So what scenarios have you played Recently?

Jude

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Played J133 One Miserable Night as the attacking Japanese. To win the Japanese have to get 19 CVP. No big expectations from this one. I actually didn't want to play it because it looked like the Japanese would (and should) get torn up in the stream crossing right off the bat and we would have wasted a weekend setting up a dud. However, having rarely (if ever) played a night scenario with dense jungle, I wanted to see what it would be like. I was able to exploit an open hex on the extreme eastern side of the map and rushed most of my guys through the gap. I wanted to go that way anyway since there was so much dense jungle I would be able to move quickly even if adjacent to the enemy. My only hope was to keep concealment and go for ambushes. I lost a few early and about 3/4th of the way through the game I only had about six points. However, I reached the marine tanks (i.e. sitting ducks) in the rear and taking both of them out netted me 12 more points. A couple of other CCs where both sides died gained me the last points I needed. I didn't really like the scenario. Seemed very dicey to me. Rolling for ambush was the name of the game. So much depends on the luck of that one roll. It took me until turn 6 (of 7) to get the points I needed. If my friend would have just had one squad with a trip flare or trip wire in that hex I exploited, I'm confident I would have lost. Without cloaking, going through the jungle would have been impossibly slow.
 
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'Ol Fezziwig

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Played J133 One Miserable Night as the attacking Japanese. To win the Japanese have to get 19 CVP. No big expectations from this one. I actually didn't want to play it because it looked like the Japanese would (and should) get torn up in the stream crossing right off the bat and we would have wasted a weekend setting up a dud. However, having rarely (if ever) played a night scenario with dense jungle, I wanted to see what it would be like. I was able to exploit an open hex on the extreme eastern side of the map and rushed most of my guys through the gap. I wanted to go that way anyway since there was so much dense jungle I would be able to move quickly even if adjacent to the enemy. My only hope was to keep concealment and go for ambushes. I lost a few early and about 3/4th of the way through the game I only had about six points. However, I reached the marine tanks (i.e. sitting ducks) in the rear and taking both of them out netted me 12 more points. A couple of other CCs where both sides died gained me the last points I needed. I didn't really like the scenario. Seemed very dicey to me. Rolling for ambush was the name of the game. So much depends on the luck of that one roll. It took me until turn 6 (of 7) to get the points I needed. If my friend would have just had one squad with a trip flare or trip wire in that hex I exploited, I'm confident I would have lost. Without cloaking, going through the jungle would have been impossibly slow.
Shoegazer...
 

Jacometti

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I played a playtest scenario yesterday, the subject of which can't be named, but it involved a pre-emptive strike by the army of a nation dedicated to protecting the proletariat against a wealthy, capitalist aggressor nation on their border. One elite squad had just crawled back to an abandoned position, rolling into foxholes that had been lost, and from where it could stop the attack like a cork. The aggressors fired, rolling up a 2MC. The army defenders of the proletariat rolled a snakeeyes. Could that be the fervor of Maxist-Leninism shining in their elite eyes? Ok nationality DRM, even though elite, means that a hero is unlikely, but battle-hardening is not bad and even berserk, although not ideal, would be a distraction that the capitalist puppets could not ignore. So they roll their heat-of-battle DR. The next thing I see they are looking for some white cloth, asking their sergeants how to fill out their red cross cards and trying to find out whether the camp has a sauna. Surrender. When this is over, the gulag for all of them. And this time, no more saunas.

JR
Did you try to kindle anything at all, you capitalist hoarder ?

If you did not, you may not be a committed member of the proletariat. And we know all playtesters must Kindle !
 
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Spencer Armstrong

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Steve A and I played FrF58 Order 831 in a single setting last night (first time long time for me). My play record says we played this face to face at ASLOK years ago, but neither of us actually remembers that*. Steve's Russians came up a little short of the victory buildings, largely due to his schwerpunkt being a bit too heavy and time running out on him. It's a really good design, the Russians have a lot to get done in six turns and have to make progress every turn for sure.

*The fact that this is the game we've forgotten is unbelievably funny to me.
 

Conall

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ASL Scenario 181 Gavin Take AAR
I haven’t played ASL for at least 25 years – and even back then I played badly with a poor grasp of the rules – so this represents my first proper foray back into ASL, so it marks something of a milestone for me. I’ve spent the last eighteen months getting to grips with ASLSK, as a means of mastering the basics, aided by the kindness and guidance of good people like Eddie Houghton and Kevin Boles along with Jay Richardson’s amazing tutorials. This got me to the point where I was willing to take the plunge helped by Lee Hyde-Sellars agreeing to take me under his wing. We chose ASL scenario 181, Gavin Take, because not only is it a classic but it’s about as simple as ASL gets! And it seems incredibly well balanced and fun to play making it the perfect choice.
Having done a little background reading on the scenario, I went with a fairly conventional German defence, anticipating that Lee would flank me to both the East and West of the hamlet. The plan was for the MMGs in the upper levels of building R3/S3 to impose a delay on Lee’s movement and ideally inflict casualties and break some paratrooper squads. In the meantime I would send a 4-4-7 squad to Q10 to dig in. Once a delay had been imposed on the US forces, the German defenders would conduct a withdrawal to take up positions overlooking Q10. Most importantly the MMGs should relocate to P6 and R6 so they could lay down fire lanes to interdict attacks against the Q10 exit. That was the plan anyway…
12279
Setup
Although Lee’s US paratroopers did broadly what I expected, things didn’t really go to plan. Firstly, he gave me a masterclass in infantry movement and gave me very few good shots along with deploying a swarm of half squads. As a result, in the first turn and a half (including the US 2nd turn) I only managed to break a squad dashing across the road to J4 and a half squad in U1, a pretty paltry return. Good fire disciple by the grenadiers of the 91st Air Landing Division, however, meant I was pretty much unscathed in return. Things went from moderately bad to worse in the German Prep Fire phase of turn two when my 9-1 took a shot at the US squad in T1 causing a 3MC. Yay, I thought – mission accomplished. Lee promptly rolled snake eyes and went on to create a hero – aargh! Worse still I forgot to roll in the Prep Fire Phase for the critical foxhole in Q10 – unbelievably stupid!!
12280
Turn 2 German Rally Phase
The US squad and hero then retaliated in the following Prep Fire phase of Turn 3 and broke the German squad, although fortunately the 9-1 passed. Mostly in the German turn 3 the grenadiers started withdrawing to towards their final defensive position. The broken squad routed to R6 along with the 9-1, while the 8-1, his squad and MMG covered their retreat from R5. As a result US forces were easily able to flow around the flanks of the German position in Chef-Du-Pont and reorganise in forming up points for their final assault to secure the exit to the causeway. At this point things were looking distinctly iffy for the Germans.
12281
Turn 4 US Rally Phase
The German Turn 4, however, saw a distinct improvement in their fortunes. Firstly throughout the turn they rolled outrageously well including the LMG in T6 going on a ROF tear (three shots), breaking one full squad and pinning a half squad. Another half squad was broken in V4. At the same time the German 8-0 and a 4-4-7 squad in P6 were able to safely get across the road to P8 to block any advance from M7. Most importantly was the 9-1 rallying the DM’d 4-6-7 in R6 and the 4-4-7 managing to dig his foxhole at only the second attempt in turn 4. Things were suddenly looking much better, although ominously both Brigadier Gavin (10-3) and Col Ostberg (10-2) were set to attack Q10 from the East and West respectively. Throughout the game Lee taught me a valuable lesson in how to bypass terrain while offering the defender the absolute minimum in defensive fire opportunities.
12282
Turn 5 US Rally Phase
Going into Turn 5 while the German defence looked reasonably well set, Lee’s US paratroopers were equally ready to begin their final assault led by frankly scary leaders. Breaking the squad in U8 in turn 4, however, had removed an important threat. Better still neither US squad rallied at the start of Turn 5.
12283
Turn 5 US Movement Phase
Despite Lee’s failure to rally his broken squad in the rally phase, Turn 5 initially began quite badly for me. His 10-2 stack in J10 Prep Fired inflicting a K/2 result on the blocking squad with the LMG in L9, which not unreasonably broke. Significantly, however, the 4-6-7 and LMG in S9 shrugged off the Prep Fire from the 3-3-7 in U8, something which was to prove – with the benefit of hindsight – to be absolutely critical. Lee’s opening gambits in the movement phase were to surround the broken HS in L9, dooming it to elimination by failure to rout. A 3-3-7 then moved adjacent to the 4-6-7/LMG in S9, which chose to hold its fire waiting for bigger fish to fry. Brigadier Gavin and his accompanying 7-4-7 then assault moved into the woods in T10. The grenadiers in S9 took their shot (praying they wouldn’t cower and hoping for the best). They managed an NMC, which, with Gavin leading the squad, frankly I thought was a foregone conclusion. Lee proceeded to roll box cars - holy shit! He followed this with a five and Gavin got the good news (for US readers that’s British Army slang for getting killed). The squad also broke and then casualty reduced for the LLMC. At this point Lee very gracefully conceded.
It was an excellent re-introduction to ASL. I was fortunate in winning, essentially not so much through my own actions as through good luck. In Turn 4 the dice were very kind to me (successfully rallying a DM’d squad; entrenching; and breaking one of Lee’s squads), while the denouement of Turn 5 was wholly down to good fortune. Tactically Lee comprehensively outplayed me and until the fatal incident was in a good position to win; arguably he might still have done so with the 10-2 stack.

A few post-game reflections:
  • Gavin Take (the pun – give and take – shamefully only registered with me after the game!) was not only extremely well balanced and fun to play but also the perfect scenario for my reintroduction to ASL. This was ASL stripped back to the bare bones. Not having to think about sniper checks, ordnance or vehicles was an absolute blessing.
  • It’s a big step up from ASLSK. There is a lot more to think about and remember. Even calculating blind spots and remembering the possible options afforded by multiple level buildings and hills is quite a major mental challenge.
  • Bypass is a game changer. Not only are infantry (and by extension, vehicles) much more mobile but it is much more difficult to anticipate likely enemy avenues of approach. I found it very hard to get decent shots on Lee. Dashing is also useful, not least in reducing the level of vulnerability.
  • Concealment is another game changer. Retaining it is essential and it makes shooting at every opportunity a much less attractive option (as does the presence of snipers). Keeping concealment affords huge protection to your troops and makes them less vulnerable to CC. This is one of the areas I’m really going to have to work on in terms of fully digesting the rules.
  • Fire lanes are (potentially) very useful and make machine guns both much more potent and capable of dominating the battlefield. Ironically in this game I never got to lay a fire lane down but it was an integral part of planning my final defence.
  • Heat of battle is fun and adds both failure and a welcome element of randomness.
  • I made lots of mistakes. From forgetting to entrench in the Prep Fire phase of the second turn to unnecessary/inefficient movement and taking some poor shots. I completely underestimated how fast Lee could move and how frequently he could find covered approaches. Arguably, I withdrew my troops a turn from the north end of the hamlet a turn too soon. As a result he got a free pass on my western flank crossing the I4-J3-K3-L3 road hexes. Likewise not putting anyone on the Hill 522 ridge line gave Lee the opportunity to run down my eastern flank. Without the extreme good fortune of breaking Gavin resulting in his fatal wounding I think Lee would have won.
  • We chatted about the game afterwards and both agreed that there is a lot to be said for the US player to push his 10-3 (and possibly 10-2) directly through the hamlet, eliminating everyone in their path. If nothing else it will make it much harder for the Germans to conduct an orderly withdrawal.
Altogether it was a great game and I’m very grateful to Lee for his patience and generosity, not least in both explaining and demonstrating a number of the rules I’m still a bit hazy about. Many thanks to him.
 

buser333

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ASL Scenario 181 Gavin Take AAR
I haven’t played ASL for at least 25 years – and even back then I played badly with a poor grasp of the rules – so this represents my first proper foray back into ASL, so it marks something of a milestone for me. I’ve spent the last eighteen months getting to grips with ASLSK, as a means of mastering the basics, aided by the kindness and guidance of good people like Eddie Houghton and Kevin Boles along with Jay Richardson’s amazing tutorials. This got me to the point where I was willing to take the plunge helped by Lee Hyde-Sellars agreeing to take me under his wing. We chose ASL scenario 181, Gavin Take, because not only is it a classic but it’s about as simple as ASL gets! And it seems incredibly well balanced and fun to play making it the perfect choice.
Having done a little background reading on the scenario, I went with a fairly conventional German defence, anticipating that Lee would flank me to both the East and West of the hamlet. The plan was for the MMGs in the upper levels of building R3/S3 to impose a delay on Lee’s movement and ideally inflict casualties and break some paratrooper squads. In the meantime I would send a 4-4-7 squad to Q10 to dig in. Once a delay had been imposed on the US forces, the German defenders would conduct a withdrawal to take up positions overlooking Q10. Most importantly the MMGs should relocate to P6 and R6 so they could lay down fire lanes to interdict attacks against the Q10 exit. That was the plan anyway…
View attachment 12279
Setup
Although Lee’s US paratroopers did broadly what I expected, things didn’t really go to plan. Firstly, he gave me a masterclass in infantry movement and gave me very few good shots along with deploying a swarm of half squads. As a result, in the first turn and a half (including the US 2nd turn) I only managed to break a squad dashing across the road to J4 and a half squad in U1, a pretty paltry return. Good fire disciple by the grenadiers of the 91st Air Landing Division, however, meant I was pretty much unscathed in return. Things went from moderately bad to worse in the German Prep Fire phase of turn two when my 9-1 took a shot at the US squad in T1 causing a 3MC. Yay, I thought – mission accomplished. Lee promptly rolled snake eyes and went on to create a hero – aargh! Worse still I forgot to roll in the Prep Fire Phase for the critical foxhole in Q10 – unbelievably stupid!!
View attachment 12280
Turn 2 German Rally Phase
The US squad and hero then retaliated in the following Prep Fire phase of Turn 3 and broke the German squad, although fortunately the 9-1 passed. Mostly in the German turn 3 the grenadiers started withdrawing to towards their final defensive position. The broken squad routed to R6 along with the 9-1, while the 8-1, his squad and MMG covered their retreat from R5. As a result US forces were easily able to flow around the flanks of the German position in Chef-Du-Pont and reorganise in forming up points for their final assault to secure the exit to the causeway. At this point things were looking distinctly iffy for the Germans.
View attachment 12281
Turn 4 US Rally Phase
The German Turn 4, however, saw a distinct improvement in their fortunes. Firstly throughout the turn they rolled outrageously well including the LMG in T6 going on a ROF tear (three shots), breaking one full squad and pinning a half squad. Another half squad was broken in V4. At the same time the German 8-0 and a 4-4-7 squad in P6 were able to safely get across the road to P8 to block any advance from M7. Most importantly was the 9-1 rallying the DM’d 4-6-7 in R6 and the 4-4-7 managing to dig his foxhole at only the second attempt in turn 4. Things were suddenly looking much better, although ominously both Brigadier Gavin (10-3) and Col Ostberg (10-2) were set to attack Q10 from the East and West respectively. Throughout the game Lee taught me a valuable lesson in how to bypass terrain while offering the defender the absolute minimum in defensive fire opportunities.
View attachment 12282
Turn 5 US Rally Phase
Going into Turn 5 while the German defence looked reasonably well set, Lee’s US paratroopers were equally ready to begin their final assault led by frankly scary leaders. Breaking the squad in U8 in turn 4, however, had removed an important threat. Better still neither US squad rallied at the start of Turn 5.
View attachment 12283
Turn 5 US Movement Phase
Despite Lee’s failure to rally his broken squad in the rally phase, Turn 5 initially began quite badly for me. His 10-2 stack in J10 Prep Fired inflicting a K/2 result on the blocking squad with the LMG in L9, which not unreasonably broke. Significantly, however, the 4-6-7 and LMG in S9 shrugged off the Prep Fire from the 3-3-7 in U8, something which was to prove – with the benefit of hindsight – to be absolutely critical. Lee’s opening gambits in the movement phase were to surround the broken HS in L9, dooming it to elimination by failure to rout. A 3-3-7 then moved adjacent to the 4-6-7/LMG in S9, which chose to hold its fire waiting for bigger fish to fry. Brigadier Gavin and his accompanying 7-4-7 then assault moved into the woods in T10. The grenadiers in S9 took their shot (praying they wouldn’t cower and hoping for the best). They managed an NMC, which, with Gavin leading the squad, frankly I thought was a foregone conclusion. Lee proceeded to roll box cars - holy shit! He followed this with a five and Gavin got the good news (for US readers that’s British Army slang for getting killed). The squad also broke and then casualty reduced for the LLMC. At this point Lee very gracefully conceded.
It was an excellent re-introduction to ASL. I was fortunate in winning, essentially not so much through my own actions as through good luck. In Turn 4 the dice were very kind to me (successfully rallying a DM’d squad; entrenching; and breaking one of Lee’s squads), while the denouement of Turn 5 was wholly down to good fortune. Tactically Lee comprehensively outplayed me and until the fatal incident was in a good position to win; arguably he might still have done so with the 10-2 stack.

A few post-game reflections:
  • Gavin Take (the pun – give and take – shamefully only registered with me after the game!) was not only extremely well balanced and fun to play but also the perfect scenario for my reintroduction to ASL. This was ASL stripped back to the bare bones. Not having to think about sniper checks, ordnance or vehicles was an absolute blessing.
  • It’s a big step up from ASLSK. There is a lot more to think about and remember. Even calculating blind spots and remembering the possible options afforded by multiple level buildings and hills is quite a major mental challenge.
  • Bypass is a game changer. Not only are infantry (and by extension, vehicles) much more mobile but it is much more difficult to anticipate likely enemy avenues of approach. I found it very hard to get decent shots on Lee. Dashing is also useful, not least in reducing the level of vulnerability.
  • Concealment is another game changer. Retaining it is essential and it makes shooting at every opportunity a much less attractive option (as does the presence of snipers). Keeping concealment affords huge protection to your troops and makes them less vulnerable to CC. This is one of the areas I’m really going to have to work on in terms of fully digesting the rules.
  • Fire lanes are (potentially) very useful and make machine guns both much more potent and capable of dominating the battlefield. Ironically in this game I never got to lay a fire lane down but it was an integral part of planning my final defence.
  • Heat of battle is fun and adds both failure and a welcome element of randomness.
  • I made lots of mistakes. From forgetting to entrench in the Prep Fire phase of the second turn to unnecessary/inefficient movement and taking some poor shots. I completely underestimated how fast Lee could move and how frequently he could find covered approaches. Arguably, I withdrew my troops a turn from the north end of the hamlet a turn too soon. As a result he got a free pass on my western flank crossing the I4-J3-K3-L3 road hexes. Likewise not putting anyone on the Hill 522 ridge line gave Lee the opportunity to run down my eastern flank. Without the extreme good fortune of breaking Gavin resulting in his fatal wounding I think Lee would have won.
  • We chatted about the game afterwards and both agreed that there is a lot to be said for the US player to push his 10-3 (and possibly 10-2) directly through the hamlet, eliminating everyone in their path. If nothing else it will make it much harder for the Germans to conduct an orderly withdrawal.
Altogether it was a great game and I’m very grateful to Lee for his patience and generosity, not least in both explaining and demonstrating a number of the rules I’m still a bit hazy about. Many thanks to him.
One of the best AARs I've read in a while. Good job!
 

boylermaker

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Played PA1 Battering Rams.

Some research on this one revealed that this is from a scenario pack that was intended to lean more toward simulation than balance, and this particular scenario is thought to be pro-German. The Russians have five IS-2m's and a company of elite infantry, and must cross a board defended by some German paratroopers and three Jagdpanzers (2 HIP, one coming onboard). The Russians need 55 VP, gained as either EVP or getting 8 VP for each JgdPz killed.

I managed to win as the Russians, with the brilliant strategy of never rolling more than six for the first three turns, while Pat never rolled lower than an eight. This let me keep my infantry in front of my tanks, clearing out panzerfaust holders and searching for hidden JgdPz's. The infantry found both the hidden ones, and he never got a shot off on my tanks.

Even so, it was still a close game: I needed a 1+0 bounding fire MG shot to break the last squad of paratroopers between my troops and the exit. I got it, and just barely won. If you don't expect to have the best rolls of your life, I would recommend asking for the balance before playing the Russians.
 

asloser

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Today I headed for Sami Pelkonens' place for Sunday ASL.

Sami had just acquired the new WO pack and suggested we would play WO35 Heroes' Day. Sure why not- I had not seen board 13a/b or the scenario card as my CdG / WO combo order from MMP is still on its way - so I had agreed to play on a completely new map and scenario I had never seen before.

The setup too a while as there are 6 different color counters you pull the counters from - still there are only two nationalities in play? Has to be some kind of record. With hindsight I think you might have the correct Indonesian MGs and AFVs in Blood and Jungle countermix but neither of us thought of that.

This one plays like an old school scenario (in a good way): 10 turns for maneuver and the victory building is way back. I played the Indonesian and managed to execute a decent fall back to the victory building. I did not get any changes to use the mob half squads against tanks. The mob HS proved to be very useful channeling the movement of the British and covering he fall back. In the Sami made a charge against the victory building but I managed to hold in the end with the 8-0 commissar rallying very effectively anyone who broke.

Very nice scenario for Sunday afternoon of ASL. Both sides get to maneuver a lot.
 
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Jude

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Played two more Suicide Creek scenarios as the defending Japanese. The first was J134 Kerry's Crossing. To win, the US needs to get one tank across the stream. Turned out to be exactly as I told my friend it would be - dicey. The US marines came ready to fight and my friend blitzed me with a constant steam of threes. It didn't matter if he was firing, rolling MCs, rallying, CC; the dice were on his side. By turn 5 (of 7) his bulldozer (needed to create a ford for the tanks to cross) was in the stream. I stunned it with a MG from a wounded leader and striped crew in a pillbox. Skulking to the pillbox cellar, I avoided his defensive fire. With his men hung up on the wire on the pillbox, I advanced back up and survived the prep fire against them the next turn. The bulldozer started up, I got the hit and with the PB shot, rolled a four to win the game. Terrible. I was getting my ass kicked all over the place, but one lucky roll was all it took. Maybe it was karma for all the incredible rolls my friend had, but when all it takes is one roll to win the game no matter what you do, something's wrong. Even had I not taken it out, he still would have had to roll low enough to create the ford in the first place. That's the only reason I didn't quit when I was getting smoked by his hot dice. Like I said, dicey.

J135 Diversion was next. Meh. The marines again have to cross the stream and pretty much wipe out the Japanese to win. I won basically because the marines crossed where I had most of the hidden pillboxes, got hung up on the wire, and died for FTR (which neither of us saw would happen until his men broke and there was nowhere for them to go). Played I think 3 (of 5.5) turns before it was basically over. Took us only four hours to play both scenarios. Neither were much fun, but I'll take any ASL vs not playing at all.
 

jrv

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I won basically because the marines crossed where I had most of the hidden pillboxes, got hung up on the wire, and died for FTR (which neither of us saw would happen until his men broke and there was nowhere for them to go).
Note that this is very important for the CG. The stream edge should be fully wired as quickly as the Japanese can manage it. The Americans can throw themselves up on the wire, but if they do and they break, even if there isn't a pillbox they have to roll to move under the wire then enter the stream if there are ADJACENT Japanese (and there almost always are). Entering the stream will cost three MF before it rains and four MF after it rains. The Americans can expect lots of casualties for FTR at the stream edge. Of course the hex is now American, so the Japanese have to throw a unit on top to reclaim it, but if they break (send a halfsquad if possible) they can more likely rout away without being eliminated.

JR
 

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Note that this is very important for the CG. The stream edge should be fully wired as quickly as the Japanese can manage it. The Americans can throw themselves up on the wire, but if they do and they break, even if there isn't a pillbox they have to roll to move under the wire then enter the stream if there are ADJACENT Japanese (and there almost always are). Entering the stream will cost three MF before it rains and four MF after it rains. The Americans can expect lots of casualties for FTR at the stream edge.
Yeah, that's pretty much what happened. I wish I could say that I planned it, but I was as surprised as my friend was when his men died like that. We aren't going to play the CG, but we are going play Muddy Mayhem next. I think my friend will send more HS next time to search the other side.
 

jrv

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Yeah, that's pretty much what happened. I wish I could say that I planned it, but I was as surprised as my friend was when his men died like that. We aren't going to play the CG, but we are going play Muddy Mayhem next. I think my friend will send more HS next time to search the other side.
Although searching is something to consider, searching with HIP Japanese is a way to lose halfsquads for nearly nothing. Another thing to try is to fire at potential pillbox Locations, especially in a scenario like this where there are lots of pillboxes but little wire. Firepower against units in pillboxes is not halved (even in HIP pillboxes), so you can at least strip concealment fairly easily, if not cause great harm.For instance hex V11 is interesting to the Americans because it can only be brought under fire from two south-side hexes, T12 and V12. If two American stacks set up in V10 and W11, they can fire on pillboxes contents at full FP, sixteen (two squads, one MMG) to twenty-two (three squads, one MG) FP add three (add two using the minus-one leader). That will likely strip concealment. A third group in X11 could fire on V12 not in the pillbox (six flat). After having checked for the "obvious" defenders, then a halfsquad can go into V11 to search for wire in V12. A potential pillbox in V12 might be turned an odd way (facing T12 or X12) in which case the halfsquad will be finding HIP Japanese anyway, but at least you've done your due diligence. Or, instead of literally searching you can send halfsquads up onto the target hex. That forces the Japanese to shoot at them in order to eliminate them, at least costing them concealment.

JR
 

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Steve A and I played FrF58 Order 831 in a single setting last night (first time long time for me). My play record says we played this face to face at ASLOK years ago, but neither of us actually remembers that*. Steve's Russians came up a little short of the victory buildings, largely due to his schwerpunkt being a bit too heavy and time running out on him. It's a really good design, the Russians have a lot to get done in six turns and have to make progress every turn for sure.

*The fact that this is the game we've forgotten is unbelievably funny to me.
Same for me! I have played Order 831 at the Scandinavia Open tournament and we had a blast. However, I have not used my smoke mortars properly so I wanted to give it another go as the attacker. So we replayed it with my buddy Gerhard last Thursday. He chose a more careful defensive setup than Jens Thomander with the township held only lightly, and placing two stacks by the bridge (one even ran across the bridge very early, thus keeping concealment).

I made great progress, jumping into CC with my concealed 6-2-8s and winning them. (Overall the game was very careful and we saw the first DM counter only in Turn 4.) I successfully laid only two smokes throughout, but it was enough. In the last turn I used my tanks to immobilise a couple of his stacks and had about 5 squads that could make it for the bridge - successfully!

However, at the end of the game Gerhard revealed a HS hidden in the steeple, which I did not check/search/mop up. A hard-earned lesson which I will remember!

Overall, I find it a fantastic and engaging scenario, challenging for the Russian but good for sharpening attacking player skills!
 

Michael R

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The Montréal ASL Club had a monthly get-together on March 13. In the front of the photo, Dean Limosani (L) and Andre Escobedo playtest a Lone Canuck scenario from Blitzkrieg in the West. In the middle Jean-Pierre Raymond and I play DB147 BANDITS AND BOLSHEVIKS. In the rear, Martin Marquis (L) and Jean-François Fortin play J191 REBELS WITHOUT A PAUSE. My match was won by JP as the Russian attacker. He had one broken HS in one multi-hex stone building for the win.

12404
 

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Played J136 Muddy Mayhem as the defending Japanese. This scenario is the last and largest of the Suicide Creek scenarios. Pretty good game. My friend pushed mostly up the middle and got bogged down in the stream. Some men would make it across, only to be pushed back and forced to try again. The biggest issue for the Americans is the time constraint. 5.5 turns to get 32 VP (vehicles don't count) plus one Sherman across means a lot of pushing. I was able to hold off most of his men. I thought the game was pretty much over by the end of turn 4, but my friend soldiered on for one more. I think maybe the marines should hit the flanks and then converge on the pillboxes from the sides and the rear. There just aren't enough Japanese to adequately cover the whole stream. Anyway, I liked it because the Japanese actually have some chances to make some counterattacks instead of being stuck in pillboxes the whole game. Took us about 6.5 hours to play. Pretty good since it uses the whole map. I'd recommend it for either side.
 
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Played my last scenario featuring the BRT map, BFP-49 Just a Drive Along the Beach. The game was won at set up. To win, all the Japanese have to do is have three good order MMC south of the runway in a very large area. My friend set his on board forces stretched along the south side of the map expecting me to cross the runway and take them out. When I saw how he was setting up, I asked him if he realized where my guys started. He said yes and continued placing his pieces. I put everything I had on the south side of the runway as well. I filled every hinterland hex available with foxholes, trenches, and pillboxes. I occupied all of them, including the buildings in the area, with my men; the exception being two LMG wielding squads opposite the two wire I placed on the beach. The on board US forces were out of position and the entering marines got blasted with some blistering fire. My friend tried to make a game of it, but when his FT toting assault engineer went berserk and got shredded, he was in a bad place. We ended it early and my friend admitted as soon as he saw my set up he felt the game was already lost. Not many recorded playings on ROAR but the record is pretty even. I dunno, looks pretty pro Japanese to me. Even had my friend set up with more men on the Japanese eastern flank, they are still limited to a two hex deep set up area. With all those Japanese units packed in next to the beach with overlapping fields of fire, I don't see how they can force enough Japanese casualties to win. A very tough challenge for the Americans, very static (at least the way I set up) for the Japanese.
 
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Markdv5208

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Played MEATCHOPPERS with Knives from the Schwerpunkt people.

CPVA tactics. Those grenadier squads? They are bullet catchers. The others? They hope to survive all the final fire shots that they will take.

ACCEPT that you will take losses, heavy losses as the Chinese player. Oh and don't break your mortars. I lost. Good scenario I'd play it again.
 

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Played the First Ally (AP112) on VASL with my ocassional gaming partner Gaspar yesterday.

He had the Slovak defense, which he spread somewhat too sparsely and also did not secure the forward positions on the overlay 6 very much. As a result I was able to always locally outnumber him and also manoeuvre so as to generally avoid -1 and -2 shots against my Polish guys. I mopped up three of his positions quite fast and collected a couple of prisoners on the way. The Polish kessel was tightening all around him and after three turns I held 7 out of 11 victory buildings, suffering no losses apart of two broken squads while he had only three unbroken squads remaining. I had four more turns; he conceded.

An interesting thing to note: I successfully used the 70+mm OBA to rain on his MMG in a stone building with the goal not to break him necessarily but to create FFE hindrances - so as to close in through open ground and avoid minus shots. Hell yeah!
 

Markdv5208

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Jeff DY and I, my erstwhile travel partner and I and FTF opponent for 31 years are going to make up for NOT going to the ASL Open by playing 2 times a week FTF and playing off of the play list from Chicago. We have 2 down, we are 1 and 1. We play tomorrow ie Friday the 20th...Armor at Kumchon? I think that's it. I get to be the UN player.....
 
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