It's been a while since I put together an AAR. 29 games have been played prior to the four played this weekend and covered here in this latest 4 Scenario AAR. These four games would move my total to 57 games played thus far in 2026. Dan Best, my regular opponent for the past ten years is already far ahead of me. Retirement and the close proximity of face to face opponents have allowed him to get in a high number of great games already this year. For me, I finally recovered a bit after my 10 game losing streak. My dice suddenly started rolling a ton of 3's...so much so that Dan reminds me how many 3's I've been rolling. And on two occasions, I legitimately diced Dan with rolls that were just too good for too long and mucked up the scenario. But over the last few games, my dice have reverted back to their normal nonsense...with lots of 11's and 12's...and keeping me from winning Close Combats with 2-1 odds vs a Pinned opponent. My failure to win Close Combats would cost me a win in one game. I would exit 16 of 18 required EVP. The final 2 EVP were tied up in Close Combat for three turns...
The record for the past 29 games.
As readers may recall, Dan and I alternate each week with our picks. Dan picks the four scenarios one week and I pick the next week. I tend to pick four from the same publisher. Dan is trying to complete playings of all the Break Contact (BC) and Winter Offensive scenarios. The AAR's this week are for scenarios selected by Dan from Winter Offensive and Break Contact packs.
Our first scenario, played on Thursday would be BC 15 Bagging the Bago Bridge. The Battle of Bago Bridge refers to a critical World War II engagement on March 29, 1945, in Bago City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. U.S. forces from the 40th Infantry Division successfully secured the strategic bridge, preventing its destruction by retreating Japanese troops and paving the way for the liberation of Bacolod City.
Red circle indicates location of the Bago Bridge fight.
As the attacking Americans, I would command elements of the 185th Infantry Regiments, 40th Infantry Division. My force would consist of 6 x 6-6-7's, led by a 9-2 and 8-0 with an MMG, 60 MTR and 2 x BAZ 45's.
As the defending Japanese, Dan would command elements of IJA 77th Infantry Division. The scenario card only lists them as the Bago Bridge Garrison, but maps indicated the bridge being in the 77th's zone of control. Dan's force would consist of 2 x 4-4-7's , 5 x 3-4-7's, and a 2-2-8 led by 2 x 8-0's & and an 8+1, with a Hero, a Wagon, an HMG, 2 x LMG's and a 50 MTR.
Astute readers and fans of Grumble Jones (and who isn't!?!) will recognize that this scenario is based on the exact same circumstances as Hanson's Bridge (Grumble Jones/March Madness).
Let me say right upfront...that I don't enjoy bridge battles...they are almost all the same..secure both sides of the bridge...as is the case in this scenario. And this one...oh good grief...paved road up to the bridge...but then let's make it dirt so the defender can entrench an HMG at the end of the bridge...honestly?? I was ready to concede after setup. Then the ridiculous roll to see who moves first...I would win and move first...but no sure you want to move first.
Turn 1 American - I move up as quick as possible. I would lose the game right here...I should have moved the 9-2 stack to T6 and could have gotten there in 6 movements and 8 to R9...which again...better move than the ones I made. And yes...it cost me the game.
In my version of this scenario...the Japanese Oxcarts are bringing supplies to the bridge garrison as happened historical. They had no idea the Americans were moving up towards the bridge...not so in this version...Dan moved his wagon on the map and promptly jumped off it. There needs to be an SSR requiring the Wagon to continue moving on the road until fired upon or in the LOS of a known enemy unit. No player is going to voluntarily run his wagon in the ambush.
Turn 2 more Japanese reinforcements...because why not...!?!?
I now had 3 squads, an LMG and 2 leaders behind me...
I still had to move up and take the bridge and that wasn't going to plan.
Dan would Banzai..I would stripe and reduce one squad to a half squad. But in the hand to hand...I would roll a 9...not effect...and Dan attacking a 1-2 would KIA me and take my bazooka. Down to 5 squads against 7...
Last picture I took before conceding after Turn 5. My failure to mutually eliminate in the first Banzai kept Dan's reinforcements intact behind me. I tried to put pressure on the bridge...but my rolls were total crap. Then Dan launched yet another Banzai at my 8-0 and a squad. I failed to stop them and in the Hand to Hand Dan snaked it...killing the 8-0 and a 6-6-7. And now I was boxed in with 2 squads and a leader behind me and the rest of Dan's force covering the bridge. It was over...I gave the concession and actually was sorry to have played this one...I like my version better. Dan had a great win and there is nothing you can when your opponent snakes you hand to hand...you're just dead...
It's rare to be overly critical of a scenario design...but having designed a scenario around this very action...I was disappointed that the Japanese Hero had no real job...as he couldn't detonate the bridge bomb...and again the ox cart is handled poorly. The SSR's should dictate that the cart move on the road until fired upon and/or has LOS to a known enemy unit. Dan's easy ability to get a leader, squad and LMG behind me...really sucked. And the Banzai charges by Dan did horrible damage to me as he won both with hand to hands without a single loss. Down to 4 squads and leader...my chances of taking the bridge were close to none.
Our next game, played on Friday would be WO35 Heroes' Day. Designed by Ken Dunn, this unique scenario covers British retaliatory actions against Indonesian troops following an altercation while assisting the Dutch evacuate their nationals outside of Surabaya. Suffering heavy losses, the Indonesians would have to wait another four years to press forward with their Independence, recognition of which occurred on 10th November and be remembered as Hari Pahlawan- Heroes' Day.
As the attacking British, Dan would command elements of the 5th Indian Division. His force would consist of 16 x 4-4-7's led by a 9-2, 8-1 and 2 x 8-0's with 6 x LMG's (too many), 2 x Shermans and 2 x Stuart tanks.
As the defending Indonesians, I would command elements of Tentara Keamanan Rakyat and Pembela Tanah Air. My force consisted of 10 x 3-4-7's and 10 x 1-2-7's led by an 8-0 and 3 x 7-0's with an MMG, 4 x LMG's, 3 x Armored Cars and 3 x Carriers.
NOTE: prepping for this scenario is a pain...you will need counters from the Russian, British, Japanese, American, Axis Minors, and Allied minors.
Setup is sequential...the Indonesians setup...then the British...then the MOB...1-2-7's could be setup anywhere. I went with a Schwerpunkt along the south edge. It was in my mind the most direct route to the victory location building in the Indonesian rear.
Turn 1 - Indians...I had to deal with a couple 1-2-7's that popped up in front of me. I moved my forces to deal with the mobs and still move forward towards the first Indonesian LMG position.
The 1-2-7 Mobs were eliminated, but the Indonesian sniper would break a squad...forcing one of my 8-0's to remain behind to rally it.
Dan shifted his ATR carriers and mobs around to check movement down key roads. He also sent 1-2-7 Mobs directly into my perimeter. They would be eliminated.
My advance continued and I would finally eliminate most Indonesian resistance on board 8b.
With all Indonesians removed from inside my perimeter, I was able to move quickly towards board 13a.
Dan shifted his ATR carriers once again. A Sherman on the hill would knock out one of them, but the other two would successfully relocate. Dan's MMG position anchoring the southern defense would go Berserk...the kiss of death...
I moved armor up to become the targets of the doomed (hopefully) Berserk charge. The rest of my forces moved up to prepare to move onto Board 13a.
The Berserkers would infact be mowed down. My Schwerpunkt on the south was able to move forward and head for the victory building location.
At the halfway mark...I was in good position. My force was still intact and possessing tremendous firepower.
Dan would move his Armored cars after my Sherman knocked one of them out. On the southern flank, my other Sherman would machine gun and KIA (Dan rolled a 12 on the MC) the ATR Carrier crew.
I would send a Sherman back to defend against Dan's flanking Armored Cars. The rest of my force successfully moved into position to begin assaulting the victory building location.
Final picture that I would take prior to Dan's concession. Dan's flanking Armored Cars would lose one knocked out and burning...with the final one getting past my blocking Sherman. The remainder of my force was positioning for the assault on the Victory Location Building. Once the building was surrounded...Dan would give the concession. His force was heavily outnumbered and the armor would soon put them in VBM freeze. Dan wasn't enjoying the scenario...so gave the concession and a British/Indian victory. I'll admit that I largely concur with Dan regarding the lack of a fun factor to this scenario. The idea of the Mobs is interesting...but they go down very easily in the face of heavy Indian firepower. A strong Schwerpunkt is going to be very difficult to slow down barring some amazing good luck.
Our third game, played on Saturday would be BC12 Itson. This would be a third PTO scenario in a row...yeah...that's a lot of PTO. This scenario is a hill fight in 1945 Bouganville between defending Australians and attacking Japanese. This is a large scenario with a total of 60 squads.
As the defending Australians, I would command remnants of the 25th Battalion, 7th Brigade. My force would consist of 16 x 4-5-8's, a 2-4-8, and 2 x 2-2-8's, led by 3 x 9-1's, an 8-1 and 2 x 8-0's, with a Hero, 4 x LMG's, 2 x MMG's, an HMG, 3 x 51 MTR's and 3 x Matilda Tanks.
As the attacking Japanese, Dan would command elements of the 13th & 23rd Regiments of the 6th Division. His force would consist of 24 x 4-4-7's, 20 x 3-4-7's, and 3 x 2-2-8's led by a 10-0, 9-1, 9-0, 3 x 8-0's, and 2 x 8+1's, with 6 x LMG's, 2 x MMG's, an HMG, and 2 x DC's.
This is a tight battlefield for 60 squads...just say'n...
So...not a lot to say about this scenario...I didn't like it...it's PTO...to small an area of the board...way too many squads and now way to thin out the Japanese attack. Historically, the Australians mowed down the Japanese. That's way harder to do in ASL...Japanese...stripe...then reduce and still keep coming...then get -1 in ambush and -1 in Hand to Hand. If you don't KIA them...your cooked.
12.5 Australian Squads try to hold a hill position against 25 Japanese Squads on Turn 1 with 19 more yet to come on Turns 3 and 4. The Australians receive reinforcements on Turn 3 - 4 squads and 3 Matilda II's...but crossing the river, which is a mud flat eats up all the Matilda movement when they enter and of course require bog checks.
UGHH...honestly...the counter management for a game like this is just a freak'n pain. Not to mention the SAN of 5 for both sides...constantly having to roll for Sniper Activation...idiotic in my opinion. There's already too much going to constantly to be checking for snipers. I didn't do well during this game against Dan's advancing Japanese. No Banzai...just a relentless wave that was able to generate 15 FP shots against targets in Advancing Fire.
Thank goodness for PIN's...
This is just Turn 1 --I barely dented the Japanese wave...
My part of Turn 1 - my shots were largely ineffective.
Japanese Defensive Fire would break two of my squads....and I my Hero and a half-squad were trapped in a Hand to Hand Melee. I won the ambush originally and had a 3-2 attack...and as always my dice bent me over and gave me a nice fat 11...my 4-5-8 would be casualty reduced by the Japanese. In the historical battle...the defending Australians were fortunate in not having to roll dice...
Turn 2 - the ugliness really begins. Japanese fire hammers me and I break here and there. I would miss 6 morale checks in a row with 8 morale troops.
You will note the two CC's - these were vs. Japanese that advanced on to Wire. WHY...why are you allowed to Advance on to wire??? I hate that rule. But I hate a lot of rules...so moving on...
You might also be thinking that I was not digging scenario at all...you'd be right.
My Hero and half-squad would be chopped to pieces in Hand to Hand...and do nothing in return. I hate Close Combat because I routinely fail to do anything and get wiped out. Dice rolls matter... I would KIA two 4-4-7's with a 2 KIA result...but it was too little too late.
Last picture I took before Turn 3....yeah...I conceded at the end of two turns...Dan had KIA'd my Hero, both crews, two squads and broken 6 more...oh the Sniper wounded my 9-1 in the rear as he tried to rally my boys. I only had 4 squads unbroken...my left was complete shattered and my HMG was abandoned in the trench soon to belong to the Japanese 10-0 stack. I gave the concession...because the scenario wasn't fun...just a head bashing dependent on good rolls...and killing Japanese requires exceptional rolls. And I couldn't see any point to adding 16 squads of Japanese on Turn 3...my failure to pass morale checks doomed my defense. So...two turns and out for me.
Would I recommend this one? Yes and no...if you enjoy brutal face to face mashups...this is your scenario...no finesse...just plow into the teeth of the defense and who cares how many squads you lose...you get another 19 to finish off an Australians that survive. Dan's attack was the right kind...a full board wave that quickly crossed the ground and got into contact with the Australians. A Turn 3 Banzai was certainly in the offing and would have sealed my fate even as the 16 reinforcing squads entering on the north edge..where I had no troops left to oppose it.
Roll well or perish...
Our fourth and final game of the weekend, played on Sunday was WO53 Two Kinds of People. Set on Omaha Beach it depicts one of the assaults off the beach and up the draw leading to Colleville-sur-Mer. This is a Pete Shelling design.
As the defending Germans, I would command elements of Infanterie-Division 352 and 716. My force would consist of 4 x 4-6-7's, 3 x 4-4-7's and 2 x 2-2-8's led by an 8-1 and 7-0 with an MMG, 2 x LMG's, a 50 MTR and 2 x 50L AT Gun.
As the attacking Americans, Dan would command elements of the 16th Regimental Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division and 741st Tank Battalion. His force would consist of 8 x 6-6-7's and 7 x 3-4-7's led by a 10-2, 9-1, and 2 x 8-1's with 2 x MMG, 3 x DC's and two DD Shermans.
This scenario has a lot of SSR's...I didn't care for most of them. And I often wonder if play testers play the scenarios with the board edge creeping Schwerpunkts. If not...they should...
Dan would get reinforcements through the first 3-4 turns...I lost track...cause again...I just thought it was an impediment to playing the scenario and Dan seemed to get what he needed for the fight.
Dan's Schwerpunkt rolled up on my weakly defended hill...7-0, 4-4-7, 2-3-7, 2-3-7 with an LMG. That was it. And they would hold out for 3 turns and the 4-4-7 and 7-0 would successfully rout and return to play on that hill.
My 50L AT Guns were my best asset in the game. I only had on MMG in play...yes...I forgot I had two...no excuse...somehow I only placed one on the map. Oh well. I would knock out one of the DD Shermans. Dan also had an 8-1 and 6-6-7 stuck in a minefield. They eventually got away...but it definitely impacted the assault. Dan's 3-4-7's were experiencing bad outcomes as many of them were KIA'd during their advances.
I managed to repel the attack on the right side hill. The bulk of my force was also on this hill.
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I had forgotten that a 50L AT Gun can still knock out Shermans.
My 2-3-7 with LMG in the left hill bunker held out a long time...before routing away. Dan's 6-6-7 with DC that had armor assaulted with the knocked out DD Tank was casualty reduced and then forced to rout into a minefield...but they too managed to survive it.
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Dan's attack continued and small bits of attrition were beginning to add up as more 3-4-7's were eliminated.
The victory conditions require the Americans to exit more MMC EVP than the Germans have unit VP on the hills. Dan was battling two problems...time available to exit and the loss of units. Up to this point in the game, the Germans had only lost a full squad on the left hill and no one on the right side hill.
My 50L AT Gun on the left side went after Dan's 10-0, but never got a good hit. A 3-4-7 charged up the hill to take out the gun in CC. They would fail and be eliminated.
Final picture of the battle...The upper left circle is the final 6-6-7 reinforcement. My MMG prior to MALFing would pin that squad upon entry. That would mission kill them...with no chance to exit. Additionally, his 3-4-7 w/DC on the right side was similarly mission killed. The large circle deals with the final act of the battle. My right side 50L AT Gun finally got into the fight. In the course of a ridiculous rate of fire tear..I would roll four critical hits, which KIA'd a 3-4-7 and a 6-6-7. With those troops eliminated Dan was down to only available EVP and my Germans has 19 VP on the hills. Dan did the math and gave the concession.
Dan and I would finish our 4 game weekend 2-2, which is as good as it gets!
Interestingly, Dan would win both Break Contact scenarios and I would win both Winter Offensives.
That is all from here. Dan and I will be back soon...
We will see you then!
