Mareth Line from Tunisia II

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Started Mareth Line scenario in OCS Tunisia II with CC. Our goal was to get through at least 2 turns, we made it through 3 turns.

This isn't a bad learning scenario for combat and barrage rules. As it's a siege, there isn't a lot of movement necessary for the Axis defenders, at least early on.

I did some stupid stuff to demonstrate how combat works and how overrun works, lost some good units and we left the game with 21 Pz reduced and exposed.

2016-10-08

Picking up where we left off, we made it through the final 5 turns in about 8 hours. Here are some lessons I learned while playing the Axis:

  • Fueling whole divisions: don't do this when going second and not moving. I lost a whole SP fueling 15 Pz to put in Reserve for reaction, but as the second player, this was just a waste as I had no intention of moving it.

    • Check the sea cap reinforcement for supply, the scenario is ambiguous on this.

    • Does Allied air transport capacity in Tripoli imply Allies can fly in an extra 2 T per turn?

    • Seems to be key to use reserves to keep stack size a bit smaller in mareth line, with the reserves available to move into otherwise DG hexes for defending support.

    • I think the thing to do in this scenario is punch a hole in the line and encircle to cut off supply for Axis, as well as bomb the crap out of the port facilities to reduce incoming supply capacity.

    • On the Axis side, spening everything by the last turn allows using internal stores to finish the game.

Here's what it looked like at the end:

Tunisia II Mareth Line end of game

Good game.

Some light game to close out the evening

Zombie Dice, CC won with an 8 brain run. He liked it! Zombie Dice is almost as stupid as Pirateer, with the added benefit of being shorter.

Hive (XXVI), suggested by CC. I felt a bit ambivalent about this but agreed to play anyway. I took white and the win.

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What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

  • Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
  • Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
  • Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
  • Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
  • Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
  • Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
  • Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
  • Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

  • Have a solo game ready to play.
  • Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
  • Referee a game in progress.