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Operation Mercury: A GTS Narrative LP What is GTS The Grand Tactical Series is a company-level wargame system produced by Multi-Man Publishing, updating the older Panzer Command system originally created Victory games. It attempts to bridge the gap between purely tactical games like Advanced Squad Leader and more operational game like the Operational Combat Series, by providing some tactical considerations like lines of sight and suppression, while creating a grander approach to combat, with more importance given to combined arms and larger command and control implications. With 500 meter hexes, some of the details of tactical combat is lost and therefore the bulk of the decision making needs to be done in terms of how to use your sparse resources to most effectively engage the enemy. What is Operation Mercury Unternehmen Merkur (as it was officially known in German) was the first large-scale airborne operation of the Second World War, targeting the island of Crete. It has the distinction of being one of the few battles in the war that was almost entirely undertaken by airborne, gliderborne or airlanded troops, with very little sea elements being involved in the battle, bar the Luftwaffe attempting to sink Allied ships and the Allies attempting to prevent German resupply ships from arriving at the island. It is also notable for being a battle in which large mistakes were made on both sides. In the end, although the Germans did manage to take the island, the scale of losses within the elite fallschirmjägers of the Luftwaffe meant that such large airborne operations were not attempted ever again by the Germans. Resistance by local Cretans on the island was also quite effective, diverting a small number of troops to the island in order for the Germans to retain control. On the other hand, beyond the inability to use Crete as a bomber base for attacks against the Ploesti oilfields in Roumania the loss of Crete did not seriously impair the ability of the Allies to perform war within the Eastern Mediterranean, and the island was only retaken once the Germans had already surrendered, and even then the German garrison forces were allowed to keep their weapons for two weeks in fear of attacks from local Cretans. More details of the historical situation will be provided within the forthcoming Historical Situation post. What is this LP This LP will be a solo, narrative-based LP of this wargame. What I mean by narrative-based is that in general, I will not be posting about every individual dice roll made within the game and instead attempt to provide a smoother narrative of the game, interstepped with some rule explanation that I will collate together for those interested. This will hopefully make it easier for people not familiar with the game to see what is happening on the ground (and also hide any mistakes I make from the more experienced players). If you had a chance to read my LPs for The Hunters, I will be attempting a similar feel to that game. I will attempt to also provide the history of the battle, although it is likely that my own version of the battle will diverge significantly from real life. It is entirely possible that the German invasion will fail at the first stage, without them being able to secure the important airfields that they require. If that is the case, I will finish the narrative of that battle, and start a new report. Involvement from spectators will be limited, but I will allow people to pick their hero units if they wish, although due to the scale of the game, many of the chits within the game are relatively interchangeable. Who am I I am Tekopo, a long-time resident of the Traditional Games subforum, and avid wargamer. I've made several (successful and unsuccessful) wargame LPs in the past, including Cuba Libre and The Hunters, of which the latter I am especially proud of. I am a relative newbie to GTS, however, so feel free to correct me if you spot any mistakes with the system. Links: Turns: Allied Positions Turn 0: <0700 20th May Battle of the Landings Turn 1: 0700 20th May (Part 1) Turn 1: 0700 20th May (Part 2) Turn 2: 0900 20th May Battle of Maleme Airfield Turn 3: 1100 20th May Turn 4: 1300 20th May (Part 1) Turn 4: 1300 20th May (Part 2) Turn 5: 1500 20th May (Part 1) Turn 5: 1500 20th May (Part 2) Turn 6: 1700 20th May Turn 7: 1900 20th May Turn 8: Night 20th May Allied Counter-Attack at Maleme Turn 9: 0700 21st May Turn 10: 0900 21st May Turn 11: 1100 21st May Turn 12: 1300 21st May Turn 13: 1500 21st May Turn 14: 1700 21st May Turn 15: 1900 21st May Turn 16: Night 21st May Battle of the Double Envelopment Turn 17: 0700 22nd May Turn 18: 0900 22nd May Turn 19: 1100 22nd May Turn 20: 1300 22nd May Turn 21: 1500 22nd May Turn 22: 1700 22nd May Turn 23: 1900 22nd May Turn 24: Night 22nd May Turn 25: 0700 23rd May Turn 26: 0900 23rd May Turn 27: 1100 23rd May Turn 28: 1300 23rd May Turn 29: 1500 23rd May Turn 30: 1700 23rd May Turn 31: 1900 23rd May Turn 32: Night 23rd May Battle of the Line Turn 33: 0700 24th May Turn 34: 0900 24th May Turn 35: 1100 24th May Turn 36: 1300 24th May Turn 37: 1500 24th May Turn 38: 1700 24th May Turn 39: 1900 24th May Turn 40: Night 24th May Turn 41: 0700 25th May Turn 42: 0900 25th May Allied Withdrawal Turn 43: 1100 25th May Turn 44: 1300 25th May Turn 45: 1500 25th May Start of the Evacuation Turn 46: 1700 25th May Turn 47: 1900 25th May Turn 48: Night 25th May Turn 49: 0700 26th May Battle of Suda Turn 50: 0900 26th May Turn 51: 1100 26th May Turn 52: 1300 26th May Turn 53: 1500 26th May Turn 54: 1700 26th May Turn 55: 1900 26th May Turn 56: Night 26th May Turn 57: 0700 27th May Turn 58: 0900 27th May Turn 59: 1100 27th May Turn 60: 1300 27th May End of Organised Allied Resistance in Crete Historical Posts: Dramatis Personae Prelude The First Day The Second and Third Day The Fourth Day and Beyond The Aftermath Rules: The Basics Units The Dice Fortifications Air Drops/Gliders Status Effects Assault/Opportunity Fire Supply Levels Victory and Evacuation Resources: Simple Map Strategy Post Tekopo fucked around with this message at 15:16 on Feb 9, 2024 |
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Jan 21, 2024 11:47
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As the guy who introduced you to GTS, I'm super happy to see you get so into it - means that £200 I dropped in Devil's cauldron didn't go to waste lol.
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Jan 21, 2024 13:31
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Historical Situation: Dramatis Personae The invasion of Crete is one that had a literal deluge of interesting characters involved with it, but this LP will not go into too much detail in regards to most of the them, since it is a bit outside of the scope of the game. For those interested, some of the more interesting persons associated with the battle were the likes of John Pendlebury, a glass-eyed, sword-cane wielding archaeologist that was unfortunately captured and executed by the Germans near the start of the invasion. Patrick Leigh Fermor, part of Special Operations Executive, who helped the Cretan Resistance later on after the battle was over, was also present, along with Resistance figures such as George Psychoundakis, George Petrakogiorgis and Manolis Bandouvas. I am currently reading (as you might have guessed) Antony Beevor's Crete, which is somewhat more focused on the British aspect of the war, but does delve quite deeply in regards to Cretan resistance after the battle was over. General Kurt Student  Kurt Student was the pioneer of German Airborne operations and was largely responsible for the formation of the Fallschirmjäger. He was an active proponent of airborne operations and commanded the German Parachute regiments for most of the war. Although he faced a lot of pushback from the Wehrmacht when initially the proposals for a Parachute division were raised, during Case Yellow, the lightning capture of Eben-Emael and the successful airborne operation against the Dutch seemed to prove to the German High Command and the world at large that Airborne troops were a valuable asset in war. During the invasion of Greece, General Student pushed for a purely airborne invasion of Crete: it was deemed an easy target since the Germans were convinced that it was just being used as a staging post for the evacuation, and therefore there weren't more than 5000 Allied soldiers on the island. This wasn't helped by aereal recon that seemed to showcase the same image, unaware of the well-camouflaged Allied positions. Initial planning was to capture three airfields within the island, at Maleme, Rethymnon and Heraklion. This plan was a compromise between a even more widespread drop, and a concentrated drop just at Maleme. Even with the three drop approach, the chief plan was an initial drop to capture Maleme and Canea, an old Venitian town near Suda (and Suda Bay) in the morning of the 17th of May, and then in the afternoon, drops near Rethymnon and Heraklion would capture those airfields. Although the Germans did manage to capture Maleme, it was a close-run thing. General Student was tried and convicted as a war criminal at the end of the war for his brutal reprisals against Cretan civilians during the German occupation of the island. He was incarcerated for five years, but was released in 1948 for medical reasons. General Bernard Freyberg  General Freyberg was a General of another era, in more ways than one. His scar-riddled body attested to his incredible personal bravery, and he was one to lead by example. He had deep concern for his troops and was excellent at the preparation and training of troops. At divisional level, he had an innate sense of tactics and strategy. Unfortunately, when he led at Corps level or did not have a higher command in charge, he performed poorly, as could be attested both in the Battle of Crete and as well at Monte Cassino. He turned an opportunity for the Allies to severely cripple or outright destroy the German Parachutist Corps into yet another forced evacuation, one in a string of Allied defeats that included evacuations in France, Norway, Greece and now Crete. General Freyberg was the end of a string of 7 different theater commanders that had been alloted to Crete. The island itself had calls from Churchill and Allied High Command to make it a "second scapa flow", centred around the protected bay of Suda. Little had been done to do so, and the island was unprepared for invasion. Even then, the island on the eve of the invasion had enough troops to defend it, and the Allies had extensive ULTRA intercepts that told them exactly when the Germans would strike, on the 17th of May (then delayed to the 20th of May due to weather). They knew that there would be a large airborne component to the invasion, but some misunderstandings in regards to which Mountain division was going to be sent to the invasion, and the fact that the ULTRA intercepts stated that there would be a naval component, led General Freyberg to believe that the invasion would largely be naval, and thus troop dispositions were prepared for a mainly naval invasion. Although German naval elements would be used during the invasion for resupply and some light reinforcements, both sides knew that it was not possible for the Germans to do a concerted amphibious invasion considering the Royal Navy ruled the seas. This was the first of many mistakes that General Freyberg would commit that would turn an almost certain victory into a defeat for the Allies. General Freyberg continued his career after the Battle, performing well in the battles of El Alamain, with the only questionable decision happening at Monte Cassino, where he held some responsibility for the shelling of the Monastery, allowing the Germans to occupy the ruins and costing the lives of many Allied soldiers in the ensuing struggle. Tekopo fucked around with this message at 23:42 on Jan 22, 2024 |
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Jan 21, 2024 13:54
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Historical Situation: Prelude The history of the invasion of Greece is, like many other histories of the war, one of misplaced diplomacy, hubris, bad planning and unexpected events that created an unavoidable turmoil within the region. The story must, by all accounts, start with the invasion of Greece by the Italians under Mussolini, probably one of the worst planned and run campaigns in the entire war. The invasion was started with no direct approval from Hitler (although, vice versa, there was no objection either, even when the Italians notified the Germans of their intentions), and was essentially a scale down of the proposed invasion of Yugoslavia, which Germany strongly objected to since they were in diplomatic overtures with King Paul over them joining the tripartite pact. The invasion started in October 1940. The Greek forces had ample forewarning of the attack and were prepared in fortified positions, even though they lacked any sort of tank or air power, or even an extensive use of transports, relying mostly on mules for their supply routes and forcing their troops to traipse around on foot. Purely on paper, the Greek should have been easily beaten, but they managed to beat back the Italians and advance within Italian-Occupied Albania. The Germans, once results on the ground were clear, decried the invasion, while the Allies played a careful game of helping the Greeks while attempting not to provoke the Germans into helping the invasion. Thus, originally, the only presence by the Allies were fighter squadrons, with a lack of strategic bombers in order not to threaten the oil fields around Ploesti and spark a German response. The Greeks, on their part, were happy with beating back the Italians at first, and asked the Allies initially to not bring just a token force into Greece: if they did, it might provoke the Germans, while not actually providing enough help to beat the Germans if they did invade. Eventually the Allies agreed to help keep a garrison in Crete, that would free up the Cretan Infantry Division present in the island to be shipped to Salonika and to the Albanian front. The battle stalled during the bitter winter, one of the coldest on record, where both Italian and Greek troops suffered more casualties from the cold than enemy bullets, but was renewed by the Italians in March during a new offensive, which yet again stalled early and had little effect on the front. The Greeks counter-attacked, and there was a concerted effort with the help of the RAF to knock Italy out of the battle by taking the port of Valona, especially since Bulgaria had joined the Axis in early March and thus was likely to renege on an earlier pact that had Turkey as the guarantor, since it was extremely unlikely that they would begin open conflict with Germany willingly. Although the offensive was successful, Valona was not captured. In April, events precipitated in an unexpected way: King Paul of Yugoslavia joined the Axis, but unrest and a Coup D'etat negated this diplomatic victory. Germany thus invaded Yugoslavia and Greece from the direction of Bulgaria, with the former quickly succumbing to pressure and posing little resistance to the trained and experienced German troops. The Greek Army was caught out of position on the Albanian front, and had little in terms of transport anyway to react to a quickly developing situation, and the British on their part had sent an Australian and New Zealand Divisions to help, troops taken from North Africa after the defeat of the Italians there, but they had no hope of actually having any impact on the battle, and soon were forced to withdraw. Thanks to ULTRA intercepts, they were relatively successful in their evacuation, but the campaign was yet another blunder for the Allies, helping German propaganda that stated that the British got other people to do their fighting for them. Many of the Greek forces that had fought so valiantly were also left to fend for themselves, denied access to the transports that would have gotten them to safety. The fate of the Cretan Division was also one that would have repercussions for British/Cretan relations later, especially once the war was over and the strife and anger within Greece boiled into a full-fledged Civil War. Some of the British and Dominion troops were shipped to Crete, many directly to Egypt. General Freyberg arrived in Crete thinking that he and his New Zealand Division would be shipped back and reunited in Egypt, but this was not the case, and his divided Division was partly made responsible, along with other CREFORCE units on the island, for its defence. Meanwhile, preparations for the invasion began, and the 7th Fallschirmjager division, which had elements already used in some minor actions near the Corinth isthmus, was transported down in its totality. The 5th Mountain Division, who had fought in the battle for Rupal Pass during the attack in Greece and mauled there by stiff Greek resistance, was pencilled in (although not initially, which lead to some British confusion, see post before) as the air-landing element. The stage was set for the invasion to begin (I have been contractually obligated to use this cliche at the end of this summary). Tekopo fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Jan 21, 2024 |
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Jan 21, 2024 18:10
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Let me know if people want me to continue with the historical analysis in the future, I have a few more planned but they are taking longer than expected since I want to add some real flavour to them.
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Jan 21, 2024 18:19
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By all means, yes. Reading the historical background is half the fun in wargaming.
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Jan 21, 2024 18:36
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As your previous Allied opponent, I wanna see them Falschrimjager drop right into the middle of dug in NZ troops...;
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Jan 21, 2024 19:11
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That’s basically unavoidable since I’m using historical drops. I will be fighting them as hard as possible though, even if it might hurt the longevity of the first LP attempt. The designer in the notes states that there’s a 20% chance that the Germans will fail: that’s one in five campaign games that stop after only 2 days of fighting. Which, hmmmm, isn’t great from the point of view of wanting a long, engaging campaign, but it’s necessary to give the battle the right flavour. A give and take, really. Edit: I’m pretty sure actually that if the landings fail, I will do a small rewind to the second day and have the air landing happen instead. Might remove a bit of the cohesion of the story but I think it might be necessary. Tekopo fucked around with this message at 19:21 on Jan 21, 2024 |
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Jan 21, 2024 19:18
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Tekopo posted:That’s basically unavoidable since I’m using historical drops. I will be fighting them as hard as possible though, even if it might hurt the longevity of the first LP attempt. The designer in the notes states that there’s a 20% chance that the Germans will fail: that’s one in five campaign games that stop after only 2 days of fighting. Which, hmmmm, isn’t great from the point of view of wanting a long, engaging campaign, but it’s necessary to give the battle the right flavour. A give and take, really. Yeah, I think there's a lot of scathing reviews of this on BGG saying that the Germans can't win - I think a lot of it is coloured by experiences playing Scenarios 1-4 because the Heraklion and Rethymnon scenarios are allied-favoured. I can see why having a campaign game be decided in the first day can seem dissapointing, especially if you're setting up fror a long con game, so i can see where they are coming from. Not sure what would fix this though - Free drops clearly break the system, and are taking advantage of the birds eye view and a lot of hindsight of Allied deployments the Germans historically would not have had (The Falschrimjager were dropping on top of the NZ 5th Brigade because they didn't know they were actually there), and there is 0 fog of war other than what chits your opponents bought and what's going on in your opponents' head; which is generally fine for the purposes of the game system, but wouldn't help with free drops. tomdidiot fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Jan 22, 2024 |
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Jan 21, 2024 21:21
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I think people need to just accept that historicity sometimes trumps game-ability for historical games. There are historical scenarios that just aren’t balanced and I would rather have the game exist and be disappointing at times rather than crowbar a fixed solution. I think the only solution is a boots-on-the-ground scenario and it honestly exists already. It’s funny that in relation to other games, I love design-for-effect though.
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Jan 21, 2024 21:30
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Or just accept a bit of trimming the main scenarios, like how EOTS let's you do some goofy ahistorical Japanese invasions in the 41 turn but you can just start from 42
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Jan 21, 2024 22:33
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Rules: The Basics GTS is, in essence, a very traditional system. You have hexes, you have counters, you have combat factors, you have movement factors, terrain effects and so on.  The defences around Kastelli (aka Kissamos) Some nice features of the game is that the central dot that you can see above is used in two ways: it both shows what the terrain within the hex is, as designated by its colour (not super colour-blind friendly, though its usually easy to guess the hex terrain, with the only exception being distinctions between villages and towns), and also allows for line of sight measurements with more accuracy. Each hex is approximately 500 meters of terrain, and each unit is roughly company-sized. The main engine of the game is a chit-pull system. Chit-pull systems are ones in which you put chits in a cup, and pull them out one by one, activating the represented unit in turn, which allows for fog of war effects without hiding information from the players since you are never sure who exactly is going to be able to act next. The last chit in the cup, however, is always pulled as the first chit in the next turn, which can have some quite frankly devastating consequences, which I will explain in a forthcoming strategy post.  An indispensable tool in your wargaming repertoire Activations chits come in many flavours: - Random Event, for both sides. When pulled, you pull another chit from a different cup, and do the random event as detailed within the rules. Random events are dependant on the game being played, so for Crete it is events like air strikes, Greek forces routing, tanks breaking down, resupplies, reinforcements, and many more. Most events tell you to put back the event chit in the draw cup, meaning that your tanks can break again and again! - Divisional Activation. - Formation Activation. - Direct Command. The latter three allow you to move units, fight and actually perform actions, but it is first important to talk about the two different currencies within the game: Command Points and Dispatch Points. These points are the grist for the machine of the game, and are the source of most of the decision-making for the game. Command Points are spent for a variety of things, including buying Dispatch Points, preventing your troops from retreating and getting extra activations out of your troops (with some more that I'm probably missing). Dispatch points are a bit simpler: they just allow you to place Formation Activation chits within the cup, either spending 1 DP to place the chit next turn, or 2 DP to place it for this turn: the only chits that are always placed in the cup are Divisional activations, Direct Command and Random Events for both sides, otherwise. With that out of the way, lets explain what each different type of activation allows you to do:  You really thought we were going to have a wargame LP without charts? Okay, that's a lot of things. Let's simplify. We can roughly divide the above chart into three different types of actions: General Actions (most actions), Combat Actions (three actions), and Engineering Actions (the four middle actions). Engineering Actions can mostly be performed by all units (with some exceptions for "Build ENT") can only be done if you pull a Divisional or Formation Activation chit, as a first action. General Actions can be performed on all chits, no matter what, as a first or second action. Combat Actions, which are "Move into enemy Fire Zone", "Fire Action" (with an exception) and "Assault Action", can only be performed by Direct Command, Formation Activation or the second action of a Divisional/Formation Activation. Okay, that's not easier at all, but we are getting there. To boil it down even further, Combat Actions require the expenditure of some sort of currency (either Command Points or Dispatch Points) in order to be performed. Formation Activations are only in the cup if you spend Dispatch Points. Direct Command only allows you to move a unit if you spend a Command Point to do it. Finally, second activations also require the expenditure of a Command Point to do. So, in very direct terms, spend points = shoot stuff. Direct Command chits allow you to move whichever unit you want within the game, at the cost of one Command Point, but they are not allowed to activate again as part of that pull. Divisional Activations allow you to move all units of a Division, which is usually colour coded (more on this later). The first activation does not cost Command Points, but if you want to do a second actions, it costs 1 Command Point. The second action cannot be the same as the first action. You are allowed to pass as an action as well (sometimes you just want to fight). Formation Activations are the real deal. They allow you a full activation of all colour-coded units that are In Command (more on this later), and you can do a second action for 1 Command Point, much like Divisional Activations. Lastly, and since this explanation has already gone long enough, a brief explainer on Fire Zones. Fire Zones are basically where your units can project fire: most units will only project fire in the hexes immediately in front of them, but some will have longer ranges. These Fire Zone prevent enemy movements as shown by the Activation system, and also enable you to perform Opportunity Fire if an enemy moves out of them. Not too bad! Tekopo fucked around with this message at 23:29 on Jan 21, 2024 |
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Jan 21, 2024 23:21
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StashAugustine posted:Or just accept a bit of trimming the main scenarios, like how EOTS let's you do some goofy ahistorical Japanese invasions in the 41 turn but you can just start from 42 Yeah, and it's also extremely unfun for the US player to sit around and watch the Japanese player essentially play 4 cards back to back.
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Jan 22, 2024 00:57
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Rules: Units Counters within GTS tend to be quite information dense, but they aren't too difficult to parse once you get used to them, and that (mostly) the information is grouped together in some sort of way. Apart from the numbers themselves, there are other important factors when considering a unit, which are the colour of the counter, which usually determines which Division it is part of, which is important for the purposes of Divisional Activations:  German and Allied units used in Crete. For the Germans, we have grey units, representing the 5th Gebirgs Division, and light blue units, representing the 7th Flieger Division. For the Allies, light tan is the 2nd New Zealand Division, while dark brown is CREFORCE, which in actuality is a rather motley assortment of units rather than a full-fledged division. Of importance is also the colour present within the unit designation at the bottom, as this affects Formation Activations, each colour usually representing a different regiment (for example, the 7th Flieger Division unit above is from the Luftlander Sturm Regiment, the largest regiment in the division and the one that was responsible for capturing Maleme airport. Again, not exactly colour-blind friendly. If the Formation Designation is white or black, those are termed as independant units. Not so importantly, the game uses different unit representation for the different sides, so the Allies use the standard NATO symbol, while the Germans use their own weird set of symbols.  I hope you like numbers. For tank units, which there are a few in this game, a small pictoral representation of the tank is used instead, to make it stand out amongst the infantry. Tanks, artillery or infantry are all represented in the same way, and all function, for the purposes of the game, in extremely similar way, although the implications of their stats means that they will be used in very different contexts. Let's explain some of the stats that are present on the units. For all stats (apart from one exception), higher is better. - Fire Rating: how good your unit is at firing their main weapons. Crucially, what is important is both the value of this, as well as the colour of the box it is within. The colour represents different types of weapons, from small arms, dual purpose guns, indirect HE artillery, mortars and many more. Thankfully, there aren't many exceptions in terms of rules, with the main difference being how effective they are against armoured and unarmoured targets. - Fire Range: how far in terms of hexes the unit can shoot with its fire rating. This also affects the fire zone of the unit (explained earlier). If this value is missing, the unit can only fire to an adjacent hex. - Assault Rating: how good the unit is at firing during an assault. Most units can fire twice in an assault, once with their Fire Rating and once with their Assault Rating. - Air Defence: Not used in Crete. - Defence Rating: How well your unit stands to enemy firepower. Lower ratings are better, and this value can go negative. Also important if the value is in a black box (armoured defence) or white box (unarmoured defence). - Steps: The health of the unit. Usually ranges from 2 steps to 0 steps. Zero step units are especially vulnerable to assaults. Units can lose steps and if they run out of steps, they are usually eliminated. - Troop Quality: How good your unit is terms of troop quality. Important for initiating assaults, rallying, preventing suppression and not surrendering to charges, amonst other rolls. - Movement Allowance: how far your unit can move, depending on terrain. White numbers represent foot movement, red represents tracked movement, and black is wheeled movement. Movement can also be "No", in which case the unit can't move unless it has other means of movement, or "*", which means it can only move one hex, and only if it passes a troop quality check. Most of the times when a unit takes a step loss, you flip it over to its 1-step side. Some units, however, have organic transports on their reverse side, and thus require use of step loss counters. The other common type of unit in the game are leaders:  Not a leader from this game, mind you. Leaders, along with having divisional/formation designation like units, have Command Range and Attachment Rating. The former tells you how far the Command Range of the leader is: this is important because a unit for his particular formation/division that is out of the leader's command range has some penalties associated with them, and will not be able to spend Command Points in most cases, so keeping your formations tightly around your leader is very important. The attachment rating tells you the limit of how many independant units can be attached to the leader and activated as part of a Formation Activation. White independant units do not cost an attachment point, but black independants do. As well as that, it is also a limit to how many Artillery Parks the leader is in radio contact with.
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Jan 22, 2024 10:03
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Rules: The Dice This will be the last aside I've planned before I start with the scenario in earnest, but should be quicker to explain than the rest. Unlike most wargames, GTS uses 10 sided dice (d10) for all its resolution mechanisms, and most dice rolls in this game are roll-under checks, so you have to roll equal to or less than target in order to be successful. The dice range is from 0 to 9, with 0 being an automatic success, and 9 being an automatic failure, each regardless of modifiers. Troop Quality checks are a basic roll under of the Troop Quality for the unit.  More charts! The combat results table is structured quite ingeniously. You only need to cross-reference the value you rolled with the type of weapon you fired, and if the enemy is armoured or unarmoured, and you have a result. The way the table is structured means that usually the best roll possible is the highest roll under your modified Fire Rating. So, if you have a Fire Rating of 5, rolling a 5 will be a better result than rolling a 1. The only exception to this is that rolling a 0 usually has a fairly good result as well. This means that a high Fire Rating is both more likely to hit, but can also have a bigger effect on the target. Pretty neatly done for a single dice roll. But what do those results mean? I will be explaining them in more detail later, but for now: - C is Cohesion hit: a representation of both taking some light casualties as well as command and control starting to break down for that unit. - S and S? are Suppression: Suppressed units are less effective and basically can't do anything apart from trying to get out of suppression. You can avoid being suppressed by doing a Troop Quality check, but if you pass it, you get a Cohesion hit instead. The question mark means that the unit is suppressed only if they fail a Troop Quality check. - 1 is a Step Loss: If your unit is a 1 or 0 step unit, this basically means they are Eliminated instead. - E is Eliminated: The unit is lost regardless of number of steps remaining. There's a lot of other stuff to cover for Combat and Assaults, but explanations will have to wait until we have done the first turn.
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Jan 22, 2024 10:28
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Calling a random ju-52 chit as my lucky chit and if there are none i will just pretend I got shot down immediately
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Jan 22, 2024 12:24
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I love hexes. Any game that involves hexes is already a step up over the competition.
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Jan 22, 2024 13:17
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Game Turn 0: Early Morning, 20th May 1941 The Allies, thanks to ULTRA, were fully forewarned of the imminent invasion of Crete, but failed to capitalise fully on this crucial intelligence advantage. Instead of strongly defending the airfields, troops were arrayed primarily to contest a seaborne invasion, meaning that only a few battalions were left to defend the crucial Maleme Airfield. Troop Dispositions (West to East) Kastelli Sector  A small force of Greeks from the 1st Infantry Regiment, along with police forces, defends Kastelli, commanded by Major Bedding. Not much combat is expected in this sector, as the only objective is the small port of Kastelli. East of this sector is the much more important Maleme airfield. Maleme and Canea Sector  Canea had been recently made the new seat of the Greek government after the evacuation of the mainland. Maleme and the road towards Canea are mostly defended by the 2nd NZ Division, with CREFORCE troops further west. Elements of the 5th NZ Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Hargest hold the airfield itself and the locations around the towns of Pirgos, Kontomari and Modion, with Maori Battalions in defensive positions to the East. The 2nd NZ Division has had time to prepare, and most of its position have had some defensive improvements, ready for the coming Germans.  Holding some high ground between Canea and Maleme, we have elements of the 10th NZ Brigade, led by Lt. Col. Kippenberger, which are mostly made up of rear-echelon units. Further south, the Greek 8th Infantry Brigade holds the high ground overlooking the road.   Directly west of Canea, the 4th NZ Brigade holds the approaches to the city, commanded by Brigadier Inglis, along with the Greek 6th Brigade. Further east, the Mobile Naval Base Defence Organisation (MNBDO), commanded by Major-General Weston, is in charge of both the defence of Canea and the port of Suda, to the East. It is a formation mostly consisting of elements from the Australian Brigade, Royal Marines and other assorted units. The Greek 2nd Infantry Brigade hold position directly south, on high ground.   Since the expectation was for a naval invasion, most Greek units are held away from the coast as a reserve. More MNBDO forces are arrayed east of Suda, especially parts of the Australian Brigades, which make the core of defences on the road to Georgeoupolis.  Georgeoupolis Sector Georgeoupolis itself is held by the 19th Infantry Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Vasey. The town itself is located to the east and south of Suda, as the coast takes a sharp turn south after Suda Bay ends. These troops are largely kept as a reserve to help either the forces in Rethymnon or the ones around Suda/Canea, depending on how successful the Germans would be.  NB: Rethymnon and Heraklion sectors only become available at 1500 and 1700 hours (respectively). Fighting had already begun in Maleme at that time, so these are the positions for those times, with greater emphasis on protecting the airfields from likely earlier dispositions. Rethymnon Sector Further east, we have Rethymnon and its airfield, protected by elements of the 19th Infantry Brigade under Lt. Col. Campbell. Greek police and gendarmerie holds the city itself, and Greek 4th Infantry Brigade is present as well, nearer to the airfield.  Heraklion Sector Finally, the 14th Infantry Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Chapel, protects the airfield near Heraklion, the largest city in Crete, and Nea-Alikarnassos, along with the Greek 3rd Infantry Brigade that holds the city itself. Heraklion is quite a way east compared to the other sectors, and transfer of troops from there would take time, although the Allies have some light inter-port shipping available.  Every soldier on the island awaits for the coming storm. Tekopo fucked around with this message at 16:04 on Jan 22, 2024 |
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Jan 22, 2024 13:17
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Resources: Map
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Jan 22, 2024 13:25
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Jobbo_Fett posted:Calling a random ju-52 chit as my lucky chit and if there are none i will just pretend I got shot down immediately
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Jan 22, 2024 13:30
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Well that was a quick death!
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Jan 22, 2024 13:56
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Rules: Fortifications Although some terrain features do provide a defensive bonus, it is also possible for any hex to be improved defensively.  Even structures have a side in this game. These come in two flavours: Improved Positions (IP) and Entrechments (ENT). Improved positions can be built by any Infantry unit (through a Troop Quality check) or any Engineer (no check required), with the latter being able to not only build the position for themselves, but also non-infantry units as well. The benefit of an IP is that they give a bonus to the Troop Quality and Defense Values for the unit, as shown on the counter. IPs, however, are lost if the unit moves at any point, so they are very much temporary. Entrechments, on the other hand, can only be built by Engineering units (after passing a Troop Quality check), and they have to improve an existing IP. Along with an improved bonus to Troop Quality and Defense, they also increase Fire Power/Assault Power, and they make the unit within them be considered to be Armoured. They are also permanent, and can be moved in/out of them without being removed from the map. Both IP/ENTs can only be used by the side that built them. Also for this Battle, neither side has the use of many engineer units.
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Jan 22, 2024 15:02
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this is a cool thread, thanks for walking us through the rules given that a hex is 500 meters, how long does one turn represent, temporally?
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Jan 22, 2024 15:08
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Each turn is set to 2 hours, and most leg units will have 4 movement allowance. Most hex have a 2 MA cost, but units can enter column formation, in which case most hex cost 1 MA, and following roads costs 1/2 MA. This would suggest a movement speed of 0.5/1/2 km/h depending on column/road, but it is possible to go faster than that. Units can be activated up to three times per turn in most cases (Divisional Activation/Formation Activation/Direct Command), although this is usually expensive in terms of Command Points.
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Jan 22, 2024 15:18
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Minor correction but you listed Colonel Campbell twice as commander of the 19th Australian Bde. Campbell is there to command the 19th Bde detachment around Rethimno - Brig. Vasey is in overall command and in the Georgeopoulis sector. Also worth mentioning that a lot of the Allied "infantry" are rear area troops/gunless artillerymen etc (10th NZ Bde is essentially a motley collection of these troops). The regular "infantry" units are the ones with purple fire values. The split Aussie 19th bde also illustrates an important aspect of command in GTS - typically, most units only have one leader, which limits its ability to split itself up, but the Germans have Kampfgruppe leaders and some American units have Task Force Leaders that let them have very widely disperesed troops. tomdidiot fucked around with this message at 16:11 on Jan 22, 2024 |
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Jan 22, 2024 16:01
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Made some corrections, thanks! Also worth mentioning that there are some units I didn't mention, like the Welch Brigade, Rangers, some Hussars and the 7th Royal Tank Regiment, but these weren't very big formations, and a lot of heavy equipment had been lost in Greece. Tekopo fucked around with this message at 16:11 on Jan 22, 2024 |
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Jan 22, 2024 16:04
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tomdidiot posted:Yeah, and it's also extremely unfun for the US player to sit around and watch the Japanese player essentially play 4 cards back to back. It's 2, but yeah, IAI #1 in empire of the sun is a solo exercise and it only really matters if you want to crank your risk profile to go crazy or just safely eliminate all allied air units in the DEI/malaya/philippines.
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Jan 22, 2024 16:59
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Game Turn 1: 0700, 20th of May (Part 1) The first sign of any action is the arrival of the Luftwaffe, who begins attacking the Anti-Air emplacements in and around Maleme Airfield. The intention is to damage or suppress the emplacements, so that the airborne and gliderborne troops will have an easier time coming in.  The air strikes are relatively effective. The larger AA emplacement on the west of the airfield has some light casualties, while the smaller emplacement on the east side is left relatively unscathed. The small heavy AA emplacement on Hill 107, south of the Airfield, is left completely devasted, however: the first casualty of the day, and a good blow for the Germans.  The Luftlander Sturm Regiment gliderborne troops are first to the scene, but the AA guns are still active, and 3rd Company, 1st Battalion is shot out of the sky, with no survivors as their gliders crash into the ground (Hex 07.04). Other elements of the 1st Battalion, most notably a mortar company, manage to touch down south of the airfield with little issue, now that the heavy AA on the hill has been silenced. 2nd Battalion manages to touch down near the town of Ropaniana with no issue, along with the Divisional guns that are parachuted slightly east of them. The real issue is with the landings of the 3rd Battalion, which drop right in the middle of the 2nd New Zealand division. 9th Company takes heavy casualties from the AA on the east of the airfield, while 11th Company drops just west of Kontomari, and right in the midst of the 21st Battalion, which captures the stranded Germans easily (Hex 12.08). 12th and 10th Company are unscathed, but they are dangerously out of position and in the middle of an enemy formation.  The 3rd Fallschirmjager Regiment also has mixed fortunes. The large part of their landings go well, mostly concentrating around the Aghya prison, but yet again, some of the drops are in the middle of Commonwealth troops. The 9th Company, 3rd Battalion, lands in the midst of British and Greek troops, and are shot down or captured, whilst the 10th Company, 3rd Battalion lands nearer to the coast, and takes heavy casualties on the way down. The pioneer companies near Ajia also touch down without issues, but the gliderborne troops of Detachment Gentz, landing south of Canea, take heavy casualties on the way down, the AA battery just south of them providing accurate fire. Detachment Altmann, also using gliders, attempts a landing on the Akrotiri peninsula, but the multiple heavy AA emplacements make short work of the gliders: no one survives.  Considering the situation, the 7th and 5th Company of the LLSR are formed into column formation, and rushed towards the airfield.  The germans have lost 13 steps from just attempting to land. That's almost two whole battalions. Tekopo fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Jan 22, 2024 |
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Jan 22, 2024 17:41
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Addendum: A parachute landing by Detachment Muerbe was also made on the Kastelli Sector. 
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Jan 22, 2024 18:10
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Panzeh posted:It's 2, but yeah, IAI #1 in empire of the sun is a solo exercise and it only really matters if you want to crank your risk profile to go crazy or just safely eliminate all allied air units in the DEI/malaya/philippines. Under normal circumstances, the Japanese can activate up to about 7 units/card, and since they get to activate 26 units with IAI#1, + those 4 units in Operation Z.. it's effectively 4 cards. (I think their limit is 11 units with Operation MI, 9 with Ugaki on ComFleet or Kondo on South Seas, but those are very special cases. quote:
tomdidiot fucked around with this message at 20:09 on Jan 22, 2024 |
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Jan 22, 2024 18:49
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Rules: Air Drop/Gliders The start of the game has an automatic draw of the Divisional Activation chit for the 7th Flieger Division, since drawing the chit is the only way to receive reinforcements. The scenario I am using has predetermined, historical drop spots, so I had no choice on the landing location, but there are no mechanisms for drift either. Parachutists get an immediate Delay counter when they drop (gliders do not), but there can be other consequences:  The modifiers can be deadly, especially if you have AA fire zones near you, which give a +2 modifier to the roll by themselves. Many of the parachutists had modifiers of +1 or +2 at most, but some of the ones that dropped in the middle of the Commonwealth and Greek troops went up to +5 and +6, which in combination with high rolls, is quite deadly. Para/Glider markers are what I termed as Delay markers above. The only way to get rid of them is to spend an action. So why didn't my units have them? Well, since I had a Divisional Activation, I spent my first action just removing the Delay markers from most if not all of my troops. I don't have many Command Points for the Germans at the moment, so I decided to spend only 2 to move up my west-most paratroopers in column formation (and being able to enter the AA Fire Zone since it's a second activation. A risky play, but I know that I need to pressure the Allies, and do it quickly.
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Jan 22, 2024 19:09
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Game Turn 1: 0700, 20th of May (Part 2) Near the town of Ropaniana, shots ring out, as locals fire on the german paratroopers of the 6th Company, 2nd Battalion LLSR, but the sporadic fire has little effect on the Germans. Reports of German parachutists start flooding into the HQ of the 2nd NZ Division, and Brigadier Puttick is hard-pressed to make heads or tail of them, slowing down the Allied response considerably. In the Kastelli sector, Detachment Meurbe attempts to attack the nearby Greek infantry, but confusion due to the recent landing prevents them from attacking, and the assault is called off. Detachment Gentz, however, is much more prepared, and they attempt to storm the AA positions south of them. A firefight ensues, in which both sides take light casualties, followed by a charge by the detachment, which forces the AA crews to surrender. Det. Gentz quickly sets to sabotaging the AA guns.  The LLSR gears up for an attack: the first to make a move are the artillery pieces, targeting the AA guns at both ends of the airfield. The western most AA is left unscathed, and the fire is ineffective. On the eastern edge, the guns come under heavy fire but remain relatively unscathed. Mortars soon join the thump of the artillery, and the fire is now deadly accurate, and the western AA crews are forced to flee for their life, with the guns bent and broken. With the coast clear of enemy fire, the German infantry leaves column, and approaches both the airfield and Hill 107 in earnest. On the other side of the airfield, the stranded Fallschirmjager charge the last remaining AA battery, taking it out easily as the crew surrender. The remaining two stranded parachute companies randezvous on the coast, dodging bullets from the Commonwealth troops as they attempt to disengage. Lastly, mortars and dual purpose guns shell Company D of the 22nd Battalion, but the Commonwealth troops hold fast.  Some confusion on the part of the 3rd Fallschirmjager Regiment means that their planned attack is held for now, and the troops await until 0900 before launching any sort of aggressive movement towards the enemies. Tekopo fucked around with this message at 20:55 on Jan 22, 2024 |
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Jan 22, 2024 20:48
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Digging this so far!
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Jan 22, 2024 20:48
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Alright, that was a lot for today! We got through the first 2 hours of combat. Schedule for this will be a turn every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so look forward to it!
Tekopo fucked around with this message at 20:53 on Jan 22, 2024 |
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Jan 22, 2024 20:51
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Current losses for both sides: You might have spotted in the last update that mortars and artillery are incredibly deadly. They basically rule the roost when it comes to firepower, and they lay do barrages as well as enabling to suppress your opponents. I had a couple of S? results which I elected to spend Command Points to avoid, but the number of CPs for the 2nd NZ Division is already quite low, and I even had a nasty event that got that number even lower. For how badly mauled the Germans got on landing, the Allies did not have a good turn: the only chance they have to even move is Direct Command, but that costs even more CPs, which they frankly don't have. So no movement at all for the Allies this turn.
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Jan 22, 2024 20:59
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Great writeup so far - looking forwards to seeing the action play out on Retimno and Iraklion as well, as we didn't play those scenarios.
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Jan 22, 2024 23:40
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Game Turn 2: 0900, 20th May With the hours passing, General Freyberg finally springs into action, having realised that the situation is critical and that his 'wait and see' approach to the battle is not going to cut it. Although CREFORCE itself is held back in case of other landings closer to Canea, the 2nd NZ Division is finally allowed to move from their pre-fixed position. First, however, Brigadier Hargest gets in contact with the two artillery parks near the positions of the 5th NZ Brigade, and manages to make good radio contact.  In contact markers! Similarly, Brigadier Inglis of the 4th NZ Bde attempts to contact both of his artillery assets, but connection can only be gained with one of them.  There is some re-organisation on the German side as well, as the Pioneer that have landed west of the 3rd FSJ Reg are organised as a Kampfgruppe, to give them more flexibility of objectives.  Having waited long enough, it is time for the 3rd FSJ Reg to spring into action. The parachutists that suffered missing soldiers south of the Prison, and the gun crews that had been dispersed by the drop manage to gather their equipment, but move no further. The stranded gun crews and parachute infantry still in the middle of the Allied formations also attempt to gather their equipment, while still under fire. The mortar unit that landed east of the prison fire on the 5th NZ Field Regiment up on the hill: the soldiers hunker down for cover as the mortar rounds sail overhead.  Having succeeded in their fire mission, the rest of the 3FJR advance directly North, while the company furthest east makes contact with the Greek units. The Greek 8th Infantry to the South, already out of position, is ignored completely, with only a single company to keep an eye on them: enough, by the German's estimation.  7th Company, seeing that the Allied troops are under heavy bombardment and their heads are down, opts for a daring attack up the hill, attempting to take the 5th NZ Field Regiment by storm. However, even for the trained German troops, the prospect of scaling the hill is a bit too much, and the attack falters before it even gets going.  The Pioneers, meanwhile, move up and the 3rd Company makes contact with the Cavalry Detachment, while the rest of the pioneers advance up the road, also ignoring the Greeks in order to reach their objective.  Rapt with indecision, the Germans take advantage, even with some command confusion as the situation on the ground is especially difficult due to the multitude of leaders lost on the drop. The FFSR moves up, with the 10th Company making contact with the lone Mortar company near Pirgos, and other units moving out of column formation, ready to engage soon. The 13th Company mortar unit targets the New Zealanders left on the airstrip, but not wishing the dent the runway, the mortars are off target and have little effect.  If you are wondering why I'm putting the IP on top, it is because otherwise the calculator doesn't take it into account. FJR3 and the pioneer keep moving, with the guns mounting on their transports as the enemies are nowhere close. The two stranded companies do not move, as they are pinned by the Allied troops.  Another attempt is made to make contact with the 5th NZ Field Regiment, and this time the officers of the 7th Company managed to make the parachutists go forward. A brief firefight ensues as the Germans approach, but fire from the New Zealanders is small and sporadic and has little effect, while German fire manages to pick off a few of Commonwealth troops. The Germans finally charge and the New Zealanders, with no chance to run away, are forced to surrender, and quickly brought south under armed guard. The Fallschirmjager have taken the hill with little to no casualties.  This was expensive for the Germans (not in casulties, but other resources. Time will tell if the expense was worth it. Lt Col Kippenberger, seeing the Germans storm the heights, attempts to rally his men, and his inspired speech does enough to convince his ragtag group of men, all Divisional supply troops hastily armed, to stand up to the Germans and attempt to retake the heights, but unsure about German being to his North still prevents the Allies from doing much but hunker in their positions, for now.  I'd have preferred to actually be able to move my units Fortunately, orders finally arrive from Freyberg, and just in the nick of time. The 2nd NZ Division finally will leave their protected positions and bring the fight to the Germans. Light mortars start to fill the sky with lead, aimed at the German 10th Company and the gun crews further south: the gun crews end up suppressed, and the Allies take this opportunity, leaving their positions and rushing down to take the guns. With their losses, the Germans can't really respond, and even when the Allies get close, the German fire, for what it is, is ineffective. The returning fire, however, devastates the Germans, and the brief firefight continues. With mounting losses, the remaining Germans finally surrender, and A Company clears any remaining resistance.  The Light Tank Mk VI from the Hussars sally forth and cut the road, preventing any escape by the stranded 10th Company. The Greeks move up, along with the bulk of the 4th NZ Brigade.  The Greek 8th Infantry, meanwhile, starts a pursuits of the retreating Pioneers and 3FJR troops, driving a wedge between them.  A lone artillery strike attempts to disorganise the Germans that took the hill, but the fire is ineffective to say the least: the prospect of facing the Germans does not appeal to the Divisional Supply company, no matter what the Colonel says. The RMT company to the north, however, does move up to help the 4th NZ Field Regiment.  Nearer to Maleme, the 5th NZ Brigade starts moving out of their emplaced positions: it is clear by now what the objective of the Germans is, and the parachutists near Pirgos need to be dealt with now that they are threatening the nearby mortars. The engineers further east attempt to start to create entrenchments, which could potentially be useful later if it comes to it.  Nearer to the airfield, two Matildas make their way to the eastern end of Maleme Airfield, their target: clearing the 9th LLSR Company before it can attack and take the entirety of the objective. Too far away to fire effectively, the 9th Company does take some incoming from the Light Mortars of C company on the airfield, taking some losses. D Company, still out of positions, drops some Light Mortar fire on the German 7th Company, but this time it is ineffective.  The LLSR seems to threaten an attack: is the fate of the 22nd Battalion now sealed? Tekopo fucked around with this message at 21:59 on Jan 23, 2024 |
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Jan 23, 2024 21:20
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Some answers to question that might pop up: - I only got a Divisional Activation with the Allies (it is impossible to get a Formation Activation turn 2 with them). I am trying to be parsimoneous with my Command Points, hence why there wasn't much combat. On the other hand, if you remember the Basics post, you might have noticed that there is a small exception there for firing: Purple values (light mortars) can fire during Divisional Activation! Allies get to fire for free, albeit less effectively. This is an attempt to show how different the doctrinal makeup of Allies and German troops were. - The Germans are also struggling with Command Points. That's command and control for you. - There are some forthcoming further Rules Explanations! Status markers! How Assaults work!
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Jan 23, 2024 21:25
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Rules: Status Effects There's quite a few in this game, as you might have realised. Let's touch on some of the more important ones.  Cohesion hits are the smallest kind of damage unit that a unit can receive. They decrease the Fire rating with 1 cohesion hit, and decrease also the Assault and Troop Quaility with two cohension hits. Once you are at two, any further Cohesion hits are transferred into step losses, modelling your unit being in dissaray. The only way to get rid of Cohesion Hits is rallying, but you can't get rid of them if you are in the Fire Zone of an opponent.  Next is Suppression. Suppression does a bunch of stuff: along with 0ing your Fire Rating and decreasing your Assault Rating, it also decreases Troop Quality and prevents your unit from being able to move. Or retreat. Since your fire rating is now "No", you can't opportunity fire, or be as effective in defending yourself in an assault. Being suppressed is bad, but you can remove the Suppression by rallying your troops, and (if they are in Command of a Leader), this is usually free, even in enemy Fire Zone. Still, getting suppressed can be a death sentence.  Next, Light and Heavy Barrage. Light barrage is placed when you fire at an opponent with artillery of strength 5 or lower, and you don't score a hit. The barrage marker stays until the end of the turn, and makes anyone (on both sides) have worse Fire Ratings, Assault Ratings and TQs, as well as spend 2 MP to move out of the hex. Also, anything under a barrage counter does not exert a Fire Zone (neither does suppression, mind you). Heavy Barrage is the same, but if the firepower is 6 or above, a decreases ratings even more, but also forces a Troop Quality Check to get out of the hex: if you fail, you stay.  Step loss markers largely are not used in Crete, and you might have noticed them only on Gun Companies that don't have a 1 step unit on it's flipped side. Does what it says on the tin: Fire Rating, Assault Rating an TQ decreases. Also makes you more likely to die.  Finally, Column, which you have to opt into. Makes you move faster, but your Fire/Assault takes a hit, along with your defence rating.
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Jan 23, 2024 21:55
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Watching with interest! My father-in-law was born in a cave in the hills overlooking his village a few days after the Germans occupied the interior (in pursuit of the British retreating to the southern coast at Sfakia), and the village's tactical position with sightlines over the coastal plain south of Souda meant that a decently large force as garrisoned within it. Last summer we were clearing out the basement of the old family home and found a treasure trove of old German war memorabilia: knives, letters, and portraits of the old Kaiser and Kaiserin in a frame made of glued together 7.92 caliber casings
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Jan 23, 2024 22:31
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