Well, the past week was a very interesting week. I had some encouraging job interviews with two potential employers on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. And let me say that a 2-1/2 hour SKYPE interview will wear you out. COVID is changing the world in so many different ways and finding a job may never be the same again. My mental outlook has been challenged as the cold weather and COVID have left me pretty restricted to the house. Tough times for all of us to be sure. As for ASL, well it's the one thing that continues to provide a sense of normalcy to my life. I would complete three games this week and am already at 16 games for the year with 17, 18 and 19 scheduled for next week.
Dan Best and I would get together on Wednesday and Thursday for a playing of ASL Scenario BC22 Gallants from the Break Contact 2011 pack. This would be the first time playing a BC product.
The selected scenario BC22 is from the The Aussie Battler Pack and covers a desert fight between British and Vichy forces in Syria. The Middle East fighting in World War II is a campaign of which I am woefully uneducated. From Somalia-Ethiopia to Syria and Iraq, there were a number of sharp engagements that would make for some good early war ASL. I would also argue that some would make for good, tight campaign or historical modules.
BC22 Gallants covers a mobile action as British forces try to hold hill positions on the Damascus road. Vichy forces make a strong attempt to take control from the British. So in this scenario, the Vichy are the attacker and will win the scenario by controlling hill locations at AA7, AA8, Z7 and any one of two of R6, Z1, and DD9.
As the EC are Dry with a breeze, vehicle dust will be a factor.
I would imagine that the armored car warfare of the early Second World War would not look to different from the current Civil War actions in Syria. Toyotas replacing Citroens might be the most noticeable difference...and RPG's in place of ATR's.
The four hill victory locations.
As the attacking Vichy, I would command the men of the 2nd Light Desert Company. This force would consist of 10 x 4-5-8's led by a 9-1 and 8-1 with an LMG, 60 MTR and ATR with 11 x Trucks and 4 x Armored Cars. On Turn 4, I would receive reinforcements of 3 x 4-5-8's led by a 7-0 with an LMG and 2 x Armored Cars.
And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:
"The British must defend the three hex hill or two of the one hex hills. I am choosing to defend the three hex hill with the 9-1 squad and LMG inn one hex, a squad and ATR in another and squad in the third. The armored cars will defend behind the hills creating a cross fire in the open ground. The MTR will be on the western hill with a squad and 8-0. The last squad will be up front in the northernmost hill to hopefully slow down the attack. Hopefully the counter attack force can occupy the French before they can make a proper assault on the big hill."
My plan such as it was to involved takin down the hill in my front and then going down both flanks. The hill in my front would take a bit longer to take down than anticipated.
Turn 1- Vichy and let the dust games begin. Some vehicle dust markers may be missing as you view pictures. I'm to to blame for that. Dan managed to destroy some trucks and KIA some of my boys as they had to enter as passengers.
Once my trucks unloaded they were immediately recalled. While I had gotten into the fight, I didn't do much to Dan's defenders.
I would finally DM the boys on the first hill and take them prisoner as my Armored Cars finally got into the fight and destroyed one of Dan's armored cars.
I continued my attack and secured two more hill top positions. But the big hill was still firmly in British control.
I would get good service from my armored cars overall. Not great, but I would win the battle versus Dan's armored cars and only have one immobilized until the end of the game, when I would lose three trying to take the main hill.
Turn 3 - Dan's reinforcements come into the game. I put up a hard fight and would manage to knock out both of his reinforcing Armored Cars. His infantry would have some pins, but would otherwise put some pressure on me.
My 9-1 would be put into close combat as Dan also went after one of my armored cars in CC.
Dan would tie up my 9-1 in Melee, but my forces on the other three hills would stay intact and in control. All I needed now was to take control of the three hex hill. Dan had his 9-1 on the hill with three squads, an ATR and an LMG.
Turn 4 - my reinforcements come on and race towards the big hill. It's do or die with only one movement phase left to me.
Turn 5- I launch my last bid to take the center hill. I try support fire from the my two armored cars on the east edge. Two boxcars in a row. I had also rolled a boxcar for fire from prisoner toting squad. Three "12's" in a row left my attack unsupported. I would send three armored cars at the hill to attempt overruns on all three hexes. My first armored car would be destroyed by the ATR. The other two would conduct overruns, but only pins resulted. After surrounding the hill, I had managed to pin all three of Dan's squads. But he had pinned a couple of mine that would be critical to the upcoming close combats.
So...close combat would not go well for me...I know big surprise. Dan would destroy the remaining two armored cars and I would need 5's and 7's to close out the CC's. 9, 10, 11...welcome to MELEE. Dice rolls matter...
In the final Close Combat phase of the game, I would succeed in winning only one, while the other two remained in MELEE and thus gave Dan the victory. It had been a fun game. While I really dislike managing the vehicle dust counters, it turned out to be a pretty fast paced and fun scenario. Dan held on to the most important hill position and I never seriously threatened it until the very end and I just didn't have the time to take it. My congrats to Dan on a good defensive stand. The final close combats on the hill with armored cars and infantry was a hoot to play out!
And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:
"The plan worked. It was too close for comfort. The French quickly captured all three smaller hills using the armored cars. The counterattack was successful at slowing the enemy but was quickly shot to pieces. The French made a armored assault of the hill and locked all three locations in melee. Only one hex was successful in being captured. Very close match. The scenario was fun and has unique terrain. My thanks to Grumble Jones for a great game! Looking forward to some more Break Contact scenarios this year."
Dan's boys would celebrate a good win!
And now for a brief intermission before we go on to my second game against Dan Best. For this intermission, I will share the final two turns of Starter Kit Scenario S53, which I had been playing the past couple weeks against my regular St. Louis opponent (Scott Waites). My friend Scott has been my long-time SL, ASL and D&D game partner since 1978. Scott enjoys ASL as a beer and pretzels game. He's not into tournaments, CG's or much else beyond just getting in a few games a year. So mostly, our Friday night game time is spent talking about life and then rolling some dice and seeing how many turns we get done in a given scenario. While I'm not a huge fan of Starter Kit, I will admit, it's nice to play those scenarios now and then and not be plagued with Snipers, Bypass Movement, etc. Sometimes you just need ASL lite.
S53 Workers Unite - is set in Smolensk in 1941 as the Germans begin to take full control of the city. The Russians begin the game with 9 squads to try and hold three separate building locations. The Germans must take those three buildings in order to win the game. Scott's strategy would be to put three squads of 4-2-6's in each building and await his turn 3 reinforcements of another 9 squads of 4-4-7's. The Doughnut building would be my biggest concern as it was closet to the Russian reinforcement entry and the furthest from my entry point. If Scott got 9 squads there before I could take it...well that would be game. So in the first three turns, I moved with a purpose and took one building and had squads in the other two including the Doughnut building. I also had over watch kill stacks ready to fend off the Russian reinforcements. So the pictures that follow begin on Russian Turn 3.
Scott has always had a unique approach to Cardboard via SKYPE. He has his camera aimed from above over the entire playing surface. You can see his boards as well as his dice cup. I rarely ever look at the screen during play.
As we restarted the game, I was in control of only one building location. But I had men in the other two ready to finish the fight. Scott's Prep Fire would yield a break and a pin. In Movement Phase, his berserk 4-2-6 would rush towards a broken 4-6-7 and my flamethrower would hit him with 12 factors and roll snake eyes. No more 4-2-6.
Scott moved his reinforcements up, but failed to notice that my 9-2 with an HMG and MMG could see a hex that he was moving a kill stack through. 16 -2 shot. I would of course roll high and only get a normal morale check. But Scott's stack would break except for a single squad. The rest of of his boys got into position. The fights in the other two buildings were beginning to wind down.
Turn 4- my flamethrower would finish the Russians in the south building. All I needed now was the Doughnut...but even with 2-1 odds and a 9-2...I couldn't get it done.
And here are at the final game of the week, which would be ASL Scenario 178 - The Niscemi-Biscari Highway. Neither Dan or I had played this game previously, so it was something we were both looking forward to playing. At 8 turns, it would be the longest of the scenarios played this past week. The core modules do seem to have scenarios which lean to the long side. Designed by Jim Stahler, this scenario is set in Sicily and involves the 82nd All American Division vs. the German Hermann Goering Division. The Americans are attempting to defend a main highway and stall any German advances towards the landing beaches. The paras would have two recently captured Italian 47 AT Guns to augment their defense.
A look a the battle space. The Germans must enter either on the Board 5 Q6 Road Hex or on Board 5 GG5-GG6. I would elect to come in on GG5-GG6 and brave the open ground in an attempt to use my range advantage.
As the defending Americans, Dan would command the men of the 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd "All American" Airborne Division. This force would consist of 6 x 7-4-7's and 2 x 2-2-7's led by a 9-1, 8-1, and 8-0 with 3 x BAZ's, 12 factors of mines and 2 x captured Italian 47 AT Guns.
As the attacking Germans, I would command the men of the Panzer Division - "Hermann Goering". This force would consist of 8 x 4-6-7's led by a 9-2, 8-1 and 8-0 with an MMG, 3 x LMG's and a 232 Armored Car.
The Germans win this at game end by controlling two of the following 3 Board 4 building locations: 4X1, 4CC6, and/or 4Y9.
And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:
"The Americans must defend two of three buildings. The plan is to defend each building with a squad and leader. With the 9-1 in 4X1, the 8-1 in 4CC6 and the 8-0 in 4Y9. One AT gun will be in 4FF1 the other in 4Z3. One squad with a BAZ will be in 4GG4. Another squad will be in 4V3. The final squad will deploy with each HS having a BAZ and setting up HIP. One in 4AA4 and one in 4W1. The mines will be in 4AA1 to catch those coming out of the gully and in 4Y1. Finally the dummys will set up in 4BB1, 4U1 and 4T3. Hopefully the Germans try to stay along the road where the mines can do some damage."
My plan was to send the 9-2 with two squads in armored assault with the armored car and take up position to provide supporting fire as I sent two half-squads towards a woods hex where I had correctly guessed was hiding an AT Gun. Meanwhile, the rest of my boys were going into the gully to move towards the woods in the center.
Dan's AT Gun waited until full Defensive Fire before revealing itself to my adjacent half-squads. The Americans were keeping their concealments.
Dan's AT Gun would miss, but the crew would DM and then capture and kill one of the half-squads. . Yeah...Close Combat...it really hates me. At least I would keep the crew in Melee for the next fire phase before dying.
The gully had served me well and allowed me to get my boys into position to put fire down range.
Turn 2 - I moved down the gully and removed Dan's dummy squad in the woods. I managed to break Dan's AT Gun crew, but only after killing my own half-squad in the process.
Just for the record...I never shot into a melee before I met Dan Best...just say'n!!!
Turn 3 - German - Angreif!!! My Armored Car drives towards the CC 6 building where the squad is broken and the leader pinned. The second AT Gun opens up on me, but misses and then MALF's in Intensive Fire. But the a HIP half-squad with a bazooka pops up and knocks out the armored car. Drats!!!
I hated to lose the armored car, because it was the one asset I knew could quickly move around the battlefield and cut rout paths.
As Turn 3 ended, I was doing ok and had broken the Americans circled in white.
Turn 3 American - Dan starts to readjust his defense. He sends officers to try and rally his broken stacks as well as another 7-4-7 to reinforce the CC6 building.
As Turn 3 ended, Dan still had control of all victory locations.
Turn 4 - I manage to cross the road and DM both American stacks in front of me.
Turn 5 German - at this stage, I had captured both buildings and eliminated all American resistance in this area.
In American Turn 5 - Dan makes a final desperate bid to push me out of the center woods and then push towards the CC6 building. My boys manage to break them and it's game over. Dan gave the concession and my Germans had the win. I was unsure of attacking across the open ground, but it gave me the clearest and longest fields of fire, which my 9-2 exploited to devastating effect. Once I was able to break the Americans in my front with the 9-2, the other squads were able to move forward and gain the objectives. The Americans suffer from poor range and a limited number of squads to cover all the locations. My thanks to Dan for a great game and another great week of ASL.
My boys would celebrate a lucky win.
"The plan did not work. The Germans attacked across the open portions of board 4 where their advantage in range gave them some early breaks. The captured buildings 4CC6 and 4Y9 and were able to fend off the counterattack. Well played by Grumble Jones! This is classic old school scenario with plenty of time for the attacker do make an assault. Congrats to Grumble Jones on the win! Looking forward to our next match."
That's a wrap on this week's ASL action. Dan and I will cross blades again this week and we will see you next Sunday!
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