Our Saturday Game - ASL Scenario G12 - Avalanche

For our Saturday Game - Dan Best and I spun the globe and landed at the foot of Mt. Elbrus in the Caucasus Mountains. Once again...Dan is dragging me away from beloved French villages and Russian forests for another romp through Full Rules ASL.And tonight's scenario would involve Alpine Hill Rules, Snow Drifts, Ski Capable units, Climbing and the potential for AVALANCHES!!! It's a buffet of all the things I can't stand!! Why Dan...why must you torture me like this!?!

Dan's choice for scenario would be ASL Scenario G12 Avalanche from the General Magazine 27.1. Downloads of the General Magazine can be found at View from the Trenches . 

In the Avalon Hill Days, the General was one of the few places to get new scenarios, which were few and far between in the old days! I subscribed to Magazine in the 1990's mostly for the ASL content.. I didn't renew my subscription after a year, because there was just too much content that didn't match my wargame interests at the time. MMP's Special Operations Magazine reminds me a bit of the old General.

Despite having this scenario for a looong time, I had never played it. My aversion to rules, which runs strong in me, consigned this scenario to "not today" pile. Dan has also not played this one, so it will be good to give it a playing. ROAR has this one with 7 German and 2 Russian wins. I didn't see any games listed on the ASL Archive. So this scenario definitely deserves some attention.

Mt. Elbrus is the highest mountain in Europe at 18,000 feet. It would be the scene for a full scale German propaganda moment that would steal valuable resources needed elsewhere near the Volga River. But German mountaineers could not resist the chance to summit the highest mountain in Europe and fly the flag of the Third Reich at its pinnacle. The German 1st Gebirgsjaeger Division would have the honor of making the summit and fighting the Soviet Mountain Troops who resisted their ascent. 

A look at the battlefield. The Korea Module and its maps of course were not available when this scenario was designed, but I imagine a reboot of this scenario would definitely utilize those maps.

After rolling for sides, I would get to command the men of the 1st Gebirgsjaeger Division.  This force would consist of  15 x 4-6-8's, and 2 x 2-2-8's led by a 9-2, 9-1, 8-1 and 8-0 with an MMG, 4 x LMG's, 3 x 50 MTR's, 2 x DC's an 81 MTR and a 75* INF Gun. I would also get 12 foxholes and 24 factors of mines. The setup for this scenario would be simultaneous. The Player to move first would be rolled for prior to start. So setup for attack or defense would be the question...I planned to setup with attack in mind and hope for the best.

Dan would command the men of the 318th Mountain Rifle Division. This force would consist of 20 x 4-4-7's, 3 x 6-2-8's, 5 x 2-3-7's, and 2 x 2-2-8's led by a 9-1, 8-1 and 8-0 with 2 x MMG's, 3 x LMG's, 3 x 50 MTR's, and 2 x 76 ARTY's with 16 foxholes and 24 factors of mines. A very substantial force, but short on leaders, so breaks could definitely be problematic for the Russians.

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

“The Russians in this scenario out number the Germans by 10 squads.  The objective is to capture three level hill hexes from the German board 9 than the Russians lose on board 15.  The Russian plan is to assault toward the board 9 plateau with three 6-2-8 squads each with an LMG and with six 4-4-7 squads.  These attack groups will be led by the 9-1 and 8-1.  While the rest of the forces protect the level 4 locations on boards 15. Hopefully the Russian can roll high for the first movement.”

The setup for this scenario is simultaneous. Playing Cardboard via SKYPE made this a snap as we both had our setups already done by game time. the crucial roll was to determine which of us would go first. As you can see, Dan and I had set up in each other's grill. I had set up with attack in mind and so had Dan.

My boys were ready to open fire...but who would go first...the game might hinge on it...

We roll the dice...high roll goes first. Dan rolls a 1 and by SSR adds his ELR of 3...so a 4...I roll a 4 plus my ELR of 4 -GERMANS GO FIRST!!!

Turn 1 German Prep Fire involved a lot of mortars. My first shot was to smoke one of Dan's kill stacks on the center hill. Success! Then I fired nearly everything else and began taking down or breaking Russians along the right flank. It would end up being a pretty good turn. I would goof and send one 4-6-8 into harm's way and lose it...KIA'd. Dan's dice were hot again tonight.

I fired most everyone, which only left four squads to advance. Three would advance successfully, but one would KIA'd as mentioned earlier.

Turn 1 - Russian - Dan's arty would successfully smoke my mortar. On the far right, Dan attempted to break through. I managed to break or Pin everyone that came at me.

As we began Turn 2 - Dan suggested that we call it a game and play another scenario. The mash up nature of the scenario and the early losses (4-1/2 Russian squads eliminated, an 8-0 officer and an ARTY and MMG both broken, would cause Dan to call it game over. Overall, both of us were a little disappointed with the scenario. It really had come down to who got the first shot would win...and that would be my Germans.

And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:

“The plan did not work.  The Germans got first move and set up exactly opposite the Russians.  There was an immediate shootout with the Germans giving a good account on turn 1, eliminating the 8-1 and 4 squads for the loss of one squad.  Second turn did better with the loss of three Russian squads for only a German 9-1 leader.  Critically the Russians lost one 76mm ART and one MMG and 50mm MTR position.  With the loss of troops and the defenses of the level 4 positions the Germans were in place to move up the hill for victory.  They had plenty of time and the Russian defense was broken.  The simultaneous set up and random first side moving allowed both sides to be aggressive and set up right in each others grill.  The Germans chose to set up unstacked and this turned out to be the game winning tactic.  The Germans got the best of the opening shootout and had advantage.  Well played by Grumble Jones!”

So it appeared that our Saturday Game night would be ending early...but wait...

Dan suggested that we pick another scenario and one of the Grumble Jones scenarios. We decided on GJ081 - Fife and Forfar to the Front. So...I'm not going into a huge amount of detail for this scenario. Here's the card:

And a look at the map for this scenario. 

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

“The Germans must defend the cross roads from a Canadian attack.  The Germans four tanks set up HIP if in bocage and may bore site with the Canadians entering from off board.  Two tanks will bore site the fords and two will bore site likely entry points.  With the 9-2 AL taking the more open entry in case the Canucks move around the bore site hex.  The infantry will deploy one squads to defend the cross roads and set up the squad PSK to cover a ford backed up by the 9-1 with a squad and LMG.  Hopefully the Canadian infantry attack the side with the German defending infantry.”

As is normal for my scenarios, there's next to no play testing beyond my efforts while creating the scenario. So, often times my scenarios are missing some important points. Tonight Bore Sighting would be something that I should have considered....

After rolling for sides, Dan would be the defending Germans and I would be the attacking British. 

Turn 1- British, I would send my four Churchill tanks forward towards the two fords, which were my only way across the stream. Dan's four MKIV's would boresight some hexes and lo and behold I would roll right into them. BOOM...tank down...

Turn 1 had been rough cookies as two of my Churchills were goners...but I expected this...

Turn 1 - German would see another Churchill go down...but Dan would MALF an MA on one of the MKIV's. This would be the only loss Dan would suffer in this game.

Turn 2 - British - my infantry made good progress along the right flank.

Turn 3 - my Shermans roll on onto a battlefield littered with destroyed Churchills. Dan's MALF'd MKIV would be recalled and had headed off board. So the Germans were down to three tanks. Perhaps my six Shermans could make some headway.

As I mentioned earlier...Dan's dice were doing very well. My Shermans went down and went down hard. I had assault moved adjacent to Dan's 9-1 & 6-5-8 with an LMG. Dan would eliminate one squad as it moved adjacent and then in Final D he would roll snakes and eliminate the other two squads adjacent. 3 squads were KIA'd. A tough moment to be sure.

Turn 3 - German - the game was pretty much over at this point as Dan's final HIP MKIV showed up in time to see all the British tanks eliminated. YIKES...tough night for me...

I had decided to keep track of Snake Eyes and Box Cars for tonight's game (games!). So in roughly four turns of gaming for both scenarios...Dan rolled 5 Snake Eyes and 4 Boxcars. I would roll 1 Snake Eyes and 6 Boxcars. Too bad I wasn't playing RISK...at least then all my "6's" would be beneficial to my cause. As it was...rolling 6 boxcars to each snake eyes is not a recipe for winning...

My shocked Churchill would be immobilized in Turn 1...it's crew would bail and be broken, but then another crew would jump into just in time to be shocked. So that was it for my tanks.

A final look at a very complete German victory. I had successfully lost my own scenario and could take satisfaction in having matched the historical outcome...but also the dissatisfaction of realizing that the game was perhaps too tough on the British. At any rate, it was still a fun game and my congrats to Dan on a great win.

And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:

“The plan worked the 10 Canadian tanks were shot to pieces with the Germans losing one malfunctioned MA.  That tanks was recalled with the repair attempt rolled a 6.  The infantry assault lost three squads to the 9-1 and LMG.  The scenario is fast playing and a good tank battle.  But the Germans have advantage being in bocage.  Look forward to some tweaks to give the Canadians a better chance.

 Thanks for the bonus game!

Here is what I recommend:

No HIP for Germans.  No bore sighting for the Germans.  Add a Churchill and a 9-1 AL to the 7th RTR.”

So...tonight was a bit off the beaten path for AAR's. Dan and I played two games (Dan played 3 as he had an early game with Dave Mareske). It's been an up and down year for me and proof that ASL like many things is a journey and not a destination. Tonight's game was my 47th of the year and my 400th documented game (about 10 years worth of games were not documented '78-89' but most of those were SL games).  

Tonight's two games left me feeling a bit flat. Avalanched ended so quickly that I didn't feel any sense of accomplishment for the win. And then Fife and Forfar to the Front was such a butt-whipping...that I just felt bad about my performance. Losing 10 tanks and three full squads and doing absolutely nothing to your opponent.  But as I said, ASL is a journey and every scenario (good or bad) is another milestone in a hike that we hope never ends. 

So my friends...I'll see you on the next ridge!