Kansas ASL Group Scenario PP05 HOT ZEMLYANKAS (Turns 1 and 2)

For our Saturday game, Dan and I elected to play another from the Kansas ASL Best of March Madness Pack. The choice was PP05 Hot Zemlyankas. This particular scenario takes place in January, 1944 in the wooded mountains of the Crimea. This is an 8.5 Turn scenario with just tons of men on both sides.

The term Zemlyanka in Russian refers to a dugout. In this scenario the Partisan Player would have 20 of these Zemlyanka Pillboxes scattered throughout the hilly, forested hexes of boards 36 and 39. The Partisans would also have 20 wire and 10 trenches to fortify their Zemlyankas. And 60 factors of AP mines would cap off the fortifications.

The Partisans would have 5 x 5-2-7's and 25 x 3-3-7's will a single HMG, MMG, 5 x LMG's  and ATR.

Dan would draw the Partisans and would be the scenario defender. These Partisans would represent elements of the Yalia Muntains Partisan Brigade. They would also have Molotov capability.

Facing my erstwhile opponent's hidden Partisans would be the Romanian 2nd Mountain Division and elements of a motorized cavalry platoon. As the scenario attacker, these Romanians would represent my hopes for victory!

It has been a while since I played with the Romanians...but man would this scenario make up for that!! My force would be HUGE...HUGE...I mean HUGE!!

8 x 4-4-7's, 20 x 5-3-7's and 8 x 3-4-7's with plenty of officers, LMG's, and MMG's.

And to top it off, I would have two off board 120mm mortars at Level 5 height. These bad boys would cover the valleys below pretty well. But it doesn't end there!!! I would also get 4 x Panzer 38(t)'s. These little cracker-jack tanks would be perfect for both the terrain and the mission. 

All in all I was pretty stoked about my force composition...but honestly less so about the scenario objective. The VC are tough. The Romanian Player must amass 105 or more CVP. That's a lot, and especially when the Zemlyankas are hidden and are only revealed if the units inside of them fire or the Romanians find them by searching a hex. Easier said than done...but ROAR does show that this scenario favors the Romanians. Of course, that has never stopped me from blowing it and losing anyway.

So...as my first thought about this scenario was that it was going to be a BUG HUNT!!!

The start of the game...do you see any Partisans??? I don't...this isn't good...I don't see nuthin...

"I can't see them...I can't see them...!!!"

The Romanians enter on both the West and North Edges of the map. I concentrated on the Southwest Corner and this group is dedicated to sweeping Board 36. 

This is the enemy that awaits me in the hills and valleys ahead..."the beast is out there and he hungry!"

My 9-1 Officer in a moment of foreshadowing... 
(he would die after rolling a "12" on an NMC.)

My forces were pretty impressive as well.

My force on the North was heavy on 5-3-7 squads and these seem best suited to operate on their own and move into the hills and deep forest in search of the elusive Zemlyankas!!!

Let the bug hunt begin!!!

My opponent's Fabian tactics were first rate, as I immediately drove my first tank right into a wire hex and promptly bogged after rolling..."wait for it...wait for it...AN 11...yes...I rolled an 11", which as my readers know...is my all-time favorite dice roll.

Why...why do my dice bully me so...???

After spotting a wire hex to the south, I quickly sent a tank towards it and moved several infantry groups in that direction. In the center, my group made contact with a Zemlyanka with some point blank fire. But I wasn't the only one to see some bad rolls. Dan's initial ambush fires on Turn 1 weren't stellar rolls and allowed my forces to escape from some potentially destructive fires.

My luck really held out on Turn 1.

Once the first Zemlyanka showed itself, I quickly moved my 9-2 and 8-1 stacks in to put down some fire on it.

In this sector, my Turn 1 moves didn't reveal too many Partisans. I was a bit surprised....but I may have to conduct some searches as I get to the crest of the ridge in case Dan is waiting to spring an ambush on me in the later game turns.

With one tank bogged on the wire, two others successfully eliminated the wire and survived the minefield just beyond it.

Back to the southwest sector, I pushed ahead and ran right into Zemlyankas galore...with mines and wire. 

Dan was just waiting for me!

But my luck continued to hang on and I survived the first fires of the hidden Partisans. I managed one shot with my flamethrower...an 11, but it was enough to get a break on the Partisans.

 At the end of Turn, I had revealed about five or so of the 20 Zemlyankas.

 Back to the Northeast corner, my armor would come into play and help push back the Partisans in this area.

 In the North Center, I tried to to maneuver so as to get behind the Zemlyanka...but Dan...had trenches behind the Zemlyankas...how dastardly!!

 

 Back in the southwest the Partisans managed to escape from the noose and made a dash for freedom.

They were well led...but all would ultimately fall to the fire from my Romanians.

 My armor swung into the valley with the purpose to scour the ridges on both sides for wire obstacles and the tell tale signs of possible Zemlyankas.

My bogged Tank managed to roll another 11 and became immobilized...so the Partisans took out a tank with barb wire...not a bad trade off.

 The Zemlyankas in the center would prove to be pretty thorny for me.  Finding the Zemlyankas with a small force is one thing...but attacking them is a bit tougher...so I may need to gather my forces...but the terrain is a killer. The double slopes with woods take all the movement in one hex....so it's going to be a tough slog.

 

 The stream is frozen, and the marsh hexes are -1 level crags.

 

 In the southwest my forces had made good progress and eliminated two Zemlyankas.

 Back in the center things got ugly. Dan's Partisans crept out and ambushed two squads and eliminated both by winning the ambush. It was a tough hit.

Great move by the Partisans and something to remember as I get adjacent to the next Zemlyankas.

 In the northwest, my boys discovered that the Zemlyanka in their front was also connected to a larger network as more Partisans funneled into the action. fortunately my tank's 8 MG factors are helping me and the Partisan wire is also helping me. Those dang Partisans are sneaking forward with Molotovs!

A last look at the battlefield as we head into Turn 3. One of the things that has really helped my Romanians are the two 120cm Mortars. In one fire phase, I rate of fired nearly 8 times in a row, against a Zemlyanka on Board 36 which housed the Partisan MMG. As the game proceeds, I will be relying heavily on those mortars.

Turn 3 Next Sunday!

ASL Scenario AP 85 Slicing the Throat

Our Saturday game was ASL Scenario AP85 Slicing the Throat. Personally, I found the scenario title to be very apt as I very neatly sliced my own throat on turn 3 of this very enjoyable scenario. I had taken a week off from ASL to celebrate my 29th Wedding Anniversary and it was actually nice to have the downtime. My regular STL opponent continued to have technical problems and so our Friday game did not occur. Ancient computer equipment and a cheap @ss interent provider are the main culprits. Hopefully, this will get taken care of and we can resume our Friday games. 

In the meantime, Dan Best and I were again pushing the cardboard on a Saturday night. It was my turn to choose the scenario and so I picked Slicing the Throat. It would only be my second time ever actually playing the Japanese. The other time was this year at March Madness. It's astonishing to me to think in thirty years of playing this game...I have only been the Japanese twice. And well...it showed!!!

On the other side of the field, Dan would have the 6th Burma Rifles consisting of 4-4-7's and 4-3-6's. At first glance not a sterling force. But...Dan would have 12 squads to go against my 12 x Japanese 4-4-7's. So...it would be a fairly even contest from my vantage point. Although, I do believe a more veteran Japanese player would probably have made short work of the Allied Force.

Dan as the Allies, would be the defender, while I would be the attacker. One of the things that threw us a curve was the Victory Conditions. Initially, Dan and I got them wrong. We both thought that only the Japanese got points for controlling buildings. I noted on the ASL Archive that we weren't the first players to have that misunderstanding. After Turn 2, Dan I and began to question our understanding of the VC. At that time, the Japanese had amassed more CVP than the British. So we both laughed that my Japaneses could just hunker down and force the British to come at them. That's when the light went off in both our heads and we realized that the British had control of all buildings in their backfield (a substantial) number. So the British were in fact winning the game...not my Japanese. So...in Turn 3 you will see some wild moves by my Japanese.

The game at the start of Turn 1. The Japanese are set up along their start line with the British defense in depth stretching towards the west where most of the building victory locations were located. The VC seemed simple enough. The player with the most CVP at the end is the winner. Building were worth 1 point. As mentioned earlier, Dan and I had not understood that both sides gained VC for the buildings.

Hey...we can't always be brilliant!!!

I started off trying to drop some WP on Dan's Bren Gun Carrier in N12. After several attempts, I did succeed. With that accomplished my infantry pushed off the start line and successfully moved ahead.

Overall, my two mortars wouldn't do too much.

My aggressive moves on Turn 1 went well and I managed to get into the positions up the middle where I had hoped to be by the end of the turn.

Dan's first line of defense consisted mainly of 2-2-6 Half-Squads. The Bren Gun Carrier on the hill proved a formidable opponent. In CC, my boys managed to immobilize it. The 2-4-7 crew would abandon it and move away. They would continue to be a thorn in my side.

My Arty, would ultimately succeed in brewing up the abandoned Carrier. But in hindsight, it would have been more valuable to have captured it.

Turn 2, I continued my movements forward. I succeeded in eliminating a couple of the 2-2-6 and a bunch of dummies that were in the axis of my advance. The British 8-1 and MMG revealed themselves at this time and gave me a bit of a scare.

As it turned out, Dan had placed his strongest assets along the P Hex wood line on the south part of the map. Dan had correctly ascertained that the best chance for a breakthrough was in that area.

Dan would make a lot of good moves during the game.

As stated before, Turn 2 was when Dan and I realized how the VC actually worked. As a result, I realized that I had to get moving or I'd never get into the building rich backfield.

I launched three separate Banzais and sent everyone else forward as if it was the last turn of the game. (Funny...how self-fulfilling that was!!!).

There's just something about a Banzai Charge in ASL that is just huge fun!!

My reckless charges resulted in some breakthroughs in the south...but none of the three squads that made it through were stronger than a half-squad. My casualties had been severe. Some squads were KIA'd on the spot, while others striped, ELR'd or otherwise were degraded. Dan's boys ripped into my charging infantry. And then in Advancing Fire, my boys did absolutely nothing.

My charges had managed to get me toe to toe with the British MLR. But the cost had been too high. My forces were critically reduced as a result of the Banzai Charges.

One of the more remarkable aspects of the Close Combats, which followed the Banzai Charge was just how well Dan's 4-3-6's performed. The close combat against Dan's 8-1 officer stack resulted in mass death as both sides were eliminated in CC. My 9-1 died along with Dan's 8-1.

The Banzai Charges had been awesomely fun to conduct and the Hand to Hand contests with Dan's boys were equally fun. ASL is really at its most exciting in these kinds of moments.

But then Dan's 7-0 Officer Stack rolled snake-eyes. In the blink of an eye, three Japanese Half-Squads were eliminated with no chance to hurt the 7-0 stack even though I had rolled their elimination. The snake eyes just killed me...literally.

Dan's, 7-0 Stack would go on to take charge of the battlefield.  Had my Japanese eliminated the 7-0 stack and then survived, the game may have ended very differently...but instead, my valiant Banzai Charge has resulted in the destruction of my force.

Despite the brutal losses, my Japanese had sustained, I continued the fight. There was still the slight chance, that my remaining forces could get into the British Backfield and start taking building locations.

Dan wasn't about to let that happen, so he went on the offensive in Turns 4-6. Essentially, he conducted a mopping up action as my forces were isolated and unable to support one another.

Who knew mopping up could be so much fun!!!

Dan's second Bren Gun Carrier had also moved forward to help mop up my boys, but its overrun attack would ultimately result in the Japanese capturing it. A last success for my Japanese.

My boys would take the Carrier for a nice joy ride!!!

I can't remember the last time I had captured a vehicle in Close Combat.

Meanwhile back in the north, the British were finishing off my remaining forces.

A final three CC's would pretty much wrap up the game.

My remaining forces were 2 x 2-2-8 Crews. One had the captured Bren Gun Carrier and the other was still with my Arty.

With the game basically over, Dan was gracious enough to allow me to play it out for the remaining turns. This allowed me to take my capture carrier on a little joyride into the British backfield.

The final act of the game was watching my captured Carrier conduct two overruns on the British who had surrounded it.

The view of the map as the time ran out on my Japanese. Dan had successfully annihilated my force. It really was a complete Allied Victory. While the Banzai Charges had been a blast to conduct and play out...they were ultimately my undoing. I never recovered from the losses sustained in making those charges.

Kudos to my opponent for a great game and a great win. 

We shall meet again comrade and we will have HOT ZEMLYANKAS!!!!