Another weekend...another 4 games of fantastic ASL. Dan was out of pocket last week while he attended the Historic Fest https://historikcfest.com/ . This historical gaming convention is usually very well attended, and the KC ASL Club has been attending for several years now. It's an excellent way to reach out to prospective players who may never have been exposed to ASL. So, kudos to the KC guys for making that effort to grow the ASL Community.
Before going any further, I want to send positive vibes, blessings and heartfelt wishes for good things to Dave Lamb, Jim Burris and Jeff DeYoung. We are of course an aging community and ensuring our good health is so very important. I too have been facing some additional health issues for myself and for my wife. I also had some fun explaining to my doctor that my hobby of choice has me sitting for hours at a table. Yeah...he was less than thrilled....but of course he's never taken out a Pershing tank with a 4-3-6 wielding a Panzerfaust on a German street....so he can be forgiven.
That would be a NO...yep...hard NO. How about I give up the Little Debbies instead???
In all seriousness, wishing all of us good health and wellness in the coming years. 8000+ ASL Scenarios are depending on us. So, let's all of us stay in the fight!!
Our first game of the weekend was played on Thursday evening. It would be SP224 The Crown of Thorn from Schwerpunkt Volume 19.
This is a German vs. American scenario set in Germany, 1945. ROAR has this with 16 German and 12 American wins.
It's a fast playing scenario with just 4-1/2 turns. Dan and I would finish it in about two hours.
This weekend's games would move my total for 2024 to 97 played with 3 play tests to boot.. Dan and I have really been crushing it this year.
As the attacking Americans, Dan would command elements of the 94th Reconnaissance Troop, Division Headquarters Defense Platoon, 94th Infantry Division and elements of the 10th Armored Division. Dan's force would consist of 4 x 6-6-7's and 4 x 5-4-6's led by a 9-1, 8-1 and 7-0 with 2 x MMG's, 2 BAZ 45's, a 60 MTR, 2 Sherman 76's, 2 x M5 Stuarts and an M8 Greyhound with an 8-1 Armor Leader.
As the defending Germans, I would command elements of Bataillon 2, Grenadier Regiment 481, Volksgrenadier Division 256. My force would consist of a 4-6-8, 3 x 4-6-7's, 2 x 4-4-7's and a 2-2-8 with an MMG, LMG, Panzerschreck and 75 INF Gun. For reinforcements I would receive a 4-4-7 and a Hetzer.
The Americans win at game end if there are no unbroken German MMC(S) in building T5.
I built my defense around my 75 INF Gun. I placed the mines in all the upfront cover locations, with three of them intended to shield my gun and hold that flank.I had no idea that Dan's Schwerpunkt would come right at that part of my line. I had anticipated that he would come the other way.
With time short, Dan's attack came at me hard. His infantry would move into the minefields. They wouldn't suffer any losses other a Pin, but of course being in a minefield is never a good thing. My 75 held it's fire. The M8 was showing me a side shot, but I needed to be patient.
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The Amis had not seen us yet.
Turn 1 German, my Hetzer ran into the village with a 4-4-7 rider. One of the Shermans would get a hit, but a clean bounce.
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I have underestimated Hetzers in the past. They are tough little buggers.
With a full turn down, The Americans had not yet passed through my MLR. My gun had successfully knocked out the M8 and maintained its concealment.
The M8 was very vulnerable to the 75 INF, and especially with a side shot. I would need to get HEAT to affect the other armor.
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Turn 2 would be decisive and the game would end with an American concession. Dan would lead off with a WP hit on my MMG. One of my two squads would break. Dan would then send his tanks at me. One of the Sherman 76's would roll forward and my Hetzer would knock it out. Then the two Stuarts would rumble across the field. My 76 INF Gun would go on a rate tear and get Heat for both shots and knock out both Stuarts. Dan's infantry has crossed into my MLR, but without the armor support Dan's infantry would hard pressed wrinkle my grenadiers out of the victory location. And my 75 INF gun still had rate...
I can't argue with that!!
The next three games that Dan and I would play, would all come out of the LFT From the Cellar Pack 9. Dan and I have been hitting this pack hard and only have about 5 left to play.
Our Friday game would be FT 271 The Lock of Colmar. This is another late war American vs. German scenario with nice combined arms action. It would be a very fun scenario and challenging for both sides.
As the defending Germans, I would command elements of 189. Infanterie-Division with Local Police. My force consisted of 2 x 5-4-8's, 6 x 4-6-7's and 2 x 4-3-6's led by a 9-1 and 2 x 8-0's with 2 x MMG's, 3 x LMG's, a Panzerschreck, Panther Tank and STUG.
As the attacking Americans, Dan would command elements of the 31st Infantry Regiment, 36th Division, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division and Regiment de Marche de la Legion Etrangere and 1st Regiment de Chausseurs d'Afrique. This force in total would consist of a 6-6-7, 5 x 6-6-7's, a 5-4-6, and 6 x 4-5-8's led by a 9-1, an 8-1 and 2 x 8-0's with 4 x MMG's, 3 x BAZ 44's, a DC, and a 60 MTR and 5 x Shermans with a 9-1 and 8-1 Armor Leaders.
The Allies win at game end by amassing at least 4 VP. There are 5 possible and the Allies begin the game with 1.
This is a tough tactical challenge for both sides. The Americans set up with 1 VP and so only need three for the win. The Germans have a Panther and a STUG to fend off the 5 Allied Shermans. But...this is an infantry fight. The armor can distract you and it certainly did that to me. I shot at tanks and then let Dan's infantry get up close and personal.
Dan's Americans on the west flank would generally stay put and pour steady fire on my boys in that sector. His Free French would storm into the battle. I would roll pretty badly and I would only knock out 1 Sherman Tank.
So...my bad...I forgot to take pictures. This game hit an intensity that didn't give me the time for pictures. I crossed out units that bit the dust and circled in red, the victory locations that Dan's boys took for the eventual victory. I would knock out all of the Shermans, but lose my STUG to a DC and MALF and Recall my Panther...which deprived me of my last asset for counter-attacking. I was reduced to 3 good order squads and that wasn't enough to hold off the Free French and the Americans. Dan kept his personal ELR intact and quickly realized the tanks were just window dressing..this was always going to be an infantry fight and he won that one!
After two hard fought battles in NW Europe, it was time to head to the sun baked steppe near Kursk Our Saturday game would be FT263 Summer Duty. It was time to shake off the Colmar snow and warm up on the Russian Front.
As the defending Russians, Dan would command elements of the 2nd Guard Army. HIs force would consist of 3 x 6-2-8's, 6 x 4-5-8's, 5 x 4-4-7's an d3 x 2-2-8's led by a 9-1, 8-1 and 7-0 with an MMG, 3 x LMG's, 2 x ATR's, a 60 MTR, 76L ARTY, 45LL AT, 37L AA and a T-34/76.
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As the attacking Germans, I would command elements of the 23rd Panzer Division. My force would consist of 14 x 4-6-7's, let by a 9-2, 8-1 and 8-0 with 2 x MMG's and 4 x LMG's. 7 AFV's would support the assault with a 9-1 Armor Leader. I would also have 100mm OBA and a Stuka with 200lbs of bombs.
The Germans win at game end by controlling 10 or more buildings and if they have more CVP than the Russians. Don't lose your AFV's like I did.
My attack plan was a pincer move to quickly gain 7 VP worth of buildings and then take the center complex for the final 3 VP. Dan only had 2 squads basically contesting the outer 3 VP locations. I would take the the upper center one with no losses, but the one on the east would bedevil me. I would break the squad, but then they would snake the Rally Phase and create a 7-0. They would snake again and battle harden. It would waste two turns taking a location that should have fallen in 1.
In those two turns, Dan would dice the ever loving hell out of me. 7 Snakes and I don't recall how many threes, but enough to mangle my force and all but destroy my personal ELR. I lost the game in those two turns in that blizzard of Russian good luck.
Yeah...but not really...
There's this weird myth that ASL players tell themselves that the dice don't matter more than tactics, etc. That would certainly be true if dice rolls really reflected the bell curve average. They don't. 7 snake eyes in two turns completely obliterates our notions of what should be the average for rolls. Abstractly for purposes of the game, it reflects the increased success and performance of the Russians in this engagement. They fire with accuracy and with devastating effect.
At the end of Turn 2, I was really distraught. My plan had been a good one and would have worked, but the snakes snatched it away from me.
My OBA hit a couple times, before I of course drew back to back Red Cards and lost it. An it didn't help me. It turned the Russian 9-1 into an Heroic 9-2. Dan's defense in depth was proving itself as I was spending too much time and too many resources to overcome single squads.
Oh yeah...I'm feeling pretty dang HEROIC!!!!
Dan would also go on the attack with his T-34. I had very few assets that could stand up to it successfully. It would destroy an Armored Car and snakes would make it a burning wreck, which would give Dan the full CVP for the wreck. SSR reduced normal knockouts by half. My Stuka would appear, but of course the bomb would miss and then it was gone. Both Dan and I have watched bomb after bomb after bomb miss their targets over the past several scenarios with airpower.
Oddly enough, I was still in the game despite all the crap I was experiencing. It's a fun scenario and I had still had the force available to complete my attack plan. I had taken 7 building VP. My CVP was too high. I was losing AFV's in exchange for 3 or 4 Russian squads...hardly the tradeoff to be making for a successful outcome.
Once again, I was distracted from taking additional pictures. Game was just too darn much fun. I really enjoyed the scenario itself. I hated Dan dicing me so badly, but as we all know...one player's bad fortune is the other player's good fortune. I would succeed in destroying the T-34 in CC with a brave 4-6-7. That success would allow me to to complete my assault on the remaining 3 VP locations in the center. I would succeed in taking that position in the close combat, but my 150 StulG 33B had MALF'd its MA and then been Recalled...of course I would roll a 6 on the Repair dr.
While successful in taking the 10 Building VP, my force was too degraded to take anymore and the Russians had amassed too much CVP. Another great win for Dan and his ferocious Russians!
"You see Sergei...I told you Summer Duty wouldn't be that bad!"
Our final game, played on Sunday would turn out to be the best of the four and come down to the final brutal close combats. The scenario is FT273 Former Foes. Set in 1945 Saigon, it has British and Japanese working to take out the Viet Minh. Neither of us thought this would be that much fun. It just didn't jump out at us. But we were wrong. This scenario was a hoot!
As the defending Viet Minh, I would command the Viet Minh Insurrection Force. My force would consist of a 4-4-7, 7 x 3-4-7's, 7 x 3-3-6s and a 1-2-6 led by an 8-0 and a 7-0 with 3 x LMG's, a Japanese 37 INF Gun and a DC.
The Allies win at game end if there is no more than 1 good order Viet Minh MMC in building 53P2.
The Viet Minh can freely deploy and I would scatter 1-2-6's like M&M's in front of the anticipated Japanese attack route. This would pay incredible dividends. 1-2-6's never performed so good!!!
The Indians moved up without too much trouble. I kept my concealment and watched them approach. The Japanese got a different reception. Breaks and stripes would rain down on the Japanese as they assaulted the line of 1-2-6's.
Dan would go into Hand to Hand CC with all four of the upfront 1-2-6's. He would only get ambush once and proceed to lose two squads in the process. We were both shocked by my success with these puny 1-2-6's.
Despite their losses, the Japanese would clear their front and the two sides of the Allied vice would come into sharp focus.
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Trauma being the operative word!!!
Dan's attack would continue to into position to surround the cathedral.
I would get some lucky breaks against the Indians and slow down their attack, but I was still bleeding half-squads and having to fall back towards the cathedral.
I had a couple 1-2-6's outside the Alamo, but nearly everyone else was in the cathedral.
The armored car would roll up to the cathedral front door. And I would drop the DC from the upper window and oh yeah!!!! Brewed up that bad boy!!! Check that off the ASL bucket list!!!
Counter management issues were also becoming a problem for us both.
Close combats would range on the perimeter of my Alamo.
The British firepower was savaging my boys in the upper levels of the cathedral. I was being reduced with each turn.
Then my 8-0 and two squads would go Berserk and charge downstairs to battle the Japanese that had rushed through the front door.
Dan's defensive fire on my Berserkers was devastating. I would roll a 12 for my 8-0 (KIA'd) and then two 11's which casualty reduced my two squads. They would then fall in the following Close Combat.
The final picture as the Cathedral defenders were killed in Close Combat or held in Melee and hence not good order. The only good order MMC was the 1-3-7 in the Steeple. And with that Dan's boys had met their victory condition and had the win.
My thanks to Dan for an outstanding weekend of games. I went 1-3, but the game were all close and Former Foes took it to the very last close combats. So, yeah...a very fun weekend!
Dan and I will meet again for face to face ASL this coming weekend in a special event that will be revealed in the next few days.
We will see you then!
We will be playing on Tulsa Time!
And bringing the BOOM!
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