HASL A2 "The Commissar's House" by Eric Henyey

Stephane Graciet and I just finished up playing the HASL version of "The Commissar's House."  This is a medium-large scenario on the RB map, pitting German pioneers against a strong Russian defense.  The Germans have to clear two strongpoints:  the Commissar's House (fortified) and the Chemist's Shop.  All the Russian has to do to win is have at least an good order (?) squad-equivalent in one of the buildings at game end.  However, the Russians will have a difficult day given the German leadership, flamethrowers, satchel charges, and massive firepower.  Although the German pioneers are no match for Finnish Sissi ;-) they're still 8-3-8s with Assault Fire!

Given that ROAR shows twice as many German wins as Russian wins, we decided to give the Russians the Balance:  all Russians in the Commissar's House are fanatic.  This is a strong Balance and makes the scenario nearly balanced in my opinion.  Rooting 9 morale units out of +4 TEM is not easy.

As the attacking Germans I decided I would have to focus my strength on one building first, then roll up the Russian defenses to the other building.  Given the high TEM, I probably wouldn't make headway if I attacked both buildings simultaneously.  Since the Commissar's House can be approached under better cover, I decided that this would be my initial target.  All of the 8-3-8s set up as close as possible to it.  A kill stack (9-2, 3 x 4-6-7, HMG, MMG) set up in the upper level of a stone building at the south edge of the map; from their hex they could see all four hexes of the Commissar's House (for 24 +2 or 18 +2 shots, depending on range), but would be out of normal range from any Russian infantry there.  The other 4-6-7s set up between the two buildings; their job was to occupy the middle of the map and interdict any Russians trying to reinforce the Commissar's House defense.  My timetable was to clear the Commissar's House by the end of turn 5, then shift to the north (1-2 turns) and clear the Chemist's Shop (2-3 turns).  I would try to move quickly and not let myself worry about the HIP units.  I considered kindling the Commissar's House in order to prevent it from being recaptured, but after calculating the odds, I realized that was not a good tactic.

Stephane's defense was fairly balanced, with some units in the Chemist's Shop, a larger number in the Commissar's House, and a few in the middle.  Just about all of his units were concealed, and of course a potential three squads were HIP.  The heavy weapons seemed to be exclusively in the two objective buildings (although two of his HIP units elsewhere turned out to have a MG each.)

My assault proceeded more or less according to plan.  Although the kill stack failed to live up to its name, partly because it got ROF only three times all game, it was effective at stripping concealment and keeping broken units under DM.  My pioneers quickly cleared the building and rubble to the south of the Commissar's House, then used those areas as a base from which to launch the assault.  Despite some nasty surprises (including a HIP unit and the Russian HMG), I managed to eliminate the defenders from the ground floor stairwell location at the back of the building.  Once that was done, my squads could get into the building.  Now I too got the benefit of +4 TEM and in short order was able to eliminate most of the defenders; their fanaticism couldn't stand up to my massive FP.  Several Russian squads were eliminated for failure to rout.  The last defenders retreated into the southwest cellar location.  I sent one and a half pioneer squads down the stairs adjacent, quickly dispatched this unit, and ran back upstairs.  Fatal mistake!

During this initial assault I hadn't lost too many units to Russian fire (many units broke but soon rallied), but I did suffer somewhat from booby traps and quite a bit from the Russian "6" SAN.  Probably half of my leaders (fortunately not the 10-2 and 9-2) were KIA or wounded by the obnoxious sniper.

I was slightly behind schedule and had to shift rapidly to the north.  By taking a few risks I was able to surround and eliminate the few Russian squads in the central rubbled area without losing any time.  From there I made my way to the Chemist's Shop, although I did take the precaution of moving two and half squads back to the Commissar's House, just in case Stephane had his last HIP unit in the nearby debris.  By turn 8 I managed to put a 24 to 36 FP shot into each location of the building and thereby ensure that it was clear of Russians.

When Stephane didn't concede at that point, I knew something was wrong.  Sure, he had one last HIP unit, but I had run through every location of both victory buildings...hadn't I?  I realized too late that I had only checked two of the cellar locations in the Commissar's House.  Sure enough, his last HIP unit was in one of the other two!  The units rampaging through the Chemist's Shop were too far away to do anything in time; the game was down to the garrison in the Commissar's House.  They all ran downstairs, but the fanatic 6-2-8 shrugged off their 16 +4 shots.  If I had only given one of those units a flamethrower or DC I could have eliminated the Russian or at least breached the hexside and gone into CC.  Unfortunately I had failed to do so, and this last Russian squad carried the day.  By negelecting to check every building location, I had managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  That is a mistake I will not make again!

This is an enjoyable scenario although I think the Russians must be given the Balance for it to be close.  The Russian player has to pass several personal MCs, but if he keeps the VC in mind, he can pull out victory even if he only has a single squad left.  Stephane played a good game and deserves his victory.  I only wish I could go back in time and correct my careless play in the cellar!

- Eric