081 The Last Stand

Details: Written by: Fantasy Flight Games; Category: Western Front; Published: 18 January 2021; Last Updated: 05 January 2022; Hits: 990

Victory Results:

100 %

0 %

Total plays 3 - Last reported by alecrespi on 2024-08-06 08:27:59

St Malo, France, 3-4 August 1944
During the breakout from Normandy, most of Patton's 3 td Army rushes east towards Paris. However, some units turn west to clear out the vital coastal ports in Brittany The "siege" of St. Malo will require all three regiments of the 83rd Division and one from the 811:Division before the fanatical Ge1711011 resistance is oventhebned.

	American	German
Division 1	4 Squad Bases - 12 Regular Infantry - 2 Elite Infantry - 2 Officers 1 Sherman M4A1 2 GMC CCKW 353s 1x Flamethrower	4 Squad Bases - 6 Regular Infantry - 4 Elite Infantry - 2 Officers - 2 Machine Gun Crews 2x AntiTank
Division 2	4 Squad Bases - 8 Regular Infantry - 6 Elite Infantry - 2 Officers 1 Sherman M4A1 1 M3A1 Half Track 1x AntiTank	3 Squad Bases - 7 Regular Infantry - 2 Elite Infantry - 1 Officers - 1 Mortar Crew 1 Panzer IV
Strategy Decks	Command 1 American Air Support 1	German Reinforcements 1 Morale 1
Starting Strategy Cards	3	3
Operations Cards	-	013 Desperate Defenders
Deployment Zone	Division 1: Any of the green shaded hexes on map 10A. Division 2: Any of the green shaded hexes on map 6A.	Division 1: Any of the hexes on map 1A. Division 2: Any of the hexes on map 9A.
Starting Initiative
Objective	The Americans win if they fulfill BOTH of the following conditions: Exit one tank off the board from the blue shaded hex on map 9A. Control at least 4 buildings.	The Germans win if they fulfill EITHER of the following conditions: Destroy both Sherman M4A1 tanks. Prevent the Americans from fulfilling their objsttive by the end of round 5.
Rounds	5
Actions per turn	3	3
Reinforcements	-	-
Special Rules	The blue shaded hex reprtsent the exit point for the American tanks. A vehicle on a blue shaded hex may spend I movement point to exit the board. if a building consists of more than one hex and you occupy one of the hexes, you gain control of the building if there are no enemy squads in any of the adjoining building hexes. If squads from both nations arc present in different hexes of the same building, neither nation controls the building.
Terrain	The stream is Shallow

Discuss this article in the forums (3 replies).

Posts in discussion: 081 The Last Stand

alecrespi replied the topic:

#1074

2 years 1 month ago

Scenario Overview by Evil Knivel @ BGG
boardgamegeek.com/filepage/64961/toi-scenario-overview

"Very good cat and mouse situation."
Favors: Germans
Fun Factor: ****
Fixes: Tweak it a bit by making the Pz 4 a Pz 3, and/or adding a round, and it's fun.

alecrespi replied the topic:

#705

3 years 6 months ago

Posting here some comments found online.
boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/43192/tide-ir...yer-comments-balance

Very good cat and mouse situation.
5 rounds is impossibly short for the US. Also the 2 Shermans are outclassed by the Pz4.
Tweak it a bit by making the Pz 4 a Pz 3, and/or adding a round, and it's fun.

alecrespi replied the topic:

#620

3 years 8 months ago

After a couple games (losing both times as American) I've started thinking about a solution to catch victory but it seems unlikely if not impossible.

Here you can see why.

German player can easily reach this "defensive position" in about 1 turn... and will proceed most of the game using "OP Fire" action.

USA - Round 1
Fire and Move = 4 attack dice (7 with concussive)

USA - Round 2
Fire and Move = 4 attack dice (7 with concussive)

USA - Round 3
Fire and Move = 4 attack dice (7 with concussive)

With a lot of luck we can assume that USA Tanks reach the top of the map with a Lightly Damaged token (AV-1 / MV-1) but cannot really inflict any serious damage to German Units.
In both my games German player used "Take Cover", "Take Down the Beast" and "Go To Ground" so their Concealed Anti-Tank "OP FIre" can easily wait for USA Sherman to be adjacent and fire with full power.
And drawing these cards is very likely because there are 2x each in a 10 cards deck with German player drawing 8 cards in total (3 at game start and 1 each turn).

I do think that the bottleneck on top left is too hard, expecially with Panzer IV blocking the passage (in OP Fire mode).
Maybe adding an exit point somewhere else or making the road 1 hex wider?

Talking about Victory Conditions I also think that the wording BOTH for Usa and EITHER for German seems unfair.
American ended both games controlling only 3 buildings, with buildings too far from the heart of the battle.

What if USA player can leave a "control token" on a building and go on advancing and attacking?

What do you think about these suggestions?
Waiting for any feedback.

Map Name	Times Played
009 Normandy Farm	played 13 times
020 Capture the Oasis	played 8 times
012 Breaking the Line	played 8 times
037 Totensonntag	played 7 times
207 Subzero Shelter: Fight or Freeze	played 7 times
241 Winter raid	played 7 times
053 Shock and Awe	played 7 times
249 American Resolve vs German Steel	played 6 times
019 The Cauldron	played 6 times
014 Rescue Mission	played 5 times
007 Mons Again	played 5 times
001 At The Breaking Point	played 4 times
013 Hellfire Pass	played 4 times
061 Iron Horsemen	played 4 times
095 Assault on Putot	played 4 times
113 Bloody Valley	played 4 times
251 Operation WinterGewitter	played 3 times
054 Meat Grinder	played 3 times
081 The Last Stand	played 3 times
008 Clash of Elites	played 3 times

Map Name	Played on	User
061 Iron Horsemen	2025-06-01 23:30:53	jfuller
062 Shot for Shot	2025-06-01 23:14:50	jfuller
066 Order No. 227	2025-06-01 15:44:56	jfuller
065 Ramming Speed	2025-06-01 15:44:05	jfuller
031 The Twin Villages	2025-06-01 05:15:43	electronicdad
019 The Cauldron	2025-04-21 03:11:06	JVHillegas-Elting
012 Breaking the Line	2025-03-05 23:27:54	JVHillegas-Elting
007 Mons Again	2025-03-02 19:42:16	electronicdad
324 The Bunker	2024-08-11 17:04:26	PAB
207 Subzero Shelter: Fight or Freeze	2024-08-07 23:40:56	pino
081 The Last Stand	2024-08-06 08:27:59	alecrespi
015 Operation Crusader	2024-07-14 20:42:24	PAB

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