I've removed the forum in favor of this blog, and so felt it would be nice to preserve here my AAR from Williamsburg Muster. Enjoy!
Hey guys, last weekend I went to my first games convention since relocating to the east coast, Williamsburg Muster! I was able to host 2 demo games, both of which went very well. The first was with a father/son team, Shawn and 9yo Henry, commanding the Soviet armored horde, vs Bob, defending conquered land with his Grenadiers, panthers arriving in support. It wasn't until we started playing than I realized that between the holidays, a cross-country move, and starting a new job, that I hadn't played or looked at the rules in 3 months! I had to apologize a couple times for needing to double check the rules a few times while coaching, but at 4 pages total, it didn't delay things too long ;)
Henry and Shawn seized the initiative early and kept it going for an INCREDIBLE duration, rolling 6's for activation no less than 6 or 7 times in a row. However Bob's patience seemed to serve him well, keeping his troops hidden for a long as possible and not giving the Red's easy targets. Slowly but surely, his well dug in Pak-40s picked off tank after tank, but it was when Henry decided to undertake a daring flanking maneuver with his heavy armor through the woods that things turned.
Bob, under cover of the woods, ambushed the JS2s with close ranged 'faust and 'shreck fire to their flanks, destroying 2 of the 3. The third tried to recover and counter-attack, but the foot troops took advantage of the confusion and managed to take out the last tank before it was too late. After that it seems the Soviet's luck had run dry. Panthers and more grenadiers arrived from reserve and the defense become near impossible to crack. The Soviets moral broke soon after.
Henry and Shawn seized the initiative early and kept it going for an INCREDIBLE duration, rolling 6's for activation no less than 6 or 7 times in a row. However Bob's patience seemed to serve him well, keeping his troops hidden for a long as possible and not giving the Red's easy targets. Slowly but surely, his well dug in Pak-40s picked off tank after tank, but it was when Henry decided to undertake a daring flanking maneuver with his heavy armor through the woods that things turned.
Bob, under cover of the woods, ambushed the JS2s with close ranged 'faust and 'shreck fire to their flanks, destroying 2 of the 3. The third tried to recover and counter-attack, but the foot troops took advantage of the confusion and managed to take out the last tank before it was too late. After that it seems the Soviet's luck had run dry. Panthers and more grenadiers arrived from reserve and the defense become near impossible to crack. The Soviets moral broke soon after.
In the next game, I got to play myself :) I played the US paratroopers holding the town against Ben's counter-attacking wermacht. Ben's took to the rules expertly, and used the terrain and mutually supporting units to execute his advance far better than I could have predicted. Before I knew it, artillery had thoroughly suppressed my rifles holding the church, and a full platoon of grenadiers, backed up by Pz4IV's, was there immediately to take full advantage and push me off the objective. My boys were completely overwhelmed and teams that survived the initial assault were gunned down trying to escape the slaughter.
Another platoon of dug in paras held firm on the other objective while a platoon of sherman tanks made their way in from reserve, but the thick bocage managed to destroy any chance of arriving in time to retake the church before the rest of my force routed.
Another platoon of dug in paras held firm on the other objective while a platoon of sherman tanks made their way in from reserve, but the thick bocage managed to destroy any chance of arriving in time to retake the church before the rest of my force routed.
*Forgive my lack of trees! Realized last minute I didn't have them with me in Virginia!!!
Both games were a lot of fun and I gleaned a few small points I was to further polish in the rules. Muster was a fantastic venue as well. Made a few new friends and got in a bunch of other fun games before the weekend was through. Special Thanks to my best bud, Grant Ellis, for enabling me to participate that weekend and also for taking the pictures while I GM'd and played!
Thanks again!
-B
Both games were a lot of fun and I gleaned a few small points I was to further polish in the rules. Muster was a fantastic venue as well. Made a few new friends and got in a bunch of other fun games before the weekend was through. Special Thanks to my best bud, Grant Ellis, for enabling me to participate that weekend and also for taking the pictures while I GM'd and played!
Thanks again!
-B
RSS Feed