Saturday, December 20, 2014

BotH #1 The Hardest Day

"Now boys, I don't give a hoot in hell for a man who rolls Boxcars and smiles...ASL loves a winner and won't tolerate a loser. So get out there and push those counters...so  when your grandson asks you, "What did you do in the Golden Age of ASL"....you won't have to say I clipped counters in Louisiana...".




Happy Holidays everyone!
Friday's game and our last of 2014 was BotH's The Hardest Day.

A great half-board struggle in the French Bocage.  I drew the Germans and tried to hold back the Americans from securing 6 building locations in 5-1/2 turns. I held on for 5...and then suffered The Hardest Defeat...

Snoopy comforted me following the conclusion of the Hardest Day.

A great Scenario to end a great year of ASL

My 5 squads of German 4-6-7's were confident. Surely they could hold back 7 squads of American 6-6-6's...

Big Kansas' Americans knew they faced a tough hill to climb, but would prove to be up to the task.


The set-up. The German 8-1 was on level 1 of the two story building with the fortified location on the ground floor below him.  My dummies were primarily on my right flank, which I intended to let fall, with the focus of my defense on the buildings on the left flank.

 The Americans came straight forward and were initially repulsed with some ELR and casualty reduction occurring.



Big Kansas' squads never wavered in moving ahead.


The German sniper managed to DM a half-squad and would not be heard from again. The American sniper never activated. 

My 8-1 waited patiently for the 2 x 6-6-6 squads in the wheat field to come a bit closer. 




Overall, I can't complain about the effectiveness of my Snipers in the last few games. I've been quite lucky where they are concerned.

And when they did, he unloaded a rain of MG42 lead down upon them.


Then the German troubles began. The Americans pushed around the right flank, sensing that I had nothing but dummies on that side. Meanwhile one of my half-squads was jumped on in CC. This would be the beginning of the end.




The Americans went CX and covered a lot of ground very quickly.
 The American Sherman tank entered the game and immediately swung around my right flank. Only a broken 2-4-7 with a 7-0 officer stood between it and my rear.


 I certainly respected the Sherman, but it was never able to achieve as much as Big Kansas' squads would throughout the battle.



 The door was fully open on the right flank and the Americans had found their way into my backfield.

The Melee in the woods would go on to cost me severely. I sent a 4-6-7 from my center point to help the 2-4-7 eliminate the US 3-4-7. 8-1 odds....a no brainer...right???  Wrong... I rolled a 12 and just like that my 4-6-7 was KIA'd and an invaluable squad was lost for no gain whatsoever. The Americans would win that Melee and all the other Melee's to follow. It's become a bit of a depressing trend for me that I don't win Melees. I went 0-3 in this game.






Big Kansas' squads poured it on and the momentum of the game swung their way.
 By Turn 4, the Americans had three of the 6 required building locations. My Germans still felt confident that they could hold off the Americans and secure the win.


And then total disaster. My defensive fire rolls turned to $#@% and I failed to stop the approaching Americans. One 6-6-6 moved into X4. I held my fire to leave myself able to fire at any other oncoming Americans. In advancing fire they managed to pin my 4-6-7 with the MMG in the fortified location. UGH!!!!  That allowed them to then advance into close combat with me...and just like that...I knew it was game over.


This 6-6-6 squad would be the heroes of the day. They tied up the German MMG, which allowed everyone else to move freely and occupy the remaining houses.

Yep...I should have shot them...with 18 down 3...but no...I had to be fancy and hold my fire...


At this stage of the game, I only had one 4-6-7 that could do anything. This squad would move to T5 and gain wall advantage in the bocage to try and stop the oncoming Sherman.

 Melee...they went on for a while...but would be won by the Americans in each case.


The Sherman suffered a MALF'd main armament as Big Kansas threw a 12 down the ol' dice tower. We both suffered our share of boxcars in this game.

 The final moments of the game as the Americans swarm the remaining building locations. The Sherman came on up the road despite the malf'd MA. My 4-6-7 prepared...rolled for two Panzerfausts. The first one hit and anything but a 12 would kill it. Oh JOY...I rolled a 12...dud panzerfaust shell that sailed into a lilac field. Sweating bullets now as the Sherman prepared to crush them, my squad fired its second panzerfaust and brewed up the Sherman. The last hurrah for the Wehrmacht on this day.




Smoke'em if ya got 'em!!!
Last view from the Sherman...

 

Oh...just kidding...watch my dud round go flying by!!!


With the destruction of the Sherman, my Germans had amassed 10 CVP..just shy of the 14 that would have given them the immediate win.




 The Americans take the remaining building locations. And win the remaining Melees to take a total of 8 building locations.

They even managed to create an 8-1 while kicking my backside in the Melees...



Game end. Total US Victory. A tough fought battle that went down to the last turn. 

Hats off to Big Kansas for proving the resilience of the American squads and winning a victory despite the odds.

But I will say that it was hard defeat for me. My Germans had done a very effective job up until Turn 4 and then things went rapidly south. At game end, it was very tough to accept that in the span of 1-1/2 turns, all but one of my squads would be KIA'd. But that's ASL...


So a big thank you to Big Kansas for all of this year's exceptional ASL. It has been an absolute blast and I'm looking forward to the many great games we will have in 2015.

Thanks also to those of you who spend the time to read my blog. I really appreciate it.

Once again Happy Holidays to you and your families and my best wishes for a great New Year! May you always roll 4 or less with 16 factors...except against the 2 Half-Squad Guys!!!

3 comments:

  1. Wow tight game
    Never made the transition from SL to ASL
    But when you know the system it seems to be a very good game

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    Replies
    1. Geordie, I hope you will give full ASL a shot. It's not nearly as hard as you might think. And the added icing of full ASL makes for a much richer game. I can't imagine playing without Snipers, ELR, concealment, etc.

      Best to you in the New Year Geordie!
      Scott

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  2. This is a great AAR! Thanks for posting it. Really enjoyed it.

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