Since moving down to Maryland, I haven't had a chance to game as much compared to back up in Jersey where I was in a couple of regular gaming groups.
I finally had the chance to meet up with a local group of gamers (the "Army of Central Maryland") for their first game of 'O' Group, which I enjoyed playing with Ted last year.
The scenario was a meeting engagement in Italy, 1943, between an American battalion and a German battalion. The Germans were approaching from the left side of the table, while the Americans were coming from the right.
Both sides were looking to cause four FUBARs. If the Germans took the town of Persano, it would cause an automatic FUBAR against the Americans. If the Americans took the hill in the Germans' deployment zone, it would cause an automatic FUBAR against the Germans.
Due to my semi-familiarity with the rules, I was tasked with leading the German battalion with Kevin and Scott, while Kelly was in charge of the American battalion with Mike and Alex.
The Germans pushed up the flanks, using the forest and ravines as cover.
After a fierce battle, the Germans ended up winning the fight for the orchard, helped by weight of fire coming from the company in the woods and some lucky artillery. The Americans lost a platoon and were forced back. They brought on their tank platoon for added support, and the Germans countered by calling up their assault gun platoon.
The Germans StuGs managed to knocked out a Sherman section, and the other tank section retreated behind the hill. The Americans brought their artillery to bear against the Germans in the orchards, causing a decent amount of shock and pushing back the newly-deployed company commander.
At this point, the game had reached a bit of a lull. Both sides were firing at long range and not accomplishing much, although the Americans were down a couple battalion dice from from their two FUBARS. Scott was starting to push his German company against the American right flank, but Alex's lone platoon was shrugging off hits left and right.
Hoping to apply pressure, the German battalion launched attacks on both flanks, while still keeping a platoon and a couple Combat Patrols in the middle orchards. Alex's single platoon was ice-cold while facing down an entire German company, while they were supported by HMG and artillery fire from the American position in Persano.
On the other flank, the Americans under Mike were falling back as Kevin pushed forward, supported by the StuG platoon.
Unfortunately I had to leave at this point, and the rest of the group played on a bit longer. The town was still safe, but the Americans were almost at their FUBAR break point while the Germans were still relatively fresh.
It was fun to play 'O' Group again, and the Maryland guys are a great crew. I'm looking forward to participating in more games with them!
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