Holidays

An Ogre scenario

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Maps | Setup | Reinforcements | Escape | Special Rules | Objectives & Victory Points | Victory Levels | Variant Scenarios

A dead railroad branch, a forgotten Howitzer, a quiet strip of land . . .

A Combine unit, in the rear guard and late to retreat, decides to cut through a quiet, narrow strip of land to reunite with the main army. Hoping to wreak destruction and then move on without consequence, these Combine troops are in for a holiday surprise.

Many local soldiers are spending time at home, some with light ordnance vehicles, and all of them with com-links. Alerting each other to the danger barreling down on them, defending units move into position.

Maps

Map G1 north and Map S2 North to his right (east) edge.

Overlays

The two half cities in 1312 and 1512 are treated as complete cities, put an overlay under them to help remember this. All half hexes are legal and counted as full hexes of the dominant terrain type.

Setup

This is basically a 2-player scenario, though you could divide forces and play it in three or four. Notice the railroad that runs west-east along the northern border. The defender set up 5 question mark counters along the railroad and secretly chooses one. This is the location of a railway wagon-mounted howitzer. (See special rule below).

The attacker gets 12 armor units or Ogre equivalents (rule 13.03) and moves first, entering from the west border of the map.

The defender, after the attacker enters the map, but before it fires, for each City Hex on the map (including the two half town in 1312 and 1512) rolls a die and consults the table below:

none
1 truck
1 GEV-PC
1 infantry squad
2 infantry squad
3 infantry squad

Note: if a defender's unit appears in a town already occupied by attacker units, (it can happen for the westernmost cities in the first turn) there is an immediate overrun combat (rule 8.00) with the defending infantry just created firing first.

Reinforcements

Attacker: No reinforcements.

Defender: the advance guard of the main PanEuropean force pursuing the Combine units arrives on turn 6, and 1 armor unit enters from anywhere from west edge. On turn 7, 2 armor units arrive from any hex on the west edge. Three more armor units arrive from the west on turn 8; followed by four more on turn 9.

Escape

Attackers can only leave from the east side of the map. Defenders are at home; they can leave from every direction they choose. As per 5.12, units leaving the map may not re-enter later.

Special Rules

The railroad Howitzer "Dora" is far from rusty. The National Guard keeps it in perfect working order, like a Swiss watch. As soon as a squad of infantry reaches it, ending movement for the rest of the turn, it is activated and can operate.

After activation, the squad can leave the Howitzer to its fully automated operation and go defend elsewhere . . .

The cannon has normal static Howitzer stats (6/8), but can move 1 hex along the railroad AFTER the firing phase, much like a GEV.

It needs time to get operative: if in this move it enters/overruns an enemy occupied hex, it is automatically destroyed by the enemy without a chance to fire. It is also destroyed if the enemy moves through its hex before it is fully activated.

Objectives & Victory Points

Attacker gets 5 VP for each city hex destroyed (turned to rubble as per rule 13.01 ) and 5 VP for each unit that crosses the east edge of S2 map.

For every damaged (not destroyed) city Hex the attacker gets 2 points. Small bridges (2 hex) are worth 3 VPs, and large bridges are worth 5. If defenders destroy the bridges to slow down enemy movement, the VPs are awarded to the attacker.

Enemy units destroyed count as usual for both sides.

The railroad Howitzer, Dora, is worth 12 points, and Gustav is worth 18 VP.

Victory Levels

Victory levels are calculated on attacker's performance. Subtract defender's points from attacker's to calculate final score.

Attacker's points: less than 0 is a decisive defender victory
Attacker's points: from 1 to 25 is a marginal defender victory
Attacker's points: from 26 to 50 is a marginal attacker victory
Attacker's points: more than 50 is a decisive attacker victory

Variant Scenarios

East wind: Same map, but played from the EAST side . Flip everything.

Gustav: The Howitzer is a monster from an old conflict. It has an attack strength of 10 attack and 10 hexes of range. Mechanics for Gustav are the same as Dora for all other play. It's worth 18 points if destroyed.

Snow: The land is covered by very thick snow. All units except infantry have their movement reduced by 1 movement point each turn. GEVs have their movement reduced by half, that is 3/2 instead of 4/3. As per 5.09, any unit can always move at least one hex as long as it is not moving into totally prohibited terrain. Howitzers are not affected by the snow and have the same rate of fire. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Having been dismounted in snow, I disagree with INF being the only ones NOT affected by heavy snow.)

Heavy Weapons Teams: All "1 infantry squad" on the setup table is transformed in "1 Heavy Weapons Team squad."

Ogre scenario

The attacker can choose a Mark I and a Mark II or 2 Mark I and 4 armor units as indicated by rule 13.03.

Note: Of course the defender can also "activate" the fake howitzers and move them along the railway to confuse the attacker. The real cannon is revealed when it fires, an enemy unit reaches firing range, or it is overrun.

The Ogre Scenario Book 2 PDF, combining all of these scenarios, may be purchased on Warehouse 23