So Bound 8 at the end of the evening.
Play has been slow as it takes a lot of thinking about.
There is lots of enemy about but just not showing itself.
The idea of mapping both the enemy positions and the attackers routes worked. We just stepped forward to a logical point or stopped if interacting with hidden enemy. It probably saved around 3 bounds and made it faster and more interesting way to get started. Bounds are progressing normally now.
Using a photo as a map worked better than we could hope definitely one for the future. Next time though, laminating the maps and using a dry wipe markers would be an advantage.
Definitely having weight limits on the roads worked well, as did the impassable areas within the wood, it makes it a "bigger" board by stopping direct movement in many cases through the wood. If you look on the Tree thread on the 1/144 board there are some interesting findings on the tree density.
Even on a board this size I probably should have, as the attacker, defined some FDF's for the mortars especially as I had a quite limited area I decided to concentrate on. My plan is an OK so far plan but there is a long way to go.
The basic premise of the scenario seems good but perhaps the Defenders have a bit too much on table, albeit hidden. Some should have been at call to thin out the Russian defense, they may have too many defending forces for the scenarios as envisaged originally.
So far the road network seems to be about the right level of complexity.
So what it is is FUN in the extreme! But only for folk who want a challenge and are not hung up about hidden stuff on the board, definitely a players game not a painters game, too little on the table for much of the time.
It has raised some interesting points. I had assumed that missiles could cover the straight sections of the road, beyond their minimum range of course. The defender is unhappy about this he considered that given the low light of a forested road that is not that wide, 2 carriageways at most, getting a missile down the road may not be plausible. Technical opinions on this welcome.
The hand held Thermal sight on the Luchs is a major force multiplier making spotting somewhat more effective, but still a long job. Especially as the Russians do not have such kit. Without it it may not have been a practical game, definitely too many defenders on table.
What is frustratingly fun is I cannot yet perceive how the defender has laid out his defense. This makes it harder to take any calculated risks.
Hopefully this thread will inspire the keener player's to define a similar scenarios but perhaps better than this one as you will have hopefully the benefit of hindsight based on this attempt.
PS losses. the Russians have had a BRDM 2 destroyed the Germans (attackers) have got lucky and only have a Luchs seriously damaged but it can get home and fight another day.
It will continue next week!