Questions on Afrika Corps Scenario Packs

[DarkStranger]

So, I just received the new CH Afrika Corps scenario packs. The physical presentation looks good, and I really like the new vehicle art. It's also neat to get so many new scenarios on the all-too often overlooked desert theater. After a quick overview though, some of the SSRs seem a little unclear to me. If anyone can answer/clarify some of the questions I have below, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

AK #12 Stopped Cold: The British have both trenches and A-T Ditches in their OB. SSR 5 states "Use Trench counters to represent the A-T Ditches (B27.56) provided in the British OB." Is this to hide from the German player which hexes contain normal trenches and which contain A-T Ditches? If so, what is the mechanism of discovery for the Germans and what happens if a German AFV unknowingly attempts entry of an A-T Ditch? If that's not the case, why can't I just use normal A-T Ditch counters?

Also: The historical aftermath mentions bombs falling from supporting Stukas, but the scenario card doesn't give the DB39 a bomb. Should the German Air Support receive a bomb?

AK #19 Heavy Metal: The scenario card in the box by the turn track states that the Germans set up first and the Americans move first. The caption over the German OB states that the entire German force enters "on turn two along the north edge." What am I missing?

AK #29 Operation Vulcan: The VC state "The British win if they Control all four Trench/Sangar Fortifications at Game End." There are five total Trench/Sangar counters in the German OB. Do the British need to capture four or five to win?

AK #32 Blunted Blade: Same question as for AK #12 here, with both Trenches and A-T Ditches in an OB, with an SSR stating to use Trench counters for the A-T Ditches.

Thanks again to anyone who can help me out with these questions.

 

[Gunner Scott]

Howdy-
re: AK 12
Well, In BV or WoA there are no AT ditch counters, I think they came in RB or maybe AbtF. Here is a link to Raid Hutchensons Armory:

http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX?13@343.g702bLQQdYZ.18@.1dd15110/3

So with that said, if you have the AT Ditch counters use them. If not, use trenchs and once your opponent comes in LOS, announce what is what. Too easy.

As for the other scenarios, I dont have those packs.


Scott

 

[cifdale]

I don't have any answers to the questions that were posetd previously in this thread but I do have some other questions of my own. The card for AK#6 (Fraser's Black Line Dash) shows depictions for two 9-1 leader counters in the German OB. Should one of these be an 8-1? AK#8 (Operation Beresford) shows depictions for two 8-0 leader counters in the Italian OB. should one of these be an 8-1? AK#11 (Action at Kilometer Post 3) The coordintes for the reduced playing area to be used in this scenario are missing from the card. AK#14 (Benghazi Bottleneck) the card shows a counter listed as a PzJgI, but it has all the values of a PzIB. Which vehicle is it supposed to be?
Jeff

 

[Gunner Scott]

Hey Jeff-

AK 6 we used an 8-1 leader in our game, the scenario still sucked (ha ha, if I said that about an MMP scenario, I would have had every fan boy of MMP going through Nerd Rage) but the rest , except desert jobo, all were pretty fun, AK 8 we used an 8-1 in our game. In AK 14, go with the Pz jg 1, it kinda makes sense,

The Aircraft need to be clearified as well and the set-up for overlay W14 for Kidney punch needs to be clearified.


Scott

 

[DarkStranger]

Bumping this thread up because I'm hoping to play one of the scenarios under question this weekend. I also have another question: AK20 Deaf Forever To the Battle's Din has a German squad setting up HIP. However, all the Germans enter play from off-map. Can I safely assume that it's the defending Americans that get the HIP capability?

Thanks again and looking forward to trying these out after the clarifications.

 

[Dave Lamb]

Q&A from Ray Tapio (cross-posted from CHMB):

Q. You are correct about Toasted in Tunis. There should be two 2-2-7 crews for the two 37LL ATG.

RT: Yes, that is correct.

Q. I did send the correction (before printing) about changing the second 4-6-8 squads group to 4-6-7. The first group should also have been changed to Elite (rather than '1st line').

RT: Correct, the 4-6-7 is 1st line and the tiny 'E' should be a tiny '1'.

Q. I haven't received my copies yet, so I haven't been able to verify all corrections/edits were included. I'll advise and post any needed errata/corrections once I have these in hand.

RT: Your copies will reflect the 1.1 version with the errata input. I already discarded copies with the earlier version once it was caught by one of the guys that has now been brought on as an additonal proofer.

Q. I'm not sure what you're asking about Valentine II's or Hurricane aircraft? They're not in this scenario.

RT: It may just be a general question in re the Hurricane II counter. You can use the data on the counters (the 40L gun) as shown, or wait for SSR verbiage when it is used in a scenario later.

Q. AK #12 Stopped Cold: The British have both trenches and A-T Ditches in their OB. SSR 5 states "Use Trench counters to represent the A-T Ditches (B27.56) provided in the British OB." Is this to hide from the German player which hexes contain normal trenches and which contain A-T Ditches? If so, what is the mechanism of discovery for the Germans and what happens if a German AFV unknowingly attempts entry of an A-T Ditch? If that's not the case, why can't I just use normal A-T Ditch counters?

RT: You can use another counter if you do not wish to use standard Trench counters as per B27.56. Nothing whatsoever is added or implied that is not provided by B27.56, so being in LOS is enough to reveal which Trench counter is an A-T Ditch unless you can point to something in the ASLRB that states otherwise.

Q. Also: The historical aftermath mentions bombs falling from supporting Stukas, but the scenario card doesn't give the DB39 a bomb. Should the German Air Support receive a bomb?

RT: No, not linearly depicted in the scenario design.

Q. AK #19 Heavy Metal: The scenario card in the box by the turn track states that the Germans set up first and the Americans move first. The caption over the German OB states that the entire German force enters "on turn two along the north edge." What am I missing?

RT: Strike the "Germans set up first" entry.

AK #29 Operation Vulcan: The VC state "The British win if they Control all four Trench/Sangar Fortifications at Game End." There are five total Trench/Sangar counters in the German OB. Do the British need to capture four or five to win?

RT: Amend to >=.

AK #32 Blunted Blade: Same question as for AK #12 here, with both Trenches and A-T Ditches in an OB, with an SSR stating to use Trench counters for the A-T Ditches.

RT: See answer, above.

Benghazi Bottleneck SSR clarification:

RT: Thanks for your feedback. You are correct, as indicated by the SSR's those are Hills. The addtional verbiage used in a bunch of the AK scenarios has been added as errata as follows:

SPECIAL RULES:
1. EC are Moderate, with no Wind at start.
2. Place overlays as follows: H3 on N2-N3; Tr1 on Q1-Q2; H24 (on top) on R7-S8; Tr1 on T25|T24; V6 (on top) on S15-T15; H21 on K15-L15; S5 (on top) on E15-F15; S3 on E20-D20; W13 on H10-G10; H8 on Y10-Z10; R5 (on top) on S21-S22; and H35 on Y23-X22. Overlays H35, H8, and H21 are hills and not hillocks, with Level 1 and Level 2 heights.
3. No British units may move during turn one (EXC: Rout and Advance is not restricted). The Germans may not use APCR during this scenario.
4. Note: British Guns (and their crews/SMC in the same Location) may set up using HIP.

Yes, the PzJg1 is correct. Good to see you figured all that obvious stuff out yourself, we don't expect that kind of reasoning to be applied without complaint at all times. As for the chances of victory, you are missing something very obvious tactically which I will leave you or others to figure out.

Again, thanks for your great feedback!

Finally a note about future AK Packs from Ray Tapio:

Two more sheets of counters and more scenarios are being finished up right now by my desert proofers. I have all the errata in hand for the existing scenarios and am printing all cards that have errata to go with customers that also ordered Peleliu so they get hard-copy replacements. For those that don't have a chase parcel coming (in the form of Peleliu), I'll include them free with any additional order and send them along in another fashion (e.g., postage only) for anyone that prefers a hard-copy replacement for errata of the usual and oft-used pdf approach.

All of the AK packs will use the desert map, not geo, and in addition to new scenarios, some small new overlays are in hand -- and I have a couple of folks submitting new desert battles using the Tobruk desert mapsheet, a nice thing to see in re interest being generated.

I have expanded my proofing team to include some new and very talented folks that I have working toward making the next AK experience as close to zero errata as humanly possible (no ding on my existing guys, just speaking to new blood being added due to their expressed interest and obvious ASLer nitpicking talent that I love to see). In the meantime, the packs have been doing well. I went through and culled out any of the counter sheets that were not good enough for use and had an entirely new print run of counters made, by the way. That delayed some orders but so be it. Any customers that have contacted Maureen needing counter sheets replaced have been taken care of in normal fashion.

It has been a pleasant surprise to see that interest in the ASLer community in the war in North Africa is anything but nil... as I have a lot of interest in the theater and enjoy sharing that with my gamers.

If you're interested in seeing some examples of the new counter artwork, please visit or sign up at the CHMB.

http://chmb.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=3764

As a final note, anyone ordering directly through me (David Lamb) in my Private Sale (in the Announcements section), will be receiving all of the corrected scenario cards (sans errata). Thanks.

 

[dlazov]

On Thursday my card was charged for this pack, can't wait for it to arrive.

 

[Gunner Scott]

Hi-

Waird place to post this lol.

Anyway, I think you will have a blast with one Don. Shoot me a time and date when ya want to come down to chicago for some AK action.


Scott

 

[dlazov]

Roger that Scott.

 

[dlazov]

Yea Ha, my AK package arrived today. Only have looked over the core module part, 10 scenarios nice desert map, tons of overlays, briefly skimmed through the 8 pages of rules (it also had a bunch of extra pages for some reason, like a couple of 4, 6 and 8 and so forth), nice centered and cool new counters and first 10 scenarios at a glance look interesting.

Now to dive through the 5 scenario packs, man I may order the White Beach One thing...oh, there is also that new Kursk thing from CH...

 

[Loquitor]

How many pages of overlays should there be? I could never find a count in the material

 

[dlazov]

How many pages of overlays should there be? I could never find a count in the material

It does not explicitly say, but my counting shows 18 sheets (these are all square cut-perfect for me since all you need to do is cut them squares/rectangles out) for a total of 54 overlays and 4 counter sheets.

 

[Loquitor]

Hmmmm I think I only have 17.....need to count again

 

[dlazov]

Hmmmm I think I only have 17.....need to count again

I may have mis counted the total sheetds but not the individual parts, you should have 54 of em.

 

[Loquitor]

Well I must be missing one because I only have 51 overlays on a total of 17 sheets.......how do I determine which one I don't have.....Hey CH! any suggestions?

 

[Gunner Scott]

You should have a total of 17 sheets of uncut overlays. 53 overlays if cut. or there abouts.

Scott

 

[Loquitor]

You should have a total of 17 sheets of uncut overlays. 53 overlays if cut. or there abouts.

Scott

Hey Scott

Are you counting the Compass North as one?......if so maybe I just misscounted and dlazov got two of one by mistake

George

 

[Gunner Scott]

Hi-

Ok here we go:

First Sheet:
Compass
T2
F11
D4
D9
sd9

2ns sheet
RR10
RR10
R5
H3
T4

3rd sheet
HM1 Large ass overlay

4th sheet
V3
AT 6
AT 6

5th sheet
H21
O1
T1

6th sheet
D24 Huge ass dair overlay

7th sheet
W14
P5
G5
R3

8th sheet
H24 Huge hill overlay

9th sheet
Tr1
W13
V17

10th sheet
AT3
MF3
MF8
MF8
MF8

11th sheet
sd7
s3
D1 (ammo supply point ASP)

12th sheet
sd11
s4
T5
s5
s6

13th sheet
sd17
sd10

14th sheet
H8
V6

15th sheet
H35
RR10

16th sheet
Tr1
Tr1
Tr1
Tr1
Tr1

17th Sheet
C1 Fual Depot
s10

 

[Loquitor]

Okay here is what I have (each is one sheet)

1) Six overlays (one being Compass North) T2, F11, D4, D9, Sd9
2) Five overlays, S5, S6, S4, T5, Sd11
3) Three overlays AT6 times two and V3
4) Two overlays RR10 and H35
5) One overlay D42
6) Three overlays Tr1, W13, V17
7) Five overlays all Tr1
8) Three overlays C1, S10, Sd10
9) Three overlays Sd7, D1 S3
10) One overlay V6
11) One overlay HM1
12) Four overlays P5, R3, G5, W14
13) One overlay H24
14) Five overlays MF8 three times, MF3 AT3
15) Two overlays H8, Sd17
16) Five overlays T4, H3, R5, RR10 times two
17) Three overlays T1, O1 H21

Okay that is 53 overlays on 17 sheets like Scott said

 

[Loquitor]

Thanks Scott....I think we have the same ones