Our Grand ASL 4th of July Weekend

Before getting into our "Grand ASL Weekend", a quick update on future AAR's. As you may recall, the blog has been hit by some sort of BOT. The month of June finished with 19,000 views vs. 4000 for a normal month. I didn't do any AAR's in June in order to observe what was happening to my blog. At the end of the day, all I came up with was that someone in Singapore has been hitting the blog, but not reading any posts. So, more internet savvy people than myself will probably recognize this kind of activity. As we enter July, I will go back to a more normal posting schedule with AAR's along with the monthly scenarios.

Ten years ago, I found myself at the 2013 Texas Team Tournament. My very first tournament and first time playing ASL with complete strangers. I was terrified that people would see how poorly I played the game. Above, I am playing "A Winter Melee" with Doyle Motes, Mike Bistodeau and Dan Best. Yep, first time I ever met Dan Best. In this game, Dan was the Germans vs. Doyle, Mike and myself playing the three Russian elements. We ended up winning the game although  Doyle's Cossacks suffered dreadful losses. 

As for the tournament, I had an amazing experience. I went 2-0 on Day 1 in games against Dan Best and Roy Connelly (both lifelong friends today). On Day 2, I had planned to play a game against Doyle Motes...but Rick Reinesch came over and told me I was going to play against Matt Shostak, who is arguably one of the very best players out there. I tried to get out of it and told Rick, I was not qualified to play against Matt. But Rick said..."You're 2-0 and we need to know if that's real or dumb luck." So Matt and I played "Tough Enough" from the Texas Dos Equis Pack. I tried my best not to do anything stupid and played a cautious game and would go on to lose. Next up would be David Longstreet, who would take me down in "Among the Ruins". So Rick would see that Day 1 was just a bit of dumb luck!!!

I would finish the tournament with 2 wins and 3 losses. I would finish in second place for the Major Johnson Award. I would lose that to Dan with a score that I believe may still be the highest ever awarded. (Rick can correct me if there has been a higher Major Johnson score.)

I would also win the Audie Murphy Award for most Snake Eyes rolled during the tournament. Any long-time readers of this blog know that was a major miracle as my dice are notoriously bad. 

As the tournament came to end on Sunday, I went back to my hotel room and just sat for a bit. My wife and daughter were still out visiting my sister-in-law who lives in Round Rock. I was exhausted and elated at the same time. My first tournament exceeded any expectations that I had. It had been fun, full of great games and introduced me to people who would go on to become some of my most treasured friends. In short, this single moment would completely change my life. Dan Best and I would go on to play an epic amount of ASL. I would learn about all the 3rd Party products that were out there, which I had never heard of before. BFP, LFT, Rally Point, Schwerpunkt, March Madness, etc. My ASL world was truly reborn that June in Round Rock, TX. ASL would go from a game I played I played to a life style that has given me so many great hours of enjoyment. 

Ten years later, I was signed up to go the Texas Team Tournament once again and mark the 10 Year Anniversary. I was so looking forward to the event and planned a business trip to Midland, TX, so I could start my vacation from there and explore Texas before finishing up at the tournament. That was the plan.

Then came the news that the tournament was cancelled. I was devastated...no lie...I was really sad about it. My vacation was already scheduled and hotel rooms were booked. I reluctantly cancelled everything. Dan and I then came up with an idea for him to come down to Tulsa for our own "Grumble Jones Grumbler Tourney".  

The day before I head to Midland, TX for four days of work...disaster would strike Tulsa in the form of 100+ winds that absolutely ravaged our city. Power crews are still in Tulsa restoring power lines, and removing an unbelievable amount of debris from the hundreds of downed trees. My own backyard tree was severely damaged. We woke up Sunday morning to the aftermath and had to drive the 8 hours to Midland. 

We left behind a devastated Tulsa for a Midland, TX in the grips of 110-115 degree heat. Oh good grief. My wife had accompanied me on this trip and this was actually the first time she ever went on a business trip with me in 36 years. Boy I pick a real winner. We made the best of the heat...but I got lost in the Permian Basin oilfields near Garden City on the way back to my hotel. 42 mile drive ended up taking me 2 hours. That sucked. But the trip ended up being a great one both for work as well as time spend with a co-worker and his family in San Angelo. But I should have noted that things weren't quite working out.

Yep, I had to cancel my planned vacation and returned to Tulsa. Work needed me and the last two weeks of June wore my out. But Dan was still expected...

And then more bad news. I share a lot of personal things on my blog. It's cathartic for me and it helps to share some of it especially for other folks struggling with the same issues. 

My daughter lives in Quincy, IL with our grandson. Unfortunately, the boy's father has of late been in prison (where he decidedly belongs). My daughter has been doing great with him out of the picture. But he got out at the beginning of June and was once again back with my daughter and wreaking havoc. (For reference, he's a former Chicago gangbanger that was hiding out in Quincy and making babies amongst several women including my daughter.) AMTRAK runs twice day to Chicago and north Quincy has become the unfortunate home to many gangbangers looking to escape troubles in Chicago. Al Capone summered in Quincy back in the day as well.

I got to enjoy two days with my grandson, who is now walking and exploring his world.

So, back to our story, all well set for Dan to come down until we got the call that our daughter had experienced some bad things with her felon boyfriend. So she needed to be in Tulsa for a couple days. Naturally, we were eager to help her and our grandson and heartsick that things were not good.

But this caused Dan and I to have to pause his visit. We altered our plans to play ASL over SKYPE and then meet on Saturday at the Pea Ridge Battlefield in NW Arkansas. We had already planned a hike of the 7 mile loop there. Of course, I had expected for us to drive there together.

Then my daughter decided to return to Quincy...much to our dismay and fear to be honest. So, I ended up not even having to alter our plans, but of course it was too late to adjust. And my wife was absolutely beside herself upset over the potential danger my daughter was going to back too. She is once again with this man and so far all is well. But we cannot pretend that this will last. So we pray for the best and prepare for the worst. 

Having endured so many topsy turvy emotions, I soldiered on and Dan and I continued with our plans. We met up at Pea Ridge and after a passing storm was done, we set out on our 3 hour and 7-mile hike of the battlefield. Pea Ridge is one of my favorite places in the world. I have been there countless times and it brings peace to my world. I was very happy to share it with Dan as he experienced it for the first time. 

Pea Ridge is perhaps the best fully preserved battlefield in the NPS system. I highly recommend a visit if you are ever in NW Arkansas. 

Beginning on Friday Dan and I would play 8 games over Friday, Sunday and Monday. 

Grumble Jones GJ054 4 Steeples for Lt. Greenwood - Dan would win

Winter Offensive WO01 French Toast and Bacon         - I would win

Grumble Jones  GJ113 Bailey's Iron Fist                 - Dan would win

Operation Neptune  ON1 Freedom!                               - I would win

Grumble Jones GJ056 Lucky 313                                 - I would win

Grumble Jones GJ055 Die gepanzerte Bestie                - I would win

ASL Starter Kit S04 Welcome Back                         - Dan would win

ASL Starter Kit S03 Simple Equation                            - Dan would win

We would play four Grumble Jones scenarios, which Dan was gracious enough to indulge me as I wanted to see how they played out. Bailey's Iron Fist would be the most fun, followed by Die gepanzerte Bestie, which was also a hoot to play. Luck 313 ended early due a snake eyes and 4 Steeples for Lt. Greenwood was a mess and a bit too clunky to enjoy. 

Dan blitzed me in the two Starter Kit scenarios. He was Americans in both and they are simply overwhelming in SO3 and SO4.

We enjoyed ON1 and WO01 as well. 

GJ056 Lucky 313 - in this scenario a single Ferdinand is attempting to return to German lines through the detritus of earlier battle. The center gully is a trench filled with 6 broken Russian squads. Another Ferdinand is immobilized on the battlefield as burning buildings spread a fire through the adjacent grain. A platoon of German Grenadiers are also on the field and policing up this part of the battlefield. 

In our game, the Russians managed to rally three squads and reman a 76L AT Gun. On Turn 2, as the Ferdinand traveled down the road to safety, the 76L fired a desperation shot. I would roll snakes and destroy the Ferdinand for the game win. We played all of 45 minutes when that snakes basically ended the game. So, we can't say for sure how well the scenario would have played out with the other elements that would have come on in later turns. But game one of our Grand ASL Weekend was in the books.

Grumble Jones GJ055 Die gepanzerte Bestie was similar to Luck 313 as it is centered on a single tank. In this case, a Russian KV-2. There is actually another scenario that also relates this event, where a single KV-2 took the Germans all day to finally destroy. Our game would go the distance and recreate the historical outcome. 

Dan would once again be in control of the single AFV. He would almost never miss and took out all three of my 50L AT Guns and trucks. He then knocked out the 88L AA Gun that tried to take a position. He also broke up repeated German infantry attacks. The Germans would only succeed by bringing two 8-3-8's with DC's behind the KV-2 in halftracks. On the final turn, the KV-2 attempted to start up and move away, which if successful would have given Dan the win. But on the startup both 8-3-8's threw their DC's on to the tank. The first one missed...but the second would hit and destroy the KV-2 giving the Germans the win.

I had won both of these "single" tank scenarios with some serious dice rolling luck. 

Our third game for Friday would be ASL Starter Kit S04 Welcome Back. Dan would shred my attacking Germans and keep me from exiting the required number of EVP. 

Our fourth game for Friday (yes, we played 4 games on one day) would be ASL Starter Kit S03 Simple Equation. Dan's Americans would once again waste my Germans for the victory.

At the end of Day 1 - Dan had two wins and I had two wins.

On Sunday, Day 2 (after our Saturday hike), Dan and I would play GJ113 Bailey's Iron Fist. This would be a really fun game that also went down to the wire. The Germans managed to get to the bridge and control one hex, but a failed ESP roll would immobilize second STUG before it could get on the second bridge hex for the immediate win. Dan's counterattacking Shermans and infantry would quickly retake the bridge for the American Win.

Our second game on Sunday would be Operation Neptune's  ON1 Freedom! I would be the Germans vs. Dan's French Partisans. The battle initially went Dan's way, but then quickly shifted to the Germans as Dan failed multiple times to get the Molotovs he needed to destroy my tanks. This game went the distance, but the Partisans were outgunned and went down for a German win.

So Day 2 ended with a victory apiece for Dan and me. After 2 days, we were each 3-3. 

Monday would our Day 3 and final day of ASL games. Our first would be Grumble Jones GJ054 4 Steeples for Lt. Greenwood. This scenario was one of my most ambitious projects. In short, the Americans can win immediately by finding and eliminating the German ARTY observer who is HIP in one of 4 steeples. Or the American wins by exiting a number of trucks transporting bridging materials through this sector. As we played the game, my Americans stumbled right into the toughest German defenses. I would lose 3 of my 4 tanks by Turn 2 and my attacks were failing to gain ground. There was no way for me to check the steeples and the one with the observer was so heavily defended that I couldn't even get to him. Dan would win this one, and we would both agree that this scenario simply tries to do too much and doesn't really play well.  Dan would get his fourth victory.

Our final game on Monday would be Winter Offensive WO01 French Toast and Bacon. The Germans have six tanks (3 x MKIV's & 3 x Panthers) and 4 squads against a Hellcat, 8 half-squads and 2 x 76L Guns. By the end of Turn 2, all the MKIV's were knocked out. By Turns 3 and 4, only a single Panther was still in play. The Americans had lost the Hellcat and both AT guns...but the bazookas were taking down the Panther with side shots. Additionally, the American MMG managed to break apart the German infantry. By the final German movement phase, it was clear that the Panther couldn't take control of the three bridge hexes required for the win. So, our final game would end with an American victory and my fourth of the Grand ASL Weekend. 

Dan and I would finish with 4 victories each. You can't ask for a better outcome. 

It has been an amazing ten years since Dan and I first met. In that time, we have played 472 fantastic games of ASL. I hate to think how different my life would have been had we not met at the 2013 Texas Team Tournament. I look forward to another 500 games by this time in 2033. I may forget some rules by then (I hardly know them now!!), but I look forward to the ongoing competition of our Saturday Games.

 

To my readers, I say thank you for spending your valuable time here at Grumble Jones and allowing me the opportunity to share my personal thoughts and my love for Advanced Squad Leader. This post reminds me and hopefully all of us that life serves up challenges that are far more important than our game, but it also reminds us of the power of shared connection we all have because of this most special of games.

We are a community, and one that I am happy and proud to be a part of now and always.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th of July!

Dan and I will return next week for more explosive ASL!!!

We will see you then!