Jude
Senior Member
Sometimes ASL just likes to kick you in the balls. My friend and I played OA27 Long Range Recon in prep for our Kursk foray. I had the defending Germans. A very small German force has to hold a slightly larger Russian force from taking two buildings and destroying a bunch of trucks. Victory points are allotted for achieving certain objectives. If the Russians get 31 VPs they win unless the Germans get 13. So, the first shot of the game by the Russians was a 12 on a 12+2 shot. The rest of the Russians crept up concealed on the western side of the board. There's really only one good hex, an orchard cluster next to both victory buildings, otherwise it's all open ground. There is another longer route they could take from the north, but since both sides gain 1 VP for each building controlled at the end of each game turn, time is of the essence. The Germans claimed wall advantage and broke the Russian 8-1 with a lousy NMC and the lone squad with it rolled boxcars. The Russian MG toting GAZ-67Bs rolled in the next turn, and with the ATR, proceeded to take out all five German trucks by the end of turn 2. It took the Russians until Turn 4 (of 6) to finally secure both buildings. By then, they were over the 31 VP cap.
Here's where it got really fluky. My friend declared no quarter when he finished off the Germans in the larger building. After breaking the lone squad in the smaller one, I was able to risk interdiction rather than surrender it because of no quarter. It survived one open ground hex, and ran to the woods on board 32. The Russians shot at the squad the next turn to keep it DM and it ran back into the interior. I needed the lone German 9-1 reinforcement leader with two squads, a LMG, and a MMG to try and force my way back into one of the buildings or at least cause some casualties so I couldn't send it to the broken squad. The broken squad got a field promotion and with the newly created 8-0 moved forward again. The bottom of turn 6 and I needed 2 VPs to get to 13. I blasted a squad and leader manning the small building with the 9-1 stack. The leader broke, but the squad rolled snakes. His subsequent roll was an 11 which disrupted the squad. Because I had enough movement thanks to the new leader, I ran the previously broken squad next to the disrupted Russian squad. He surrendered giving me the last two VPs to win. Heartbreaker for my friend. Like I said, sometimes ASL just kicks you where it hurts...
Sounds exciting, and it did have its moments, but in reality it was slow and definitely too small for my tastes. A few bad rolls early, like the Russians suffered, and they're behind the eight ball. I lost my lone tank by moving PB next to the buildings hoping to blast some Russians. I must have gotten starry-eyed at the opportunity to get off some 16+2 shots. The Russian ATR thought otherwise. Instead, I should have used it to chase the Russian jeeps since they were worth one point each. The Germans trucks can leave the playing area, so I think the jeeps should be able to as well, otherwise, they're just sitting ducks. An OK scenario, I guess. It only took a little over an hour to play. Now onto Kursk proper (at least the first two days of it), and with all those BFP scenarios coming up, my guess is that each will take quite a bit longer than that.
Here's where it got really fluky. My friend declared no quarter when he finished off the Germans in the larger building. After breaking the lone squad in the smaller one, I was able to risk interdiction rather than surrender it because of no quarter. It survived one open ground hex, and ran to the woods on board 32. The Russians shot at the squad the next turn to keep it DM and it ran back into the interior. I needed the lone German 9-1 reinforcement leader with two squads, a LMG, and a MMG to try and force my way back into one of the buildings or at least cause some casualties so I couldn't send it to the broken squad. The broken squad got a field promotion and with the newly created 8-0 moved forward again. The bottom of turn 6 and I needed 2 VPs to get to 13. I blasted a squad and leader manning the small building with the 9-1 stack. The leader broke, but the squad rolled snakes. His subsequent roll was an 11 which disrupted the squad. Because I had enough movement thanks to the new leader, I ran the previously broken squad next to the disrupted Russian squad. He surrendered giving me the last two VPs to win. Heartbreaker for my friend. Like I said, sometimes ASL just kicks you where it hurts...
Sounds exciting, and it did have its moments, but in reality it was slow and definitely too small for my tastes. A few bad rolls early, like the Russians suffered, and they're behind the eight ball. I lost my lone tank by moving PB next to the buildings hoping to blast some Russians. I must have gotten starry-eyed at the opportunity to get off some 16+2 shots. The Russian ATR thought otherwise. Instead, I should have used it to chase the Russian jeeps since they were worth one point each. The Germans trucks can leave the playing area, so I think the jeeps should be able to as well, otherwise, they're just sitting ducks. An OK scenario, I guess. It only took a little over an hour to play. Now onto Kursk proper (at least the first two days of it), and with all those BFP scenarios coming up, my guess is that each will take quite a bit longer than that.
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