If the Lord Spares Us (ITLSU) Too Fat Lardies

Started by fred., 01 February 2021, 09:41:14 PM

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pierre the shy

Quote from: fred. on 16 February 2021, 08:16:20 AM
Thanks both - seems we largely got it right then!

Indeed - I hope you find inspiration to play further ITLSU games  :-bd

We must try and fit in a 1914/15 or 1917 game in our roster this year too....
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
we are not now that strength which in old days
moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are.

fred.

Yep, will be playing more. It's been good to get WWI games in over the last few months, and ITLSU gives a good game.

I'm sure we will be trying 1916+ before too long.
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paulr

Quote from: fred. on 16 February 2021, 08:16:20 AM
Thanks both - seems we largely got it right then!
...
Orders, I am struggling to see why (from a pure rules perspective) you would ever choose Advance over Attack. As with Attack you can move at half to full speed, and can engage the enemy. With Advance you have very little option to react to unknowns. But thematically it really feels they should be two different orders. 

I would normally use Attack or even Engage if the troops are good enough to convert to attack orders
I would use Advance if I wasn't sure I wanted the unit to fight for the location as they will go to hold orders if enemy are spotted on the position. It is also useful for 'advancing' to the rear, i.e. retiring
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fred.

Played our 3rd game last night, a fairly small scenario, but good fun again.

A couple of things to check with those of you more familiar with the rules:

Blinds - from my reading spotting is an active action, i.e. a unit or blind can only attempt to spot an enemy blind when it activates. It can always attempt to spot when activated, without penalty on moving or firing. This means that it is possible for troops on a blind to move up very close to the enemy, then deploy, and shoot at them?

We had a French unit under a blind in a wood on the flank, move across to the centre of the table where the action was, and reinforce the defenders in another wood just a few inches from the Germans. The Germans had failed to spot this blind earlier, and may have missed other opportunities to spot it as they where too involved in the fire fight.

Is the above correct, can a unit on a blind move very close to the enemy?

Close Combat and Trenches
Trenches seem to provide little benefit in close combat, just giving +1 dice for cover. This makes CC the much better way of clearing trenches than shooting, which can only cause suppression. We found a battalion attacking in waves of platoons was quite effective as the first company took the casualties, then the second could charge in from 9-10" away and force the defenders out.

It kind of felt OK from expected real world behaviour, but just wanted to check we hadn't missed anything.

Also is is it correct that  units with high shock (over 10) will fall back from trenches into the open?

We did discover that loss of the Battalion HQ is bad!


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paulr

Blinds - correct, as you say the German troops were too focused on the fire fight too notice the reinforcements arriving

Close combat and trenches - correct, to quote a famous corporal. "they don't like it up'em"

Note it is 50% more dice (rounded up) not +1 dice, so a 3 stand company will get 3+1.5 = 5 dice

Spunk 3 or 4 troops are more likely to stand and fight if in trenches (12.2 Willigness to fight)

We allow troops with over 10 shock to withdraw along a trench if it is clearly away from the enemy so the flanks filter off down the trenches the center may end up trying to make a run for it
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fred.

Thanks Paul

So actively spotting blinds in the open is important - and I suppose if you make the table a bit too small then this means blinds can cover a lot of distance very quickly.

Thanks for the correction on cover - we did play it that way, I've misremembered when typing up. The surprising bit, is there is no further bonus for being in a trench, than being in a wood, for example

Good idea about allowing troops to fall back to the sides, if they can stay in cover. In our game the trenches were small sections not continuous lines.
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paulr

Another option when in a trench and being attacked is to reserve fire, see 9.10 interdiction fire

This lets you wait until the enemy is at dead close which will double your hits and you will be firing against the troops actually trying to assault
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fred.

A good suggestion

The defenders had so many targets they where busy shooting when activated



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