The Great War Mini-Tournament 6 Nivelles Offensive

French Semifinals - Nivelles Offensive Tournament

Game 1

Mirko Bruner (German) 4 medals, 19 figs lost
Clexton27 (French) 7 medals, 13 figs lost

It was a humbling experience for Mirko as his hands were almost literally tied by his cards. In the course of the game, Clexton27 had (3) Infantry Assault cards - although he only used two during the game, ALL centre, ALL right, Battle Fury, Trench Raid twice, Whistles & Bugle Calls, etc. The game started with the French bogging two out of three tanks and the German reserve artillery punishing the French elite forces. Mirko even used Stretcher Bearer to remove a wounded French Captain. Many dice thrown at tanks with little yield. If it was not for the (2) Recon-1s that each gave a medal, things would have been more dire for the Germans.
Eventually Clexton27 was fortunate to unbog one of the original bogged tanks and begin the blitz on the German left. Pressure was both steady and unrelenting and eventually the whole side collapsed to the onslaught. Although French forces were weakened, they penetrated to the German 3rd Trench and ended the game on a French start medal fest.





After a review of the game log file I found that (2) figures were accidentally counted against German side - adjusted to 19.

Game 2

mk20336 (German) 5 medals, 23 figures lost
gotigerssc (French) 7 medals, 16 figures lost

My cards were exceptional in this game despite having any for my left flank. At the beginning it felt like I was always ordering at least 4 units per turn. The French started by trying to advance infantry as quickly as possible. Germans held their positions and took opportunistic shots where they were presented. French counter-attacked a Storm of Fire and the tanks did five damage across three units. I eventually brought my tanks in to CC with trench units (1 of them bogged down). Did not have the greatest success with my attacks but by the middle of the game I had built up 13 HQ tokens. Was able to play Direct from HQ to order 6 units and push again. An Infantry Assault + Three on a Match helped me eliminate one unit and then push the fld art out of its fortified position and onto open ground. Felt like the turning point in the game. Despite only having 1 figure remaining it was never defeated. Mostly because I had run out of left section cards.

Heading into our final turns it was tied 5-5. If the Germans are able to take out the bogged down tank they will win the match. I had to sweat through it but none of the confirm rolls hit. On my last turn I got a medal for the trench and used my tank on that trench to take out a two figure MG unit in CC for the win - by rolling two flags of all things. Two of my medals were claimed on Butt &Bayonet cards from one figure units that were swiftly eliminated by the Germans in subsequent action. Two of my other medals came from the second and third trench line, respectively. Two of Michal's medals came from time pressure.

# of die rolled to confirm hits on tanks 6* (4 on the last turn) - much less tank action than game 1
# of actual confirmed hits 0
*Michal rolled way more dice attacking tanks that just came up empty.

Always a tense and close battle when facing off against Michal. Looking forward to the next one against him!

Seems like this one is coming to a close, any plan for a new TGW tournament, this plays quite fast.

1 Semi-Final and then 2 final matches to be completed.

I'm uninspired at the moment. Has anyone got a thought on a theme or a scenario collection they would like to try?

We have probably played so far all base game, Exp1 and Exp2 scenarios...
There are KS specials (Battle of Malmaison, scenarios 259-263) which I did not played yet but other than that nothing comes to mind.

Maybe those 4 + 4 fan-made?

I have an interest in playing 2 board scenarios, Sausage and Mash, and I think the Malmaisson scenarios may join together as well.
Does that interest anyone else?

That is a very interesting idea. An EPIC TGW would be something refreshing. Having like couple of such scenarios, and seeing from the experience that such games in Tournament mode do not always play well, shall we try to do it live?

I could be interested.

Mirko and I are playing the 2nd game of our match today. We should then be able to see who will play Justin in the finals.

French Semifinals - Nivelles Offensive Tournament

Game 2

Clexton27 (German) 7 medals, 22 figures lost
Mirko Bruner (French) 5 medals, 17 figures lost

The battle was a brutal, grueling, more than 3 hour affair stretching out over 2 days of play. The (4) card hand definitely hampered both sides, but especially Mirko who seemed to always have too many center cards with few units to order. I personally don't think that I have ever been in a game where so many Combat Cards were played. Mirko played his to good effect using LOST MESSENGER to stymie a German 2-2-2 attack. He also played MATA-HARI SPY to eliminate a German medal by discarding a RECON-1 and a COUNTERATTACK. He also played COMBAT CARD ESPIONAGE to steal a BUTT & BAYONET and a BOX BARRAGE. Clexton27 was struggling to get a medal near the onset but fortunately had a FIRST STRIKE against a French 1-fig unit to get his first medal. After the first hour the score was 3-1 with the French steadily moving up on the flanks. But when they stalled a German MACHINE GUN BARRAGE followed by an ARTILLERY BOMBARD managed to quickly eliminate 2 tanks and the score flipped to 5-3. Grinding attacks on the flanks continued and Mirko even got a Bomber unit in the German third trench for a temporary start turn medal, but alas, he was eliminated shortly after and with a final Recon-1 attack by the Germans on the French right the game was over. Cheers for Mirko for his persistence even when the tanks fell so quickly.

Part of the reason the game was so lengthy was that I lost internet connection two times with long delays before restarts. Also because of this I only have a log file for the last 30 minutes.

Looking forward to battling with Justin in the Finals.