Paul O'Connor - Nov 13, 2004 1:33 pm (#168 Total: 182) Looking for wargamers in San Diego's north county. Played a solo game of Todd's Verdun reprint to completion over several nights, squeezing in a move at a time as my crazy work schedule allows. An entertaining puzzle that I still haven’t solved, and full of little surprises and I came to understand what some of the rules really mean (like the subtlety that woods double the combat value of both attacker AND defender, which opened-up a mid-game counter-attack by the French that led to German ruin). Anyway, this time I elected to concentrate my German attack all in one place – four hexes in the Maucourt/Mogeville area. The Germans dropped 18 factors of artillery on each hex, French counter-battery fire was ineffective, and the Germans broke through to the hills two hexes south of Maucourt. The next turn saw the Germans receive reinforcements for the second move in a row. The German attack concentrated on the ridge north of Dieppe while the French methodically gave ground, maintaining solid frontage along ridge lines. Heavy snow slowed operations on the 23rd, but Germany kept the attack going by committing their flamethrowers for the first time. The weather cleared over the next two days, and by the 25th the Germans had reached what would be their "high tide" in this game, having reached the outskirts of Douaumont and leading the French in casualties, 20-9. But that same turn saw the French launch their first counterattacks near Dieppe, which actually left them overextended and encircled, but French counter battery fire broke up a German attempt to reduce the French encirclement. German artillery was suddenly running low. February ended with heavy snow and the Germans only marginally leading in casualties, 25-20. The Germans have gained just a little less than a hex a day, their advance looking like a bulge anchored on the pond hexes in the southeast, Ornes in the north, and the rest of the army in a crescent between the two, pressing right up to the outskirts of Douaumont and Ft. Vaux. The Germans need clear weather and some more artillery shells. Reinforcements wouldn’t hurt, either … after receiving fresh troops on the first two moves of the game, the Germans have had to make due with what they’ve got. March opens with a French counterattack in the woods northeast of Douamont. The Germans are somewhat thin in this region, and a close look at the terrain effects chart confirms that units attacking from woods are doubled just like units defending in woods, so it isn’t hard to gain favorable 2:1 or 4:1 attacks on the small stacks of Germans in this area. The Germans hold their line, but have to keep feeding units to the front, while trying to turn the French south flank; the French fall back from their advanced positions at the wire, and once again the front has stabilized, now very nearly a straight line from north to south. Heavy snow slows blankets the battlefield between March 7-10. Sensing that their opportunity for a breakthrough is slipping away, with the French getting stronger as reinforcements enter the map each turn, the Germans commit to an offensive near Ornes. The attack is a disaster – French counter-battery fire and a timely French counterattack lead to the loss of six German battalions. For the first time, the French take the lead in the casualty count, 33-31. The last hurrah for the Germans comes on the 11th and 12th. Phosgene gas arrives at the front, taking a heavy toll of the French in the south, but German gains there are offset by a French push east of Ft. Douaumont. The following day, the French take advantage of clear weather to plaster a six hex section of the German line with a thunderous artillery barrage. The front ruptures as the Germans lose ten battalions, and now nothing stands between the French infantry and the German artillery. The rest of the game saw the Germans falling back toward their original lines, pulling together a scratch line of infantry to screen the slow-moving artillery. Heavy snow reduced the chances of a French blowout, but the game did end with a French strategic victory (casualties 62-50, for the French), thanks to a pair of maximum-odds attacks on the final turn. The Germans were really hurt in this game by poor reinforcement rolls – gaining new troops on the first two moves, and then never again. They were additionally hurt by poor ammunition supply for their artillery. Watching the French add new troops each turn while their own position worsened led the Germans into a series of increasingly risky attacks in the middle turns. The French were able to roll with their losses while gradually building up momentum with counterattacks in the forest near Douaumont … each turn, these attacks bled off German battalions in ones and two, leading to an overall thinning of the line opposite the bulk of the French army. When the French scored success with their big artillery attack and breakthrough on March 13-15th, there were no reserves to plug the line, and only by abandoning the modest success the Germans were attaining in the south were the Germans able to throw together a line and prevent a total disaster. In all, a fun game … with more opportunity for French counterattack than I would have thought at first impression. Total time to play was maybe eight hours spread over several evenings. With all infantry battalions sharing the same combat factors, there isn’t a lot of factor crunching involved – you have a tendency to think in terms of battalions (he has two there, so I need six), while the artillery and counterbattery rules discourage perfect plans. The Germans also seem to be at the mercy of their reinforcement rules, for better or worse, which when combined with the uncertainty of attacking on that brutal CRT makes for a pretty chaotic game – an advantage for the solo player, but maybe discouraging in face-to-face play (where I could see a perception arising that an eight-hour slugfest was decided by a few tough rolls at the end). Verdun is a successful game in that success seems always just within your grasp, only to have your hopes cruelly dashed by weather, counterattacks, and reinforcements that turn your war-winning breakthrough into a morass of counters in the deadpile. Recommended for solo players, or resilient face-to-face partners. I’ll play again.