After Action Report: Operation Shockhammer

One of my main events at this year's Dexcon convention was an Ogre Miniatures scenario I devised called Operation Shockhammer. Four Ogres (plus a few token screening units) are tasked with assaulting a very well-fortified defensive position; lots of walls, revetments, and favorable terrain. (The attackers get 1 MK-V, 3 MK-III's, 4 GEVs, 4 LGEVs, 3 HVY, and 1 SHVY; the defenders get 2 Fencers, 150 points of infantry and 150 points of vehicles, plus 20 revetments and 36" of walls.)

The purpose of the scenario is to test a classic static defense against a powerful point attack force. If the attackers are able to take out the defenders piecemeal, they'll win handily. If the defenders are able to sucker the attackers into a fortified kill-zone, they should prevail.

The defenders opted to put their Fencers in the middle, piling up armor behind the walls and concentrating their infantry in the woods. They also had several heavy weapons squads mounted on GEV-PCs, to act as a rapid strike force.

 The attackers concentrated themselves on the right flank. This forced the defenders to rush all of their strength from the opposite side of the board into the attackers' path.

Unfortunately for the defenders, they had bunched up their GEV-PCs too closely, and half their rapid strike force was destroyed by spillover fire.

The defending Fencers and howitzers pounded the attacking MK-IIIs. Unfortunately, the MK-V remained relatively unscathed even at the end of the battle.

Even a desperate last-minute ramming attempt by one of the Fencers couldn't stem the tide. As time ran out, it was pretty clear that the attackers would be the winner. The game was called in their favor.

I think what did in the defenders were two tactical mistakes. First, they rushed towards the attackers, rather than trying to draw the attackers in to their well-fortified positions. Almost none of the revetments were utilized; it was like throwing away 60 points. Secondly, they didn't take advantage of the Fencer's chief asset; they closed to attack with their guns rather than simply lurking out of range and pounding the attackers with missiles. Had they done those two things, I think the battle might have gone very differently.

All in all, I think the scenario worked pretty well, and everyone seemed to have a good time playing, which is the most important thing!