Our Saturday Game ASL Scenario J192 - Taking Some Flak

After a grueling scenario under the blazing hot sun of the Sahara Desert, Dan Best and I journeyed to the cool forests of Finland. It was a welcome change for me. DTO games are intense and exhausting. So I was very happy to be back on the Eastern Front. And of course playing with the Finns takes all of us back to the beginnings of ASL when the Borders were Burning!! Good memories and I was looking forward to making a new memory involving the Finns.

Now, you probably were thinking...Finns...Haaka Paalle...but nooo...I instead turned to the ASL Journal 12 for this Saturday's Finnish inspiration. I love the Journals and almost always enjoy the scenarios from the journals. I really believe they represent some of MMP's finest work.

So my choice this week would be J192 - Taking Some Flak. This is a bit of a unique scenario in that in involves Germans vs. Finns. After agreeing to terms with the Soviet Union, Mannerheim and the Finns were forced to turn on their German comrades in arms.

The German-Finnish connection had always been problematic as the Finns were not interested in the conquests of the Third Reich, but instead on recovering lands lost to the Russians following the Winter War. The Finns were successful in fighting the Continuation War on their own terms and to some extent the German failure to take Leningrad and the Kola Peninsula would be associated with Finnish reticence to push the war beyond their national comfort zone. Finland emerged from the Second World War intact and deserves some credit for surviving the cataclysm of the Russian Front as they found themselves caught between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Poland certainly provides the unhappy example of how bad it could be to be caught between those two powers. So as 1944 progressed, the Finns were forced to evict their German Allies, who found the only way out was to head north over the Artic Circle to the Finnish-Norwegian border. The Germans and the Finns had forged a remarkable respect for one another's combat prowess. The Germans admired and learned from their Finnish Allies. Watching the Romanians, Hungarians, Italians, and Bulgarians leave them never hurt the German Landser the way it hurt when the Finns were forced to turn against them.  And ultimately, the Soviets would force the Finns to hasten the German exit...which would require bloodshed...which ultimately neither Finn or German desired.

Waffenbruder...

Designed by Lars Thuring, Taking Some Flak covers the action of Finnish Jagers who are attempting to use their signature encirclement tactics to capture elements of the 6th SS Mountain Division.

The map shows the road along which the Germans are retreating. To win the scenario, the Finns must remove all Germans from or adjacent to the road.

The Germans will need all their skills learned from their Finnish Allies to ensure that they are not encircled and trapped by their former Waffenbruder.

ROAR has this scenario with 4 Finnish and 11 German wins. The ASL Archive has it with 2 Finnish and 2 German wins. The difference between ROAR and the Archive left me a little confused. Usually these two are generally in sync. But the Archive shows a balanced scenario and ROAR would tell me that's it pro-German. Knowing that many more folks put their results in ROAR, I am more inclined to go with the ROAR results. But I do hope more people will record their games not only on ROAR but also on the ASL Archive.

As the defending Germans, I would command the grenadiers of the 6SS Mountain Division "NORD". My force would consist of 7 x 6-5-8's and a 3-4-8 led by a 9-1 and 8-1 with an MMG, 2 x LMG's and a 50 MTR with a 20L Flakwagon for support.

As the attacking Finns, Dan would command the men of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Jaeger Regiment. This force would consist of 8 x 5-4-8's and 4 x 4-4-7's led by a 9-1, 9-0 and 8+1 with 3 x LMG's and an 81mm Mortar.

By SSR, Dan's Finns would win the game on Turn 3 by controlling the road hexes between 37B5 and 37E5 or at game end by amassing 5VP more than the Germans.

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

“The Finns are attacking the Germans in this scenario and can go for an immediate early win by capturing 4 road hexes or a game end win by eliminating more than they lose and/or exiting.  My plan is to go for the immediate win.  The Finns will attack from the south east side and the flanking units will enter from the east.  They will go for the wood and try to get into CC with the Germans.  Hopefully, stealthy will give them some ambush and they can go on to encircle and capture some Germans as they break. If this initial rush does not work, hopefully casualties will be an exchange and the Finns can go for exit.”

I set up two half-squads in the back along with the Flak-Wagon. The 50 MTR set up in the center rear to cover any flanking attack by Dan's reinforcements, which entered on Turn 1. And this would turn out to be a good placement. Dan set up a center Schwerpunkt to just drive forward.

The battle begins and Dan's 81 MTR hits my 8-1 stack. I roll a 12 on my second MC roll of the game. Just like that I have a broken half-squad. YIKES!!!

This would be the only shot by the MTR for the duration of the game.

Having silenced one of my LMG teams, Dan's Schwerpunkt swept towards me in the center, while his reinforcements struck from the east board edge. My boys would lay down a huge wall of resid and break or eliminate Finnish squads along the entire attack front. My MTR would get the surprise hit and stop Dan's flanking attack.

My Turn 1 Defensive Fire was as successful as I could have hoped for. I had managed to not only stop the Schwerpunkt but break enough squads that Dan would have to spend the next turn rallying and reorganizing for another assault.

It had been a rough first turn for Dan's Finns.

Turn 1 - German Phase - With Dan's boys broken and pushed back, I sent my Flak-Wagon and grenadiers forward to try and cut rout paths. I would mess up the attempt on the west flank.

Turn 2 - Dan's boys came at me again. I would continue to hold the road and repel this assault. However, the Finnish sniper would kill my 9-1. I was down to a single officer.

There was no surviving the shot!!!

 At the end of Turn 2 - I was still holding the forest road.

In my second attempt to cut off the rout path for Dan's 9-0, I would be successful and take my first prisoners. My Flak-Wagon would be instrumental in eliminating the Finnish squad adjacent to it and then breaking the 9-0 stack. It would play the decisive role in the battle.

Turn 3 - Dan would resume the assault. Dan lacked any heavy support as his mortar team had dismantled the mortar and were moving it to a better location.

There was no lack of effort by the Finn's but the loss in manpower and the lack of supporting machine guns limited their ability to support a stronger attack.

Turn 3 German - my boys moved forward to take more prisoners and hopefully end the battle.

As we began Turn 4 - Dan did the math and realized that his force was too badly damaged to meet the victory conditions. So with that the concession was given and the game was over. My Germans had taken enough prisoners to secure the victory and end the Finnish pursuit. Norway and freedom beckoned!

It had been a fast playing scenario with lots of close fire combat, but no actual Close Combat. Dan's Finns had made every attempt to get in close and engage in close combat, but the effectiveness of my SS Mountain Troops at close range was overpowering and kept Dan from getting into close combat. This scenario certainly confirmed that power of the SS at close ranges. My thanks to Dan for a great evening of ASL.

And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:

“The plan did not work.  The initial rush did not get into CC and sustained too many casualties.  The Finns did not rally back fast and sustained more casualties.  The Germans counter attacked with the flak halftrack and captured three and half squads and a leader.  The Finns conceded on Turn 4.  Well played by Grumble Jones with a great defense against the early VC and the ability to fall back.  Congrats on a well deserved win!”

The Finns, weary of war, would be happy to see their former Allies leave the country.

The grenadiers of the NORD Division would celebrate a win and the opportunity to escape the Arctic. Their next test would be against the Americans in France.



That's a wrap for this AAR. As many of you know, my buddy Dan is on the front lines of government response to crisis, so our next game may be delayed as the current Coronavirus challenges not only our country but the entire world. To you, my readers in China, South Korea, Italy, Iran, Spain, France, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Russia, and all the countries currently impacted by the COVID-19 Coronavirus, I pray for your safety, good health and a speedy return to normal life. We are all of us facing this threat together. And together we will overcome it.

Stay safe my friends and we will see you soon.