Jungle Citadel Part 3

Doug Leslie

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This is the position at the start of Turn 5

22431

The Japanese continued to use what cover was available on the right to pull back and the Chinese maintained their policy of not trying to use FBs to attack any concealed units unless they were in the open. A FB did however spot and attack a Japanese squad in the gully at R7. Somehow it survived but the AA gun malfunctioned while trying to protect it. The striped 347 retained concealment when a Chinese squad moved forward to place a DC into its hex. This ensured that the DC would attack at half strength. In the defensive fire phase, Marc reminded me that it could still fire without affecting the strength of the DC attack since it had been concealed at the moment of placement. I thanked him and the resultant attack resulted in a casualty reduction for the Chinese squad. The DC then exploded harmlessly in the AFPh. In the centre the Chinese abandoned their attempt to clear the mines in the buildings and started to re-deploy with the intention of ploughing through the wire. This was the situation at the end of Japanese turn 6. I had averted the first victory condition, but the Japanese now had six more turns to capture eight buildings south of the stream and there was little on that side to stop them.

Marc: Ha! My friendly advice here more than made up for the Napalm kerfuffle! Not only did that annoying squad survive my FB attack, it handled the DC and broke my attacking squad. This is how ASL can be severely annoying causing strange affective states in players!

22432

Given the lack of bodies to impede the Chinese advance, I started to deploy units to create firelanes. A MMG took up position in the bamboo in DD3 to put a firelane counter in S9 and make it hazardous for the Chinese to cross the road. Marc managed to generate infantry smoke which gave enough protection for a couple of squads to make it into the gully which was now empty after a FB finally wiped out the squad there. The overwhelming Chinese firepower forced the Japanese to evacuate the W8 building.

Marc – Doug had planned his tunnel network very well -- and it was allowing him to get his MGs into position to create difficult firelanes. I think he sacrificed three fortified buildings for tunnels and it was a smart move on his part.

22431

Turn 7 saw the Japanese defenders around W7 wiped out. I tried to hide the MMG and 9-1 leader in palm trees adjacent to W7 but they were spotted by a FB and were already dead from its MG attack by the time that the pre-designated napalm bombs struck. The Chinese continued to pour forward while the remnants of the Japanese force tried to make it back to the stream, using cover of buildings and jungle during the MPh and advancing into open ground in the APh in order to dodge the attentions of the FBs. I even resorted to moving HS in the open to draw FB attention from higher value targets. The plan was to concentrate defences in the Z2 building from where firelanes could be placed down the roads on either side of the stream. I hoped that these firelanes, in conjunction with harassing fire by the OBA would prevent the Chinese from crossing the stream in sufficient force to grab the victory buildings. The only problem with this was that Marc had had the foresight to pre-register AA2 for the aerial observer and this proved to be a hugely significant blow to my defensive plans. The aerial observer landed his AR on target and immediately converted to an FFE1. This resulted in two broken HS but the crew manning the HMG in Z2 survived unscathed for now. The problem was that its planned advance into AA3 would now result in a further OBA attack. I decided to pass but the .50 cal had to advance into AA1 With a view to laying a firelane from Z1. The resultant OBA attack striped it. This was the situation at the start of Chinese turn 9. Note the 127 in T2 which had broken the AA gun, broken to U3 and survived all fire there before self-rallying and advancing back to T2 where it was annoyingly stymying the Chinese advance. The crew manning the MMG in the DD2 bamboo had been less fortunate when a seemingly innocuous defensive fire attack from the Chinese guys in the street inflicted a K result with a DR of three.

Marc – I have to pat myself on the back for having the foresight to target AA2 for the Aerial pre-registered hex. It snarled up the Japanese ability to get across the river with some of his squads who would then have to run into the open where my 12 factor MG fighter-bombers were waiting. He never could get anyone across, it was too much for them. I had hopes the FFE would stick around for more as I needed it to place a smoke cluster on that building for my road/canal crossing heroes. Things were looking good.

22434
We got off to an inauspicious start when Marc deployed a Chinese squad in R9, which we subsequently realised was illegal as Chinese can’t deploy. We weren’t done with rules oversights however, as we shall see.
The artillery barrage continued, and this time succeeded in wounding the leader in Z2. The crew manning the HMG survived, however.
On my left flank, the HS manning the LMG in V1 broke in prep fire from V1 and the stage seemed to be set for the Chinese to sweep forward. Instead, they decided to focus on destroying the crew in T1 which probably was giving it more respect than it deserved. The 9-2 used smoke grenade cover to sweep into the temple in oS2, all three squads and two HMGs of them and using all four of their available MF in the process. It was only at the end of the turn that Marc started muttering something about this building being a temple. So what? I didn’t think that either of us were particularly religious. How, you might be asking, could I possibly have overlooked the provisions of G9.F which, as we all know, states that this overlay has a stacking capacity of one squad equivalent. Which meant that the stack should not have been able to enter legally without overstacking and dropping the HMGs before they set off. Which might not seem important but turned out to be, as we shall see. As it was, we just applied A.2 and carried on. Not surprisingly, the crew was unable to harm this monster stack and soon found itself in close combat with a HS which it promptly despatched in the finest Japanese tradition of CC nastiness.

Marc, yeah, I overstacked the temple. We both missed it originally when I did it. A.2 is part of the game – it was too late to go back to a previous turn to sort it all out, too much had happened. To get where I got to, I would have had to drop at least one HMG back in the gully area, so it may have impacted the game, but only slightly, as I had to drop them anyway on my way to the canal. I think the HMGs took one shot at that annoying crew that wouldn’t die and finally killed it. Was this or the deployment a game changer? I’d argue no in both cases. One of the HS so deployed died in CC vs that tenacious crew. The other one was around to make a river crossing, yes, but had I sent a full squad after that crew instead, I would have won the CC based on the die rolls, so I don’t think that mattered much, either.

22440

It would be fair to say that the Japanese crew in T2 would not be likely to obtain life insurance any time soon, particularly when I decided that this was the time to land the harassing fire barrage in T4. The crew had survived everything that the Chinese could throw at it only to break under fire from its own artillery and die for failure to rout. Life can be a bitch at times.
Back at Z2, I now had a decision to make with my HMG crew. With the benefit of hindsight, what I should have done was to hold fire or even assault move back to AA3 and eat the OBA attack while maintaining concealment, thereby reducing the risk of being “napalmed”. The clue to this course of action was that the two remaining FBs, one which still had napalm bombs, were onboard and Marc was making whining aircraft type noises. Instead, I stupidly decided to fire at the wounded leader and HS in S1 to no effect. Now a sighting TC would be much easier. In the hope of distracting attention, a HS was despatched into the street in BB4 where a FB quickly broke it. In the DFPh, the aerial observer mercifully lost radio contact and the FFE:C was removed amid wild Japanese celebrations and sake guzzling. Now came the most crucial sighting TC of the game as a FB lined up to attack the now unconcealed HMG position in H2. Needing a six or better to spot it, Marc duly rolled a 4,2. This resulted in a napalm blaze in the hex which forced the crew to break and rout with the leader to AA3. This was a huge moment in the game because, if the STC had missed, the Chinese would have faced the possibility of having to cross a .50 cal firelane from Z1 and and a HMG firelane from AA3 in addition to the OBA harassing fire barrage. Good luck with that.

Marc – LOL @ whining aircraft noises at least it wasn’t the usual whining ‘bad die roll hell’ noises I’d been making before in other scenarios. I can’t complain about the die roll distribution in this match.

At this point I made a huge blunder for which I was fortunate to avoid being punished. I should have been getting every visible unit away from the pre-registered OBA hex in AA2. The wounded leader should have been left to perish in the fire while the HS routed to BB3. Instead, they just routed one hex and the mistake was compounded by the lunatic decision to advance a concealed (but not to FBs) half squad into BB2. This mean that the artillery observer would sight the pre-registered hex on a 10 or less and the concealed .50 cal in Z1 was about to enter a world of hurt. Here is the situation as the game entered the crucial turn 10.

Marc – next turn I would miss out on any further pre-registered fire as I pulled a red chit – end OBA. My radio OBA dude was just not in the right place to put smoke where I needed it. I was looking at a 50 cal firelane to run through and the only thing I could plan on doing was smoking it to hinder the fire land and killing it with the many weapons at hand – DCs, FTs, firepower, CC. But I had to get across that river this turn. I still had a lot of buildings to grab by turn 12!

22435

With harassing fire making movement down the Japanese left flank all but impossible, everything depended on how many units the Chinese could get across the street running from Y2 to R5. What followed was almost comical.
First, the aerial observer failed to gain battery access, and this ended its involvement in the game- a stroke of luck for me that I didn’t deserve.
The comedy continued as a Chinese unit placed a DC in Z1. The crew ignored it. They had one job. Next, the leader carrying the flamethrower moved into OG adjacent to Z1. The crew ignored it. They had one job. A succession of Chinese squads attempted to lay smoke grenades in the street in order to ease the attempt to cross it and they all failed. There must have been four or five attempts in all but I had forgotten to switch on my log file at this stage, so can’t be sure. One squad moved into the street adjacent to the .50 cal which smeared it while laying the long anticipated firelane. Finally, the 9-2 ran the two squads that he was stacked with (which he shouldn’t have been stacked with due to our having overlooked the temple rule) and charged across the street. The firelane attacked at 6 down 2 and did no damage whatsoever. Incredibly, all of those missed smoke grenade attempts hadn’t mattered and I now had a 9-2 and two squads eyeing the victory buildings with two turns to go. Two more squads were equally successful in dodging the firelane and made it to the stream in Y4 and W4 respectively. Now the Chinese had the forces across the stream that they needed to win. In desperation, I shifted the artillery barrage which ended up in V5. Well, who needs a 6 down 2 when you can break three squads with a 4 flat in the APh? Unfortunately, the 9-2 didn’t break though. Moreover, the path was now clear for Chinese units to advance down the Japanese left flank along the hexes now devoid of artillery fire. Here is the situation at the start of Japanese turn 10.

Marc -- I was eventually able to rout the 9-2 and stack into a victory building and rally one of the boys. Although Doug hasn’t mentioned it, this is where a couple of half squads on the victory board could have been very helpful keeping the Chinese at bay, but the whole map was empty save his artillery observer.

22436

Things got off to a good start when none of the broken Chinese units at the stream managed to rally and one of them casualty reduced. Now I had to make a critical decision with regard to where to place my artillery request. Ideally, I would have left it in situ but my observer had no LOS to the base level of the hex where it was currently located and I had to try to move it. Now it was becoming apparent that the palm trees surrounding the observer made it very difficult to place a FFE effectively without an extra chit draw which was highly risky with only three black and one red chit remaining. Nevertheless, I think with the benefit of hindsight that I had to prioritise keeping the broken squads under DM and should have placed the AR in W5. If I avoid a red chit, it is probably game over. Instead, I placed it in W3, where I had LOS to an adjacent enemy unit in V2. If the SR was accurate or avoided a subsequent dr of 5 or 6, the barrage would still hit the brokies at the stream and be in good position to hamper them as they routed. I also hoped to move the barrage on the observer’s hex and hamper any attempt to reach it. Unfortunately, it was not accurate, and I rolled a 6, leaving the FFE in V2 and well away from the action. The units in AA2 fired on the 9-2 and his broken units, which DM’d them. All well and good, but they now routed to W6 where one of them rallied in the next RPh and turned out to be all that Marc needed to win. In his turn, his units feinted down my right flank, forcing my defending units to fire at them to protect the CC8 building. Now however, I could do nothing to prevent the 9-2 running his squad to CC8, at which point I conceded. At this point, he controlled the CC7 and W6 buildings and there seemed to be little that I could do to prevent him from capturing EE7, S8, R8, S8 and at least one of U9. One of the 537s in the stream could easily reach V6 and my FFE was too far away to stop those guys as well as the 8-0 and squad in S5. I accordingly decided to throw in the towel.

This is the final position.

22437
This was a hard fought game which could have gone either way but Marc fully deserved the win. I made a couple of huge errors and, while one of them escaped consequences, I ended up with the fate that my play deserved. If I played this again, I would place my observer in S9 from where it is easier to move the FFE in close when the Chinese close in. The blunder when I ran a squad into my own HIP location cost one and a half squads and hugely undermined the defence of the Japanese left flank. The fact that the game was as close as it was shows how big this error on my part was. There were other times when a different course of action on my part might have carried the day, but it is easy to be wise with the benefit of hindsight. Marc’s cautious approach with his FBs meant that he didn’t suffer any mistaken attacks and that he still had napalm when he needed it to clear out the HMG position in Z2. This turned out to be huge. The napalm can really help the Chinese in this scenario. The pre-registered hex in AA2 was a great move on his part and I was actually fortunate that his OBA didn’t do more damage than it did.
Anyway, onwards and upwards. I will now add a trailer for the next AAR.

Marc – This was one of the most amazing and comprehensive scenarios I’ve played my entire life. A lot of moving parts, but both of us played well and as a result it was a real nail biter. Doug references mistakes he made but it must be kept in mind that, as with all mistakes, the enemy player has to a) notice that it could be a mistake, b) be in a position to take advantage of it and c) make the risky decision to try something. In the case of bombing units moving in woods or trenches, the sighting TC is by no means free of risk when close enough for a mistaken attack. Fortunately, for the entire game, although I did whiff several sighting TCs, I never rolled a recall or mistaken attack. And Doug is right, the Napalm has additional effects that regular bombs don’t, causing smoke and flame hexes that must be routed out of. Bombs, although often more powerful, don’t have such additional side effects.

Coming soon to an AAR near you!
LVTs! Landing craft! Fighter bombers with napalm! Caves! A trip through the darkest recesses of the ASL rulebook! Starring Doug Leslie as the heroic USMC and Marc Hanna as the perfidious Japanese-it’s……Bloody Red Beach!!

Marc – Doug loves to punish me by picking these extreme and gruelling scenarios! I have to admit it’s really fun to flex my ASL lore and put it to the test. I hope these playthroughs also let people get a real sense of the amazing range of gaming opportunities this best WW2 tactical system has to offer!
 

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Ryan Kent
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In the defensive fire phase, Marc reminded me that it could still fire without affecting the strength of the DC attack since it had been concealed at the moment of placement.
I question this. If the DC is not operably placed until after all DFF against the placing unit is resolved, it seems a unit revealed by shooting at the placing unit would no longer be concealed at the moment of placement.
 

Doug Leslie

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I question this. If the DC is not operably placed until after all DFF against the placing unit is resolved, it seems a unit revealed by shooting at the placing unit would no longer be concealed at the moment of placement.
The defensive fire took place in the defensive fire phase and after the DC was placed. This certainly causes loss of concealment but the attack against the target of the DC attack is still resolved as Area Fire.

23.1 A DC is a SW which explodes in the target Location with 30 FP factors on the IFT [EXC: Set DC; 23.7]. It is not subject to FP modification for PBF/TPBF, use in the AFPh, or for any form of Area Fire other than concealment at the time the DC is Thrown/operably-Placed (or detonated if Set).

Had the target unit fired at the attacking squad in the opponent's MPh in an effort to prevent placement of the DC, the DC attack would have taken place at full strength in the event that the placing unit was not pinned/broken.
 

von Marwitz

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The defensive fire took place in the defensive fire phase and after the DC was placed. This certainly causes loss of concealment but the attack against the target of the DC attack is still resolved as Area Fire.

23.1 A DC is a SW which explodes in the target Location with 30 FP factors on the IFT [EXC: Set DC; 23.7]. It is not subject to FP modification for PBF/TPBF, use in the AFPh, or for any form of Area Fire other than concealment at the time the DC is Thrown/operably-Placed (or detonated if Set).

Had the target unit fired at the attacking squad in the opponent's MPh in an effort to prevent placement of the DC, the DC attack would have taken place at full strength in the event that the placing unit was not pinned/broken.
This is an interesting piece of knowledge.

von Marwitz
 

Eagle4ty

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Yup, one of the few times one has to remember what had occurred earlier (and most of those instances have to do with DCs).
 

Vic Provost

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This scenario is one of my best ASL experiences, playing a great game vs Alan Loiselle's Japanese back in the 90s, I would have won IF I did not roll box cars on my Ariel OBA Observers Sighting TC, my OBA became a mistaken attack on my own guys and killed a couple squads and a leader while breaking 4 other squads. It took a couple turns to come back from that disaster. The best thing that happened for me was a HOB roll which got me the Chinese hero 'Fu', who was generated from my FT squad, he grabbed the FT and never X-ed it out the rest of the game, there were several blaze markers on his path forward as he burnt out several positions. As it turned out it was not enough and I ran out of time, one more turn and I probably win. Great time, scenario and memories, stuff like this is why I am still in this hobby...
 

Eagle4ty

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Indeed, gives additional tactical options when defending vs a DC attacker
Indeed, one of the better conundrums in ASL. When or if to Defensive Fire at the DC carrying unit . It's also one of the reasons a DC attack is seldom successful against a concealed unit at the time it is placed. In such a case the concealed unit can drop concealment and Defensive Fire at the placing unit on the MF(s) expended to place the DC hopefully pinning or breaking the unit, thus countermanding the placement entirely, and if unable to do so the DC will still attack as Area Fires as its initial placement was against a concealed unit at the time it initiated the placement attempt.
 

johnl

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Indeed, one of the better conundrums in ASL. When or if to Defensive Fire at the DC carrying unit . It's also one of the reasons a DC attack is seldom successful against a concealed unit at the time it is placed. In such a case the concealed unit can drop concealment and Defensive Fire at the placing unit on the MF(s) expended to place the DC hopefully pinning or breaking the unit, thus countermanding the placement entirely, and if unable to do so the DC will still attack as Area Fires as its initial placement was against a concealed unit at the time it initiated the placement attempt.
Ummm..

A23.1 uses the phrase "operably placed" and A23.3 defines operably placed:
Should the Placing unit survive (unbroken and unpinned, even if newly berserk) all
enemy Defensive First Fire, Subsequent First Fire, and FPF in the Placement
Hex (including any resulting from the expenditure of MF in the Placement
of that DC), the weapon is considered operably Placed.

I'm not sure you can drop ? and fire at the placing unit and still retain ? for the boom phase.
 

Eagle4ty

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Ummm..

A23.1 uses the phrase "operably placed" and A23.3 defines operably placed:
Should the Placing unit survive (unbroken and unpinned, even if newly berserk) all
enemy Defensive First Fire, Subsequent First Fire, and FPF in the Placement
Hex (including any resulting from the expenditure of MF in the Placement
of that DC), the weapon is considered operably Placed.

I'm not sure you can drop ? and fire at the placing unit and still retain ? for the boom phase.
It is operably placed and no the defending unit does not retain concealment. However, since the DC was placed on a concealed unit at the time of the MF(s) expended to place it by rule the DC will still attack the unit as Area Fire.
 

johnl

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Color me dense but doesn't the unit(s) the DC is being placed on have to lose ? in order to fire on the placing unit? The placing unit would then need to survive all Dfire before the unit DC is "operable placed". At this point the defending unit is unconcealed and, therefore, not subject to Area Fire. If the fire came from other than the location the DC is being placed on, that's a different story.
 

Richard Weiley

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I agree. I don’t think the DC is operable placed until all defensive fire against the movement points expended to place the DC is resolved. If the target unit drops concealment to shoot at the placing unit, it is not concealed at the time the DC is operable placed.
 

Cpl Uhl

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Placing unit has to survive all Def FIRST Fire. If DC is successfully placed during the MPh without the placing unit pinning or breaking from Def First Fire, then the placing unit can kia/break/pin under Def Final Fire with no effect on the DC attack.
 

Eagle4ty

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Placing unit has to survive all Def FIRST Fire. If DC is successfully placed during the MPh without the placing unit pinning or breaking from Def First Fire, then the placing unit can kia/break/pin under Def Final Fire with no effect on the DC attack.
And any RFP attacks as A8.22 bullet #2 does not apply to DC placement AFAIK.
 
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