Our Wednesday Game - ASL Scenario 188 Zon With the Wind

Well...hello there...surprised...me too. It's a Wednesday night game...which is very rare these days. When I first started playing ASL over SKYPE in 2010, my regular night was Wednesday. My best friend in St. Louis and I would play every Wednesday night for about two hours. We were both very rusty as we had not played since 1997, when I had moved away from St. Louis. It would be 13 long years before I was back in the saddle and all because I convinced my buddy to try and play over SKYPE. So Wednesday night ASL brings back some fond memories.

This particular Wednesday game would also be with a new opponent. That's right, Dave Mareske would join me for a middle of the week, middle of the COVID-19 crisis to play a game of ASL Cardboard via SKYPE. I would select ASL Scenario 188 - Zon with the Wind. I had never played this one previously and it's A32 and 188 versions have a few playings out there.

This scenario was first released as A32 in one of the Annuals. Designed by Jon Mishcon, the scenario is one of the more popular scenarios. The A32 version shows 219 German and 240 US victories and the ASL Archive shows 20 German and 22 US victories. So A32 would appear slightly pro-American.

But the 188 version in ROAR shows 13 German and 13 US victories. In the ASL Archive it shows 13 German 6 US victories. So the balance seems to be tighter for this version based on the ROAR results. The ASL Archive results certainly show it now to be pro-German.

Dave and I would dice for sides and he would get the defending Germans and I the attacking Americans. Another reason for selecting this scenario is the short number of turns and the use of one board and not a ton of pieces. Playing ASL in the middle of the week is not easy for me. My job likes to follow me home, so most of the time, I'm not really able to get into ASL game. But with the current times and my desire to continue to increase content for readers who are quarantined, made me want to make the time for this game. And plus, since Dave and I did not get to see one another at March Madness...well this will make up a little bit for that missed opportunity.

The venerable Board 24. It was a truly unique board when released. It was our first look at a valley. This board still plays very differently from most any other board.

As the attacking Americans, I would command the men of the 101st Airborne Division. Nothing better than commanding the Screaming Eagles. I love me some 7-4-7's!!! My force would consist of 11 x 7-4-7's led by a 9-2, 9-1 and 8-1 with an MMG and 3 x Bazookas. This would be a tough force!

As the defending Germans, Dave would command the men of the Selbstaendige Flak Batterie (att.) Flieger Division 7. This force would consist of 1 x 4-6-7, 4 x 4-4-7's, 2 x 2-2-8's led by an 8-1 and 2 x 7-0's with 2 x LMG's and 2 x 88L AA Guns with 2 x Trenches. Going up against the 101st would be very challenging for this force.

My forces would enter on Turn 1 and on Turn 2. Dave had setup with a view to hitting me the moment I entered the board.

My boys new the first move would be one of the hardest in this scenario.

As expected, Dave's LMG's were both trained on my entry hexes. I would do ok with just two squads being pinned. Not ideal...but not bad either. It could have been much worse. And my 8-1 and one squad had made it to my phase 1 line.

 Dave would reveal his first 88 also, but poor rolls would plague his best asset throughout the battle. Game note : Dave’s initial shot was in error as his line of sight was blocked by the one a half level building. Dave caught it as we played through the turn.

 Turn 2 - my main force would enter the battle.

I would combine aggressive and cautious moves in an effort to put pressure on the 4-4-7 in my grill and give my 9-2 kill stack a chance to get into position.

I would send a 3-3-7 into CC with the 4-4-7 and my boys would die. The Germans would find themselves with a shiny new bazooka.

Dave thanked me for hand delivering his boys a nice...new bazooka.

In his Prep Fire, Dave would hit me with what he had available and then tried to move his 4-4-7 with my bazooka out of harm's way. I would succeed in pinning them.

Turn 3 - I had succeeded in eliminating Dan's LMG position in V3 building. They had routed away and would not rally again for the remainder of the game. This opened up Dave's right flank and I tried to move forward as quickly as possible.

 At the half-way mark, I was wrapping around Dave's flanks, but he still had me held up in the center.

But then disaster...Dave would MALF his 88 and then destroy it when trying to fix it. He still had a second one, but losing this one in the center was certainly a blow to the German defense.

"Hans...I think we needed that 88..."

 Turn 4 - I came hard around Dave's left and got an officer all the way into the backfield.

Of course...he needed the rest of my boys to follow..

By the end of 4 I was nearly through the center of town and getting within a movement phase of the exit zone. But Dave's second 88 had revealed itself and wasn't something I could ignore.

Dave's last 88 was watching the exit zone.

The white circles denote German units that were eliminated for failure to rout. I had elected not to accept prisoners.

Turn 5 - I was moving ahead with an 88 on my left flank and a single 4-4-7 on the right flank.

My boys were getting ready for the Turn 6 dash for the exit!

 My perimeter was out of the valley and knocking on the exit door.

Dave counter-attacked on Turn 5, but his 4-4-7 on the right flank would break. I would suffer a break in the center near my 9-2, but the exit force was intact and ready to go!

Turn 6 - my boys head for the exit. I have one squad break, but my 9-1 and three squads succesfully exit and with that the Americans had the win.

My Americans could celebrate a hard fought victory. My thanks to Dave for taking time on a Wednesday evening to get in a great game of ASL. Dave and I will hopefully get in a few more games yet this year!