Our Saturday Game - ASL Scenario 20 - Taking the Left Tit

After last Saturday's epic infantry fight in China...Dan Best and I would take our infantry fighting up a notch to add night!!! Oh yeah...night fight baby...you know it terrifies you as you thumb through the E. Section rules and shake your head. But kind reader...you don't have to be afraid of the dark...embrace your inner darkness...fire those star shells and revel in the ability to conceal in your opponent's face! So join me as I recount an AAR so dramatic...so intense...that ABC is declaring more dramatic than any previous Bachelor Rose Ceremony (not sure if that's good or bad...but whatever)..this is ASL at its fiercest and most difficult...er exciting...yeah exciting!!!

At night...you just have to ask yourself..."Do I feel lucky?"..."Well do ya ?"

Yeah..sometimes I'm lucky...and maybe this scenario would be one of those times!!!

Dan is currently attempting to play the remaining Yanks scenarios that he has not played. So he selected ASL Scenario 20 - Taking the Left Tit. We would play the revised version from Yanks 2. 

As stated earlier, this would be a night scenario and Dan and I had not played one for a few months now. This one would have a lot going on and the first few turns would involve a bit of rules looks up as we shook off the rust and relearned some of the nuances of night fighting. So if you notice mistakes...we're guilty.

ROAR has the following for the Yanks 1 version with 36 German wins and 55 American wins. The Yanks 2 version has 3 German and 3 American wins. The ASL Archive shows the Yanks 1 version with 6 German and 7 American wins. And the Yanks 2 version with 1 German and 2 American wins. On the basis of the data it would appear that the revised version is a bit more evenly balanced than it previous version.

The Germans are the scenario defender and must hold the level 2 hexes of Hill 538. The German player get 24 factors of AP Mines, plenty of foxholes and 5 wires. And keep in mind that in night fighting I was able to HIP two squads. Additionally, the wire would not be visible until the hex containing it was entered. This would be one of those times, where my wire was pretty effective. My mines would also be very effective as Dan would wander into all 4 minefield hexes. So, when playing this scenario don't take your fortifications for granted. They made all the difference in this game.

Prior to playing, I spent Saturday morning working on image searches for this AAR. There are not a lot of night fighting photos...but I found a movie that most of you will recognize and that maybe currently available on Netflix or Amazon Prime (I forget which one). 

Most of the middle of this great movie is focused on a night fight between German and American patrols complete with minefields, star shells and intense combat. 

There is a particularly horrific scene where a young James Coburn is crawling across no mans land with a flamethrower on his back when his arm sweeps a mine and is blown off. In agony he rolls away and onto yet another mine. And as I said...it's a horrific scene.

This very scene would play out for Dan's Americans as they entered my minefields. By game end, I believe Dan had lost a full squad killed, an 9-2 officer wounded and an MMG lost in the field for the duration of the scenario.

As for the movie, it's absolutely worth your time. 

Ok...just a quick note about today's AAR. There will be a lot of pictures like this depicting night fighting. In the scene above the white dot is a German machine gun with the remnants of a star shell streaking across the center. I try hard to make sure the accompanying pictures for the AAR match the action and the forces fighting it as much as possible. The Americans in the pictures have patches from the 35th and 95th Infantry Divisions...the men in the scenario are actually from the 88th Infantry Division...so please forgive this...those dang white 35th Infantry Division patches just can be hidden!!!

This scenario covers actions near Santa Maria Infante, Italy in May of 1944. This is a beautiful part of Italy and I had the good fortune to pass through this area on my way from Rome to Naples. Unfortunately, I was working and did not have the free time to visit this site or nearby Monte Cassino. But to see them from a distance was pretty cool nonetheless.

As you guessed from the scenario title, the focus of this fight would be for the Left Tit. 

The scenario also describes the actions of Sgt. Eddy's efforts during this fight. This map shows more specifically the area of his actions in the battle.

As the attacking Americans, Dan Best would command the men of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 351st Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division. The Blue Devils would be one of the first all-draftee divisions to see action. They would fight exclusively in Italy and see 344 days of combat in a very difficult theater of operations.

Dan's force would consist of 15 x 6-6-6's, led by a 9-1, 8-0, and 7-0 with an HMG, 2 x MMG's, 3 x Bazookas and 2 x 60 MTR's. This would be a tough force, but morale would definitely be an issue for Dan during the course of the scenario.

As the defending Germans, I would command the men of the Fusilier Battalion 94 of the 94th Infantry Division. This division had been all but annihilated in the Stalingrad pocket. It was reconstituted and sent to the Mediterranean Theater. Much like the American 88th, it would spend the remainder of the war fighting defensive battles in Italy.

My force would consist of 8 x 4-6-7's, led by a 9-1, 8-1, and 7-0 with an HMG, MMG and 3 x LMG's. I would also receive 24 factors of AP mines and 5 x Wires. 

Additionally, all of my boys could entrench in suitable terrain. I would deploy one squad to try and stretch my line. I was pretty well outnumbered and with Dan's boys using Cloaking, I knew it was not going to be an easy fight.

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

"The Americans must exit 4 squads and have more good order squads equivalents on level 2 hills than the Germans at game end.  They have almost a two to one advantage in squads.  The plan is to use the advantage of cloaking to attack on a broad front and close with the Germans.  Then break the squads with firepower or in close combat.  Stacking in cloaking will allow for 4 dummy cloaking counters to be used to find fortifications and draw fire from the Germans by moving up the middle of the board.  The 9-1 with all MGs will move into position on the east flank to sweep any defenders with fire.  The 8-0 will attack the west flank and the 7-0 will go up the middle.  Leaders have to move to broken troops to rally them and keep them in the fight.  I will deploy two squads to have more infiltration units and two HS will take the MTRs.  The MTRs may use IR to light up the battle field during German movement.  Hopefully we can keep concealment and close with the enemy to take the hill and exit enough for the win."

The battle begins. The Night Vision Range (NVR) would be 3 hexes and remain that until Turn 7 when Dan's wind change DR changed it to 2. There is an error on the picture. The HIP HMG at the top of the picture is actually an MMG. Dan's troops are entering under cloaking, which means 6 MP's for all question mark counters and I have no idea what is contained under any of them. My minefields covered the flanks and the wire by SSR is placed on the hill. Thought not marked, all of the Germans are under NO MOVE.

 Here they come. I do not do anything in Defensive Fire and patiently wait.

Dan's boys approached in the dark.

 Then disaster as Dan's boys walk into the first of my 4 mine fields.

 The mine explosions would create gun flashes and give me the opportunity to fire my first star shells.

On the far east edge, Dan's biggest kill stack with the 9-1, 3 x squads and the HMG and both MMG's also walked into a mine field. The 9-1 would battle harden to a 9-2, but one squad would break and become a half-squad and the others would break.

As they left the minefield, they would be attacked again and machine gun fire would also hit the position. By the end, Dan's battle hardened 9-1 would be wounded and an MMG would spend the rest of the battle unpossessed in the mine field.

On the west flank, a half-squad with a mortar would be eliminated. At this point, Dan made a comment that it was pretty unlucky to be carrying a support weapon. I couldn't argue!

Now this scenario would be filled with wild rolls. Dan would roll a string of 3's, a couple of 2's and then 11's and 12's would pop up. I would roll a couple 2's as well and create a Heroic Leader and a Hero and Dan would get 2 Heroes of his own. This would be one wild and wooly battle. 

After 1 turn - Dan had reached the foot of the hill, but was still unaware of 2 mine fields and all of the wire that he was yet to meet.

Dan's boys had taken some losses, but were still in good shape to continue the assault.

Turn 2 - here they come!!! I built a huge wall of residual fire that stretched the width of the board. My machine guns laid down fire lanes as they could. Dan's boys would all get hung up on the wire. It was a big shock to hit the wire right in front of the German positions. My boys poured on the fire.

But miraculously, Dan would get one squad under the wire and that squad would go on to break my HMG stack. I had broken the HMG during Defensive Fire, which of course led to my demise. Dan had taken his first Level 2 Hex. I was also driven back on the east board edge. The weight of American fire was just too much Advancing Fire. Americans are tough up close.

Going into Turn 3 - My flanks were compromised, but I was holding out in the center. I had defense in depth, so I still had a secondary  line designed to prevent Dan from just walking towards the exit.

As Turn 3 ended, I would catch another group of Dan's boys in the far western minefield and another group in the east center would rout into my final mine field. My mines had done their job. I would also send my boys into CC with Dan's pinned boys on the west edge of the hill. 

Melee would be a great result for me as I wanted to tie up as many of Dan's good order squads as possible. 

We would have a lot of close combat action before this game was over.

Dan would also get off a shot from one of his mortars!!

Around Turn5 - Dan's boys were finally making some progress around both flanks. I was holding in the center, but the Americans were on the hill and pushing me hard.

 On the hill, I would try and conserve what force I had left and still hold my positions.

Dan had finally cleared all my mine fields and wire obstacles and would soon send some boys for the exit.

On the east board edge, my boys had been eliminated. All that was left was my ELR'd 7-0 and he was completely surrounded. But then the sniper spotted him and would wound him. He would be eliminated shortly.

As Dan's boys made for the exit on the east road, his boys on the west moved onto the hill. 

Close combat would be the name of the game as Dan's boys leapt into my foxholes. Talk about a FUN Game...good grief...this was ASL at its best. Dan and I were having a blast. We were both sweating the outcome...but enjoying the fight!

I tried to keep my boys in the fight and would send them into CC including my wounded hero, who had strayed towards the west and would leap into a fox hole full of Americans with an MMG.

 Dan's boys had made a lot of progress, but losses had been heavy. 

Turn 7 - Dan exits 3 full squads. He needed 4...so one more squad would have to exit. And then he would have to have more good order squads on level 2 hills than I did.

Dan had a wounded officer on the east road working hard to rally a broken 5-4-6. Dan would need this squad to exit. They would rally, but then be broken again and they would not exit the board.

 Dan would send a squad into CC with my forward edge position. At this time, I had broken and eliminated two of my LMG's. Third LMG was unpossessed on the east edge and my MMG was unpossessed above my foxhole and the HMG was sitting on the hill waiting for my boys to run up to it. I was hanging on by my teeth!!!

Game end...as we fought it out in the bottom of the 7th, Dan and I would finish one of the melees by killing each other. That would seal the deal. Dan didn't have enough squads exited and he didn't have enough to overcome me in squads on the level 2 hill hexes. It was finally over and my surviving grenadiers had the victory. What a fight...from start to finish this was an absolutely intense game. Dan had taken heavy losses in the early turns that contributed to the German victory. Minefields and wire did their job and my grenadiers managed to hang on. Dan had come within an inch of crossing the goal line.

My grenadiers would ultimately fall back from and reflect on the hard fight against the American 88th Infantry Division which would continue for another year.

My thanks to Dan for yet another great Saturday of ASL. This game will go down as one of my favorites that we have played.

And for those of you out there, who have passed on playing this gem because of Night Rules...please don't let that stop you from playing this. This scenario is worth squeeze!

And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:

" The plan did not work.  All elements did their part, except the MTRs were of little use.  However, the Americans took too many breaks and were too slow to rally.  Especially to minefields.  Mines wounded the battle hardened 9-2 leader and killed two squads from his kill stack.  Losing one MMG.  Generally close combat did not favor the Americans and too few troops were left to exit and dominate the hill.  The scenario highlighted my ineffectiveness in playing Americans, their low morale cannot complete the assaults I plan.  The Americans inflicted more damage by shooting at a distance.  A better tactic would be for the Americans to get within NVR of the Germans make the Germans fire at cloaking counters and then use the MTR to illuminate the Germans and destroy them with opportunity fire.  The defense was well played by Grumble Jones with my Americans finding every fortification the hard way, especially the minefields.  Congrats to Grumble Jones on the win!  Thanks for a great game."

That's all for now! I'll be off next week to celebrate my daughter's birthday in St. Louis. Dan and I will return on October 5th for a playing of ASL Scenario J175 Bedburg Bite.

See you then!!!