LZ Mary revisited
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As it turns out, I've only played LZ Mary a couple of times, and that once solitaire, and once opposed. If I've documented it correctly, it was first play of Silver Bayonet. Part of my interest for this game is to dig a bit deeper into Vassal, which I can use at least for screenshots. This is also a good opportunity to extend the Freeplane mindmap I started a while back. I took a look at it and it's good to go. Will be fun adding to it.
Turn 1
The scenario-specific instructions state that the FWA made a night ambush against PANV than retreated back to the LZ as their whole turn. Game play follows with the PAVN turn.
FWA Turn 1
With no artillery or air support, FWA conducts an Assault combat, roll a 5 with per-scenario -2 DRM and no terrain modifiers, resulting in a step loss for PAVN A/8/66. There is no Defender response here.
PAVN Turn 1
PAVN takes exception to this state of affairs and intends on marching to the LZ and evicting the invaders. To this end, B/8/66 reinforces at the PAVN camp. Then both PAVN units move to LZ. (See screen capture.)
Both PAVN units intend on Assaulting. FWA is not going to refuse (cannot, [6.2]. PAVN is coordinated by specification in the rules. Since there is no maneuver, assault proceeds with the defender FWA rolling 4, for no effect. PAVN rolls 5, no effect. Second round Efficiency check rolls:
- FWA: roll 8, fail ER.
- PAVN: roll 9, fail ER.
Combat is over for this turn.
Here's the PAVN responding and the situation at the end of Turn 1:
Turn 2
The PAVN made a tactical mistake last turn by not at least attempting maneuver combat. They have the coordination for it, and there is no way to occupy the LZ without getting a retreat result, which is not possible with Assault combat.
The FWA will in the meantime bombard the crap out of them before they get a chance.
Initial Phase
FWA get 9 Air Points for this turn. There are no Fire markers down, no units with Fatigue, and no HQs need replacing.
FWA Turn 2
First player's plans for this turn.
As noted, the FWA is going to use all the Air Points available to defang the PAVN. Have to get the reinforcements in first. The US A/1/8 gets flown into the action to reinforce:
- ADF: roll 3 miss.
- Hot LZ: roll 1 ER check passed, no Fatigue on reinforcement.
Unless the PAVN gets lucky, nobody's moving anywhere, all units are staying at the LZ. They are, however, going to assault PAVN A/8/66! First, need to soften them up. Since the Bombardment value is 9, and there are only two steps in the target unit, there is no ADF. For the result:
- Roll 3 for
3Fwhich is a step loss and Fatigue for the PAVN, and another VP for FWA.
The PAVN are not going to refuse combat, and there is no reaction force. The FWA does, however, need to make a coordination roll:
- EC: roll 5 for CIDG as lead unit with ER 7, pass.
1) Defender allocates and resolves air and/or artillery for Defensive Bombardment [10.2]
The PAVN have no defender bombardment, so it's straight to combat:
- PAVN A/8/66 roll 9, hard whiff.
- FWA roll 8 on column 4-6 another hard whiff.
Let's roll for another round:
- PAVN roll 4 pass EC check.
- FWA roll 3 pass EC check.
Second round of combat:
- PAVN roll 3 which is one step loss for a VP.
- FWA roll 8 which is another whiff.
And that's it for the FWA. On to PAVN,
PAVN Turn 2
FWA has 5 VPs as it stands right now, and PAVN has 1. It's probably impossible for PAVN to even get a draw, but we're going to play it out and see what happens. If they can reduce FWA by a couple of steps, I'll consider that well-played.
PAVN C/8/66 and the A/66 mortar unit enters play in hex 1021.
Once reinforcements are in play, all move except the Fatigued B/8/66. The LZ is surrounded on 4 hexes, which will be a nice bonus for the Manuever combat. Here's what they do:
Next, lob some mortars into the LZ:
- A/66 fires (roll) 8, no effect.
The FWA is going to hold the LZ, and not refuse combat despite having no reaction forces available. Since the PAVN are stated to be coordinated in the scenario-specific rules, skip the EC check and go right to odds.
- PAVN: attack with 8 (B/8/66 is Fatigued).
- FWA: defend with 8
1-1 odds.
Lead units:
- PAVN: C/8/66 with ER 6.
- FWA: A/1/9 with ER 7.
Shift column 1L.
Neither side has any supporting fire.
5) Attacker rolls on Maneuver Combat Table applying DRMs appropriately.
DRMs:
- From 3-4 hexes: +1
- LZ TDV: +2
- Net: +1
PAVN rolls 8 + 1 which ia really bad for them, A1F2
And that's this game. Here's the final situation, with [A,B,C/8/66] all Fatigued:
AAR
Score:
- PAVN: 1.
- FWA: 6.
This is a really tough situation for the PAVN to get even close to winning. There is some discussion on a forum that a better balance for this scenario would be good to have, but no concrete proposal as to how that may be achieved. I do think the PAVN could have done better by manuever combat on Turn 1, but that's something I should game out and see what happens. I will definitely have this back out at some point.