Scenario 26/The Triple Line Scenario

 This is scenario 26 from One Hour Wargames.  The author borrowed it from Asquith who based it on a battle from the War of 1812.

The defenders (Gray army) are set up strangely at the beginning.  One scout unit is at the bridge.  Most of the infantry are in the center of the field.  One is on the hill.

The objective for Green army is to take the hill.  The army that possesses the hill at the end of battle is the winner. 

The defenders have one mortar unit, one half-track and 12 infantry soldiers.  The Green army is larger. It has one scout car, one mortar unit and 24 infantry soldiers.  Both vehicles are lightly armored.

One figure is one unit.  Hits are determined by a deck of cards that includes face cards and jokers.  A face card is a miss. A hit destroys the target.  A 5 or higher is a hit except when infantry shoots at an armored vehicle. The vehicles get two points protection because of its light armor.  A joker is a mine and when turned up it destroys the shooting unit. 

All cover is impenetrable to both vision and shooting.  

Infantry move 3 inches.  Vehicles move 6 inches.  Both can shoot 12 inches.  Shooting is line of sight except for mortars.  Mortars can shoot anywhere on the board but only if a forward observer has line of sight on the target.  They can only see 12 inches. 

Units on top of the hill are not visible to the attackers.  However, they can see down the hill and also shoot up to 12 inches.  They can direct the mortar toward any target they can see. 

When the Green army appears on the border, the Gray half-track realizes it is time to retreat, very quickly.  Informing the second line, the Gray army all heads toward cover. 

Notice that the Gray mortar is on the hill behind the buildings.

This a close-up shot from the Green side at the beginning of the battle.

Green army advances toward the hill, eventually forming a half-circle just out of range.  Neither side can shoot or fire mortars because the distance is more than 12 inches.  They cannot see each other yet.  The Gray army positioned most of its units behind the trees but move a few onto the hill to protect the mortar.

Finally, Green army rushed the hill.  Green units called in mortar strikes. The scout car held back in reserve then moved in on the right when it was clear that was where it was most needed.  At the end of the battle, four Green infantry soldiers were left but they had the hill. 

This was an exciting battle.  It only lasted 20 minutes. I believe the tactics chosen for both sides were reasonable. However, I wondered if the outcome would have been different had the balance of forces was changed a little, so I took three infantry soldiers from the Green army and added three to the Gray army.  This time, the remnants of the Green army were wiped out at the top of the hill.  Part of the problem was the scout car was blown up by a mine. This allowed the half-track to shoot down attackers as they climbed the hill.