So what scenarios have you played Recently?

Jude

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Played a scenario I wanted to try since I first got it in 1987, OAF King's Pawn to... Way back then, I was really into WW III games - NATO by Victory Games, the Third World War series by GDW, Invasion America by SPI, etc (all of which I still have, BTW). Not really a WW III scenario I later found out, but close enough. Anyway, 31 years later, I finally played it. Super dicey. Three "super bazookas" (portrayed by PSKs) vs two waves of four tanks each. Playing as the Americans, I missed my first two shots at point blank range. I knew it was over right then. I took out two tanks on the subsequent PFPh, but the remaining six tanks took care of business. With only four tanks needed to exit for the win, it was over quickly. Took less than 45 min to play. Meh. The scenario is basically a variant of the situation in 205 Super Bazooka. Trying that one next week. Hope I roll better - especially with the ammo shortage rules!
 
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Jude

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Played 206 Hey, That Ain't a ROK! as the defending Americans. Yikes! The forward Battalion Command Group got wiped from the face of the Earth on turn one. I kept L Company concealed on the forest road acting as a blocking force to try and slow down the masses. It worked for about five turns but then the dam busted when the last of them got overrun. K Company withdrew to the east to join up with I and M Companies as my second line of defense. Worked pretty well but too many North Koreans, eight ML troops vs six ML squads, a crummy 2 ELR, ammunition shortage, and stealthy vs lax troops took their toll on my poor Americans. By the middle of turn 6 (of 8) there was no way to hold back the KPA hordes and I called it. Tough on the Americans in my opinion, but not hopeless. I'd give it a slight recommend for them as they have to play a very skillful fallback defence against a very strong foe. I certainly wasn't up for the task.
 

jrv

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Played 206 Hey, That Ain't a ROK! as the defending Americans. Yikes! The forward Battalion Command Group got wiped from the face of the Earth on turn one. I kept L Company concealed on the forest road acting as a blocking force to try and slow down the masses. It worked for about five turns but then the dam busted when the last of them got overrun. K Company withdrew to the east to join up with I and M Companies as my second line of defense. Worked pretty well but too many North Koreans, eight ML troops vs six ML squads, a crummy 2 ELR, ammunition shortage, and stealthy vs lax troops took their toll on my poor Americans. By the middle of turn 6 (of 8) there was no way to hold back the KPA hordes and I called it. Tough on the Americans in my opinion, but not hopeless. I'd give it a slight recommend for them as they have to play a very skillful fallback defence against a very strong foe. I certainly wasn't up for the task.
My take on this is that command group are dead men walking. They can only be used to drain away resources used that might be used in the chase of the rest of the Americans. Set up with the idea of fleeing in any direction that the North Korean player leaves uncovered. If he leaves none, take as long as possible to die.

Run as much as possible of L Co toward the past K Co. K (& I & M) Co.s should set up to prevent the forward NK setup area from blocking the escape of M. Watch for NK units entering at the east edge of the board 37 entry area, as these can also cut off L's escape. After losing the command group, the Americans need the firepower and the points from L. Probably at least some of L Co. won't escape, but make it as painful for the NK player as you can.

I think the key for the Americans in this scenario is starting fires. K Co. should try to start at least one fire, say 50U8. Other fires should be set in the areas of 50X3, 50EE9 and 50T10. These are broad suggestions, I leave it to others to decide the exact hexes they start fires in as it will depend on where you can get to and what . With double-dry EC, once the woods/brush starts blazing it should go up like tinder. This will leave very narrow lanes for the NK attack, lanes that the Americans can stuff.

JR
 

Ganjulama

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I think the key for the Americans in this scenario is starting fires. K Co. should try to start at least one fire, say 50U8. Other fires should be set in the areas of 50X3, 50EE9 and 50T10. These are broad suggestions, I leave it to others to decide the exact hexes they start fires in as it will depend on where you can get to and what . With double-dry EC, once the woods/brush starts blazing it should go up like tinder. This will leave very narrow lanes for the NK attack, lanes that the Americans can stuff.

JR
I watched this being played and this strategy was employed by the USA and they won handily.
 

jrv

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I watched this being played and this strategy was employed by the USA and they won handily.
I don't think setting fires gives the American an easy win in general. But I think without the American setting (lots and lots of) fires the NK player is at the advantage. I wouldn't expect a good NK player to lose if the Americans haven't set a few fires. The NK force is really strong, and even with a goodly number of blazes the American has a lot of tough fighting ahead. And they may be in a world of trouble if a wind starts up blowing in the wrong direction.

JR
 
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Jude

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My take on this is that command group are dead men walking. They can only be used to drain away resources used that might be used in the chase of the rest of the Americans. Set up with the idea of fleeing in any direction that the North Korean player leaves uncovered. If he leaves none, take as long as possible to die.

Run as much as possible of L Co toward the past K Co. K (& I & M) Co.s should set up to prevent the forward NK setup area from blocking the escape of M. Watch for NK units entering at the east edge of the board 37 entry area, as these can also cut off L's escape. After losing the command group, the Americans need the firepower and the points from L. Probably at least some of L Co. won't escape, but make it as painful for the NK player as you can.

I think the key for the Americans in this scenario is starting fires. K Co. should try to start at least one fire, say 50U8. Other fires should be set in the areas of 50X3, 50EE9 and 50T10. These are broad suggestions, I leave it to others to decide the exact hexes they start fires in as it will depend on where you can get to and what . With double-dry EC, once the woods/brush starts blazing it should go up like tinder. This will leave very narrow lanes for the NK attack, lanes that the Americans can stuff.

JR
Interesting tactic. I pretty much never kindle - basically because I never think of doing so - but it sounds like a legitimate tactic in this scenario. Definitely would have helped. I wonder if the playtesters used this while balancing the scenario. Seems very gamey and ahistorical, but I suppose ASL is just a game.
 

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Interesting tactic. I pretty much never kindle - basically because I never think of doing so - but it sounds like a legitimate tactic in this scenario. Definitely would have helped. I wonder if the playtesters used this while balancing the scenario. Seems very gamey and ahistorical, but I suppose ASL is just a game.
The double-dry EC is a HINT. Do not hesitate to take the hint. Your opponent would have if he had the Americans.

JR
 

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The double-dry EC is a HINT. Do not hesitate to take the hint. Your opponent would have if he had the Americans.

JR
Okaaay...

I did say I thought it was a legitimate tactic for this scenario. I was just wondering if the designers/playtesters thought that the players should do this. If so, I wonder if instead they could have simulated the situation differently without hinting that the Americans should start a forest wildfire to help them win.
 

Ganjulama

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Many of the fires could be incidental. To cover strategic withdraw USA should be shooting WP from BAZs and they might as well throw WP grenades too. No real need to mark with prep fire and deliberately kindle.
 

jrv

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Okaaay...

I did say I thought it was a legitimate tactic for this scenario. I was just wondering if the designers/playtesters thought that the players should do this. If so, I wonder if instead they could have simulated the situation differently without hinting that the Americans should start a forest wildfire to help them win.
Didn't mean my comment as a flame. The double-dry EC is unusual, and it should draw you attention to two things: vehicle dust in desert scenarios and flame in non-desert. If the MMP playtesters did not immediately think of kindling, MMP should fire them all and get new ones.

You should also be thinking about kindling in most scenarios. It's usually in scenarios with "EC are moderate" that kindling throws off the balance of the scenario and the playtesters missed it. Look for opportunities especially in Kursk scenarios.

JR
 

jrv

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Many of the fires could be incidental. To cover strategic withdraw USA should be shooting WP from BAZs and they might as well throw WP grenades too. No real need to mark with prep fire and deliberately kindle.
Every method for starting fires should be used. One problem in this scenario with using WP is that the US has early war restrictions [W2.14]. For ordnance Ammo Shortage means the WP# is down by one. Most of the American Infantry are 5-4-6s, meaning that the WP grenade dr for most squads is a "1". Also many of the American efforts are going to be otherwise engaged. I think the Americans should welcome but not rely on incidental fires. There are other, more sleazy ways to start fires. I didn't have to use them because my kindling numbers hit (although I wasn't really ambitious enough), but I would suggest thinking of as many ways as you can to start fires.

JR
 

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I played SP241 Esebeck's Pursuit today against Randy Strader. He opted for the French and had a mostly up-front defense. I decided to throw caution to the wind and blitz the board with only one 25LL on it. In the opening prep fire, the German 9-2 directed the HMG/MMG combo to shred the French HMG team, which only turned the leader heroic, but the MMG squad broke and reduced. Tanks surged forward and used VBM, or bounding fire point blank, to overwhelm the defenders. By the end of turn 1 all the French on that side had been eliminated, so the VC road was clear. The 25LL was able to draw a bead on a couple of tanks, but despite many chances failed to score a result (two hits bounced off armor). That gun crew was eliminated in CC in turn 2 after killing a German half-squad. The Char B1-bis tanks did their best to cause trouble, but they had no support on that side when they entered and were likewise swarmed, both eliminated by placed demo charges. We called it at the point, as there was no realistic way the French could win with fewer troops and having to attack against Germans and tanks. The French setup is pretty restrictive, and the defender has to be very cagey to avoid the fate that befell them today. They have to have some troops survive and delay, so their reinforcements can shore up the back side of the victory areas.
 

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I played SP241 Esebeck's Pursuit today against Randy Strader. He opted for the French and had a mostly up-front defense. I decided to throw caution to the wind and blitz the board with only one 25LL on it. In the opening prep fire, the German 9-2 directed the HMG/MMG combo to shred the French HMG team, which only turned the leader heroic, but the MMG squad broke and reduced. Tanks surged forward and used VBM, or bounding fire point blank, to overwhelm the defenders. By the end of turn 1 all the French on that side had been eliminated, so the VC road was clear. The 25LL was able to draw a bead on a couple of tanks, but despite many chances failed to score a result (two hits bounced off armor). That gun crew was eliminated in CC in turn 2 after killing a German half-squad. The Char B1-bis tanks did their best to cause trouble, but they had no support on that side when they entered and were likewise swarmed, both eliminated by placed demo charges. We called it at the point, as there was no realistic way the French could win with fewer troops and having to attack against Germans and tanks. The French setup is pretty restrictive, and the defender has to be very cagey to avoid the fate that befell them today. They have to have some troops survive and delay, so their reinforcements can shore up the back side of the victory areas.
I played a while back as the defending French against Jim Taylor and despite a pretty decent setup, I got completely rolled up. My 25LLs could do nothing against the German tanks -- nor the B1s for that matter. Nevertheless, I hung on probably far longer than I expected. Once German armor is free in the French backfield they can interdict those critical French reinforcements.
 

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Didn't mean my comment as a flame. The double-dry EC is unusual, and it should draw you attention to two things: vehicle dust in desert scenarios and flame in non-desert. If the MMP playtesters did not immediately think of kindling, MMP should fire them all and get new ones.

You should also be thinking about kindling in most scenarios. It's usually in scenarios with "EC are moderate" that kindling throws off the balance of the scenario and the playtesters missed it. Look for opportunities especially in Kursk scenarios.

JR
You have a good point JR. With the 'Kindling is NA" SSR so common, when it is not there, it gives you pause as to why.
 

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I recently played the dreaded Peter Struijf in DTF-1 Keren Masala. I tried something completely different as the Indians, instead of taking the straightforward route of going up the middle which gives the Indians lots of options and stretches the Italians, and tried to flank him on the right where he looked to be undergarrisoned, and which would only allow a few Italians to get off their no move counters. Of course that was where he had almost all his HIP units. With DCs. Which my cloaked Indians proceeded to stumble into, one after another. To add to my misery, I completely mistimed the flanking with the reinforcements, and his reinforcements made it to the last three level 5 hills I needed just before I could, with the assistance of some able blocking of Indian movement by a slew of broken Italians. For fun we played out the last turn just to see if any of my Indians would actually survive an HMG firelane and multiple 4 FP shots and residual to cross the open to those hills in daylight (where they would have been hammered by two more squads in reverse slope) to claim at least part of that 3-hex ridge, but of course none did. Peter made ample use of DCs thrown over cliffs also, I too am starting to believe that DCs might be too cheap in the DTF SSRs... That said night without starshells works really well, if I do say so myself... Moral of the story, don't try things that are completely different unless you are sure your movement math is correct.
 
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Steve E7

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TAC32 Counterstroke in Connage - French entered in a (too) broad front and were mauled. 88 position on the hill commanded the scene and over half of the French force broke. But somehow 16VP made it off the board and the French won. A wild game. French sent 6 squads across the stream, and they managed to avoid the German panzers just enough to make the difference.
 
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