Rommel's Ramble

Updated September 12, 1998


Death Stand Results

I want to congratulate all those of you that played this scenario, you found the morale in yourself to take on a losing situation and see it through to the end! In the interest of clarity, the Kill Ratio was determined by dividing an estimate of Earl's losses by the players losses and then multiplying times 100.

And now the information that you've all been dying to hear, the highest scoring General is...Brig. General Stan Obirek!

ScoreRankTurnsCasualtiesKill Ratio
PlayerEarlPlayerEarl
34060Brig. General355001420284%
32080Brig. General335001300260%
30080Brig. General335001080216%
220150Lt. Colonel28500740148%
220170Lt. Colonel24350730209%
190190Lt. Colonel26500850170%
190200Major22500610122%
160210Captain20350550157%

Stan's thoughts after playing Death Stand

I started from reading comments of other generals and learned they were not too successful. Particularly the one who forgot to put barrage fire during a night turn (you should never forget this! Having said so I forgot once, but this was not during a "crucial" turn) and Gen. Rommel who missed his reinforcement. I don't think I myself could find enough courage to continue fighting without these extra supplies. It won't save you from defeat but at least you can make up for some mistakes you did in early stage of the battle. To get reinforcement you need only one unit placed on one of the main runways (left side of the map). It is not important which one as long as there are no enemy units. Also make sure there is enough space to accommodate as many as 5 aircraft.

"Death Stand" is a simple scenario: it has only one VP. If you can prevent your enemy from controlling it for 21 turns, you will win on points. It is also the most unbalanced scenario I can think of. Against your 350 points of starting forces and tiny reinforcement of 145 points, your enemy will field enormous army of 31 engineers, 86 armored cars w/MG, 43 armored cars, 110 light tanks, 85 medium tanks, 52 heavy tanks, 60 tank hunters, 21 heavy artillery, 15 elephant tanks and up to 23 airplanes, though at the time I planned my defense I didn't know this yet. To survive such impossible invasion you would have to destroy some 75% of enemy’s troops before they can engage in close combat with your own forces. To me this implied at least three things:

  1. Any offensive or active defense is unthinkable and can lead only to premature disaster.
  2. Core of my defense system must be static and consists of many LA.
  3. To guard the center against flank attacks I will need light and mobile "reconnaissance wings", not necessarily employing heavier units (I can hear Gen. Rommel here: "According to theory of modern warfare, such designed defense will never lead to a victory!").

I placed as many as 12 LA in the middle and slightly left of the city. A worthy alternative was to spread all the guns along entire length of the defense system, or making two or more sections for each flank, center, etc. This however would render some of the guns useless, in case Earl decided to go heavier on one of the flanks. Central position had its own disadvantage as well, what became evident later in the battle. The rest of my units; 24 bazookas, 12 light, 4 medium and 2 heavy tanks and 3 self-propelled guns, I used to seal gaps to the north and south of the town, with foot soldiers positioned in the fortresses in the center. Only entrance to the town I left unoccupied, to lure Earl there and make him go for a frontal attack rather than penetrating my flanks and endangering rear, where I kept small reserves, 3 of my LT - for "black hour". One problem I could not solve though, was how to stop Earl from receiving airplanes in the forward airfield. To prevent him (at least temporarily) from mounting air strikes from there, I moved 2 LT deep into the woods near the airport. I was to regret this decision later, as one of the tanks was hit by shrapnel of enemy’s HA in no-LOS situation, even before it could accomplish its task. The second LT managed to overrun enemy’s aircraft during turn 11, but then was sucked into a hopeless battle against Earl’s strong panzer reinforcements arriving in this area.

On first turn I targeted all the wooden bridges spanning banks of the river meandering to the east of the city. (Though Ron didn’t name this river, my soldiers started to call it "Bloody River" for obvious reason). Any gun I could spare at that time I used to systematically crater every inch of battlefield between the town and the river. By the time Earl’s first units appeared on the approaches to the city (I don't count those few unfortunates that never got there, as my forward guards bazookas, hiding in the bushes near the roads, destroyed them) the land was as easy to cross as Russian swamps. Later this had a drawback - enemy started to prefer climbing slopes of the mountains, in many cases gaining excellent observation posts. In this situation, predicting movement of his units was no longer an easy job.

During first 14 turns my defense line proved too strong to be breached. Enemy suffered high casualties, 438 points, and made very little progress. My own losses, 45 points, were mainly in foot soldiers, vulnerable to enemy’s superior firing range. Turn 14 was especially devastating for my foe, 106 unit points - when single artillery shot destroyed 6 and immobilized 1 unit of light tank or armored car w/MG. But Earl didn’t mind that. He just got fresh replacement of 207 points on the same turn, with 4 elephant tanks, 2 heavy and 2 medium tanks, among other units. On the next turn he ordered 1 medium and 3 light tanks into the "bad spot". He lost all of them. Then he moved there 2 heavy and another 3 light tanks on turn 16. He seemed unaware of tremendous firepower of my artillery, as he knew sooner or later, his aircraft would silent some of the guns and his tanks will make way through to the fortifications. Later I realized how hopeless my situation was, Earl was replacing his troops faster that they could be annihilated. Up to this point his airplanes didn’t cause any significant damage to my forces, but this was about to change.

As my defense system lacked anti-aircraft weapons and I failed to control the forward airfield from where enemy just began air raids against my troops, I welcomed with relief reinforcement on turn 15. Most of it; 12 MG, 2 AC/MG - I used to deter enemy’s aircraft from direct attacks on the batteries around the town. 2 engineers were to lay minefields north and south of the city to stop Earl from encircling center of my army. 2 LT strengthened tired but still undefeated troops on the southern flank where enemy maintained greater pressure. After I lost first MA to Earl’s aircraft, I started to withdraw remaining two into my rear, behind airplane range. But Earl’s pilots already knew my intentions and by the turn 17 destroyed both guns. Despite this losses my situation was not very bad. My MG were now in place, ready to repulse every air strike against almost any single unit of my army. Earl kept hitting my guns from the air, but he paid dearly, he lost 5 or 6 machines.

Just about the time I got used to the extreme accuracy with which Earl’s pilots were dropping bombs on and gunning down my men, I discovered another, much more deadly unit, of which Earl is absolute master mobile artillery. He managed to move two of them through a narrow valley on the opposite side of the northern mountain range. Hiding there, the two guns started to fire at my left wing, which so far didn’t suffer much damage. It was the only time in the battle I decided to mount a small counteroffensive against these malicious monsters. I moved "motorized regiment" of 3 light tanks, which until then was blocking the only pass through the northern mountains, towards the position were I expected to find the two MA. Earl was caught by surprise! His first gun was destroyed even before it had time to move back. The second "caught fire" and tried to escape towards Outpost#1, but was finished off from far range. My tanks spotted another 2 MA, moving opposite direction into a shooting position. I called for air support and on the next turn, my bombers destroyed both. Earl’s hope for quick maneuver through my left flank was torpedoed without MA he could not continue.

This "small battle" drew so much attention from Earl’s High Command that he sent entire army to avenge his MA. (I guess he sacked few of his commanders too!). The enemy destroyed one of my LT and badly damaged another. During next turn my gunners put barrage fire across the valley and Earl retreated. But he was able to sneak few tanks safely through the barrage. My planes destroyed his 2 light tanks and my light artillery damaged and eventually wrecked medium tank, while it was descending hills on its way to the town. But sudden appearance of a heavy tank on the hill caught my rear guards unprepared. The heavy tank smashed my LT and opened fire against engineers down the valley, mining southern approaches to the fort. As my gunners were busy firing at numerous enemy units coming near the city from the east, they could spare only 1 gun to deal with the heavy tank. They aimed in it twice, missing first time but then hitting the tank in the middle of the turret. The attack was called off.

Similar situation arose on my right flank where by the turn 28 my hard-pressed forces were reduced to 1 bazooka, 1 machine gun and 1 damaged, motionless light tank. Against it, Earl threw a "panzer division" of 4 elephant tanks and 10-12 heavy tanks as well as many other units not spotted yet. In the center, I had 7 LA and 1 airplane, not enough to destroy the tanks. I put barrage fire just before the ET’s. Three of them turned back, but one reached a high point in the mountains and could guide MA, closing immediately, on target inside the town. As MA fired, it hit middle of the pack of 5 LA. It destroyed two. I had to use strength of remaining batteries to bring Earl’s tanks to a halt during the next turn.

So far enemy couldn’t pierce my defense line in the center. As the battle was coming to its final stage, Earl was bringing up heavier units. (Thanks to Ron, Earl couldn’t choose his own units. Was he given such an opportunity, there would be some 600 armored cars, charging towards front of the city!) Heavy units were slow and made easy target for my artillery. Without assistance of soft skin vehicles Earl’s hope for an early breakthrough could be dashed. Fortunately, very few of this kind was left to his disposal. However, on turn 26 he received 10 AC/MG and 6 AC. Timing was much better now. With his heavy and elephant tanks attacking on wide front and mobile artillery close to my positions, these fast units could puncture my defense line right in the middle. Next turn was night and I used 2 guns to put barrage fire on northern approaches to the town. Then, I calculated where middle of AC/MG pack might be and made it target for a third gun. On turn 30, under cover of dark I ordered remnants of my troops into the town ready for hand-to-hand combat.

After turn 30, I made desperate attempts to continue my resistance. All what was left of my army; 1 MG, 1 ENG, 1 AC/MG, 1 MT, 5 LA, I fortified inside the town. As I had no troops outside, my LOS was limited and I lost orientation where enemy may be. I ordered 3 guns to put barrage next to my well-dug in men. 2 guns were ready to open direct fire on any enemy unit entering the city. Even with such limited force I was preventing Earl from penetrating the town during next four turns. He occupied some of the fortresses around the city, but was forced out by my artillery or heavy machine gunfire. But I couldn’t stop him to use his two most lethal weapons, airplanes and mobile artillery. Earl’s pilots didn’t miss even during night. On turn 35 they hit and killed my last unit an engineer. The battle was over.

Summarizing. I won on points, but think real victor was my opponent. It’s true it took him 35 turns and lots of lost equipment (of total value of ca 1370 points) to destroy my army. But his losses were justified, as he finally achieved his goal. My losses, though much smaller, went in vein as I failed to defend assigned objective for the last 5 turns and was forced to resign on turn 35. Another thing is to question if such defense could be at all successful. I believe I choose right strategy, but did many tactical mistakes, of which most important were 1. I did employ too many bazookas and not enough machine guns. 2. I did have too few artillery pieces. 3. I did not place all my units in the right spots at the beginning of the battle. As result some of them had to be moved into final position later, when they could be spotted by Earl’s forward guards, thus losing chance of attack from ambush. 4. I didn’t use my airplanes efficiently. I lost too many of them to counter formation of enemy’s elephant tanks.

Will I play this scenario again? Yes, but not too soon. "Death Stand" is a long battle and you have to be concentrated all the time. You can’t afford a big mistake here, but even if you fight well it will take many turns before you could see the results. Also the game is difficult because of repetitiveness of some tasks: predicting enemy movement, searching targets for artillery and aircraft, picking up immobilized units next turn, checking if night comes up, etc. I believe human like many but different tasks. A bit annoying in my opinion was absence of infantry. This is a base unit of every army and as such shouldn’t be denied to any of the sides. But on the other hand, "Death Stand" will test your defending skills, as no other scenario will. To me, going through it was like watching best war movies such as "A Bridge Too Far" or "Battle of the Bulge". I could almost get familiar with my units as if they were real people! (After all, you have plenty of time for this). And, last but not the least, until no one gets through all 40 turns successfully, it will remain ultimate challenge for all generals. If I had rights to award authors of scenarios, I would give this one (out of 5). One star I reserve for Rondos next scenario, in which human will lead assault on Earls defenses for 34 turns, before succeeding on turn 35.

Stan Obirek
(Currently Brigade General)

Download Stan's saved game.


Rommel's Comments on Death Stand

For those of you wondering where I ended up in this one, I'm the middle Lt. Colonel. I miss read or perhaps misunderstood how the player was to receive the turn 15 reinforcements, that's why I only received 350 points.

But I'm getting the end of the game before the beginning. Like most of you, from what I've read in your e-mails to me, I used a Artillery/Bazooka defense. Why? If you go back and read the July 18th Ramble TPG2 Tactics - 101 I went on at some length as to why these two types of units are defensive in nature. Mostly because of their lack of mobility, but in the consentrations that I used them they were devastatingly effect. I used considerable amounts of bazookas in the forts in and around the Outposts to maximize my fire potential. I also bought 5 Light Artilleries (LA) and 2 Heavy Artilleries (HA). Along with 8 Medium Tanks (MT) and 5 Heavy Tanks (HT). I chose the LAs and HAs because of their ability to reach out and touch the approaching forces, as well as block Earl's route to my position. I chose the MTs and HTs over my usual Light Tanks (LT) because I didn't have to maneuver far and they can withstand direct and indirect fire better and pack a heavier punch when they were required to fire.

I bought 3 Airplanes and used them in the early going, as well as the artillery, to take out as many bridges as I could (two of which were outside my range of fire). That way Earl would focus on the North and South routes and leave the middle alone. This work exceedingly well and by turn 5 or 6 I had all the bridges down.

I used the artillery in the rest of the game to attempt to block Earl routes at me, this worked really well in the North, but in the South with all the trees, I didn't have enough. Earl eventually over ran me on turn 16.

Without the turn 15 reinforcements all I could do was to make a run for the Fort with the 4 HTs and 3 MTs I had left. At the beginning of the game I placed 3 Bazookas in and around the Fort. That's all I had to defend with. As you can see by the chart above, I managed to hold out with those units until turn 24. Which I thought was pretty good. At that time I thought that I might be able to hold on until turn 28 or so, if I hadn't screwed up the reinforcements.

I'll be honest, I gave this one another try. I bought the same number of units I did in the first play only I shifted the artillery a little bit more South and I made sure that on the first turn I placed Machine Guns (MG) on the Main Airfields to get the turn 15 reinforcements and to defend against the air attacks that I knew I was going to be subjected to later on.

This time I held on to the Outposts until turn 17, I might have done better, but Earl managed to breach my line in the North, I had completely destroyed his forces in the South. In the second play, I held on until turn 32, with 280 points. I had a couple of late in the game 71% Bazooka shots that missed. I was miffed, but I had some lucky kills early on that I shouldn't have gotten.

What I think that I've found in this game is that the night turns are critical to Earl. Due to the lack of Artillery fire that I had the following morning. If there weren't any night turns I think that Earl would never have broken through my lines, or at least I'd like to think that.

Ron Smith is obviously a very twisted SOB (meant in the most lovingly way) for coming up with this scenario, and we all must be a little twisted too, for playing it.

Rommel


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