Game replay _Landships_ by Clash of Arms I am sending in this replay because the only replay on Web Grognards of this game is buried inside a review and uses the introductory scenario, with its special introductory rules and no vehicles. Scenario 5 - "The New Excalibur" The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, Sept. 15, 1916. The first use of tanks. After the Battle of the Somme in July, the British had driven a salient into the German lines, but had not broken through. As a result, the defenses in this area were less developed and the area was less damaged than the original front lines. The scenario requires only one board section. The British enter from their trench lines to the West. The Germans have wire all the way across the board, and one line of trench. Right in the middle of the trench is a six hex town. There are woods to the north, south, and east of the town. The southern wood comes right up to the town. Both the southern and northern woods are in front of the German trench. Behind the eastern woods is a fordable river with two bridges across it. Behind the river is another woods, with 5 German field guns hidden inside. The woods extend along most of both sides of the river to the board edges. The town is full of German platoons, with an MG and an FO in the hex facing the British. After this, the set-up gets weird. There is a German unit in the southern woods, but also one sitting out in the open SW of town. There are 3 German MGs in the woods along the river, NE of town, *behind* the German trenches. In total, about 2 companies with extra MGs. All the British start in the open, most in stacks, about 8 hexes west of the town! Some of the units are within one hex of their trenches and can jump back, but others cannot. We played the set-up as is, but later we concluded that the British set-up was historical, with the massed infantry waves having been used just two months before. However, we think the one German out in the open is a mistake and will move him into the woods in future games. There were about 3 companies of British. All the Germans and most of the British were of good quality. The game began with the Belles of the Ball, the tanks, entering the west edge of the board on a road -- 3 Mark I males and 1 female, with a special commander counter. It was fortunate for the tanks that there was a road leading to the town, because this boosts their speed by 66%, and reduces their turning penalty by half. The infantry, however, were well out in front of the tanks and had to wait for them. Knowing better, the British player immediately spread all his troops out to one unit per hex. [Small arms fire at hexes, not units, and when a hex is hit, all units in the hex are affected.] The British victory conditions called for them to hold the town for at least three consecutive turns. The Germans had to prevent this. The British split into three groups. One advanced on the northern woods, keeping it between them and the MGs. They would then attack the town from the north. The second group waited in the center for the tanks to arrive to destroy the wire, so that the infantry would not get fired at while hung up on the wire. The third group moved toward the southern woods, to take it and then swing north into the town. The pre-registered British artillery hit the town, pinning the MG and observer. [Towns give better protection than trenches.] The German infantry started pinning the British, but the British eliminated the German in the open. The tanks were going across the British trenches. The British were also given a 2 seater Salmson aircraft in close support, escorted by a Vickers Gunbus. The airplane could have performed a bombing, strafing, or obervation mission. The Brit opted for observation. After the first turn, it becomes very, very difficult to call in artillery, unless it is something that was targeted on the first turn, or it is a point you have been assaulting for several turns. [50% chance to contact each battery. 1 in 3 chance they will agree to your first request. 1 in 3 chance a one battery barrage will inflict a hit. The introductory artillery rules are MUCH deadlier.] The odds of getting artillery get much, much better if you have an airplane working for you. The Salmson flew over the town. On the next couple of turns British artillery pounded the town and the Germans that survived shot up the British. The tanks kept moving forward to get a shot at the town. [Unpinned friendly forces (even in trenches) block line of sight.] The Br group in the north worked its way through the wire alone, and made it to the woods. The rest waited, and started losing units. At one point the Br dropped smoke in front of 2/3 of the village, including the MG, and concentrated their fire on the G units to the south. The tanks finally reached LOS to the town. But a lucky hit from the Gs disabled one tank. The male could still shoot, however. [Mark Is had thin armor, and were moderately vulnerable to MG fire.] The tanks opened up on the town, and combined with the artillery and infantry fire, the G position started to deteriorate. On the next turn the mobile tanks fanned out and breached the wire in three places. The Br started streaming through, one unit at a time. The G MGs to the NE started firing through a gap, and the Br in the N woods countered to tie them up and pin them down. About this time the G lost their town MG and their FO. G artillery fire stopped. Now that they were out in the countryside, and struggling to point themselves at the town, the tanks slowed down and the infantry passed them up and stormed the town. Units from both sides disappeared in Close Assaults and fire fights. By the time the tanks got their acts together and rolled into town, there was only one G unit left. One male tank rolled up to him and he ran for the woods. [Tank Fright - all German infantry overrun or adjacent to a tank must test morale. The more tanks the worse the result. No eliminations, but a good chance of a rapid retreat.] The center B group had just 2 counters left. But they held the town. At this point, G reinforcements started pouring in. Two companies of mediocre infantry came in from the north, and about a company of Stormtroopers with flamethrowers came in from the south. And two Fokker Eindecker fighter planes. Uh oh. The Salmson and its guardian had moved over to the line of trees along the river to call down artillery on the MGs, since then were pinning the Br in the north woods and making life miserable in the north end of town. The two Eindeckers went after them. The G player thought he had them. Instead, one of the Fokker EIIIs got shot down. Shells fell on the G MGs. Further air battles took place. The remaining Eindecker was eventually able to shoot down the Gunbus, but after several failed attacks, was finally shot down by the Salmson's observer. [Two seaters fight back, just not as well as fighters.] The Salmson then went on to help call in smoke on top of the G guns in the woods. [Planes performing artillery observation are limited to three sightings per game.] The tanks started moving to the north, where the large numbers of Germans were shooting up the Br in the north woods. The southern most Br coy. moved south into the woods to face the stormtroopers. About this time a company of poor quality Br inf. arrived as reinforcements from the west. MG fire disabled two more tanks, 1 male and 1 female, but the damage to the female was temporary and with the help of its special commander, it was soon going again. Half the stormtroopers moved up the trench line, the other half through the woods. The Br fired all units at the trench, eliminating 1 G. The flamethrower was not hit, however [1 in 6 chance], so the other unit picked it up and kept advancing. The Br pulled back through the woods to keep the Germans at a distance. Flamethrowers are instant death. Their weakness is that they have a 1 hex range. Then one G group made a mistake and they moved along the western edge of the woods. The disabled B tank, plus the B reinforcements, plus the B in the woods opened up on them. There was nothing left but shreds of feld grau fabric. The B group in the woods then went back to the last storm unit, got another good die roll, and eliminated them. The fire-breathing storm attack had been wiped out. There was much relief on the B side. With covering fire from the disabled tank E of the town, the two mobile tanks moved up on the G inf., one walking down the trench line, the other moving down the woods along the river. The Germans fled. At this point we reach an anomaly of the set-up. Why have any German artillery on the board if it is all going to be in the middle of the woods and cannot perform direct fire? One gun could see off into an empty part of the board. The German player was desparate to stop the tanks. On the spot we came up with a house rule that once during the game those guns could be hand pushed forward one hex to reach the edge of the woods, so that they could shoot out. In this way, two of the G guns could see out, each covering one bridge over the river and some area beyond. In the case of the northern bridge, the view included the female tank. Bang, bang, bang! On the third shot the tank was hit and knocked out. Then the G inf. in the north started to recover and come back. The one mobile B male tank swung around and went after then. Much mayhem ensued. In the excitement of the chase, the B player forgot and moved the tank into the LOS of the German gun. Again, three shots and the tank was knocked out. [Crewed guns shooting at vehicles get 3 shots per turn.] Then a lull descended over the battle. The southern G attack was gone, and all the tanks were dead or immobile. Some more so-so G units had trickled in from the north. What next? There two and a half turns left to play, but the B would reach their 3 turn requirement sooner than that. We made another spot decision. The B must hold the town to the end of the game! Given new confidence, the G units surged out of the northern trench and converged on the northern woods, en route to the town. The northern B units were wiped out, but the reinforcments moved in to take their place and a desparate struggle ensued. The disabled tank E of the town made a critical contribution, pinning or eliminating a unit every turn with its fire. The woods were shredded as both sides pressed in. As the game came to a close, the Germans held the woods, but they were just three counters, too few to assault the town, which had been reinforced by the British group from the south. The game was over, with a British victory. Post Mortem There was one critical mistake we made that was probably decisive. In the heat of the battle we forgot the spotting rules and allowed the stormtroopers to be fired on when they would not have been seen. [Units in woods that do not fire can only be seen out to 3 hexes. A hex of woods blocks sighting. The spotting distance to units (not firing) in a trench is only 2 hexes.] So the southern attack should not have gotten so blasted. And once those flamethrowers closed in, they could have cleared the town. Sure, the British tanks would have turned around and come back, but flamethrowers have a better chance of killing a tank than artillery. British If he had to do it over again, the British player would have immediately pulled his infantry back into the trenches and waited until the tanks got out in front. Until he switched to dropping smoke, he lost too many men. He also would have kept the units in the northern woods quiet, so that they did not take casualties. If the Germans wanted the town, they would have to come out in the open to get it. The price for the British was too high this time - 65% casualties. The tanks did best if they waddled right into the middle of the enemy. Not just for the morale effect, but also to use their all-around fire. Tank MGs are not as effective as tripod MGs, but you want to bring every gun to bear. German The key mistake that the German player felt that he made was making the attack in the south in two separate groups, and in stacks. Next time he would keep the groups together, but unstacked. The units without the flamethrowers could provide the covering fire while the others advanced quietly. Of course, he wants the field guns to be mobile. Conclusion Very enjoyable! Very realistic. I want to play this again. And try some more scenarios. Bravo!