spotting of artillery, and at the same time left me no where to deploy the guns where he would not be able to snipe them with the StuHs.
See below:
The Comets zipped around his right to threaten his nebs and the objective on his side (since I had failed the roll off and was defending he had 2 objectives to go after, I had 1.) But he felt no need to move in, when he took out 2 guns and a cmd team with the opening volley of StuH shots.
My scattered reserves came on in time to feed the objective with dead bodies, and the comets were whittled down as his tigers somehow always managed to spot me in the hellscape that was this board.
When I asked him after the game what I could have done differently, he said something to the effect of, "I mean wow, I don't think anyone could have beaten my list with yours on this board." I agreed. Phil was courteous and friendly throughout, but I wish, having the opportunity to play against such a top tier opponent I could have done so on a board and with a list that had a chance in hell. 1-6 game one.
Game 2 - No Retreat - Will Shoemaker's Japanese Tank Company (that's right, the Pacific LW lists are here) Will saved me the trouble of losing a roll off and night attacked me.
This was quick.
I again started 1/2 off. 25pdrs, an infantry platoon and some comets in ambush were all that stood in the way of 8 platoons and 14 tanks. 6 shots aren't going to get the job done. And these tanks in assault are monsters. Even bailed, they swing and kill infantry.
I was wiped by the top of turn 3. I killed one tank and 6 infantry stands. In the first round of shooting, he doubled, but I couldnt' see past 10 inches with anything, and so he crossed 4 feet of board without taking a single hit. His list did exactly what it was supposed to, and Will was a really friendly guy. He was nervous for a bit, but he need not have been. I was getting smeared from the time he decided to night attack. at 1420, this list is a monster. at higher point levels, probably not as good. He wound up finishing 3rd overall. Not bad for Japanese tanks!
Game 3 - Free-For All - Joseph and his SS Totenkompf (Fearless Vets)
I won the die roll, chose a side, and finished deploying first. This would become a back and forth slugfest.
Joe's list was
2 platoons of panzer grenadiers 1/2 w panzerfausts and all w MGs, 2 Sturmtigers, 3 Hummels, and 2 platoons of Pak40's.
My plan as we opened, was to push one infantry platoon to the right, and prepare behind the hill, the orange platoon would move through the town and pull his Grenediers into the open where I could artillery them to death. The Comets would keep him honest, and if lucky, take out a Sturmtiger and the hummels.
I played the comets stupidly (a theme for this tourney) but the infantry did some work.
below the right flank
the left flank
After an artillery bombardment, some MG shots, and whittling down a 7 stand platoon to 3, the comets assaulted, but were savaged by panzerfausts. stupid move by me, but they were about to be shot in the but, and I thought this would be a better use of them before their death.
Cat and mouse with the Sturmtigers, an infantry platoon assaulted them and forced them back into the clearing.
on the right, the artillery killed a Pak40 platoon, and some infantry, followed by the 2ic, and some halftracks. after getting into range, a brutal series of assaults gutted everything on the flank. even the bofors got in on the action, finishing off the panzergrens.
After direct fire 25pdrs and a lone pistol shot killed the last pak 40 on the left flank, Joe was down to 2 platoons, I still sat at 3. he started to take company morale, and by turn 6 he failed.
4-3 for me.
at 6 points in 3 games, this was my worst start to a tournament. My goal went from winning to trying to finish in double digits.
Day 2
Game 4 - Payton McNally and Kampfgrupped Pieper in Pincer
I was very glad to have gotten this game. I wanted to see Payton's list in action, and thought I could give him a run for his money. I made several costly mistakes, and he played it beautifully. his spearheading platoons assaulted my spotters on the first turn and killed them. Then he hit the infantry on my left flank and pushed them back.
I popped my ambush figuring I could kill 2 tanks. I killed one and bailed one. But fearless and protected ammo means killing them all is the only way.
Then...they closed in....
The artillery was able to spot for itself and consistently kill halftracks and some of the infantry. but the guns had a horrible fate awaiting them when Payton pushed through the comets and launched his assault on the 5.5s
Before he did that, we took this picture to commemorate what could have been had he not been in the woods with no spotter nearby. I hate you Payton.
here they come...
He pinned down the guns, and my defensive fire missed all 4 shots.
I tossed in some more platoons, and managed to kill the Pumas before the game ended with him in possession of the objectives. This was by far the most fun game I had this weekend. Lots of back and forth, and close calls.
Game 5 - The final countdown. with 8 points, my goal was to not get 6-1'd for a 3rd time.
I played Scott McLemore (may have name wrong) and his Panzer Leer company of confident vets in Breakthrough.
The deployment
He elected to not mess around with running for the other objective, and coming straight into the teeth of my guns and infantry.
one hero Piat, managed to destroy 3 tanks, and finish off a tank platoon.
At the first turn, his shooting and assaults took out 3 guns and pushed back my infantry. But he ran out of steam, couldnt' unpin the infantry and lost tanks rapidly to Comet fire.
His Pumas zipped around and tried to contest the other objective, but my infantry were able to get into a house nearby and dig in. My 5.5's continued to whittle down tanks and infantry. He tried to steal a point at the last by killing some Bofors, but he couldn't breach the gun shield.
His dice were among the worst I've ever seen. He played the initial assault perfectly, and then his dice betrayed him. one more turn of his luck holding and I think he would he pushed me back and broken my company.
But I held, and won 6-1
The only criticisms I have of the tournament was a lack of prize for best painted, which should have gone to Chris Johnson from Catskill and his IS2 and soviet urban infantry. (sorry for no pics!) It was a very friendly group of players too. But I do like the idea of having an army parade and judging painting, or of people voting for "favorite army" Its an aspect of the hobby I like to see rewarded. They didn't have sportsmanship, and I think it worked better without that.
This are minor gripes though, and this was a great way to spend a few days.
Thanks for reading!