So what scenarios have you played Recently?

[jrv]

I think I started the discussion of this scenario. My own pre-game analysis was that not putting enough pressure on the French in the farm, so that I could concentrate most forces on preventing the reinforcements from reaching it, was very dangerous - it meant a high risk of having my troops stuck between hammer and anvil, with no possible routing paths. So I split my forces between a delaying and assault forces - my idea being that even 9ML guys can die in CC, and that any of them that happened to break would be tough to rally. Mostly, it was considerations of rout paths that carried the decision for me.

It ended pretty well for me, but then I got my share of lucky rolls - heroic defense from my delaying forces, and some bad rolls from the fanatics, meant I managed to put most of my assault force in the nice stone buildings, with battered reinforcements forced to cross lots of open ground to reach me.

I had a more defensive posture toward the pocket. The 37L set up in the west to prevent them from leaving. The MMG set up at the west end of the road where it could put down a firelane (which also allowed it to fire on units moving into the compound). I had a squad in the east covering the large plowed field. With that I felt the French could be held inside the compound for the most part.

The difficulty I saw in attacking the pocket is that if units break making the assault there is almost no chance of recovering them. Any attack would have to be over open ground, and the French, being elite and fanatic, would never cower and would probably FPF frequently. The Germans do not have a great assault team (seven ML, very little SMOKE, no great leaders, a modest stack of SW). They might be able to assault out of 43O10 or 43K9, but they wouldn't have a lot of options if the assault failed.

That said I did think the Germans might be able to assault the compound, and I think that is part of what makes this a really good scenario. I went back-and-forth about whether I wanted to attack the compound or not. If the Germans can control one of the compound buildings without losing too much they are set up nicely for the win.

edit: looking at this more closely, if the Germans set up in 43P9 they can fire on 43M8. If the French set up with Wall Advantage in M8 they can be shot from P9 (potentially with -1 leader). That means the French probably have to give up the wall in M8, which makes a German assault via L8 possible. Wow, it's a gamble.

JR

 

[Richard Weiley]

Played a highly enjoyable game of a Belgian Blitzkrieg (J182) yesterday. Held on for a win as well the Belgians. Held the Z6 building throughout the game with the help of the AT gun and the 9-1 directed MMG.

The German turn 3 reinforcements bypassed Z6 and headed for the main village where I had only two and a half squads anxiously waiting on the reinforcements. The attackers drove out the garrison of the N5 building and contested the G4 and J6 buildings but the counter attacking force eliminated the Germans in the former and reinforced the garrison of the latter, putting victory out of reach for my opponent.

An excellent scenario with high replay value.

Rich

 

[Curtis Brooks]

Played a highly enjoyable game of a Belgian Blitzkrieg (J182) yesterday. Held on for a win as well the Belgians. Held the Z6 building throughout the game with the help of the AT gun and the 9-1 directed MMG.

The German turn 3 reinforcements bypassed Z6 and headed for the main village where I had only two and a half squads anxiously waiting on the reinforcements. The attackers drove out the garrison of the N5 building and contested the G4 and J6 buildings but the counter attacking force eliminated the Germans in the former and reinforced the garrison of the latter, putting victory out of reach for my opponent.

An excellent scenario with high replay value.

Rich

I just played 4 turns of this today (will finish next week). I agree, it's a blast to play. Awaiting the arrival of the crappy Belgian tank that must turn it's turret backwards to fire ... should be interesting.

 

[Richard Weiley]

I just played 4 turns of this today (will finish next week). I agree, it's a blast to play. Awaiting the arrival of the crappy Belgian tank that must turn it's turret backwards to fire ... should be interesting.

Check your vehicle notes. I think it's the improved version that fires forward.

 

[Perry]

Check your vehicle notes. I think it's the improved version that fires forward.

Correct.

And hats off to the Belgians. It takes talent and dedication to make a worse tank than the T-13III, and the Belgians accomplished that with the T-13II.

 

[lionelc62]

Played a highly enjoyable game of a Belgian Blitzkrieg (J182) yesterday. Held on for a win as well the Belgians. Held the Z6 building throughout the game with the help of the AT gun and the 9-1 directed MMG.

The German turn 3 reinforcements bypassed Z6 and headed for the main village where I had only two and a half squads anxiously waiting on the reinforcements. The attackers drove out the garrison of the N5 building and contested the G4 and J6 buildings but the counter attacking force eliminated the Germans in the former and reinforced the garrison of the latter, putting victory out of reach for my opponent.

An excellent scenario with high replay value.

Rich

Thanks for the kind words about the scenario !

Lionel

 

[ecz]

I had a more defensive posture toward the pocket. The 37L set up in the west to prevent them from leaving. The MMG set up at the west end of the road where it could put down a firelane (which also allowed it to fire on units moving into the compound). I had a squad in the east covering the large plowed field. With that I felt the French could be held inside the compound for the most part.

The difficulty I saw in attacking the pocket is that if units break making the assault there is almost no chance of recovering them. Any attack would have to be over open ground, and the French, being elite and fanatic, would never cower and would probably FPF frequently. The Germans do not have a great assault team (seven ML, very little SMOKE, no great leaders, a modest stack of SW). They might be able to assault out of 43O10 or 43K9, but they wouldn't have a lot of options if the assault failed.

That said I did think the Germans might be able to assault the compound, and I think that is part of what makes this a really good scenario. I went back-and-forth about whether I wanted to attack the compound or not. If the Germans can control one of the compound buildings without losing too much they are set up nicely for the win.

edit: looking at this more closely, if the Germans set up in 43P9 they can fire on 43M8. If the French set up with Wall Advantage in M8 they can be shot from P9 (potentially with -1 leader). That means the French probably have to give up the wall in M8, which makes a German assault via L8 possible. Wow, it's a gamble.

JR

infiltration keeping concealment +advance in CC, and fire from opposite directions to encircle is the way to go if one decide to take the compound. The more units are used, the better. Then, the (few?) surviving Germans can face the incoming French from a very good position.

 

[JRKrejsa]

"Things Are...A Bit Sticky" DftB DBOT1 First one from the new DftB HASL. Scottish night attack has come in and, as the sun is rising, Germans and Scotsmen all over the map. The Fallschirmjager around the housing estate mostly were able to rout away, and contribute to the defense of the main built up area. The Scottish attack from the valley got shot up over and over, and never made much progress. The Scots that started in the town proper fought a see-saw battle all game long. At the end of the game, a late surge in the northern victory buildings won it for the Scotts. Excellent scenario!

The snipers are a huge pain in the ass. And British/Scottish player will wince every time they fire!

 

[Mister T]

Played AP53 Far from Home, a Fort design on the Spanish civil war. The Nationalists are on the offensive to seize buildings before a Republican counterattack backed up by Soviet tanks attempts to recapture them. The Republican situation is at start grim as the Nationalists can count on 6 Pz I that maneuver at will. While inexperienced, they can cause much trouble to the few on board Republican squads. With the (very fortunate) help of a resilient zerker, this is what happened and my opponent resigned (prematurely?). Very dynamic scenario, puts the Republican player under heavy pressure from the very start.

 

[Houlie]

Finished off an amazingly fun, tense game against Vic Rosso last night: J191 Rebels without a Pause. It was decided on the last CC DR of the game. Despite him having a net +1 ambush roll, there was no ambush for me to withdraw for the victory. His 3x337 and 8-1 and in motion tank against my 447. I attack first 1-1 against a 337/8-1 and miss. He attacks back 2-1 (-1) and eliminates me for a well-deserved win. Vic had chosen VC #1.

I felt I played really well, but the Axis just crumbled in the final turn and losing my flak truck on a 6,6 really hurting my remaining FP. This just after shocking the final tank which recovered two rolls later. This scenario is a real slow-burn fighting withdrawal which I always enjoy. I actually had preserved most all of my force into the final two turns (minus the 20L and 50L - both malfed). I recommend this scenario, but this one feels a little bit tougher on the Germans. I knocked out two tanks earlier in the game and shudder to think of having one or two additional AFV running around in the end game.

Again, all in all a fun, challenging scenario. Thanks to Vic for another fine game.

 

[Perry]

Finished off an amazingly fun, tense game against Vic Rosso last night: J191 Rebels without a Pause. Vic had chosen VC #1.

Again, all in all a fun, challenging scenario. Thanks to Vic for another fine game.

Did Vic bring on the Janosik Partisans ASAP on T1, or did he wait and try to deke you a bit?

 

[Perry]

Finished off an amazingly fun, tense game against Vic Rosso last night: J191 Rebels without a Pause. It was decided on the last CC DR of the game. Despite him having a net +1 ambush roll, there was no ambush for me to withdraw for the victory. His 3x337 and 8-1 and in motion tank against my 447. I attack first 1-1 against a 337/8-1 and miss. He attacks back 2-1 (-1) and eliminates me for a well-deserved win. Vic had chosen VC #1.

Also, you weren't using those Partisans to gain Control of a building, were you?

 

[Houlie]

Also, you weren't using those Partisans to gain Control of a building, were you?

Hi, Perry. No, Vic had a couple 137 Slovaks also in the building. He brought the Partisans on T1. Definitely some options on how to defend in this one. You can't ask for more excitement than a final CC DR outcome both with reasonable chances.

 

[volgaG68]

Only gotten 4 full turns into ASL 116 The Sixth Blow (I hope this meets the 'qualifications' for posting here!), but thought I would mention some things about it that became evident very quickly for anyone that might consider playing it. I had a good handle on the Cavalry rules for years and never needed to browse over them before playing a Cavalry scenario.....until I got thrown into this Carpathian monster! So many things I had never encountered Cavalry-wise; you know the rules bits you gloss over because they cover circumstances and eventualities that you will likely not encounter in your run of the mill Cav scenario. Here is a short list:
1) Infantry 'leading' unmounted horses
2) OBA vs. mounted/unmounted horses/wagons
3) Air Support vs. mounted/unmounted horses/wagons
4) Cavalry accepting POWs (had to check the mechanics of it and respective MF rates!)
5) Cavalry firing at Cavalry
6) Cavalry in minefields (the special -2 DRM doesn't apply)

Probably one or two I missed, but you get the point. There's a decent chance you might encounter one or two of the above in Into The Fray or 3 or 4 in Breakout From Borisov, but the scenario variables simply aren't there to experience 5 or 6 of these in an average Cavalry game. The initial setup restrictions of 116 only add possible fuel to this rules-fire. Surprised I hadn't played this one before. It took my solid, yet generic, understanding of the Cav rules, and has fleshed them out with so many of the finer details contained in that "page and a paragraph" in the rule book; and the interactions it has with other rules sections.

You can get your B.A. in the Cavalry Arts via Into The Fray, and your Master's via Breakout From Borisov, but this is the first Cavalry scenario I have found offering the Doctorate degree. Oh yeah, it is fun as hell too!

 

[TopT]

Just finished a game (BFP108_ Ceramic City) with Will Willow. Went to the Polish turn of turn 7 to determine the winner. I lost but it was close for either of us to pull out the win. Fun scenario!

 

[Megaloman]

Haven't written any AARs for a while, but we've been playing throughout the winter and even managed to find a couple of new players in little Malmö. The future of ASL in this town is looking quite good indeed!

Today, me and Andreas took a break from Festung Budapest and decided to play a classic scenario. I have a soft spot for Panzer IV:s, so we set up Under the Noel Trees with me playing the germans and Andreas commanding the defending Americans. I had to cross the map with four AFV:s out of an initial seven. If I only managed three by game end, I would also have to win the CVP race. I had five Panzer IVH:s and two StuG III:s, all with long barrels. All of my infantry were good but had to enter as riders. The Americans had two M18 tank hunters with scary barrels, 24 MP and worthless armor. They were allowed to set up HIP in woods and keep concealment like entrenched ordnance however, so I would have to be careful. Andreas also had some regular 747:s with lots of bazookas.

Andreas set up a broad defense, like he had to, I guess, since I could just zip by a more concentrated defense. The woods in the middle were to be very important throughout the scenario, serving as a first stop for my infantry and some much needed cover before I decided where I wanted to exit the map. There were some hedges, but otherwise not much of either hindrance or cover.

I started to move all of my AFV:s very concentrated on the right side, to see if I could get some response in the american turn. Rightly so, as one M18 shifted over to cover my advance. I realised that unloading my riders would take precious time and speed, and so I decided to attack the central woods with only my StuGs and the good leaders, MMG and squads on their backs. The Panzer IV:s with their armor leader would try to circumvent the woods and avoid the M18:s at all costs.

That meant it was time for me to change flank, as all of the remaining panzers moved over to the left side of the central woods. This provoked the remaining M18 to close in. I saw an opportunity to swarm the the M18:s and did so with all of my remaining tanks, even going through the woods, bogging, in order to draw out some bad shots before I could get some acquisition in.

The next turn, number three, saw my plan taking off and my dice started to shine. I managed to hit and destroy both tank hunters, despite Andreas dropping smoke. Three of the remaining AFV:s then took off to the leftmost flank in order to exit the next turn. One of the two remaining Panzer IV:s in the middle of the map would have to survive and exit in order for me to win.

Andreas tried everything he could, coordinating Close Combat attempts, getting bazookas into range etc, but even my bad Defensive First Fire hit home and the American side was a mess of PIN:s and DM:s. He decided that there wasn't much to do and handed me the win!

 

[Michael R]

I had the Greek defenders in DB46 Hill 731; Magnus Rimvall had the Italian attackers. The Italians have two M13/40 tanks and a lot of 347 infantry, some SW and a few 447. The Greeks have infantry, fortifications, LMG, MMG and one 65mm HE only gun. The Italians need to take a building from the Greeks. The building is in the middle of a plateau hill. I defended with most on the Greeks on the plateau hill. Magnus tried a frontal assault with a small flanking force on the Italian left. His progress was too slow and he conceded with one turn remaining.

 

[Jude]

Played ITR-9 Asia's Stalingrad which went down to the wire. Playing as the Japanese, I had to hold off a last chance CC attempt by the Chinese to get a squad within three hexes of one of the victory buildings. I failed and my opponent won in dramatic fashion on the last DR of the game. As the Japanese, I found taking the four required buildings wasn't that difficult. Keeping the Chinese three hexes away from them proved troublesome. It forced me to hunt down every stray squad lest they rally and steal a victory. It was a hard fought battle and a deserved win for my opponent. Recommended.

 

[Michael R]

Magnus Rimvall and I finished our playing of J51 CANICATTI. I decided on a right board edge attack, trying to protect my riders from shots from level four. Magnus had one ATG in the pillbox on level 4. I found that out by losing a tank to it, but the remainder were able to get around it. The infantry had a difficult time reaching the hilltop until the tanks got there. The tanks were able to clear the Germans out on the last American turn.

 

[JRKrejsa]

Bloody Tired DftB DBOT3 Great title! The Germans seem brittle in this one, but the Scotsmen have a lot to do. I thought I was winning, and well on schedule to get enough buildings. Until a HIP 5-4-8 and Panzerschreck combo popped out of a trench and caused just enough trouble to slow me down. Good stuff! I like this mini HASL a lot.

(Bloody Tired describes me most days....)