Illuminating Rounds: Episode 1

daveramsey

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Hey guys,

In between life, getting the archive updated (still a few weeks away) and starting my own company, Martin and I have put together the first of a video series that we've called 'Illuminating Rounds'. This one is a bit of a practice, so we picked an older pack (AP 13) to take a look at, and play a scenario from. It's uploaded as HD but as usual with YouTube the video takes some time to process higher resolution video, so if you want higher resolution, check back in an hour or so!


The sound's a bit hokey to begin with, I think it gets a bit better as we go through, so bear with it if you can!

Comments/feedback/suggestions welcome - we'll get better, I promise :)

Dave
 

macrobo

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Hi Dave (and Martin)

Fantastic video firstly - moving into the modern age with modern learning

Positive comments
overall good RV of AP 13 and gave direction to a first time viewer of it - It sits on my shelf still unopened so I really enjoyed this - similar to a "World of ASL" experience in understanding a product but with the added AAR of one of the games
Liked the analysis of the scenarios to get a general overview and feel
Liked the stop start AAR and good detail what happened in setup (in private) - giving a smattering of tactics as well

Suggestions - (everyone will have things they like to get out of RVs so please take these with a grain of salt)
Some Signpost points in your YouTUBE - like 20 Secs of a title shot - as examples - Intro, Board Analysis, Scenario Analysis, Playing Scenario x, Wrap up - It lets the user go back and find both where they were up to and to seek out the part they want to hear again
If time possible - add more than the board to your setup - show potential units on board in a graphic way or actually lay them out
The carnage by T4 that made you call the game did not come across as clear - I am still wondering a bit about the balance of VCs versus you general feel (looked like Dave failed his ELR and threw in the towel) - maybe some more visual analysis - close ups etc
Would love to see a summary of a set of great rolls if you could make notes and show them particularly in key deciders of the game

Overall I really enjoyed the watch and have stored it for the future watch when I open the plastic packet

Cheers

Rob :)
 
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daveramsey

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Great feedback Rob, thanks.

It was me who threw the towel in - if I'm being unkind I'd say it was because Martin had work early the next day, but the truth was I could have dragged it out for another 3 turns/hours and would have probably lost by more points. You're right though - more effort during the game would have served us better.
 

Craig Benn

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Fantastic guys. Slickly edited and visually very appealing when the camera was on the maps and not the narrators.

Good to see Dave is still playing as it's been a while since I've seen him at a tourney. The two half squads has some competition....

Are you going to do some Korea? or Red Factories? or Corregidor?
 

Philippe D.

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visually very appealing when the camera was on the maps and not the narrators.
Are you trying to say something, like, they're not getting any younger? Well, neither are we, I'm afraid.

I liked the video as well - the sound in the beginning is indeed not very good, but it gets better. Editing in a few summary panels would be nice, and might make the pace a little better; for instance, after the list of scenario reviews, something like a screen showing the list of scenarios, with each player's ranking and a few keywords, might be nice. But overall, it was a nice video.
 

daveramsey

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No. Just that they aren't very good looking.
We must have you on as a guest soon, Craig - I'll have to do an inventory before and after you've gone (you'll understand) but I'm sure as soon as we've got the subtitles up people will enjoy your insights and banter, too :)
 

Craig Benn

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I apologise. Martin does have something of a silver fox about him. And you look much better without the Hitler tache....

I'd love to appear on your show. I'll have my people contact your people.
 

ibncalb

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If Craig does appear please supply a croupiers's shade. You wouldn't want the viewers dazzled everytime he looks down at the board.
 

jrv

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A couple points on the "Taking the Left Tit" replay. It looks like someone strayed offboard, although I have not set up the boards to check. Offboard units don't roll for straying until they enter the board, and once on board, if they stray so that they would exit the playing area, they stop at the board edge and go TI instead.

It might have been nice to mention (earlier; you mention it as an aside during turn 4) that by SSR the woods are brush. That makes a big difference for LOS among other things.

Regarding the concealment loss tango with the minefield, when two concealed (including potentially one HIP) things meet during the MPh, the non-moving player asks the moving player to momentarily reveal a real unit. If the moving player cannot, the moving player's dummy is removed, and there is no requirement for the non-moving player to reveal the nature of his item. The moving player now knows "something" is there, but if the item is HIP it could be a HIP unit or a fortification, wire, foxholes or mines in this scenario. The moving player doesn't get to know that.

Some tactical comments: getting attackers off cloaking should be a high priority for the defenders, along with getting off no-move themselves. The Germans might use two halfsquads, possibly HIP, at the front of board 2 to shoot at the Americans as soon as they get into NVR. Even if it has no effect that attack allows first placement of starshells, which will slow the Americans down greatly and can get all the defenders off no-move. It might even be a good idea (I haven't thought about it, so I'm just throwing this out) to set up MGs forward with the intention of putting down firelanes. Although the initial shot that puts down the firelane has to be within NVR (including illuminated locations), the firelane can be extended out of LOS if the LOS is not blocked by an obstacle. Even LMG firelanes might convince the Americans to try a different way, where perhaps you've got a trap prepared. And because all the woods is brush, you've got nearly unlimited opportunities for firelanes.

JR
 
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daveramsey

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Hey - great feedback, thanks.

A couple points on the "Taking the Left Tit" replay. It looks like someone strayed offboard, although I have not set up the boards to check. Offboard units don't roll for straying until they enter the board, and once on board, if they stray so that they would exit the playing area, they stop at the board edge and go TI instead.
So - we did prevent one cloaking counter from moving off from the bottom (as the camera was looking) map, and did mark him TI. Both half boards, I believe, were in play - were you thinking that should the unit stray beyond the initial setup-hexes or perhaps the board cuts off earlier than the half-length?

It might have been nice to mention (earlier; you mention it as an aside during turn 4) that by SSR the woods are brush. That makes a big difference for LOS among other things.
Yep! Noted.

Regarding the concealment loss tango with the minefield, when two concealed (including potentially one HIP) things meet during the MPh, the non-moving player asks the moving player to momentarily reveal a real unit. If the moving player cannot, the moving player's dummy is removed, and there is no requirement for the non-moving player to reveal the nature of his item. The moving player now knows "something" is there, but if the item is HIP it could be a HIP unit or a fortification, wire, foxholes or mines in this scenario. The moving player doesn't get to know that.
Thanks - we had a conversation about this, and concluded we were close. It was a tricky point though, revealing minefields, not getting off the star shells, just for the loss of a cloaking counter felt tough!

Some tactical comments: <snip>
Great - thank you. These are good pointers.

Sorry to ask a stupid question, but are you the same jrv that wrote the article? If so, thanks - that is probably the single most helpful article written on any one topic for ASL I've read. If it wasn't you, could you pass on the message :)

Dave
 

jrv

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So - we did prevent one cloaking counter from moving off from the bottom (as the camera was looking) map, and did mark him TI. Both half boards, I believe, were in play - were you thinking that should the unit stray beyond the initial setup-hexes or perhaps the board cuts off earlier than the half-length?
I thought I saw a cloaking counter that was halfway down the offboard area of board 18. Perhaps it was one that had been taken off during play, or perhaps I was mistaken.

Sorry to ask a stupid question, but are you the same jrv that wrote the article? If so, thanks - that is probably the single most helpful article written on any one topic for ASL I've read. If it wasn't you, could you pass on the message :)
Thank you. I'm glad you found it useful. Long ago the night rules were in really bad shape. Many of the "rules" were in "clarifications" at the end of chapter E. This made reading them very difficult. The rules section was also not organized in a way that follows the way play goes. I organized the article to place the various rules into the flow of the game. In the current version of the night rules the "clarifications" have been integrated into the rules, which improves them greatly. The presentation of the rules in terms of game flow does help make clearer how they fit into the game, so the article has remained useful. Other players have thought I was/am a master of the night because I wrote that article, but in fact I was probably even more confused then they were because I had the first edition rules. Even now when I am going to play a night scenario I read it again to remind myself how night rules work.

One rule that remains tricky to grasp is the night lv hindrance. I think that is because it asks players to compare things it would not naturally occur to them to compare, the height of the firer against the height of the terrain (and not the height of the target) in the target unit's hex. The night lv hindrance has some non-intuitive consequences. For instance a defender in a foxhole at the top of the hill in "taking the left tit" has a net +2 DRM for fire from ground level (foxhole TEM but no light lv hindrance), while one at ground level has a net +3 DRM (foxhole TEM and night lv hindrance). Since a unit outside a foxhole in "taking the left tit" (i.e. the Americans) will either be eligible for a +1 DRM for height advantage if above a German firer or night lv hindrance if at or below the level of the German firer, either way the Germans will get a +1 DRM when firing on Americans. Given these considerations it might be better to station some Germans at the bottom of the hill rather than at the top, where you would typically put them during a day game. Of course putting the defenders at the top of the hill allows them to see the Americans no matter which side of the hill they decide to attack against, so in this scenario it's a tradeoff.

In other scenarios you might consider putting foxholes or units in open ground rather than an orchard or woods to gain night lv hindrance. One unusual case is the second knoll on the Edson's Ridge map around hex BB15. If the Americans put foxholes in front of the knoll (e.g. hex Z15) they get the night lv hindrance from a lot of hexes the Japanese might be on. If the Japanese get into these foxhole hexes at the bottom of the knoll, Americans on top of the knoll firing down will get the night lv hindrance but because of the elevation advantage the foxhole TEM is reduced [B9.33] so the net DRM for the Japanese in that case is only +2, not the +3 you would normally get. And of course the Japanese at the bottom of the knoll are not doubled for PBF when firing two levels up [A7.21], and if they advance up for CC they will be CX for using Advance vs Difficult Terrain.

JR
 
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jrv

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How did the wire come to be revealed? If an American unit wandered into it, that unit should have found it by entering the hex [E1.16] and so should have been hung up on the wire. I don't recall seeing anyone on the wire. Wait; you were using the moving-dummy-to-reveal-HIP-things violation. Never mind. As I said, you have to do the concealment loss tango instead. This makes leading with dummy cloaking counters much less useful. If you use dummy counters to lead you know there is HIP stuff, but in a scenario where there are multiple kinds of HIP stuff it leaves you wondering, and you lose the dummy. If you are in a part of the board where you think you might find HIP stuff, it's often better to use a halfsquad cloaking counter instead because it will actually reveal stuff. Searching is also another possibility, although it slows you down. I think you can search while cloaked, although as an "other action" it is probably a concealment loss activity, and it can cause casualties for the searcher if a mine/enemy unit is found.

I wonder if there is a ASL Dummy Ranger outfit? Their motto, "Dummies, Lead the Way."

Another tactical comment. As I recall you had the HMG squad and leader HIP at start (but I may be mistaken here; I have not gone back to look). Unless you have a good trap set, HIP is usually wasted when used on units that will give it up quickly, e.g. by firing, by using starshells, etc. There are times when it still makes sense, but I have to have a good reason for doing it. The best leader and the HMG are in the bell tower? Quelle surprise (pardon my French).

JR
 
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Yuri0352

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'Bring On The Night' is my 'go-to' for refreshing my knowledge of the night rules. I always review this article rather than re-reading Chapter E. It's been very valuable for my enjoyment of the Korean War scenarios.
 

daveramsey

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How did the wire come to be revealed?
Yes - most were from cloaking counters and one was a unit that ended up on top, was fired at by the MMG, broke and managed to rout away via low crawling out from the wire again with a low wire-movement cost dr. As you've spotted, we messed up with the cloaking rules there. It does probably warrant a rematch!

The strayer was half-way down board 18, but only on the half board that was in-play, so he just about made it. I guess it would have more sense to make the board area only up through to where the US can set-up. But who knows.

The two MGs were hip, but predominantly to bring the US up onto the hill as it looked weak. I was worried about the board-edge-rush but as it happens my forces collapsed all around. I agree with your tactics though. However, ASL magical christmas land involves 3 squads non-AM'ing adjacent to the HIP HMG and having RoF for days. You don't get that same rush with cheeky HS hipping all over the place :)

Thanks again for the article!
 
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