Our Saturday Game - ASL Scenario 234 Counterstroke at Stonne

After a week off from ASL, I was once again in the thick of cardboard carnage with my buddy Dan Best.  My week long hiatus was a bit of a surprise. Having secured a job at long last, my wife informed me that we needed to run up to Minneapolis to visit her parents. It's a bit of a drive to Minneapolis from Tulsa. In the past, I normally found myself making this drive during the holidays...Thanksgiving...Christmas...and that usually meant snow...ice...artic cold...pain...

So it was nice to make the drive in the springtime...except of course for torrential rain...wind...thunderstorms. And I believe Minnesota had a couple tornadoes pass through as we came back to Tulsa. It's always interesting living in the Midwest.

This trip to visit my in-laws was important. They were born in 1935 and 1937. And as you may guess, age and health issues have had their impact on both of my in-laws. You really can't miss opportunities to spend time with family at this stage in their lives. Any visit could be the last.

I've known my in-laws for 37 years. They have been an active part of my children's lives and been supportive of my family for decades. 

They would travel to visit us whether they were living in Phoenix or Minneapolis and whether we lived in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Tennessee, or Oklahoma. 

My in-laws actually met in the Marine Corps and upon their deaths will be buried at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery .

My father in-law hobnobbing with the DI's at MCRD in San Diego during my son's graduation.

My in-laws drove from Minneapolis to San Diego to be at my son's graduation. They then drove back and had to stop in Tulsa as my father in-law had become very ill and we rushed him to St. Francis Hospital....yes the same one with the shooting this past week. So thanks for letting me to take a moment to pay tribute to my in-laws. They have been outstanding grandparents. Of course, they still have no idea what ASL is all about...but I imagine most of us have that same problem with our close relatives.

So now you know why there was no AAR last week. 

So on to the AAR. Dan and I would play ASL Scenario 234 Counterstroke at Stonne. Many of us older players remember our first playing of this scenario when it was Scenario 28 in Crescendo of Doom. My group played this version of the scenario many times and I recall that we enjoyed it each time. Of course Squad Leader is a different game altogether. This scenario would enter the world of ASL as A66 from the 93b ASL Annual. It's definitely a classic with deep roots in the world of Squad Leader.

The fight for Stonne would be one of the more intense fights between the Germans and French is the whirlwind campaign of 1940. It was also one of the rare occasions where the Germans found themselves on the defense and in this case a desperate one at that. It's also the introduction of the Grossdeutschland Regiment (later Division, later Panzer Corps). This elite formation would certainly earn its reputation at Stonne. The French would also display their capabilities at Stonne give an excellent accounting of themselves.

As the attacking French, Dan would command elements of the 45'eme and 49'eme Batallons de Chars de Combat, 3'eme Division Cuirassee and 51'eme Regiment d'Infanterie, 3'eme Division d'Infanterie Mtotorisee. His force would consist of 20 x 4-5-7's, and 7 x 4-3-7's led by a 9-1, 8-1, 8-0 and 2 x 7-0's with an MMG, 4 x LMG's 4 x Trucks and 8 x Tanks.

As the defending Germans, I would command the men of the Infanterie-Regiment "Grossdeutschland". My force would consist of 12 x 4-6-8's, and 4 x 2-2-8's led by a 9-2, 9-1, 2 x 8-1's and an 8-0 with an HMG, MMG, 3 x LMG's, a 75 INF Gun, 3 x 37L AT Guns, 3 x STUG's, 4 x Half-tracks, a Kuebelwagen, and a 9-2 and 9-1 Armor Leader. 

Boards 3, 4 and 6...the boards of my youth!!!

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

"The French must capture 9 or more of 16 stone building hexes.  The plan is to attack en masse on the east side of board 4 toward the board 6 stone building (the chateau) and then into board 3.  The tanks will advance in groups with troops armored assaulting.  Then the tanks will engage the enemy guns and armor.  Hopefully the German 9-2 and HMG do not go on a rate tear and wipe out the infantry."

With so much area to defend, I'm always reminded of the maxim..."he who defends all defends nothing". With only 12 squads, I simply did not have the force necessary to cover this battlefield. I would deploy 2 squads and set all 4 of the half-squads to my southwest. They would defend the road and slow down any attempt by Dan to run his trucks into my backfield. Three of these 2-4-8's would fail the pre-game Task Check and become 2-4-7's. A full 4-6-8 in the Chateau would also become a 4-6-7. Thank goodness it only impacted a single full squad. I put the 9-2, HMG and a 4-6-8 at Level 3 on board 3. This is the best location for the HMG in this scenario. This left only 9 squads to hold the Chateau sector and I put half of these in a forward screen.

My 9-1 and the MMG along with all three LMG's would hold the Chateau. The 37L AT Gun would also be in the Chateau. The 75 INF would support my infantry screen on the southeast flank. I was hoping to get some hard hits on Dan's advancing infantry. 

It would be imperative to hurt Dan's infantry early and often. I only had 9 full squads facing 27 French squads. 

Dan would send a Schwerpunkt at the Chateau from the southeast corner. His trucks would try the end around on the road. Most of my dummy squads were down there, but 4 of them were half-squads. They would manage to stop the initial drive down the road. My HMG would chatter away with long range shots as the French as they struggled through the damp grass.

Turn 1 German - my reinforcements come on. I was clueless as to where to move them.

I would send one STUG directly to the Chateau. The two half-tracks with 37L's would head that way also. My 8-1 would take the Kuebelwagen all the way to the Chateau. My remaining STUG's and 37L Halftracks would head over the hills to hit Dan from the east side.

Turn 2 French - Dan would move into my screening force and work to eliminate my 75 INF Gun. My 9-2 would take out a few of them as they moved through the open.

Turn 2 German - I move to take on Dan's to H39's on the east edge. My AT Guns make some progress and a half-squad runs down the road to put fire on Dan's trucks.

"Uwe?" "Ja Rudi.." "Why are we chasing these trucks?" "Well...it's because Dan will use those big French trucks to hinder LOS of our AT Gun in the Chateau and disrupt rout paths. So we have to kill those damn things."

Dan's trucks would finally all be stopped, but at a bit more effort than trucks should normally warrant in a game. Over the years, I have seen Dan use trucks very effectively. So word of advice...don't just park them or send them out of the combat zone once they have unloaded. If there's no CVP cap, they can be great generators of LOS Hindrance and if you really get lucky...a nice source of "Russian" smoke blocking your opponent's key AT Gun. And in the desert...well they can make a lot of well placed dust.

At the Turn 3 mark, a look at the French advance line. Dan's tanks were doing better than his infantry.  Dan's boys were breaking, ELR'ing and dying as German machine guns raked them. Tank wise, an H39 had been immobilized and a Char B had been knocked out. My 75 INF Gun had been destroyed by a direct hit and Dan was pressing hard towards the Chateau grounds.

I would only knock on one of the Char B's.

Turn 3 German - I would move hard to roll up Dan's east flank and reinforce the Chateau with the remnants of my screening force. 

I would get a lucky hit on one of the H39's and knock it out.

My STUG's would struggle in this game. My 9-2 Armor Leader was in the STUG by the Chateau. He would knock out a Char B and then be Shocked - Unconfirmed Kill - recover and then be destroyed. My STUG with the 9-1 would MALF his gun and then be Recalled. I would also MALF the gun on the remaining STUG. Dan would immobilize a 37L Halftrack and destroy a halftrack towing a 37L Gun.

The Char B's are the key to French success in this scenario. They are very tough to kill and have a lot of good firepower. Dan would slap me around with these things. My 9-1, MMG and 4-6-8 would be KIA'd by a critical hit from one of these. They would also destroy my 37L AT Gun in the Chateau. I simply didn't have an answer for these.

Turn 4 - Dan makes some progress, but again...German MG fire just keeps the French Infantry from following up the armor advances.

My 9-2 with the HMG was able cover nearly the whole battlefield and was beyond the range of effective French counterfire. Of course I would MALF the gun and lose it for two fire phases, before repairing it. I would roll a lot of 12's during the game. I would lose both STUG's and 2 of my LMG's. Sometimes too many boxcars just suck the fun out of the game. It would be ok maybe if you had an equal number of snake eyes...but that usually doesn't happen.

By French Turn 5 - Dan's key officers were all wounded or dead. His 8-0 and 7-0's were busy trying to rally brokies and his other infantry were still stuck outside of the Chateau. The German HMG was making it very dangerous to move in the open.

Dan's boys would have to fight from cover.

A final look at the game as Turn 5 ended. At this stage of the game, half of Dan's infantry were KIA'd. His officers were wounded, the bulk of his force consisted of Green Half-Squads. The French Armor was dominating the battlefield, but the heavy loss in infantry would cause Dan to offer the concession and end the game with a German victory. We took about 30 minutes to hash out if the French could still win this game despite the heavy losses. The answer was yes, but again, the costs would be even heavier before the game was over. So I think Dan's concession was simply a recognition that his force lacked the power to defeat the Germans without suffering still more heavy losses. And had this been a real situation, the French would have pulled back and regrouped long before suffeing 50% losses. We push our cardboard heroes beyond reasonable limits...cause well...they are cardboard and you can get away with that. No so in reality. 

Playing Counterstroke at Stonne was a nice way to reconnect with the joy I felt when Crescendo of Doom first came out. 

Squad Leader dominated my youth and Crescendo of Doom was my favorite of the SL Gamettes. It just opened up the Squad Leader universe so much at that time. 

I look back fondly on those memories. 

And now for Dan's Post Game Comments:

"The plan did not work.  By turn 5 the French had lost 13 and half squads, 50% of their infantry.  Three of the leaders were wounded including both -1 leaders.  While the tanks were doing very well, the infantry had taken a beating.  And while the fight for the chateau was shaping up nicely it would be pyrrhic victory with the French no longer having the infantry to take further buildings.   The defense was well played by Grumble Jones.  He correctly guessed the key attack point and defended the chateau, extracting a heavy toll in infantry.  This scenario is old school, big, and corn fed meaty with lots of fun, but if the Germans can eliminate French infantry they can win.  My thanks to grumble Jones for a great game!"

My thanks to Dan for a great Saturday of ASL. 

It is with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Gary Trezza (seated, green shirt in the center). Gary was one of my teammates during the 2013 Texas Team Tournament. He carried our team with wins. I did not know Gary well personally but was well aware of the tremendous impact he had on our hobby, particularly with the Albany Tournament. Gary was a giant in our community and he will certainly be missed.

This AAR is dedicated to the memory of Gary Trezza.