So what scenarios have you played Recently?

MAS01

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Just finished a playtest for the Bunker guys. Without divulging any details, it came down to the last half turn. My Germans had to take one of three wooden buildings to fulfill the second half of the victory conditions. The Americans were covered on two sides and I had two remaining 4-6-8 SS squads to move. The first moved adjacent to a 2-3-6 HS and survived the 4 -2 shot, leaving 2 resid. The second squad moved in, survived the 2 -2 resid shot. All other American units had Final Fired. My thinking was Advance into the victory hex and get a 4:1 CC attempt, needing only a "9" to get rid of the HS and generate a German victory.

But NOOOOOOOOOO, in the DFPh, the little HS Final Fired against the two squads. Here comes the 2 flat shot -- yep, y'all guessed it, 1,1!! Up comes the 1MC rolls. First squad rolls a 6,1 -- Pinned. Second squad rolls a 3,4 -- Pinned. Now no one can advance into that potential victory hex. American win.

Very interesting scenario.
 

volgaG68

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How did you treat the 5-4-8s that underwent Replacement, as SS 4-4-7, or not? Not certain what "subject to Replacement (A19.13) normally" [emphasis added] means in the context of this scenario.
Yes, correctly or not, we played 5-4-8 > 4-4-7. That was our interpretation.
 

witchbottles

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Jeff Hewitt and I finished a rousing fun game of ASL 13 Le Manoir last night. A good teaching ASL scenario turned great, fun and lots of esoteric excitement as Jeff saw Heat of Battle make a fanatic and a hero. He saw a leader creation and infiltration in a Close Combat attack. He witnessed a NEAT Critical Hit blow a mg nest off the map on a 4 KIA form the 16-3 IFT attack it generated and the flame started from that. We had gusts in the last two turns - so the flames spread and he witnessed how a battlefield can burn rapidly. He got to see a CC withdrawal fro ma 6,6, DR in CC.

Best of all and most important lesson of the game. He stuck with his maneuver plan through some casualties to position both his MMGs and a 7-4-7/3-3-7/8-1 ldr in a trio around a key terrain point with a 248 and a hero holding it, getting the all-important encirclement. His response upon reading what happens when one is encircled is priceless.... "WOW!!!!" Now he's hooked on finding ways to get more of those counters in play - he found out the other benefit of it as well, cut rout paths meant no running away.

I love it when a ASL game puts the tools in your hands to get so much richness in the rules interplay all working at the same time for a newbie. "Total immersion" ASL.

I think this scenario gets often overlooked as the natural progression from "Gavin Take" or "Guards Counterattack".

KRL, Jon H
 

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Hunters at Ylimaa ASL 175 Finns with Russian tanks try to bash their way past Gebirsjager. The German OBA did not do well, only landing one or two fire missions. The Finns bogged a few times, but did not have much trouble, only immo'ing one Sotka. The Finns have to cover a fair amount of ground. Finn win in the last turn- exited exactly 35 VP.
 

JRKrejsa

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Ace in the Hole ASL AP14 (played with the new info from Yanks 2.) Fun, good, old fashioned ASL. The US won the armor duel, killing a Pz4J and the Tiger with no loss. The rest of the German armor hid, and tried to slow the Ami Infantry. As it was, the US could not make much SMOKE, and took some losses crossing board 4. In the village, the Panzerfausts killed two Shermans. The Grenadiers were slowly crushed. The last 1/2 turn saw one 4-6-7 trying to hold off way too many American to keep one multi-story stone under German control. He failed. Good Scenario!

The Tiger should focus on killing Shermans, the Pershing is too strong!
 

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Played 67 Cibiks Ridge last week and VotG CG1 a week before that. Resounding Japanese victory in 67 and close German victory in VotG. Just finishing up #60 On the Kokoda Trail, in turn 7 and looks like it may be a very close British victory. Really like the Kokoda scen, has been very entertaining. May do my first FB CG after Kokoda, but I am very interested in playing my first beach landing scen.
 

Jeffhew

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Jeff Hewitt and I finished a rousing fun game of ASL 13 Le Manoir last night. A good teaching ASL scenario turned great, fun and lots of esoteric excitement as Jeff saw Heat of Battle make a fanatic and a hero. He saw a leader creation and infiltration in a Close Combat attack. He witnessed a NEAT Critical Hit blow a mg nest off the map on a 4 KIA form the 16-3 IFT attack it generated and the flame started from that. We had gusts in the last two turns - so the flames spread and he witnessed how a battlefield can burn rapidly. He got to see a CC withdrawal fro ma 6,6, DR in CC.

Best of all and most important lesson of the game. He stuck with his maneuver plan through some casualties to position both his MMGs and a 7-4-7/3-3-7/8-1 ldr in a trio around a key terrain point with a 248 and a hero holding it, getting the all-important encirclement. His response upon reading what happens when one is encircled is priceless.... "WOW!!!!" Now he's hooked on finding ways to get more of those counters in play - he found out the other benefit of it as well, cut rout paths meant no running away.

I love it when a ASL game puts the tools in your hands to get so much richness in the rules interplay all working at the same time for a newbie. "Total immersion" ASL.

I think this scenario gets often overlooked as the natural progression from "Gavin Take" or "Guards Counterattack".

KRL, Jon H
This was a great game!! I won't go so far as to call it a "win" as this was very much an instructional game, but a number of key game concepts were assimilated far faster, and with far greater permanence, than has happened previously with just me, VASL, and a RB. Can't thank Jon enough for his patience and commitment to making me a more complete ASL player. My initial plan in this game was similar to the way in which events actually occurred at the time. Establish and hold a line on one flank while another group moved into position on the other flank. It was an absolute gas seeing my initial strategy unfold throughout the game as I had hoped it would. Though not without my fair share of losses, learning to adapt to events on the battlefield while still holding to the plan, and seeing it through to the endgame, was a huge lesson.
This is a shot of the endgame.

View attachment 54302
Our next evolution will delve into the world of explosive ordnance, special ammo types, and a first for me...tanks!! Can't wait!!

Until Next Time...

Jeff
 

BattleSchool

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ss 4-4-7.....
Okay, thanks Chris.

Given that neither SS 5-4-8s nor SS 4-4-7 MMC are provided for in A25.11, it was not clear to me that the SS (by SSR) 5-4-8s would be Replaced by SS 4-4-7 without a specific reference in the SSR. Given the old Q&A below, I was wondering if the designer intended that the SS be Replaced by Second Line units (as suggested by the low ELR 3).

A25.11
Q. Do SS 5-4-8 squads have Assault FP capability pre-1944 since they are not included as SS squads in rule A25.11?

A. The counters stand on their own, so absent an SSR they have Assault Fire. Note also that SS 5-4-8 squads are so far officially used only in ABtF, IIRC.
I think that the Bulgarians would have an easier time of it if the SS degraded to Second Liners. The current stats on ROAR (10-4 in favour of the SS) suggests that the Bulgarians need help. In a ten-turn beast of a scenario, there ought to be many Replacements on both sides. Of course, rain could also play an important role in the outcome.

Thanks for posting your AAR. I've always wondered how "Return to Sender" plays out.
 

Eagle4ty

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Okay, thanks Chris.

Given that neither SS 5-4-8s nor SS 4-4-7 MMC are provided for in A25.11, it was not clear to me that the SS (by SSR) 5-4-8s would be Replaced by SS 4-4-7 without a specific reference in the SSR. Given the old Q&A below, I was wondering if the designer intended that the SS be Replaced by Second Line units (as suggested by the low ELR 3).



I think that the Bulgarians would have an easier time of it if the SS degraded to Second Liners. The current stats on ROAR (10-4 in favour of the SS) suggests that the Bulgarians need help. In a ten-turn beast of a scenario, there ought to be many Replacements on both sides. Of course, rain could also play an important role in the outcome.

Thanks for posting your AAR. I've always wondered how "Return to Sender" plays out.
I believe you are correct that without a specific SSR denoting that the SS 548 would be replaced by SS 447s would not be enacted because unless playing a CG/CG-related scenario where that is the case. Neither SS 548 or SS 447 are provided for in "Official" ASL (other than in CGs & this does not translate to other non-CG specific scenarios). Barring an SSR to denote the Replacement/Assault Fire/Underlined Morale or Increased broken Morale, the notation that the 548 are SS (even if presented in Black SS colors) would have no further impact upon the scenario than if they were any other 548 units other than the notation they are SS units. However, I can certainly see where an SSR to that affect may seem to be be "implied".
 

volgaG68

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Okay, thanks Chris.

Given that neither SS 5-4-8s nor SS 4-4-7 MMC are provided for in A25.11, it was not clear to me that the SS (by SSR) 5-4-8s would be Replaced by SS 4-4-7 without a specific reference in the SSR. Given the old Q&A below, I was wondering if the designer intended that the SS be Replaced by Second Line units (as suggested by the low ELR 3).



I think that the Bulgarians would have an easier time of it if the SS degraded to Second Liners. The current stats on ROAR (10-4 in favour of the SS) suggests that the Bulgarians need help. In a ten-turn beast of a scenario, there ought to be many Replacements on both sides. Of course, rain could also play an important role in the outcome.

Thanks for posting your AAR. I've always wondered how "Return to Sender" plays out.
Yes, the Bulgarians might just need the slightest balance provision, or a slight run of luck, but the SS player is not without his challenges as well. One of Pat's 20L AA never fired a shot due to being placed in an out of the way position he was sure someone would pass by. There is a lot of frontage to cover for the SS, doubly difficult without any real depth to the defense.

I think the toughest decision is when to reveal/fire the 88s. Most likely they will be set up in Concealment Terrain to acquire HIP that must be 'blasted' off of them, and set up in a non-linear fashion to negate Strafing Runs at more than one in each aircraft's turn. The natural impulse which Pat succumbed to, and likely me as well, was to open fire with them immediately to start taking out tanks, hts, and trucks at a distance. Using Red TH# (SSR) often made this dicey at best. He still managed to bag three Pzs.

We thought post-game, what if the 88s hold their fire until the FB are gone at the end of Turn 4? Aircraft MG might fire blindly at some of the likely Concealment Terrain spots in the hills, score a PTC or better, and allow for easier bomb placement or open it up for the following aircraft. If the MG-gambit didn't work, however, they would be incredibly difficult to 'find' and bomb; basically you would have two chances (bomb loads) to figure out where they were and induce damage. BUT..... by the end of Turn 4, would the SS have then allowed the Bulgarian vehicles to run rampant for too long. They would almost surely have engaged the hills by that point, but then you would have nice (red)TH# that might result in a turkey shoot. Also, anyone making it up to the higher levels would have to deal with in-your-face 88s defending it. Perhaps the choice is to maintain HIP on one or more of the 88s until that point, only firing one to keep the vehicles honest in their approach?

Like I said, the Bulgarians have a challenge, but the Germans are not without their own. I find your Replacement analysis interesting, as it makes me wonder whether or not Replacement-misplays like ours IS what resulted in the ROAR disparity (it was 10G/3B before our entry). Would love to hear a post-game analysis from someone who Replaces the SS 5-4-8 with 2nd Line Germans rather than 4-4-7 SS; perhaps that would be the difference maker and 'even things up'.
 
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BattleSchool

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I believe you are correct that without a specific SSR denoting that the SS 548 would be replaced by SS 447s would not be enacted because unless playing a CG/CG-related scenario where that is the case. Neither SS 548 or SS 447 are provided for in "Official" ASL (other than in CGs & this does not translate to other non-CG specific scenarios). Barring an SSR to denote the Replacement/Assault Fire/Underlined Morale or Increased broken Morale, the notation that the 548 are SS (even if presented in Black SS colors) would have no further impact upon the scenario than if they were any other 548 units other than the notation they are SS units. However, I can certainly see where an SSR to that affect may seem to be be "implied".
IMO, the SSR in ASL120 treats the 5-4-8/2-3-8 MMC in the OB as SS, which apart from making them Elite (like a standard 5-4-8/2-3-8) gives these MMC an increase in their broken Morale Level (as explicitly noted in the SSR), and the implied ability to Massacre (A20.4). However, given that the SSR does not reference A25.11 specifically, some might argue that Massacre is NA. I don't think that this is a strong argument. But even if the SSR had referenced A25.11, there is no mention of underscored Morale in this rule section, which brings me to my next point.

I do believe that the SSR and A19.13 are nevertheless clear in noting that the 5-4-8/2-3-8 MMC are Replaced normally. The normal Replacement schema for a unit without an underscored Morale Factor involves a reduction in Strength Factors (in this case, from a 5-4-8/2-3-8 to a 4-4-7/2-3-7), and a drop in Class. A 5-4-8 is Elite, and whether SS or not, must be Replaced by an MMC of a lower Class. An SS 4-4-7/2-3-7 is Elite, and therefore NA for Replacement purposes--barring an SSR to the contrary (e.g. R6.2 and FB15.1). As far as I can tell, there is nothing in SSR 4 to indicate that the 5-4-8/2-3-8 should be treated as having underscored Morale in ASL120.

Yes, the Bulgarians might just need the slightest balance provision, or a slight run of luck, but the SS player is not without his challenges as well. <snip>

I think the toughest decision is when to reveal/fire the 88s. <snip>

Like I said, the Bulgarians have a challenge, but the Germans are not without their own. I find your Replacement analysis interesting, as it makes me wonder whether or not Replacement-misplays like ours IS what resulted in the ROAR disparity (it was 10G/3B before our entry). Would love to hear a post-game analysis from someone who Replaces the SS 5-4-8 with 2nd Line Germans rather than 4-4-7 SS; perhaps that would be the difference maker and 'even things up'.
Good points re the 88s. However, I'm not sure that the Germans have the luxury of waiting for the FB to leave. Without any ATMM/PF to keep the Bulgarian tanks honest, the 88s may need to take one for the team early on.

Keep in mind too that with an ELR2, many Bulgarian 5-3-7 and 3-4-7 MMC will be Replaced with Conscripts. Climbing the hills on board 50, even without rain, will be slow going for 3-3-6 squads.

I was going to email Brian Martuzas, but I see that you have already sent him a PM. Thanks for that.

-chris
 
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Finished SP68 Foote-ing the Bill tonight. Fun scenario against a great opponent.

My Brits won it in 4.5 turns. Key to victory was a turn 3 gust that wiped out the vehicular dust that was protecting my opponent's Italian M13/43s. I took out three in that prep fire phase. Another one was shocked in the next turn. My opponent used his PzIVF2 well, taking out a Matilda and nearly getting a Valentine - but boxcars on the tk saved me! Overall my opponent had terrible luck on his to kills. His PzIIIs could not roll less than the 5 needed to get my Matildas/Valentines.

Overall this is a dicey, capricious scenario that breaks all the best laid plans. That is not a criticism. This a fun, wild fight, with plently of highs and lows for everyone. It is dramatic and has a lot of tension. But its not really rigorous enough for tournament play.

My advice for the Brits is to keep the Valentines in the Deir where their hulldown state rewards their turret armor, while the Matildas should be tucked back in the south west corner of board 27. Making sure the Germans can't hide too much behind the board 27 hilllock is key. X9 is a solid spot for a Matilda. For the Axis, using the hillocks to protect yourself and cut up the British defense helps. Also generating local superiority can help you deal with the better British armor. The M13/43s should also be kept back and rushed into the victory area only right at the end.

Overall, a good scenario if you want a simple, easy, tank shoot'em up. Great game to learn the desert.
 

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Guys, as the designer of this scenario it was my intent that the German 5-4-8 squads have both spraying and assault fire. ELR replacements go down and stay at 4-4-7. Then they are replaced into 2-3-7 HS.
I am surprised that the Bulgarians are having problems winning. I will be at ASLOK early and if anyone would want to try this scenario--I would LOVE to play it again--let me know. I will happily take the Bulgarians. As many may know, I move fast and this will not take more than one day to play.
Also note that originally this had the Bulgarian AFV crews as inexperienced, but changed that later.
Designed in 1998.
 

Tooz

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double post (no idea how or why this showed up)
 
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Tooz

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Guys, as the designer of this scenario let me jump in and say, yes, the 5-4-8s have assault as well as spraying fire. Their ELR replacement takes them down to a 4-4-7. Then they split into two 2-3-7s if replaced further. An ELR of 3.
I would be more than happy to play this again as Bulgarians. I will be at ASLOK early--any takers? I play fast and we should get this played under 8 hours.
Designed back in 1997 this originally had the Bulgarian tank crews inexperienced, but later omitted this for better balance.

These double/triple posts brought to you by my weird computer. Pretty buggy...
 
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volgaG68

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Guys, as the designer of this scenario it was my intent that the German 5-4-8 squads have both spraying and assault fire. ELR replacements go down and stay at 4-4-7. Then they are replaced into 2-3-7 HS.
4-4-7 SS or regular German 2nd Line?
 

klasmalmstrom

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Guys, as the designer of this scenario it was my intent that the German 5-4-8 squads have both spraying and assault fire...
That is clear from the 5-4-8 counters.



ELR replacements go down and stay at 4-4-7. Then they are replaced into 2-3-7 HS.
The way the SSR is worded, I do not think it says that - i.e., errata would (IMO) be needed.

My interpretation would be that they are Replaced by non-SS 4-4-7 which after that would Battle-Harden/be-Replaced-further as normal non-SS 4-4-7 2nd Line units.
 
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