Today we take Chicago, or, "Please Don't Throw Me In That Cactus Patch" (AAR)

I played my first match and won my first victory on North American soil against Jim Serafin at an undisclosed location deep in the suburbs of the City Of Broad Shoulders.  Gave Jim a short list of three scenarios I liked and he picked J50, "The Cactus Farm" from Journal 3.  It depicts elements of Division Hermann Goering trying to delay the inevitable 8th Army advance on Tunis.  We diced for sides and I drew the defending Jerries.

This scenario is set on the upper half of board 43 (to the north) and the lower half of board 11.  VC require the Tommies by game end to both grab at least 6 building locations in a 2-hex perimeter around 43M8 (making up what is commonly known as the Koresh Compound - the O10 stone building outside the wall is not one of these, however) and prevent the Germans from accumulating >14 VP, awarded as 1 VP per above building location controlled, and also Exit VP for units on an L2 plateau created from SSR by the grain depiction around 11Z5 on the L1 hill mass.  Thus the British must press the attack broadly across both boards and prevail in two different areas to win, a fairly high bar at the outset.

This is not a desert scenario, but several not-too-obtrusive SSRs give it a distinct flavor.  The Germans have ATMM and 100mm OBA (offboard observer), but the British have FB support (albeit not bombed-up).  The British are required to move their vehicles through three specified trail breaks in a line of 3AT minefield hexes stretching across the front of most of their entry area (NOTE:  The SSR does not specify the hex sides the trail breaks cross; we agreed that the British could position them at will).  Grain is open ground.

The most notable SSR substitutes cactus hedges (hedge TEM, but Min Move, Low Crawl or Adv vs Difficult Terrain to cross) for walls and hedges, and cactus patches (3x MF/MP, +1 TEM, inherent 1/2 level LOS obstacle like rubble) for orchards.  This denied the Germans the +2 Wall TEM benefit but provided a few more interesting places for them to hide, and made British capture of the renamed Kaktus Kompound a more prickly proposition, if you will.

OBs at first glance suggest the Fritzes will have a tough go of things given that they face 9 Churchills (2 with unlimited smoke ammunition, plus an 8-1 AL), but a closer look reveals the British infantry to be inferior, possessing less than a 2:1 squad advantage (64FP:44FP), which is not really offset by MGs (24FP: 20FP when adjusted for rate).  They do receive two 2-inch MTRs, however, and although German leaders are tough (9-2 & 8-1), there are only two so they are busy and brittle.  The PaK 40 (APCR only) have but a 14TK so at first would seem to present little threat to British armor.  Though the FlaK 38 would seem a strong deterrent to the FB, the plane's armor reduces the light AA DR needed to damage it to 4.

I set up the 4 trenches on the victory hill summit in 11Y5, Y6, Z4 and Z5, putting the 9-2 with a 548/MMG (bore sight 43CC6) in Z4 and one ATG in Y5 (BS 43D2, one of the trail break hexes).  Initially I stuck the AA in 11AA10 to hold the left flank as well as provide cover from the FB, but soon thought the better of it and plopped him in Z5 where he would remain HIP until he shot at the FB, or gave some charging Tommies a reason to regret crossing the L2 crest line.  Here he would also contribute 4VP to prevent British victory if he lived to game end.

The other MMG went with a 548 and 8-1 in 43M9 L1 (BS A7), while the second ATG anchored the right and covered the center from 43L0 (BS J8).  Both MMG bore-sighted hexes were obvious enough that Jim avoided walking into them.  OBA observer was at 11GG10 L4.  The Kubelwagen AAMG is useless against the FB, and as I saw no real need to tow any guns, I parked it in 43N6 to create a hindrance (at least until destroyed) over the road opening in the cactus hedge, and would abandon it in T1(G) to add a much more useful 127/LMG to my OB.  I made one setup error by concealing an unpossessed DC in the O7-O8 building.  Jim forgave this and allowed it to remain on board, but the gods did right by him as I was never allowed to fall back and pick it up.

Another interesting thing about this scenario is that the British can stagger their entry from off-board over the first three turns, allowing Jim to scout ahead a bit and clear strong points or suspected ambushes before exposing more valuable assets to German fire.  If memory serves, Jim brought everyone on by the Adv Ph of T2.

Here is a list of highlights and lowlights up to the middle game to give you an idea of the flow:
(+)  Decided I must not let myself be intimidated by tanks and focus on infantry VC are building control; positioned setup to catch troops on entry hexes and strip them off the armor, and in first two turns kept as many as 8 squads DM/broken
(-)  Left 1.5 squads and hero/DC in place in the forward woods mass at junction of boards for too long, allowing them to be surrounded and cut off in T2; only the 238 survived, the hero died poorly but the 548 went down swinging
(+)  As the PaKs have no HE they must have infantry protection in front of them and be given a chance to engage the Churchills without being exposed to the inevitable British kill stack
(-)  Should have attempted more DI shots in early turns as only a TH DR6 is needed against a stopped Churchill; as many as 4 tanks might have been halted that way given my low TH DRs
(+)  British must respect the German ATMM and cannot risk overrun if infantry are not marked first fire; the forward 548 took down the first Churchill of the game on a missed OVR, and the 238 running with him bagged another (and created an 8-1!) on a CC DR2.

Turns 1 and 2 were a joy for me against Jim's infantry but his armor appeared unstoppable.  The ATGs accumulated at least 10 hits between them, but my best TK DR was a 7.  However, a lot of Jim's infantry was left broken on his start line, and his KIA began to mount.  I eventually X'ed the hilltop MMG but had no regrets using it to the fullest.

In T3 the PaKs finally started to obtain kills, though, so that by the end of T4(B) I believe Jim was down to 3 mobile tanks.   However, in T4(G) my center and the Kaktus Kompound defense broke down when I overlooked the appearance of the FB in T3 and paid dearly for it, leaving a 548 CR, the 127 KIA and the first 8-1 wounded when they tried to play pick-up-sticks in the street with the LMG and DC.  To add to my embarrassment, I forgot my own OBA.  Doh!

Fortunately these errors did not affect the outcome.  The guys on the hill (2 crewed guns, 3 squads and the 9-2 for 17VP) were not going anywhere.  Jim had to concede in the T5(G) MPh after a sighting TC DR 11 when it was clear that although he could probably grab the Kaktus Kompound, he did not have enough infantry or other forces remaining on his right to kick the Germans off, and his board 43 force would not make it over in time to help.

Salute to Jim for trucking his kit over to my hotel for this session.  I owe him an opportunity to even the score between us.  Although I'm a Minnesota boy, and also have many fine memories of Boston, I wish him (this year, at least) and his Blackhawks a Stanley Cup championship.

I ain't no Kid Chicago,
I don't know no Al Capone...

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