So what Starter Kit Scenario have you played recently?

[sunoftzu]

S-27 Stand For New Zealand

Hi All,

Another Sunday afternoon, another ASLSK scenario completed. This week it was S-27 "Stand For New Zealand". David had the Germans, and I got the defending New Zealanders.

In this scenario, a similar number of 2 somewhat motley British (NZ) groups are defending the board U village (10 NZ Bde), and board V (Petrol Coy, 10 NZ Bde) from an elite (468) German company. The British get 2 light tanks and 2 squads (3rd Hussars) as turn 5 reinforcements. The Germans start the game with a HMG and 2 548 squads (KG Ramcke) isolated in one of the 7 multi-hex stone buildings that they need to control to win. The rest of the Germans have 7.5 turns to cross the rolling hills of board V and complete the job.

The Germans moved conservatively at first, and watched in amusement as my British beat themselves up, boxcar-ing their leaders, MGs and guns. The isolated Germans in uP1 got the upper hand and even advanced the other 548 to capture my MMG. However, the adventurous 548 got broken, and it looked like the British might overrun the pocket. This private battle went back and fourth, and the British finally did clear out the isolated Germans around turn 5.

Meanwhile, on board U, the Germans mainly advanced east up the south portion of board V, and 3 of my 447 squads withdrew in good order along the opposite north side. It took 3 turns, but my decision to withdraw on turn 1 paid dividends, and despite being somewhat slowed crossing the uA5-I9 road, the survivors of Petrol Company met up with the reinforcements to hunker down in the stone buildings to try and survive the final 2.5 turns of onslaught.

Well, despite a bad start, the British were looking quite firmly established in the village, with the Germans had it all to do (and one would think the leaders, smoke, and morale to do it with). However, the British were able to deal out quite a few MCs, and the Germans were just breaking a bit too frequently to get in range of the final building (p1, the one that they started with). Plenty of British squads survived, and despite losing a light tank on turn 6 to an ATR, and some late game low German CC DRs, the British were easily able to keep the Germans well away from the last building to hold on for the win.

It was looking very much like I was going to run out of squads at one stage, but I'm glad I stuck it through to piece together a very strong defense in the end.

Also, with this game, David and I have also completed ASLSK#3. A great bunch of scenarios - I can't think of one that I didn't like. But I especially liked S-22 and S-26.

John.

 

[sunoftzu]

deleted

 

[sunoftzu]

S-028 Out Of Luck

Hi All,

Yesterday, David and I played S-28 "Out Of Luck".

This is a German (7 AFV, 18 squads, 4 leaders) vs Russian (3 AFV, 1 ART gun, 11 squads, 2 leaders) scenario that takes place in the final days of WWII, and features Germans trying to cross boards v and q to exit 33 VP (as CVP in ASL) off uI10 and uQ10 (Infantry can exit off the adjacent hexes, too). The SSRs have it that (non-hill/road) OG, grain, and brush are marshy farmlands, and AFVs have to risk being immobilized upon entering those hexes (DR11+). There is also a pre-dawn +1 lv, which affects all IFT and TH DRs. Russians also have the option of digging in their AFVs, which makes them a +1 TH DRM, and all hull hits are considered to miss, but of course the AFV can never move or change VCA (the TCA can change normally).

Quite a bit going on, in terms of SSRs, but David at least has some familiarity with most of the AFVs and guns (and I suspect that, and the fact that S-26 was such an enjoyable scenario is why he picked out this one).

David decided to dig in 2 of his 3 IS-2 AFVs , in hexes uQ10 and uH9 (and the sole mobile IS-2 setting up on the vH7 hill). Most of his infantry was on board u, with a 2 squad 'hedgehog' around the vS8 woods area. A hidden 122L gun remained offboard to give the Germans plenty of pause for thought, too.

The big problems for the Germans in this scenario are the marshy conditions that restrict the AFVs to roads, the +1 lv DRM, which makes nearly every shot @+4 DRM (as if 628s, and 458s weren't hard enough to break already), little smoke (sN8 on 4 PzVGs), and an ELR of 2 is going to have an impact, too. The OG gaps between the otherwise sturdy stone buildings on board u make moving around a bit tricky for the Russians, too. But the majoity of that burden of course rests with the attacker.

My AFVs entered the game along the vY1 road, and my squads advanced as best they could in echelon fashion. Most of the key SW and leaders went in the middle, so as to use the stone building TEM as I try to grind my way towards most likely uI10, but at the same time keeping open the option of the uQ10 exit hex. My AFVs kept mostly to the roads to minimize the risk of immobilizing, but even then I had a tank sink into the mud in the 1 hex I took a chance in. Some PzVGs had moved up and onto the vCC5 hill to engage the IS-2, but it made good on its Motion Status Attempt (3.3.2.1), and scurried safely back onto the board u village roads. It took 2 turns to overcome the board v 'hedgehog', but apart from losing 1 tank to the mud, vs 2 enemy squads lost in CC, I looked ready to enter board u, and in otherwise good shape.

However, with a minimum of smoke cover from the 3 remaining PzVGs, the German squads surged towards the board u stone buildings, only to be greeted with some sharp Russian fire. My 9-2 rolled 12 on his first MC (he passed the wnd dr, but ELRed and spent the rest of his days as a 3mf 8-0). Most of my key squads decided to follow the leader's example, and I got to see the cream of my OoB ELR itself away to mediocrity very quickly. Ironically, my 6 at start 447 squads, who I put mostly on the far west flank (hoping to draw squads away from the village) made the most progress of all. The diversion squads had become the vanguard of my unspectacular advance.

At about this time, David put on the CD soundtrack of the Robin Williams movie "Good Morning Vietnam". The first song on the album happened to be "Nowhere To Run" by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas. It couldn't have been more appropriate!!

Luckily my weight of squad numbers prevented a total collapse, and meanwhile my AFVs attempted to stalk their Russian counterparts with mixed results; 2 JgPz38s lost for 1 (mobile) IS-2.

By German turn 6 APh, I had scurried off the surviving JgPz38, and a PzVG (who had malf-ed its MA) for 15 VPs, and I had 2 447s in uG9, and a psk team in g8. There are about 11 CVPs of GO infantry in and around the uI5 building and uF5 hill. But in the APh, both squads fail their PAATC. I was really hoping 1 would pass, and at the very least keep the dug-in IS-2 busy in CC. Luckily for me, in Russian turn 6 PFPh, the IS-2's 122L gun misses me, and the psk team gets a hit and kill vs the dug-in AFV, just before rolling a 12 MC and dying in the last Russian AFPh. But more importantly, the tank pillbox in uH9 is no more.

Turn 7 comes ,and if I can exit both Panthers, I'll only need 2 more VPs from infantry to win. The Russians only have a cx628 west of row i. If I lose 1 AFV, I might be able to make good the 8 VPs with infantry, but apart from the 2 squads in uG9, the rest will not have an easy time doing this. The last 2 Russian guns (the ART in uT10, and the other tank pillbox in uQ10), having previously thumped some squads coming through the east flank of board u, have acquired uI9 and uI10, but the limited MPs spent in LOS added significant +DRMs, and the last 2 PzVGs made good their escape, leaving sN smoke in uI10 to assist the exiting infantry (note that this also prevented the placement of residual FP in uH10), who moved g10, u10, and off without much trouble at all.

A long (ASLSK) game. About 6 hours in total (2:30-8:30 PM with a few small breaks along the way), and one that went to the MPh of the last turn. Well enjoyed by both players taking their lumps, but still giving a close game their all.

This write-up is a bit more detailed than normal, as I've injured a toe (which is currently planted in a bucked of hot water and Dettol as I type). Hope a few of you get to enjoy reading it.

John.

 

[BattleSchool]

Re: S-028 Out Of Luck

Played S53 Workers Unite! with my wife on Saturday.

On the last turn, the Russians managed to retake one of the victory buildings (after dispatching a HS with a FT in CC). In fairness, the Germans could have held onto the building by keeping a brokie in one corner of the building. A slight misstep cost the Germans this building, when it was otherwise a sealed deal. The other victory building on board z never did fall to the Germans, although there were moments when it appeared that it would. I forgot to claim the DM exemption (by SSR) when rallying troops inside this building, which nearly cost me the building. The "no-cowering" while inside these buildings really helped the conscripts. Even with their pathetic range, they frequently were able to SFF after rolling doubles. The victory building on board r was never seriously threatened.

Seems a bit tough on the Germans. My wife finds the DC frustrating to use effectively, although she did manage to place one successfully. But she really enjoyed using the flamethrower.

 

[sunoftzu]

deleted

 

[sunoftzu]

S-5 Clearing Coville

Hi all,

Last Saturday afternoon, I played my third game of S5 "Clearing Coville" vs Mike Wattie (his second game of), with myself as Americans, him as Germans.

We had the German balance in effect (which upgrades the at-start 6+1 German leader to an 8-0), and Mike had squads in i8, l7, p6, and q6. The 8-0, lmg/467 went in m4, and the 8-1, hmg/467 went in k6. Looking at the scenarios card now, I can see that we didn't adhere to the entry instructions correctly, oh well, too bad.

Again, I reasoned that with 3 good leaders, the Americans would want to have ldr+mmg+2 666 fire teams to break down the German defenses while the halfsquads played skirmish roles. Additional squads would provide smoke cover, and maybe even try to get into CC.

On turn 1, I got 4 half-squads, and brought most of the reinforcements through j10 (illegally, as it now turns out), as to try and get some flanking action happening from the east side - they might also be able to interfere with the German turn 2 reinforcements. Fire team #1 (9-1, mmg/666, 666) in u3 poured 16+2 into q6, and broke the squad therein. The other squads use smoke and assault moves to creep slowly towards the central village block (buildings m6, n5, n6, o6, p5, p6, and q6). No major setbacks on turn 1, although the German 8-0 was able to make it to n6, where he rallied the broken squad.

On turn 2, I got 4 half-squads again with my reinforcements, and I sent the half-squads to join up with the turn 1 reinforcements, but fire team #3 (8-1, mmg/666, 666) entered along the v10 road, as I now had a couple of broken units, and didn't like the idea of 3 leaders being on 1 side with only 1 on the other. This paid dividends, as I managed to clear out the central village block by the end of turn 3. However, a long running melee in k8 was really holding me up, and it prevented me interdicting the retreating forces from this area - I would pay dearly for this later.

Also, German strong-points in i6 and h3 were giving my Americans a hard time, too. The HMG also let off some good ROF rips, and my half-squads were getting blown off the map too often. My 9-2 didn't reall impose himself in the game, and Mike wisely went for double-breaks vs the half-squads, so as to nullify the powerful rallying capability that the 9-2 offered. Mike had been using a few squads as rear guards, and was very disciplined with his fire, forcing me to keep my moves conservative (with my fragile 6 morale). This means that the said squads will often fall into melees, but more importantly, they hold up the Americans for much too long. Fire discipline is an important aspect of defending in ASL, and Mike seems to appreciate that time is more important than squads in a great many situations (in particular, 5 turn games!!!).

By turn 5, there were about 6.5 German squads left, and I knew that I would need to pick up the pace a bit. I got more aggressive, and did particularly well with my smoke placement drs, and the Americans pushed the Germans back to row I, with 2 other squads in k4 and l3. Fire team #2 (9-2, mmg/666, 666)and a 346 was going to adv into k6, fire team #1 into l3 (into cc vs a pinned 467 16FP vs 4 FP), and fire team #3 into m6. It was looking like I might pull this one off. J3 is the key building in this scenario - it should be the German 'Alamo', being that its within the VC area, but likely the most difficult building for the Americans to reach. As long as the CC went well, I would have good fire attacks vs J3, and (just as importantly) its adjacent hexes. Unfortunately, the pinned 467 in l3 managed to ambush my 9-1 leader and 15FP worth of MMC (his dr 1 vs my dr 6 - the only way it could happen), and although no damage was inflicted to me, my 9 DR wasn't enough to eliminate the squad, as the ambush negated my -1 leader DRM.

This took away one of my key attack groups, and in the last German turn, Mike was able to move 4 MMCs in or adjacent to j3, and I simply wasn't able to break/pin them all. A reasonably close game with Mike winning in the end mostly due to his early patience of fire discipline.

John.

 

[sunoftzu]

S-29 No Monumental Acclaim.

Hi All,

I haven't played vs David since visiting New Zealand and Australia over Chinese New Year, but we finally got a game in yesterday afternoon. We played S-29 "No Monumental Acclaim", with myself as the defending Germans, and David with the attacking Americans. The scenario features 11 well led 747 squads trying to take at least 6 of the 10 multi-hex buildings on board W (rows G-X), one of which must be P1. Opposing them are 10 German squads with a couple of powerful MGs.

Board W features a mostly stone village on and around small level 1 hills. It's a tough board to go about grabbing buildings, but the Germans have mostly 2nd-line squads and an ELR of 2. Suddenly 6.5 turns can look like an eternity!!! I put the mg nest in the P1 building, and the other 8 squads were split into groups of 2-3 squads and 1 leader and were then assigned to city blocks to basically to keep the Americans away from P1 for as long as they could. It didn't really matter if they failed to stop the Americans infiltrating and taking the other buildings - just as long as P1 was never under threat.

At the start of the game, it was difficult for the Americans to make fast progress, and when they were aggressive, the German FP was able to push them back. Despite managing to wound the 9-2 leader, the Americans just kept coming back, and chipping away at my squads, who were ELR'ing on about 50% of failed MCs. Eventually, 2 American fire-groups were able to get in position to deliver a killer blow to the German MG nest. The Americans got the better of the DRs, and by the start of German turn 6, I had 1 unbroken squad, and had been routed out of building P1. Nothing rallied in my RPh, and it was clearly the time to break out the white flags.

A good scenario for using smoke and getting to learn board W. Ideal for SK players just starting on SK#2, and wanting to 'learn the land'. The American OoB also features a couple of '44 Baz, and considering that they use their own TH table, it might be a good way of introducing in ordinance for the embarking SK#2 players as well.

John.

 

[chris_olden]

Re: S-29 No Monumental Acclaim.

hey John,
Glad you guys had a good game!
The design intent was EXACTLY as you worded it in the last paragraph.
As i recall, I playtested that scenario against myself 10-12 times, and it
was always super close, one side or the other.
Thanks for giving it a go!

 

[xenovin]

Re: S-028 Out Of Luck

Seems a bit tough on the Germans.

Yes it is. the Germans are very powerful but under the clock and have to attack right out of the gate. Any cautious German advance will lose this one - and was designed that way! The G-men need to overcome both southern factory buildings by Turn 3 to have a chance to win the northern victory building. that's when the real fun in this scenario begins! I thought the fanatic conscripts worked well in this scenario mirroring the historic accounts. I'm glad your wife enjoyed the FF

 

[kempenfelter]

Re: S-028 Out Of Luck

Played S20 Joseph 351 on Saturday with most of the ASL rules--didn't bother with Snipers--and discovered it's a good 3-player scenario. The Germans have to keep two separate forces at bay, a variable mix of Rangers and FFI coming from the north, and rearmed Russian POWs coming from the south.

Although the match-up plays a little differently using Concealment, Bypass, and Fire Lanes the tactical questions are much the same. As the Germans, how do you divide your forces? When do you fall back? As the Allies, how do you close with the enemy? Is the quick win possible?

In our game the Allies easily amassed enough VPs after trying and failing for the Turn Four victory. Next time as the Germans I'll resist the urge to clear out the Russians with CC. They're Inexperienced, how tough can they be? As it turned out, tough enough.

 

[Perry]

Re: S-028 Out Of Luck

CC--where Morale does not count--is the great equalizer.

 

[jrv]

Re: S-028 Out Of Luck

CC--where Morale does not count--is the great equalizer.

Until someone fires in from outside.

JR

 

[sunsanvil]

Re: S-028 Out Of Luck

S7 - Prelude to Festung Brest

We're in the middle of my second pass at this one. First time with my nephew we were still learning the mechanics of the game, second time through with my brother who has a couple decades of ASL under his belt.

Its top of the 5th and seems a terribly tough one for the Americans. No room to make use of their range, and no time at all to grab 15 buildings, their only real shot is to eliminate the Germans, a tough prospect against 8 morals in +3 TEM.

 

[hongkongwargamer]

Re: S-028 Out Of Luck

S1 Retaking Vierville on ASL Rules

Played the German side to this Starter kit scenario with a new PBeM player, using ASL Rules. The Grenadiers were able to hold the Screaming Eagles at bay across open ground while the Fallschirmjägers captured one of the victory condition buildings!

Full writeup here : S1 Retaking Vierville – as the Germans This Time!!

 

[sunoftzu]

Hi ASLSKers,

I have been offline since the Friday before last (and without VASL for even longer), but I did manage to play 2 ASLSK scenarios each of the last 2 Sundays vs David (including today).

Last Sunday it was S-30 ("Ripples on the Pond") and S-31 ("Going to New York"), and today it was S-32 ("Goring's Men") and S-38 (Raiders Along the Wall")

S-30 Ripples on the Pond David defends with the Germans. I attack with the Americans.

I probe aggressively with my squads and try to use the sM vs the German squads in the buildings, but with the soggy ground rules (SSR 1), it chews through the MPs, and my tanks advance slowly. I do manage to find 1 of the 75Ls, but not before it wipes out the M4A3 and 2 squads. The combination of sM and CC is clearly too much for the German squads to take, but the 4.5 turns pass quickly, and in the last turn, I have to run for it. I have taken out most of the squads, but lost another tank in the process. I lose a third tank to an IF shot, but 1 tank, the 8-1 leader and 2 squads get off. The remaining tank (the 75 Jumbo) will have to go CE and use the road bonus to make it off, and thanks to some well placed squad smoke, they are just able to do so. A good close game, with smoke clearly being the deciding factor.

S-31 Going to New York I defend with the Americans. David attacks with the Italians. I used the EmRR overlays from Doomed Battalions to create a better map.

David moves cautiously with his brittle-as-can-be (ELR 1) Italians. I break a few, but too many pass, and soon its my turn to break, and by turn 4, I am breaking faster than I can rally. It becomes clear to me that although I might well hold the VC building (EE7), the Italians are going to have more than enough FP to interdict the railroad embankment, and the Americans are forced to break out the white flag of futility. I wonder what went wrong, but really, it was simply that the Italians might as well been 9 morale fanatics the way they were passing the MCs dished out. My morale checks left a lot more to be desired!!

S-32 Goring's Men I defend with the Russians. David attacks with the Germans.

The scenario simulates an ambush, with the Russians setting up and moving first, but despite this, I did a fairly conservative setup, with a squad per VC building (except for vP7, since it is within 2 of the prohibited setup area), and guns in vL3, vH10, and vN10. Just as well, since my opening prep fire only broke 1 squad (although I kept the guns in the woods hidden at this time). David was cautious until his reinforcements turned up (and its hard to say that he had any other choice), but despite the presence of well led elite troops, they never really did enough to rout the Russians from their buildings. The gun on the hill was quickly overrun when the reinforcements showed up, but I kept the other 2 HIP throughout the game, and that means that the Germans need to control 7+ building hexes to win, something that they never looked likely to do. I think this scenario looks too hard on the Germans, unless an SSR requiring the guns to lose HIP at the end of turn 1 is introduced. Otherwise, there is simply too much for the German squads to do if they cannot eliminate more than 1 gun.

S-38 Raiders Along the Wall David defends with the Americans. I attack with the Germans.

Board U is difficult to assault along, especially from the direction of hexrow A, and David did a good setup with a 2-squad salient in the hill buildings, and the MGs and squads deeper on the flanks. The dearth of good cover forces me to move slowly and attempt lots of smoke (with no success) on turn 1, but luckily with not too many units breaking. I realize soon that David has adequate FP to cover the thin avenues that board U creates, so I know that I will need to silence his squads in order to create the gaps necessary to have any chance of penetrating as far as O8. However, I just can't break the Americans, nor can I get into CC, so their heavy FP bottles up the board, and I am forced into suicide charges on the final turn, with the only noteworthy result being David rolling back-to-back final result negative-1s on the IFT (6FP @-3, DR 1,1 twice).

So, 2 games apiece, and looking forward for 2 more next week!!

John.

 

[sunoftzu]

Hi ASLSKers.....

Wow, no ASLSK so far in 2014, a bit bleak....until now.

I saw Mike last Sunday in Taipei, and I happened to have ASLSK #1 along with me, so we found somewhere to play, and set up to play S-42 ("One More Hedgerow"). This past afternoon/evening, I just played S-34 ("Twilight At Barendorf") vs David.

Isn't ASLSK great like that? You can't just happen to have the ASLRB, Beyond Valor 3rd ed, boards, OoBs, and marker counters with you (unless you like torturing yourself with heavy burdens). But you can do exactly that with the ASLSKs. As such, I have kept all my ASLSKs as separate packages. A few of the scenarios from Operations and Special Ops Magazines require that you acquire boards and pieces from 2 or more sets, but for the most part you have enough pieces for each scenario with 1 ASLSK set.

S-42 "One More Hedgerow".

Mike took the attacking Americans. I took the defending Germans. MG nests (8-0, lmg,lmg/467 and 9-1, hmg/247, mmg/247) went in J5 and J7 respectively, and the remaining HS went in choke points along row E (e2, e4, e6, and e10). The plan was simple; slow down with the HS, and have the MG nests hold out for as long as possible.

Mike had a 666 KIA'ed early on by a HIP squad who rolled 1,1. In fact all my row E 'speed-bumps' rolled doubles, but unlike the first one, they had no effect on the Americans, and were quickly neutralized. This gave Mike lots of time to get in position to assault the 3 buildings, including getting a -1 ldr, 2 squads and a mmg to h3, which is such an ideal position to engage the buildings. However, it was the Germans who got the better of the firefight, and the Americans never managed to subdue the Germans, and the last turn suicide charged floundered just outside the victory hexes. Nonetheless, Mike was really able to see what the defense was doing, and he is keen to play the scenario again. For the record, we played until the end of the American turn 6 MPh (where it was clear the Germans would hold at least j7), and the whole game (including setup) took 90 minutes.

S-34 "Twilight At Barendorf".

David had the attacking Germans, and I got the defending Germans. This scenario required me grabbing bits and pieces from various ASLSK sets:

ASLSK#1: board Y.
ASLSK#2: board X, 2x 57L ATGs.
ASLSK#3: Baz '44 (E). Remaining Germans OoB, marker counters.
ASLSKEP: Remaining American OoB (I used a 747 for the 10th American 667 until casualties allowed for 667 replacement), green and orange Acq (for Americans). PzIIIG.

I put the ATGs in xV4 and xX10, with both facing NW. I had the MMGs set up deep, with the Baz squads forward. David attacked in a largely echelon fashion, no doubt hoping that his infantry would find the Baz teams and ATGs before they found his AFVs. David found it difficult to clear my squads from the board Y village, and to make matters worse, the first duel between his 10-2 group (ldr, mmg, 2 sqds) and my 9-2 group (ldr, .50cal, sqd) went totally in my favor, with the 10-2 rolling boxcars and wound dr 5 on the .50cal's 2nd ROF shot. In fact, my ROF weapons could do little wrong, and they ROFed, ROFed, and ROFed some more at virtually each and every key moment.

So, despite David doing his best to minimize the opportunities of my .50cal and ATGs, they wrought havoc, and by turn 6 it was clear that the Germans had neither the time nor indeed units left to reach their target of 40. A fun scenario that took about 5 hours to play (and that included the delay of dealing with one of David's cats who had eaten the LOS thread!), making it one of the longer ASLSK scenarios. A good scenario for 2 experienced ASLSK players.

John.

 

[Dagney]

Playing the Decision at Elst campaign game against my regular gaming opponent. Having a ball. We have just finished the opening scenario (afternoon of 23 Sep), and have purchased reinforcements for the 24 Sep morning battle. The Brits took a fair bit of ground, although not as much as I hoped. Losses were light - 1 Firefly (dammit) and 1 1/2 squads. German OBA was (rather fortunately) ineffective, only managing to DM an already broken half squad. German losses were more severe - 1 panther (disabled MA resulting in recall) and 6 squads, including a number of SS. Oh, and 2 HMGs (broken), 2 LMGs (captured) and an MMG (captured).

Reinforcement Group purchasing was interesting - all the Germans could afford was a Volksgrendier company and an SS HMG platoon. Once purchased, a depletion DR is required. 8 or less, unit is full strength, 9 or above and the unit arrives ready for battle in a depleted state. The SS HMG platoon was full strength (2 HMG + 2 SS half squads), but the VG Company was depleted - only five 4-4-7 squads sharing a single LMG between them. Thanks to an equally poor leader roll, they are led by a 7-0 and 6+1. The Brits did better - a shining new firefly with 3 ordinary shermans (full strength) plus a full strength infantry company of 10 squads, 3 LMGs and 2 PIATs led by an 8-1 and two 8-0 leaders. I now have 9 shermans to go big cat hunting with.

It is not as one sided as it seems, as the jerries are all holed up in stone buildings, he has a HMG in the church tower that oversees a lot of the map (well, out to 16 hexes anyway), and even if I nail that panther, he will be bringing tigers, stugs and more panthers on for the next battle.

First campaign game we have ever played, and we are both enjoying it immensely. Brings a strong strategic feel to the game, as you need to play the long game, not just go for short term victories.

Would recommend DaE to all ASLSK players. But be aware, you need to be able to leave the map set up for several gaming sessions. Will post photos if anyone is interested (and I work out how).

cheers

Dagney

 

[custardpie]

Great to read something on this first SK CG, hope it goes well for you

Ian

 

[BattleSchool]

Playing the Decision at Elst campaign game against my regular gaming opponent. Having a ball. We have just finished the opening scenario (afternoon of 23 Sep), and have purchased reinforcements for the 24 Sep morning battle. The Brits took a fair bit of ground, although not as much as I hoped. Losses were light - 1 Firefly (dammit) and 1 1/2 squads. German OBA was (rather fortunately) ineffective, only managing to DM an already broken half squad. German losses were more severe - 1 panther (disabled MA resulting in recall) and 6 squads, including a number of SS. Oh, and 2 HMGs (broken), 2 LMGs (captured) and an MMG (captured).

Reinforcement Group purchasing was interesting - all the Germans could afford was a Volksgrendier company and an SS HMG platoon. Once purchased, a depletion DR is required. 8 or less, unit is full strength, 9 or above and the unit arrives ready for battle in a depleted state. The SS HMG platoon was full strength (2 HMG + 2 SS half squads), but the VG Company was depleted - only five 4-4-7 squads sharing a single LMG between them. Thanks to an equally poor leader roll, they are led by a 7-0 and 6+1. The Brits did better - a shining new firefly with 3 ordinary shermans (full strength) plus a full strength infantry company of 10 squads, 3 LMGs and 2 PIATs led by an 8-1 and two 8-0 leaders. I now have 9 shermans to go big cat hunting with.

It is not as one sided as it seems, as the jerries are all holed up in stone buildings, he has a HMG in the church tower that oversees a lot of the map (well, out to 16 hexes anyway), and even if I nail that panther, he will be bringing tigers, stugs and more panthers on for the next battle.

First campaign game we have ever played, and we are both enjoying it immensely. Brings a strong strategic feel to the game, as you need to play the long game, not just go for short term victories.

Would recommend DaE to all ASLSK players. But be aware, you need to be able to leave the map set up for several gaming sessions. Will post photos if anyone is interested (and I work out how).

cheers

Dagney

Thanks for the write up.

If you do decide to post pictures and additional reports, I would recommend that you start a new thread entitled Decision at Elst CG. It deserves its own thread.

I am sure that folks will be interested to see how your game develops.

A separate thread also will make it easier for people to find info on this "historic" ASL module using the search function.

 

[Kevin Kenneally]

This thread should be a "sticky"!

It will allow new players to quickly add scenarios that they have played or read about scenarios they might consider to play.

Kevin