Round 1 140 - Niergnies - 8 October 1918
JimDauphinais (German) 6 Medals (4 for two eliminated tanks and 3 for three eliminated soldier units, with the total medals capped at 6 medals for the scenario), 16 Figures lost.
toganalper (Allies) 5 Medals (2 for an eliminated tank, 2 for two eliminated soldier units and 1 temporary for the German trench line), 18 Figures lost.
We each got one special figure to add. I went with a Mortar Loader on my right and Togan with a MG loader on his left.
Togan opened by pulling back some of exposed soldier units that were in Countryside hexes and moving his rightmost tank one hex forward.
In my opening I pulled back my tank in front of my trench line wit a Recon Center in order to deny the possiblity of Togan getting one of his tank adjacent to me in a single card play. (There is a special rule in this scenario that prohibits Allied attacks on the German tanks until one of those tanks attacks or the Allied player gets adjacent to a German tank).
Togan then played a Recon in Force. He used the center portion of it for an Aritllery Reserve attack on a hex targeted jsut to his left of whre I moved my tank (it was legal since he did not target the hex the tank was in). None of Togan fire from is card play was effective.
I came back with some range fire from a Probe Right. It was also ineffective.
Togan then made a big Direct from HQ play with five units. The key portion of the moves was to move his left most and center right female tanks forward one hex each and to bring one infantry unit forward.
The female tank that Togan moved forward on my center right was now three to four hexes from two of my male tanks and vulnerable to attack. I played a Recon in Force Card to move my tanks forward one hex to begin that attack and to use my mortar on my right to fire at the female tank that Togan advanced on his left. I combined this with the play of an Espionage Combat Card which allow me to force him to discard a Return Fire Card and a Short Supply Card! The subsequent ranged fire caused his center right female tank to take a confirmed hit.
Then, Togan played another Direct from HQ Card! Once again he activated five units -- all four of his tanks and one bomber infantry unit. He moved all of these units to one hex each and was able to get his hit tank behind a woods hex. His subsequent ranged fire was ineffective.
I now played my own Direct from HQ Card!! I activated six units including both of my male tanks and my mortar unit. I now had my two tanks attack a male tank Togan had moved forward in the center. My subsequent ranged fire caused that tank to take a confirmed hit.
The excitement then continued as Togan played an Assault Center Card and had all of his units in the center advance one hex except for his hit tank in the center, which he moved one hex toward his right. Essentially, he presented more targets than my two tanks could handle by risking two infantry units in Countryside hexes just three hexes from my tanks. His subsequent ranged fire was ineffective.
I then played an Attack Center to close my two tanks on his tank in the center that had a hit and to have one my bomber infantry units in my center attack an infantry unit he had moved into a woods hex in the center. I as ble to take the wounded tank out. Germans 2, Allies 0.
Given his move of infantry units into Countryside hexes, Togan unsurprisingly then played an Infantry Assault Card in the center section. With it, he moved three infantry units and a bomber unit adjacent two my two tanks and two of my infantry units in the center bringing forth general melee in that section of the map. I played a Butt and Bayonet by one my Bomber units in that melee. In th end, I lost four soldier figure and he lost three. The medal score remained at Germans 2, Allies 0.
I then came back with a Probe Cetner to activated my two tanks. In the ensuing close combats and bonus close combats, I was able to eliminate two of Togan's solider units and cut another down to just two figures. However, one of my two tanks, which was now on my left, bogged on its first gained ground hex. The medal score was now Germans 4, Allies 0.
Togan then played an Out Flanked Card. With it, he pushed his tank on his left forward one hex to be adjacent to my right trench line and moved infantry unit forward two hexes. On his right, he brought forward an undamaged tank (risking a bog roll for a second hex of movement) and his other tank that had taken a hit that was hiding behind a woods hex. He tried to kill my bogged tank, but I had it play Surprise Ambush. This said, despite getting a hit on one of Togan's tanks, that hit failed to confirm on the reroll. In th end, my bogged tank did not take any hits, but Togan got the tank on his left into the German trench line and also caused me to lose two solider figures on my right. The medal score was still Germand 4, Allies 0, but with an Allied temporary medal waiting in the wings.
Given my bogged tank on my left, I came back with an Assault Left Card to try to try to recover my bogged tank and take out Togan's adjacent tank that already had a hit on it. The recovery attempt failed and while the subsequent close combat cause a hit on Togan's wounded tank, the hit failed to confirm. Togan than played Butt & Bayonet Card on his wounded tank to fight back. He scored an amazing three bursts on five dice, but only one of his four reroll dice resulted on a confirmed hit on my tank.
Togan scored a temporary medal for being in my trench line an then played the Big Show. At first this did not look like it was going anywhre because he only got one order out of five dice. However, with that one order, his undamaged female tank adjacent to my damaged tank in center was able to get a confirm hit that took my tank out and then in bonus ranged combat (allowed for female tanks) took out one of my nearby infantry units. Suddenly, the medal score was now tied at 4 medals each with only 2 mdeals to go for either of us to win!
I then desperately played an Artillery Bombard card to activate my remaining tank in the center to try to take out one of Togan's infantry units that was down to two figures. Togan immediately hit me with a Strike First Command Card, but that card failed to cause any hits on my tank. In the end, the infantry unit took another figure loss, but retreated away two hexes. My tank bogged on its gaining of ground after combat.
Togan then played a Probe Left to try to take out one of my infantry units on my right down two figures. He succeeded, but his tank on his left bogged in my trench line when it gained ground. The medal score was now Allies 5, Germans 4.
I then played an Attack Right with a Mortar Barrge, which played into my mortar with a loader on my right and Togan's bogged tank. I was able to eliminate one of his infantry units that was down to one figure and caused on confirmed hit on his bogged tank. The medal score was once again tied, this time at 5 to 5.
Togan then played a Probe Right (with a Tactician turning it in to a Probe Left) to try to unbog his tank and take out an adjacent infantry unit of mine that was down to two figures. He scored one more figure, but my unit got away and his tank with hit remained bogged.
With that, I cam back with an Attack Right and Physician Card. I then proceeding to go all out with close combat from Countryside hexes with an infantry unit and bomber infantry unit in order to take out his bogged tank with one hit. The first close combat was ineffective, but the second was scored a hit that was confirmed on a two dice reroll. Game over. Germans 6, Allies 5.
For me, this was the single most exciting playing of C&C: The Great War that I have had to date. While Togan had a tiny bit of rust at first, he is a very good player and in the end he almost won the scenario after at one point being down 4-0 on the medal count. It was a pleasure playing him.
