German Paratroopers struggle to hold the town of Ortona against a determined assault. Hitler has ordered that Ortona be held to the last man. For the men of the Canadian 1st Infantry Division, this battle would mark a second baptism of fire..,.
Attacker: Canadian (Elements of Loyal Edmonton Regiment, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada and 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade's Three Rivers Regiment)
Defender: German (Elements of 1. Fallschirmjager-Division)
7.5 turns
Players: 2 OBA: None Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:20.0 D:10.0
AFVs: A:3
Stuart III(a) Sherman III(a) x 2
AFVs: D:1
PzKpfw IVH
Guns: A:0 D:1
5cm PaK 38
Misc Rules:
Treat Orchards/Crags as Shellholes. Unpaved Roads. D: FB6, IVH may setup Dug-In
I'd usually give Toby the unfavoured side (which I think in this one is the Germans) but I messed up with the scenario selection so "tricked" Toby into this one when he wasn't prepared (which didn't compete with my playing of this particular scenario). Used the tunnels but was almost eliminated before I had a chance to use them. The scenario is generous on time and troops for the attacker, and gives the Germans plenty of options in defence and VC buildings but holding out is tricky.
2023-06-21
(D) David Ramsey
vs
Indy Lagu
Canadian win
Indy, the Canadian playing the Canadians, played a solid game but I was definitely not canny enough with upper level overwatches and a lack of tunnels. I swapped the AP mines for AT which I regretted, and didn't buy the booby-trap enhancement which was the correct decision, but I didn't put up a strong fight.
2023-06-21
(A) Indy Lagu
vs
Dave Ramsey
Canadian win
Dave found this frustrating as the defender.
I did as the attacker as I felt I had lots of time and simply needed
to push slowly but surely to victory. It feels very difficult on the
Germans, even though the are SS in stone buildings. The sheer
weight of Canadians allowed me to push the Germans around.
To be fair, there were a couple of turns of bashing my head against
a wall, but once the facade of Germans cracked, the writing was
on the wall.
2023-04-13
(D) Simon Staniforth
vs
Ian Ainsworth
Canadian win
Came down to the last half turn with the Germans just running out of enough squads / HS to keep unbroken in the required 3 buildings. Had slowly fallen back, voluntary breaking as necessary and even used a tunnel to effect a counter attack. But the Canadians morale was good and once he was in the village breaks were hard to come by. Germans won the armour battle with all Allied tanks KO and the Panzer IV still in the game at the end but the AEs with their FT did much damage once they were on the board. A close game
2022-07-29
(D) Dan Best
vs
Mark DeVries
Canadian win
St. Louis ASL Tournament 2022.
2022-06-15
(A) Eric Partizan Eric
vs
Canadian win
2022-05-21
(D) Andy Beaton
vs
Doug Rimmer
Canadian win
CASLO 2022 - not a good game for FTF play, counter density was unmanageable. Probably better on VASL, as the scenario itself seemed fun.
2022-02-04
(D) Dave Mareske
vs
Dennis Dowd
German win
While we need to play this again the Germans guessed right falling back to cover a north entrance for the reinforcements. I over bought Booby Traps and the Canadians never rolled an 11 on a TC. Otherwise, the defense worked well, falling back and covering building not allowing the allies to get behind the defense. But the HMG, 9-2 LDR and Panzer IV destroyed the reinforcement group. My opponent gave up, but willing to try again in the future.
2021-09-14
(D) Jeff B
vs
Joe Arthur
German win
My opponent and I basically played this one twice, with the same result each time, albeit one by a much more scenic route. Our fist game didn't even last a half turn. After a sneaky HMG shot eviscerated a big stack of Canadians, my opponent failed his PMC and threw in the towel. So we hit reboot and started from scratch. This one went the distance, and was very tight. Though tight does not always equate to fun, as this is strictly a body-block scenario from the German perspective, and these are some of my least favorite types. Wire, mines, the hill, and rubble, will naturally funnel the Canadians through a small opening. Man the forts, break, fall back, replace, and recycle was a common theme. The biggest advantage the Canadians have are their tanks, If they can manage to get even one behind the German lines I think they win. In our game we had a ton of rubble. 15 hexes to be exact, and the southern route was almost completely cut off. Wire and my Panzer held down the middle, while my gun patiently stood guard in the north. Not to mention the ever-present threat of PFs and CC reaction within the narrow confines of the village. Turn 1 saw a very cautious Canadian approach, and this probably made the difference in the end since they were about a turn short. My opponent was overly concerned about mines and did a lot of searching. It didn't help that he lost his HMG for good at the end of Turn 1. I made what could have been a terrible blunder Turn 3 by allowing him a gap in my southern line that allowed his reinforcements safe entry up into the hills. Had I not been so lax I think the game would've been over far before it was. As it was, with the help of some tunnels, I was able to recover and plug the holes. I lost my HMG for good on Turn 5, but fried the Stuart as it tried to swing around up top. Had it made it it would've been curtains for me. The rest of the game was monotonously like each of the turns prior, until I was able to ring the three required buildings I needed to hold with a wall of bodies.