The Road to Gora A91
By Dan Owsen
Played July 3rd, 1999 at Gary's Games against Eric.
At first glance, Road to Gora looks like another good, old-fashioned, frozen Russian ass kicking by the Finns. And second and third glance too, especially after checking ROAR and finding the record to be 15-6 in favor of the Finns. However, since new Puget Sound ASL member Eric doesn't yet have any experience with vehicles, let along my own favorite theatre, the PTO, I decide to venture into his favorite frozen wonderland and play this one as the Russians, without the balance even. I'm hoping that Eric's claimed lack of experience will enable me to guide my poor, hungry, and cold Russian men to victory against the fascist-backed Finnish invaders. NOTE: I really only kept notes of the great Russian triumphs. Also, any snide comments against the Finns should be taken with a grain of salt, after all, they probably would have ended up winning.
Pre-Game Thoughts:
Russian Advantages: Concentrated numbers, automatic weapons, concealment.
Russian Disadvantages: Low squad firepower, time, apparently easy Finnish victory conditions.
Finnish Advantages: Mobility of ski squads, high firepower, high morale
Finnish Disadvantages: Dispersed forces, lack of mobility for key squads
In this 7.5 turn scenario, the Finns must get >= 3 victory points from a A 9-0 led force of six 648s, with MMG, LMG and MTR across half of board 34 in deep snow. The Russians own the big forest mass in the center of this board (between rows 34w and gg). Deep snow makes the going tough for these guys since they don't have skis. On the other hand, a nice force of seven and a half 838s with 3 LMGs and 2DCs, led by a 9-1 no less, is attacking the Russians from the other side of the forest. To make things even more grim for the Reds, a spoiling force of a single SISSI squad w/LMG, DC and 8-0 enters from the north or south of the board. This bad boy can declare HTH like a Japanese squad.
Being inside of Mother Russia, the Soviets do not have it as bad as they sometimes do against the Finns. They have six 458s, ten 447s and three leaders (a 9-1 and two 7-0s) Plus, they get two HMGs and four LMGs plus 16 concealment counters, and two foxholes (which the HMGs must set up IN). Luckily, they start in complete control of a forest strongpoint with a plowed road going through it. The plowed road is key, because it allows the Russians to quickly move squads from one side of the forest mass to the other to react to threats.
Looking at the situation, there seemed to be two ways to set up. You could use the dummies to fill one of your lines of defense and hope that the Finns guess wrong and attack your strong flank. Or, you could use your dummies to beef up the appearance of both sides of your defense, and use the mobility of the road to send squads where they were needed most. I chose the latter approach. Unfortunately, since the Russians set up first, and the Finns set up second and move first, the get the advantage of seeing in general where you are and setting up appropriately. I think you kind of have to set up fairly spread out, on both sides of the forest and on a broad front on both sides. This makes the Russians vulnerable to a concentrated break-through attack, which is what I was most worried about. Fortunately for me, Eric spread his guys out, which worked to my advantage initially.
My set up ended up being:
All on Board 34:
W6 458 w/lmg
W7 458 w/hmg, 9-1 IN foxhole (This guys covers the bridge in V5. In retrospect, V7 might have been better, since from there he can cover the surrounding gully hexes. However, W7 does allow quicker redeployment through the woods to the road.)
X6 ?458 w/lmg
X8 447
Y3 447
Y6 ?447, 7-0
Y10 447
BB9 ?447
CC2 ?447
CC4 ?+1, 7-0
DD2 458 w/hmg IN Foxhole
DD4 447
DD8 ?+1
EE5 ?+1
EE7 447
FF5 ?447
FF7 ?+1
FF8 ?458 w/lmg
GG4 ?447
GG7 ?458 w/lmg
Eric spread the 838s of the Ski Detachment out on board 36, with the majority in the forest around 36ee8. Likewise the entering 648s on the west side of board 34 enter fairly spread out, though a good portion of them set up to go center to make an attempt on the road.
Turn 1A
The Russian dice are hot. Two Ski Detachment HSs are killed outright, one carrying a DC (which the Russians later recover!) and the other a lmg. The Finnish kill stack in the 36ee8 forest shoots at some stuff but doesn't do much. Someone strips the concealment of the 34gg4 447-- I make a mental note to get that guy out of there, since he's accomplished his task of slightly delaying the Finnish juggernaut. A few of the 838's advance slowly forward, unconcealed. The entering 648s boogie through the forest and make it to the edge overlooking the frozen river in 34w1-w10. In deep snow, this is a formidable obstacle. It takes 5MF to exit this gully, and the Russians are looking out over it with automatic weapons….
Turn 1B
It starts snowing. This never becomes a factor, and in fact it starts and stops snowing a couple times during the battle. Key events from the Russian standpoint: the 7-0 in CC4 is hit by a sniper and is wounded. Since that is probably where I would have put the 8-1 if I had taken the balance, I decided that the balance provision in this scenario was kind of lame. It would have been much more helpful to either give the Russians another squad, or to let them have skis from the beginning. In other action, my squad in GG4 is broken when he is exposed to a 22 FP shot from the Finnish kill stack. I forgot to move him; he could have been useful later in the game….
Turn 2A
Stops snowing. The Finns on the west side start working over the tree line with their Lt. Mortar. They end up pinning the Y5 458 w/lmg after expending a lot of ammunition and shredding some trees. A sniper pins my DD2 458 w/hmg. This could have been bad but there were still enough other Russian squads nearby to keep the northern flank firm. I have to say that early in the game Eric used the 838s fairly tentatively. However, I think there is a fine balance here-- if he was too aggressive, more of them could have been broken. His recon by fire was somewhat successful, when he broke my 458 w/lmg in FF8. Fortunately I had some reserves in the forest to move up and take his position. Eric entered the SISSI squad on the north side of the board (Y0) and retained concealment. In my defensive fire, the hot Russian dice continued. I got snakes (my second so far when it counted) and destroyed the Finnish mortar squad in U4, and broke the other squads that were stacked with it. Stacking those guys was probably an error on Eric's part.
Turn 2B
The Russians get another break-- during self-rally my 458 w/lmg rolls snakes and creates a 7-0 leader. This makes up for the 7-0 that already got wounded. I move some of my concealed reserves out of the woods into the front line on the east, and move the unconcealed guys back into the woods to get concealment. The Finnish sniper strikes again and hits my sniper, pinning him for the turn and reducing my SAN to 3. So far, the Russians seem to be holding up very well.
Turn 3A
I had a feeling that was going to be the turn where the reindeer poop could really hit the fan, but the Russians held on and got some more breaks. In prep fire, the Finns break their MMG. Another DC carrying HS dies around GG8, trying to deliver his care package to the Russians. The Finns are now creeping forward on all fronts, and the 648s are making contact with my western forces. The SISSI is working his evil ways behind enemy lines, killing a 447 in HTH CC. In the south, a 648 is tied up in melee in x9, though he reduces a 447 to a 247.
Turn 3B
Up until this point the Finns had not been rolling very well, but what comes around does go around. The main casualty is my 458 w/lmg in w6, who falls to Finn snakes. I reinforce the melee in x9, but am not able to kill the 648.
Turn 4A
Now the Finns are starting to be more aggressive, and my southern flank is feeling the heat. A 458 w/lmg in ee8 breaks and fails ELR. Up north, the 838s are coming on strong. I foolishly take a sustained fire shot at one of the squads and destroy the HMG in dd2. That MG did good work though, and had managed to blunt the attack in the north to a great extent. The SISSI squad delivers its DC on a 458 w/lmg in z3 and only manages a 2MC, which pins the squad. That could have been much worse. Close Combat was not good to the Russians this turn, but it did result in some melees which delayed the Finns. In aa9, I'm ambushed and casualty reduced. In x9, my reinforcing squad is killed but the surviving HS is still holding a648 in melee. This delaying action was key to preventing a breakthrough in the south. In the north though, Russians are ambushed in z2 and HTH is declared. However, the result there is also a melee.
Turn 4B
It's snowing again. Whoopee! With the colder weather, the Finns luck picks up. He gets another snake eyes and breaks the 458 in dd2. With him go any chance of repairing the hmg, and the northern flank starts to look bleak. I start moving my forces east, including the HMG squad and leader from w7. Double time, on the road, and they will be able to make it to the other side of the forest in a couple turns. Close Combat again goes as well as it could for the Russian without any victories. The x9 melee ends but the others continue.
Turn 5A
We're running out of time because Gary's closes at 5:00. It's not looking good for the Russians, but I want to try to get as close to done as I can. In the north, the two Finnish forces link up. It does appear that a few of the 648s might get through, however, they still have 5 or 6 hexes to go to the victory line (at least I keep telling myself that!). Unfortunately, Close Combat is ugly-- all end with Russian defeats.
Turn 5B
It's desperation time. One of my squads had picked up a Finnish DC and tried to deliver it to one of the 648s. He never made it. I start massing forces in the treeline from cc4 to ee5. The squad w/hmg and their 9-1 leader will be in position in ee5 next turn to help interdict the Finn forces who try to escape east. The massed squads in the trees will human wave to cut off escapees.
Turn 6A
We have to call it quits. It does look bleak for the Russians. There are still plenty of 838s available to try to mop up the 4-5 squads I have left around cc4. I believe there were also about three 648s in the north (one wearing the SISSI squad's skis-- a good move by Eric!), along with their leader. If the 838s were able to pin down or break some of my guys it would have been difficult to stop a squad and leader from making the dash to the victory line-- but it would have been fun to try to stop them!
In retrospect, I think this is, as it appears to be, a difficult scenario for the Russians. The Finns have a lot of time and very heavy firepower that is more suited for the close confines of forest fighting. However, the deep snow slows down non-ski equipped infantry more than you might think at first glance, so the entering 648s cannot afford any delay. By time we quit, it was obvious there was no way the southern 648s would be able to make it to victory even if there were no Russians in their way (which there were). If you can slow down the 648s for even a couple turns, they may not have enough time to make it through, especially if they have to slog through the woods. The Russians have to play a near perfect game here, too, and conserve their forces as much as possible. I think it's good to put a couple of squads as far front as you can (like the one I put in GG4) but, make sure to withdraw them as soon as their concealment is gone. I also think Eric's spread out attack worked to my advantage. If the Finns had concentrated all of their forces on one flank, say the north, it might have been difficult to stop them. On the other hand, with the road and trail through the forest, it would have been possible to move reserves where I needed them.
Although I don't think there's any question that this is slightly (or maybe more than slightly) unbalanced, it is an interesting and even kind of fun situation. I think if the Russians had maybe one more squad, or perhaps the Finns had one less turn (if the game was 6.5 instead of 7.5 turns), it would be very tight indeed. I would even play it again, although I might insist on having the balance. An 8-1 directing the dd2 machine gun would probably have come in handy!