So what scenarios have you played Recently?

[STAVKA]

Played #14 Silence That Gun as the Germans. I think the modifications from the original turn this from a pro-German scenario to a pro-American one. I didn't mind the cut of two crappy 436 squads, but beefing up the US leaders makes them impossible to stop. Tried to position the ATG in a spot to manhandle it out of the line of fire but that damn 9-2 with two MMGs made that impossible. Then they just proceeded to chew up all the Germans with their low ELR. The bazookas even got in on the killing. Like the US needed 4 bazookas too?

Long time ago, my friend played the Americans and went in for the kill against a crumbling defense. During the MPh the Germans fired upon the moving paratroopers.

I rolled 7 snake-eyes in a row and generated two German Heroes (DR 2x7 times First Fire , First Fire, First Fire, FPF, HOB, FPF, HOB), my opponent’s whining was something to see and hear he even offered to surrender and give up, I declined, but still lost in the end.

In Red Barricades CG, I rolled 6 boxcars in a row once starting in the RPh and start of Prep Fire Phase.

 

[Matt Book]

I played it once and rolled snakeyes with my first Baz shot to destroy the gun for the win, didn’t feel like a real win but ya know.

I played this 3 months ago and won the fastest victory I ever have in my lifetime playing with two DR's.

Rally Phase:
EC DR = 9
Prep Fire Phase:
30 FP w/9-2 attack on ATG: DR = 4 (2KIA)
Random SW/Gun Destruction dr = 1

Gun Eliminated.

 

[Houlie]

A short write-up for my last VASL game of 2022. I played DTF11 A Greek Tragedy as the attacking Greeks against Paul Schaeffer’s defending Italians. Greek must take 3 of 5 VC buildings.

Greeks took the first two buildings easily. However, it was clear the third could be far more difficult. Fortunately for the Greek, the HIP MMC came out early, before the bulk of my cavalry came in. I brough in most of my cavalry in the first few turns, but saved a HS cavalry for the end game.

Once the Greek captured the two village buildings they positioned nicely to pour fire on the multi-hex middle building. Along with more arriving cavalry, I felt good. However, our next VASL session went poorly for the Greek. Two cavalry squads entering the eastern board edge were eliminated on entry due to sharpshooting Italians. Also, my assault on the middle building stumbled when most Greek squads simply could not pass an MC – the session's MC DR average was 9.25. Those two mongo-sized Greek stacks in the midgame image are/were all broken units. Fortunately, I was able to rally up a number of them over the next few turns. (Remember: Greek broken side morale vs. Italians is +1). Things looked very grim for the Greeks.

Midgame


In the endgame, I came very close to capturing the middle building. It would fail with a lone 336 holding out. However, in the meantime, my sole still-mounted cavalry squad (reduced to a HS en route) was able to gallop adjacent to the vacant “headquarters” VC building, dismount, and advance in to posses it. Several Italian units raced back to contest it. Both sides survived the first CC. In the final turn, I was able to reinforce the melee with a full squad and eliminate the two Italian HS in the final CC phase for the win.

Endgame


This was a challenging scenario for both sides that played very tight. Though, Paul and I felt that with “more normal” Greek dice, they have a solid edge. The Greek are pretty tough in this one, but with the HIP squad and SWs there can be some nasty surprises – and the cavalry is always vulnerable with the -2 modifier. It was fun to use cavalry as I haven’t played too many scenarios with them. Their mobility is amazing, but the obvious downside is their vulnerability. A huge thank you to Paul for a very fun, tense and well-played game.

 

[Stewart]

Yea, we got that wrong. We did one dr for the whole stack. That said, based on above, each MMC (if stacked with a leader) would roll a dr but have up to 6 MF to wiggle through the wire. Good to clarify.

Thanks!

How do you get 20VP if you don't exit anyone?
16VP max for the building. 2 of my DC's rolled a 10,11....no 8VP...have to make up with EXIT VP...and that's more than half your force.

237's just sit at edge and take -2 Shots at exiting units.

 

[Stewart]

Here is approximate setup and after Russian turn one (as best I recall). Stack M2 moved to L2 and got stuck on the wire. Stack L1 moved over the roadblock and CC'd (killing) the Germans. Stack N2 moved over the wire into the brush. Stack O4 moved over the wire and would go to kill the Germans. Unfortunately, bad rolls and FP 2 w/ -2 DRM or FP 4 w/ -2 DRM didn't phase the Partisans. My Germans in P8 would move around to K9 to get OG shots at J6. The "trap" worked great for a shot...but no damage. By then German in I7 would get CC'd and killed.

Anyway, OG shots from 2-3-7 w/ -2 DRM just didn't do the trick (bad luck dice?) Then the Partisans stormed the "factory" and the German "kill stack" couldn't survive. By mid/late game the victory building was rubbled and the eight or so 5-2-7 Partisans remaining, just sort of walked off. I couldn't move the back to Germans for quite a while, given the SSR TI move limitations. I did make use of the 3 range vs 2 range to get full FP when the Partisans got 1/2 FP. But 2 FP just doesn't cut it; a few broken Partisans, but they rallied with three leaders roaming around. I couldn't waste shots keeping them DM.

Hmmm... Again, the wire didn't slow things down. That said, the roadblock is fairly easy to move through, you can even risk overstacking a little to get more troops through. Even if the wire wasted a turn or two, it seems eight turns is rather long. The Partisans certainly were not in a hurry and taking their time. Six turns and 20 VP, perhaps. Seems drastic, but it would make the Partisans hurry more and less likely to CC.

My young teenager friend isn't on ROAR so I cannot post the results for this updated version.

Thanks!

View attachment 10919
View attachment 10920

L9 and E1 should Lose TI status on Turn 1...LOS is had to Russians

 

[Paul John]

In the VASL league, Jason Wert and I just finished exz2, Liberating Bessarabia. I thought the scenario favored the Romanians so I bid 12 EVP (suggested range 7-14) and got the Romanian attackers. This is set in very early 1941 onslaught, with the Romanians sporting cavalry, motorcycles, trucks and some CMG only radioless tanks. The 17 squads need to clear the 10 Russians (5 conscript and a 37LAT) from a villiage in the center, then exit the bid number off the next board edge in 7 turns with the only reinforcements being 2 Russian Armored Trucks. In Turn 6 I had nearly every Russian eliminated except a wounded 8-0, a shocked, immobilized, MA disabled truck and one 127 crew. My guys were poised to mount up and ride off in sufficient numbers to guarantee victory.
It looked bad at first when I drove all 4 trucks with 6 squads into the AT LOS, but I only lost 2 trucks and 2 squads in that sphincter tightening moment. Russian early rolls were crazy full of ROF, but not enough outcomes. Eventually I was surrounding the village and every break quickly became a failure to rout, so turns 4-5 were devastating for the Russians. ATRs did their tricks on the armored trucks and the Romanians were able to keep charging.
I would say that the bid should be high on this one and the Romanian play aggressive. That said, it was super fun and Jason was once again super fun to play against.

 

[Blindgänger]

We finished ASL9 To the Square via PBEM.

I played as the Germans. I had found some (what I think were) good spots for defense, but spread my guys a little bit too far apart from each other when taking those spots. My opponent came in with all his squads on one half of the map and that had most of my guys running to catch up with them. The first two turns were tough and I've lost five squads already. I managed to slow my opponent down until turn six when it all went down fast. Turn six was like the first three turns and I've lost so many squads in just that one turn that I was left with only five squads at the start of turn seven. I broke my HMG in turn seven, lost more squads in CC and in the next RPh I managed to destroy that HMG. My opponent had 3/4 of his squads left and two of his tanks and there was no use in keeping the game on. I had both of my Guns still but one was simply placed in a bad spot.

Ugh! On to the next scenario.

 

[von Marwitz]

After a hiatus of 1.5 years - the longest ever since I took up the game in the late 90s, I played AP174 Forest Gumm tonight vs. @M_Koch.

It is a nice scenario in which I had the attacking Germans (SS). My Germans suffered some early setbacks which took out the steam from their attack. It took too long to recover, the evening was getting late, so we agreed that this would count as a US win.

von Marwitz

 

[ecz]

In the VASL league, Jason Wert and I just finished exz2, Liberating Bessarabia. I thought the scenario favored the Romanians so I bid 12 EVP (suggested range 7-14) and got the Romanian attackers. This is set in very early 1941 onslaught, with the Romanians sporting cavalry, motorcycles, trucks and some CMG only radioless tanks. The 17 squads need to clear the 10 Russians (5 conscript and a 37LAT) from a villiage in the center, then exit the bid number off the next board edge in 7 turns with the only reinforcements being 2 Russian Armored Trucks. In Turn 6 I had nearly every Russian eliminated except a wounded 8-0, a shocked, immobilized, MA disabled truck and one 127 crew. My guys were poised to mount up and ride off in sufficient numbers to guarantee victory.
It looked bad at first when I drove all 4 trucks with 6 squads into the AT LOS, but I only lost 2 trucks and 2 squads in that sphincter tightening moment. Russian early rolls were crazy full of ROF, but not enough outcomes. Eventually I was surrounding the village and every break quickly became a failure to rout, so turns 4-5 were devastating for the Russians. ATRs did their tricks on the armored trucks and the Romanians were able to keep charging.
I would say that the bid should be high on this one and the Romanian play aggressive. That said, it was super fun and Jason was once again super fun to play against.

thanks for the report, I'm happy you liked this scenario. Its name is ecz 2, Liberating Bukovina. It seems that most players offer a bit less than 12, about 10 or 11, but 12 is still doable if you prefer to attack.
We have seen that Russians wins their games saving a few squads for the end game moving them toward the exit (to interdict the final Rumanians movements to get the EVP) and when the Russian ACs stay away from the village.
Instead It seems that an all out defense of the village tend to favor the attacking Rumanians.
Did your opponent used the three Russian wagons to detach a small force from the intial setup area?

 

[Alan Hume]

Me and John Martin are playing Michael Koch's excellent RAFF'S RULES, we had to stop halfway through yesterday afternoon but we will be getting back to it on Friday. I'm having a lot of fun (I'm playing the Germans), I really do lean towards late war scenarios and you can't get much later than this one'

 

[william.stoppel]

Last week Dan and I finished up J181 The Deadly Line. Late 1945 fight in China between the dregs of the IJA and a mixed Russian force. Japs are defending with a dozen HIP THH’s, a captured T-35/85, a pair of guns, 4 crap tanks and 7 crap squads. Russkies start with 5 motion T-34/85s and 7 5-2-7s with 3 4-4-7s and a pair of flame T-34s as reinforcements. My Russians started out hot winning a gun duel with the IJA T-34 and my infantry refused to break until mid game. Lost one tank to a THH which reminded me to marry infantry to tanks moving forward and then I just diced Dan for the win. Cool and quirky and much fun with high replayability but I wouldn’t play it for kidneys.

 

[Jeffrey D Myers]

In the middle of playing FT306 (Stalin's Orders) solo. It is an interesting German combined arms attack to capture mainly stone buildings, two of which are fortified.

Russians have two KV-1s, which can be dug in and concealed. Seems like the best use of the 12 ? counters is to make 6 dummy KV-1s.

Will report back upon completion.

 

[JoeArthur]

Friday Club played ASL Scenario J176 Deadly Assumption.

Really tough for the US. If the Germans set up well all the US tanks can be destroyed on Turn 1. The US then have to cross ground to get to the stone buildings in the village under the eyes of an HMG.

 

[Jeffrey D Myers]

FT306 was pretty interesting, but the Germans failed their PMC on Turn 5 after losing all but one AFV....

 

[chris_olden]

"Collect Call" from the latest Journal.
A neat little puzzle, and a fun scenario.

 

[fenyan]

J206 Collect Call -- I agree with Chris, it's an interesting puzzle! On the last turn I asked my opponent if he wouldn't mind taking a break as I had to think through how to engage the Partisans on the last turn.

This scenario has Partisans (including 6-2-8s and 5-2-7s SSR'd as Partisan) defending their headquarters and 8 SS squads starting in/near the building and the rest coming in from various edges by Turn 2 (also reinforced by a platoon of Bosnians).

The Partisans have 12 squad-equivalents and 10 ? to defend with. The VC are Axis win if no Good Order Partisan MMC in building aK2.

On the last turn (Turn 5), the 8-1 with 6-5-8 had survived Defensive Fire to make it into the woods at J0 to later advance into CC vs the ? 5-2-7 in I1 (had a "backup" squad to CX for a desperation second attempt if needed). In I1, the 2-2-7 stack would break/go berserk from advancing fire. The 5-2-7s in I2/ground level and I2/level 1 would also be engaged in CC, along with the ground level melee in J1 being reinforced by the Bosnians.

We finished the game with four tense CCs, three of which, the Germans had to not get ambushed by the stealthy partisans, and not get eliminated themselves with Partisans surviving. The Partisans did wipe out the Germans in one CC with a "2" but they themselves were eliminated and the emerging leader could not change the outcome.

The Germans obtained their objective of no good order Partisans MMCs in the building at game end.

We gave the Germans the 3-2-8 balance as two other playings in our club were Partisan wins.

We agreed it's a scenario we'd try again.

 

[Gunner Scott]

How can your opponent fail a PMC when it is you who are the opponent lol. Anyway, the orcs are spread out in this one, so probe and find where the hip stuff is at then attack on the weakest flank where less HIP is, probably will be less HIP stuff where his reinforcements enter is my gut feeling.

FT306 was pretty interesting, but the Germans failed their PMC on Turn 5 after losing all but one AFV....

 

[Jeffrey D Myers]

Indeed, the center turned out to be the weak point and was penetrated, but the FB was ineffective and the 45L platoon was unexpectedly effective. Also, should have deployed to the max for better initial probing!

As to the failed PMC, it does not happen to me this early in a scenario very often. Anyway, quite enjoyable!

 

[waltu]

Just finished a PBEM game of ASL #161, Arctic Crossroads, from Hakka Päälle. I was interested in this scenario to start learning the Night rules (at least some of them). In the end, I think it misses a lot by not including the bulk of Night rules. Anyway, I hope I correctly interpreted all the new (to me) rules and SSRs.
Although, I did have fun playing this one, it is a very strange scenario. In particular, two of the SSR’s cause strange effects:
SSR #2. To represent the gloom of the Arctic polar night, Night rules (E1.) are in effect [EXC: the only night rules that apply are E1.1, 1.101, 1.3, 1.32-33, 1.8-.82, 1.89, and 1.94-.942. The base NVR is 4 hexes.
SSR #3. Due to obsolete ammunition, any IFT Effects DR made by an 87 K/95 ART Gun (Finnish) has no effect if the original colored dr is a 6. ART Guns may set up emplaced, but may not start the scenario hidden/concealed. …etc.
Nullifying most of the Night rules produced a strange effect. The Night Freedom of Movement rules (E1.2) do not apply. The Cloaking rules (E1.4) do not apply. The Night Movement rules (E1.5) do not apply. The Night Combat rules (E1.7) do not apply. The net effect is to allow long unimpeded, sweeping movements of troops across open ground completely out of LOS (beyond NVR) of the enemy. It feels very strange for an ASL scenario.


A second strange thing is that the Russians can, on the very first turn, rush some troops over to the entry area for the Finnish reinforcements (see image). This is because of the proximity of the Finn entry area to the Russian setup area. The Russians can move completely un-impeded, out of LOS of any Finn units. Once the Russians control this area, they can slowly bring in the heavy MMG and the small mortar to interdict a significant portion of the entry area for the Finn reinforcements. The Finn reinforcements, which arrive on turn 4, are then forced to take a long route to join the battle, or risk getting cut to pieces trying to come on board. It only takes 3 Russian squads, with the help of one leader, to accomplish this. Once the Russian squads are in position to interdict the Finn reinforcements, the Russian leader can leave them (sacrificing them to the Finn reinforcements) and rejoin the horde attacking the initial Finn garrison.
A third strange thing. The Russian attackers need >= 12 Exit VP to win. They receive Exit VPs for being on or north of hexrow Y (i.e., the Russians are still onboard). The Victory Conditions give the Russians 3 Exit VPs each for controlling a location with one of these Finnish ART pieces. At the very start of the scenario, SSR #3 lets the Russians see the exact location and identity of these two Finnish ART Guns, despite it being nighttime conditions and the despite the NVR of 4 hexes. I found this SSR to be rather unnatural.
Furthermore, these ART Guns have no ROF, and shoot duds for 1 out of every 6 hits they achieve. So, if the Russians can get close to them, the can charge them without losing too many troops. These ART Guns end up being a liability, and not much help for the Finns. This gives the Russians a goal of sorts, try to capture one or more of these ART pieces, which can barely defend themselves. So, I think the Finns more or less have to defend these Guns from being captured by the Russians. I think this ties down some of the Finn garrison at the start.
The Finns start with a small force onboard, and they have to spread out to cover a lot of ground. They do have some firepower to hold back, or at least delay the Russian horde of 18 Russian squads. But the 4 hex NVR limits the effectiveness of the Finn AA Gun and MMG. The Russians must do some initial probing to find where the Finn strength is located. But, once the Russians find their avenue of attack, the bulk of the Russian force can sweep across a lot of open ground out of LOS of the Finns. They can move in to positions 5 hexes away from their target, amass their troops, and then swoop in. If the Russians can gain their initial objective (across hexrow Y), they can wait for the Finn reinforcement’s onslaught. The biggest problem for the Russians is that their ELR is only 2. So, they suffer a lot of ELR reductions down to conscripts. In my game, I was the Russian player. I was lucky that I only had 2 squads ELR down. In general, I had lucky dice for the game, especially passing morale checks. I was able to capture the two Finnish ART pieces, which were located next to each other. The two Finn ART guns only managed to break 2 Russian squads. My Russians were able to cross hexrow Y in force. And I was able to delay the Finn reinforcements, which never made it into the battle proper. Russian win. I'd be interested to hear any feedback on my AAR, tactics, strategy, etc.

 

[buser333]

Just finished a PBEM game of ASL #161, Arctic Crossroads, from Hakka Päälle. I was interested in this scenario to start learning the Night rules (at least some of them). In the end, I think it misses a lot by not including the bulk of Night rules. Anyway, I hope I correctly interpreted all the new (to me) rules and SSRs.
Although, I did have fun playing this one, it is a very strange scenario. In particular, two of the SSR’s cause strange effects:
SSR #2. To represent the gloom of the Arctic polar night, Night rules (E1.) are in effect [EXC: the only night rules that apply are E1.1, 1.101, 1.3, 1.32-33, 1.8-.82, 1.89, and 1.94-.942. The base NVR is 4 hexes.
SSR #3. Due to obsolete ammunition, any IFT Effects DR made by an 87 K/95 ART Gun (Finnish) has no effect if the original colored dr is a 6. ART Guns may set up emplaced, but may not start the scenario hidden/concealed. …etc.
Nullifying most of the Night rules produced a strange effect. The Night Freedom of Movement rules (E1.2) do not apply. The Cloaking rules (E1.4) do not apply. The Night Movement rules (E1.5) do not apply. The Night Combat rules (E1.7) do not apply. The net effect is to allow long unimpeded, sweeping movements of troops across open ground completely out of LOS (beyond NVR) of the enemy. It feels very strange for an ASL scenario.
View attachment 24298

A second strange thing is that the Russians can, on the very first turn, rush some troops over to the entry area for the Finnish reinforcements (see image). This is because of the proximity of the Finn entry area to the Russian setup area. The Russians can move completely un-impeded, out of LOS of any Finn units. Once the Russians control this area, they can slowly bring in the heavy MMG and the small mortar to interdict a significant portion of the entry area for the Finn reinforcements. The Finn reinforcements, which arrive on turn 4, are then forced to take a long route to join the battle, or risk getting cut to pieces trying to come on board. It only takes 3 Russian squads, with the help of one leader, to accomplish this. Once the Russian squads are in position to interdict the Finn reinforcements, the Russian leader can leave them (sacrificing them to the Finn reinforcements) and rejoin the horde attacking the initial Finn garrison.
A third strange thing. The Russian attackers need >= 12 Exit VP to win. They receive Exit VPs for being on or north of hexrow Y (i.e., the Russians are still onboard). The Victory Conditions give the Russians 3 Exit VPs each for controlling a location with one of these Finnish ART pieces. At the very start of the scenario, SSR #3 lets the Russians see the exact location and identity of these two Finnish ART Guns, despite it being nighttime conditions and the despite the NVR of 4 hexes. I found this SSR to be rather unnatural.
Furthermore, these ART Guns have no ROF, and shoot duds for 1 out of every 6 hits they achieve. So, if the Russians can get close to them, the can charge them without losing too many troops. These ART Guns end up being a liability, and not much help for the Finns. This gives the Russians a goal of sorts, try to capture one or more of these ART pieces, which can barely defend themselves. So, I think the Finns more or less have to defend these Guns from being captured by the Russians. I think this ties down some of the Finn garrison at the start.
The Finns start with a small force onboard, and they have to spread out to cover a lot of ground. They do have some firepower to hold back, or at least delay the Russian horde of 18 Russian squads. But the 4 hex NVR limits the effectiveness of the Finn AA Gun and MMG. The Russians must do some initial probing to find where the Finn strength is located. But, once the Russians find their avenue of attack, the bulk of the Russian force can sweep across a lot of open ground out of LOS of the Finns. They can move in to positions 5 hexes away from their target, amass their troops, and then swoop in. If the Russians can gain their initial objective (across hexrow Y), they can wait for the Finn reinforcement’s onslaught. The biggest problem for the Russians is that their ELR is only 2. So, they suffer a lot of ELR reductions down to conscripts. In my game, I was the Russian player. I was lucky that I only had 2 squads ELR down. In general, I had lucky dice for the game, especially passing morale checks. I was able to capture the two Finnish ART pieces, which were located next to each other. The two Finn ART guns only managed to break 2 Russian squads. My Russians were able to cross hexrow Y in force. And I was able to delay the Finn reinforcements, which never made it into the battle proper. Russian win. I'd be interested to hear any feedback on my AAR, tactics, strategy, etc.

"Strange" is a much nicer word than I would use to describe this one.
I would be willing to give it another shot with full night rules.