Played
FT304 Loosening the Noose as the attacking French versus Jay Dragonetti as the defending Germans. We were paired up in the final round of the VASL League. I always enjoy meeting players I haven’t had the opportunity to play before. Jay was no exception. I hadn't played much the past few months (summer in MN), so I was excited for some ASL action.
Set-up
First Half
The French approached carefully as I felt that recklessness could end their chances early -- especially losing the tanks. I had a platoon-plus enter from the bottom to push toward P9. I was pleased that the OB dummies were on both flanks. The French methodically hammered away at the village. This took time and I did not gain the bonus VP for control of H4 on turn 3 or earlier. This meant more work for the French needing to gain a VC building in the stream-side village further back. The defenders were whittled away, but as you will see it made the French assignment more difficult. Jay had a tough defense and it denied me the bonus VP.
Second Half / End
The front village still held a 467, 468, 9-1, MMG. However, they were surrounded soon to be overwhelmed. Jay tried to extract them, but the combination of open ground and good shooting by the French eliminated them.
Now, the bum rush was on to reach the stream-side village to somehow pick up the final ninth VP. However, the final turn for Jay was filled with unhelpful dice. My remaining tank made the move to prepare for a final turn assault. He malfed his 37L located in Y5 which meant the remaining S35 could freeze S5 with out fearing the AT gun (unless subsequently repaired - it was not). The S5 CCRF was unsuccessful and the tank survived CC phase. A pair of 457s got a 1MC from a 16+3 breaking the 467, 247, leaving a lone 8-0 to deal with an upcoming 13-1 CC. At that point Hans flew the white flag knowing the building would be lost.
Final thoughts
A fun scenario that plays fast. It seemed pretty balanced (currently 8-7 for the German on ROAR). I was sweating the final 1.5 turns. Malfing the 37L was huge as the S35 really needed to freeze and survive CCRF of one of the two accessible VC buildings. Jay had an excellent defense coupled with solid play, but the dice favored the French when it mattered most. A big thanks to Jay for a great game.