So what scenarios have you played Recently?

Eagle4ty

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A dish served...HOT! I was able to get a little retribution today for the shellacking I took in Stalingrad last week. Curtis & I changed fronts and played WO31 MA DEUCE DELIVERS. It seemed as if my troops today had heeded my cry, "The beatings will continue until morale improves", as these Americans performed considerably better under more severe circumstances. With the brunt of the German attack falling upon my left flank, a studly HS shot up a few advancing Germans then after suffering the slings and arrows of the dispersion's cast in their general direction and rebuffed "visit" from Herman, proceeded to break or pin his Sqd/HMG, Sqd/MMG & Ldr stack on a 2 +2 shot. He continued to hold his position throughout the game forcing the German infantry to take a more central avenue of advance. Though my meat-chopper on my right flank seemingly failed to do a proper head-space and timing check for their .50's (malfing the guns after only KIA'ing the ldr of a flanking platoon in that sector), the actions of my M-10s and a BAZ tm on the left made up for his failure to do a proper PMCS (Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services) prior to the engagement.

The arrival of his King Kitty-Cats, did put the fear of God in my guys for a bit, but when his AL Kitty chose to make a run at my 9-2, Sqd/MMG, a sneaky LOS including a TCA change from an M-10 revealed he had chosen poorly; a 35TK -8 up the poop-shoot didn't turn out well for him (Hot time in the old town tonight! Yeah!) His wing-man thought better of it but took a 32TK -8 on his side from a "dummy" BAZ shot it didn't turn out well for them either). When a sqd went berserk and took a 8 down 4, the men in blue had seen enough and called it a day. My other "chopper" had yet to make an appearance & was in a position to possibly take at least a 24 down 2 shot on a Ldr, Sqd stack coupled by another shot from my 9-2 et. al.

It was a fast and furious playing (~3 hrs) and quite fun if at times somewhat scary for the Americans. Now if my luck will just hold until end of next weekend at Chicago for the ASL Open!
 
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Rindis

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Past time to check-in here.

Finished up a long-running VASL game of 5 "In Sight of the Volga" a month ago. I had a solid defensive plan as the Russians, which in the end was just enough despite losing way too many men in the first turns (a common fate). I got one good set of reinforcements during the first half, which combined from some good shooting from the INF, kept me together long enough for a solid final defense of the factory. See the full report here:

More recently, my normal opponent Patch and I played 162 "Armored Car Savikurki" over two weeks on VASL. I discounted the northern woods route too much in my Russian defense, and Patch worked along the edge of the board, breaking, killing, or capturing my guys as they went. The HMG was well sited, but never really did much. The end was a foregone conclusion, but nicely dramatic with a 6+1 and Commissar clutching the lone remaining LMG.
 

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Inspired by the arrival of Steven Zaloga's new book Smashing Hitler's Panzers: The Defeat of the Hitler Youth Panzer Division in the Battle of the Bulge I pulled out two scenarios on the 99th Infantry Division's efforts to stem the German advance during the first day of the Ardennes offensive.

DftB 135 Krinkelterwald

Despite some SSR mistakes regarding the PFZs this was a fun, fast playing scenario that culminated in a German win. However, things didn't look that way at first. I divided my attacking force into two flank attacks. By the end of German turn 1 half of the left hand prong was DM'ed and the majority of these squads were assault engineers, the cream of the crop. The right hand prong hadn't made much progress either. But things changed on American turn 1, when the mmg on the U.S. left flank malf'ed and stayed malf'ed until game end. This enabled a horde of Germans to start moving towards the VC trail locations in that sector in subsequent German turns.

On the opposite end of the board, effective defensive fire from the Germans in U.S. turn one broke a squad, and on German turn two the brave volksgrenadiers began filtering into the woods. From there things got a bit "dicey" for the Americans and by turn three the Battle Babies' left flank had collapsed and the right and center folded shortly after in the face of overwhelming pressure. The Americans were able to stay well organized in these areas but there were just too many Germans to deal with.

SP121 Danger Close

This one lived up to its name- another fun, fast paced scenario that saw the Americans defending two different sets of VC locations. I'm not that great at defending and with the OB I had, I found it challenging to prepare an adequate defense. I wound up deciding to devote most of my force to the board 32 farm complex and leave security in the 38 hamlet to a mortar HS, a mmg with an elite squad, an elite HS with a bazooka, some dummies to draw initial German fire (hopefully) and the FOO. I dumped everyone else into the stand at the farm with one thin line of forces facing north armed with a bazooka and a bunkered mmg, and one facing east in order to cover my bases. The remaining reserve 6-6-6 squads were ensconced in the backfield farm buildings with a 8-0 rally point. Things did not go well. The German main force came in from the east, hitting the farm with a concentrated schwerpunkt that overwhelmed the Yanks' first line of defense and grabbed an entire row of buildings by the end of turn 2.

On board 38, a weaker German force backed up by a Hetzer encountered some real problems from American artillery, but the bazooka squad and mmg wound up going down to hits from the Hetzer in turns 2 and 3, forcing the FOO to destroy the hamlet, and and the broken squads, in order to save it. It was overrun anyway. Back on board 32 their colleagues couldn't roll decent IFTs or MCs to save their lives, literally. I conceded at the end of German turn 4. At that point there really wasn't much left to concede.

This one was really fun. Due to the VC requirements and the clock, any broken squad, lost building, fickle OBA or SWs has huge significance. For the majority of the game it looked like anyone's game. That is, until the FOO called it in danger close.


I thought these scenarios paired well together and it was fun to have mixed quality OBs on both sides. I especially enjoyed pushing the German second liners in Krinkelterwald and thought they held up well, an opinion underscored by going up against them in Danger Close. I also got a feel for the tenacity of the 99th, despite my own poor showing in DC. All told, super entertaining, fast scenarios that are good for a weekday evening.

After a vacation getaway that will soothe the agony of defeat, I'll be returning to Normandy in SP 41 Bloody Gulch.
 

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I enjoyed a game of WO1 French Toast and Bacon with TCASL stalwart, Geoff Wessnedorf. We were looking for something smaller and had good balance.

Quick recap for those familiar with this scenario - Germans came in with 3 PzIVH on one entry hex and the 3 Panthers on the other entry hex with the four 467s, 9-1 and LMG. The tanks rolled in and I missed my Hellcat shot - no ROF and missed the IF -- and several had a shot back at the American's lone H18 Hellcat in AFPh. All German tanks missed. In the bottom of T1, The Hellcat KOs two Panzer IVs, the second on an IF shot. American pulls all infantry back to the village perimeter. Hellcat is destroyed by Panther after it's first shot bounced (6.6 TK), but it had rate and was mad.

The German will need to move in cautiously as the 2 x 76Ls are still hidden as neither has seen the side of a Panther (one gun was near the bridge for the end game the other on the American right flank). Turn 2, the right flank 76L sees a Panther's side and KO's it. Three German tanks gone and by turn 3(-ish) they are down to 2.5 squads. The perimeter of the village is probed by the Germans and the American exercises strict fire discipline. They are able to do so due to the benefit of the off-board 105 howitzer (by SSR). It breaks/pins several MMCs at seemingly just when needed. By this time, the 76L crew on the Ami right flank was broken and never could get itself back, but did soak up some attention to keep it DM.

End game saw a the 76L get in a side shot on a Panther trying to cross the bridge. Next, the remaining Panzer IV (MA broken) attempts to do the same and was KO'ed on an IF side shot. At this point the Germans had only one tank and maybe one MMC in the area that could reach the bridge. At this point the Americans had enough weapons (FP and three bazookas) pointed the approaches to the VC area that the German commander radioed HQ to report the attack is "kaput!"

Another great Saturday for a game of ASL. Geoff as always was a pleasure to play despite not getting the one big break (literally) to the crack the defense. This game was surprisingly tense and we felt it could go either way. We agreed this one could see some swingy outcomes. Currently, now 41-38 for the Americans on ROAR. Enjoyable and challenging to deal with the Panthers.
 
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commissarmatt

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Had a fun little game of T2 The Puma Prowls at the last Austin game day, against Mark Ramsdale. It's a nice little scenario that packs a lot of interesting strategy and tactics in such a simple design, so it works well when you just have an hour or two. Dice gave Mark the Germans. Highlights in this game included one T-70 trading shots with two Pumas on the right flank, resulting in one immobilized AFV for each side before the Russian tank was destroyed. Meanwhile, the 10-2 armor leader knocked out two Pumas himself, while the 4th Puma immobilized while trying for ESB. Russian win.
 

Jacometti

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Had a fun little game of T2 The Puma Prowls at the last Austin game day, against Mark Ramsdale. It's a nice little scenario that packs a lot of interesting strategy and tactics in such a simple design, so it works well when you just have an hour or two. Dice gave Mark the Germans. Highlights in this game included one T-70 trading shots with two Pumas on the right flank, resulting in one immobilized AFV for each side before the Russian tank was destroyed. Meanwhile, the 10-2 armor leader knocked out two Pumas himself, while the 4th Puma immobilized while trying for ESB. Russian win.
A Puma cannot use ESB, as it is not tracked....
 

waltermcwilliam

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Hatten in Flames CG1: Tony Hutton and I usually forgo the main and mini tournaments at the Bitter Ender, and this weekend was no different. I had the US and Tony the German. We only got through 2 full-days but they were fun drama filled days with a lot of emotional ebb and flow. Tony's opening attack pushed the Americans back, as expected and we ended the day with the US holding a line across the board at The Fort, then spiking up toward the Train Station. Though Tony held that building he did no expel the US from those buildings nor isolate them, that helped me a lot on day 2. Tony won the day, but CVP were less than 10 apart. I hipped all the bazooka's and they all succeeded in taking on AFV with them and slowing down the armor rush. The Hellcat's also accounted well for themselves with one taking down a panther with APCR and another a PZIVL70.

Day 2 Tony chose idol and I Day assault. I had two goals, push out of the fort (which I knew Tony would subject to a bombardment and a OBA) an into the stone building cluster (which got some pre-game rubbling) and retake the train station area. I put my bombardment and 150mm OBA on those guys and blew them out. It took me half the day scenario to muddle through his harrassing fire OBA (which he used to great effectiveness on both days (the wussy american morale can really take even harassing 80mm OBA). I also managed to WP the train station area in and advance some guys into the bottom floor concealed. Tony had two 548 and a 9-1 on the top row but couldn't strip their concealment. He came in for CC anyway, I ambushed him, declared hth and took out the 548 and 9-1, survived the ensuing hth melee to win the building. He took his revenge whent the 9-2 steeple heavy rapped my guys in the triangle. In the end, the US recaptured to victory areas on DAY 2 and was poised to take a third. They had a solid battle line with no isolated units, and infantry casualties where about the same. The Germans shot the crap out of my Day 2 armor, but had only two main battle tanks left on the board (panthers) one was immobilized and shocked, and both were isolated. They did however have something like 12 or 14 548's.

Likes: This was a far more emotional game than the Schmidt HASL we played last year. I think because it's up close and personal. The map plays nice with a lot of crazy LOS and the big hexes were very handy. I very much like how the reinforcements work!!

Dislikes: I hate the OBA parity! I told everyone I suspect this HASL was originally proposed as a SK HASL or the OBA was a SK OBA proposal. It sucks! I liked the Hillocks, but I think some clarification, either via artwork or rules is necessary to assist the average ASL players knowledge of Hillocks. We played that if the hex had EmRR in it, then the entire hex was a hillock hex. I guess that's correct but it was a constant source of rules referencing.

Overall a great game with a great friend and player at one of the best ASL Tournaments!
 

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Played DA11 Sicilian Midnight as the defending Italians. I've read that this scenario receives high praise, but I thought the scenario was just OK. Not much for the Italians to do except try and strip cloaking from the Americans. Not a big fan of night scenarios in general. They come up so infrequently, my friend and I spend more time in the rule book than we care to. The cloaking display also adds to the slowdown as it needs to be checked frequently to make sure you're getting the units you want into position and not a bunch of dummies. Anyway, the first few turns were uneventful but things started picking up late once the Americans reached the base of the hill and the eastern flanking force made their move. The Americans came up short, however, being bogged down by the extra cost of the concealment terrain (after most units had lost cloaking). Another turn (or two) and the Americans may have gotten the job done. I think my friend pushed his men as hard as was prudent, but the way it turned out, one less turn of assault moves to retain cloaking was probably the difference.
 

jrv

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The cloaking display also adds to the slowdown as it needs to be checked frequently to make sure you're getting the units you want into position and not a bunch of dummies.
The right way to use cloaking is to not look at the display but just pick a cloak counter and move it someplace. Your opponent will spend all his time trying to second-guess whether you sent a dummy or not. When he finally decides to fire, then you check the cloaking display.

JR
 

Jude

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The right way to use cloaking is to not look at the display but just pick a cloak counter and move it someplace. Your opponent will spend all his time trying to second-guess whether you sent a dummy or not. When he finally decides to fire, then you check the cloaking display.
Ha! Well, I wasn't attacking today, but that sort of sounds like what happens to me when I do - and not on purpose!
 

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Assault at Monkey Point BFP-CtR-1 Corregidor '42. Night, IJA force must exit and or kill off Marines. Nice little night battle. The IJA came on the far end of board 37, avoiding the burning hut. I was lucky in that the IJA ran right into my 9-1, squad, .50 caliber MG, pillbox combo. The IJA required 4 tries in CC to take this position. The 4th try was the charm, but the damage had been done and the IJA fatally slowed. Some IJA exited, but not enough. A Marine 2-4-8 HS won the night taking out a 10-1 and HS in melee, sealing the exit. If the .50 caliber strong point had not held as long as it did, the IJA would have streamed through the exit, as half the Marines were under NO MOVE deep into the game.
 

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DB118 Teeth of the Wolf interesting, fun scenario. early war, distant corner of the world. brits v Iraq '41. my defending Iraqis just managed the win. very exciting shooting down his '39 FB & shooting up his Rolls Royce AC with MG's. short sharp fight. I thought it looked tough on Iraqis but the brits need a lot of buildings for the win. I'd play it again as either side
 

JRKrejsa

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Bouncing Check SP RPT145 Korea, '50. Americans most take hexes by the road in a deep valley. I had the crews hump the 81mm MTRs up the hills on either side of the valley, along with a couple of 60mm MTRs. This was good, because I found the first two NKPA 76mms the hard way- two Shermans knocked out. A third Sherman was RECALLED. THe fourth one fought on, and did fine work with his SM. The early war red TH numbers will drive you to drinking, too. But, my 10-2 battle hardened to a 10-3. His death star cleared out NKPA position after position.
US Victory. Nice hill battle without being the standard hill battle.
 

Andrew Rogers

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Hatten in Flames CG1: Tony Hutton and I usually forgo the main and mini tournaments at the Bitter Ender, and this weekend was no different. I had the US and Tony the German. We only got through 2 full-days but they were fun drama filled days with a lot of emotional ebb and flow. Tony's opening ....

Likes: This was a far more emotional game than the Schmidt HASL we played last year. I think because it's up close and personal. The map plays nice with a lot of crazy LOS and the big hexes were very handy. I very much like how the reinforcements work!!

Dislikes: I hate the OBA parity! I told everyone I suspect this HASL was originally proposed as a SK HASL or the OBA was a SK OBA proposal. It sucks! I liked the Hillocks, but I think some clarification, either via artwork or rules is necessary to assist the average ASL players knowledge of Hillocks. We played that if the hex had EmRR in it, then the entire hex was a hillock hex. I guess that's correct but it was a constant source of rules referencing.

Overall a great game with a great friend and player at one of the best ASL Tournaments!
Walter, thank you for the Hatten CG write-up and it is good you got an 'up close and personal' feel. Just a quick response on your OBA comments. In short, Hatten and OBA rules were not designed with Starter Kit in mind.

In terms of 'parity', the German and American artillery were roughly equal for the first week of the battle. The Germans had Corps level assets available, slightly higher ground and the American units were isolated in Hatten, making the calling for missions problematic. Further, the American had mixed units involved (42nd Inf; 79th Inf; 14th AD) adding to their fire control issues. In the Americans favor, they had more ammunition to call on.

The overall goal of the CG was playability and this factored into the smaller number of turns available each day. This consequently led to a reduction in the number black chits available to each player. The even number of black chits reflected the historical evidence.

Andy Rogers (Hatten designer)

 

waltermcwilliam

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Thanks Andy, the other thing on OBA I wasn't clear on were the number of time you could buy each module. Are they one and done or can you buy them multiple times?
 

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the other thing on OBA I wasn't clear on were the number of time you could buy each module. Are they one and done or can you buy them multiple times?
HF3.6186 "Unless otherwise noted, each RG can only be purchased once during a CG." So for example American RG O5 has footnote f, which says it can be purchased up to three times in the CG. The other American "O" RGs do not have any footnote, and can only be purchased once. If you compare American RGs O2 and O3, you will note they are identical (except for their ids). Having two equivalent RGs was necessary precisely because they can't be purchased multiple times.

JR
 

Andrew Rogers

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Thanks Andy, the other thing on OBA I wasn't clear on were the number of time you could buy each module. Are they one and done or can you buy them multiple times?
Walt, (just to concur with post by jrv) the OBA missions are 'one and done'; the Germans have three and the Amis have four ... each side can get three Bombardments, Andy
 

Carln0130

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Walt, (just to concur with post by jrv) the OBA missions are 'one and done'; the Germans have three and the Amis have four ... each side can get three Bombardments, Andy
The re-enforcement chart informs you also of the number of dates you can buy them on. Each module is limited in use to the number of black cards. So they won't go on forever potentially. I really liked the idea of no more than one mission on board for each side at any one time and the fact that you only got so many kicks at the can with them. It made them powerful, but not dominant as OBA can sometimes be in a CG.
 
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