2004 Enfilade AAR (Long)

Will Fleming

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2003
Messages
4,410
Reaction score
424
Location
Adrift on the Pequod
Country
llUnited States
===================================

Round One: J88 Escape to Wiltz vs Jim Roche

It was a nice surprise being able to get a game in against Jim. I started playing ASL in the Pacific Northwest about 8 years ago and got to meet Jim then, but I wasn't able to get in a game against him ever due to conflicts with our schedules and waxing/waning interest in the game. Both of us are a bit rusty, so we thought it would be a fair game. I certainly have been playing a lot less games in Japan than I was back in Seattle.

This scenario has both sides entering from off map in two groups. The German chasing force comes on first and rushes down the road to interdict the Americans who must exit 28 VPs off the map. The Germans get a small delaying force that enters on turn two near the exit area, but they are poorly matched and need as much help from the chasing force as possible. The American force also enters in two turns and must rush to exit the bulk of their force while preventing the chasing force from causing too much trouble. Both of us selected the Americans, but I got the Germans and the balance on the dice roll. We both liked this one because there is a sense of urgency on both sides and both side have to press. I would say that this one has a fair replay value for me, but it isn't one that I will be pushing to play again with so many scenarios yet to try.

I sent the bulk of my forces down the road with one squad and a leader on the far edge of the board, hoping that they would find some American units to pester.

Jim did a good job of splitting his initial forces. He sent the 10-2 and a couple of squads towards the center of the map to prevent my chasing group from running down the road and kept his AFV on board 4 to cover the other open ground area where I could move easily. The mobility of the AFV makes it a good choice to harass the Germans while still being able to exit.

He missed covering his AFV with some infantry and I was able to get next to him in a building with a squad and a leader. I ended up not taking the shot because Jim gave me a 2(-2) shot at a big moving stack and the dice were kind to me, giving me a 1KIA, taking out a squad and breaking the rest of the stack. I failed the one PF check, so he was able to get the AFV away. That far squad would prove to be a pain for Jim because I was able to run through a 4(-2) shot and DM some units and get into a good position to interdict his movement lines.

Jim's 10-2 did a good job of holding me up by his presence alone and I didn’t give him any opportunities to blast at me after he was revealed in his first movement phase. He held me up until the last turns because I just didn't want to take many big shots from him. We played cat and mouse in the central area for a turn, but some highlights were me breaking the PSK on the first shot against him in the buildings and him surviving a 8(+2), 16(+2) and 16(+1) all in the same phase without even having to roll a PTC. Those missed shots really disappointed me, but Jim wasn't rolling any better. Together, we got only 1 ROF during the entire game on MMG's, lt MTRs or AFV. At least the dice were fair and treated both of us poorly for most of the game. (The above 1KIA was a nice exception :)

Jim lost one AFV to an in-hex PF shot, but was able to exit the second one. The 6 VP's of the AFV would prove to be the difference, so me rolling a 7 on the TH was also a big die roll where the die came through for me. I had a 3 decent tries against the AFV with PF/PSK, but the last one came through for me.

I was finally able to kill the 10-2 and squad with a lucky CC roll on the next to last turn, so I did a mad dash at Jim's remaining forces and tried to cover as much OG as possible.

In the end, Jim was able to get 22 of the needed 28 VPs off the map and the missing AFV would have given him the 6 he needed to get the win. A fun scenario with a good replay value.

German defender wins: 1-0

===============================================================

Round Two: S2 War of the Rats vs Brent Louie

In this round, I got to play one of Rick White's boys from Canada. Brent Louie came down for some ASL and miniatures and it was very nice meeting him. We both didn’t have any 'stuff', so we broke down and decided to play something from the ASL starter pack that I had just purchased. There are some rules quirks, but I really like the starter pack as a vehicle for bringing new players in. MMP really needs to follow it up with a reprinting of the rules set so that new players can continue.

We chose a scenario with a fairly strong German force with a mix of line squads and assault engineer 5-4-8s with a FT and some DCs in it. The Germans have fairly difficult VCs in that they must control 3 buildings, but they setup within reaching distance from all of the buildings. The Russian force is primarily line squads with a few conscripts as well. The Russian ELR of 2 is their primarily liability. The Russians get a platoon of 5-2-7 reinforcements led by a 9-2 with a random turn of entry. No upper levels and no concealment makes the Russian's job a lot harder in this one.

I liked the Germans in this scenario, but we rolled straight up and I ended up with the Russians. I setup strong in the middle and fairly strong on my right, hoping to make my last stand in one of those two building areas because it looked like the reinforcements would have an easier time helping in those areas. It didn't make me feel good when Rick came by and said that the reinforcement die roll was critical in this one and that if I didn't roll a 1 on the second turn or a 2 on the third for their entry, my chances were pretty slim. After playing it, I agree with that assessment.

Anyway, Brent setup a good attack and hit me hard where I was weak. He blew through the scant defenses on my left and put his 9-2 in a position to pound on the other two buildings while the bulk of his force would work me over elsewhere. Everything started out well for him, but I was able to break a few units including the FT unit. Brent took one of the buildings on his first turn and was able to CC everyone else on that side. I was really worried after that strong turn and I was very glad that I didn't have to eat any FT shots because it would only have been much worse.

The second turn was similar to the first. Brent cleaned up his positions and prepared to assault my reformed lines. Luckily, I was able to break the FT again, so I didn't have to deal with that as well. Brent took a few locations in the second block of buildings and was starting to make an opening in the center, while still pounding me hard with his 9-2. The biggest event of turn two turned out to be the early entry of my reinforcements who were able to temporarily retake one of the buildings and reinforce me on the right where I desperately needed some good units after having failed some ELRs and being mostly conscripts.

The early entry of the reinforcements was probably the difference. I think it would have been close if they came in a turn later (turn 3), but if they waited until turn 4 or later, Brent would have had the win. I guess that is true in a lot of scenarios with random entry turns for reinforcements--those die rolls are critical. This one could have easily gone to Brent.

Russian defender wins: 2-0

========================================================

Round three: J60 Totsugeki vs Rob Wolkey

This is now an old classic tournament scenario. I played it once maybe 8 years ago against Scott Picardat and if I remember, it was very close and came down to the last turn. Rob said he had played it a while ago as well and we both felt that it was well balanced, so we decided to go with it. We rolled straight up for sides and I got the Chinese, which I was leaning towards anyways. The Chinese have usually treated me well and their number of squads and low quality plays well with my typical 'skulk' style defense. I think Rob was happy playing either side.

I setup to deny Rob access through the kunai on his edge and also to deny him easy access to the central path through the middle. My plan was delay, delay and delay, not wanting to fight until I absolutely had to. I setup both HIP squads in an ambush hoping that Rob would take the bait and also because I figured to try and make a big impact with them early rather than waiting until later. I knew Rob was a good player and I wanted to take the chance to get an early edge on him. I felt that I would need that in order to have a good chance at him.

Rob didn't take the bait and entered strongly in the middle, a bit off of the path and avoiding the bulk of the firepower I had setup, but still pressing me a bit. After he entered, I wished I had my HIP guys in different spots because it looked like the action would bypass them, forcing them to trail behind, hoping to make some trouble, but not being able to do much. Rob made me shift around a bit, but my lines were fairly intact for the second turn. I pulled one of the units out of HIP to get him back in the action, but remained HIP with the other squad in hopes that Rob would go for a flanking move on the second turn.

After seeing one HIP unit pop on map, Rob felt that the flank was indeed open, so my second unit was able to get a nice 6(-1) attack and essentially prevented him from exploiting the opening on turn two. Rob also executed a DC hero very well and eliminated one of my precious MMGs as a result. I did manage to get some casualties on him, so I was feeling good on turn 2.

Rob turned everything around on turn 3. He was finally able to flank me and stormed the first of the 3 guns, one turn earlier than I hoped to give it up. He also isolated one of my 3 leaders and setup a strong position to attack the second gun. I was definitely concerned because I didn't think that I could hold either gun for more than two turns against a determined Japanese assault. None of his leaders were wounded and the 9-1 even battle hardened to a 10-1. Those leaders and his second DC hero really made a strong force to throw against me.

Rob did a great job of taking terrain during turns 4 and 5 and took out the second of my guns with relative ease. I did manage to take down two of his leaders around that time and I started to feel good about my position again. I still had two leaders, the MMG and enough squads to get in his way of the last gun.

On turn 6 Rob moved into position for his final assault on my last remaining units, but luck was with me as I rolled two snakes and a 3 on DFF and really started to cause some casualties. I was able to position a pocket around my last remaining gun with 4 squads and a bamboo hex, but he still had a DC and one leader banzai to blast through my lines and into CC with the victory hex where I had two crews, a gun and my 9-1.

Rob executed his last attack flawlessly and broke a squad protecting the gun and banzai'd into the hex with his leader and 1.75 squads. I blasted away with the gun, but the shot was ineffectual. Here I made what could have been a serious blunder in that I decided to intensive fire the gun, risking losing the game on an 11 or a 12 DR without thinking about it. If I had, I may not have taken the shot, but I really wanted to cause some casualties before the inevitable CC at the end of the game. Turns out I rolled a 10 and dodged the bullet, but was unable to do any more damage to Rob.

Rob marched into CC with me, but there was no ambush and it was up to CC to determine the outcome. Not what I wanted at all. Rob needed a 9 or less to eliminate everyone, but he could have done it with a 10 and scoring a pair of casualty reductions. A snakes would win the CC and the game. Rob rolled a 9, so it was up to my two crews and leader to roll a 6 or less to save me the win, which I was able to roll. Again, my dice came through for me when I needed them

This was probably the game where I played my best game, but Rob still outplayed me. I was able to get away with the win due to some good dice rolls at good times, especially the last one. This game will go down as one of the most enjoyable ones I have played and I can understand why so many people like it as a scenario. I think Rob will be hunting me down next time we see each other at a tournament, so I don't expect to make it past the first couple of rounds.

Chinese defender wins: 3-0

=========================================================

Round four: A11 Swamp Cats vs Dade Carriaga

After the tight game against Rob and not being able to sleep well the night before, I was very happy that Dade Carriaga and I were the only undefeated people left, so we would not have to play 5 rounds. We decided to select the scenario that evening, but to pick sides and play early in the morning on Sunday for the crown.

Dade is a player who I really respect. He plays all nationalities and theaters with skill and is able to attack and defend very well. If there are any chinks in his armor, I can't identify them. Dade beat me in one championship already and he was my pick to win this tournament. Since I got so lucky to make it to the final by beating Rob and the others, I wasn't about to concede anything to him just yet.

I had played this scenario against Richard King as the Russians and won a tight victory, I felt pretty good about picking the Russians against Dade. Dade had played it before and lost as the Russians. We both decided to give the Russians the balance and then roll for the sides. I got the Russians and was very happy with that result. The balance proviso is fairly strong in this one, giving the Russians an extra aerial bomb and getting the air support on one turn earlier. The air power is absolutely brutal against the German AFVs and their ability to maneuver, so I felt that I had a slight edge.

Dade concealed his tanks to keep me guessing, but setup to defend the village strongly, with a weak force in the chapel/bridge area to deny me an easy capture of those critical locations.

I setup to push hard into the village, figuring that I would have to engage and eliminate essentially all of the German units if I was to succeed. I planned on using my AFVs mainly to support the infantry on the flanks and lay smoke. I counted on the air power to eliminate the German AFVs. I loaded the HMG/MMGs with half squads on the tanks in an effort to get them to the front lines ASAP.

Dade had the MMG in the steeple with the 9-2 HIP and did catch me somewhat off guard by blasting the lead CE tank and riders. Dade said he figured I guessed they were there, so he shot them early, but he could have gotten a 4(-4) shot against my 9-2 who was going in the same hex later. No way Dade could have known that, so he made a good decision and lit up on the first tank. Good for me, he rolled a 9 and was only able to PIN the riders allowing the tank to continue on and decongest the road. The tank was also able to lay some smoke in the hex to partially negate the residual firepower (and prevent any casualties), so I charged through with my remaining units, escaping mostly unscathed. The risk paid off and I was able to capture the long multi-hex row house early.

I also sent a platoon and the two lt MTRs supported by one Sherman to the chapel/bridge area, where I hoped to keep up light, but steady pressure on those units. I knew the tank would be nice for taking the critical bridge location on the last turn, either forcing Dade to send a tank to deal with it or concede the bridge to me. Dade wisely chose to concede the bridge and protect his tank, which would have almost certainly died to air power.

I pressed fairly aggressively once I got into attack position and was able to get some good rolls as the fight began in earnest. Dade was kind enough to malf all three of his tanks MA's (only one on Intensive Fire), so that really made my decisions easier. He managed to repair the panthers MA, but I took down the panther in CC and bombed one of his tigers with aircraft. Everything was looking very bleak for Dade during the middle of the game, but he began his comeback with a sniper shot into melee and some good CC rolls, giving him new life.

Dade did a great job of making trouble everywhere and made as many pockets of resistance as he could, forcing me to spread my forces fairly thin. I was starting to get the feeling that this one was slipping away from me, but I was able to finish a critical CC with a good roll and had a nice string of attacks on his last real line of defense in the village, freeing up the majority of my units and nearly all of my armor to attack the chapel. His last tiger was forced to move and was eliminated by the aircraft on a MG TK roll. At that point, there simply was just too much left in the Russian OB and the Germans were forced to retreat into the upper levels too early. It didn't help when my 122L's landed two rounds into both of his last locations and breaking the last of his resistance.

Another good game and Dade played very well, making a strong showing despite some bad luck. Always fun to play and a class act, I was really happy to have had the chance to face Dade again with the money on the line.

Russian attacker wins: 4-0

=========================================================

Wrap-up:

I used my new dice from my starter pack and I would have to say that my dice were pretty darn good for the four games that I played. Well worth the $15 for the dice alone. I got good rolls when I needed them for reinforcements in round 2 and my dice in round 3 were stellar, especially the last two turns. The dice were also good when I needed them against Dade in round four, rolling an improbable CH when just going for acquisition and the aircraft did very well, knocking out 2 tigers and a halftrack. So I must give them an assist for the win.

Another assist goes to my friend Mark who came to his first tournament, but skipped several rounds to run my wife around so that she could visit some friends while I was playing. Much appreciated. For what it is worth, he went 2-0, so I wasn't the only undefeated player there.

Thanks to Sam for running the show and thanks to all the people who showed up. It was nice seeing good numbers at the tournament and I think that everyone had a good time.

Will Fleming
 
Top