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.
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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.