Paul John
Senior Member
Well, this was my third ASL Open, and third time going 3-3. Also the third time that plenty of fun was had. Thanks to David and everyone else that made it such a good time.
So, round one I played with Scott Holst. We picked Tropic Lightning, then both backed out in the beginning phases of setup and switched to Mai Phu. I was concerned that this one is too pro-French, but had a few ideas on how to make it work if I ended up as the Japanese. Indeed, I got the Japanese and went to work. Scott set up a screen up front which I generally charged and took little damage doing so, but even a late banzai forcing FPF didn’t hurt him either. He then chopped me up a bit in CC and we set the tone for the event. I managed to get into the town and enter CC in several spots, but consistently got hammered for my efforts. Scott played a fairly perfect defense and I was looking at a nearly lost cause in the end-game. I finally picked up the execution with a 1,1 from an ATR to blow up an AFV, then 2 more went down (after he did the classic 1,1 to hit followed by 6,6 to kill!) and another banzai was a glorious success, breaking the units in adv fire, then advancing and killing the adjacent stack in CC phase. Alas, too little too late. 0-1
Round two I played against Doug Roubidoux, who I had played once in a previous year. We picked Mormal Forest, which I had won as the Germans earlier. I got the French this time and focused mainly on holding the forest buildings. This one went pretty much as expected in the forest, with the Germans grinding forward. He took the first building, but was too slow to really push for the second. His push at the church on the other hand found the hidden 75 and the French 3.5 squads and one tank were quite stout. After that threat was completely defeated, 2 squads were able to make it to the forest under cover of burning halftracks and help shore up the last VC building for a close French win. 1-1
Round three on Friday evening I met up with Richard Spilky who I was meeting for the first time and was happy to finally be able to thank him for all the great player aids I have been using. I wanted to play Corporal Punishment. We rolled for sides and I lost on that roll as best I can tell. I got the Russians and was absolutely slaughtered rolling in. I lost 4 of 14 tanks in the first fire phase, proceeded to malf 2 KVs and soon my infantry was scattered and broken across the playing area. Richard managed to malf 2 of his guns and I fixed both my MAs (after a couple tries) to keep me in the game, but even so, my 2 hex infantry range kept them from being a factor, my relatively difficult to hit on emplaced guns through snow (never even managed to get a break on any one, which would have merely step-reduced them by SSR and kept them firing, with -1 leaders to boot!) and when I was down to 4 tanks and less than half my squads having managed to break one of his HSs so far, I gave up the ghost. I would love to hear how someone has managed to make this a game as the Russian (other than dice, especially as the VC merely state MMCs on board, thus German deployment can really up the challenge impossibly as far as I can see Hopefully I will get another chance with him sooner than later. 1-2
Round four I played Corey Edwards in Kibizov’s Kibosh. I had also played Corey in a previous year and he also played me with the ‘haven’t played since the last open’. I got the Germans and made the mistake of trying to hold the exit hexes with a rear defense instead of engaging him directly with the holding force that doesn’t count to victory conditions. Those guys did a great job of holding out for 4 turns while he interdicted my fleeing troops. It was still a bit touch and go till he came in to slap around the defense line too and it all came down to fiery ruin. Corey played an excellent game and really deserved the win. 1-3
Round five on Saturday evening was a late start with Jim Risher and I choosing Defending Jandrain. I think this one favors the French which I played. I setup quite a few units in the 2nd levels with French vehicles in the buildings and AT guns to the 2 flanks hoping for surprise. Jim put smoke tanks on the hill and set up for a rush at the French left. One smoke tank neglected to mention that they hadn’t brought any along, but the other did its job. The first move saw 2 Mk IIs right in line for the AT gun and a rate of fire tear left one dead. Gotta love early armor! Jim then moved aggressively into the town, with vehicle and 75mm smoke and was looking very threatening. I proceeded to ambush in CC with a 1,1 to pull out to safety after slapping him nicely. Things went much like that for a bit after and Jim seemed a bit reluctant to get do another charge to his doom leaving the French in control. 2-3
My last round was with Magnus Rimvall, who I had chatted with on VASL but never managed to organize a game with. We played Land of Fire, which is a fun Romanian attack on the Russians in Crimea. I got the Russians and fairly heavily defended the State Farm with a very light screen in front of the other two VC options. Magnus ran straight into the Farm and, with some nicely placed OBA made decent progress. I managed to break the 10-2 and co slowing him down and CC kept us both occupied too long for him. Meanwhile he divided his other forces a bit too much, with some aiding the farm, some on his far left going after the hill and some heading for the lighthouse. His far left was wrecked, freeing me to largely abandon the hills to reinforce the lighthouse and his final push there was too little too late. We had a fun time though and the M&Ms he fed me kept me going nearly all day. I will look forward to another meeting soon. 3-3
So, round one I played with Scott Holst. We picked Tropic Lightning, then both backed out in the beginning phases of setup and switched to Mai Phu. I was concerned that this one is too pro-French, but had a few ideas on how to make it work if I ended up as the Japanese. Indeed, I got the Japanese and went to work. Scott set up a screen up front which I generally charged and took little damage doing so, but even a late banzai forcing FPF didn’t hurt him either. He then chopped me up a bit in CC and we set the tone for the event. I managed to get into the town and enter CC in several spots, but consistently got hammered for my efforts. Scott played a fairly perfect defense and I was looking at a nearly lost cause in the end-game. I finally picked up the execution with a 1,1 from an ATR to blow up an AFV, then 2 more went down (after he did the classic 1,1 to hit followed by 6,6 to kill!) and another banzai was a glorious success, breaking the units in adv fire, then advancing and killing the adjacent stack in CC phase. Alas, too little too late. 0-1
Round two I played against Doug Roubidoux, who I had played once in a previous year. We picked Mormal Forest, which I had won as the Germans earlier. I got the French this time and focused mainly on holding the forest buildings. This one went pretty much as expected in the forest, with the Germans grinding forward. He took the first building, but was too slow to really push for the second. His push at the church on the other hand found the hidden 75 and the French 3.5 squads and one tank were quite stout. After that threat was completely defeated, 2 squads were able to make it to the forest under cover of burning halftracks and help shore up the last VC building for a close French win. 1-1
Round three on Friday evening I met up with Richard Spilky who I was meeting for the first time and was happy to finally be able to thank him for all the great player aids I have been using. I wanted to play Corporal Punishment. We rolled for sides and I lost on that roll as best I can tell. I got the Russians and was absolutely slaughtered rolling in. I lost 4 of 14 tanks in the first fire phase, proceeded to malf 2 KVs and soon my infantry was scattered and broken across the playing area. Richard managed to malf 2 of his guns and I fixed both my MAs (after a couple tries) to keep me in the game, but even so, my 2 hex infantry range kept them from being a factor, my relatively difficult to hit on emplaced guns through snow (never even managed to get a break on any one, which would have merely step-reduced them by SSR and kept them firing, with -1 leaders to boot!) and when I was down to 4 tanks and less than half my squads having managed to break one of his HSs so far, I gave up the ghost. I would love to hear how someone has managed to make this a game as the Russian (other than dice, especially as the VC merely state MMCs on board, thus German deployment can really up the challenge impossibly as far as I can see Hopefully I will get another chance with him sooner than later. 1-2
Round four I played Corey Edwards in Kibizov’s Kibosh. I had also played Corey in a previous year and he also played me with the ‘haven’t played since the last open’. I got the Germans and made the mistake of trying to hold the exit hexes with a rear defense instead of engaging him directly with the holding force that doesn’t count to victory conditions. Those guys did a great job of holding out for 4 turns while he interdicted my fleeing troops. It was still a bit touch and go till he came in to slap around the defense line too and it all came down to fiery ruin. Corey played an excellent game and really deserved the win. 1-3
Round five on Saturday evening was a late start with Jim Risher and I choosing Defending Jandrain. I think this one favors the French which I played. I setup quite a few units in the 2nd levels with French vehicles in the buildings and AT guns to the 2 flanks hoping for surprise. Jim put smoke tanks on the hill and set up for a rush at the French left. One smoke tank neglected to mention that they hadn’t brought any along, but the other did its job. The first move saw 2 Mk IIs right in line for the AT gun and a rate of fire tear left one dead. Gotta love early armor! Jim then moved aggressively into the town, with vehicle and 75mm smoke and was looking very threatening. I proceeded to ambush in CC with a 1,1 to pull out to safety after slapping him nicely. Things went much like that for a bit after and Jim seemed a bit reluctant to get do another charge to his doom leaving the French in control. 2-3
My last round was with Magnus Rimvall, who I had chatted with on VASL but never managed to organize a game with. We played Land of Fire, which is a fun Romanian attack on the Russians in Crimea. I got the Russians and fairly heavily defended the State Farm with a very light screen in front of the other two VC options. Magnus ran straight into the Farm and, with some nicely placed OBA made decent progress. I managed to break the 10-2 and co slowing him down and CC kept us both occupied too long for him. Meanwhile he divided his other forces a bit too much, with some aiding the farm, some on his far left going after the hill and some heading for the lighthouse. His far left was wrecked, freeing me to largely abandon the hills to reinforce the lighthouse and his final push there was too little too late. We had a fun time though and the M&Ms he fed me kept me going nearly all day. I will look forward to another meeting soon. 3-3
