Terence and myself set up our first MGMG game. This is our first FTF game of MGMG, despite me owning th game for a while, although I did have several games of BKN. Terence took the German defenders and I played the Allied forces.
Initial air bombardment left something to be desired, and none of the two flak towers in the 1AB sector got hit. In addition, both Einhoven and Njimengen FT also survived the initial bombardments. Fortunately, my airborne units survived interdiction, and I won all my initial airborne assaults. Advances by unopposed airborne units yielded several crucial bridges. Initial XXX Corps artillery barrage spent all enemy units, and the subsequent assault sent all five units scurrying towards Valkenswaard at D1.
17 Sep. Opening move by Germans failed to blow a bridge. I made the mandatory move by 1AB into Arnhem. I made the mistake of not leaving any units to hold Oosterbrook, the gateway between 1AB staging area and Arnhem. (I had the chance to do this earlier in the airborne segment, but failed to do so also. Duh!) Subsequent impulses went both ways. I managed to capture Einhoven by the first day with Gds Division. I did this by doing two air bombardments on the Valkenswaard defenders, bringing them all to D2 before doing a +8 attack. Why 2 air bombardments, I hear. Well, the first whiffed on a 2:12 die roll. After overruning, I moved one of the armour units towards Geldorp to sieze a bridge. The attempt failed, but what was worse, Terence decided on a low odds attack by 7FJ/16 regiment at -1 odds. As it was his only mobile unit in the area, I was hoping he would make that move. Unfortunately, the dice gods were not with me, and I not only lost the battle, but also the unit. I was too stunned to remember to use the advantage chit to re-roll the die. 101AB encountered some bad rolls, but were able to achieve all first day objectives. The day ended before I could move 1AB into position and secure its supply point. 82AB also could not make all the moves it needed to set up attacks on 18 Sep.
18 Sep. Seeing that there were many places he could lose 3 units (and the advantage), Terence made an early double-move and took Oosterbeek before I could react. He also threw his reinforcements into trying to block 30XXX advance by choking the road between Einhoven and Njimengen. I continue to be plagued by bad rolls, loss several +2/+3 and even a +6 attack. But the weight of numbers began to tell, and I managed to clear the highway. In the north, I managed to secure a supply head at Wolfheze. 1AB could look forward to refitting. The area began to look dark with the flood of SS units into the area.
19 Sep. Polish airborne landed and cleared Elden. Arnhem is safe, as units could retreat out of the place now. US artillery units belated moved adjacent to Njimengen where they could support attacks by 82AB infantry into Njimengen. XXX Corps projected up and had forces ready to make repeated attacks at Njimengen. SS units attacked into Wolfheze, successfully contesting the area, and the supply of bread pudding from England is disrupted again. But I still refit a good portion of the forces in Wolfheze. After refit, I pulled them out of Wolfheze to make a stand at Ginkelsheide.
20 Sep. Terence bombarded Arnhem with his artillery. No result. I had a huge force arrayed outside Njimengen. An artillery barrage by 30XXX artillery sent all defenders to spent, including the powerful 9SS recon. I am set to take Njimengen and win the game. Terence sent a small reinforcement into Njimengen. My fault, as I should have made a river assault by 82AB to block Oosterbruck. Well, I did it now, and I have Njimengen bottled up. No units can retreat, so they will die like rats in the pocket. I dreamt of glorious newspaper headlines announcing an Allied breakthrough into Apeldorn, and the war ending in Sep 1944. Next impulse Terence scored a good hit on Arnhem. I reinforced with a paradrop of a fresh 1AB unit. [Note: this is an error, as airdrop cannot be made into all airborne areas, only those marked with coloured area numbers.] Terence and myself traded bombardments and airstrikes at Njimengen and Arnhem with no result. I was ready, and launched a combined 82AB/XXX corp attack into Njimengen. Odds were 14:7, and I had reserves to continue the assault for another 2 impulses. I cannot be denied. We rolled the dice: 2:12, Allied D1, Day ends.
Final Tally: 9VP - Einhoven S17(1VP), Einhoven(1VP), Best (1VP), Erede(1VP), Vegel(1VP), Mook(1VP), Groesbeek(1VP), Arnhem (2VP). German Victory.
Debrief: This is Terence's first game in the newer Area-Impulse games. He played SoA and TPS many years ago. We messed up the Sunset DRM rules, and I forgot to move the sunset DRM marker when I killed off stacks of German units. This led to the first day ending without my being able to develop 1AB's position, and it had serious consequences on how the game evolved. We also did not use hoarded supply to buy impulses. There was no excuse for this, as the mechanic is similar to BKN, one of my favourite games. In my defence, it has been a long while since I played that game. Terence also did not make much use of infiltration and bridge demolition, although he did manage to infiltrate Arnhem.
It was a learning session for us, but nonetheless it was tense. We are both looking forward to a rematch.