Remember to read the scenario victory conditions. I am an Idiot!
Let's just say that this month's Ladder game was a struggle, in more ways than one. It took us a while to get scheduled, so we had to squeeze it in at the end of the reporting period. I usually love to play in the first week or two after the pairings come out. I hate to be the one that Patrick is waiting on. The good news is we finally got it scheduled. The bad news is I did not pass my Personal Morale Check (PMC) and let some things get by me, that could have swayed the results. But hey, I could have lost even worse.. haha! Here is a quick recap. I was playing the German defenders, with two big AA defense HMG's that I did not use very well. Here is the setup at the start of the game.
The first big break in the game was the American MMG malfunctioning the first time he fired it and then he ended up breaking it on the next repair try.
Things were going well for the Germans as the Americans were spending a ton of time firing instead of moving. I was fine with this. He did have a nice stack that kept firing at my HMG battery, but we recovered pretty well. Eventually, he killed the squad manning that gun, but I was able to bring up the squad from down below to man that gun in the following turn.
The Americans were stuck and the time was moving quickly. One of the turning points was the Close Combat we had at the top of the board. The U.S. got an event and could suppress the squad, then they rolled very well to win this CC. On a side note, the American deck has lots of events and they seemed to come for my opponent when he needed them. At this time I was still pretty happy as the Americans were not advancing.
We head into turn 9 with the Germans ahead with 7 VP. The Americans were still not on the move. Things were looking decent for the men in gray.
The Americans then started a nice little roll with the dice. In the next 4 fire cards, they drew nothing less than a 9, with a 10, 11, 11 run. This started to seal the doom for the Germans. Now I am not complaining about the rolls, this happens in CC and to me is part of the fun, the bad part of these rolls was the fact that I did not take advantage of one of the biggest factors of the game available for the Germans. More on that later.
After a nice chit draw giving the Germans 3 more VP. I was still thinking that we were in good shape. I had all victory hexes and the US would have to sprint to get into the buildings in time. What, I did not count on or even look at was the surrender pool. I did not even think about it. Well on the next fire attack, he rolled a 10 and eliminated the guys holding on at the bottom of the board. Game over! I had reached the surrender threshold! uuugh!
Now before we move along, I have to tell on myself. Remember when I said, I did not utilize one of my biggest assets during the scenario? Prepare yourself... massive laughter to follow! Here is a big hint.
Always read the Victory Conditions and then READ THEM AGAIN!
I NEVER fired the HMG that was sitting on a hill. That is right! I forgot it was on a Hill and I thought it was there to help cover the building. So there it is. I am an idiot.
My opponent was Jerry (Vaxman) and he was fun to play. I wish I could have given him a better game. Another Combat Commander Ladder game is in the books. Hopefully, I will read the scenario victory conditions better and utilize all the weapons I have been given. Until next time, Be Safe & Be Kind! Have fun gaming!
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