My Friday night games are usually played with my long-time friend in St. Louis. He and I have been playing SL and ASL since 1978. He currently has the lead in wins over the life-time of playing we have done. It's of course fascinating to see how differently we approach the game since first playing it when we were both 13. My friend is also one of those players who is a "beer & pretzels" gamer. He's not interested in following ASL on line (including my blog...which he almost never reads!!) and is one of thousands of similar people who play ASL and never participate in the greater ASL community. Gamesquad Forum recently had a topic about the Top Contributors to ASL. It's generally filled with commentary about those ASL players who played key roles in creating, developing and playtesting this most incredible of board games. We certainly owe them an incredible debt. But I think we also have to give a nod to the thousands of people all over the world who shelled out their hard earned money to purchase the games as Avalon Hill and MMP put them out. We are living in a Golden Age of ASL brought to us by the game's founders and the game's buyers.
On Thursday, I got an email from my buddy in St. Louis informing me that he was pretty sick and sent home for two weeks of quarantine. His described symptoms don't bode well, but I'm remaining hopeful that it is not COVID-19. So with Scott down for the count, Dan and I hooked up for another double-header weekend.
For our Friday game, Dan suggested playing GJ085 Sunrise Surprise. Dan's been incredibly supportive of my scenario design activities and the opportunity to play them formally is very appreciated. Sunrise Surprise depicts actions of the 36th Texas Division as they try and hold a hill near Altavilla, Italy. The Germans had successfully infiltrated the US positions on the hill. In a wild morning melee the Germans pushed the Americans back into Altavilla. Of course, German successes would be short-lived. Now when I create my scenarios, I do so in a vacuum. This means, I follow my inspiration and put together a scenario. I don't generally check to see if another scenario already exists for the same battle. Well...lo and behold there is one. ASL Scenario AP75 Gabriel's Horn which was designed by Gary Fortenberry covers the exact same action with more detail and includes Altavilla in the battle space. I only covered the hill in my scenario. I have yet to play this scenario, but will put on my list to play soon. And I would recommend playing Gary's scenario. I've never played one of his designs that I didn't enjoy.
One of the things I found interesting about Gary's scenario and mine is that we both selected the 5a map. This is a great map with a lot of interesting terrain features. It's one of my favorites.
After rolling for sides, Dan would command the men of the 36th Texan Division. This division would be remembered most for the disastrous attempts to cross the Rapido River. But their legacy was much deeper and this division would perform outstanding service in both Italy and later in southern France. Dan's force would consist of 14 x 6-6-6's led by a 9-1, 8-1, 8-0 and 7-0 with 2 x MMG's, 3 x BAZ 43's, 2 x 60 MTR's and 2 x 37LL AT Guns with 14 foxholes.
Apparently, Sgt. Rock was in the 36th..so you know these boys are tough hombres!!
As the attacking Germans, I would command the men of the Panzergrenadier Regiment 15. This force would consist of 16 x 4-6-7's led by a 9-2, 8-1 and 2 x 8-0's with an MMG, 4 x LMG's 2 x MKIV's, 2 x 251 Half-Tracks and 8 x 2-3-8's who would set up as infiltrators.
And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:“This scenario has immediate victory conditions. Immediate VC always add a level of intensity to a scenario. As the Americans I set up a bit of a reverse slope defense. They will also concentrate the defense for the larger hills. The plan is to have American units behind the crest of the hills to keep the Germans from gaining one hill position and being able to fire on all the American defenders. The Americans must also plan to die in place since the infiltration units are able to cut rout paths. Hopefully the high American firepower will inflict enough causalities to keep the Germans out of the level 3 hilltop locations.”
Ok..one word of note...today's AAR will be a bit lite. It's a bit late on a Sunday...I threw my back out and can barely sit...and I'm just generally tired. (my apologies). As Dan mentioned in his pre-game comments, this scenario has an immediate win for the Germans once they have control of 9 x Level 3 Hill Hexes.
I would use the orchard to cover my armor assault and try to punch up the hill and take the Level 3 hill hexes on my left. My attack on the right was more of a feint, but as luck would have it, Dan would leave three objective hexes open for German settlement! My infiltrators primary role was to deny US units concealment gain and to deny routs where possible.
My attack on the right would go very well. My half-tracks would get into position and I would take my first hill locations on the far right.
My armor assault on the left would immediately run into trouble as one of Dan's 37L AT Guns was right where my first tank decided to stop. Oh...how I love this game...I just wish it would love me back!
But then...ASL showed me some love!! My sniper would pop Dan's 9-1 and break the squad with the MMG. Just like that I got a crucial break.
The fighting on the left was slow going and I was taking a beating. I rolled a series of 12's that would casualty reduce me badly. I would lose an officer and 2 squads to 12's. For the game I would roll 4 snake eyes and 6 boxcars. Dan would roll 5 snake eyes and ZERO boxcars.
With the far right hill under my control, I would move to threaten the center as my attack on the left continued to grind ahead with Dan and trading body blows.
I would send a German hero into Close Combat.
Seriously!?!...you are sending me into close combat with a full squad...(I'm even wounded already)...
My Hero would successfully lock the US squad in MELEE!!! Woohoo!!!
Dan would go on to destroy both of my half-tracks and even take back two level 3 locations that I had taken.
But, my center assault would succeed and I would secure the necessary Level 3 hexes for the win. My thanks to Dan for a great game. It was fun to play one of my designs and see it work fairly well.
"Hans...it sure was a good thing we won immediately...that last American 37L AT Gun had a direct line to us." "Ja Helmut...it was a near thing for sure."
And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:“The plan did not work. While the Americans were able to get some early kills the American morale did not allow them to win the fire fight. While the Americans broke up the infiltrators and were able to rout, the Germans were able to capture the 9 level 3 hexes for the win. This scenario is a great hill top battle with the Germans coming from all sides. The immediate VC gives is a high fun factor. Highly recommend you give it a try. My thanks to Grumble Jones for a good game and fun design. Congrats on a good hard-fought win.”
Ok...now on to our Saturday game!!!
For our Saturday game - Dan would select ASL Scenario 57 The Battle for Rome. This would be the final Hollow Legions scenario that Dan had still not played. I had not played it either as it was over 10 turns long, which I tended to avoid in the past...and still do from time to time. This scenario would take Dan and about 8 hours to complete. We play fast...so be warned...this scenario can take some time.
This scenario is designed by Rick Troha and covers the actions of the German 2nd Fallschirmjaeger as they sought to gain control of Rome following Italy's Armistice with the Allies. Italian resistance would be sporadic, but in Rome, the 2nd Fallschirmjaeger would find themselves in a more serious fight with their former allies.
Hollow Legions...I was very happy to get the Italians back in the 1990's, but had no idea that my Italian counters would have to survive for 30 years before being relieved!!! They are some of my oldest counters that are still in play and were never well-trimmed. So I have been using the new LFT Italian counters, which are quite nice. ROAR has this scenario with 25 German and 34 Italian wins. The ASL Scenario Archive has 4 German and 4 Italian wins...but interesting there are 5 German win accountings...so not sure what to make of that. So this scenario appears to be pro-Italian overall.
A look at the battle space for this 10-1/2 turn behemoth!!! The Germans enter on the south edge and have to exit 30 VP off the north edge. Sounds easy...but it's no cake walk through the Roman streets.
As the attacking Germans, Dan would command the veterans of the 2nd Fallschirmjaeger Division. This force would consist of 16 x 5-4-8's and 2 x 2-2-8's led by a 9-2, 2 x 8-1's, and 2 x 8-0's with an HMG, MMG, 5 x LMG's, 2 x Panzerschrecks, a Flamethrower, and 2 x DC's. For support there are 4 x Stug's and two half-track carriers towing 40LL AT Guns.
As the defending Italians I would command the men of the 21st Granatieri di Sardegna Divisione, the Lancieri di Montebello, the 235 Reggimento di Artiglieria and the 4th Genova Reggimento di Cavalleria. This force would consist of 11 x 4-4-7's, 3 x 2-4-7's, 3 x 3-4-7's, and 4 x 2-2-7's led by a 9-1, 8-1, 8-0 and 7-0 with an HMG, 2 x MMG's, 5 x LMG's, a 45 MTR, and 2 x 20L ATR's. For support I would have 3 x Tanks, 2 x Armored Cars, a 75 ART, a 20L AA, and 2 x 47 AT Guns. Oh and 3 trucks and 3 x Partisan 3-3-7's which would enter one at a time wherever I liked on Turns 3, 5, and 7.
Recently, I have been rather successful with my Italians and I would be very proud of their performance our second game of the weekend. Grazie my boys!!!
And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:“This scenario is an old school design, big, long and with some unique design elements. The Germans must fight across three city boards and exit 30 VP. They have good AFVs and good troops to form a strong Schwerpunkt and punch through the Italian line. The plan will be to enter in the middle of the board approach the Italian line and then form a Schwerpunkt to attack east side of board 21 break the line and exit for the win. Hopefully the Italian mobile forces cannot reform the line and the Germans are not too delayed by roadblocks.”
By SSR I could HIP 3 squad equivalents. So I would HIP an MMG and HMG. Then I would deploy one squad with each half-squad having an ATR and hipping them out on board 22 to await the arrival of Dan's half-tracks towing the AT Guns. These were juicy VP units for Dan at nearly 10 points each. So I wanted to take them out. I placed all three roads blocks at the NE corner. Fortunately for me...that is exactly where Dan's Schwerpunkt would seek to exit. Talk about lucky!
Yes...yes I am...
By SSR there are no water obstacles or bridges. Dan's entrance hex told the story of where he was aiming to exit the board.
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| Dan's 9-2 looks over the city for the best advance route. |
Turn 1 - the Germans enter Rome.
Turn 2 - Dan moves his forces towards the NE corner. My boys in the NW begin to move to block any German change in direction to the west.
I was most afraid of the 4 x Stugs. I really didn't have a good answer for dealing with these.
Dan did begin to swing towards the center as the terrain forced his Schwerpunkt to separate a bit.
Dan's boys had moved to confront my main line of resistance. My hidden ATR (marked with a CX counter so I wouldn't forget.) remained motionless as the Germans passed right by on the road. I was patiently waiting for the half-tracks. I did deploy my first Partisan squad in the German backfield to attack the half-tracks. Dan would eliminate with little effort.
I would get my reinforcements and they would move to the pre-determined spots behind each of my three roadblocks. This too was very lucky as they entered in time to get into position.
A look at the Italian defensive line. Dan had eliminated one of my tanks and an armored car. I was not standing up to the Stugs well at all.
As Dan began moving again...his half-tracks towing the AT Guns finally rolled into the line of sight of my HIP ATR half-squad. I would wait until Final Defensive fire before shooting. Meanwhile I would MALF the MA of my 105 Tank. First shot and break. I couldn't afford these repeated mishaps with the dice. I would still struggle from time to time, but the dice rolls during this scenario were decidedly in my favor. I would roll an amazing 11 snake eyes and 5 boxcars. Dan would roll 6 snake eyes and 4 boxcars. As you will see....my snake eyes would control the course of the game.
In the west center, things went badly for Dan's glass-jawed paratroopers. I had managed hurt break many of them. I would next try to work out a way to keep them routing away. And then another game changing moment would occur with Dan Malfing the MA of one of his Stugs. My HIP ATR would finally fire and destroy the first of the AT towing half-tracks.
I would lose my second armor car to the German paratroopers in close combat.
Turn 5 - Dan would attempt to repair his MA. His mama told him never to do this. He would destroy it and a Stug would now be recalled. Yet another lucky break for my Italians. My second Italian squad would show up. I would put them in the center woods where Dan was still trying to rally broken squads. I was tempted to try and get the flame-thrower...but Dan's 9-2 was a 20+ kill stack of death.
"This is Stug 321...we are recalled...good luck comrades!!"
Turn 5 - Italian. I would move hard and fast to encircle as many broken German units as possible. I would capture 1-1/2 of them. I knew that I couldn't stop the Stugs, but if I could stop the infantry, I would have a chance of winning.
Going into Turn 6, I had pushed into the center and was working to keep the German infantry bottled up in the center woods.
Dan's remaining Stugs made strong moves and I was unable to stop them. His infantry on the NE east were also pushing my boys backwards.
As Dan's remaining half-track tried to escape I would get off two shots with my rate of fire and the second would knock it out. My plan had been successful. My luck was holding out.
As the hour lengthened Dan and I were both wearing out. This game is a grueling as there is so much going on and we were both getting cranky.
And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:
At this stage of the game all of my armored vehicles had been destroyed. I was doing my best to hand on in the NE corner, but German pressure was mounting. Adding to our mutual crankiness was the ongoing Melees...which neither of us could win. It was more frustrating for Dan as he only needed 7's to win them and I needed 4's. These Melees were crucial as Dan needed the infantry in them. And in more bad news for the Germans, Dan's 9-2 had tried to move forward and got hit hard by an Italian MMG. He would be wounded and all his squads broken. The German HMG would be left lying in the street.
Dan continued to make progress in the NE corner, but I had managed to bottle up a number of Germans in the woods. I had an HMG and MMG aimed right down the road. Even dashing would be tough.
My 9-1 had managed to get a kill stack right where it was needed.
Dan would successfully destroy two of my units with placed DC's as my defensive fire rolls were atrocious. I was still taking heavy blows from Dan's paratroopers.
Turn7 - Dan's Stugs' would exit and give the Germans 18 VP. All he needed was 12 more, but some of the needed points were still in Melee. He had to win the Melee.
My boys were fighting fiercely.
So at the end of Turn 7 in the Italian Phase I would roll first to finish up the Melee...snake eyes! I would create an officer, eliminate the Germans and infiltrate. It was a game winning snake eyes as Dan gave the concession at 12:30 AM as the clock struck the beginning of Turn 8. Wow...what a game. Dan and I were both completely knackered and ready for it to be over. ASL can be like that...it just drains you as hard fought games like this are drawn out over many turns. In the end, my Italians got the important breaks. Destroying both AT towing half-tracks, stopping the 9-2 and his squads, the Recalled Stug and capturing so many Germans in the NW area all conspired to give my Italians the win.
I was personally elated at hanging on to get the win against Dan's very determined Germans. I had no illusions of actually winning this game when it started, but as I stated earlier...enough things fell into place to make victory a reality for my Italians. My thanks to Dan for another fine game and a fantastic weekend of ASL.
And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:“The plan did not work. The Schwerpunkt ran into the roadblocks and had to take time to move around. While the StuGs were able to engage the Italian tanks and win, they could not land a good impact against the Italian infantry. Also one was recalled with the loss of the main gun. That and the destruction of the two towed AT guns made only 18 VP in AFVs for the exit. The German infantry got bogged down in moving through the city and the Italians managed to block in one assault group. The Germans got into two key CCs and needed quick wins. They turned into melees and the Italians rolled snake eyes in one to create a leader and more importantly eliminate the German squad. That left only 11 German VP in position to exit and they needed 12 to win. Well played by Grumble Jones! This scenario was long and grueling with both sides fought to exhaustion. Came down to a CC battle and the Italians got a good win. Congrats to Grumble Jones!”
That's a wrap on a long weekend of ASL..I started putting this blog together almost 11 hours ago.
Sometimes blogging takes waaay too much time.
Dan and I will be back next Saturday for a playing of ASL Scenario J115
Last Push to Mozhaisk.
We will see you then!
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