After taking time off from the blog over Easter, I'm back in the saddle with two AAR's for this past weekend. Over Easter weekend, Dan and I would play two games BG6 Last Hurra! and ASL 242 Swan Song. We both found Last Hurra! to be a little flat. The Germans have to exit 2 wagons and is not an overly difficult task. My Germans were able to hold off the Poles for the win. Swan Song is one of the bigger Croix de Guerre scenarios. I would win as the French as bad luck plagued Dan's Germans. Back to back Red Card draws would eliminate any chance of OBA and my armor was moving all over the battlefield. Neither game felt particular competitive and so the ASL was a bit flat as a result. All ASL if good, but now and then a scenario or scenarios just doesn't always ring the bell at Long John Silvers.
This weekend, Dan and I would pick an early and later war scenario for Friday and Saturday. Friday's game would be first up (I bet you already guessed that...you guys are so smart!!). Once again, we would play a scenario from Alan Findlay's Covered Pack. BG7 Suxy Riders would be up on deck. Designed by Steve Swann, this is a great early war scenario with some random reinforcement options. At 5-1/2 turns, it plays quickly and covers the BG1 Board, which is a very nice board in my opinion. The action requires the Germans to secure control of two buildings. One of these is pretty far back. The Germans must also have 4 of their 6 Halftracks "mobile" at game end. Lose three and you're out. The French have 25LL AT Guns, which can take down the halftracks...so some caution is prudent...but not too much...cause getting to the last victory location will take you every bit of 5-1/2 movement phases. So don't dally!
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As the attacking Germans, I would command elements of the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment and 10th Panzer Division. My force would consist of 6 x 4-6-7's a 2-4-7 and a 2-2-8 led by an 8-1 and 8-0 with an LMG, 50 MTR, Radio with 100mm OBA, a 37L Halftrack, 6 x Halftracks, a 75 INF Gun and an Opel Blitz. My reinforcements would be 2 x STUG's. The STUG's would be the game changers in the game that followed.
As the defending French, Dan would command elements of 2me DLC. This force would consist of 3 x 4-5-7's, 3 x 4-3-7's, and 2 x 2-2-8's led by an 8-0 and 7-0 with an LMG, 60 MTR and 25LL AT Gun. Dan's reinforcements would be 2 x 4-5-7's led by a 7-0 with an LMG. These boys would secure the win for the French.
And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:
"The French must defend the two multi-hex buildings on board. They get a random reinforcement of two squads, one LMG and a 7-0. The plan will be to defend the forward building with the initial force and let the reinforcements move into the last building. The AT gun will set up to cover the open flank to keep the halftracks from flanking the defense. The crew and MTR will set up in the lumberyard while the 8-0, squad and LMG set up to cover the road with a fire lane. One squad will also cover the flank while the rest set up in and around the first victory building. Hopefully the reinforcements can make it to the second building without losses."
By SSR, my Germans had to enter via the road on the east board edge. Naturally, this sucked as my force would have to lose precious movement points in the traffic jam board entry and then the wonderful force to drain even more MP's with pivots. I would like to have made it to the Q Row with the bulk of my force, but just wasn't possible. My STUG's would enter from the north edge Y1 and GG1. This would allow them to get to the Q Row and prepare the way forward.
Turn 1 - I move forward and promptly get out of my halftracks. I only had six squads and really didn't want to lose them in a knocked out halftrack. Dan would narrowly miss taking out one of my halftracks with his 25LL AT Gun. The rest of my force would make good progress, but dismounting my grenadiers would prove to be a costly mistake.
Turn 2 German - I would successfully place smoke in the north and move my boys ahead in that sector. In the center, I would bog a halftrack in the muddy field. This would not end well for me.
Dan's 60 MTR would show up and duel with my 37L Halftrack. Neither of us would get a good hit. Dan's reinforcements would arrive and move quickly to occupy the second victory location building. This really would be the game winning moment. And these were exactly the best possible reinforcement for Dan in this game. This infusion of infantry would give Dan a two squad advantage.
My OBA would show up, but I would struggle a bit to get it where I needed it. It would not play a large role in the battle.
Turn 3 German - my bogged halftrack would become Mired as the bulk of my force converged in the north. I was managing to push Dan's boys back with only a break or two.
"Get that thing moving!!!"
Turn 4 German - my Mired halftrack becomes immobilized, mission killed and I would be down one mobile halftrack. I could only afford to lose one more and stay in the game. I would finally break the squad in the north and continue my drive on the first victory building location. My STUG's were leading the way. But it was Turn 4 and I only had two more movement phases. I already knew at this point that victory was slipping away.
As my part of Turn 4 wrapped up, I had made good progress, but had not yet taken either of the victory building locations. Time was my greatest opponent. Dan was doing a great job of running out the clock.
Turn 5 German - I would manage to break the French in the first victory building, but they would rout upstairs. So I would have to spend my Advance Phase going upstairs and underneath that unit. Another great move by Dan that would mission kill a squad from the final rush. Dan's 25LL AT Gun had an interesting game. Earlier on, Dan went on epic rate of fire tear (at least 8 shots...I lost count) at my 8-1 and squad. He would fail to get an effect. Then it would destroy my 37L Halftrack, but later on an Intensive Fire attempt, Dan would roll a 12 and X out the gun. The crew would broken by my OBA, but successfully rout away as I invoked No Quarter. This would end up hurting me.
At look at my advance at the end of my part of Turn 5. On his part, Dan would rout the broken crew upstairs in the final victory location building. That would secure the win. With only a single movement phase, there would no chance of getting upstairs to eliminate this broken crew. I probably should have conceded at this point, but I wanted to see what would happen at the end.
Turn 6 German - I make my final assault. My halftrack VBM freeze both of Dan's concealed 4-5-7's at ground level, while I concentrated my Advancing fire on the broken crew upstairs. But to no avail. I couldn't eliminate the broken crew and so that was game. I gave concession at the end of Advancing Fire.
Once again, the French would be victorious in our games!
This was a really fun scenario and my favorite so far from the Covered Pack. One more turn and I could have been a contender!!! How many times have we heard that lament in ASL...many times. While, there many good moves by my opponent, my loss in this game really came down to an overly cautious Turn 1 movement phase. I should have moved my grenadiers forward the full movement points, rather waste the five MP's spent in unloading them.
So close...(I was rooting for the Rams and loved this game!!!)
My thanks to Dan for a fun game. These competitive games that go down to the final turns are the best. When both players are still in the game at the end, it makes for a very satisfying game of ASL.
And now for Dan's Post Game Comments:
"The plan worked. The Germans came on and moved cautiously. While they suffered few losses they also took until turn 5 to take the first building. They could not clear the second building on the last turn. This scenario was well balanced and gives good variability for random reinforcements. My thanks to Grumble Jones for a great game of ASL!"
ON TO GAME TWO!
Ok...now Saturday's game would not be quite the same as Friday's. Nope...it would be a dicing the likes of which I haven't had to face in quite a while. It was so bad, that Dan suggested that maybe we should forgo blogging it. But I wanted to blog it and delve into the emotions that a Player goes through when they are on the wrong side of a dicing.
Our Saturday game would come from East Side Gamer's Dezign Pak 6. We would play #76 Nehring's Roving Cauldron. Designed by Glenn Houseman, this is a late war scenario set along the Oder River as the Germans attempt to stay out of Soviet encirclements and fight their way back to German lines.
This is a 7-1/2 turn game and has a lot of armor units for the German player. As a longer game, speed of the advance is not quite as critical for the attacking Germans.
The German Player wins immediately by controlling 3 or more of the 5 multi-hex buildings on Boards 15 & 53.
The initial Russian force only has three anti-tank assets: an SU-76, a SU 57(a), and 37L AA Gun. Against this, I would have 12 Armor assets...and still lose..badly...and even with ROAR showing it as pro-German.
The scenario is named for General Walther Nehring. Nehring had a long military career with service in both World Wars. He would participate in Operation Barbarossa and earn his Knight's Cross before going to North Africa and serving a stint as commander of the Afrika Korps until wounded in an air attack. Interestingly, he was a holder of the German Wound Badge in Gold...so we say he was lucky...maybe?? Returning to Russia, he would earn the Oak Leaves and then in 1945, his "Roving Cauldron" would earn him the Swords. Despite earning a gold wound badge, he would survive the war and write one to the definitive histories of the German Panzerkorps in World War II.
The battle space for the scenario. This is well thought-out use of the maps to create an interesting scenario. And I will say, that despite the dicing yet to come, I was excited to play this scenario and would recommend it, if you have not had the opportunity to play it. I always hate to let my emotions from a particular hard defeat affect my impression of a scenario. No designer can ever know what the dice will do in a given situation. Designers can only really factor in average dice rolls into the equation. So, in those rare instances, where one opponent is on the receiving end of a dicing, it's certainly no fault of the scenario.
As the attacking Germans, I would command elements of the 16th and 17th Panzer Divisions and 342nd Infantry Regiment. My force would consist of 3 x 4-6-8's, 2 x 2-4-8's, 6 x 4-6-7's and 9 x 4-4-7's led by a 9-2, 8-1, 8-0 and 7-0 with an HMG, MMG, 2 x LMG's, 2 x Panzerschrecks and 2 x DC's with 2 x Puma Armored Cars, 2 x Halftracks, a Jagdpanzer IV, 4 x STUG's, 2 x Brumbars, and an Aufklaerer 38t along with an 8-1 Armor Leader.
As the defending Russians, Dan would command elements of the 3rd Tank Army. His force would consist of 12 x 4-4-7's and a 2-2-8 led by 2 x 8-1's with 2 x MMG's, an LMG, a 50 MTR, an ATR and SU-76, SU-57LL, a 37L AA Gun, 2 x T-34's and an SU-85.
And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:
"The Russians must defend the multi-hex buildings. The SU-76 and SU-57 will set up hull down behind the walls. While the 8-1 leaders and MMGs set up to lay fire lanes across the open ground. The main objective is to knock out the German vehicles, so the infantry can defend the victory buildings. Hopefully the reinforcing tanks can gain the upper hand in the AFV fight."
My Plan was go for the three upfront buildings and not worry about the two in the backfield that would be difficult to take down in the more urban environment. The three up front could be approached from multiple angles and my overwatch group on the northwest hill would be able to support the attacks. My overwatch group would be the 9-2 with HMG & MMG & three squads (too many), both Brumbars and the Jagdpanzer IV. My halftracks and Pumas would go up the middle on the west road while my STUG's and Infantry force would head up the east road to take the heights in the southeast and the building there. This was a bad move right out of the gates. My west road force was intended to move into the middle to cut in attack the middle, wooden building objective. But I followed the road and took my boys out of the fight.
I knew that Dan only had three anti-tank units...but had seriously miscalculated how events would unfold. Dan's 57LL Halftrack was hull down with a 3 rate of fire. The SU-76 was hull down with a 2 rate of fire. APCR in both could shred my STUG's, Puma's, and halftracks. So, I had decided to be more aggressive in this scenario in the mistaken belief that I had the armor edge. I did not.
Turn 1 German was largely uneventful. Dan's 60 MTR would break a halfsquad, but not much else would happen. The biggest gaff would be my own. One of my Brumbars attempted to ESB stop on MP 13...just one over...but I rolled boxcars (because of course I would)...Just like that I was down a vehicle and key one at that. It had LOS to nothing and was out of the game before it even began.
"Smoke 'em if you got'em boys...we're going to be here a while."
Dan's SU-76 would trade fire with my Jadgpanzer IV...but neither of us would do anything.
A look at my Turn 1 limit of advance. Not bad, but I was entering the chokepoints for Dan's SU-76 and SU-57LL.
I would disrespect this vehicle and pay a heavy price for my hubris.
Turn 2 German - the heady days of this game, when my Germans still had life and a chance...to be blown apart. I would successfully push back one of Dan's MMG teams. They had skulked into what they thought was an unseen hex, but a German 4-4-7 saw them and rolled a 3 -1 which would break them. It's always the 2 factor shots in this game...never the 16 or the 24...no you always roll 11's with that firepower. Dan's 60 MTR squad had also broken and routed away. So the only thing stopping me was the SU-57LL. And stop me it would.
So, began one of Dan's greatest rate of fire tears in our long gaming history. (He wiped me out in the classic Among the Ruins scenario with a German HMG...I still see a therapist about that.) The SU-57LL was a far better gun than I realized and Dan managed to get APCR and destroy two STUGS and a PUMA while breaking and ELR'ing a 4-4-7 squad. In his comments Dan notes a rate tear of 5 shots...but it was quite a bit more than five. It was so bad, that my remaining two STUGS chose to engage, which was wise, because Dan basically ran out of targets and then out of HE and fired at least one AP shot at my infantry.
My 8-1 Armor Leader gave it a thought. I was angry at this point and wanted some payback...but had I done that, I would lost my two remaining STUG's. So, I managed to banish the emotional desire for vengeance and moved my STUG's out of the SU-57's LOS to continue to support my infantry. 1945 Panzerfausts and Panzerschrecks would have to do the job and with no HE...that was a bit of a possibility.
But, I have to admit, it was game over for me. Rate of Fire tears really gut me in a game, especially if they are successful. In this game, Dan simply never missed. He didn't always penetrate with the shot, but he never missed. I was becoming more personally demoralized with every "Hit with rate...hit with rate...hit with rate."
Our game can be cruel at times.
Turn 3 German - Dan's reinforcing tanks had arrived and this would signal the end of this game. The SU-76 had destroyed both my halftracks with yet another rate of fire tear. I never got a hit on the hull down SU-76. The SU-57LL made an attempt to escape and was destroyed by my 20L 38t vehicle. It gave me no satisfaction as that vehicle had really won the game for Dan already. I made good progress towards the first building location, but was still looking at two turns before I could take it. Dan's tanks had effectively restricted my infantry movement and my group to the west was now isolated.
A last look at the game as I would concede before the end of Turn 3. What led to my concession was another ongoing rate of fire tear by the SU-76 as it clobbered my 9-2 stack and three squads. His rolls...a 5 to hit with rate, a 4 on the effect (breaking the 9-2 and a squad) a 4 to hit with rate...I didn't hear anything else as I told Dan I was done. I couldn't take any more.
Dicing is an aspect of any game that relies on dice for results. From Risk to Backgammon to ASL, dice have the ultimate impact on the game. In this game, it was particularly hard as my dice were pretty much stone cold and not giving me any ability to punch back. I was in the corner and taking blow after blow with no ability to respond. It was a great win for Dan and we all enjoy overwhelming wins like that which validate our defensive or offensive strategies.
Of course, humiliating defeats kind of linger in the ASL player mind for longer than victories in many cases. You spend the rest of the week going over the what-if's, what could I have done differently, better, etc.
Now as far as my concession in Turn 3...it wasn't completely necessary. I was setting my boys up to take two of the victory locations and then spend the remainder of the game taking on the third and final building that I needed to take. It would have been an immediate win with control. But losing my overwatch force was going to allow Dan's infantry to concentrate on that final location and have three tanks to support the defense. With my cold dice and dan's rolling lava...I saw no future in continuing the game. We often push our cardboard warriors way too hard. Had this same result occurred in the actual fight, the Germans would have called it off and moved to refit and find another way out.
So, here's the question for you. Would you have continued the fight in these circumstances or would your personal ELR have dropped to zero like mine?
Having said all of this, it was still another great weekend of ASL. I enjoyed both games to the extent that I could and would play both of these scenarios again. I liked them both.
And now for Dan's Post Game Comments:
"The plan worked. Mostly due to hot dice for the Russians with the SU-57 going on a five shot and hit rate tare and destroying three vehicles and breaking a squad. This broke up the German attack and slowed progress The Russian reinforcements were able to knock out two more vehicles and another was mission killed on an ESB immobilization. The Russian hot dice won the day in this scenario. My thanks to Grumble Jones for another great game of ASL!"
That's a wrap on this weekend's games!
Dan and I will be back next week or more in your face ASL!!!
SEE YOU THEN WE SHALL!!!
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