March and has arrived and the ASL train is chugging down the tracks. 28 games completed already in 2022. I'm enjoying it while I can as I'm certain life events will slow down the current rate of ASL play. I would get in three games this past week with three opponents, which is always nice. I would win 2 of the 3, but suffered heavy losses in all three of them. Sometimes a Pyrrhic victory feels like a bit of a defeat. There will not be three AAR's, but I'll talk about all three. The primary AAR will be for our Saturday Game, which was ASL 192 Shoot-N-Scoot.
In our playing, Dave would go on a Smoke rate of fire tear. By the time he was finished, there were six smokes placed, which effectively shielded his forces from any kind of worthwhile defensive fire.
I had gone with an upfront German defense to catch the British moving through the grain. My northern flank was protected by the two wires and 6 AP mines and 2 AT Mines. The AP mines would eliminate a half-squad and the AT mines would knock out one of the Churchills.
Dave would struggle to make morale checks for the first three turns of the game. This was a good and bad news story. With his boys broken, I would remain in my forward defense and even move up to keep his men DM'd. Bad idea. I should have fallen back immediately.
Dave managed to rally his boys often and with his fire breathing Crocodile, proceeded to burn me to death. His first flame shot was a 4 KIA on my 8-1, 2 x 4-6-8's and MMG. That loss allowed him to push into the center and basically undo my defense. By Turn 5, Dave had all the victory locations he needed and didn't have the force to take buildings away from him. Never mind the Crocodile that slayed all before it. It's was a disappointing loss for me. My defense had been fairly successful until the arrival of the Crocodile. After that, few things went right for the Germans and what started out good was completely overwhelmed by the end.
Every now and then, a situation presents itself in ASL for which you have no remedy. The Crocodile moved cautiously and only my 50L AT Gun had shots at it through smoke. I would hit repeatedly, but couldn't penetrate the armor. My 75L never got an LOS to the Crocodile before British infantry eliminated it. For me, there's nothing worse in an ASL game than an enemy asset that is unstoppable and completely devastating to your forces. Luck is rarely enough in those instances.
All in all a fun scenario that either side can win if "luck is on their side" when it counts. My record against Dave is pretty poor. But I'm patient...I'll eventually sink the 3 Point Shot...
And now for Dave's Comments:
My plan is to SMOKE the front line of defense and move straight up the middle, push towards P3, but my main force will take the buildings north of the main road.
AAR:
The plan worked well, though my Brits kept failing their MCs on Turn one. By Turn 3, the Crocodile started weighing in, killing two squads and a leader, then staying a thorn in the German side on the left flank. By Turn 6 the Brits had most of the buildings north of the road, P3 and were moving through the tangle of buildings behind P3. The Germans conceded on their turn 6. Scott had a very good up-front defense.
My next game would be my regular Friday night game with Scott in St. Louis.
Scott and I have been playing Starter Kit scenarios and on Friday we would play Brian Youse's S78 No Japanese within a 100 Miles. This game would really test my resolve to stay in a game. The Australians have four MMG's with Crews that give them a 3 rate of fire. Oh good grief would that suck!!! For years, my buddy Scott has experienced the same dice roll struggles as myself. Average to terrible dice rolls were a normal part of our games. Well...lately, his dice have been beyond hot. His average roll (I'm not kidding) during th is game was a 4. He snaked me half to death and he kept rate of fire so often...that I swear the counters were starting to smoke...REALLY... My Japanese were being shredded throughout the game as I tired to advance towards the level 1 hill and take control of it. Scott would ultimately MALF one of the two MMG's on the hill and I would capture one on the flank. But by Turn 4, I wasn't sure my force would have enough juice to do anything. But then lady luck appeared. There is an SSR that allows for a 12 factor HE hit on a selected hex on time over three turns. You hit on a 1 or a 2. I hit his main position and broke the crew with the MMG. I then stormed the hill in a Banzai.
Scott's dice were just as hot in close combat. My first CC was against a lone 7-0 with my 8-0 and a 4-4-7. Everyone died. Then on the hill, my 10-1 and a squad would eliminate the Australians, but be killed in turn. I was on fumes as we neared the end.
A final look at the battle. On his final movement phase, Scott would attempt to send his flank forces back on the hill to deprive me of the victory. I would succeed in eliminating the Australians that got onto the hill. I was down to about four squads. It was a very bloody victory.
And finally, on Saturday Dan and I met for a little bit larger game than normal. Neither of us had played ASL 192 Shoot-N-Scoot yet, so we were both looking forward to seeing how it played out. Designed by Pete Shelling, this a Battle of the Bulge scenario set at Rocherath, Belgium. The 2nd Infantry Division would do a great job of thwarting the early advances of the 12th SS Panzer Division.
There's a ton of great books on the Battle of the Bulge, but I would recommend Steven Zalonga's recent volume, which deals specifically with the fighting at the Twin Villages. The effectiveness of US Bazookas against Panther tanks is one thing that really surprised me. I've never had that kind of success in ASL.
The EC for this scenario are wet, with no wind, and Mist. Pete doesn't call out ground snow. And this is one of most perplexing aspects of writing both scenarios or AAR's about the Battle of the Bulge. The photographic record shows no snow, but then other pics from the same battle show snow covered wrecks. So the key for me was trying to pinpoint...on what day did it actually snow during Wacht am Rein. And was that snow all across the battlefield??
This question is usually related to the actions on the 16th-19th. There is pretty clear evidence of snow as the Battle for Bastogne goes into full swing.
So readers...I'd be interested in knowing what the weather was on the ground during the various days of the battle.
As the attacking Germans Dan would command the grenadiers of the 12th SS "Hitler Jugend" Panzer Division. (the guys pictured above are Leibstandarte Grenadiers). Dan's force would consist of 14 x 6-5-8's led by a 9-2, 2 x 8-1's, and 8-0 with 2 x MMG's, 8 x LMG's, 2 x Panzerschrecks, 6 x Panthers, 2 x Panzerjaeger IV's, a 37L Halftrack and 4 x Halftracks with a 9-1 Armor Leader.
As the defending Americans, I would command the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division and 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion. My force would consist of 12 x 6-6-6's, 2 x 3-4-7's, and 2-2-7's led by a 9-1, 8-1, 8-0 and 7-0 with an HMG, MMG, 2 x Bazookas, 24 factors of mines, a radio with 150mm OBA, 6 x foxholes, 4 x M-10's, a 37LL M8 and AAMG M8, halftrack, 2 x jeeps, a 9-1 and 8-1 armor leader, and a 57L AT Gun. On Turn 3/4 I would get 2 x 6-6-6's, 2 x 3-4-6's, an 8-0, an 8-1 armor leader, 2 x 76L Shermans and a Halftrack.
The Germans win at game end by exiting 70 or more VP off the west board edge. A tall order...
And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:
"The Germans must assault across the boards and exit 70 EVP. The plan is to armored assault on the first turn along the north board edge of board 12. The halftracks will enter empty since they will be easy kills to the American guns. Hopefully the American OBA will not show early and smash the Schwerpunkt."
A view of the American defense and my bore sighted locations. I usually don't do bore sighting, but with the mist and the need to take out enemy soft skins early...I gave in and placed my bore sights. It would be a good thing.
Dan completely surprised me. He came in with a huge Schwerpunkt in the north. I had expected a drive through the southern woods route, which would shield his forces from my OBA and allow his infantry to move rapidly. Instead...my forward observer got so excited that he rolled a 9 for radio contact (AEIEIEIEIEEIEIEI....I hate this game...I hate this game!!!). Good grief....no radio contact with a huge concentration of German infantry and armor right smack in front of me.
"Battery B...come in Battery B...I've got the whole damn German army coming right at me...do you copy...are you there...COME IN!!!"
Dan's Panthers and half-tracks came sweeping across the open.
Not Fred again...get back to the guns Snowman!!!
At least my M-10's were ready for action. They would take out the 37L Half-track and immobilize a Panther. It was a start...
Well...on my part of Turn 1, it was time to get troops out of the south and headed north. Dan had pretty much committed to the north.
Turn 2 - in my part of Turn 1, I finally got a hold of Snowman....but then drew a Red Card...I HATE THIS GAME!!!!! So on Turn 2 I finally got a black card and placed my first spotting round. But the opportunity to nail a huge part of the German force had passed. Dan had dodged a huge bullet....
At the end of 2 Turns, things had gone badly for the Americans. All four of my M-10's were knocked out and my 57L Gun would shortly take a critical hit and be obliterated. I had managed to destroy all of the half-tracks, which deprived Dan of needed exit points and the ability to rapidly move his grenadiers later in the game. I had managed to break an 8-1 and 2 squads as they moved into my HMG's fire lane. This would prove to be very costly. But at this stage of the game, it looked like the momentum was swinging to the Germans.
Turn 2 American - my ARTY hits and immobilizes a Panther and the crew bails and is broken. Other Germans are casualty reduced and/or broken. My forces in the south hasten to set up a new MLR in the back of the village.
Thanks for the FFE guys!!!
Turn 3 German - Dan presses his assault and gets into the village, but he is still squeezed too tightly in the north around the gully. A bazooka team would roll snakes and immobilize a Jadgpanzer IV.
Dan's 2 Panzerjaeger IV's had been good performers throughout the game.
Turn 3 American - I draw another black card and leave the OBA right where it was. And the blast manages to kill a few more Germans and reduce Dan's available exit VP below 70. With that, Dan gave the concession and it was an American win. In the end, my OBA would be the decisive American asset. It didn't get the massive hit that I hoped for, but it did what was required.
My thanks to Dan for yet another great game.
And now for Dan's Post Game Comments:
"The plan did not work. The tank battle was won by the Germans but OBA was able to hit the concentrated infantry and knock out one panther tank plus 7 EVP of infantry. Also a Baz as able to immobilize one JgPz IV and another panther was immobilized by an M10. With all the halftracks knocked out the Germans only had 69 CVP left. Less than the 70 needed to exit. Well played by Grumble Jones with an up front defense to hold the line. Congrats on a good win!"
Dan and I will be back next Saturday for some more high speed, non stop ASL Action!!!
We will see you then good buddies!
I grew up in a Trucker family as my father spent his entire career in the Trucking Industry. He will always be the Bandit and this AAR is dedicated to the memory of my father. A year has passed since he left us for the great Truckstop in the sky.
Breaker one nine...
>>Every now and then, a situation presents itself in ASL for which you have no remedy. The Crocodile moved cautiously and only my 50L AT Gun had shots at it through smoke. I would hit repeatedly, but couldn't penetrate the armor. My 75L never got an LOS to the Crocodile before British infantry eliminated it. For me, there's nothing worse in an ASL game than an enemy asset that is unstoppable and completely devastating to your forces. Luck is rarely enough in those instances.<<
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean but . . . what about the Panzerschreck (TK: 26)? What about Panzerfausts (TK: 31)?