The Longest Week MTO (id:#63069)
(From The Cellar Pack #8 ID: FT210)   [next]   [previous]
Designer: George Kelln
Starter kit scenario?:    Deluxe scenario?:
 
Balance:
GermanAmerican
37.5%

Overview:

A dramatic week of battles starting 31 July characterized the fierce inland fighting in Sicily during Operation Husky. The American Seventh Army’s First Division and two Canadian regiments fought off two dozens of counterattacks against mixed Axis Forces supported by artillery shelling enemy positions in the rocky hillsides. The battle focused mainly around the numerous hills and mountains surrounding Troina which the Germans had heavily fortified and used as bases for direct and indirect fire. By 5 August, German infantry counter-attacked again, starting another round of furious fighting to dislodge Americans from the hills and save Troina for another day.
Attacker: German (15. Panzergrenadier Division)
Defender: American (1st Infantry Division)  
5 turns
    Players: 2     OBA: None     Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:13.0 D:10.0
AFVs: A:3
AFVs: D:1
Guns: A:0 D:1

Victory Conditions:

Exit VP: Building Control VC: Area Control VC:
Unit Based VC: LOS Style VC: CVP Cap:
Misc Rules:
Map Board(s): 15 58
Overlays:
Errata (source)
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Scenario info

Last Played:
DateReporterOpponentBal.ResultComments
2022-03-03(A) Jason Wert vs Zebulon Tingley German win
2020-11-11(D) Pascal Boileau vs Gérard Gambin American winA really tight game, the Germans lost missing 1VP at the end. The Americans had only one HS, 2 leaders, 2 heroes and 1 crew in good order for their last turn. However, I was lucky, ammunition shortage had no effect, the gun did its job and destroyed the 3 German AC, one hero and 2 leaders were created in the 3 last turns. Finally, the conversion of a German leader and a squad into berserk status at turn 4 saved the game for the Americans...
2018-11-15(D) Stephen dedier vs Holt, Jim German winThe Americans have only their poor leadership to blame for this disaster. This was over by turn 2.
I should have looked at this a lot more closely beforehand.
Lessons learned
You need to have the Germans bidding in the 12 range for a chance at American victory. Otherwise, there is too much territory to defend and you are too outnumbered to defend it. You also have a much better chance of your 1 smoke/WP call to be useful if there is less area in play.
The Germans get to deploy 2 squads to the American 1 meaning that they get to put their last 3 units (including SW) on after all American setup. This means they can hold their MG and FT until the end if desired.
The Ammunition shortage is brutal. Not only does it lower the B#, it changes it to an X#. I lost my AT gun on its' first shot (rolled 11) and my HMG on its second. There are also very limited useful places to put the AT gun since you must be at Level 2 or higher.

Several of the hills offer no route and with the American 6 morale this is deadly. You also have to be very careful of failure to route because there are so many hills a unit can get traped in the open and fail to route and much more easily allows encircling shots on the defenders.
I might play this again but would take a completely different approach.
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ActionDate
hoxson1 Uploaded an Image2022-03-03 01:16:33
jwert02 Added a playing2022-03-03 00:59:52
lechiquier94 Added a playing2020-11-12 16:30:30
sdedier Added a playing2018-11-16 13:33:07
Lionelc62 Uploaded a VASL file2018-03-23 11:31:13
FileDescriptionUserViews
VASL 6.4.2 setup file (FT210_The_Longest_Week.vsav)VASL SetupLionelc62555
(!germ-usa.png)Imagehoxson1546
(sicily us observe.png)Imagehoxson1148
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Statistics:
Avg Rating: 6.00Votes: 3
Views: 2286
To-Play list count: 0
Estimated Play time: 3.5 hours
Recorded Games: 3
Archive recorded plays:
German2
American1
Drawn:0

ROAR Data: (as of November 2021)
The Longest Week
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[A] German 1
[D] American 4
All Rights Reserved. (c)2022 Dave Ramsey.