Our Friday Game - ASL Scenario 125 First Crisis at Army Group North

Well...here we are with a Friday Game to report...who knew? Normally, on Friday nights, I play with my long-time opponent in St. Louis. Scott and I have played ASL together since 1989, when we made the switch from Squad Leader to ASL. But this Friday, my buddy in STL had to cancel. So...there I am sitting at work...as I do most days and I get a couple emails from Dan who was working as hard as I was this day. And I thought...hey Dan...how bout we play tonight and tomorrow night???  Dan said yes to that idea and so here we are for a Friday night full of ASL goodness!

Nothing like thoughts of playing ASL to take the edge off of spreadsheet after spreadsheet....after spreadsheet...

Wow...let's shake that off!! 

Needless to say, my Friday got a whole lot better in a quick hurry!!

Dan and I had planned to play ASL Scenario 125 First Crisis at Army Group North tomorrow...but as it's a fairly quick playing scenario (despite 8 turns), we gave it a go tonight!

Like many of the Beyond Valor Scenarios, we have been playing lately, ASL 125 had its beginnings in the heady days of Squad Leader. It came in an issue of the General Magazine with three other Tournament Scenarios. And once again, I had not played the scenario since Squad Leader. Dan had not played this particular scenario at all, so it was a great choice for the evening. 

This scenario would also be realized as "M" in its first ASL version. ROAR shows this version with 44 German Wins and 11 Russian Wins. ROAR has the 125 Version with 6 Russian Wins and 20 German Wins. So without too much pondering...this scenario would appear to be pretty Pro-German. Our experience on this night would bear that as well.

This scenario covers the actions around Raseinia.

After rolling for sides, I would end up as the defending Germans faced with much the same situation as I faced in the Land Leviathans scenario. The two scenarios are very similar. The Russians would win this scenario immediately by exiting three of the tanks off the west edge. I would command elements of the German 1st Panzer Division.

The 1st Panzer Division is one of the most storied of the Wehrmacht's Panzer Division. From the Anschluss to the Sudetenland to Poland to France to the Eastern Front to Greece to the end at Budapest and would surrender in Austria...which completed the circle for the 1st Panzer Division.

My force would consist of 4 x 4-6-7's, led by a 9-1 and 8-1 with 2 x LMG's, 2 x DC's and supported by a 9-2 Armor Leader, 3 x MKIIIG's, 2 x Half-Tracks and a 37L AT Gun. On Turn 1, I would get an 88mm AA gun for reinforcements. A good size force to defend with.

As the attacking Russians, Dan would command elements of the 2nd Tank Division. The 2nd Tank Division would be heavily engaged in the early battles of Operation Barbarossa. It would be encircled and destroyed at Raseinia. Dan's fore would consist of 8 x 4-4-7's, led by an 9-0 Commissar with an MMG and LMG. In support would be 3 x KV-1's, 2 x T-26's, and 2 x BT-7's. To win Dan would have to successfully exit at least three of his tanks off the west board edge. And with the ROAR statistics in mind...it would look to be a very tough objective.

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

"The plan for the Russians is to cross board 4 and exit.  The infantry will move along the junction of the two boards and keep reinforcement from moving over to board 4.  Because of the Red movement numbers on all Russian tanks stopping to shoot is a risky maneuver.   A start up roll of 11 causes delay and a start up of 12 immobilizes the tank.  Likely only a couple of tanks will stop.  And those will be the weaker tanks.  The KVs will keep going for exit and keep the turret with its 14 armor factor pointed at any threat.  Hopefully the smaller tanks absorb the fire and the KVs can all three exit for victory."

 As I set up my defense, I decided that the Board 5 forest road would be a non-starter for the Russian Tanks. So I placed two half-squads in the road, each with a DC. If any tanks went that way, they would have to deal with the DC's. I placed the 37L AT Gun in the gap on Board 5. My MKIII's were all on Board 4, with the 9-2 Armor leader right upfront and the other two in hull down positions. My strategy would be to ignore the slow moving KV's and focus on eliminating the BT-7's and T-26's.

My MKIII's couldn't take on the KV-1's in a head-on fight, but they could take down the BT-7's and T-26's.

 Dan sent his armor down Board 4. The Russian infantry would move in the seam between Boards 4 and 5.

Dragging the Maxim is never easy for the Russians.

 My first shot was from my 9-2 who went after the T-26's which were moving in platoon movement. All three KV-I's lined up in the grain and stayed in motion. The two BT-7's went south and moved to get past my flank. My second MKIII knocked out one and then in Intensive Fire MALF'd its MA. OH NO...was all I could think.

 In my part of Turn 2 -- I fixed my MALF'd MA. This was the biggest move of the game. With it's repaired MA, my MKIII would knock out the second BT-7. My 9-2 would follow up and knock out one of the T-26's. My Board 5 assets all moved to the south. The fight was on Board 4.

My southernmost MKIII had two kills and would soon play a key role in the game...

A final look at the map and the end of the action by Turn 2. Dan's tanks put it into gear and went for the next leap forward. My 9-2 would watch KV's stream by him...as he waited patiently for the remaining T-26. Sure enough it emerged from the grain field and the 9-2 MKIII took him out.

My 9-2 would fulfill his primary mission of eliminating the T-26's.

With both T-26's and both BT-7's knocked out, that left only the three KV-1's. Dan had moved them passed two of my MKIII's. My final one took a long shot and failed to connect. My 88mm Gun was half-way ready and would be final defense.

But then, something unexpected happened. My southernmost MKIII, which had knocked out the BT-7's had tracked the KV's as they passed him. He had moved  his turret and was ready to take a rear shot as the KV's made for the exit.

Dan had rotated all of his KV turrets, so I was still facing the full frontal armor of the turrets, which was significant. I would need a hull hit to do anything.

In my Turn 2, Prep Fire Phase, this MKIII fired and got a rear hull hit on the lead KV-1. I rolled and bam! The KV was immobilized. 

And like that the game was over and my Germans had pulled off the victory.

And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:

"The plan did not work.  The Germans did a great job of covering board 4 and used infantry and the At gun to cover board 5.  Good shooting by the panzers stopped the smaller tanks and a hull hit immobilized one of the KVs.  Game was over by turn 2.  The plan to run fast did not work.  Looks like a shoot out strategy where the Russians group to be mutually supportive would be better.  It requires a stop each turn.  But all the shooting would keep the Germans at bay.  Great work by Grumble Jones made a fast run for exit a short game."

Our game had ended early after just under two hours. But for a short notice game after a long week of work, we both agreed that was not a bad thing. We discussed our game for Saturday and called it a night.

As for me, the dice which had so eviscerated me last week had redeemed themselves and helped me to a solid win. Dan and I both talked about other approaches to this scenario. At 8 turns in length, the Russian Player certainly has the option to try and take out the German defenses before making a run for the exit. But waiting comes at a price too. The Germans can consolidate their infantry to support the armor and the 88 gets more time to move into position. At the end of the day, as ROAR clearly shows, the Germans have the edge in this one.

Dan and I  will be back in action in about 30 minutes as we begin our Saturday Game of Scenario FT242 That Bridge Again...so see you again shortly!!!