Like all of Two Hour Wargames' rules, this one is based on reaction, so you never know whether your toys are going to do exactly what you paln. Fog of War!
5 Shermans M4A4 Shermans with the 75mm gun were sent on patrol to see if the area ahead was clear for advance. It wasn't. And thereby hangs a tale...
In HHNF, each member of the tank crew has his own Rep which denotes his ability to perform his appointed tasks. These are rolled for on a table. So 3 of the Shermans had Rep 5 (very good) tank commanders, and the remaining 2 had Rep 4, not bad. Gunners varried from Rep 4 to 5. Loaders were mostly Rep 3 (low average). This would be a factor in the game.
The game was played on a 3' x 3' table, lain out in a 3 by 3 grid, not visible on the table. It's just for initially locating the PEF's, Possible Enemy Force, before they are revealed.
Here is the original layout with the Shermans coming in at number 8 on the grid.
I don't really have any 1/144th terrain, so I used a 15mm farm as the only building. The green 3D clumps are representing trees. The green felt represents hills and the tan felt a depression. Two PEF's appeared in 1 & 3, out of the picture on the upper left and right. The third PEF appeared in 5, where there is no cover. PEF's normally appear in cover and continue to hide as long as possible, while advancing toward the enemy.
This was an unusual situation caused by my leaving a blank area in the center of the table. The Shermans are numbered 1-3 in the front row, with 1 being the platoon commander in the center tank. The second row are imaginatively numbered 4 & 5. This is Turn 1 and the Shermans advance onto the table. And immediately reveal the PEF in front of them to be: the worse possible roll, 6 more than your unit. (This is a BIG mistake. Rolling 6 should only add 3 more than your unit!) The only German tanks that I have in that quantity are Panzer IV-H's with superior guns to the Shermans!
Luckily for the Shermans, they win the In Sight, allowing them to get off the first shots. (Normally, I would roll up the crews for each Pz IV-H, but with 11 of them, I just made their crews all Rep 4. Fudging, I know!) The Shermans disable the first 3 tanks in line with 4 shots, blocking Line Of Sight for the Pz IV-H's behind them.
None of the front-line Shermans were able to reload quickly enough to be able to return shots until their next activation (Rep 3 Loaders, remember?), and #3 couldn't even try again until the next activation. Tank #4 had no targets and #5 was able to reload quickly. The Germans got no activation, due to rolling higher than their Rep.
On turn 2, the Activation dice were Germans 6 (no activation) and US 1. Since standing in the open was not wise, they split up, the front row going left around the trees to their left, and the back row going to the right, also around the trees. Sherman #3 finally reloads when next Active, so is unable to shoot this turn, and remains in hiding.
Shermans 4 & 5 round the trees and win the In Sight with the few Germans who can see them. #5, with the best gunner in the platoon, hits a tank in the side and destroys it. #4 fires at another Pz IV-H, but his round bounces off, and the German destroys him. When tanks are destroyed (exploded), any friendly tank within 4" must take a Crises Test, since seeing your buddies turn into pink mist can be unnerving. 1 tank in the second German platoon Ducks Back (hides from the destroyer, a temporary situation). In the 3rd German platoon, another tank Ducked Back, and in the 4th platoon, 1 tank left the table.
Turn 3 Germans 2 Americans 4
Tank 1 & 2 tie their In Sight with a couple of tanks on the Germans' right flank and #1 explodes another German tank. Tank #3 still must reload. #2 has no target. Here I made a mistake. In Sights are not tied in HHNF, but are rerolled. As a result, the destroyed German tank destroys Sherman #2. Sherman #1 Ducks Back, but #3 is okay, but still unloaded.
On the right flank, Sherman #5 advances to the sand pit and again wins the In Sight. He fires again, and explodes another Panzer IV-H. As a result of all the damage to the Germans, the remainders of the 3rd platoon Ducks Back, and both the commander and the remaining tank of the 4th platoon leave the battlefield.
Now the Germans activate. The PEF on the right of Sherman #1 is revealed to be 3 more Panzer IV-H's. Sherman #1 wins the In Sight and Ducks Back, since he doesn't like 3 to 1 odds. The PEF on the left moves forward, but remains hidden.. The commander of German platoon 3 moves to the front of Sherman #5, who is not reloaded, so he Ducks Back.
Turn 4 Germans 4 Americans 2
The commander of the new German platoon advances on Sherman #1, and loses the In Sight to him. Sherman #1 fires, and his shell bounces off. The German tank returns fire, and explodes Sherman #1, the platoon commander. That's enough burning Shermans, so the 2 remaining leave the field on my decision.
Mistakes? I've made a few (hey, isn't that a song?). I had an In Sight as simultaneous, which is wrong. It should be a reroll. I rolled doubles for activation twice, and forgot that could bring reinforcements, I think. Can't find it at the moment. My biggest mistake was when I rolled a 6 on enemy forces, I added the 6 instead of the 3, as called for. Oh, yes. Since the Germans held the field, they could recover their damaged tanks, and two were repairable. So the Shermans only destroyed 4 tanks for their loss of 3. But we know that the Americans can replace Shermans much more easily than the Germans can replace anything.
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