So what scenarios have you played Recently?

[Ed Donoghue]

THANK YOU, now it makes sense.

 

[Jude]

Played BRT3 Ryan's Orphans as the defending Japanese. I placed most of my forces next to the beach and one hex further inland as the VCs require the US to clear almost the entire playing area's beach and adjacent hinterland hexes for an instant win. The bulk of my forces were separated by a smaller three hex cluster further north along the beach just to slow the American marines down. A couple of other units were further inland to prevent an uncontested end around. That worked pretty well as my friend massed almost every unit near the shore with a small flanking force. No subtlety in this one; just smash mouth in your face grinding. The first assault was repulsed with mostly breaks. The second push was stronger and the first cluster was overrun. However, the second defensive line stopped that wave and my friend regrouped for his last try. The third wave had too many MC failures and petered out without making much of a dent on the second defensive line. By mid turn 5 (of 7) there wasn't a realistic chance of the marines taking more than half the beach so we ended it.

I don't really know what happened that made the game so lopsided. Both our dice were fair, my friend used some smoke grenades to cover movement (we found out that we made a mistake in our last BRT scenario in that the Shermans don't have smoke except for sM), and while there were some fluky ASL events (one of my crews getting ambush and taking out a 7-6-8, a snakes on a DC, my 75 AA Gun malfunctioning and then Xing the repair roll), nothing seemed too dramatic. My defense was decent but exploitable. Perhaps it was my friends inability to get radio contact - he was only able to get one fire mission in and the results were negligible - was a factor, but I think it was the soft sand that was the biggest issue. Two MF per hex really slowed the marines down. The marines kept coming, but it took a while for them to get there. Having to take out pretty much the entire Japanese force in seven turns is asking a lot even without moving so slow. Only six American wins vs 30 Japanese on ROAR speaks to balance issues. My friend did not like it, I found it a bit boring as I just sat there and shot at anything I could. There was never a reason I should have moved so I didn't. Again, though, we learned some more tactics to use in our next BRT scenario which will come after a short chronological break to play a couple of scenarios in another area of the Pacific.

 

[Ray Woloszyn]

Pynda Avenged [WO29] I probably played my last scenario today for 2019 bookending the year since I played this at Winter Offensive at the start of 2019. Unfortunately my game with Dave Stephens who played the Greeks versus my Ities ended as my earlier game against John Dober's Greeks, i.e. with a loss. ROAR now shows five Italian wins versus thirteen. My defense was better this time around but collapsed on turn five making the end on turn six inevitable. Dice were about even but the Italian six morale units just could not stand up to the continuous drubbing. I like the scenario as it is infantry only and plays quickly. I am not sure the balance would do much good with the loss of 1 of 4 LMG's for the Greeks and giving the Italians an extra LMG for a total of two.

Happy New Year to my fellow ASL players. See you around the game table in 2020.

 

[waltermcwilliam]

Tom and I have continued our PiF playthrough this month with three playings: BFP139 Cockroaches Against Panzers This was a polish nightmare and I conceded halfway through the playing. Failure to read the German entry conditions made for a tough go. I also chose to interdict the hill with fire vs manning it. That failed as well. BFP140 Iron Greeting My poles attacked with some Renault tanks in support to retake the village of Krasne. It was a tight scenario coming down to the last CC for a polish win. BFP141 Belorussian Brawl The poles are asked to man a long front against enemies attacking from three directions with superior mobility. By the 1/2 way point in the scenario I had disabled a MMG after only one fire phase and the Art on the first shot. No Mol attack succeeded in eliminating a single Rusian AFV as they drove right through the defense and interdicted the reinforcements. It was hopeless as is this scenario for the poles.

Next up BFP142 The New Eagles

 

[asloser]

My last game of 2019 was HF4 Liehr Launches First against my brother Teemu.

I have played HF1-3 previously and as you probably guessed the idea is to play through the scenarios of this HASL.

In our game i was the German. I sent my tanks and about half of the infantry to the German left, rest of the infantry started to attack directly along the buildings/rubble on left side of the road dissecting the game area in half.

Teemu had anticipated the "left hook" attack and I found both of the HIP M10 TDs there. My first move put me into a position where I luckily had bot of the Panthers out of M10 LOS - both PzIVs were in the LOS and the PzIVs were destroyed on turn1. However I the Panthers were in position to challenge the immobile TDs and they were both dead by turn 3, one panther was shocked by the but managed to recover. The Hellcats want to support the infantry on the German left flank and tried to avoid Panthers altogether. I challenged them with the Panther with armor leader, missed out on the first bounding fire shot and the Hellcat managed a DI attempt on the next prep fire, forcing the already once shocked Panther crew to bail out.

I got some of my right flanking force infantry through to the back victory buildings - Teemu had pulled one squad back in to the victory buildings but that was too little. On the left flank we shot each other forces into pieces and finally I had a 247, 8-0 created by CC snakes remaining along with the baled out panther crew. This force was able to infiltrate the flank and I broke all the remaining Americans on my turn 5 Defensive fire - hence I would have a free movement into the required VC buildings an Rally did not bring anybody back.

Again a Hatten sceanrio did not disappoint. The best one so far has been HF2 Bertoldo the Brave, followed by HF3 and 4. The First one is not bad but as the Germans lack armor it is not as intense ans the other three have been. Next up is HF5 which seems to be the worst of the lot balance wise based on the ROAR record - although not impossible. The German balance for HF 5 is pretty substantial so we'll see if that gets to be used.

 

[Ray Woloszyn]

My last game of 2019 was HF4 Liehr Launches First against my brother Teemu.

"Brotherly love", how nice for the season . I played almost all of the HiF scenarios this year and enjoyed every one, mostly because I was generally victorious in most. It is truly meat and potatoes ASL, not too complex with just the right mix of toys and variety despite the same map used in all of them.

 

[Michael R]

My last completed scenario of 2019 is A79 MIKE RED. This one has been on my "to play" list for a long time for two reasons. This might be the only official D-Day beach landing scenario out there and D-Day on the beaches is such a historical event. Second, this scenario takes place on Juno beach, which was assigned to the Canadians and I am Canadian. There is no designer credit, but the Archive has Brent Pollock as the designer and he is Canadian. Magnus and I have been having the beach landing experience; we are playing a bunch of them in a row since the rules labor is not insignificant.

The Royal Winnipeg Rifles (ten 457, six 338 assault engineers and sappers, five leaders, SW including a FT and five DC) come ashore in six landing craft. On the second turn, four Duplex Drive Sherman tanks follow them onto the beach. The German defenders consist of two 447 and a lot of crews with a Pak 38 (50L), a HMG, two MMG and two light mortars. They are well fortified with eight wire counters, four trenches, four tetrahedrons and three pillboxes. The Germans also receive a small reinforcement group on a random turn.

The Canadians must cross a huge beach of six hexes. There is a low seawall that will keep the tanks on the beach unless the sappers manage to breach the seawall. Their objective is formidable: clear all three pillboxes of the enemy and exit seven VP.

The principal decision for the German player is what to put near the beach and what to put away from the beach. The seawall causes a +1 hindrance unless the firer ADJACENT to it. One pillbox has a pre-determined setup hex with the ATG and crew on the west edge. I chose to put a trench adjacent to that pillbox to create a bunker. I put a second pillbox, trench and MMG on the east edge. I decided that I wanted the HMG to be in a pillbox and be able to cover the entire beach so I put it a distance away from the seawall. As I write this, I see that was illegal; all the pillboxes need to be adjacent to the seawall. Regarding the ATG, the German can choose the CA to face north or northeast. I chose to face the northeast to cover slightly more landing hexes.

In our match, Magnus entered the landing craft on the east side of north edge. When he saw that he was in the ATG CA, he decided to head for the west side, which used up precious time. Since we had not yet experienced an ATG firing at a landing craft, we did not realize how unlikely it is for this ATG to sink a landing craft. We will replay this scenario soon and I will not worry about it. The tetrahedrons did not damage any landing craft. The ATG broke on turn two and then six'd out. The MGs, however, did sterling service causing casualties to Canadian infantry as they left the landing craft. As well, the HMG managed to sink two of the DD tanks by piercing their floatation screens (rolling a three on the two column of the IFT). Magnus played on a bit longer than necessary so we could keep practicing seaborne assault rules. He conceded because of excessive casualties.

The image below is taken after the fifth Canadian turn.

 

[Blackcloud6]

Guy Flummerfelt and I played today KR 1 Parker's Silver Star and KR 2 Second Wave from Krinkelt -Rocherath: The battle of the Twin Villages. Both of these were American victories. We're planning on playing the whole pack except we won't likely play the 46 Turn final scenario. I'm the Americans and Guy is the Germans.

 

[Khill]

J187 In Deadly Combat v FanaticTW was fun. We diced for sides: I got the attacking Russians. Interesting OB reinforcement options that effects building VC. The ROAR has this one 27:14 German. There are hoards of Russians but I could not get my troops into good HW position as Ted adroitly pulled back. There was plenty of excitement such as my Valsily SAN was hot and Russian squad got a StuG in CC. There was a massive CC in the center factory that we both kept reinforcing, as our casualties mounted, that lasted through three turns, to the end. My biggest shock was Russian T28 Smoke! Russians made good use of it but slowly ran out, broke a MA, ESB immobilized another AFV, and ELR'd (2) a lot of squads . Tough sledding for the Russians: I only got one building. German reinforcements arrived in the nick of time to stem the Russian advance. First loss in the new year. I'd try the Ruskies again but I'd bid German in a tournament

 

[JRKrejsa]

J187 In Deadly Combat v FanaticTW was fun. We diced for sides: I got the attacking Russians. Interesting OB reinforcement options that effects building VC. The ROAR has this one 27:14 German. There are hoards of Russians but I could not get my troops into good HW position as Ted adroitly pulled back. There was plenty of excitement such as my Valsily SAN was hot and Russian squad got a StuG in CC. There was a massive CC in the center factory that we both kept reinforcing, as our casualties mounted, that lasted through three turns, to the end. My biggest shock was Russian T28 Smoke! Russians made good use of it but slowly ran out, broke a MA, ESB immobilized another AFV, and ELR'd (2) a lot of squads . Tough sledding for the Russians: I only got one building. German reinforcements arrived in the nick of time to stem the Russian advance. First loss in the new year. I'd try the Ruskies again but I'd bid German in a tournament

Playing this one at the moment, with the Soviet balance. Fun thus far.

 

[Khill]

Playing this one at the moment, with the Soviet balance. Fun thus far.

Russians need at least printed balance. did you guys take the AFV's? Ted (Germans) did, I did not so I had the VC advantage but did not even come close. good luck

 

[JRKrejsa]

Russians need at least printed balance. did you guys take the AFV's? Ted (Germans) did, I did not so I had the VC advantage but did not even come close. good luck

We maxed out, all the vehicles, StuGs and KVs.

 

[Roy]

Jeff Buser's Italians made short work of my Punjabs in A39 Showdown at Tug Argan Pass when my two red chits at scenario start made it nothing more than a contest to see how quickly he could get up the hill.

AAR at my blog: Cardboard Warrior

Thanks for reading.

 

[Jude]

Played ASL 67 Cibik's Ridge as the attacking Japanese. Weird to set up second looking at only two foxholes. My men moved dutifully in three columns towards the hill they were supposed to take. My plan was to go CX, use seven or less MF with each column, and disband each with the last MF thinking the Americans would be a little ways back. The first column met a hidden bore sighted MTR right off the bat and lost the lead HS. I thought my friend screwed up by putting that guy so far forward. The column disbanded. The second column met a HIP MMG, 9-2, and squad in a bore sighted location. The MMG tore up another HS and two squads behind it. Now I really thought my friend screwed up. Yet another HIP HS popped out and striped one more squad. With all columns now disbanded, unconcealed, and pinned, my lead guys got raked again (thankfully without the MG bore sight and -2 Hazardous Movement column penalty). My friend rolled incredibly well, to the point if this had been another nationality, I would have been tempted to call it - although it would have been too early for that - but it was bad. Luckily this was the IJA and so instead of a bunch of broken and MC fail kills, they pressed on bloodied but in good order. They underwent some withering fire but got a lucky break when the US 9-2 wounded and then later a berserk squad broke up a strong point. Slowly my guys pushed up the ridge with both sides taking heavy losses. By turn 7 (of 8) I needed one more hex for the win. Throwing caution to the wind, I jumped into two CCs. I knew that all the Americans needed was two more CVPs for the win, but I only had a striped squad, a few HS, and both crews (one striped). The Americans were down to four HS with one broken. However, he still had two MGs. I won the first CC but Mutually Assured Destruction occurred in the second taking out my striped squad and with it the game. Turns out my friend's strategy worked. He performed an excellent fighting withdraw action keeping just out of LOS except when necessary. Great game. I can honestly say, this was the best scenario I played in 2020!

 

[Jude]

Played BRT7 Didn't Have to be There as the defending Japanese. Quite a let down after an epic struggle in Cibik's Ridge. This scenario for me was one of those "OK, I played it, time to move on" scenarios. It reminded me of a similar Stalingrad scenario I played a long time ago where the Russians were surrounded and the Germans had to root them out of a single hex building. Anyway, the Japanese are totally surrounded in a harassing fire equivalent set up area with absolutely nothing to do except fire at the assaulting marines. Static and boring. My friend exploited a spot I foolishly missed and set up right next to my lone Gun. With a flamethrower. I had the building fortified, but that's not much help against a FT. Luckily he only striped. I KIAed a 7-6-8 who attempted to take a hut next to the Island Command Bunker (+5 TEM) and broke another squad trying to place a DC, but other than that, turn 1 was otherwise uneventful. Turn 2 was when the game became ridiculous. A FT hauling hero Xed his FT and then died in CC, the US 9-2 leader died with a sniper shot, the FT toting HS with him broke on the LLMC, my HMG in the ICB went on a rate tear for the ages (maybe 7-8 shots - with an 11 breakdown weapon!) and killed the only other leader, another squad, and caused another US squad to go berserk. I still had rate with it but didn't want to risk losing it vs a now 10ML squad. The next turn the berserk squad died charging the ICB and a few more US squads broke. With no leaders left to rally them, my friend called it. Neither one of us liked it. A historically important situation, but unfortunately, it doesn't translate to a fun scenario, IMHO. It plays fast, though, it is super balanced according to ROAR, 26-25 Japanese, and there's a bulldozer (my first ever scenario I played that had one in it), so there's that.

 

[Jeff Waldon]

Played BRT7 Didn't Have to be There as the defending Japanese. Quite a let down after an epic struggle in Cibik's Ridge. This scenario for me was one of those "OK, I played it, time to move on" scenarios. It reminded me of a similar Stalingrad scenario I played a long time ago where the Russians were surrounded and the Germans had to root them out of a single hex building. Anyway, the Japanese are totally surrounded in a harassing fire equivalent set up area with absolutely nothing to do except fire at the assaulting marines. Static and boring. My friend exploited a spot I foolishly missed and set up right next to my lone Gun. With a flamethrower. I had the building fortified, but that's not much help against a FT. Luckily he only striped. I KIAed a 7-6-8 who attempted to take a hut next to the Island Command Bunker (+5 TEM) and broke another squad trying to place a DC, but other than that, turn 1 was otherwise uneventful. Turn 2 was when the game became ridiculous. A FT hauling hero Xed his FT and then died in CC, the US 9-2 leader died with a sniper shot, the FT toting HS with him broke on the LLMC, my HMG in the ICB went on a rate tear for the ages (maybe 7-8 shots - with an 11 breakdown weapon!) and killed the only other leader, another squad, and caused another US squad to go berserk. I still had rate with it but didn't want to risk losing it vs a now 10ML squad. The next turn the berserk squad died charging the ICB and a few more US squads broke. With no leaders left to rally them, my friend called it. Neither one of us liked it. A historically important situation, but unfortunately, it doesn't translate to a fun scenario, IMHO. It plays fast, though, it is super balanced according to ROAR, 26-25 Japanese, and there's a bulldozer (my first ever scenario I played that had one in it), so there's that.

Not my favorite from BRT either. BRT6 on the other hand!

 

[Jude]

Not my favorite from BRT either. BRT6 on the other hand!

My friend and I are saving that scenario for last. Hopefully we'll have most of the BRT idiosyncrasies figured out by then. Looks like a several day affair.

 

[JRKrejsa]

In Deadly Combat ASL J187 (Sounds like the title to a Sgt. Rock comic...) Russia, winter of '41. The Soviets must take buildings from the Germans, on boards 71 and u. We played it with the Soviet balance. We also agreed that this would be more fun with both sides taking their optional OBs- StuGs and early model KVs. I send my Ruskis at board 71, and ignored u, except for a KV on the board edge. I took losses at first but made progress into 71N5. Once the tank duels began, the StuGs immo'ed one KV, but other wise they could not make a TK DR. My tanks had average luck, but that was all that was needed. I lost on T-28 to mechanical reliability...
My opponents luck continued to be poor, rolling 10s and 11s on rally DRs. I left 71N5 un guarded, and he snuck a leader and squad in to retake the building. But, at game end I threw them out, and took the other needed buildings. Soviet Win.
Fun, but I think it would have been tighter without all the bad DRs for the Krauts.

 

[Ray Woloszyn]

[J156 Mageret Mixer] We wanted to get a "Bulge" scenario played in December but that did not work out. Dave Stephens and I finished a real barn burner yesterday that went to the last advance phase with the Americans eaking out a win giving me 1-0 for 2020 (woo-hoo!). A last phase prep fire critical hit on a row house took out the crew of the 75L which could possibly have routed upstairs for the victory and an end around by a second line squad ensured an encirclement preventing the other broken units in the other part of the row house from routing upstairs. The squad did have to survive a normal morale check without pinning and was missed by a heroic German leader on a one flat shot. The true hero, however, was the surviving crew of my Turn 3 M4A1 who worked his way across the board DM-ing broken Germans and capturing two buildings. This after getting knocked out immediately by the 75L.

If most of my scenarios for this new year are like yesterday's, I will be in high cotton.

 

[WuWei]

As practice scenario, we played RB4 To The Rescue. My Russian defenders won because of excellent performance in CC. Next on the list: Operation Hubertus with me as the German Attacker. I just got the setup from my opponent, and I'm a little bit afraid.