Our Saturday Game ASL Scenario O14 - Wiking Horde

As I write today's blog, it's a quiet, cloudy and humid summer day in Western Illinois. For months now, like many of you I have been living under some sort of self-imposed lockdown. I'm beginning to wonder how many more Culver Butter Burgers I can eat. In a town of 40,000 people, we don't have a huge variety of choices. Despite locking down at home in my off hours, I still have to report to work and have since the beginning. Working in an essential business on both commercial and military communication projects keeps me in the saddle. I also spend over an hour each day deep cleaning and dis-infecting work areas throughout our plant. I've polished so many door knobs...that I may qualify as a sex worker (apologies in advance for my sense of humor). All that said, I'm still exposed to other people and two of my co-workers are now positive for the virus. In another week, I'll know if I contracted the virus as a result of my interactions with those folks.

Let's hope all will be well and I can continue to experience a much slower personal demise as I scarf down endless burgers and fries!!!

Ok...now let's talk about defeat in ASL. Last night's game would be my fifth loss in a row. Dan and I had actually played a game on Friday night that lasted all of 1-1/2 turns and ended with my complete defeat. In fact, I never even entered the map before Dan won the game. We played the latest Grumble Jones scenario GJ086 Last Drop into the Kessel. Dan succeeded in securing 10 canisters and the immediate win, before my Russians even entered the map on Turn 2. Talk about a bummer...good grief...man was that bad and clearly showed the flaws in my scenario. The good news, Dan and I fixed the holes and the revised scenario should be playable and fun now.

Last night's loss put me at 20 wins and 28 losses versus Dan this year. The good news is of course that we have played 48 games in 2020. That is absolutely awesome and we have months yet to go in 2020. So our numbers will be huge this year. Last night's loss was a tough one for me. I got brutally punished for two mistakes. One of these mistakes I had actually predicted during my setup...so really should not have it allowed it to happen. But I did and Dan made me pay for it. So...I'll be spending the week with a bit of post-game loss depression. It happens and eventually you shake it off by the next game time...

And not in ASL either!!

It was my turn to pick scenarios and I selected ASL Scenario O14 Wiking Horde. This scenario attracted my attention due to the inclusion of three Jagdpanthers and the meeting of US forces with the 5th SS Wiking Division. I had been unaware that the Wiking Division actually had any elements find themselves in conflict with US forces. So I was intrigued. Designed by Brian Youse, the scenario deals with the short-lived defense of Ricklingen, Germany in April 1945 as the Ruhr Pocket was collapsing. Elements of the 5th SS had travelled to Paderborn, Germany to pick up factory fresh armor, which included the excellent Jagdpanthers. As US forces threatened to cross the Leine bridge, the SS men together with Volksturm units inflicted heavy losses on the Americans until US artillery finally forced the Germans to retreat. ROAR has the scenario with 2 German and 3 American wins and the ASL Archive has it with 1 German and 0 US victories. 

I recently downloaded the Special OPS PDF's and was pleasantly surprised by the many ASL and SK scenarios. Worth the price if you are looking for some additional ASL content.

Ricklingen, Germany

After rolling for sides, Dan would be the attacking Americans. He would command the men of the 11th Cavalry Group and 771st Tank Destroyer Battalion. Now Dan generally does not like playing with or against the Americans. It messes with his East Front sensibilities. American morale and firepower are usually the elements which bedevil those commanding or facing off against the Americans. Dan would remind me repeatedly during the game that he did not care for this scenario. But his force would be rather large and consist of the following: 4 x 6-6-7's led by a 9-1, 8-1 and 2 x 7-0's with an MMG, BAZ 45 and 100mm OBA. His armor support would consist of 3 x M36's, 2 x M8's, 4 x Stuarts, 4 x Greyhounds and 5 x Halftracks with a 9-1 and 8-1 Armor leaders. The sheer amount of US armor would make the game a bit ponderous to play. Turn 1 would take almost 2 hours to complete. UGH...

As the defending Germans, I would command elements of the 5th SS Wiking Division and Volksturm garrison troops. This force would consist of 4 x 6-5-8's, 3 x 4-4-7's, and 3 x 4-3-6's led by a 9-1, 8-0 and 7-0 with an MMG, 3 x LMG's and a Panzerschreck. My armor would consist of 3 x Jagdpanthers, 2 x 20L 250 Halftracks, 2 x AAMG 250 Halftracks and a single 251 Halftrack. My infantry force was fairly good and I had a nice edge over Dan's skinny force of just 4 squads. But my SS ELR was only 3 and my Volksturm only had an ELR of 1. Not good...but I would have 20 Panzerfausts at the ready and before the game was over, I would fire 11 of them.

"Hans...spread these out to the other units. We're going to need everyone of them today."

 And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

“The Americans must knock out all three JgPzVs or capture four of the five multi-hex building in the board 46 village.  Considering they are out-numbered 2 to 1 in infantry the capture result is a tall order.  Considering the front armor of the JgPzV...knocking them out is a tall order.  The plan is for the infantry to armor assault with the half-tracks, while the armored cars and light tanks cross the bridge and try to get past the German tanks and infantry.  The tank destroyers will take up positions to engage the JgPzVs.  Hopefully the tank destroyers get APCR and a flanking shot or two on the Germans.  The Infantry will use the OBA to blast their way into town and the armored vehicles to cut rout paths.”

So many ASL games are won or lost based on your setup. Tonight's game would be no different. The yellow lines indicate the areas of Dan's entry area that were not under the gaze of a Jagdpanther. The red diamond indicates a location where a well placed M36 could get a side shot on my hull down Jagdpanther in the center. In my planning I had actually taken this situation into consideration. But I felt that I would likely survive any shot in Advancing Fire and could the pivot in my Prep Fire and eliminate the offending M36. It would not go as I had hoped. And the M36 that you will see move into that very hex would go on to kill all three of my Jadgpanthers. One stupid mistake would completely cost me the game. In fact the AAR can stop right here...but what fun would that be...you need to enjoy my angst and frustration for the full AAR!!!

The red circles are Dan's M36 Jacksons. These were the only armor assets that had a chance against the Jagdpanthers. 

Turn 1 was a loooong turn. I only took one picture of it, but as you can see Dan did place one of the Jacksons in the exact location for the side shot on my hull down Jagdpanther. Dan would lead his attack with half-tracks and Greyhounds. He was hoping to create 'Russian" smoke and blind my Jagdpanthers. I would shock two half-tracks, destroy a Greyhound and a Jackson in the early stages. My Panzerfausts and street fighting grenadiers would take down a couple other vehicles. Turn 1 was a harsh turn for Dan's boys. But he had units across the river and the most important Jackson right where he needed it.

"

"Ach so...the Amis have a tank destroyer right where we were afraid they would put one." "Uwe...don't worry, the Amis can't hit anything in Advancing Fire."

Advancing Fire - Dan's Jackson fires...a hit and burning Jagdpanther. One down...two to go. Good grief. Over the decades that I have played this game, I have concluded that some players just seem to have a knack for getting what they need when they need it. Dan is from time to time blessed with that ability. He would get what he needed a few more times tonight and each would tear another piece of my ASL soul....

My Prep Fire phase would reveal my star unit of the game as my western most Jagdpanther would take down another Jackson and a halftrack with his rate. This Jagdpanther would take down a couple more tanks before buying the farm. On the east side, I would attempt to move my last Jagdpanther in reverse and head back to the village. I had failed to notice that Dan's last and most intrepid Jackson could actually see me. Dan rolled for APCR...he got it and destroyed my second Jagdpanther. It wasn't even Turn 2 yet and I was down to my last Jagdpanther. My initial setup mistake was continuing to bite me hard.

The heat was getting to me...

Turn 2- Dan's boys continued their assault over the bridge and into the village. If you haven't realized it by now...Dan is a very aggressive player. He was all over me and I was popping Panzerfausts at him one after the other. Dan would lose more vehicles, but he was in my grill.

The Greyhounds would suffer the most from the fausts.

Dan's last remaining Jackson would make his way to the bridge and be stunned by the German sniper. How about that!! My sniper wouldn't kill any one, but he did make life less than comfortable at the end of the bridge. 

Yep...this M36 Jackson was on the way to fulfilling its destiny. This one tank destroyer was going to determine the course of this game.

Ok...things had been rough for both Dan and I. Armor wrecks littered the battlefield. Dan's infantry were entering the village and the fight for the building locations was underway. But now, I would make yet another crucial error. By SSR, after the first Jagdpanther is destroyed, the other two may exit the game and therefore eliminate that potential game winning objective for the Americans. This would make it necessary for the Americans to control 4 of the 5 multi-hex stone buildings. with his limited infantry, Dan would be hard-pressed to accomplish this.  But I decided to send my Jagdpanther back into the fight and would set in motion the circumstances that would lead to my defeat.

"Nein...nein...nein...why is the Jagdpanther coming this way...retreat off the board you fool!!!!"

Did I tell you that Dan was an aggressive player? Yep...he sent two Stuarts after the rear of my final Jagdpanther. I would pivot frantically and miss my D-Fire shots. But then the M36 Jackson crossed the bridge and headed towards my embattled Jagdpanther. 

Dan has been very successful against me with Stuart tanks. When they aren't ripping my trucks apart with canister, they're taking down my Mark III's or immobilizing my Jagdpanthers...I hate the little bastards!!!

My Jagdpanther would manage to destroy one of the Stuarts and then pivot to intensive fire and miss the second one. I would send my 251 Half-track on a desperation mission to put himself in the way of the oncoming Jackson. I would fail my ESB roll and immobilize. What a surprise...

"Lord Vader will not be happy about this..."

So there I was in a Mexican standoff ...my Jagdpanther against a Stuart.

So Dan's Stuart would go for deliberate immobilization and get what he needed...again...and my mighty Jagdpanther was immobilized.

Yes...yes it does...

My Jagdpanther would exact its revenge and destroy the Stuart...but the damage was done. My Jagdpanther was a wounded elephant and the lions were circling!!! Dan's heroic Jackson would park behind my Jadgpanther and prepare for the killing blow. I tried to use my smoke dischargers...but rolled a 12...go figure...

Back in the village...my 9-1 looked to towards the west...it was the end of the line...

Dan's Jackson would deliver the death blow and win the game immediately. Much like Ned Stark...I had made mistakes that would cause me to lose my head.

Dan's boys had won the day and his single M36 Jackson had by itself destroyed all three of my Jagdpanthers. You can't make this stuff up...

My congrats to Dan on a really great win. This scenario was a tough fight for both sides. At game end, Dan had lost 14 of 18 armor vehicles and the Germans had lost all but one half-track. Our dice rolls were as follows: Dan rolled 6 snake eyes and I rolled 5. Dan rolled 2 boxcars and I rolled 3. But Dan rolled a ton of 4's (my sniper) and I only rolled two 3's (Dan's snipers) during the game. I had been successful in spite of a few bad rolls. But Dan's dice delivered each time they absolutely had to. It was a very tough loss for me personally. I thought my defense had done well, but my single failure to cover the one chink in my armor cost me the entire game. Despite the hard loss, this scenario was fun. It challenged both sides from start to finish and both sides have a shot at winning this one.

And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:

“The plan worked.  Although the Americans took a beating.  One tank destroyer with the 8-1 AL was able to destroy all three JgPzVs.  Plus a half track.  There were many lucky shots including a immobilization shot on the last JgPzV and one to get APCR.  It was good since the Americans were not winning the infantry battle.  However, the OBA hand not landed yet and there were still three turns left to fight for the village.  This is a tough scenario for both sides.  The Americans got the better die rolls for the win.  My thanks to Grumble Jones for a great game.”

Well that's a wrap on Wiking Horde. 

Dan and I will be back next Saturday for a playing of ASL Scenario 57 The Battle for Rome. 

I rolled the Italians...so expect me to be sad again next week!!!

See you then!!!