Some Assembly Required
After all the research I've done, it comes time to put the scenario together.
I've decided on a rather abstracted version of the events which goes according to the Red Army's plan. It focuses around Hill 57.3 (which I still cannot find on any map) and includes all elements of the Soviet plan--airborne, marine, infantry and naval gunfire support.
First, with the map, I decide to keep it small, using half of Board 46.
A single hill, useful as an artillery observation site, with a farm nearby to serve as the divisional artillery headquarters.
Next, a group of Romanians which serve as a HQ unit:
Romanian 4th Artillery Regiment, sets up first within 5 hexes of hex F7:
No numbers yet, more on that in a moment. Leader heavy--remember this is a HQ.
For the Soviets, the forces are very well laid out in the historical reference.
Paratroopers:
Enter on Turn 1, either from the North edge or by pre-game parachute drop at the Soviet player's discretion (see SSR3):
Note I added second line Red Army troops from Poland In Flames. While generally I don't like third parties messing about with the underlying game very much, this Bounding Fire tinkering I do like. A lot.
So, now we need something to make this scenario special. There are several things people like in a scenario. Fun toys is good. Replay value. And something that catches the eye and says: "Play me."
Also, since I've titled the scenario "Red Sisters" I want to have the girls make an appearance, so I'll include some naval gunfire as well--though abstracted and not in the form of NOBA.
Historical Background:
In the late summer of 1941, the Axis forces had completely surrounded Odessa and had secured firebases within artillery range of the port and the iconic stairs leading down to the port. While the battle for Odessa was clearly lost, the Soviets sought to drive the Romanians out of artillery range to facilitate the loading of evacuation ships. A plan was hatched to make an amphibious attack on the Black Sea coast to the east, facilitated by a paratroop attack to close the pinchers and destroy the Romanian artillery focused on the port. In the lead, sister ships Krasny Kavkaz and Krasny Krym ferried troops and provided a bombardment cover for the landing marines.
Aftermath: Military plans rarely survive contact with the enemy and in this case they began to fall apart even before plans were complete. The "paratroopers" were "volunteers" from naval aviation units trapped in Odessa. Many had no real experience parachuting out of a plane in perfect working order. Freakish winds caused the loss of 1/3 of the platoon sized unit before they even hit the ground. The Krasny (red in Russian) sister ships landed their troops and fired a few unaimed shots into the countryside before retreating. The destroyers that stayed behind suffered greatly from German air attacks. However, it must be said that the three forces (Marines, Paratroops and infantry advancing out of the Odessa perimeter) eventually linked up and while the Romanian guns were withdrawn to safety before the trap was sprung, an artillery headquarters and a great deal of precious wire were destroyed. In the context of the summer of 1941, the landing would have to be classified as a great success.
I hope to make the victory conditions a simple point system. Basically, CVP and a little extra for cutting phone lines.
Victory Conditions: The Soviet player earns a VP for each CVP inflicted, EVP for prisoners and their guard units, 3 VP for cutting wire (SSR 4) or capturing the field phone and for each location in J6 controlled at game end. Players bid the number of VP for the Soviet side, the player bidding highest plays the Soviets and wins by
As for Special Scenario rules, it is important to remember that the first SSR is for EC and weather. The EC and weather are straight forward, but I'm going to throw in Gusts just because it caused so many problems for the paratroops. I'm also going to throw in a low vision hindrance for a couple of turns because this was actually an early morning or even night action, but I prefer not to make it too complicated.
The second SSR is generally reserved for terrain changes and the like, but in this case I don't have any. I'm using the map as is.
So SSR 2 is going to cover one of the important elements of the scenario: the variable OB.
SSR2: Prior to play, the Soviet player makes a DR. The Romanian player receives 1/2 the DR in (additional) squads and 1/2 in concealment. (a roll of 2, 3, 11, or 12 may be re-rolled at the players' option.) The Soviet player receives the full number of (additional) units, but no more than 1 extra parachute unit may be purchased and at least 1 unit must be purchased for the infantry and marine reinforcements. Both players use the same DR. Players must choose an equal amount of squad types (e.g. one crew and one squad) but may chose the preferred unit in case of an odd number.
That's a lot of SSR and I'm afraid it may be a bit confusing. Feel free to comment and help me clean this up.
SSR3: Pre game.
The Soviet player must secretly record a hex for a naval attack. Following the paradrop landing (if selected), the initial hex is rolled for error by direction and distance and the hex selected and all adjacent hexes are subjected to a 120mm attack. If the randomly selected hex is off board, no attack occurs.
The Soviet player may either enter the paratroops from the North Edge or by a pre game paratroop drop. The Soviet player selects a hex for each squad (the leader must have the DC and may stack with a squad). He then rolls direction and distance for error (if 1,1 he may place the unit in its initial hex and if 6,6, the unit is eliminated.)
SSR4: Prior to play, the Romanian player must designate a path of hexes for the wire from the field phone off the south edge of the playing area. The wire may be cut in two ways: First, a 1,1 from the naval attack landing in any hex of the wire path severs the wire. Second, the Soviet player may find the path by searching with any MMC stacked with a leader. If the wire is severed or the field phone captured, abandoned or destroyed for any reason, the Romanian leader closest to the field phone must take a NMC (if more than one are equidistant all have to take the NMC.)
Now I have to work on the scenario layout. Please send your comments and suggestions and I am also planning a contest for people who want to design their own scenario around this action...
I've decided on a rather abstracted version of the events which goes according to the Red Army's plan. It focuses around Hill 57.3 (which I still cannot find on any map) and includes all elements of the Soviet plan--airborne, marine, infantry and naval gunfire support.
First, with the map, I decide to keep it small, using half of Board 46.
Next, a group of Romanians which serve as a HQ unit:
Romanian 4th Artillery Regiment, sets up first within 5 hexes of hex F7:
For the Soviets, the forces are very well laid out in the historical reference.
Paratroopers:
Enter on Turn 1, either from the North edge or by pre-game parachute drop at the Soviet player's discretion (see SSR3):
Marines:
Enter on Turn 4 on East edge of play area:
Infantry:
Enter on turn 6 on West edge of play area:
So, now we need something to make this scenario special. There are several things people like in a scenario. Fun toys is good. Replay value. And something that catches the eye and says: "Play me."
Also, since I've titled the scenario "Red Sisters" I want to have the girls make an appearance, so I'll include some naval gunfire as well--though abstracted and not in the form of NOBA.
Historical Background:
In the late summer of 1941, the Axis forces had completely surrounded Odessa and had secured firebases within artillery range of the port and the iconic stairs leading down to the port. While the battle for Odessa was clearly lost, the Soviets sought to drive the Romanians out of artillery range to facilitate the loading of evacuation ships. A plan was hatched to make an amphibious attack on the Black Sea coast to the east, facilitated by a paratroop attack to close the pinchers and destroy the Romanian artillery focused on the port. In the lead, sister ships Krasny Kavkaz and Krasny Krym ferried troops and provided a bombardment cover for the landing marines.
Aftermath: Military plans rarely survive contact with the enemy and in this case they began to fall apart even before plans were complete. The "paratroopers" were "volunteers" from naval aviation units trapped in Odessa. Many had no real experience parachuting out of a plane in perfect working order. Freakish winds caused the loss of 1/3 of the platoon sized unit before they even hit the ground. The Krasny (red in Russian) sister ships landed their troops and fired a few unaimed shots into the countryside before retreating. The destroyers that stayed behind suffered greatly from German air attacks. However, it must be said that the three forces (Marines, Paratroops and infantry advancing out of the Odessa perimeter) eventually linked up and while the Romanian guns were withdrawn to safety before the trap was sprung, an artillery headquarters and a great deal of precious wire were destroyed. In the context of the summer of 1941, the landing would have to be classified as a great success.
I hope to make the victory conditions a simple point system. Basically, CVP and a little extra for cutting phone lines.
Victory Conditions: The Soviet player earns a VP for each CVP inflicted, EVP for prisoners and their guard units, 3 VP for cutting wire (SSR 4) or capturing the field phone and for each location in J6 controlled at game end. Players bid the number of VP for the Soviet side, the player bidding highest plays the Soviets and wins by
As for Special Scenario rules, it is important to remember that the first SSR is for EC and weather. The EC and weather are straight forward, but I'm going to throw in Gusts just because it caused so many problems for the paratroops. I'm also going to throw in a low vision hindrance for a couple of turns because this was actually an early morning or even night action, but I prefer not to make it too complicated.
So SSR 2 is going to cover one of the important elements of the scenario: the variable OB.
SSR2: Prior to play, the Soviet player makes a DR. The Romanian player receives 1/2 the DR in (additional) squads and 1/2 in concealment. (a roll of 2, 3, 11, or 12 may be re-rolled at the players' option.) The Soviet player receives the full number of (additional) units, but no more than 1 extra parachute unit may be purchased and at least 1 unit must be purchased for the infantry and marine reinforcements. Both players use the same DR. Players must choose an equal amount of squad types (e.g. one crew and one squad) but may chose the preferred unit in case of an odd number.
That's a lot of SSR and I'm afraid it may be a bit confusing. Feel free to comment and help me clean this up.
SSR3: Pre game.
The Soviet player must secretly record a hex for a naval attack. Following the paradrop landing (if selected), the initial hex is rolled for error by direction and distance and the hex selected and all adjacent hexes are subjected to a 120mm attack. If the randomly selected hex is off board, no attack occurs.
The Soviet player may either enter the paratroops from the North Edge or by a pre game paratroop drop. The Soviet player selects a hex for each squad (the leader must have the DC and may stack with a squad). He then rolls direction and distance for error (if 1,1 he may place the unit in its initial hex and if 6,6, the unit is eliminated.)
SSR4: Prior to play, the Romanian player must designate a path of hexes for the wire from the field phone off the south edge of the playing area. The wire may be cut in two ways: First, a 1,1 from the naval attack landing in any hex of the wire path severs the wire. Second, the Soviet player may find the path by searching with any MMC stacked with a leader. If the wire is severed or the field phone captured, abandoned or destroyed for any reason, the Romanian leader closest to the field phone must take a NMC (if more than one are equidistant all have to take the NMC.)
Now I have to work on the scenario layout. Please send your comments and suggestions and I am also planning a contest for people who want to design their own scenario around this action...
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