VotG17 - On the Verge of Extinction

Jude

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I played On the Verge of Extinction today and before the AAR I have to say a few things. First off, my opponent “Stalin” and I have battled through almost every “official” (AH/MMP) Stalingrad scenario out there so this was the penultimate battle. I wasn’t looking forward to this one because upon reading the SSRs, there is just too much riding on luck. The Germans suffer from extreme winter and ammo shortage, so if my interpretation in correct, their weapons break down on a DR of 9 or more (-2 EW, -1 AS). Plus they have and ELR of 1, plus they suffer unit replacement on an 11 or 12, plus there is air support, and plus there is OBA. All these lead to a very dice heavy scenario. I don’t like that. Sure, it makes every dice roll exciting, but there is way too much left to fate on this one – in my humble opinion. Anyway, on with the AAR.

I knew my opponent would have a tough time with this one. Having outlined all the things I didn’t like about this scenario, the worst has to be the victory conditions. They are tough! Trying to take building S38 while not losing 45 CVP and not allowing the Germans to control 4 or more multi hex buildings borders on cruelty. There are, if my count is right, 31 multi-hex building in the area. Since the Germans can set up 4 squads (or equivalents) using HIP, the Russians are forced into mopping up A LOT of buildings. Sure they have many squads, but to mop up that many locations in six turns is daunting.

Anyway...I set up the majority of my forces in the Univermag building cluster. Of course the whole building was fortified. I put only one squad per hex and had combos of ground and 1st level locations in the area occupied. The center section of the cluster held a few leaders, including the 6+1 Von Paulus and reserve squads to rally/fill gaps as they occurred. The 88L was in S39, and the two 76Ls were in W39 and Y35, respectively. The 37L was in U35 to blast anything trying to cross Ostrowskaya Street. Hexes T34, T35, S36, R37, Q39, and R39 were mined. I set up the roadblocks to only allow his tanks free movement up the two hedge lined streets in the south or through the narrow roads on the east. Hidden half squads were put in 2nd level locations bordering the boulevard and a few in other non important locations just to allow Stalin to find them while mopping up to mess with him. I placed a few 4-3-6s in outlying areas to the east and west to keep him honest and most of my dummies were in the south.

Stalin came at me from all three sides. The majority came from the west. Progress was slow as he probed the outlying concealments. I lucked out in the east when one of my conscripts broke a 4-4-7 with first fire and a 6-2-8 with subsequent. I only fired if he wasn’t in a building. Otherwise, they were out there to skulk and impede his progress. A tank snuck up and took position behind a hedge in the center. I mulled firing at it because of the ammo shortage but figured I had no choice given his proximity to me. I missed in DFPh but got him in the PFPh – and the guns didn’t break.

Things started to go bad for my opponent at this point. He decided to – against better judgment – to flame one of my eastern conscripts. Of course he ran out of fuel. Worse still, his FT tank was in position to torch my units in W39 and he rolled a 12. I honestly felt bad for him. I know how I feel when that happens to me and it isn’t good!

He inevitably broke my outlying squads on the west and east and was in position on the outskirts of the Univermag building cluster on both sides by the end of turn 3. His air support arrived that turn and fizzled. The first two failed their sighting TC and the third missed with the bomb and MG shots. I fired sparingly trying to keep concealment and I only used my squad’s FP so as to not risk losing a MG to malfunction. I wanted to keep all my firepower for the inevitable rush. However, the rush never came.

After I broke another of his FT squads and a stack with a MMG squad and a HMG squad, he lost heart. It didn’t help that the MMG/HMG stack had a 9-2 leader that passed a 1MC, only to have both squads fail by rolling nines. With the top of turn four approaching and barely scratching the surface of my units in the Univermag building cluster, he called it. He realized there was no way to get the squads he needed to first break (because it was fortified), and then enter building S8. There simply wasn’t enough time.

In the end, I don’t think he played a bad game, but he did have some bad luck. I had conscripts breaking elite units with makeable MC rolls. FTs are something I come to rely upon failing me, but losing three is tough to bear. He could have been – and in hindsight – should have been more aggressive in his push towards the building cluster. Even so, it would still take two turns to reach the boulevard from the west under the best conditions. And then to have to cross the -1 street to try and breach a fortified building? That’s asking a lot. The balance says add one more turn. I don’t think that’s enough. Anyway, ROAR has it listed as 9-0 German. Now I see why. As for my earlier comments about the dice factor, I still stand by them. I took the minimum amount of shots to prevent the dice taking over, but had my opponent gotten a few breaks earlier, they very well could have. Well, next week, on to the Pacific for a six scenario foray. Can you believe that I bought Gung Ho and Code of Bushido when they first came out and have NEVER play either of them. Between life intervening and our strong interest in the ETO we never made it out to the beaches. Finally, after 25 or so years, it’s time to – wade – in.

Now my usual disclaimer. Even though I’ve been playing SL/ASL since its inception, I don’t EVER think I’ve played and error free game. If I ever make a mistake in my AAR, please be kind when pointing it out. Thanks!
 

Gunner Scott

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Hi ya-

Great AAR, this one is on my playlist and granted the Germans are looking mighty horrible in this one, the charm of this scenario I think is trying to give that desperate feel to the German defense. It would not be the end of Stalingrad without all those nifty little SSR's ya know.


Scott
 

Jude

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I have to agree with you about the desperate feel it gives the Germans. I told my opponent before we started that this is definitely a scenario that can be played several times due to all the rules dealing with dice rolls. Even if we set up exactly the same the second time, the results could, and I think would, be totally different. However, I still think the Russians would be humbled in the end if for no other reason than the amount of German squads that can keep being fed into the two story Univermag. One thing my opponent said after the game is that there is no time to stage a coordinated attack. He wanted to have his tanks hit from the south and east to cover his smaller force approaching from the east, set up a couple of good suppressing fire groups in the second levels on the south west, and hit hard with the strong west group. He just felt that there wasn't enough time to stage these three groups for that big push. I guess that's the beauty of ASL, you have to adjust on the fly to what fate deals you. I do see his point, however, because throwing units piecemeal at the Univermag building complex is just asking for trouble. Anyway, I'm glad were moving on for now, because those +3 building (or in the case of the Russians, +4 Fanatic Strongpoint) slugfests we’ve played out since last year have run their course.
 

volgaG68

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If I ever make a mistake in my AAR, please be kind when pointing it out. Thanks!
It's an old post, sure, but I'm checking AARs on this one. The 88L should not have been able to set up in the S39 building due to size.

Good AAR!
 

Jude

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It's an old post, sure, but I'm checking AARs on this one. The 88L should not have been able to set up in the S39 building due to size.

Good AAR!
That was so long ago, I don't remember even writing it! Yeah, I made that mistake a few times since then as well until I figured it out that was a no no. After reading the rules over and over, I still find those little things I missed (over and over). Check out the mistake (in the So What Scenario... section) my friend and I made in the last scenario we played, G8 Recon in Force. That was a doozy - and the sad part is that we were playing it right up until that scenario. What a brain fart! Oh well, I've long given up playing a "perfect" game, i.e. no rules mistakes, but maybe, just maybe, one of these days...

Thanks for the feedback!
 
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Cpl Uhl

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Played Extinction, and won, as the Germans against a superior player. Yes dicey. Yes great feeling of desperation on the German side. Bug hunt for hipsters unfortunate as it distracts from the violence of the Univermag assault.
 
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