So what scenarios have you played Recently?

Houlie

CEO of HoulieDice (TM)
Joined
Nov 15, 2003
Messages
3,241
Reaction score
1,602
Location
Minnesota, USA
Country
llUnited States
I wrapped up OTO23 Cooked Hamman out of the second edition of Bounding Fire Production's (BFP) Onslaught to Orsha (OTO). The dr gave me the defending Germans against Curtis Brooks’s Russians. It’s a two-board city fight with the Germans fighting a delaying action with the VC being the Russian captures two factories – one on each board.

Some notable features of the scenario: Russians have 4 x FT tanks + 2 x FTs; 10 tanks in total. 24 squads. Germans have 16 squads, 2 x 122 ART, 20L flak, 75L AT, 2 x dug-in T-34 and various fortifications including 3 x fortified locations.

My plan was to festung the Bd 21 factory and the and orchard area with fortifications and withdraw from BFP bd A factory. I felt the Germans were better served to stall out the Russians there and retreat to the other one.

The Russian attack was powerful and made steady progress through the first three turns while the Germans ceded ground as best it could. Turn four proved to be very difficult for the Russians. Some aggressive moves saw two FT tanks lost to very handy PF attacks in the top half of the turn near the board BFP A factory. Another was knocked out by the 75L in the bottom half. One captured StuG was knocked out by a dug-in captured T-34 - the other fell into a cellar. A further Su-76 was dispatched in turn 5. In the bottom of turn 5 the last FT OT-34 (bogged on wire in the orchard-by-SSR) was eliminated. In the German advance phase, a 247 PSK and 9-1 fired on the bogged OT-34 and scored a hit. There was only one tank remaining, and a lot of German infantry stacked in and around the final factory. In light of the long odds and only having one tank to “ram” the factory, the Russians call off the attack. Final disposition of forces -- Ruussian advance red / German withdrawal blue:

15840

A very intense scenario giving both sides a real sense of what both sides dealt with in Operation Bagration. Russians: succeed at ANY cost. Germans: Stand and die. Lots of great decisions for both sides. Russians need to plan and coordinate their attack very carefully. The Germans need to make critical decisions in their set up and where to allocate their defensive assets and fortifications. It was a white knuckle affair for both sides. We both really liked the scenario. In all fairness, my turn 4 dice were lights out. If they were even a bit more average, it surely would have been a different outcome. Thanks to Curtis for a well-played game, as usual. A highly skilled player and true gentleman. Two big thumbs up for Cooked Hamman. Next up: Berated at Baronovichi!
 
Last edited:

Eagle4ty

Forum Guru
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
6,913
Reaction score
5,094
Location
Eau Claire, Wi
Country
llUnited States
I wrapped up OTO23 Cooked Hamman out of the second edition of Bounding Fire Production's (BFP) Onslaught to Orsha (OTO). The dr gave me the defending Germans against Curtis Brooks’s Russians. It’s a two-board city fight with the Germans fighting a delaying action with the VC being the Russian captures two factories – one on each board.

Some notable features of the scenario: Russians have 4 x FT tanks + 2 x FTs; 10 tanks in total. 24 squads. Germans have 16 squads, 2 x 122 ART, 20L flak, 75L AT, 2 x dug-in T-34 and various fortifications including 3 x fortified locations.

My plan was to festung the Bd 21 factory and the and orchard area with fortifications and withdraw from BFP bd A factory. I felt the Germans were better served to stall out the Russians there and retreat to the other one.

The Russian attack was powerful and made steady progress through the first three turns while the Germans ceded ground as best it could. Turn four proved to be very difficult for the Russians. Some aggressive moves saw two FT tanks lost to very handy PF attacks in the top half of the turn near the board BFP A factory. Another was knocked out by the 75L in the bottom half. One captured StuG was knocked out by a dug-in captured T-34 - the other fell into a cellar. A further Su-76 was dispatched in turn 5. In the bottom of turn 5 the last FT OT-34 (bogged on wire in the orchard-by-SSR) was eliminated. In the German advance phase, a 247 PSK and 9-1 fired on the bogged OT-34 and scored a hit. There was only one tank remaining, and a lot of German infantry stacked in and around the final factory. In light of the long odds and only having one tank to “ram” the factory, the Russians call off the attack. Final disposition of forces -- Ruussian advance red / German withdrawal blue:

View attachment 15840

A very intense scenario giving both sides a real sense of what both sides dealt with in Operation Bagration. Russians: succeed at ANY cost. Germans: Stand and die. Lots of great decisions for both sides. Russians need to plan and coordinate their attack very carefully. The Germans need to make critical decisions in their set up and where to allocate their defensive assets and fortifications. It was a white knuckle affair for both sides. We both really liked the scenario. In all fairness, my turn 4 dice were lights out. If they were even a bit more average, it surely would have been a different outcome. Thanks to Curtis for a well-played game, as usual. A highly skilled player and true gentleman. Two big thumbs up for Cooked Hamman. Next up: Berated at Baronovichi!
Curtis has a tendency to drop tanks into cellars. Did he ever tell you the time he dropped 3x T-34s into the SAME cellar on the same turn when playing one of the "Fuchin" scenarios from B&J? We still laugh about it to this day (BTW I believe he still smoked my butt in that one).o_O😖:eek:🤣
 

Houlie

CEO of HoulieDice (TM)
Joined
Nov 15, 2003
Messages
3,241
Reaction score
1,602
Location
Minnesota, USA
Country
llUnited States
Curtis has a tendency to drop tanks into cellars. Did he ever tell you the time he dropped 3x T-34s into the SAME cellar on the same turn when playing one of the "Fuchin" scenarios from B&J? We still laugh about it to this day (BTW I believe he still smoked my butt in that one).o_O😖:eek:🤣
Hmm. He was completely silent on that topic :).

I miss seeing you at TCASL, Tom. Hopefully the new year will give us an opportunity to connect.
 
Last edited:

waltermcwilliam

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2005
Messages
414
Reaction score
288
Location
Fayetteville
Country
llUnited States
J159 Tropic Lightning Tom smoked me in this one. It wasn't even close after the first turn. His dice were tremendously hot and mine were not. I actually HOB the same 1/2 squad on back to back rally phases with back to back results of disrupt. That same phase only one out of 8 American units produced smoke that tried. Might try this one again in the future, the OB's are fun for both sides and action is very different from most PTO fare.
 

von Marwitz

Forum Guru
Joined
Nov 25, 2010
Messages
14,355
Reaction score
10,204
Location
Kraut Corner
Country
llUkraine
J159 Tropic Lightning Tom smoked me in this one. It wasn't even close after the first turn. His dice were tremendously hot and mine were not. I actually HOB the same 1/2 squad on back to back rally phases with back to back results of disrupt. That same phase only one out of 8 American units produced smoke that tried. Might try this one again in the future, the OB's are fun for both sides and action is very different from most PTO fare.
The Oberst, with a fine smile, acknowledges your allusion to those famous lines referring to the Battle of Omdurman in 1898 by Hilaire Belloc in your post:

Whatever happens,
we have got,
the Maxim gun,
and they have not.


J159 Tropic Lightning ranks among my favourite scenarios of all time. A truly excellent one!

von Marwitz
 

waltermcwilliam

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2005
Messages
414
Reaction score
288
Location
Fayetteville
Country
llUnited States
The Oberst, with a fine smile, acknowledges your allusion to those famous lines referring to the Battle of Omdurman in 1898 by Hilaire Belloc in your post:

Whatever happens,
we have got,
the Maxim gun,
and they have not.


J159 Tropic Lightning ranks among my favourite scenarios of all time. A truly excellent one!

von Marwitz
It was one of the few on the Archive's list of best scenarios neither of us hadn't played so that's what led us to it. Neither of us plays PTO a lot, though we both enjoy it, and hope to play more this year.
 

JoeArthur

Elder Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
1,108
Reaction score
1,067
Location
Broadstairs
Country
llUnited Kingdom
Played ROMA3 Salalrolo Junction today. The second night scenario that I have played.

Chris setup with most of his Germans in the three buildings N6, O7, P6. He described the scenario as one of those technical scenarios where everything has to go right for the attacker.

I chose to attack those three buildings and I should not have bothered - too tough. What I should have done is to try to stop the demo charge and take the other two buildings outside the village (W3 and W10). All the while avoiding the fire / staying out of NVR of those three buildings. That would give a win.

The movement is grindingly slow - turn 5 and the Sherman was on I8. I mean it was going to be turn 6 before it was able to fire on those three buildings. Just not fun for me - I find it hard to adjust to the slower game and find the whole process incredibly frustrating.

I conceded on Turn 5 as I had lost too much infantry trying to assault those buildings. It was nice when it stopped :)

Well played Chris.
 

wrongway149

Forum Guru
Joined
Aug 25, 2005
Messages
9,403
Reaction score
2,099
Location
Willoughby, Ohio
Country
llUnited States
Finished J188 Grab And Go in the small hours of the night. It was a blast to play! For sure I underestimated the fun level in this one - and it looked interesting in the first place.

A thorough AAR can be found here.

Cheers,
von Marwitz
"Despite being almost 'Infantry only', this was an entirely fun scenario. IMHO it deserves the high Excitement Ratings so far awarded in ROAR and the ASL Scenario Archive. I think to the comparably high number of units involved, it is somewhat resilient against some catastrophic roll breaking it - after all, still winning a scenario after suffering a 1KIA on one's killer-stack seems usually to be rarity."

This one shows what a great game ASL is, even (or especially) at it bare-bones simplest. I went minimalist deliberately (only a couple small, signature' hooks') so players could enjoy the juicy steak of ASL over the sizzle of fancy rubs and marinades that have become so common.

Superior tactics should win out over rules knowledge/dice in this one.
 

asloser

The Head Tuomo of the Finnish ASL Community
Joined
Jan 29, 2003
Messages
1,047
Reaction score
1,593
Location
Klaukkala-Finland
Country
llFinland
Last week of 2020 was good in ASL - I had some time off from work.

Monday game was FB2 The Devil's Free to Have a Try as Axis against my Brother Teemu Lukkari. This was the second outing of our Festung Budapest scenarios playthrough we started after we finished our Hatten scenarios playthrough earlier in 2020. Before the game I had read all the nice comments of my defensive setup on Tuomofest game at the Illumination rounds folder - so a bad case of Hubris kicked in. My defensive setup sucked, I setup two out of the three guns illegally and so forth. Teemus OT-34 ran out of FT fuel on the first shot he fired, and I hit his tanks with a Faust shot every time I had a chance. So in other words I diced my way into the last turn but the Last Axis counterattack failed one building recaptured hex short. Very nice set of VCs on this one.

Tuesday I played BoF24 A War of Their Own against my cousin Mikko. I was the Japanese. This one is quite unusual scenario for the Japanese attack, and I must say my attack was not good at all. But it is a very interesting situation and as it plays fast I will play it again with a better plan in the future.

Wednesday we finished las couple of turns of BFP141 Belorussian Brawl against Rami Saarinen who was attacking as the Russians ad I was defending as the Pole. Rami chose to do a cautious opening to get all his forces entering scattered here and there into a more coordinated thing. This allowed me to get the polish reinforcements into the village unhindered just in time to meet the onslaught and it turned out to be a solid Polish Victory as there just was too many Poles everywhere. I really think Russians need to make an aggressive push into the village before the Polish reinforcements come on to push the Polish defense out of balance before the Polish reinforcements show up.
 

TomK

Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2017
Messages
88
Reaction score
141
Country
llUnited States
HG-6, Damned at Demyansk with Alan Saltzman. My Russians struggled through the deep snow and extreme winter conditions to clear a north-south road of enemy units. A platoon of German reinforcements managed to get past my rear security element and recapture the southern sector. I desperately sent units back to that area in order to eliminate this abscess. Mechanical breakdowns and harassment by “Jabo’s” prevented all but a small element to get within striking distance. Excellent shooting by the Germans stopped my forlorn hope counterattack cold.
The weather, terrain, and OB’s makes this an interesting but exciting situation.
 

Houlie

CEO of HoulieDice (TM)
Joined
Nov 15, 2003
Messages
3,241
Reaction score
1,602
Location
Minnesota, USA
Country
llUnited States
I finished up my last scenario of 2020 today – 233 Failure to Communicate – a really nifty France ’40 encounter that was a real puzzle for both sides. I had the defending French against Vic Rosso's Germans. It had been a few years since Vic and I played so it was especially enjoyable. The particulars:
  • Germans: 14 squads, 9-2, HMG, 2xPzII, 3xPz38t, etc.
  • French: 9 squads, MMG, 60mm mtr, 10-2, 1xPanhard, 1x25LL AT and I took another 25LL offered in the variable OB, etc.
  • VC: Germans control >=5 multi-hex bldgs without losing 24 or more CVP
The Action
The Germans hit heavy through the village proper. The French did an ok job slowing the advance the first couple turns, but both “tanks” fell quickly and we were soon in the village. Early midgame saw a couple French squads break and eventually head to Stalag 17. On board 42 (German right flank) my 60mm mtr went on a rate tear and eliminated 1.5 squads AND a 9-1 on double-breaks/wounds – five very handy CVP. With the leader gone from that flank, this took some pressure off the solitary building on board 42.

I was able to eliminate a Pz38t in the village in CC and a PzII on a shot from a 25LL. By mid-game most of the village was in German hands. I prepared for the push to the two stone rowhouses on the other side of the stream. A huge downer for Vic was his Pz38t that went into the stream to hit me from behind bogged on its exit. So, a full movement turn was lost for this key asset. The next turn it immobilized. The French breathed a huge sigh of relief. This would allow the French turn 5 reinforcements to reach to the village intact which were very needed with all the German firepower on its way. It’s ability to get into one of the VC buildings allowed the other building to be secured with the manpower there.

In the French turn 6, I was able to eliminate another tank in CC and a CC with a 467 and now-reduced 248 clogged things up nicely in the lower building. In the final half turn, it was clear the French could simply break someone to rout upstairs in either building thereby retaining control. It would be a slender victory for the French.

The Sitch: Game end (Red arrows are French "positions" -- not movements)
15899

Conclusion
I rated this scenario a “must play” in ROAR. Very close. A puzzle. Manageable size, with interesting OBs. A big thank you to Vic for some fine play that pushed me to the limit. It was extremely close. If the unbogging DR was successful, it could have been a different outcome. Currently 6-5 on ROAR with the nod to the French. Well done, Chas Argent!
 
Last edited:

owenedwards

Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Messages
78
Reaction score
108
Location
Durham
Country
ll
IR-T1 The First Farmhouse as my first game (solitaire) of Full ASL, bringing in the New Year. Unsure how many things I got wrong - I realize now I didn't check for weather changes, for instance, though there wasn't much chance of one - but I did cover a number of rules absent from SK. German sniper was activated twice, with one (usefully) pinning a squad. A German squad got HOB, and I deployed one German squad per Martin's example in the IR video.

Germans won, functionally on the penultimate roll - objective building-half was held by brokies, and I risked prep firing (off two shots) my 4-6-7+MMG stack against the other half of that building, breaking the other group (who had an LMG and 9-1). The 4-4-7 group, including the HOBbed 4-6-7, ran across without any First Fire to worry, and routed out the Soviets. I now suspect I've misunderstood an SK rule, based on the fairly explicit way in which routed units behave at the end of first Melees.

Anyway, I'm glad to be here.
 

TomK

Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2017
Messages
88
Reaction score
141
Country
llUnited States
I’ve had visiting relatives occupying my game room during the holiday season. Due to being exiled from my “Sanctum Santorum” I played away games. My guests leave tomorrow!!! Following is the list of away games I’ve played during my exile:


18 Dec 20, FF7 Monstir Gap, Germans vrs Walt, Archives scenario of the month.

19 Dec 20. BAA 7 Tip of the Spear, Allies vrs Al, one off.

20 Dec 20, MC-2, ver 1.6, No Vacancy, Finns vrs Walt, BFP Finn play test.

23 Dec 20, MC-13, ver 2.3, Call Them Bazookas, Russians versus Al, BFP Finn play test.

26 Dec 20, Budapest 1, Russians versus Walt, urban MMP play test.

28 Dec 20, J159, Tropic Lightning, Japanese versus Walt. Archives top 10 all time.

30 Dec 20, HG-6, Damned at Demyansk Russians versus Al , Lost, Al’s choice.

31 Dec 20, WCW 10, Stand and Die, Japanese versus Walt . Walt’s choice.
 

volgaG68

Fighting WWII One DR At A Time
Joined
Jun 15, 2012
Messages
3,212
Reaction score
1,549
Location
La Crosse, KS
First name
Chris
Country
llUnited States
19 Dec 20. BAA 7 Tip of the Spear, Allies vrs Al, one off.
3-0 B/G on ROAR right now, but can definitely be won by the Germans. My Jerries took it down to two final CCs. Had he not gotten complete wipeouts on me in BOTH buildings (he regained Control of both), my Germans would have clinched. I really liked the overall balance.
 

volgaG68

Fighting WWII One DR At A Time
Joined
Jun 15, 2012
Messages
3,212
Reaction score
1,549
Location
La Crosse, KS
First name
Chris
Country
llUnited States
HG-6, Damned at Demyansk with Alan Saltzman. My Russians struggled through the deep snow and extreme winter conditions to clear a north-south road of enemy units. A platoon of German reinforcements managed to get past my rear security element and recapture the southern sector. I desperately sent units back to that area in order to eliminate this abscess. Mechanical breakdowns and harassment by “Jabo’s” prevented all but a small element to get within striking distance. Excellent shooting by the Germans stopped my forlorn hope counterattack cold.
The weather, terrain, and OB’s makes this an interesting but exciting situation.
Absolutely loved this scenario as well. All of the Chapter E chrome was quite tasty!
 
Top