So what scenarios have you played Recently?

Jacometti

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Not a 100% guarantee, but I try to avoid most scenarios with words like " meat grinder", "slaughter" , "disaster", "debacle "...... etc.....
and that is based on a bad experience? A disaster ?
 

jrv

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Not a 100% guarantee, but I try to avoid most scenarios with words like " meat grinder", "slaughter" , "disaster", "debacle "...... etc.....
You are going to miss the Dezign Pak oeuvre.

JR
 

Jude

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Not a 100% guarantee, but I try to avoid most scenarios with words like " meat grinder", "slaughter" , "disaster", "debacle "...... etc.....
Funny! Yeah, I usually take scenario titles and their historical write ups with a grain of salt. I like to read them, but seldom do the scenarios actually play out as they did historically. If they did, why play them? In this case, the scenario did play out as written. The only "debacle" I made was not seeing the situation when I prepped for the scenario. I've played scenarios where a force is hit on multiple sides before, but usually there is something in the defender's favor - attacker crossing open ground, restrictive terrain, good defensive position, good fall back positions, etc. In Teranu Meat Grinders, the Japanese must set up in palm trees with overlays covering up any obstacles. The Americans can march up with cover and mass serious firepower wherever they please - and they did! Looking back, maybe a lucky banzai charge might allow for a slight chance for a Japanese win. They can win if they have more CVP than the Americans. However, with that much firepower facing them, they'd have to be awfully lucky.

I try to avoid scenarios with the words CH.
Agreed. I never buy thier stuff except a few scenario packs I picked up way back when. Having said that, though, I have had some luck with some of their earlier scenarios. Not the case this time!
 

Robin Reeve

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The Slaughterhouse too.
Btw I don't see how a side which has no challenge to get a win (the Americans in the evoked scenario) can have fun. I personally prefer situations where I and my opponent have reasonable chances to win a scenario.
 

Jude

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The Slaughterhouse too.
Btw I don't see how a side which has no challenge to get a win (the Americans in the evoked scenario) can have fun. I personally prefer situations where I and my opponent have reasonable chances to win a scenario.
As I think is everyone's preference. Once I realized the situation I was in, I gave it my best shot. I said it was fun for the Americans because how often do you get the opportunity to blow away an opponent with multiple 20+ FP shots per turn? I can't think of any off the top off my head. Did my friend enjoy it? Of course he did because this pretty much never happens in any of our games. Would we have rather played a more balanced scenario instead? Sure we would have. But like I said earlier, had we realized this would be the case, we would have skipped it.
 

JRKrejsa

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Ghosts in the Jungle TAC 61 U.S. Army V. IJA, Guam '44. In spite of the title talking about jungle, the US starts in a lot of OPEN. So, I took quite the pounding upon entry. But, US squads rally well. I was able to make some progress along the south board edge. Four M5A1's with canister 10, so I got about 4 shots off.... The IJA are brittle, though and the second part of the game was the US trying to exit through extensive bamboo, and the Japanese survivors trying to stop them. Narrow US win.

Nice little scenario, like most from Tactiques.
 

Houlie

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Cross-posted from the Events thread:

Tom Yetter and I played SP234 Teltow Two-Step. A nifty late-war scenario that sort of puts both sides on the attack. 12 x Russian squads and five tanks have to grind forward and reduce a blocking force of depleted Germans -- 6.5 squads -- whose job is to hold open a channel for turn two German reinforcements (6 x squads, 3 x SPW251, and StuH42) to make it across the canal (overlay).

Oodles of PF shots made it a tense affair, but the Russians ground down the blocking force. Actually, the Germans ground themselves down with a few MC boxcars and desperation PF MCs. The Russians made it to the main street and it was set to be Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade route with lots of shooting, er...cheering Russians. After getting adjacent to the Tiger (whose MA and CMG were malfed) with a 9-2 and 628/FT, it was apparent the parade route would be virtually impassable and the Germans decided they had enough. A neat scenario and definitely worth look.

Another fun game with Tom, as usual. It was great to see our good friends, Tom and Curtis, from Wisconsin. We hope to see them again very soon.
 

Ray Woloszyn

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It Don't Come Easy [J158] Played this DASL scenario Friday with my stalwart opponent, Dave Stephens. I had the attacking Germans trying to envelope Noville in January '45. Initially the Americans are outnumbered 2-1 and no tanks but then Major Winters (10-2) comes on turn two to even the infantry struggle. I kept my three tanks alive despite the 1945 bazookas in a real nail biter. Last turn of the game I had two tanks off but not the requisite infantry (one MMC). I made it look like a run to the board edge the previous turn which caused Dave to strip some infantry out of the optional victory buildings and then I went for the buildings. I got infantry to the buildings but had to perform and survive two CC's (both 3-1) and not be ambushed as GO American Infantry was needed in two of the three victory buildings. No ambush and the Americans fail to take me out. A very close and exciting scenario by our favorite designer, Pete Shelling, who never fails to give us both exciting games.
 

sunoftzu

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Over the weekend, Peter Palmer and I played ASL-165 "Nothing But Courage".

Peter played the defending Russians, whilst I played the attacking Finns. We played with Russian balance in effect, which I think was as well, as this seems quite a tough ask for the Russians. Nonetheless, Peter played a good game of it, and we went into the last CCPh (Russian turn 7) of the game with my Finns 2 VPs short. Despite needing to win at least 1 of 2 CCs with odds of 1:2, I was snakey enough to win both of them (resulting in 13 VPs) and finish with a winning score of 55 that flattered me.

ASL-165-Rus-07-CCPh-gif.gif

We still had a good game of it, but we both felt that the Russians need a bit a bit more fat to chew on for a more balanced game.

John.
 

Gunner Scott

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ASL-165 "Nothing But Courage" Excellent scenario, perhaps the only post AH core module with 90% of the scenarios being great to excellent.
 

Jude

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Played TAC3 Uneasy Withdrawl and came through with a surprising Japanese win. As Roy said a few pages back, with the Japanese, you're pretty much fighting the terrain more than the Australians. My friend held me up pretty well through four turns but I finally broke some squads near where the boards meet and it was off to the races. I ended with a few more points than him to take the win. Two things helped me out. My buddy elected to exit/pull back some guys early so he would have at least 10 VPs. In the end, they might have made the difference when I cracked the center. He also didn't interdict the Japanese reinforcements so that cost him nine VPs as they all ended up exiting. And honestly, at the time I didn't think that that was a big deal as I didn't think any other units were going to be able to exit. The scenario truly depicted how difficult (in game terms) it must have been to fight in the jungle. Having said that, it wasn't very exciting. Move up, withdrawal, rinse, repeat. I'd say the Australians should win because, really, they don't have to exit any infantry as long as they can keep the Japanese from getting their 10. If they keep the Japanese honest, the terrain should do the rest.
 
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wrongway149

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It Don't Come Easy [J158] Played this DASL scenario Friday with my stalwart opponent, Dave Stephens. I had the attacking Germans trying to envelope Noville in January '45. Initially the Americans are outnumbered 2-1 and no tanks but then Major Winters (10-2) comes on turn two to even the infantry struggle. I kept my three tanks alive despite the 1945 bazookas in a real nail biter. Last turn of the game I had two tanks off but not the requisite infantry (one MMC). I made it look like a run to the board edge the previous turn which caused Dave to strip some infantry out of the optional victory buildings and then I went for the buildings. I got infantry to the buildings but had to perform and survive two CC's (both 3-1) and not be ambushed as GO American Infantry was needed in two of the three victory buildings. No ambush and the Americans fail to take me out. A very close and exciting scenario by our favorite designer, Pete Shelling, who never fails to give us both exciting games.
So you won, but it didn't come easy?
 

Michael R

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Bruno L'Archeveque and I played J122 Bloody Bois Jacques. I love and hate this scenario at the same time. It has a SSR that makes it unique, but at the same time silly. The SSR allows units in foxhole hexes to treat the Pine Woods as hindrances instead of obstacles for LOS and LOF. It is a neat way to represent cleared fields of fire. However, the cleared fields of fire can change, which makes no reality sense; even the Americans in foxhole hexes can use the SSR to fire at the Germans, who may or may not be in foxhole hexes, in front of them.

I split the Americans in two groups. The best leader went up the middle path with a platoon, a hero and the MMG. Everyone else, save one HS, went in by the west road. That last HS went along the west edge. The German OBA decimated the central platoon during German turn one and American turn two. Only two HS routed out of that area. The west group made decent progress. Bruno shifted the east troops west, and retreated a squad to cover the exit area. I saw a glimmer of hope when the German radio broke on German turn three, but Bruno repaired it on American turn four. I needed to position my remaining troops close the Germans in that area to have a hope of exiting. I managed to throw a DC on the OBA observer, break him and wound him. He came back in American turn five, however, and in German turn five brought down another OBA mission on my troops poised to exit. It was not pretty. The result left me with no hope of exiting enough VP.

I wonder if this engagement could be redesigned using the new Prepared Fire Zones rule.
 

Paul M. Weir

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It has a SSR that makes it unique, but at the same time silly. The SSR allows units in foxhole hexes to treat the Pine Woods as hindrances instead of obstacles for LOS and LOF. It is a neat way to represent cleared fields of fire. However, the cleared fields of fire can change, which makes no reality sense; even the Americans in foxhole hexes can use the SSR to fire at the Germans, who may or may not be in foxhole hexes, in front of them.
Whatever about deliberately cleared areas, I suspect that is as much a reflection of woods with a high canopy. I have walked through some mature forests that were planted with pine and similar. Due to the sunlight blocking canopy there is little undergrowth and the trees only started to branch out at waist or chest level, often even higher. So I could see a situation where LOS is blocked from a standing position but only partly hindered at knee height.
 
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