Grumble Jones - An ASL Blog: Our Saturday Game - A 3 Player Bonanza!!! ASL Scenario J171

Saturday...that magical day...when the world stands still and all is silent except for the clink of dice rolling in glass tumblers etched with past ASL Glories...Texas ASL...Audie Murphy Award...March Madness 2015...and then the crack of cardboard rifles...the staccato chatter of cardboard MG-42's cutting through the woods of board 5...and the boom of OBA that shatters the night air and convinces your unsuspecting neighbors that World War 3 has been unleased...

THAT'S RIGHT...IT'S ASL NIGHT IN AMERICA!!!

So put the children to bed...tell the neighbors to seek shelter...because ASL is being played and in this game...there will be fire and fury and HEROES will be born!!!

And yes...in the end there can be only ONE!

For our Saturday game, Dan Best, Dave Mareske and I met once more in a 3 way Cardboard via SKYPE. But on this night...there would be no allies...no cooperation...it would be a fight to the death and only one of us would be the champion at the end of the night!

ASL Scenario J171 - Whom Gods Destroy is one of the only scenarios of which I am aware of that is actually a 3 Player free for all. This particular scenario (designed by Chris Olden) concerns the events surrounding the summer of 1944 in Greece.

The German forces there were sensing that the time to leave was fast approaching. Meanwhile various factions within Greece itself were preparing to war on themselves as soon as the Germans were out of the picture. In this scenario the three forces are as follows: The German 7th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment, SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier Division 4 / Elements of the British-backed EDES Guerrillas / and Elements of the Soviet-backed ELAS Guerrillas.

After rolling for sides, things shaped up like this:

Dave Mareske would command the 7th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment. He would field 8 x 6-5-8's, 2 x 3-4-8's, led by a 9-1, 2 x 8-1's, and 8-0 with 2 x MMG's and 3 x LMG's for support. Additionally, he would have a Half-track and 2 x PZ M15/42 Tanks.

This force would field the smallest number of squads, but would have the best morale and armor support. As the scenario would prove, these guys would be the best equipped to prevail.

I would draw the British-backed and trained EDES Guerrillas. My force would consist of 7 x 4-5-8's, 8 x 4-5-7's, led by a 9-2, 2 x 9-1's, and 8-1 with an HMG, MMG, 6 x LMG's, 2 x ATR's, and 2 x 51 MTR's. This would be a substantial and well-equipped force. The EDES force would also have the advantage of moving first. This would allow me a rare opportunity to move across an ASL board with no defenders. It was a novel experience. Unfortunately, my force would fail to meet expectations.

Dan Best would draw the Communist - ELAS Guerrillas. This would be the largest force in the game. Dan would have 6 x 5-2-7's, 7 x 4-4-7's, and 9 x 3-3-7's lead by a 10-0, 10-2, 9-1, and 8-0 with an HMG, MMG, 3 x LMG's, 2 x ATR's and 2 x 45 MTR's.

Dan is a big fan of Partisans and would play these guys very well. He would take huge risks and bring the battle to the Germans.

The EDES entry zone.

The EDES forces (in green) move onto the board unmolested. My strategy was to accumulate CVP from both the ELAS and the Germans. My mortars were focused on the entry area on the hills where I knew the ELAS would come onto the board. My force in the center was going to push towards the H7 victory location area.

Dave's German SS Grenadiers came in and moved quickly into two main positions. The first of these was the H7 Victory Hex location. Whichever side had the most squads within 3 hexes of H7 would win the scenario (or whoever had the most CVP at game end). Dave's next focus was to put a tank and squads in position to counter my EDES boys.

I would repeatedly hit Dave's tank with my ATR...but I needed Snakes to eliminate it and I ever even got close.

Dan's ELAS would have the most difficult terrain to enter across. All of Dan's boys would enter the game CX.

As planned, my mortars went to work on Dan's ELAS. I would accomplish next to nothing for 4 turns. Ultimately, I should have moved the mortars into my center position and used them to smoke the German armor. Lesson learned...and now you know too.

The scenario card includes a three turn marker section, which shows how each phase is conducted. Each side has three rally phases per turn and two defensive fires. It worked very well, but we all three concluded that the turns were overly long as a result.

Another unanticipated difficulty occurred as a result of playing over SKYPE. As Dan and Dave engaged one another's forces face to face, they would often forget to call out the hexes, so that I could follow the action. I would hear Dan say..."and this little fella is moving here"...and I would be "Who...what little fella...what's happening??"

Berserkers...they always add some excitement to the game!

My EDES boys were initially stymied. For whatever reason I was playing overly cautious and didn't move in Turn 2. Meanwhile, Dave's tank just kept scoring hits on my 9-2 in the house and 2 and 3 MC's were the rule of the day as he would get 2 critical hits on me.

Dave's Half-track would also keep a watchful eye on my forces as Dan's ELAS Guerrillas came charging down the mountain. Kudos to Dan for bringing some great entertainment to the night. He went for broke turn after turn. While I was paralyzed with inaction...Dan was charging into the SS machine guns with wild abandon!!

Snipers abounded during our game. Dave's dice were hot and rolled a lot of threes, which activated Dan's and my Sniper. Unfortunately for me, the German and ELAS sniper would hit me, while my Sniper hit both Dan and Dave from time to time.

The ELAS sniper would prove troublesome for my boys.

My EDES sniper would in the same turn, Stun the German Half-track and Pin Dan's boys on the hill with an ATR.

My 9-1 would be wounded by a sniper and a squad broken by the same shot. Meanwhile, my 9-2 stack would be DM'd by Dave's tank. My two biggest groups were down for the count.

As Dan's boys surged into the village and went man to man with Dave's Germans...a wounded ELAS Hero would jump into Close Combat with a squad of SS. Dan would win the ambush and wipe them out...even the LMG. Good grief!!!

A look at positions as we worked through Turn 3.

Dave's Grenadiers were weathering the storm!

As we entered Turn 4, Dave decided to fall back and get some separation between his force and Dan's ELAS Guerrillas.

Dan's ELAS Guerrillas made one final push and would hit Dave hard, but then fall back.

Dan's boys had fought hard throughout the game.

As turn 4 ended...the clock struck 10:00 PM. Dan and I assessed the situation and both agreed that it was time to tip our hats to Dave and congratulate him on a great win. Both Dave and Dan had 7 units in the Victory Zone location. So the final decision came down to CVP. Dan had 4 CVP, I had 4 CVP and Dave had 14 CVP. So Dave had the win! It had been a very interesting game. Dave had done a masterful job of fending off both Dan and I.