February nears its end and Spring is around the corner already. Dan and I have already gotten in 19 games so far this year. Dan has a few more games played than I do, but 19 is a goodly sum of ASL this early in the year. My regular Friday opponent in St. Louis will be out of pocket for a bit as he takes care of his aging mother. A situation that I imagine many of us find ourselves in these days...at least those of us in our 50's.
Dan would have a conflict for Saturday, so he and I would play on Friday night. We elected another scenario from the Covered pack.
We would select BG4 Wild, Irregular Gunfight. Designed by Robet Hammond, this scenario is a fresh take on the 1st day of the Second World War in Europe. This scenario depicts the early advance of the SS 1st Infantry Regiment as they move towards Chroscin following the capture of Gola. While well trained and certainly committed to the Nazi cause, they had not yet been fired upon and would have to man up after receiving fire from determined Polish defenders. As you will see from my AAR, my Germans broke early and often...in direct correlation with the history itself. Of course, we know these SS men would go on to be much feared on future battlefields. But on Day 1...they were just like everybody else who gets shot at!!!
As I mentioned earlier, this scenario is a nice departure from the standard "Blitzkrieg" sort of scenarios, we come to expect from September 1st, 1939. In fact, this scenario is pretty much a straight infantry fight until the Turn 3 arrival of two German Armored Cars. There are lots of SSR's with this scenario. Read them all and be very familiar with both the SSR's and the Victory Conditions. Dan would miss having a HIP unit and I would think that I was earning victory points through CVP...when I wasn't.
"...point taken..."
As the defending Poles, Dan would command elements of ON Bn Weilun & armed civilians. His force would consist of a 4-5-8, 4-5-7, 4-3-7, 2 x 3-3-7's , and a 2-4-8 led by a 9-1 and 8-1 with an MMG, 2 x LMG's, and a DC.
Throughout the game after each friendly movement phase, the Polish player gets to draw a card, with each non-red card representing some reinforcing squads, leader and heroes. As the German player, I hated this. Dan would get his reinforcements on Turns 1, 2, 3, and 5. He would draw a single red card during the game. During the game Dan would receive the following: 8-1, 8-0, 2 x 1-4-9's, a 1-2-7 and 3 x 3-3-7's. These would basically win the game for the Poles. And I will say that if the Polish is able to draw black cards early and often, he's likely to win this game.
As the attacking Germans, I would command elements of the 1st SS Infantry Regiment. My force would consist of 6 x 4-6-8's, a 5-4-8, and 6 x 4-4-7's led by a 9-1, 2 x 8-1's and an 8-0 with 5 x LMG's, a DC, and 2 x Armored Cars with a 9-1 Armor Leader.
And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:
"The Poles must keep the Germans from capturing building between rows V and AA. The plan is for an upfront defense in hopes of slowing the German attack. The 9-1 will have the DC and set up in the steeple with the HS and MMG. The 8-1, 4-5-8 LMG will defend the other multi-hex building (overlay) on BG1. The 4-5-7 LMG will defend the other row house with a dummy stack. The 4-3-7 will set up in BG1 R1 to defend that gap. The Partisans will set up in the multi-hex buildings on board 85. Hopefully the reinforcements can take back some buildings or defend the rest of board 85."
The German player (as long as he doesn't suffer 16 CVP) wins at the end of any game turn upon amassing 12 VP's. These are earned for building controls in a particular section and by exiting the Armored Cars on turn 5 or 6 (1 per AC exited on Turn 5 and 1/2 per AC exited on Turn 6). Single-hex buildings are worth 1 VP and multi-hex buildings are worth 1-1/2 VP. So yeah...tough for the Germans to acquire the necessary VP's, while risking much larger CVP's to the Poles. If the Germans don't exit an AC, they also suffer a -1 VP. If the Germans lose the AC with the 9-1 armor leader...that's 7 CVP against a 16 CVP cap and the best you can earn by exiting it is 1 VP or 1/2 at game end. And the Poles will have some nice Molotov's ready to knock you out.
I struggled a bit with these victory conditions...was not a fan.
Fear of the Polish MMG was the reason for my caution.
Dan would start getting reinforcements right away on both boards 85 and BG1.
Dan is a very aggressive defender. He saw a chance to move a concealed unit into CC with one my 4-4-7's and saw an easy 2 CVP gain. He would win initiative, roll snakes and eliminate my squad, retain concealment, create an 8-0 officer and infiltrate. This unit could camp out in the center woods mass and derail my attack for the next two turns. (It's only a 6 turn game...)
Dan's evil laughter still haunts me...
A look at the progress of my attack. The Polish move into my center really knocked me off balance. I would have to deal with this before I could go forward towards my real objectives.
I would focus on my objectives and successfully take my first building in CC.
Turn 3 German - my Armored Cars enter the battle. I would use them to support my attack on the BG1 Board.
My attack was progressing nicely on the Board BG1 village. And Dan's boys in the center woods would get a wee bit too aggressive and lose their concealment.
My boys would manage to break the Poles in the woods who were joined by another "magically appearing" reinforcement group. I was really not enjoying this aspect of the scenario.
Turn 4 German - against all odds, I secure the Board BG1 village and take care of the Poles in the center woods.
It had not been easy fight. My losses had been heavy and I was at the halfway point of the CVP cap.
Turn 5 German - Time to hit the Board 85 village and get an Armored Car or two to the exit.
Turn 5 Polish - Dan's last reinforcements land back in a Building on Board BG1.
Yeah...this would take away 1-1/2 of my very hard earned Victory Points. For no effort, my opponent simply took it away. And honestly that was game.
Turn 6 German - my last chance to even pretend to get close to winning.
So, I would exit one Armored Car, but the other would be immobilized by street fighting. I would go into close combat all over the battlefield. It was a forlorn effort with little chance to snatch victory from defeat.
I would win only one of the four close combats. On the final one, Dan would win ambush and exit into another building. I would gain 2-1/2 points but lose one and finish the game with 10-1/2 points. So it had been much closer game than it felt at the end.
Things that really impacted the battle: a) too cautious on Turns 1 & 2, b) Dan rolled very well throughout the game. A ton of 3's and 5's which kept his boys in the battle and hurt me on the attack. c) my morale checks - I missed every one of them...9's, 10's, and 11's,
My congrats to Dan on a great game and win. Dan made maximum use of the various assets available to the Poles. The reinforcements are absolutely key to the Polish defensive effort and can force the Germans to take the same buildings twice. From a balance perspective, I was still in the game even with terrible morale check DR's. I only missed victory by 1-1/2 points. Had I won two more CC's, it would have been a German victory. So, it was a good, close fight all the way. While, I would not recommend this scenario for a tournament (too much randomness with the reinforcement card draws), it's definitely a fun scenario with some unique challenges for both players. So I would definitely recommend it.
And now for Dan's Post Game Comments:
"The plan worked. The Germans were cautious and ran out of time to take buildings. Bad rolls meant even the SS were breaking. Even so the poles won by one and a half VP. My thanks to Grumble Jones for a great game of ASL!"
That's all for now.
Dan and I will be back next week for more blockbuster ASL!!!
We will see you then!!!
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