Battlegroup - worst wargame in a long time !

Game using Battlegroup today with a scenario from the rather nice Spring Awakening (Hungary 1945) supplement (itself a supplement to the Fall Of The Reich supplement).
Stephen brought his Russians and I fielded Germans.
In Hungary 'mud-bound' rules apply with AFVs moving off road being at increased risk of breakdown in the clothing mud but this did not occur in game as not much in way of movement overall.

I had core force with some 'sexy' kit in form a of Platoon of 3 Tiger II along with a Platoon of Pioneers with off table battery of 81mm Mortars and a small force of reinforcements (in addition to core troops Germans get 100pts to spend) which i used to purchase a HMG team, a Sd 234/1 and a Squad of Veterans in addition to upgrading all my MG34 to MG42.

Ivans had a full Platoon (or maybe 2 ?) in trenches an HMG in a dug-out and 3 x 76mm ATGs in weapon pits with extra crew (possible extra shot per turn) supported by an off table battery of 76mm field guns with 2 counter battery missions.
He had a scheduled reserve of 3 x SU76 and 125pts for extra reserves which bought a Senior officer and 3 x T34s and an artillery request.

Terrain set up was fine (for all there is) and Russians deployed as expected in the central wood entrenched with minefield protecting the road.
A very open table to attack across however as are most of scenarios set in Hungary.
A dice roll for Russians scheduled their reserves to arrive on turn 4 the Germans delayed until turn 6, with a weather roll yielding Low Cloud cover but allowing possibility of air attacks.

The German deployment turned out to be the high point of their game !

It instantly developed into a deluge (dicetastic) of Russian fire to Pin the Tigers (needing a 6) and Infantry with at least one Tiger per turn Pinned (on one turn all 3 were Pinned).
In BG the issue is that Pinned equals 'rendered totally and completely unconscious' as the unit cannot move or fire and of you course must pull at least one Battle Rating chit each turn to allow 1D6 recoveries from Pinning or leave them in hors de combat mode.
This rendered my units (Infantry as well as Tigers) as essentially skipping a turn constantly and any firing they managed was nullified by the Reinforced Cover the Russians utilised as Pinning/Hit effects against them could be saved by a roll of 3+ (AFVs if Pinned get no saves).
I was quite lucky with chit pulls initially as they allowed me to attempt Beyond The Call of Duty tests and I got 3 (yes 3 !!) Air Attack counters.
Fortunately for Ivans only 1 generated a fairly ineffectual Luftwaffe strike.
The game was a uninspiring farce of get Pinned, Recover, get Pinned again and so on and so on.
It got so frustrating (ie pants) that I ended up just charging forward with 2 Tigers when I had the chance of course they then got Pinned and outflanked by arriving Soviet armour and subsequently destroyed.
The game was essentially over from turn 2 but I manfully (or masochistically) played until inevitably my Force Battle Rating (31) was exceeded by loss chits.

Maybe not the best scenario in the world (but historical) but the 'Hollywood/Warhammer' nature of BG was exposed with the emphasis clearly on the game.
The scenario is 1st of 6 in a mini-campaign with each playable twice.
This one could be replayed with Germans getting an additional further 125pts of kit but I would rather stab myself repeatedly in any orifice with a hot poker !

It often grates that an 8 man German squad requires 2 orders to move or fire (1 for Rifle Team, 1 for MG42 team) whilst a 10 man Russian squad moves or fires on a single order (the supposed flexibility of a split squad is insufficient compensation to my mind).
Whilst system does not have any firm ground scale (although seems to set at grand-skirmish level) it allows all forms of Ordinance to fire exactly the same so a 37mm fires just the same as a 75mm or an 88mm only if the weapon actually hits do the 'better' guns have greater effect.
This coupled with the Ammo rules (I get why but......) means Germans want to close range to get better hit chance rather than to stand off.
We just played that you could choose your round type but strictly speaking you should note mix of HE and AP (Tiger II gets 8 ammo a T34 has 9).
Mind you it is generally a 6 to hit anything over 20" if either moves anyway so I suppose a mute point.
After seeing the pointlessness of using HE ammo to fire on entrenched troops it was as effective to close up and use AFV MGs (no ammo limits) to try (unsuccessfully) to suppress the enemy guns.
Artillery has in my opinion (I know like assholes all have them) a rather too large range of effect (10" radius from point of aim/strike normally 15" if used to Pin only) which can potentially affect a lot of units.
My lowly Mortars get 4 dice so was usually Pinning 2-3 units (of course they saved) and any Direct Hits (on a 6...not that I got any !) would yield another 4 dice on target unit potentially causing on further 4+ but with target able to roll saves again.
On plus side rules are fast playing and fairly simple, maybe too much so for my tastes ?
They have very nice and comprehensive force lists and several really interesting scenarios but I think for me definitely way too much style over not much substance.
Panzer Grenadier a much more satisfying game and IABSM also despite its lack of clarity.
Of course despite this I will likely try them again if asked as truly a glutton for punishment.






My most favourable phase of game............prior to deployment of any troops

Russian right with Minefield centered on road (5" radius from MDF chit)

King on my left note PINs on 1 and Infantry

Russian Maginot line in woods

German casualties and chits accumulating

German mortar pre-registered point of aim on wood edge (blue chit)

Inching forwards.........................

SU76 Battery arrives (a T70 doing stand-in duty)

T34s just visible top center support Maginovski line