My erstwhile gaming opponent and good friend Sgt Schmutz is a DASL fan, so we decided to give SoF 4 First to Strike a whirl.
The scenario is one of those DASL slugfests where a bunch of somebody lays into a bunch of somebody else and there's carnage aplenty to be had. This one is set in Stalingrad and features 24 squads (4-6-7s, with a leavening of 4-6-8s) with their customary wealth of both leadership, and MG FP, a couple of DCs, and Field Phone which can call down 100mm unpleasantness on any unsuspecting Russian. The Germans also get 3 StuG IIIs. The Russians start with 25 squads about-evenly divided between 6-2-8s and 4-4-7s, and themselves sport an impressive array of MG firepower as well. They also get three 45LLs, which will have a hard time taking out a StuG from the front, but will do a lot better from the sides or the rear. Leadership, well...
VC state that the Germans must take 14 of 19 multihex stone buildings by the end of the game (which is 7.5 Turns). Germans move first, so no last-minute HW for the Russians as they try to take back captured real-estate.
SS took the Germans (appropriately) and I took the Russians. It being October 42, I opted to replace the OB-given 8-0 with a 9-0 Commissar. Two reasons for this. First, a unit is not DM if a Commissar attempts to Rally it, and also gets a +1 to that unit's Rally attempt. That makes any 7-Morale unit in a hex with a Commissar into an 8, and if in Rally Bonus terrain (of which there is a lot) brings it up to a 9. I can generally roll 9 or less if I have to. For an 8-Morale unit those numbers become 9 and 10 respectively. Second, I've never used a Commissar before. I've been playing ASL since it was SL, and I've never used a Commissar. Today, that changes.
Turn 1 started with a kill-stack led by the 9-2 opening up on my units in the board a factory. The attack generated an MC which my guys passed. SS then surged across the street and into Russian territory in a very aggressive charge which my First Fire didn't seem to do a lot about. Final
Fire, however...
The Germans who attacked the board a factory dealt with a 12 +3 return shot which generated a 1MC. The leader passed, but in doing so Activated my Sniper, which subsequently rolled a '1', and guess who's hex got singled out for the attack? RS selected the leader, and potted him. Meanwhile, the squads broke on the initial attack, then again on the subsequent LLMC. Net result, dead leader, dead squad, and important source of FP KOed before the game has properly begun.
The aggressive charge across the street and my failure to hurt anyone significantly leads to an Advance Phase where five CC are initiated. Bad news again for SS; he loses five squads in CC to three for me, putting him now at four squads down compared to three for me. You Stalingrad students will doubtless agree that in a numbers' game against the Russians, the Germans will lose.
Worse, one of the CC ends up with me Ambushing his squad, killing that squad (thank you, Ambush modifier), who just happens to also be carrying an LMG.
In my half of the turn the squad who killed the guys with the Light find it. Uncle Joe's Oppressed Bullet-Stoppers like it when the Germans make a gift of their SW. Other than that, the Russians satisfy themselves by rearranging themselves defensively; except for one 6-2-8 which takes advantage of what happened with the 9-2 kill-stack, rushes forward, and enters the building that the stack is still in.
That's right, the Russians take away a German-held building on Turn 1. I shall point out at this juncture that SS is an individual of remarkable equipoise. Not nearly the sturm und drang came from him that would have come from me, under the same circumstances. I think he said 'darn', once.
Elsewhere, German artillery breaks a squad, which scampers back to the warm embrace of the Commissar who is safely lodged in the wooden building behind the board a factory. The attached images give you something of an idea of what was what.
Next up, Turn 2.
The scenario is one of those DASL slugfests where a bunch of somebody lays into a bunch of somebody else and there's carnage aplenty to be had. This one is set in Stalingrad and features 24 squads (4-6-7s, with a leavening of 4-6-8s) with their customary wealth of both leadership, and MG FP, a couple of DCs, and Field Phone which can call down 100mm unpleasantness on any unsuspecting Russian. The Germans also get 3 StuG IIIs. The Russians start with 25 squads about-evenly divided between 6-2-8s and 4-4-7s, and themselves sport an impressive array of MG firepower as well. They also get three 45LLs, which will have a hard time taking out a StuG from the front, but will do a lot better from the sides or the rear. Leadership, well...
VC state that the Germans must take 14 of 19 multihex stone buildings by the end of the game (which is 7.5 Turns). Germans move first, so no last-minute HW for the Russians as they try to take back captured real-estate.
SS took the Germans (appropriately) and I took the Russians. It being October 42, I opted to replace the OB-given 8-0 with a 9-0 Commissar. Two reasons for this. First, a unit is not DM if a Commissar attempts to Rally it, and also gets a +1 to that unit's Rally attempt. That makes any 7-Morale unit in a hex with a Commissar into an 8, and if in Rally Bonus terrain (of which there is a lot) brings it up to a 9. I can generally roll 9 or less if I have to. For an 8-Morale unit those numbers become 9 and 10 respectively. Second, I've never used a Commissar before. I've been playing ASL since it was SL, and I've never used a Commissar. Today, that changes.
Turn 1 started with a kill-stack led by the 9-2 opening up on my units in the board a factory. The attack generated an MC which my guys passed. SS then surged across the street and into Russian territory in a very aggressive charge which my First Fire didn't seem to do a lot about. Final
Fire, however...
The Germans who attacked the board a factory dealt with a 12 +3 return shot which generated a 1MC. The leader passed, but in doing so Activated my Sniper, which subsequently rolled a '1', and guess who's hex got singled out for the attack? RS selected the leader, and potted him. Meanwhile, the squads broke on the initial attack, then again on the subsequent LLMC. Net result, dead leader, dead squad, and important source of FP KOed before the game has properly begun.
The aggressive charge across the street and my failure to hurt anyone significantly leads to an Advance Phase where five CC are initiated. Bad news again for SS; he loses five squads in CC to three for me, putting him now at four squads down compared to three for me. You Stalingrad students will doubtless agree that in a numbers' game against the Russians, the Germans will lose.
Worse, one of the CC ends up with me Ambushing his squad, killing that squad (thank you, Ambush modifier), who just happens to also be carrying an LMG.
In my half of the turn the squad who killed the guys with the Light find it. Uncle Joe's Oppressed Bullet-Stoppers like it when the Germans make a gift of their SW. Other than that, the Russians satisfy themselves by rearranging themselves defensively; except for one 6-2-8 which takes advantage of what happened with the 9-2 kill-stack, rushes forward, and enters the building that the stack is still in.
That's right, the Russians take away a German-held building on Turn 1. I shall point out at this juncture that SS is an individual of remarkable equipoise. Not nearly the sturm und drang came from him that would have come from me, under the same circumstances. I think he said 'darn', once.
Elsewhere, German artillery breaks a squad, which scampers back to the warm embrace of the Commissar who is safely lodged in the wooden building behind the board a factory. The attached images give you something of an idea of what was what.
Next up, Turn 2.
BD
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