We played 2 rounds of this scenario yesterday (changing sides) and the brits got slaughtered both times. The only hope that the British have (as I see it) is to hope for multiple insanely bad AT rolls in the first few round!

My friend did a bit better than I did. I played the germans first and decided to combine my AT attacks on his Matildes -- overkill to say the least and his Crusaders moved in to deal a little damage before being knocked out. When I played the Brits, he realized that an AT could deal with a tank singly so here's how it went:
Round 1: Crusader destroyed, Matilde Heavy Damage
Round 2: Matilda destroyed, Crusader lightly damaged (I send my crusader over to the right dune to grab the command point and wait for reinforcements)
Round 3: Both Matildes destroyed

WTF?

what an insane drag.

The Brits won in one of the two matches we played. But that was before the Errata stating that a troop IS allowed to be in an entrenchment and still use equipment, I'm not sure how much that would change it. This was a while ago now but I think I remember rolling a little worse (I was the Germans), not much, but still. I wouldn't do anything in that scenario until the AT (1 Armor, Fragile) guns were out of commission. That is the first priority, after that it's simple.

- J

edit: yeah, I screwed up, that's right you can't attack the AT gun at first. Still, the Brits did beat me once... but like I said I couldn't entrench... not that it would have mattered.

It's possible tho pretty hard. Makes the victory all the more meaningful. Anyways dunno if you checked this part of the errata if you haven't it might help:

Q: In the Hellfire Pass scenario, can the British tanks only set
up on the full road hex directly bordering the edge of the board?
A: No. The British Tanks can set up (and reinforce) on any
orange shaded road hex (even one not adjacent to the board
edge).

Thanks for the responses!



We did that. Didn't make a difference -- maybe we were just rolling insanely well on our AT rolls but figure this:

13 attack dice per AT, 5s & 6s hit. That's 4.3 hits scored on average with each roll.

The Crusaders, with 3 Armor will block 1 of those on average. 3 hits = Heavy damage (Immobile and out of range for attacking the german positions)

The Matildes, with 5 Armor will block 1.7 on average. 2.6 damage(4.3 - 1.7) is on the wrong side of rounding -- another Heavy damage most of the time.

Sure there's some variance there but the brits have to get very lucky indeed to get off more than a shot or 2 with their tanks.

I also disagree that the victory would be more meaningful. A win here just means I got freakishly lucky -- not because I did anything right.


@JonJacob: Being entrenched would have only helped the germans and (maybe we missed something major), the AT guns not only can't be targeted but they can't even be affected by area fire.

I believe you can use artillery cards to suppress the hex then move your tanks in. The Guns themselves are not affected but the infantry manning them are affected by the suppressive fire. See this thread for an earlier discussion: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/308576

You could do that -- if you had any tanks left by the time you fire off some artillery. The problem is that your tanks enter the map in pairs and in full range of 2 AT guns. It's like a carnival shooting gallery -- a very loud shooting gallery with 20# shells traveling at mach 2.


Suppressing the guns is a very valid tactic but it costs the Germans very little to keep initiative and those guns will do their dirty work in the first turn every round.

I thought that the dunes blocked line of sight when your tanks are entering. Maybe I am mistaken.

I don't have the scenario in front of me but I seem to recall that their is a special rule stating that the 88s can't be targeted - which means the only way to take them out is to pin/destroy their crews.

I really like this scenario. Though I'll admit it's a tough nut for the Brits to crack, it can be done.

The usual pattern goes like this: tanks get pummeled by AT guns, heavily damaged or useless by the time British infantry is on the table. Infantry, worried about the time limit, charge across open ground toward unsuppressed MG fire, and are ripped apart. The one-or-two man teams that might make it to the base of the hill are insufficient to take both hexes, and there isn't enough command for the British to both seize initiative and activate artillery.

Some thoughts:
Germans: the hidden command spot presents a problem. You want to put a squad there to control it; this will be a concealed squad, since if you occupy both AT hexes, those squads can't be concealed (no concealment in objectives). So, then you're potentially moving into enemy line of sight after claiming the objective, which reveals you.

It's probably a good idea for the Germans to keep one of their MGs concealed until the last moment, so it can't be shot at and is available to trip up the final assault. You only have to hold one hill to win...

British: The natural impulse is to suppress the MGs and charge forward into range. I suspect this is a lesson for the British in patience and limited aims that will be painful to learn. The German weakness here is limited numbers. I think the right thing for the British to do is concentrate fire from long range, killing (not suppressing) selected squads one at a time with combined fire, at least for a round. It's maddening to have to wait, but open ground + op fire MGs is suicide, pure and simple.
Combine fire with your tanks. Heavily damaged, that's 5 dice from two tanks, which isn't so bad.
Don't forget about the Desert Tactics deck. Artillery is great, and not to be avoided... but the card that fatigues an enemy in Op Fire mode is great, and the dust cloud card has its uses (use your immobilized tank to provide cover for your infantry to advance).


Thoughts on this?