Major Issues
Elder Member
I went to Dan Dolan’s Bash in Vernon, NJ on Saturday. This was the 3rd Bash in the PA/ NJ/ NY area this year, with Paul Sidhu and Jim Brackin hosting the earlier Bashes. What is it about this area that gets players to congregate with 112 PP worth of stuff? Is it the desire for fun and camaraderie (or Comraderie)? The quest for top notch competition? The fact that our wives just want us the hell out of the house? Could Jim’s wife answer these burning questions? I would have asked her at his Bash last week, but she was at the casino.
I got there late, as I failed my Straying Task Check, even though it was daylight. Now, I’m not one to point fingers, but I would just like to say that Google Maps sux.
The rec center we were playing at is not in the Middle Of Nowhere, but you can see Nowhere from there. This is beautiful country. Consensus was that Dan lives there to keep him as far away from civilization as possible. People were telling me that there are a lot of bears in the area. Bears. And I thought having a cat jump up on the board was bad.
Dan had a map set up of his Dinant historical module, coming in the future to Wherever Fine Games Are Sold. A group was playing a monster scenario on it. Others were playing smaller Dinant scenarios. There were a couple people playing SK scenarios.
I had arranged to play One Last Victory against Jonathan Kapleau. Even though I had seen him the week before, I didn’t recognize him, as he had changed his look.
Before:
After:
He said that in the past week, he had found True Inner Peace and Enlightenment, and was giving up all worldly possessions. Except his dice tower.
I was heroically defending Alsace with members of the 45th Infantry Division. It was pointed out that the division originally had swastika patches on their uniforms, as it was a good luck symbol of an Oklahoman Indian tribe. Jonathan said that other cultures had swastikas or variants of them, including tribes in India and Finland. But, in what was easily the best line of the weekend, he said “But the Nazis ruined swastikas for everyone.”
My troops were a rather pitiful mix of 1st, 2nd and green squads. No big guns, OBA, armor, cool toys. Just guys with frozen feet huddled in buildings and behind trees.
The Germans are Evil SS, but no 658s - a mix of 468s, 548s and 447s, with underlined ELR. They do have a lot of leaders, a DC, and a FT. Some of their troops come in later as a flanking force.
VC are building control, but they have to get 2 of the 3 stone buildings, and at least one building in the far corner of the map. 5-1/2 turns puts the pressure on.
It’s a hard village to defend due to the number of orchard and brush hexes providing cover. The Americans have setup restrictions that spread them out.
I had a 236 HS to defend the bridge over the gully. The usual army of 237 HS scouts run up to draw fire. I really didn’t want to shoot at them, but decided I probably should to put down residual. All of my troops failed their marksmanship test. My shooting was pitiful. One of the HSs actually walked past my 236 guard and across the bridge. Though, to be fair, he DID answer Questions Three.
Turns 1 and 2 consisted of Germans moving up, my forward guys falling back, and both of us rolling 9s and 10s anytime we shot.
The SS flanking force didn’t enter until turn 3, which is the last turn that they can enter. The late entry changes the number of VC buildings needed from 12 to 10 (out of 15), but I’d say late entry helps the Americans.
By the beginning of A3, the SS had advanced adjacent to a bunch of my squads in the village. This was it! The decisive turn! Could I crush them before they could return devastating fire??? Well, no, and no. I broke one squad and pinned a couple. Return fire broke two squads. So not decisive.
G4, more non-decisive shooting, though I tore up a pile of 237s, and his flanking force pretty much folded my flank by breaking two of the three squads, including one on a 2+2 shot.
Interrogation was in effect, and Jonathan finally captured a disrupted HS. Jonathan had never played with Interrogation rules before, so I carefully explained the concept, using the term “b****slap”, and what the game effects were. He got a Defenses Compromised roll, but by that point of the game, all that happened was a 6+1 lost concealment. Enraged, my bloodthirsty troops gunned down the prisoners who ratted him out with a K/3 result.
A4, I was able to piece together enough of a line to hold against his flankers, breaking three of the four and saving the corner buildings. To prove what a dick I am, I retook a stone building with a 6+1. Outside the door was a Giant Kill Stack, a Berserk HS, and a FT. With a German win out of reach, Jonathan decided his alternative VC was to crush the offending 6+1. He went after him with a Prep Fire shot, a 24 flat FT shot, a Berserker charge, and an Infantry Overrun. My 6+1 went from Gomer Pyle to Flaming Pile.
We both enjoyed the scenario and it made for a tense game. The record is pro-German, but I think the Americans can make a game of it by giving ground and delaying the SS. It might have played out differently if the flankers had come in on turn 1.
Meanwhile, back in 1940, on the other side of the room, Rommel and his tank had become a burning wreck, thereby changing the course of history forever, and making the world a smaller, more bitter place. Will Dan’s final version of the scenario include SSR 9: “Rommel cannot be killed. Ever.”??? We shall see, we shall see.
I got there late, as I failed my Straying Task Check, even though it was daylight. Now, I’m not one to point fingers, but I would just like to say that Google Maps sux.
The rec center we were playing at is not in the Middle Of Nowhere, but you can see Nowhere from there. This is beautiful country. Consensus was that Dan lives there to keep him as far away from civilization as possible. People were telling me that there are a lot of bears in the area. Bears. And I thought having a cat jump up on the board was bad.
Dan had a map set up of his Dinant historical module, coming in the future to Wherever Fine Games Are Sold. A group was playing a monster scenario on it. Others were playing smaller Dinant scenarios. There were a couple people playing SK scenarios.
I had arranged to play One Last Victory against Jonathan Kapleau. Even though I had seen him the week before, I didn’t recognize him, as he had changed his look.
Before:
After:
He said that in the past week, he had found True Inner Peace and Enlightenment, and was giving up all worldly possessions. Except his dice tower.
I was heroically defending Alsace with members of the 45th Infantry Division. It was pointed out that the division originally had swastika patches on their uniforms, as it was a good luck symbol of an Oklahoman Indian tribe. Jonathan said that other cultures had swastikas or variants of them, including tribes in India and Finland. But, in what was easily the best line of the weekend, he said “But the Nazis ruined swastikas for everyone.”
My troops were a rather pitiful mix of 1st, 2nd and green squads. No big guns, OBA, armor, cool toys. Just guys with frozen feet huddled in buildings and behind trees.
The Germans are Evil SS, but no 658s - a mix of 468s, 548s and 447s, with underlined ELR. They do have a lot of leaders, a DC, and a FT. Some of their troops come in later as a flanking force.
VC are building control, but they have to get 2 of the 3 stone buildings, and at least one building in the far corner of the map. 5-1/2 turns puts the pressure on.
It’s a hard village to defend due to the number of orchard and brush hexes providing cover. The Americans have setup restrictions that spread them out.
I had a 236 HS to defend the bridge over the gully. The usual army of 237 HS scouts run up to draw fire. I really didn’t want to shoot at them, but decided I probably should to put down residual. All of my troops failed their marksmanship test. My shooting was pitiful. One of the HSs actually walked past my 236 guard and across the bridge. Though, to be fair, he DID answer Questions Three.
Turns 1 and 2 consisted of Germans moving up, my forward guys falling back, and both of us rolling 9s and 10s anytime we shot.
The SS flanking force didn’t enter until turn 3, which is the last turn that they can enter. The late entry changes the number of VC buildings needed from 12 to 10 (out of 15), but I’d say late entry helps the Americans.
By the beginning of A3, the SS had advanced adjacent to a bunch of my squads in the village. This was it! The decisive turn! Could I crush them before they could return devastating fire??? Well, no, and no. I broke one squad and pinned a couple. Return fire broke two squads. So not decisive.
G4, more non-decisive shooting, though I tore up a pile of 237s, and his flanking force pretty much folded my flank by breaking two of the three squads, including one on a 2+2 shot.
Interrogation was in effect, and Jonathan finally captured a disrupted HS. Jonathan had never played with Interrogation rules before, so I carefully explained the concept, using the term “b****slap”, and what the game effects were. He got a Defenses Compromised roll, but by that point of the game, all that happened was a 6+1 lost concealment. Enraged, my bloodthirsty troops gunned down the prisoners who ratted him out with a K/3 result.
A4, I was able to piece together enough of a line to hold against his flankers, breaking three of the four and saving the corner buildings. To prove what a dick I am, I retook a stone building with a 6+1. Outside the door was a Giant Kill Stack, a Berserk HS, and a FT. With a German win out of reach, Jonathan decided his alternative VC was to crush the offending 6+1. He went after him with a Prep Fire shot, a 24 flat FT shot, a Berserker charge, and an Infantry Overrun. My 6+1 went from Gomer Pyle to Flaming Pile.
We both enjoyed the scenario and it made for a tense game. The record is pro-German, but I think the Americans can make a game of it by giving ground and delaying the SS. It might have played out differently if the flankers had come in on turn 1.
Meanwhile, back in 1940, on the other side of the room, Rommel and his tank had become a burning wreck, thereby changing the course of history forever, and making the world a smaller, more bitter place. Will Dan’s final version of the scenario include SSR 9: “Rommel cannot be killed. Ever.”??? We shall see, we shall see.
