Memoir '44 - The Fall Gelb Campaign (Part 6)

Game 12, The Sickle-Cut campaign, Defense of Le Cateau scenario

This was an interesting scenario in that the French are thrown far forward and scattered, making it easier to pick them off. I decided to retreat away from the Sambre Canal towards Le Cateau, which is a German objective. This allows me to have multiple units firing on any unit crossing the canal, while denying the Germans terrain from which to attack Le Cateau.

My luck was such that I did not get a chance to get a reinforcement from the Reserves, but simply got to dig in a single unit. (I chose the infantry in the woods on the left flank. Don's luck was just as good; he got a sandbag too!

In the end, Don's forces ground down mine, but at a cost. The game ended 5-5, but as the Allies needed 6 VP it was a German win. Don additionally got a objective point (Le Cateau). I destroyed an additional two Panzer units, but that brings it to a total of seven, which is not enough to earn another objective point.

Allies 58-47

Game 13, The Sickle-Cut campaign, Assault on the Wattenberg scenario

This is a tough scenario for the French as they only have four Command to the German six. Their advantage is that the Germans must get the objective at Mount Watten as one of their medals.

I was able to get an Elite Infantry unit as reinforcements, while Don got a non-elite infantry unit. My plan was to pull back to Mount Watten in the center, man the front edge of the woods on the left, and move the artillery forward on the right. I wanted to move the infantry out of the towns behind the canal as soon as possible, before the German artillery started tearing them apart.

My plan largely succeeded, in that I made the Germans pay dearly to cross the canal while my infantry retreated. I was able to counter-attack back into the towns twice in order to pick off units, before retreating back to the woods or the hill. The game ended in an Allied victory 6-4.

Final Tally

The final count for The Sickle-Cut campaign was Allies 23-16, giving the Allies a Major Victory, adding two more Grand Campaign points. When the dust settled, the Allies had won 66-51.

Summary

The great thing about this campaign is that you can see that it has replay value. At the very least you can take the other side with the same opponent and get a fresh perspective (and I am sure a completely different campaign). In addition, the choice of the last campaign to play adds further variation.

It is clear from the play that the single worst failure the Germans can have is to fail to win the Airborne Operations campaign. Losing that means losing all armor reinforcements for the remaining campaigns. That really hurts. Had Don realized the significance of that first campaign, I think he might have played his reserves differently.

All in all a great set of linked games; exactly what I want in gaming. It does not completely negate the players from making last-turn suicidal attacks (I did it in the Valkenberg Airfield scenario), but is a lot better than a steady diet of one-off games all the time.

I hope you've enjoyed this series. Next I think we will return to DBA for a bit. Don and I have both collected some armies, including some HOTT armies.