OT2021 Quarter Finals

OT2021 Quarter Finals
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OT2021 Quarter Finals

Game 1
stephent (Allies) - 5 banners
gotigerssc (French) - 8 banners

What a fight. Our first few turns were spent maneuvering until I made a forced march up the middle and assaulted the town while aided by a few very convenient tactician cards - sappers, battlefield smoke, infantry combat first, leader unit reform, and leader orders a fall back. Those are perfect cards to aid the assault against a town. However, I never had a single center section card and ended up relying on take command and opportunistic flank movements into the center to survive. Three critical moments that could define the outcome of the entire round for us: 1-2: I was able to eliminate both Prussian FA on two separate attacks with a single roll, which was a major blow to the combined arms strategy the Allies had deployed; 3: I rolled for the win with 4d against a single figure infantry unit and got exactly zero hits. On subsequent turns Steve claimed two more medals. Great match and I'm excited to see what game 2 holds for us next weekend.

rjvonline - French - 8 (27 blocks lost)

vs

kandras - Allies - 4 (34 blocks lost)

I got the French. I boldly seized Cospeda on my left with an LT unit, and a good bit of the early action took place on that wing, with no clear winner, but a lot of attrition. Then, I attempted in the center, but never even got to Closewitz. My hand was leaning right, where my units--mostly cavalry--would be moving into a funnel of trees, so there was not much I could do there. Andras consolidated in the center by using La Grande Manoeuvre to bring his 2 artillery units side by side and within range, but fortunately they couldn't be used as grand battery as a hill split their fire. I carefully pulled back my two forward LN units, but still hurt a bit when the artillery fired. Fortunately 2 Bombard cards allowed me to soften the artillery, and then an LC attack supported by a Cavalry Leader card killed both artillery units and one of their leaders while the second one escaped. Andras daringly moved a 1-block LT unit out of shelter to try and finish one of my units, but failed. I killed that LT, and then my artillery took down the 1-block grenadier unit that was holding Cospeda to give me an 8-4 victory. Long and tense game.

Thank you Joe for the both good games.

Game 1

Gileforn (Prussian) 8 Banners

Gonzo (French) 5 Banners

French troops started on the left with cavalry moving to the forest, but was stopped by LT attack and pushed back. On the same time step by step French cavalry on the right started its preparations. Prussians left was used for the counter attack by LT and as a result destroying of one LC and close to destroy the second one. On the French right was a cavalry massacre. Both sides lost the most part of the cavalry. That was a really unluky rolls by French LN on elan and battle back by GG from Prussians on the French right. Also after it was a good possibility to French to get two or three banners, but a roll was also unlucky. The final attack by Prussians was made with bayonette charge to get finaly one banner. That was a hard battle.

Game 2

Gonzo (Prussian) 8 Banners

Gileforn (French) 7 Banners

The second game started same for French and totaly say same not good for cavalry on the left flank. Prussians have chose the other way, they went back to the forest, so making some problems for French to attack also with infantry that was far away. On the right flank French started to prepare cavalry charge. Prussians also moved forces to protect themselves from it, but charge was really hard with good rolls and French cavalry got a way to the French rear. All Prussian cavalry on that flank was destroyed and two infantries went close to be destroyed. Final attacks were on the left flank of French troops in the forest. Before that French cavalry troops were destoryed and leader lost. With a final attack with 2 dice GG have destroyed a LN with 2 blocks and leader too. Good victory for Joe in a hard game.

Thank you again to Joe for the hard skills, this time luck was on my side.

   

QF Return Match

rjvonline (Allies) 6 banners (38 blocks lost)

vs

kandras (French) 8 banners (27 blocks lost)

3.5 hour marathon. I lost this one 6-8, but I won on cumulative banners over both games 14-12. Phew. This one was very close throughout the game. I was helped at the very beginning by moving a FA back to my rear and then playing Call Reserves Forward to bring next to a leader in the central village. That FA eventually died, but, man, it caused some damage in the center, helped by 1, maybe 2, Bombard cards   I committed 2 "mistakes". The first being to finally bring my left wing forward; my opponent played Cavalry Charge and killed 2 of my units, and then we had an exchange (as I virtually sacrificed a LNCR unit to block a retreat path for a French LC and got 3 flags in all! In truth, I was also seeking to divert attention away from the BUAs  until I got 5 kills and didn't have to rely on the banner for holding a majority of the BUAs... My second mistake was in my very last turn was as I messed up the order in which I battled, contrary to my intentions. I had a 4-dice ranged attack by an LT on a 1-block LN with a leader that could have bagged me 1 banner for *almost sure*, and given me a 1/6 chance for a 2nd banner if I killed the leader, but instead I went for a 4-dice melee attack on a 3-block LC that RR'ed... next to my LT and thus prevented them from firing at range at the LN, and of course the LC also RR'ed when my LT attacked it... Next turn, my opponent played Bayonet Charge and got his last banner as 3 2-block LN units were within reach. 

Two great games. Thanks to Andras!

QF Return Match

Rand (Allies) 0 banners
vs
RiverWanderer (French) 8 banners

Some nicely coherent Tactician Cards encouraged a French plan to soften up Closewitz and eventually take it in close assault. French Light proved a lynchpin to the plan; gaining a position in the woods covering the town , they played a key role in softening up enemy units and gaining banners themselves.

The Prussians struggled to dent the attack, and an unlucky leader loss elsewhere didn't help. The Prussians made a strong attempt to re-take the town but once more the balance of dice results favoured the French, giving them their final banners and denying the Prussians a chance of revenge.

Thanks to Wade for two good QF games.

 
 

Quarter Finals RiverWander Vs. Rand G1

RiverWander – Allies – 5 Banners
Rand – French – 8 Banners

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Most of the initial fighting is on the French Right Flank, with the French cavalry attempting to catch their counterparts on their baseline. Most of the Prussians withdraw to the safety of the woods, and a short supply removes the French Cuirassier from the fighting. A Prussian light infantry makes a square where it is stuck for the remainder of the game, forcing the Prussians to play with three command cards. As the cavalry units on the right flank expend their strength, a Prussian unit led by Holtzendorft is destroyed, and Holtzendorft is cutoff, but manages to flee through a French Guard Heavy Cavalry to flee the battlefield. Fighting then turns to the Center, with the French trying to overcome the entrenched Prussians in the village of Closewitz. The French are able to play Fire and Hold Twice in a row, then move in on their third move with a Bayonet Charge. The Prussians make the French pay dearly, and are up 5 Banners to 4, however there are numerous Prussians units with only one block along their front line that cannot be withdrawn. As other full strength French units close in, they are able to chase down these units, and steal the game away from the Prussians, with a final score of 8 to 5. It is the bayonet charge that captures three banners and sets up a French combined arms for the next turn. Whatever damaged units the French have, are pulled back to deny the Prussian enemy victory. The final banner is from ranged fire destroying the Prussian Light Infantry that was still in square in the woods, trapped there for the majority of the game.

Thanks to RiverWander – Mark for the great game. Excellent opponent.

 

Gotigerssc Allies 2 banners, blocks lost 33
Steve French 8 banners, blocks lost 20
In the centre the French cannons moved up to just beyond musket range of Lutzeroda and Closewitz, firing sporadically at the Allied centre and centre right, eventually destroying one unit in Closewitz and damaging a number of others.
Most of the action was on the flanks. The Allied left retreated before the French cavalry, into and behind the forests. Eventually the Allied LC and Lancers attacked and were slowly defeated, both sides having forgotten to sharpen their sabres before the battle. On the French left, Suchet, Gazan and Treikhard attacked with Leadership. After heavy fighting, the Allied right was defeated.
At the end of the first session, score stood at 6-2 with the French victorious on both flanks. The second session was quick. Lacking flank cards, the Allies attacked with Forced March in the centre (needing to get to 5 banners to draw the match). The attack was blunted by first strike, destroyed one French line, and the French replied with elan, destroying two Prussian units – final score 8-2
Thanks to Justin for a tough match, and for good sportsmanship and banter!