The Great War Mini Tournament 5 - French

Scen 244 - Verdun (Fort Douamont) - 25 February 1916

mk20336 (French) 6 medals, 9 figures lost
mirkobruner (Germans) 1 medals, 28 figures lost

Another, very hard attack scenario for Germans - still, Mirko did his best to overrun my defenses. I had quite good cards for only 4 of them. And the rolls were nice. My marksmen showed enormous accuracy but the special personnel was dying in scores.

Many thanks to Mirko - it was his first game on Vassal!

PS. We had terrible problems with server, couple of times disconnected. Thus log file in pieces.

Scenario 247 - Verdun (Fort Vaux) - 7-8 March 1916

mirkobruner (French) 6 medals, 29 figures lost
Mark McG (Germans) 7 medals, 25 figures lost

Germans started with the hand the French would have wanted, 2 Recon cards, and an Artillery Bombardment.
Luckily the dice were with me in this game, and not with Mirko, and the Combat cards were helpful, especially the Short Supply of an MG out of a Fortified position on the Left. Also the worst Big Show roll I've seen (and I've seen shockers), 3 Blasts and a HQ.

Still, it was a close struggle, and whilst the Germans managed to eradicate the French on the Right and take the town of Vaux, giving them a 5-2 lead, any attempt on the Fort was met with card starvation to follow through and the French gradually closed until we were at 6-6. The final blow was playing a Recon Left (which now was safe) to roll 2d looking for a blast.. I got aBlast and won.

Scenario 244 - Verdun (Fort Douamont) 25 February 1916
EZPickins(German) 6 medals, 14 figures lost
mirkobruner(French) 4 medals, 27 figures lost

The Germans got a bunch of right flank cards from the start so that's where the action began. The French got an early lead by playing a pair of recon cards. Then the Germans got to there trench line and with superior luck took out three infantry. They gained another VP with a recon and used Rush and Rotation to pull back to defend the fort. Midgame saw the Germans just trying to move troops up to assault these new positions. When they finally did it was the same story as luck again was in their favor and soon there were two more dead units for the loss of one.
Mirko hung in there the best he could but had a terrible run of luck versus a great run on my side. He was a pleasure to play.

Scenario 243 - Verdun (Samogneux) 24 February 1916
EZPickins(German) 3 medals, 28 figures lost
gotigerssc(French) 7 medals, 17 figures lost

The dice were a bit one-sided for the French in this one but it was tense fight throughout. A Lost Messenger played against his Whistles and Bugles helped turn the tide early in the game as that would have likely led to me being swamped on my left. Despite that he was still able to push through and fighting never stopped in the town. Momentum swung both ways there for a while but the dice always bailed me out. Final turn I used my last 6 HQ tokens to play Direct from HQ along with Over the Top. Allowed my elite infantry to sneak past the woods and take out a 1 figure unit. The remaining three units attacked a full strength German flame thrower for the win. Had good luck picking off special personnel and also got 1 medal from a recon card.

Scenario 246 - Verdun (Le Mort Homme) - 13-20 March 1916
Justin (Germans) 2 medals, 18 figures lost
EZPickins (French) 6 medals, 13 figures lost

Started out bad for the Germans with shelling giving them little cover for the advance. The Germans boldly advanced but were met but were met by withering fire (good dice) while theirs was mostly negated by cover. They did manage to take the forward FP on the left and eliminated the infantry. The Germans then played there third recon card for a VP and had a nice 4-1 lead. The German would not let up and took the right side FP while putting heavy pressure on the left one. The game came to a quick end as Three on a Match and the mortar took out two more Germans. It was a tough game for Justin with me having an edge with the die and defensive positions. Whenever he got a good card his luck failed him. It was a really fun game and he was a great opponent.

Scenario 243 - Verdun (Samogneux) – 24 February 1916
Viridovilas (Germans) 7 medals, 17 figures lost
Pickelhaube (French) 5 medals, 21 figures lost


German started the battle pushing on their left wing, but their advance was soon repulsed by French fire from a redoubt up the hills. Things started to get even worse for the William II army as Commandant Buffet put a lot of time pressure on the attacking forces. All of the sudden, however, German managed to get rid of the two MGs in front of them (a few lucky rolls) and decided to make a second effort up the hill on their left wing. French promptly answered calling their reserve artillery to fire on the already weakened German infantries advancing in open field. But a logistic issue related to an unexpected shell shortage prevented Commandant Buffet to take advantage of the barrage and let the Huns finally took the hills.

Scenario 241 - Verdun (Bois Des Caures) - 21-22 February 1916
imann (Germans) 2 medals, 25 figures lost
gotigerssc (French) 6 medals, 13 figures lost

I played a recon on my first turn for a medal. Shortly thereafter the Germans played Whistles and Bugle along with Over the Top that dumped the whole German army on top of me. MG unit on my left was surrounded and on the brink of destruction but a Physician card saved it and the game. Had that fallen the result would have been different. French elite then moved to the left flank to assist MG. Fighting was all on the flanks where the French held out with decent cards and rolls for the win. Well played by Tom.

Scenario 242 - Verdun (Beaumont) - 22 February 1916

Mark McG (Germans) 5 medals, 24 figures lost
mk20336 (French) 6 medals, 22 figures lost

Surprisingly difficult and tough scenario for French. They key was a shelling which created path in the center as well as Rush & Rotation card played by Mark. All game I had like three cards on my right, where I have one or zero units (depending on the phase of battle). In the end, Trench Ride (twice) as well as concentrated MG fire was my key to success, pulling this out from 4-5 to 6-5 in my last move.

Very tens but quick game, thanks to Mark for early wake up to play!

Scen 245 - Verdun (Across the Meuse) - 6-9 March 1916

mk20336 (Germans) 7 medals, 7 figures lost
mirkobruner (French) 1 medals, 22 figures lost

Tough game for Mirko/French. I had decent cards, never lacked any section card, managed to move my "sitting ducks" quickly and had good rolls. I took both woods and then entered the trench - the battle for woods was fierce but "Storm of Fire" and "Replacements" were key.

Many thanks to Mirko for the game and the spirit to play in spite of all the difficulties he faced.

Scenario 242 - Verdun (Beaumont) - 22 February 1916

Mirko (Germans) 1 medals, 15 figures lost
Mark McG (French) 6 medals, 11 figures lost

Having played this yesterday, I was up to speed with the Victory Conditions, but rather taken aback by the the wide carpet of shellholes leading to the Centre fortified position. However, starting with 2 Recon cards, I knew I would at least get onto the board.

True to form, the Flamethrower came roaring up the centre, trying to roast the MG unit. He was met with Butts & Bayonets, with 3 nasty hits, and killing the Special Personnel. An MG Barrage polished him off and set the other attacker back. The Germans then tried to flank my right, which they achieved, only to have to go back for more ammo (Short Supplied)!

They then came round the Left, or more accurately the officer did, with the rest coming up the field. Mirko made a mistake here having 1 unit without a retreat path, which cost him a unit to the MG fire, and despite an Ambush, the surviving French infantry used Hand Grenades to eliminate the officer unit.

Being in the open is deadly