Grumble Jones February Scenario GJ132 The Death of Tranquility

The swift passage of time often surprises me. January is one of my least favorite months of the year. It has the dubious honor of coming after Christmas and is usually cold and gloomy. But here we are already in February. It will be Spring before we know it!!

As you are certainly accustomed to...this month's scenario comes to us courtesy of an Osprey Publication. 

The scenario itself is not specific to one event, but instead an example of the type of engagement described in the Finnish-Soviet Winter War 1939-40.

In general, I don't like to play Winter War based scenarios or design them for that matter. Since the early days of Beyond Valor, I felt like Winter War scenarios tended to favor the historical outcome. And how could they not? In many cases, the Finns soundly thrashed the Russians. So, it you drew the Russians for that kind of scenario...you knew that suffering lay ahead. In short, I don't alway enjoy playing scenarios, where you kinda know what the outcome will be.

And yet, here I am designing a Winter War scenario. I haven't done one previously and so it's time. 

This month's scenario is on the lighter side and isn't filled with the fortifications and weather-related elements that are often the staples for Winter War and Continuation War scenarios. The Death of Tranquility is fairly straightforward. A scratch force of Finns attempts to slow the Russian advance as they move to secure various villages along a vital road network. I elected to degrade the quality of the Finnish force to have a few 6-4-8's together with 4-4-7's and 4-3-7's. This is to represent the composite elements gathered to support the 16th Infantry Regiment at this time. And the Finns were relatively new to this period of the conflict. The Russians are subjected to the Russian Early War Doctrine (A25.212) and an ELR of 2 won't make their job any easier. The Russian Tanks have no MG's and the Russian player will need to be inventive in their employment. 

The Finns begin the game HIP and HIP is one of those things in ASL that I hate the most. But the Finns must set up in building locations...so guessing where they are won't be too difficult.  The Finns for their part have to hang on to the upfront buildings if possible as they are worth the most VP at game end. The Russians will also need to focus on those and pry the Finns out. 

NOTE: Scenario updated to remove ATR's from the OOB's for both sides as these were not available during the Winter War. Thanks to Tuomo Lukkari for catching that. I had made assumptions about the availability of ATR's, without consulting Chapter H. 

As always, these monthly "Basement Quality" Scenarios are offered for fun only and as a thank you to the readers of this blog.

Remember to open pictures in a new window in order to maximize the size. 

All Grumble Jones scenarios are available from the ASL Archive website. 

(Just search on Grumble Jones)

And one last comment regarding Play Testing. I noticed a number of requests on Game Squad for play testers and I know that the KC Club needs play testers to help wrap up the 2024 March Madness Pack. The KC team takes play testing very seriously and have very exacting standards around it. So much so, that this years March Madness pack has now been delayed until mid-year. Several of their larger scenarios in the pack simply need more play tests. 

I have helped out this year and will be playtesting this weekend to help the KC guys finalize their 2024 pack. In the past, I did a couple play tests for Lone Canuck as well. 

We hear often that play testing is playing ASL. And that's a fact. How often do you get the chance to play a soon to be published scenario and have the opportunity to add some value to the design. Beyond trying to break the scenario, there's also the chance to help make the scenario more fun. Identifying SSR's or other mechanics that detract from the fun factor is always good feedback for designers. 

So, please consider supporting the Third-Party Publishers out there by helping with play testing!