u/RickyBobby63

For those wondering how Caen was taken, here are screenshots of the British Turn 01 moves.

As you can see, the Germans filled Caen with units, but did not pay enough attention to its flanks. They also did not grasp the rule that ZOCs do NOT extend across Major River hex sides. This oversight allowed the Brits to get a big stack next to Caen, plus a Canadian unit behind Caen, thereby cutting supply to the four units in Caen: two units of the 21^(st) Pz, one unit of the 12SS and a Tiger battalion. Come the Attrition phase, all of these units lost 1 Step.

As the German was unable to get them back in supply during Turn 2, they all lost another (and final) Step during that turns Attrition phase. Caen falls without a shot.

Lesson from hindsight? Don’t overfill Caen – one unit in each hex, and use the others to protect its flanks.

This is our first crack at this game, so lots of lessons being learned.

The Dark Summer Campaign Game

Turn 2 – Jun III

The weather for this week was Rain. Bugger. The Germans are happy, the Allies less so. Allies are limited to 1 Move + 1 Attack (British) and 2 Moves/Attacks (Americans). The Germans get their usual 2 Moves and 1 Attack, plus three Reaction chits.

The Brits take the initiative, and play a Move chit to properly encircle Caen, and start pushing East. That is followed by a German reaction, then a German Move, then a German Combat. Not what the US wanted at all.

The Germans raced reinforcements north and east to fortify St Lo, Carentan and a line towards the British sector. They also weaseled out of a couple of potential kessels…

The US pushed northwards towards the Cherbourg peninsula; progress is slow but steady.

South of Caen, the German player tries desperately to free two units of the 12 SS Panzer Grenadiers. They attack outwards, while a fairly weak rescue force attacks from the outside. Three attacks all up during the turn – three 1’s rolled. The 12SS is doomed.

In the north east, three regiments of the 49^(th) Div attacks a stack of relatively weak German infantry units. The result is an exchange – the Germans lose 4 Steps, the 49^(th) Div must match it, and is pretty well gutted.

At the end of the turn, German units isolated in Bayeaux, Caen and Isigny-sur-Mer are eliminated in the attrition phase.

Losses for the Turn are (for the Allies) 1 regiment from the 49^(th) Inf DIV. For the Germans, all three KG of 12 SS , 101 SS Panzer Battalion (Tigers), 2 KG of 21^(st) Panzer, 2 KG from Lehr, plus assorted Battalions from the 352^(nd), 711th and 716th Divs.

Brits are quite pleased with their progress, as they can see lots of open space south east of Caen. As the US, I am a bit less happy – fighting through bocage is difficult and costly. I have less opportunity to quickly flank.

Still, the odds for decent weather are good for turn 3. The rain chit is gone, so we only have to worry about pulling the storm chit….

We are still coming to terms with the rules. Supply is far more critical than in games like Normandy 44. In TDS, supply is checked upon movement and combat (both attacker and defender). OOS units attack and defend at half strength. If a unit is out of supply in the Attrition phase, it loses a step. Caen itself was taken through attrition – the Brits never actually attacked the units in it.

A retreating unit cannot go through an enemy ZOC (unless there is a non-retreating friendly in that hex). If it can't retreat, it is eliminated. Ouch. So, we are always looking for encirclement opportunities.

 Next week, Turn 3. I might pour a libation for Poseidon in the hope he keeps the storms away…

So, we have started a campaign game of Ted Raicer’s The Dark Summer. Four players – US/French forces (me), British/Canadian forces, Germans facing US and Germans facing the Brits.

Similar scale but with a very different feel to Normandy 44. Each turn is ¼ of a month. Within each turn, movement and attack is driven by chit pull, similar to The Dark Valley. One chit per phase, with up to 15 phases per turn. The better the weather, the more chits the Allies get and the less the Germans get. This mechanic is to reflect the Allied air superiority over the battlefield. Chits are generally Move or Attack. The British have to choose how many Move vs how many Attack chits go in the cup each turn, while the US and Germans are free to decide when they pull a chit (although they can only have a max of two of each type per turn). The Germans also get a certain number of Reaction chits each turn (the worse the weather, the more they get). This allows them to activate a formation or stack after an Allied action is performed.

Germans defending in Bocage or Cities are really difficult to attack, due to their special defence bonuses, so the trick here is to surround them before attacking (see supply below).

Supply in this game is critical. Unit supply status is checked whenever a unit moves or is involved in combat (as either attacker or defender). If they are out of supply, their Attack and Defence strength is halved. At the end of each turn, any unit out of supply loses one step. The Germans check every turn, the Allies check only in Rain or Storm turns.

Onto our game. The map shows the end of Turn one. I also included the chit pull status for the first turn. Weather was light showers, so nothing too drastic.

The US had a hard time clearing the beaches at Omaha – very strong bunkers there. Utah was easier. I am pushing north of Utah to try to get the Cherbourg peninsula as quick as possible (the earlier I take it, the more points it is worth, but if the Germans still control it by Turn 7 they win).

The Brits, on the other hand, had an easy time on the beaches and have advanced enough to surround Caen and put it out of supply. Bayeaux is also out of supply, as is Isigny-sur-Mer between Omaha and Utah. The units in these hexes all lost a step each in the supply phase – woo hoo!

The Allies have the initiative each turn, so they get to choose the first chit. The Brit player is sorely tempted to take an Attack Chit first on Turn 2 to rid at least one hex of Caen of enemy units before the wily Boche can get it back in supply. Bayeaux, too, will be attacked.

We are all still learning this game system. There are not ZoC bonds (unlike Normandy 44), and supply is instant and savage.

Next week we start Turn 2, with a Weather chit pull. And most likely a discussion on what rules we got wrong in Turn 1…..

Well, we finished yet another game of Holland 44. This makes about 4 in a row. Finally, the Allies get a win!

The Allies met the Automatic Victory Conditions at the start of Turn 11, by having 10 VP and at least one in supply non-Airborne north of the Lower Rhine.

Tactical factors that led to the Allied victory:

1. XXX Corps keeping a laser focus on driving to Arnhem, largely ignoring Germans units on their flanks, unless the advance was threatened

2. Looking for Auto DS results wherever possible, and leap frogging following units through those hexes

3. Keeping bridging units as close to the front as safely possible to repair blown bridges.

Random luck that significantly contributed:

4. Germans failing the bridge blowing rolls for Son, Veghel, Grave and Ravenstein. This superb run of luck allowed Allied mechanised units to race forward before the Germans could really mount an effective defence.

While I'd like to think my brilliant command of XXX Corps led to the victory, I really would have struggled without those good (for me) bridge rolls.

So, that's us done with Holland 44 for a while. Next week we are starting a 4 player game of The Dark Summer. It's a brigade level game of the Normandy campaign from 06 Jun to 21 August, designed by Ted Raicer. I am playing the US forces - woo hoo lots of bocage and marsh, but no big nasty tank units to fight (at first).