So what scenarios have you played Recently?

Jeffrey D Myers

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Playtesting and proofing are for the Little Scenario Designers.

JR
Little Scenario Designers = Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds = Lysergic Acid Dietheyamide?

Not sure that that would help my own playtesting, but them I am somewhat spacey even without extra impediments.
 

JRKrejsa

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Roasting Rossner SP 273 Russia, '41, Soviets with popgun tanks, and some with flamethrowers, try to take hill hexes from the SS. We both decided to add the maximum reinforcements, both panzers and the second OT-26. I went after the hex that had to have the PaK38 in it, and it did. The PaK38 was only able to claim one Soviet rattle can before being broken by the OT-26. But, an outposted 4-6-8 in 76FF4 caused all kinds of trouble for my infantry, and they did not close on the hill. Once the Panzers arrived, I was in trouble. I was able to take part of the DD8 hill, one hex of the BB6 hill, and none of the long skinny hill. German win. Good scenario.
 

dlazov

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I think that with ESG most of those are very large scenarios, so they are not tempered like how most tourney sized scenarios are. Its hard to playtest a scenario where you have 15+ squads and 10+ AFV (at least on paper and vasl) there is just a lot going on. It also could be that in that playtest group, it was only localized to that area. So in a sense you'll have certain results from the playtesting/ers. I know that LCP has playtesters spread out all over the place. I think that DFTB and SP/RPT are more localized but they are also smaller scenarios in scope. Not sure on the Europeans (LFT & FF), and as far as I know BFP sets the bar, they are both localized (Texas) and also had testers in Chicago. BFP sets the bar for a lot of things, small scenarios, medium ones and not to mention boards and counters. And just to start a blaze counter "who knows who and where CH play testers are" :D:cool::mad::)
 

Jeff Waldon

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I've played 47 ESG scenarios, all from packs 1-8, without pre-consideration of whether the specific scenario was balanced or not. My average 'enjoyment' rating for ESG scenarios, while slightly below my personal overall average, is still acceptable. There are some woofers in there, but overall there have been some great and also generally solid plays, once you get past the less polished presentation and uncertain historicity.
 
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lionelc62

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I think that with ESG most of those are very large scenarios, so they are not tempered like how most tourney sized scenarios are. Its hard to playtest a scenario where you have 15+ squads and 10+ AFV (at least on paper and vasl) there is just a lot going on. It also could be that in that playtest group, it was only localized to that area. So in a sense you'll have certain results from the playtesting/ers. I know that LCP has playtesters spread out all over the place. I think that DFTB and SP/RPT are more localized but they are also smaller scenarios in scope. Not sure on the Europeans (LFT & FF), and as far as I know BFP sets the bar, they are both localized (Texas) and also had testers in Chicago. BFP sets the bar for a lot of things, small scenarios, medium ones and not to mention boards and counters. And just to start a blaze counter "who knows who and where CH play testers are" :D:cool::mad::)
LFT playtesters are also spread out over Europe and USA even if a large part of PT is done in France.

Lionel
 

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Friday last week I spent a most enjoyable day in Yarmouth, southern Nova Scotia playing two scenarios from Hakkaa Paale with Dave Olie.

Our first game was 173 Father Sunshine, where I had the attacking Finns. ROAR has this scenario pro-Russian but after our playing, that made little sense to us. This is a dicey armor battle (supported by a bit of infantry on both sides), with a tiny exit area for the Finns. Designed by my good friend Lars Thuring, by the way. I decided to spread out my Finns, avoiding the obvious short road where the Russians set up, with most of the armor taking the long route over the hill to circle around the Russian setup area. Dave's setup was less than ideal as the two T34/85s were far apart and not mutually supporting.

In Turn 3 I could swoop on one of his T34/85s with my armored might. He managed to kill one of my Sotkis (Finnish for T34 with a mediocre gun) but was then surrounded by the rest of my armor and his options frozen by a motion Sturmi (Finnish for Sturmgeschutz) in his hex. This T34 was dispatched by Father Sunshine himself - two turret hits from a 152 mm Soviet built gun were enough. Dave then (unwisely) drove his second T34/85 forward in a counterattack against my totally crap armor (a 1944 radioless platoon of two T26s and a BA-20 armored car).....he passed through one of my Finn squad hexes and was promptly destroyed by a Panzerfaust (which he had overlooked as an option for the Finns in June 1944).

That pretty much settled the game, as I had too many decent tanks left against his single reinforcing T34/85 - and I only needed to exit 3 AFV after destroying both at-start Russian tanks.

Overall, a mediocre setup was decisively dealth with by a pretty good plan. I would not play this again, certainly not for a tournament, since I think the variability and fun factors are not particularly high. However, playing with these odd (captured) tanks and completing a scenario in just a few hours was enjoyable.
 
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Jacometti

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The second Hakkaa Paale scenario we played last Friday was 170 11th Company Counterattack, designed by Tuomo Lukkari. This is one of the HP scenarios with a high ROAR record and inclusion in several tournament scenario lists. It features one of my favourite tanks of all times, the Finnish BT-42 (which we also used in Red Churchills).

We swapped sides and I was the defending Russians. Unfortunately, this scenario is ruined to some degree by the Victory Condition: The Finns win at game end if there are no unbroken Russian MMC on board. In other word: a bug hunt (although there are only 6 Russian MMCs and no HIP, so it is not the worst sort).

This turned out to be a really tight and fun game, within the limits of the VERY SMALL playing area and the VC. I had of course dug in several squads on the very board edge as far away from any Finns as possible, sitting concealed in a foxhole hoping to last the entire scenario. That was less easy than I had thought - with Finnish SAN of 6, 7.5 quality Finnish squads and the two Finnish tanks, they will be able to really push hard. Dave played a solid attack, using his Finns very agressively (which is the only right way in this game). A key moment was the first Finnish opportunity to take Russian prisoners, which he declined declaring No Quarter. A crucial error, which I see made more often also in tournaments. Many players overestimate the risks of holding prisoners and underestimate the huge routing advantage bestowed by No Quarter declaration.

A seemingly pivotal moment in mid-game was his Sniper taking out my 6-2-8 with an ATR, which is the only real threat to his armor. My 8-0 had already fallen victim to the same man with the scoped rifle, so my resources were dwindling. Dave then failed to enforce Failure to Rout against the same unit....but the area where my few Russians were holding out had become very small indeed. With 2 Game Turns left to go, it looked like the Finns were going to pull of a solid victory......TWICE the damn 114mm guns hit my MMC, needing low TH rolls, and the 20 flat shots were of course too much for my men. Then a crucial gap in his forces allowed a broken elite squad to rout away behind his forces - only possible due to No Quarter. In Russian Turn 5, this 6-2-8 rolled Snake Eyes as my MMC Self-Rally, creating a 8-0 and rallying in a great spot. All I had to do was keep this guy alive, which was really not hard - so Dave conceded the game. We both agreed this is a fun small scenario - although with some more troops, a bit more terrain to play in and a less-bug-hunting type of VC it could have been even better!

I have now played 4 Hakkaa Paale scenarios (and prepared for 2 others) - my favourite without doubt is 163 Stopped Cold - however at ASLOK Rob Loper and I will play Torment at Tormua, which I hope will be another good game.
 

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Funny thing is, I just played the same 11th Company Counterattack, as the Finns. My opponent (Lionel Colin, aka lionelc62) chose to defend in force in the woods rather than trying to play "catch me at the back".

I sent an initial force (maybe too large, in retrospect) north of the railroad to try to neutralize some small defense force there, with the idea of later putting some pressure on the defenders of the woods if they had to retreat; and the rest of my force attacked the woods. We traded fire for 2-3 turns, and at some point my whole force vanished - between a very active Russian sniper and some luckier rolls at critical points, I lost 5 squads to the Russian 1. Also, on the second shot by each of my tanks, one malfunctioned and the other got Low Ammo. Total disaster on my side...

Highlights of the game were the Wind Change DRs; in the first two turns, the wind increased to a Mild Breeze, then we got Gusts, and finally the wind changed direction.

The scenario is a nice one, but with ultra high SANs (5 and 6) in such a small scenario (6 squads on one side vs 7.5 on the other), I would not recommend it for a tournament; it seems way too dicey.
 

jrv

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Highlights of the game were the Wind Change DRs; in the first two turns, the wind increased to a Mild Breeze, then we got Gusts, and finally the wind changed direction.
I can't comment on the particular scenario, but I have to wonder about it if the highlights of the game were the wind change DRs ;-)

JR
 

Philippe D.

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Well, that makes for fun comments. Especially when one player (me, in this case) "wasted" two snake eyes on consecutive Wind Changes, while the other "avoids" a boxcars with his own WC DR.
 

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Played Ramsey’s Charge (Revised version in Rising Sun). Ended early as 9-2 failed his 1MC, wounded twice and failed second wound check and his accompanying 6-6-7 w/LMG also broke. Story of the night as my Japs didn’t break or pin and his American horseman rarely passed. Now to try the BFP version after some Dien Bien Phu
 

Jacometti

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Funny thing is, I just played the same 11th Company Counterattack, as the Finns. My opponent (Lionel Colin, aka lionelc62) chose to defend in force in the woods rather than trying to play "catch me at the back".

The scenario is a nice one, but with ultra high SANs (5 and 6) in such a small scenario (6 squads on one side vs 7.5 on the other), I would not recommend it for a tournament; it seems way too dicey.
One thing that did keep going through my mind was: why on earth did the designer decide on SAN 5 for the defender and SAN 6 for the attacker?
 

STAVKA

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One thing that did keep going through my mind was: why on earth did the designer decide on SAN 5 for the defender and SAN 6 for the attacker?
To make the Russian defender to think twice if it helps to hide away a unit in the rear and of course make Guards of POW nervous about their decision to take prisoners.
 

Philippe D.

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To make the Russian defender to think twice if it helps to hide away a unit in the rear and of course make Guards of POW nervous about their decision to take prisoners.
Sure, SAN 6 makes it a gamble to hide a single squad in the back - but it also increases a lot the importance of these random effects. Plus, that's already a frequent complaint about small scenarios.
 

asloser

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One thing that did keep going through my mind was: why on earth did the designer decide on SAN 5 for the defender and SAN 6 for the attacker?
Because of the historical situation. There was a lot of action around this place with Finns trying to dislodge the Russians from the west bank of Viipurilahti - and naturally Russians tried to support their comrades in the bridgehead from the east bank. There was an element of random fire from both sides into this battle area from outside of the map. The high SAN numbers reflect this random element of the situation, and since Finns were closer they have the higher SAN, I chose this abstraction instead of larger scenario with lots of unused area and units which would just fire into the fray and not move much.

I have personally been surprised to see this one used heavily in tournaments - it was never meant to be a tightly balanced tournament scenario, instead my design goal was a quick 2 hour action packed "for fun" scenario with some unusual elements (BT-42s, unusual board configuration).

There is a lot of random and Dicey elements like high SAN, BT-42 guns, ATR/DC as anti tank weapon and so on. Historically the Finns wanted to clear the area once and for all so the VC reflects this.

I tried to create something that was different from the normal fare and keep it relatively small and quick playing.
 
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