Initial Skirmish ETO (id:#62712)
(Nor'easter XX ID: YASL#2)
Hannut, France 1940-05-12 ()
Designer: Stephen Johns
Starter kit scenario?:    Deluxe scenario?:
 
Balance:
GermanFrench
46.875%

Overview:

On the first day of the eventual five day battle of the Gembloux Gap, the French screening force holding Hannut was scheduled to fall back at 0800 hours. At that same time the lead elements of Panzer Regiment 35 led by Leutnant Rauschbanch approached the hamlet.
Attacker: German (Elements II/35th Panzer Regiment, 4th Panzer Division)
Defender: French (Screening elements of 11ème Régiment de Dragons Portés &12ème Cuirassiers, 3ème Division Légère Mécanique)  
4.5 turns
    Players: 2     OBA: None     Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:8.0 D:5.0
AFVs: A:5
PzKpfw IIA x 2
PzKpfw IB x 3

D:2
AMD 35 x 2

Guns: A:0
7.92 PzB 39 ATR
D:0
Canon de 37 mle 16 TR
Fusil Antichar Boys

Victory Conditions:

Exit VP: Building Control VC: Area Control VC:
Unit Based VC: LOS Style VC: CVP Cap:
Misc Rules: Grain is in Season. Voluntary AFV Abandonment (D5.4) is NA.
Map Board(s): 70
Overlays: NONE
Errata (source)
Players wanting to play this game/Request a match:

Scenario info

Last Played:
DateReporterOpponentResultComments
2021-01-30(D) Stephen dedier vs Andrew Shuck French winAndrew attempted to push hard through the grain field on the French Left while positioning his PzIIAs and some infantry along the road to guard against the oncoming French AC's
This presented a rear shot on a PzII to the 37* which took it out and one of the IIAs and one of the IIBs malfed its MA. This let the French AC's do a charge on the IIBs risking frontal shots with their 2AF. At the end of Turn 1 the Germans had lost 1x IIA, 1x IIB and both other IIB had malfed MA. This stalled the German assault for a critical turn and at the end of turn 2, the Germans only had one operational IIA and it had malfed MA. This let the French basically harass with the ACs and absorb the attack with a smaller number of units while the rest held concealment. My dummies also did their job much better than expected stalling Germans in 2 areas (well because Andrew's IFT rolls were terrible).
French were significantly aided by a large # of 4s on IFT, TH and TK rolls.
2021-01-26(D) Jeff Waldon vs Rich Jenulis German winVASL- Atlanta ASL
2021-01-26(A) Richard Jenulis vs Jeff Waldon German winThe Germans suffered three AFV kills and another under recall, but took all the buildings and 18VP of French prisoners for the win. At the end game the only French unit still in play was an immobilized armored car. The French 37* INF broke on its first shot and never repair for a bit of luck for the Germans.
2017-11-02(A) X von Marwitz vs Bruno Nitrosso German winThe first scenario of two of a themed mini tournament of early war Germans vs. the French, this time, I played the attacking Germans.

The early moves of my Infantry & Motorcyclists were met with fierce resistance by the French which led to some losses and breaks. This proved to be the theme of the game: My Germans were always short of infantry. I moved the tanks with caution rather than dash to preserve them as good as I could, especially, since the lack of infantry would not have sufficed to cover armored exploits.

The French ACs moved in from the back and took up a good position centrally in the village. Generally, the French infantry succeeded pretty well falling back in good order in the beginning. While my original plan was to set my Schwerpunkt on the German right side, I turned out to concentrate in the center. From there, I gained the first foothold in the middle outskirts of it. Because the French ACs were within the village, I was able to shift my tanks to the left in an effort to take out the French flank there and to seperate that part of the village from the rest. Again, there were some setbacks of my infantry which did not appear to manage anything.

The tanks firing Point Blank did begin to tell, though. And in the center of the village, I was slowly making some progress. Then the French ACs managed to take out two Germans tanks. At this point, I had not much confidence in bringing this home. But at long last, on the German left, the French infantry was cleared and Landsers grinding forward from house to house. Meanwhile the French had successfully retreated behind the road within the village.

The 4th German turn brought about the change. I was able to corner two French squads freezing them and afterwards to close in with German Infantry. Both French squads broke and the chivalrous Germans happily accepted the Prisoners as a welcome CVP increase. At long last, a German hero with the ATR succeeded in taking out one of the AC's after something like half a dozen attempts. During the French turn 4, the French retaliated in eliminating a PzI, but the could not harm the German infantry.

The last German half-turn allowed me to grab four more buildings and to extract one PzI by reverse moving out of harm's way. Still, CVP & buildings were in French favor. In preparation for the last CCPh, I had to dash some German infantry across a road hoping to have some reserves to attempt their PAATCs vs. the surviving French AC. The outcome would hinge on its survival or demise. The German squad broke, the Prisoners were CR'ed which luckily counts still in favor of the Germans.

Fortunately, that AC had been shocked before. A 9-1, 467+Prisoners, and a HS+Prisoners (IIRC) all made their PAATCs. They just managed to kill the AC, which also held the French AL. At first we calculated that both the French and the Germans would have 27VP. Then, we remembered, that eliminated own Prisoners by the French still count double for the Germans, turning it into a German win for me by the barest of margins. A hell of a game!
2017-11-01(D) X von Marwitz vs Sebastian Hummel French winSet in 1940, the Germans need to inflict more CVP than the French while each captured buildings also earn VP. The Germans have a quick force of some early PzII's and PzI's that are supported by Kradschützen on Motorcycles and Sidecars. The terrain arcoss which they have to approach gives some cover by grain and brush but there are not many places of Rally terrain. The French only have modest AT capabilites consisting of an LMG, an ATR, and a not to be underestimated 37* SW INF Gun. As best the German AFV have to offer is an AF of 1, they cannot be careless because losing tanks ist costly. The French on top will receive two radioless AMD 35 Armored Cars with one 8-1AL which are quite potent in the given context. As a special balance, the French were given a 6th 4-5-7 Squad.

I played the French in this one in a friendly game as a preparation for a mini tournament the following day. All in all the resume is that I diced the living hell out of my poor opponent. 3's and 4's abound which are, of course, hard to digest in a 4.5 Turn scenario.

The result was a French win for me.
View all
ActionDate
sdedier Added a playing2021-01-31 21:29:45
RJenulis Added a playing2021-01-27 13:05:41
jrwusmc Added a playing2021-01-27 04:37:20
Hutch Modified the Defender's Guns2020-12-05 13:08:38
Hutch Modified the Attacker's Guns2020-12-05 13:08:38
FileDescriptionUserViews
AMD 35 (AMD35 2.png)Imagehoxson1309
(!germ-french.png)Imagehoxson1239
(YASL2 Initial Skirmish Scenario Archive.jpg)Map Imagevon Marwitz255
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AMD 35
 
Statistics:
Avg Rating: 6.62Votes: 13
Views: 699
To-Play list count: 0
Estimated Play time: 2.9 hours
Recorded Games: 10
Archive recorded plays:
German6
French3
Drawn:0

ROAR Data: (as of Nov 2019)
Initial Skirmish
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[A] French 9
[D] German 14
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