Belgian Tigers ETO (id:#63062)
(Friendly Fire Pack 11 ID: FrF86)   [next]   [previous]
Kapelle-op-den-Bos, Belgium 1940-05-17 ()
Designer: Peter Struijf and Chris Mazzei
Starter kit scenario?:    Deluxe scenario?:
 
Balance:
GermanBelgian
52.586206896552%

Overview:

In 1935, the Belgian government agreed to purchase 25 French-built AMC 35 tanks, armed with a 47 mm gun and a Hotchkiss MG. Over the next years, for economic and political reasons, the order was reduced to only 10 vehicles. When Hitler’s army invaded Belgium on 10 May 1940, the AMC 35s were the best armored vehicles in the Belgian arsenal. By 16 May, German forces had broken through Belgian lines along the entire front and two of these tanks were about to charge into battle for the first time.
Attacker: German (56. infanterie-Division, IX. Armeekorps)
Defender: Belgian (First Light Regiment)  
6 turns
    Players: 2     OBA: None     Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:14.0 D:12.0
AFVs: A:0
AFVs: D:2
ACG1(f) x 2

Guns: A:1
3.7cm PaK 35/36
PzB 39 ATR x 2
D:1
75mm FRC M27 AA

Victory Conditions:

Exit VP: Building Control VC: Area Control VC:
Unit Based VC: LOS Style VC: CVP Cap:
Misc Rules:
Overlays: O1 O2 X9 X11 X13
Errata (source)
Players wanting to play this game/Request a match:

Scenario info

Last Played:
DateReporterOpponentBal.ResultTimeComments
2025-04-01(A) Jonathan Kapleau vs Holland, Donald Belgian win
2025-02-24(D) Bob McKenna vs Jonathan Kapleau German winJon crossed the bridge and pivoted ti the flanks. His meticulous play wore thr defense down, taking buildings and smothering any Belgian counter attack. Done by turn 5
2025-02-23(A) Jonathan Kapleau vs McKenna, Bob German win
2024-01-22(A) Stephen Stewart vs John Garlic Belgian win

(VASL Log)		While this seems to be a popular scenario, it can be a downer for BOTH players.
IF the Belgians get crappy rolls in ONE turn, they will lose as the Germans will flood across the river/canal and the Belgian is usually dispersed to the point they can't react to the Juggernaut. Tanks are vulnerable and SHOULD be taken out in CC as all units are considered AE...easy kills. AND you stop the hero from appearing.

Setup is pretty much standard with minimal imagination on the Belgian side....Have to cover the 3 hexes across the bridge. If the Germans can't move effectively (ie. decent FL from the Belgians. and Delay the crossing of the River by more than 1 turn...it's game over.

John's a good player and I was surprised he didn't deploy nor send one of those HS to the area setup BEHIND the German OB on "this" side of the River. It distracts the Germans and FORCES them to clear them out.
Regardless, I decided to do something active instead of just MASS FP everyone....deployed (at start) my 468 and sent them running to the left to be a pain in the ass. Ended up killing 2.5 squads on that side and cause 3 other squads to reinforce. 8-1, ATR, 248 were a 4 even shot away from the instant win (at turn 3), but VASLbot has other plans. AA gun later malfed then repaired as I have 2 units PBF on it. and Mid MMG gets BH and Hero.
Got lucky on a 16 fp shot and broke him to leave the HERO behind with the MG....Successfully smoked the Hex in front of the MMG and performed a Successful (2TC) SMC Overrun. He of course ran, and I failed (dr6) to find the MMG the next RPh.

His tanks were hiding in the plowed fields and were no impact on the game.

2 rolls (imo) decided the game. The missed 1MC on 8ML leader (for instant win) and the missed Smoke grenade dr6 of course, to screw my entire turn move...the other 2 smokes (to provide flank cover) were easy...but the last was an utter failure...he had nothing of note to stop 6 squads from blitzing into the backline of the Belgians.

SMALL MAP/ Low density of units/ cool tanks.

Scripted actions early IMO limiting decision making.

VASL LOG INCLUDED Vers. VASSAL/VASL
2024-01-21(D) John Garlic vs Stephen Stewart Belgian win
2023-08-11(A) Len Kay vs Carl Nogueira Belgian win[Imported from ROAR]
2023-07-30(D) Paul Works vs Bob BendisAD Belgian winVery difficult for him to get cleanly across the bridge. I got good IFT DRs each time that stopped him.
2023-06-12(D) Peter Palmer vs Tim Osborne Belgian win[Imported from ROAR]
2023-06-01(A) Jack Wilson vs Gary Bartlett German winAn interesting scenario wherein the German player begins the game with 70%+ of his OB on the wrong side of a canal and must rush a single bridge hoping that his engineer squads remembered to bring their smoke grenades.

Gary played an excellent game, and the game came down to a last-turn CC. He needed to roll a '5', but rolled a '6'.
2023-01-28(A) Dave Mareske vs Dennis Dowd German winThe Germans effectively used INF SMOKE to get across the bridge unscathed, but the Belgians were ready to defend. Slow but steady progress up the middle and finally breaking the AA crew helped the path to victory. Still, the Belgians took the game to the final CC as the Germans put all their resources to capturing the Q6 building.
2023-01-09(D) Dave Mareske vs Dennis Dowd Belgian winOur second playing of this on opposite sides. My Belgians were able to get some effective fire lanes and the tanks were able stay away from the AT gun. Germans had trouble crossing the streets and achieving victory.
2022-02-11(D) nathan wegener vs James Treu Belgian winTense game - early rolls went the Germans' way and they surged across the canal taking out the MMG in M8. T2 Germans took out the second MMG in up in the insta-VC hex. Just enough resistance to avoid death and then the Tigers came on and shored up the defense. I had the AA gun guarding the flank with several 1 hex stone buildings and it brought a rain of steel on would be attackers breaking and killing several squads over the next couple turns. The tanks got a couple lucky rolls breaking up Kraut kill stacks. End game was still tense as the German squads rallied back and rushed the gun whose crew broke in FPF. The reinforcing squads arrived in the nick of time to stop the attack and push the Germans back out of the 6th VC building.German dice went cold in T4 allowing a comeback.
2021-06-24(D) Andy Bagley vs Joe Arthur German winVery well played by my opponent (though aided by never failing a smoke dr), who placed as mush smoke as possible to cover the bridge crossing, and even fired on the truck wreck, causing a blaze that further hindered my firing. I tried a bluff by putting dummies instead of a MG in 23M8, but this didn't really work, I should have gone for the obvious fire lane. Having crossed the bridge successfully, the Germans were able to advance on both the East and West flanks, and easily secured sufficient victory buildings without ever having to bother with building 68Q6.
2021-04-28(A) Øyvind Jacobsen Bjørkås vs Tuomo L Belgian winA very close and enjoyable game. The Germans got hammered early but managed to get everybody across the river eventually, taking 7 buildings in their last turn, but getting stretched thin though this and the Belgians took back 2 buildings in their last turn to clinch the win.
2021-04-28(D) Tuomo Lukkari vs Øyvind Jacobsen Bjørkås Belgian win
2021-02-28(A) Will Willow vs C. Argent Belgian winLots of wild swings in dice. Went to the last turn.
2020-05-18(A) Vilis Pavulans vs Peter Rogneholt German winPlayed against Peter who was helpful, giving me tips and helped me remember important stuff, picking up SWs and so on. Then two decisive rolls were on my side and that tipped the scenario over to me. His crew, manning the gun broke early and after that, as revenge for a 3 on the IFT my sniper woke and got his 8-1 leader and broke the MG squad and with that, the left flank was open for my brave troops, liberating Belgium.
2020-05-17(A) Andy Beaton vs Michael Rodgers German winCASLO 2020
2020-05-17(D) Michael Rodgers vs Andy Beaton German winFound out a week after that I forgot to place the Belgian 75mm AA gun.
2020-02-15(A) Richard Jenulis vs Greg Barsness Belgian winDown to the last turn! Assault Engineers laid down lots of smoke. The Germans got across the bridge without trouble but the Belgium gun and AFV's held the day for the Allied Minors.
2019-04-06(D) Alan Krause vs John Bock German winCould not rally my troops, bad MMG placement.
2018-11-02(D) X von Marwitz vs Peter Veenstra Belgian winGrenadier 2018. Played this as the Belgians this time. The German bridge crossing attempt was a massacre as they could not suppress the Belgian MMG. My Belgians fired on the would-be crossers during their MPh, then in Final Fire after the Infantry Smoke had cleared and caused yet more casualties by Interdiction during the RtPh. When the Germans finally managed to cross, they had lost many units. The tanks and the AA Gun were in position at the 2nd line of defence where they still held when the Belgian infantry was there to bolster the defence and to plug holes where the Germans seemed to push most. Belgian win.
2018-10-04(A) Andy Beaton vs Brian Abela Belgian winASLOK 2018
2018-09-02(A) Jeff B vs Elmo Menon German winBridge crossings are always difficult, though in this case it wasn't too bad thanks to a well-placed wreck, an already-established bridgehead, and some AE smoke. That Belgian gun is scary, and my opponent had it in a well-protected spot where it was able to limit my advance while remaining relatively safe. Even with my AE smoke it was a challenge to cross those roads. The Belgian "Tigers" add to this difficulty as the Germans have little answers for them (the AT gun most likely being out of position). In my case I had to manhandle it to an adjacent building, and this took a couple turns to do (under risk of fire). Once re-positioned it really came down to who be luckier, and that ended up being me. On my last turn I was facing the prospect of perhaps gaining and holding on to the minimum six buildings, but some very fortuitous prep saw me knocking out both tanks and breaking a key squad to open a path for some further building gains. In the end I managed to grab ten buildings and earn a victory.
2018-08-02(D) Michael Rodgers vs David Kocet Belgian winGerman player spent a lot of turns prep firing and did not deploy any squads.
2018-07-27(A) Dan Best vs Mark DeVries Belgian winSt. Louis ASL Tournament 2018.
2018-06-27(A) Eric Partizan Eric vs German win
2018-04-05(A) X von Marwitz vs David Wallace Belgian winA quite fast playing scenario set in early war Belgium. The Belgians defend on the far side of a canal with some infantry, 2x MMG and a 75L AA Gun and will receive reinforcements in the form of a radioless tank platoon and later 4 squads plus leader. The Germans have elite troops, some 548 Assault Engineers among them - sorely needed for their smoke exponent. Some of the Germans set up in a small bridgehead on the Belgian side of the canal which includes a 37L ATG. The bulk of the German force must cross the single bridge of the canal and then capture a number of buildings in rather short time.
I played the attacking Germans in this one. The crossing of the canal is somewhat helped by a truck wreck on the Belgian side of the bridge, but for sure it is a tough job getting across. I set up to be able to (hopefully) generate infantry smoke for the bridge hex itself and both road hexes leading onto the bridge. Then, the Germans would rush across - the scenario does not really allow for subtleties in that regard. I set up one killer stack to suppress the Belgians.
The initial Prep Fire was ineffective but the initial smoke placement went fair enough giving me one infantry smoke in each of the three planned hexes out of 5 or 6 attempts. Some units got broken and pinned but three squads plus leader made it across the bridge. From then on, I felt in constant pain with squads getting broken, pinned or CR'ed. Alas, my vital 548 AE's seemed especially hampered and due to various reasons (Berserk, CR, Broken) could mostly not attempt to go for the so vital infantry smoke when most sorely needed. My killer stack (9-1, 3x468, LMG/MMG) just could not suppress the Belgian 8-1, 457+MMG raking the bridge throughout the entire game. This stack was forced to fire instead of moving throughout the entire game because there always were just too many Belgians around to reasonably attempt a crossing of the bridge without infantry smoke. During the first 3 turns, my Germans lost heavily in infantry (4 squad equivalents, only one of which due to breaking and the rest due to KIA, K/1, and Fate results). This did not bode well for the remainder of the scenario. The Belgian tanks moved in to protect the "instant win" building, turning it into a well defended fortress. I was able to take out one with an ATR. But altogether, I just could not make any progress as too many attempts to improve my position were foiled again and again: 64 enemy IFT rolls caused no less than 41 Morale Checks and 15 Task Checks. Thus I was never able to develop the decisive punch in firepower on the Belgian side of the canal and could not avoid losing too much time with necessary rallying and regrouping. By turn 4 I had managed but to capture just a single additional building besides the initial one I had. With 4 more Belgian squads entering, the fate of the Germans was pretty much sealed as they could easily garrison stone buildings I would have to move up against having by now far inferior numbers of infantry. In German Turn 5, I made a desparate attempt to get my units on the German side of the canal across, but out of 4 Elite squads and a 9-1 only 2 made it. What I had got the 23O10 area got hit by a 3TH followed by a 3IFT DR (and ROF maintained) by the AA Gun on a tricky LOS. The follow up shot also hit and made short work of the units, one of which managed to HoB and create a Hero. But it was too late for them to make a difference. Thus I conceded at the start of German Turn 5.
Despite getting whacked time and again, and I was somewhat hauted by a feeling of futility, it was a fun scenario to play with an interesting tactical situation. Recommendable.
2018-03-16(A) Kermit Mullins vs Burnie Hegdahl German winMarch Madness 2018 Round Two game.
2017-12-25(D) Lawrence Spangler vs Diane Spangler Belgian win
2017-12-25(A) Diane Spangler vs Lawrence SpanglerA Belgian win
2017-12-14(D) Lionel Colin vs Manu Batisse Belgian win
2017-12-09(D) Rich Weiley vs Dave Longworth German win
2017-12-04(D) Stephen dedier vs Holt, Jim German winI think this one is tough on the Belgians just because of the amount of area to defend and their low broken morale. Belgian has to be very careful. I made a mistake moving 2 squads w/MMG and a leader as a stack. I had to get them 6 MP + advance to shore up my defenses after the swimmers made it over the canal. I missed a long range shot by a German Squad and took a K/1 (3 and a 1 rool) on a 2 down 2 shot. None of my units passed MC the one that didn't K ELR'd and they dropped the MMG. This effectively wiped out more than 1/4 of the Dutch resistance and I pretty much just delayed the inevitable after that since that leader never rallied. Taught me yet another LOS lesson. Far away doesn't mean out of danger!
2017-11-04(A) Paolo Cariolato vs Alberto Biserni German win
2017-10-05(D) Andy Beaton vs Kevin Killeen German winASLOK 2017
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ActionDate
asloser Added a playing2025-04-20 04:08:52
igycrctl Added a playing2025-04-02 00:27:24
Hutch Modified the gps location2025-02-24 13:04:50
Hutch Modified the Unit Elements2025-02-24 13:02:55
Hutch Modified the Attacker's Guns2025-02-24 13:02:36
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ACG-1 tank 829 knocked out on 17th May at Kapelle-op-den-Bos
 
Statistics:
Avg Rating: 7.18Votes: 39
Views: 7992
To-Play list count: 2
Estimated Play time: 4.3 hours
Recorded Games: 33
Archive recorded plays:
German15
Belgian18
Drawn:0

ROAR Data: (as of today)
Belgian Tigers [Confirmed]
[A] Belgian 46
[D] German 37
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