White Cross Over Red Flag : Debriefing ETC (Season 2023-2024) – Part 2

Hello there, boys and girls,
 
Fred here, continuing our journey through ETC 2024 debrief.
After part 1 detailing a behind the curtain view of the preparation to the event, what were our objectives, the list I picked and how it interacts with the rest of the Team, this part 2 will give feedback on our tournament, as well as give details on our race to the finish. Will the Podium objective of Team Switzerland be reached? You will know by reading this…

Round 0

In 1^st part I detailed what was the goal of Team Switzerland (podium), and the strategy built to achieve it.  In the July preparation, we had to opportunity to confront our strategy and meta with what every other team cooked.
We did a first reading, confirming the trends spot during the season (reign of the 3 Nations (GER/US/UK) and supremacy of the 3 Concepts (Wall of Bodies/Mad Tracks/Armored First), limited inclusion of counter-meta and limited surprises). The general feeling was this edition of ETC will be hardcore. The pair up process will be quite tense, and, with that closeness of power between Builds, players’ skills will matter more than ever.

We then proceed individually in determining match up per match up, what would be the score expected for each of us. This exercise could be as “simple” as giving a general thought (Red/Orange/Green against an opponent – 114 combinations to be studied) or as complex as determining, opponent per opponent, stance per stance, and mission per mission, what would be the score (1026 combinations to be studied) – guess which one was done? Same here, how much you commit to the competition is how much you get in return. Ultimately, we managed to have a clear view on what we can expect and how everyone shall behave during the event. Team play is also about that: be reliable for the group. We eventually confronted our meta to the others in doing pair ups simulation, 1-2 of us taking Team A while 1-2 of us take Team Swiss. This gave valuable information on how we should conduct this perilous exercise in order to be in a good scoring position. Some of us also had the liberty to do some final playtests, always good to be in shape.

The way the strategy was designed and how it worked, we were confident we would secure 3 points per round, against anybody, including top-tier teams. Both the choice of Builds, the players manning them, the overall FoW system and the match-ups process and tools, everything was fitting together to produce reliability. Providing of course players do play correctly and “transform the try” – points are not going to be scored by themselves!
All in all, the Team designed quite a secure system. The issue we noticed during preparation is this security can be a liability: securing 3 points against podium contenders is a good performance, but scoring only 3 points against teams which were aiming for Top 10 or worst is bad performance. At ETC, 21 points (3,5 points on average per round) gives you the podium, with 18 points being the minimal requirement to reach it, yet with a risk of sticking below it (which was definitely something Team Switzerland didn’t want). We would need to be consistent against the top-teams, and go above the predictability against others. Hard, but manageable.

From my end, I had a lot of feelings mixed up prior to the event. I knew there was only a handful of lists I didn’t want to face. Sure, there was very solid Builds, but very few flagged as able to beat me (top contender was Team Poland Lukaz’s Sturm/StuH – it’s a counter-meta concept designed to break the Mad Tracks concept… what did you expect?!), and few “to be avoided” due to high chances of Draw. My Build was reliable, it would give hell to anybody trying to break it while in Defense, or would be an homing missile if set in Attack. Plus I only have to focus on playing this year. But I knew my list wasn’t as perfect or scary as it could have been, I had too few games to prepare this big event (including none since Italian GT, 2 months prior to ETC), and I was set in a difficult position for the sake of the Team. Add that the randomness of the pair ups (and the “poker” Hidden Stances), plus the fact opponents can decide to simply play for Draw, on match ups I don’t master (because I am not to be protected in the Swiss meta)… Even if I pull my finger, it will be really hard to make a good appearance.

But I didn’t make sacrifices all season not to contribute and give my best for this Team! My personal objective was at least 4 wins and 0 defeat.

Round 1 – Belgium

Arriving late Thursday in Cracow (with only 7 HJ and 6 Stummels in the bag…), I recovered my full army “up-painted” by Ben and Etienne. This was a hell of a roller coaster emotion run, the last warpaints were applied by Etienne at the hotel. With Stefano, the 3 painters of the team definitely pushed themselves to aimed at securing a medal in the painting competition. In case you’ve missed it, here is Team Switzerland’s work :

Back to the competition, 1^st round of the ETC had us draw against Team Belgium. Our Team was happy with it: we know the Belgian well, they are very nice opponents, they increase their gameplay significantly the past years, including this season, with show up on podiums and top 10 of serious competitions (Belgium GT, Finland GT, German GT…), and their metagame was fairly decent. A good challenging first round to start and be in the competition from the start. We had the feeling their lists could be more pushy, and our gameplay level would be better. Moreover, we needed to start the competition strong as the road to podium would be long and complex and, with all due respect to our Belgian friends, we were looking at securing 4 points in the Round.

The pairings were: Switzerland / Belgium

• Raphael (US Double Sherman) vs Robby (UK Recce)
• Stefano (UK DR Rifle/Recce) vs Rob (ROU Mountain Rifle)
• Ben (UK Kangoo Rifle/US Chaffee) vs Ruben (GER Tank Training/Berlin KG)
• Jeremie (USSR Naval Rifle/Engineers) vs Sven (UK Kangoo Rifle)
• Etienne (GER Berlin KG/Brigade Assault) vs Tim (US 3^rd AD Sherman)
• Fred (GER Sturm/Ardennes A.PzGrenadier) vs Tobias (GER Sturm)

I didn’t want to mirror match the Clausewitz Sturm of Tobias, but as a baptism of fire, my gentle teammates thrown me under the bus to allow JJ and Etienne securing points. Tobias and me were both Maneuvre and we played Scouts Out. I really like those kind of Missions were both players have to get out of their deployment areas to protect or capture Objectives.

Tobias’ list and approach were more conservative than mine. I feared his Tigers would have secured him either a Draw (if I were breaking his line) or a Win (if he managed to repel me), and thus reckon I needed to be all in from the start. Trun 0, he kept in Reserves his Triple and Tigers, while I choose to put the full artillery park on, 8.8 being in Reserves with the 2 big units of PanzerGrenadier. While Tobias scouted gently on my left, still keeping his center solid, I did the opposite, having a center weak and a right wing very strong. By Turn 1, I jumped at his army, hurting badly his Stummels, baiting on the left by removing 1 unit of Recce, and stopping in range of the right Objective. As a reaction, Tobias punished my left Stummels with a full 6-on-6 shoot, making my center even weaker. But now Tobias had to move his troops to contest his Objective, and the forest in which the Objective was set became Sherwood.

By Turn 2, after resecuring a bit my center, my troops had the shot to victory. I thus encircled the wood with my tracks, throw a ton of dice to moving PanzerGrenadier and Flak20mm, and by the time the dust settled, I squeeze in two Assaults with Infantry and Recce. This should have been more than enough to capture, but with Tobias’ troops resisting against the odds, it was first sight my tournament road will be complex… missed opportunity, although it did massive damages to the troops holding the Objective.

Tobias tried to chip damaged me to delay winning, but despite the bravery of its actions, it didn’t pay off. With the Objective being Defended by the sole 2iC and 2 Flak 20mm, facing my whole Sturm Formation barely scratched plus my Support, Tobias called it.

Victory a 7-2 win

I really appreciated the turnout of this game: mirror matches are always hard and often go to Draw unless one of the player takes a risk. I committed in full Turn 0 and was able to put massive pressure Turn 1 to seize the Victory. It paid off for me. Tobias pulled a good fight to resist, but the risk I took worked.

The final score was 3 – 1 for Switzerland.
Etienne and JJ had a field day, while Raf and Robby made a very nice draw (they both fight hard and both had the shot to Victory), Rob gallantly blocked Rega in Defense (they Draw and it was a very engaged one) and Ruben (with his well-thought list) repelled Ben. It wasn’t exactly the score we expected, but clearly Team Belgium was hard to chew on, and it deserved its place in the Top 10.

Round 2 – New Zealand

Albeit starter wasn’t as good as expected, it wasn’t too bad neither. We went on next game against the ones who came from furthest: New Zealand. It is always a pleasure to play the Kiwis, they usually have a different meta than the rest of the world, and they bring sunshine (and feminism!) to Europe. While we feared Nigel’s circus of crap list, the rest of their meta was fine for us. We were looking forward securing at least 4 points in the Round. We didn’t fathom enough it was Round 2, and thus automatic number 4 in the scenario matrix.

The pairing were : Switzerland / New Zealand

• Raphael (US Double Sherman) vs Nigel (GER Brigade Assault)
• Stefano (UK DR Rifle/Recce) vs Jey (HUN Hetzer)
• Ben (UK Kangoo Rifle/US Chaffee) vs Franck (GER Sturm)
• Jeremie (USSR Naval Rifle/Engineers) vs Sofia (US Stuart/Rangers)
• Etienne (GER Berlin KG/Brigade Assault) vs Bret (US 3^rd AD Sherman)
• Fred (GER Sturm/Ardennes A.PzGrenadier) vs Dave (UK DR Motor)

I was happy to play Dave. The man is adorable and we know each other for years; our games are smooth and fun. From a competitive perspective, I was confident in the win: my Concept is designed to wreck almost all UK Concepts, and Dave’s one (which I know quite well from Q3 Rats study) was no exception.

Dave’s advantage was he was defending in Covering Force. A 2^nd advantage occurred when we saw the board had many LoS blockers in the form of treelines. Despite me having my full force available, it will be hard to shoot properly the British’s troops, especially with my Artillery or 8.8. Nonetheless, Dave will still have to face with ~50% of his Force 100% of mine which will crawl him in no time. That’s exactly what happened: Dave secured one Objective with a Motor/6pdr/Recce pole of competitiveness, and the other with a Motor/FTP/Recce. Both M10 were ready to jump to each objective, and the Sexton were in the middle with a Motor and a WASP platoons in the middle, denying me a free dash on both Objectives. However, regardless of where the British would defend and counterattack, the German were numerous and mobile, and have an overwhelming firepower against their light armor, doubled by skilled assailants; an uphill battle for the UK.

I choose the side with the FTP, knowing I will face a 6pdr Ambush, but confident the Reluctant FTP can’t hold an Objective for long. In essence, battle should be over by Turn 4. But my “A-Team plan” (one that should come together) would be smashed away by fortune… While the German were incapable of shooting straight, the British gave them a massive run for their money, denying them an easy drive to victory. How hard Dave defied the odds, the crunching numbers of the German came to bear, and by Turn 3, they had a shot to the Objective. But it was without counting the French Resistance… Dave nominated a specific FTP stand as “Sofia”, and it motivated its unit, who resisted fiercely, succeeding in repelling 3 assaults with Defensive Fire (one with 13 shots on 6+) and succeeding 12 (!) 5+ Counter Attack rolls. I had to crush my whole Force on it and the hill where the Partisans stood got red with German blood.

Ultimately, I had to use my last tracks to chase and destroy Dave’s Formation units, and sacrifice all my infantry until the last one of them finally killed the FTP (you can’t counterattack a 13^th time if you’re dead…) on Turn 7.

Another Victory – 6-3

This game reminded me how unpleasant FoW can be right now. I was paired up against Dave, who is an absolute gentleman, totally friendly, who brought a decently balanced army. And I had to inflict him 7 turns of me pounding with my dirty army who had really high win chances. It took way too long to came to a written conclusion because the Dice Gods decided it was fun playing with the 1 out of 500.000+ chances. I should have put a harder pressure Turn 1 and 2 on UK’s line so it should have been over sooner and less dice crazy. I felt genuinely sorry for wasting Dave’s time, and I hope to meet him again with more balanced odds both ways.

The final score was 4 – 2 for Switzerland.

Etienne again had a field day, Rega succeed in breaking Jey’s Hetzer, Raf’ pull a great win against Nigel. Unfortunately, Ben’s Night Attack was once again unsuccessful, and JJ broke to Sofia at the end of a 5 hours (too long) battle. It could have been better, but it was OK. As the game between Sofia and JJ finished way too late, we didn’t have choice but to go eat at the hotel. Luckily, we were just on time to watch a great Olympics swimming final where the new French hero, Leon Marchand, became the most titled athlete of Paris 2024 – compensation?

Round 3 – Italy

Considering our OK start, we were pleased to be paired up against Team Italia. For the records, there is a strong connection between Italy and Switzerland, especially this season where they had been cross-over trainings and tournaments. We have lot of respect for each other, and we massively appreciate their commitment this season to be at the top. A fierce opponent for certain. Despite all their talents, I think there was one Team the Italians didn’t want to face, ours. We will need to sacrifice a bit, but we were definitely aiming for 4 points.

The pairings were : Switzerland / Italy

• Raphael (US Double Sherman) vs Livio (GER Schnell)
• Stefano (UK DR Rifle/Recce) vs Flaviano (GER Brigade Assault)
• Ben (UK Kangoo Rifle/US Chaffee) vs Tiberio (US Sherman)
• Jeremie (USSR Naval Rifle/Engineers) vs Giacomo (ROM R2/Mountain Rifle)
• Etienne (GER Berlin KG/Brigade Assault) vs Paolo (UK Kangoo Canadian Rifle)
• Fred (GER Sturm/Ardennes A.PzGrenadier) vs Antonio (UK DR Rifle + Recce Squadron)

While Raf’ and Stefano were thrown under the bus, we were good on scoring pattern. The draw of the scenario (5) made it slightly more complex (expected score: 3-2), but we did count on hard wins here. I was happy to once again face a UK Force, and despite the scenario being Probe (less problematic than the stupid Bypass but still highly Draw maker), I was confident in claiming Victory.

I Attacked and Antonio Defended. The one thing about Probe is the Defender is actually in better position to seize the Objectives than the Attacker. Antonio perfectly executed a deployment so he could launch a strike T1 (notably with its Crocodile and WASP). Unfortunately for him, I’m an old monkey and I knew well how hard I needed to commit to break his expansionist will and have a shot to his Objective. We played cat and mouse in the deployment so I knew where his strongest Units were and hide my strike (left or right) until Antonio didn’t have anything to respond to.

I decided to steamroll right, both blocking the UK push toward my Objective and crawling their. Left would have been easier, but I would have had to rely on average Reserves rolls to stop the British push (and dice weren’t my best this weekend).

By Turn 1, my push wreck the British flank, bagging Recce and WASP. Antonio’s hope of seizing my Objective were reduced to left Infantry and Recce crossing the board in the middle of Mad Tracks MG, 15mm and 20mm hail of fire (hint: they didn’t). I kept on pressing the advantage Turn 2, almost bagging Crocs (but Grille sucks in rolling FP2+ and Crocs’ armor is too high for twin Faust); Antonio turtled up in defense, and his ambushing 6pdr were pushed far away so they couldn’t stop the onslaught. By end of Turn 3, my whole Force was pressuring a couple of British troops in a 20x20cm square. Fortunately for Antonio, 4 M10 arrived from Reserves and went in defending the Objective; nonetheless, it was 4 M10, 3 Crocs’, 1 battered Rifle and HQ… against Double Stummels, Double Klein, Double Flak, Double Infantry/HQ, and supporting Artillery. Despite the odds (well, “thanks” to the “hitting on 4+ is too complex” dice), my Turn 4 push was insufficient to claim the Objective. This gave room to breathe to the UK, and we entered Turn 5 in Sudden Death. I actually didn’t need much to win: I was on the Objective, I just needed to push or removed a handful of British Teams, and I had turns and resources to achieve it. Everybody knew, and but for a miracle, the UK Force can’t hold. But the audience then watched a wonderful turn of events, starting with Crocodiles succeeding 3 6+ Counter-Attack in a row, and impossible Defensive Fires stopping unstoppable Assaults. All in all, we calculated that Antonio had less than 1 chance out of 54,000 to Draw this game. Guess what?

A Draw – 3-3

How frustrating! Positively no way to walk away without the Victory… and yet it’s a Draw! If Turn 0 was very interesting and tactical, the fate of the game was sealed Turn 1 by GER manoeuvring to prevent UK a shot to the Objectives and putting them badly in the ropes. My GER had everything then to crush the UK: manpower, firepower, high ground and initiative. Regardless of what Antonio could have done from then (and he did what he could), it was only a question of time before his Force abandon the control of the Objective. Unless a “Tobruk miracle” happened. This game was really hard lesson: regardless of how you play, it remains a dice game, and you may have all the probabilities for you, it’s never a guaranteed win. At cold, I should have put even more pressure on the British line Turn 2, taking more risks instead of looking for perfect victory, and thus reducing the dice exposure and also reducing the issues with Sudden Death. Kuddos to Antonio who was very kind all game despite the beating, and did what his Team needed from him. Anytime for a rematch.

The final score was 2 – 2.

Etienne terminated Paolo (I invite you to read his nice ETC debrief on our good friends page: https://nodicenoglory.com/), Rega boosted himself in beating Flaviano (his only loss of the ETC), but Raf’ and Ben got beaten by the Venezia Connection (Livio and Tiberio). JJ was trapped in Bypass and thus made a logical Draw. On top of the frustration of not winning, my Draw crippled the Team’s result against a direct opponent to the Podium. On a positive note, with this match up gone, the friendship between Italians and Swiss could resume happily!

Round 4 – England

Despite our frustration against Italy, we knew we were only mid-race, and everything was still possible. We next caught up the perfect opponents: England. They play good, they play fair, it’s always a pleasure to battle with them. We much preferred tough opponents to match, that’s what we are here for: the challenge. Whatever the outcome, we will share a good moment together and test ourselves against great players.
Their meta had interesting Builds, many we discussed prior to list submission. It would be complex for them and for us, and, with the mirror matches risk, we were expecting a share of points (3/3).

The pairings were: Switzerland / England

• Raphael (US Double Sherman) vs Mark (US Double Sherman)
• Stefano (UK DR Rifle/Recce) vs Laurence (UK DR Motor)
• Ben (UK Kangoo Rifle/US Chaffee) vs Paul (GER Sturm)
• Jeremie (USSR Naval Rifle/Engineers) vs Ian (US 3^rd AD)
• Etienne (GER Berlin KG/Brigade Assault) vs Eddie (USSR Forward Detachment + SU57)
• Fred (GER Sturm/Ardennes A.PzGrenadier) vs Graham (GER Schnell + Brigade Assault)

I knew Graham for 10 years, and it’s always a blast to play with him. The man is exactly what I’m looking for when I go to competition: fierce opponent, who play well and very sportsmanly. Also, we do what everyone should do in tournaments (especially between foreigners): play as intended. In situations where they can be doubt, we announce what we want to achieve prior to move the toy soldiers, so there is no confusion on player’s intent (like: “I’m going to move here, taking a cross check, so I can be here, shooting short range non-concealed to your Tank – OK?”). It actually saves time and avoids dispute. I knew very well his Build, what it can do and can’t do; it’s a great list, and we even made a brainstorm where we discarded it in favor of other combos we assess better for the Team. As a reflection of the rest of both Teams match ups, our fight with Graham will be a challenging one.

Prior to ETC, I stated to my Captains the only way for me to actually lose games at ETC was a triple combo of Player + List + Mission: all at once. And Round 4 was the game it can happen. The mission drawn was 3, and with Graham Attack and me Maneuver, we end up with Escape, which is precisely the mission Graham needed to pass on me. In essence: we have similar Builds, with a very close pattern of play. My Mad Tracks are better than his (CVC/RVC vs FTA/RTA), our Battle Plans gave me the upper edge (Careful Mad Tracks in Defense best Attacking Aggressive Mad Tracks) and my playmakers (Infantries) can handle his (IV/70) when fighting over Objectives. Problem is, in Escape, my playmakers are far away from the Objectives, and Graham thus got the advantage.
I deployed conservatively so I could soak up damages for 2 to 3 turns prior to have a shot of retaliation in Turn 3 or 4. I only exposed troops to bait Graham in non-compulsory delaying shooting. Considering the high artillery park which can wreak havoc on my line for several turns, I hoped my Reserves will eventually come to clean it (I would have preferred my Reserves to reinforce my Objectives but hey, it’s Escape).

As expected, Graham did a full advance Turns 1 and 2, covered by Smoke B. His pop shots at 6 or 7+ had limited effect on my line, except the HJ who decided it was a good day to die en masse. From my end, I only pop-shot my 3 Artilleries (8.8 were obviously in Reserves) with success on Graham’s infantry, but chronical inefficiency on his 8.8 and Tracks (looking at you, Grille). Reaching Turn 3, I decided it was my turn to stop suffering an inflict pain. One PzGre Unit eventually came from Reserves (in 15 dice of Reserves in the game, I didn’t succeed any – thanks BF for automatic Reserves with 3 dice dropped!) and punched in the back the artillery park. Meanwhile, I popped my Ambush and counter-smoke the IV/70 so I can focus on Graham’s tracks. After unleashing hell, Graham’s punch was battered but still standing. Retaliation hurt my line, but I was still in a position to win the shooting duel between Tracks (Careful save lives), which I ultimately won on Turn 5. In the backfield, my PzGre took care of everything but for the dodging Super Soap Mortars. On the Objective, despite my Infantry assaulting correctly, I failed to push the IV/70 out of my 8’/20cm. We eventually run out of time and had to play Sudden Death. The sole thing standing between Win and Draw were those pesky IV/70; I managed to bag one unit, but another one was still standing. My unstoppable Assault again failed, with all my Infantry dying badly, and then the side armor of the tanks proved too much for the side shots of the Kleinpanzer and Stummels. After the dust settled, a pair of Panzer were still contesting.

Draw – 3-3

It was a great game. Good decision from Graham to be the Attacker with this mission, he nearly nailed my coffin. Both our armies were strong, and the fate of the battle was decided by a single commitment decision; I took the initiative on the 3^rd Turn, it pays off, and I never stopped biting until the end. We damaged each other really well, the battlefield was a mess of 250 and 251 wrecks. Ultimately, this game ended the same as the one against Antonio from Italy: all the stars were aligned for Victory, yet dice gods chose their champion (which ain’t me). I should also have “crowed” the area on Turn 4 with my KleinP., they wouldn’t have hurt frontally the IV/70 but would have been in position to flank earlier and offer more opportunities in the inevitable Sudden Death. I appreciate Graham concluding in I was “robbed”, I would say I could have play better. Point missed, yet best game of the tournament.

The final score was 2 – 3.

Etienne and JJ managed to secure their win, Raf’ lost the mirror match, Ben put high pressure but failed to achieve victory, and Stefano didn’t go through despite killing all his army for it. My non-made point meant we lost to England, making the Draw even bitter. We have to salute the sportsmanship of this whole Round. Not concerting each other, Team England nominated Team Switzerland for Best Sports (and vice versa). Hats off gentlemen, anytime for another round of good FoW.

Round 5 – Spain

At the start of the 3^rd day, we weren’t quite where we wanted. With only 11 points and 3 big fishes still up (USA, Northern Ireland and Poland), reaching our objective will be complex. The pace of the event was however quite slow, and with top team at only 13, there were still opportunities. We were matched against Team Espana. They are good players, and they studied the meta well, proposing interesting combos to counter it. Quite like us. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but we desperately needed the 4 points.

The pairings were : Switzerland / Spain

• Raphael (US Double Sherman) vs David (USSR Churchill/Red Banner)
• Stefano (UK DR Rifle/Recce) vs Mario (GER PanzerKG/Brigade Assault)
• Ben (UK Kangoo Rifle/US Chaffee) vs Sebastian (UK Recce/BW Rifle)
• Jeremie (USSR Naval Rifle/Engineers) vs Jorge (US Sherman/Stuart)
• Etienne (GER Berlin KG/Brigade Assault) vs Alvaro (USSR T34/SU57)
• Fred (GER Sturm/Ardennes A.PzGrenadier) vs Mariano (GER Berlin KG)

Despite me wanting to catch back points not made on Day 2, in the best interest of the Team, I was thrown under the bus to take out of the pair up the GER Berlin KG list, paving the road for our other lists. I was confident I would have given hell to this Build should the mission draw was Breakthrough (50/50 dice roll – looking at you Mister Mike McVey!), but given my luck all weekend, there was positively no way I would have had an easier mission. We obviously played Cornered, with the Berlin boys defending their Objectives, on it, and behind Minefields. Great.

Mariano was legit confident he should win this game. He chose his deployment area carefully, rightfully took the whole 15 minutes to deploy precisely, and wait for my Dead Men waves to crash on his walls. I spotted a weakness in his unlosable plan, and 10 minutes later, my whole force was exploiting a gap for highway to far flung Objective.

My Turn 1 saw the execution of the plan as expected, my troops bagged the Pak40 and the Recce, leaving the Objective dangerously low protected. Fortunately for Mariano, his Turn 1 was stellar, stopping my assaulting infantry, bagging a full PzGre squad, heavily damaging the HJ, and Stummels. Once again, the Dice Lady seemed to have chosen its side.

On Turn 2, my assaulting infantry remained pinned down, forcing me to play more conservatively instead of driving full speed ahead. I relentlessly advance my force, executing the Triple Flak ambush, but missing the very easy train lying in plain sight. Nonetheless, with 40 tracks and 20 infantries sitting 30cm away from the Objective, I was confident in claiming the position. As expected, Mariano’s last ditch of defense, the King Tigers, arrived to protect the Objective. Same as Turn 1, Mariano’s shooting phase was once again stellar: the battle must end soon otherwise I would lose my whole force to a handful of hail-Mary shots.

Start of Turn 3, my Infantry unpinned and resumed its march to the Objective, followed by the whole lot of my Tracks. Mariano’s train decided dying to 9 Stummels, 6 Triple and 3 FlaK20mm would be inelegant, and thus resisted. It didn’t stop the assaulting PanzerGrenadier to break through the Mortars and end up within 4’/10cm of the Objective. Mariano tried to blast my troops off, but Smoke B. limited the retaliation. By then, Mariano only hope was trying to hold with the 2 KT and a handful of VolkSturm. And a looming Stuka, coming every turn, claiming Tracks, until being ultimately shot down.

Turn 4 should seal the victory for good, with my Infantry lurking on the side of the KT, supported by heavy shooting of all my Forces on protecting Units. But a combination of bad shooting, poor rule knowledge, lucky defensive fire and unlucky infantry saves made the Berlin boys survived once again. Frustrating.
With so many times discussing the rules and not understanding each other, we obviously reached the end of the gaming time, which was perfect for the Berlin Boys, but not great for the Sturm/Ardennes PzGre. Mariano wisely crawled back its troops in anticipation of the Sudden Death, notably positioning key units to boost his defensive line. With only 2 Units to move, 2 to shoot, 2 to assault, it was fairly complex to develop properly my army gameplan. I however used the remaining time to chase the handful teams contesting the Objective, which should have been OK considering it was a pair of KT and a couple of Volks boys. But the lack of damages on the Volks, and the lack of bailing of the KT despite several shooting phases straight at their flank, lead to my Infantry constantly being pushed back and not being able to win the day.

Draw – 3-3

I don’t know how to make out of this game. It was great to be in a 20%-80% losing situation but totally reverse the steam and become the hunter. Relentlessly pushing unexpectedly, giving everything to change the ending of a written story… plus Mariano was actually a nice guy. However, so many things went wrong. It was quite painful to be again in a game of no own luck/too many opponent luck, but that’s not opponent’s fault. Coming to the most international and competitive event of the season, not knowing the rules nor being able to communicate in English, is more problematic. Just to be clear: I will play against Mariano anytime again. But we spent a tremendous amount of time trying to understand each other, and as far as I can understand Spanish, I couldn’t explain the rules in other way than English. A shame that we needed to discuss so many things, losing game time and having a lot of frustration from both ends (something that would never have happened with a chess clock by the way). Not wanting to conflict with an otherwise nice opponent, at one point I let go, having actions contradictory to the rules being executed, which contributed to the Draw. I also should have anticipated the problems, be more reckless Turn 1, and go all in Turn 2 instead of safely constructing my shot to Victory – being in Sudden Death Turn 5 while actual gaming time was less than 2 hours hurt. Again, I hope I will play again with Mariano, this time by the book.

The final score was 3 – 2.

All games were fierce, but the gameplan to protect Etienne and JJ worked, they both secured their Win. Rega also scored properly in a Captain vs Captain game. Churchill proved too much for Raf’ who failed to take the point. Unfortunately, Ben lost. All in all, we once again fall a little bit short of achieving what we came here for, and the 4^th point wasn’t scored as it should have. Our week-end pattern once again.
Kuddos to Team Spain which brought well-thought lists and proved a tough nut to crack.

Round 6 – Greece

With this limited scoring against Spain, our hope for final victory was gone. Podium was still achievable nonetheless, and we reckoned we still needed 4 to 5 points to secure a spot there. We were expecting to face another podium contender to achieve this, but were “unfortunate” to face Greece. Of all the Teams, Greece was the one we didn’t want to face: they studied our preparation and meta well, built a strong counter meta to it, and designed a mechanic which almost guarantee them 2 to 3 wins no matter what. It will be supremely hard to get the points in this round. We were looking at achieving 3 points, and try our best to score the wanted extra +1 or +2 for the top.

The pairings were : Switzerland / Greece

• Raphael (US Double Sherman) vs Panos (GER VonSaucken Grenadiers)
• Stefano (UK DR Rifle/Recce) vs Matteo (USSR Hero Rifle/Red Banner)
• Ben (UK Kangoo Rifle/US Chaffee) vs Wassilios (ROU R2/T-38)
• Jeremie (USSR Naval Rifle/Engineers) vs Georgios (USSR Lee/SU57)
• Etienne (GER Berlin KG/Brigade Assault) vs Tom (US Sherman)
• Fred (GER Sturm/Ardennes A.PzGrenadier) vs Thomas (GER StuH/Brigade Panzer)

Being quite sought up by my previous game, I don’t recall exactly what happened, but I think I was thrown under the bus to have Thomas out, as his list would have bothered Etienne and JJ in Mission 1. It wasn’t the best match up as Thomas’ army has many tools to at least tie the game in Breakthrough against me defending, plus is the best player of Greece’s team. Besides, Thomas and I have an history together, even if we dug the war axis in April in Germany. I warned him I was quite tired about how the event turned out for me so far, and if I start torquing up during the game, he should tell me so I can cool down – it happens once in the game, and it was promptly and efficiently handled. Side note here: a tournament is a long run, ETC is even longer (3 days, lot of pressure due to competition’s stakes, Team’s expectancies…). It’s a game of players, and we are all human. The fact we calmly discussed with Thomas before the game and before any heat can rise definitely made the game absolutely smooth and enjoyable for both, without conflict.

While I was confident in not losing this mission with my Force, I immediately changed my opinion discovering the table: it was a billiard board, with huge line of sights and very few spots to hide (or even be concealed). And I was in Defense, facing 4 murderous artilleries and 30+ tanks. From the start, Thomas will murder my troops, and as soon as I move to protect the Objectives, I would be mowed down by his indirect and direct fire, with limited chances of retaliation. I will need to seize any window of opportunity Thomas let me exploit, and do out of the box actions to grip his deadly gameplan.I thus choose to attract his Artillery park away from the Objectives by baiting on with my 8.8, with my Tracks having to secure what very little cover the table grants, and have my Infantry dashing to the Objective as I couldn’t infiltrate them properly to deny ground. A very risk plan that involved lot of dying stuff on my end.

Turn 1 results were totally awkward, the NW and 1 StuH artilleries failing to tackle any 8.8, and 2 StuH artilleries murdering Tracks… but not the intended ones (Recce and Mortars die en masse, but 4 Stummels survived the blasts). I decided it was a “do or die” game, so committed both my Smoke B. to limit artilleries LoS, dashing the Triple toward the arti park to delay its actions, and all the Stummels (including Ambush) in punishing Aggressive Panzer IV and Whirlwerbind. Despite exposing me greatly, it forced Thomas to reconsider his approach, letting me room to breathe.

Thomas kept on his game plan, but Turn 2 didn’t exactly turned out as expected, with 8.8 still surviving the hail of shells, and Stummels taking blows but not being removed. It let time for my Infantry to pose on the Objectives in expectation of the arrival of the Reserves Panzer IV, and I started to do what my Force does best, denying areas. My limited yet effective shooting battered a StuH unit and finishes of the onboard Panzer IV, letting the Brigade Formation with 3 StuG and 4 Panzer IV remaining.

Thomas changed pace in Turn 3, committing his Tanks to the party, notably the Panther which wisely avoided the 8.8 and expose their unbreakable front, starting to roll on the Objective. My attempt to lock the arti park with the Triple was properly handled by the StuG, StuH and Triple, not buying enough time as planned. 8.8 eventually started to die to heavy fire, despite survivors being able to hurt the StuG. Reserves Panzer IV didn’t show up thou, letting time for my Infantry to go to ground on both Objectives. I failed to take out a StuH advancing Unit with my HJ who cunningly sneaked in. Although I was holding, it will be complex to push the Tanks away while suffering heavy fire from artillery.

Turn 4 saw the expected arrival of the Reserves Panzer IV and the rest of the German force closing the pincer on my Forces. I lose troops, but not as fast as expected by Thomas, and I still have steam to hold, despite my near Objective being fairly threaten by the advancing Tanks. My Grille had their possible moment of glory of the tournament in side shooting the 2 remaining Brigade StuG, but as always, failed their 2+ firepower to kill. My Mortars managed to take out a NW, easying the pressure on the head of my Infantry. I also failed to removed the Reserves Panzer IV, and I started to be out of manpower/steelpower to halt the onslaught.

Turn 5 saw the mowing of one of my infantry on the Objective, proving committing both Reserves PanzerGrenadiers to it was not a mistake after all. Panther, backed up by the remaining StuH Formation, approaches very close to my line. While the Grille once again failed to proved their worth in missing the Brigade StuG in side shots, my Reserves PanzerGrenadiers didn’t miss and wreack totally the Panzer IV, removing the Brigade Panzer Formation from the game. I managed to squeeze in shots from KleinPanzer and infiltrate remaining Stummels on the flank of a StuH Unit, removing it. The rest of my Tracks formed a corridor of crap preventing the Panther from moving and reaching the 8’/20cm mark to my Objective. Battered, the German Tanks called it on Turn 6.

Victory – 6-3

A crazy game is what describe it best. It was quite a nonsense from start to end. It began very badly for me looking at the board, but then turn out mad when Thomas killed what he wasn’t targeted and missed what he intended to damage. Lady Luck decided to spin, and abandon my opponent while favoring me. We both did mistakes, but fortune was there to compensate for me and not much for Thomas. Clearly, I should have suffered more and inflict less damages before contact, and the game should have ended into bloody final assaults of Tanks vs Infantries on both Objectives. It wasn’t, and my actions paid off while Thomas’ ones didn’t. I really appreciate Thomas’ attitude all game long: we were both here to win for our Teams, despite the fatigue, we were both focused in closing the tournament properly, and there was only a single occurrence of heating (my fault) properly cooled down in a matter of seconds. I definitely offered Thomas the drink he deserved, and look forward a proper rematch with normal conditions.

The final score was 4 – 2.

Despite a very difficult pair up, Stefano and Raf’ pulled the fingers in bringing win home. Once again, Etienne was in the best conditions to secure his victory which he promptly did. Unfortunately, JJ failed to the might of the pesky IL2, and Ben was one hair of a hobby short to break his good friend Wassi (which would have earned him a more than deserved win after his complicated tournament).

Final Ranking

We ended the tournament with 18 points, reaching the minimal requirement to get to the podium, but with the risk of not going on it. Which is exactly what happened: while Team USA and Team Northern Ireland secured the top spots (1^st and 2^nd), Switzerland was tied with Italy and Poland, also at 18 points. The tie-breaker being the Small Points (BF 8-1 scoring), ultimately our Italian friends claimed the last spot (3^rd).

Congratulations to their Teams, good fighting tournament, deserved medals, and congratulations to all the 20 Teams and 120 players attending!

That’s all for this 2^nd part.
Next time, 3^rd and last part will bring opinion on the event, ETC globally, and wrapping up my 2023-2024 season.

Knowledge is power: share it widely!

Fred