Grumble Jones - An ASL Blog: Our Saturday Game - ASL Scenario 118 Downsizing the Uprising

It's been two weeks since our last AAR. We played a lot of ASL in October...Dan would play 19 games to my 18. Good grief is that a lot of ASL. Tonight's game would be my 101st game of 2021. That's mind boggling. I'd like to tell you that I am playing better than ever with all of this experience I am earning...but the answer is no...I think my in game instincts have gotten sharper...but I still make poor choices and can't depend on my dice at all. I often tease Dan that he and I are playing two different versions of the same game. One of us is getting good production out of the dice and the other is not. Tonight's game would highlight that disparity in stark terms. Getting diced in a game is nothing new for most of us. It happens and for me it happened both tonight and last night in my game with my buddy in St. Louis. Last night's game was rough as my opponent just kept rolling snakes and critical hits against my infantry that basically wiped me out. In tonight's game, Dan would have a German HMG with a -1 leader and rate of fire me to death. I have suffered before at the hands of Dan's HMG rate tears and it is not a fun experience. A 7 factor HMG firing from elevation with a -1 leaders is death on a cardboard counter.

Keeping your chin up in a game where your opponent is wiping you out is never easy. Tonight's game would really test me. I watched my boys just get mowed down on Turns 1 and 2 and would then suffer some serious losses at the very end...but we'll wait to tell that of woe until the end of this AAR.

Sometimes, ASL is very much like a tennis match, where your opponent keeps serving up ACES that you can't return. It can be maddening.

Tonight's scenario would be from Armies of Oblivion. Personally, I don't enjoy playing the Axis Minors. Poor morale...poor range...poor firepower..good grief ...I mean what's to like??

Our selected scenario would be ASL 118 Downsizing the Uprising. Designed by Brian Martuzas, this scenario covers actions in September 1944 as the Slovakians rose up against their German Ally/Occupier. With the Russians rapidly approaching, the Slovakians made much the same decision as the Romanians, Finns and Hungarians had...turn on the Germans.

ROAR has the scenario with 12 Russian and 12 German wins.

As the attacking Slovakians, I would command the men of the 1st Infantry Regiment, 1st Defensive District and the Partisan Group of First Lt. Velicko. My force would consist of 4 x 4-4-7's, 16 x 3-4-47's, and 12 x 3-3-7's led by 2 x 9-1's, an 8-1, an 8-0, and 2 x 7-0's with 7 x LMG's, 2 x MMG's, 2 x 50 MTR's and three tanks.

As the defending Germans, Dan would command Kompanie 1, Volksturm-Bataillon 373. This force would consist of 8 x 4-6-7's, 6 x 4-4-7's, 6 x 4-3-6's, and 2 x 2-2-8's led by a 9-1, 8-1, 8-0 and 2 x 7-0's with an HMG, 2 x MMG's, 3 x LMG's and 2 x AT Guns.

The battlespace is nicely put together and provides some interesting tactical considerations.

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

"The Germans must defend the multi-hex building on board 41 and 46. The upper level locations in the multi-hex buildings will be the key to the defense. The 8-1, 4-4-7 and HMG will set up in the second level of 41FF2. The 7-0, 4-4-7 and MMG will set up at level 1 of 41X1. The 7-0, 4-4-7 and LMG will set up at level 1 in 46J6. If one of these three buildings holds the Germans got this. The 50mm AT gun will set up at level on on the board 46 hill (hex F6) to see over the grain at any tanks. The 76mm AT gun will set up in 50C1, again at level 1 to see over the grain. The rest of the infantry will form a main line of resistance along the board 50 and board 41 seam and on to board 46 hill and building. I will deploy two 4-3-6 squads into half squads. to to protect the buildings in the backfield of board 41 and two to fill gaps in the line. Hopefully the tanks can be stopped before they smoke in the defense."

To win the scenario, my Slovaks would have to take three of the mutli-hex buildings. The one on Board 46 seems like an obvious choice...but I would send only a token force of infantry to threaten the building. I didn't have aspirations to actually take it. I figured that Dan's AT Guns and HMG were covering that open ground like a blanket of snow. And lately, Dan has been devastating me with Rate of Fire. In fact, he would absolutely chew me up in this game with Rate of Fire tears. Getting smacked around by Rate of Fire is one of the least fun aspects of ASL. You can only pass so many morale checks and of course if your opponent is getting rate of fire with each shot, he's also forcing you to make a Pin or Morale Check or worse.

I gotta say, that I'm not a fan of unlimited Rate of Fire...especially since I rarely ever get it. I usually am on the receiving end of it. Seriously, the German HMG and the American 50 CAL are absolutely game changing assets when they get repeated Rate of Fire. 7 and 8 Factor Shots are tough especially if you are moving.

Turn 1 - I move my armor and the bulk of my infantry across the Board 42. I was hoping to avoid Dan's HMG and AT Guns. On Board 46, the German LMG and HMG would mow me down...harshly. I would lose four squads almost immediately.

Dan's 8-1 and HMG would be the decisive force in this game.

Turn 2 my Partisans arrive. I had literally no idea what to do with them...other than just send them forward.

True enough...

My plan was to send Partisan around to the rear of the big hill and approach the Germans from the north and the rest of my boys were headed for the small hill and from there to assault the village.

Dan would begin sending some of his boys on Board 46 back to the main village. He was confident at this point that my force on Board 46 was broken. Such would not be the case...In the center, my 38T tank would find the German 76L AT Gun and create some Russian smoke.

So back on 46, my mortar would get a critical hit and break the squad manning the LMG. The 7-0 would survive and this would have repercussions later on. But with that squad broken, I went after the building. A 4-3-6 would attempt to stop me, but would cower and then break in Final Protective Fire.

My boys were ecstatic at a positive turn of events.

My Partisans would eliminate the AT Gun in Close Combat. I would have a lucky streak winning ambush on two Close Combats in a row.

My Partisans would struggle to get over the big hill, but in the center, my STUG had put down some much needed smoke and then my sniper would break a key squad with an LMG. The door was open.

At this point in the game, I was doing ok. I was pushing into the center village and moving around behind Dan in the north. On Board 46, I had taken my first victory location. But the 7-0 managed to escape with the broken squads. This escape would come back to haunt me.

Turn 5 German - Dan's reinforcements would charge into the battle. His main group would surge into the back village to make sure my Partisans wouldn't get far. He also had a group charge in the center open ground. My smoked MMG would get a lucky hit and break all but one squad.

Turn 6 Slovak - I push forward and reveal the 50L AT Gun on the Board 46 hill. It would get an acquisition on my STUG. Things were not looking good. I had tried to be careful with my armor...but it wasn't making any difference.

A look at what would be my final advance line.

Turn 6 German - this would be the Prep Fire Phase that would break my back. So Dan's 50L AT Gun would fire and knock out my STUG and actually leave it a burning wreck. He would then shoot at my distant MKIV and miss...but then take the Intensive Fire shot. He would hit and knock out my MKIV. That was enough. I gave the immediate concession and Dan had the win

Psychologically it had been a really difficult game for me. Dan had KIA'd over 7 of my squads and would rally key units in my face...even when they were DM'd. His HMG and MMG had done a real number on me. And then to cap it off...I couldn't roll less than an 8 in close combat to win a 3-1 CC.

And then...the Intensive Fire shots that always seem to hit these days and not MALF the gun. In contrast, I generally end up breaking or X'ing my MA in some Intensive Fire shots. It's a bit disheartening to know your opponent is going to bale hay on most of his shots while you are struggling to force more than a Pin Check on him. It takes some inner mental strength to keep pushing forward in an ASL game...especially when you struggle to get results. This scenario would highlight the differences in dice rolling. Dan could take any shot confidently and I had zero confidence in my shots.

My congrats to Dan on a convincing win. It really was never in doubt after the German HMG mowed me down early on Board 46. My personal ELR was already reduced to zero from the very beginning of the game. I suspect, I'm not that different than most players who take a whooping early in a game. Sometimes, you can grit your teeth and keep pushing forward and ultimately gain a victory....but there's also the stark reality that your offensive power is so badly degraded that the momentum switches to your opponent and there's no real path to victory...but you play on, like a Tennessee vs. Alabama.

On the other side of the table, Dan's placement of his HMG, MMG and both AT Guns were just about perfect. They covered the battlefield and made it very difficult for me to move safely. So you have to acknowledge the skill of your opponent in such cases.

And now for Dan's Post Game Comments:

"The plan worked. Mainly due to good shooting by the AT gun and rate on the HMG. Several stacks were broken up by the HMG with multiple rate shots breaking and ELR reducing many squads and wounding the leaders. The AT guns each got a kill with the 50mm getting two in one turn, forcing Grumble Jones to concede. Without armor support his troops were out of steam. The scenario has many good possibilities for defense and attack but is hard to play for the Slovakians seeing many units caught under the crosshairs of the MGs. My thanks to Grumble Jones for slugging through another monster scenario from AoO!"