July has passed and with it...a small part of myself. On July 1st, I was finally severed from Crescent Energy. Crescent, based in Houston had acquired my company, Vital Energy in November of 2025 and I was part of the Supply Chain Transition Team. I basically worked remotely for the entirety of this year and coordinated all the movement of Vital Energy supplier contracts to Crescent Energy. On July 1st, I went to our office in downtown Tulsa to wait turn in my laptop, badge and receive my severance agreement. Saying goodbye to a job I loved and a team of coworkers yet again...left me hollowed out for most of July...and so far, despite over 50 job applications...no one has yet invited me for an interview. I did everything they told me too...I put in the time, gave up evenings...weekends...achieved...got the certifications and my Six Sigma Black Belt and 38 years of experience...and still no one will give me 30 seconds to make a case for hiring me. I won't lie...this process really breaks you...but we'll see where fate takes me.
Five minutes later and my time with Vital Energy was over...
It's funny how life and ASL often collide...rolling Boxcars happens with frequency in both. Fortunately...I didn't casualty reduce...but I might be disrupted....
This month's scenario comes from the pages of Jason D. Mark's Guderian's Foxes. Like all of his books...a gem to behold. Early Barbarossa pictures of the 29th in action are some of the most interesting I have seen. And the frequency of burial pictures paints a vivid picture of the losses the Germans began sustaining at the very start of their ill-conceived war in the east.
Like so many unthinking military planners...they believed a few hard blows would collapse the regime. Well...we all know which regime ultimately collapsed.
There is also a series of pictures of a captured Soviet Commissar. His demeanor changes from a neutral hopefulness to a stark realization of his impeding execution.
Jason D. Mark's and Leaping Horseman Books has given us another amazing volume of the war on the Eastern Front.
This month's scenario depicts the effort of encircled Soviet forces to breakout. The pictures in the books show the utter devastation wrought on the Soviets as they are wiped out in the open ground and gullies. Sadly, many of the Soviets had families attempting to escape with them, packed in trucks and T-34's. They too were killed in the fighting. Designing an action like this can be challenging to present it in such a way that both sides can prevail. It's an exit scenario...but only just barely. The Soviets can win at game end if they control 2 of 3 available exit hexes. They don't have to exit the board...only control the exit hexes...which will be a very challenging task. Hopefully, the balanced energy will be present.
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)
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