kempenfelter
Motivational Speaker
German Turn Four...Starter Kit Scenario S1...Retaking Vierville
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6eJ0fz_VGo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6eJ0fz_VGo
So what Starter Kit Scenario have you played recently?
- Thread starter custardpie
- Start date
Der Fleischer
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In the last week I have gone through the following scenarios:
S15 - Hammer to the Teeth
S17 - A Ridge Too Far
S20 - Joseph 351
S21 - Clash at Borosovka
S22 - Another Summers Day (getting ready to play this one again PBEM as the American this time)
All great scenarios and all of them came down to the last game turn to determine a winner. I am getting ready to play S6 - Released from the East with a freind of mine that I introduced to ASL SK about 6 months ago. So far he is 4 - 0...talk about beginner's luck!
S15 - Hammer to the Teeth
S17 - A Ridge Too Far
S20 - Joseph 351
S21 - Clash at Borosovka
S22 - Another Summers Day (getting ready to play this one again PBEM as the American this time)
All great scenarios and all of them came down to the last game turn to determine a winner. I am getting ready to play S6 - Released from the East with a freind of mine that I introduced to ASL SK about 6 months ago. So far he is 4 - 0...talk about beginner's luck!
custardpie
Elder Member
Thats good going. I find that SK can give you some tight games, possibly because the chance of the easier rules makes balance less difficult.
Not that I have not had some lop sidded games!!!
Ian
Der Fleischer
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Thanks Ian! One thing I have noticed is that the SK 2 scenarios seem to be more ubalanced then the ones in either SK 1 or the SK 3. As far as the SK rules go, I consider myself a competent player (not great or necessarily good mind you, but certainly competent) yet my battle record for the anything SK 2 is way below 0.500 (I think somewhere around 0.222) where my SK 1 and SK 3 record are at 0.500 or above. Hammer to the Teeth (S15) was only the second SK 2 scenario I played that came down to the final turn (the other one was S10 - Paper Army when I played the Italians). Any thoughts on this or do I just suck?
custardpie
Elder Member
I found SK1 the best and most balanced. I've mentioned before that as soon as you add guns then tanks it gets harder to balance as an early breaking of a gun could make a real change. With the bonus pack having OBA of a sorts this is even harder to control (or was it that mine sucked!!)
As I recall I was not fond of Paper army, if I am right one side could sleeze a win.
I have enjoyed the SK games played and have the expansion set on order but one of two SK opponents has now moved to ASL and the other is waiting for me to get over for a FTF game.
I average two games a week but most of this is PBEM and having 8+ on the go at a time allows for this fast pace. I will save the Expansion set just for teaching rather than regular as I play mostly ASL and struggle with missing rules out.
Ian
Der Fleischer
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I am in the middle of a real screamer with Buck Karpowitz. We started S29 - No Monumental Acclaim yesterday (6 July 2010) as part of the VASL Tournament and have completed 3 full turns. I thought I was dead after the first turn. I kept rolling 10 or greater on EVERY single roll I made through about the first half of Turn 2. Now I am rolling normally and am back in the game. This is a GREAT scenario IMHO and is a real test of how well you can call LOS. Give it a try! You won't be disappointed!
chris_olden
Elder Member
hey Paul,
Thanks for giving this a try.
Very happy to hear that you guys are enjoying it.
Are you the Americans or the Germans?
co
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I am the Americans in this one. My opponent is a very clever player and knows how to use LOS to his advantage as well as interlocking fields of fire. Did you write this scenario Chris?
PFM
chris_olden
Elder Member
Yep, sure did!
Der Fleischer
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SUPER job Chris! Please keep them coming!
Kala
Member
This sunday played two games, one in the morning and another in the evening. We have a meeting in the hotel Zenit in Valencia. I played against the same oponent germandb, he is begining and I think he needs to play a lot more.
The first scenario was S13 Priority target, I take the allied and germandb the germans, they have a powerful force, but he played very pasive and only manage to take one AA gun, but late in the game I retake it, the focal point was a CC when 2 german squads and a leader 9-1 died fighting against a greek 4-3-7 squad. In the turn 5 the german player conceded.
In the evening we played again, this time in S19 Purple heart lane, I took the americans and played very agresive since begining, by turn 5 the germans only had one squad unbroken, one leader and 2 squads broken so the german player conceded, in this play I won a CC (again a CC) a squad and the best leader (9-2) against a half german squad, my roll 1,1, and geting in the leader generation a 1,2 so another nice leader (in this scenario the americans have very good leaders with 4 for only 7 squads), my agresive play got me a leader and a squad KIA in the last turn, but for that moment the german was without any option to win.
Kala
The first scenario was S13 Priority target, I take the allied and germandb the germans, they have a powerful force, but he played very pasive and only manage to take one AA gun, but late in the game I retake it, the focal point was a CC when 2 german squads and a leader 9-1 died fighting against a greek 4-3-7 squad. In the turn 5 the german player conceded.
In the evening we played again, this time in S19 Purple heart lane, I took the americans and played very agresive since begining, by turn 5 the germans only had one squad unbroken, one leader and 2 squads broken so the german player conceded, in this play I won a CC (again a CC) a squad and the best leader (9-2) against a half german squad, my roll 1,1, and geting in the leader generation a 1,2 so another nice leader (in this scenario the americans have very good leaders with 4 for only 7 squads), my agresive play got me a leader and a squad KIA in the last turn, but for that moment the german was without any option to win.
Kala
sunoftzu
Senior Member
Hi,
I haven't posted in a while (not since post #49), but I've played a few more SK games in that time.
I played SK1 "Retaking Vierville" vs David Tolhurst (his first game), where the US (me) did a good job of keeping the German squads away from the VC buildings. Nonetheless, David kept on trying to get to the VC area, and finally managed to get a 548 into L3 on turn 5. However, it wasn't enough to hold the 747 green wave......
I've played SK2 "War of the Rats" a couple more times. The first game was vs Mike Wattie, with him as Russians (+ Russian balance). The game started quite well for him; it took until turn 3 for the Germans to break a Russian squad. But from then on, they began to fade, and the reinforcements didn't show up until turn 6, by which stage there wasn't really much left to reinforce. A convincing German win.
The 2nd game of SK2 had me playing Russians for the 2nd time (but this time vs David). The game did not start well for him, whatwith the FT and both DCs failing to get a result. To make things worse, the Russian reinforcements showed up on turn 2, and were looking rather resoloute. But David persevered, and managed to break into hex o6 by the end of German turn 6, albeit surrounded by Russians (2 per hex in p5,p6,p7, and o7). But the lone 548 managed to withstand a vicious PFPh, and in addition, managed to break both Russian squads in o7, resulting in German control at the end of Russian turn 6 RtPh. So, that meant that the Russians would have to kill the 548 in the CCPh, but they failed to do that, allowing the Germans to hold on for a feel-good German win (David's first win, and one he really had to fight hard for). To see that happening for the newbie, well that's great stuff, for sure!!!
I also played S3 "Simple Equation" a couple of times (and am currently halfway through my 3rd scenario vs Mike (him as German, with German balance in effect). Currently, I've lost about 1.5 666 squads, but have been aggressive, and am breaking into the German rear areas. The German hmg and mmg squads are currently broken; worrying signs for the Germans to be sure...)
In the first game (me as German, American balance in effect), I tried a point defense around x1, which looked (and so it was) extremely difficult to approach. Another good stongpoint is r1; its really difficult for the US to get into a position to take it out. However, 6.5 turns is a long time for 3 447s and 5 436s to hold out for, and the German defense started disintergrating around turns 5-6, and in the end, the Americans were easily able to grab enough building hexes. Mike's first win, and a very convincing one at that!!
The next game was vs David, with me as the Germans again, but this time, the Germans were forced out of the x1 building around turn 4. However, the Germans were able to kill off 3 of the 4 American leaders by the end of turn 5 (the 9-2 and an accompaning 666 perished in CC to a 436, demonstrating that while the odds weigh heavily in the American's favour, it can go bad from time to time). The shortage of leaders really came home to haunt the Americans, and in the end, they ended up with 23 of the needed 25 building hexes for a close German win.
I got to play S4 "Welcome Back" (vs David, him as German), and I was well pleased with my setup, which did a great job of keeping the Germans at bay for much of the game. The 10-2 never broke throughout the whole game, and in small scenarios that is usually enough to carry you home. But during the last turn, the 10-2 with his accompaning .50cal/667 squad was not able to stop the key stack (9-1, 447,447,447) from exiting the board. 12FP @-4 will usually get it done (the stack needed 7mf to get adjacent to the exit area, so I only had to pin the leader or 2 squads, whatwith 2 squads (4 VP) in other positions ready to exit off). The clutch DR was an 11 (1mc), and all 4 units managed to roll 6 or less and marched off the board for 8 VPs, with another 4VPs exiting off in the APh. Once again, David managing to win when the odds weren't looking at all good for him.
I also got to play S5 "Clearing Colleville" (vs David, myself as American), and was happy enough with my immediate objective of getting 3 teams of ldr, mmg/666,666 into position to balst the Germans out of the town. However, I couldn't seem to catch a break, with most of my key IFT DRs being 9 or higher, and in the end, one squad managed to hold out in i4 at the end of German 5 DFPh, meaning that it could advance into j3 for another German win (David's 3rd).
I also played S6 "Released from the East" (vs David), and defended as German, with the 9-2, mmg/468, lmg/468 ('buzzsaw') in m9. It turned out to be the key position, from which they broke quite a few Russians , who were quickly finished off in the RtPh of the following German turn. The Russians lost about 5 458 squads in the first 2 turns, and despite the 'buzsaw' breaking to a modest 4fp attack, there were enough other surviving German squads left to give them enough time to rally and protect the central m6 building. Meanwhile, the d3 building had become a backwater, but r2 was being overrun by weight of squads. In the last turn of the game, the Russian attack fizzed in front of m6, with even more Russian squads dying in the RtPh, and to add injury to insult, the last defenders of r2 (a 248 German hs) was even able to survive a 4:1 CC DR (thereby allowing the German to hold on to all 3 of the VC buildings throughout the game), ending the game with a convincing German win.
Lastly, I played S41 "Sink's Encouragement" (from "Beyond the Beaches" ASLSK Bonus Pack #1) a couple of times (both times vs David). This looked to be a really good scenario, but unfortunately, both of our games were well short of that. In the first game, David plotted hexes o6, r5, and y6, with 1 squad in the fire zone each time. However, the artillery strike did nothing, and the Americans tried approaching through the orchard area in rows t-x. This did not go well for them, whatwith my dice being as hot as David's were cold. It looked (and was) all over for the unfortunate Americans by turn 3.
We changed sides and set up again, this time with me as the Americans. I though it prudent to try and get the Americans into stone buildings ASAP; then maybe we can look at capturing all the building hexes around p6. Well, my artillery strike was not much better than David's, with sole pin result to show for my efforts. I tried my approach around h10 and j10, but was stopped in front of j7, and this holdup allowed the rest of the Germans to re-deploy into good defensive positions around the p6 crossroad. Well, with some smoke, and a little cunning, I finally managed to sneak an 8-1 and 2 747 into j5 by turn 3. But their 12+2 FP made no impression of the stout German defenders, leaving me well short of the VCs. This looks to be a very tough scenario for the Americans. I'll be needing a bit of 'encouragement' myself to want to play "Sink's Encouragement" again any time soon. Cool board, though (bd P).
John.
I haven't posted in a while (not since post #49), but I've played a few more SK games in that time.
I played SK1 "Retaking Vierville" vs David Tolhurst (his first game), where the US (me) did a good job of keeping the German squads away from the VC buildings. Nonetheless, David kept on trying to get to the VC area, and finally managed to get a 548 into L3 on turn 5. However, it wasn't enough to hold the 747 green wave......
I've played SK2 "War of the Rats" a couple more times. The first game was vs Mike Wattie, with him as Russians (+ Russian balance). The game started quite well for him; it took until turn 3 for the Germans to break a Russian squad. But from then on, they began to fade, and the reinforcements didn't show up until turn 6, by which stage there wasn't really much left to reinforce. A convincing German win.
The 2nd game of SK2 had me playing Russians for the 2nd time (but this time vs David). The game did not start well for him, whatwith the FT and both DCs failing to get a result. To make things worse, the Russian reinforcements showed up on turn 2, and were looking rather resoloute. But David persevered, and managed to break into hex o6 by the end of German turn 6, albeit surrounded by Russians (2 per hex in p5,p6,p7, and o7). But the lone 548 managed to withstand a vicious PFPh, and in addition, managed to break both Russian squads in o7, resulting in German control at the end of Russian turn 6 RtPh. So, that meant that the Russians would have to kill the 548 in the CCPh, but they failed to do that, allowing the Germans to hold on for a feel-good German win (David's first win, and one he really had to fight hard for). To see that happening for the newbie, well that's great stuff, for sure!!!
I also played S3 "Simple Equation" a couple of times (and am currently halfway through my 3rd scenario vs Mike (him as German, with German balance in effect). Currently, I've lost about 1.5 666 squads, but have been aggressive, and am breaking into the German rear areas. The German hmg and mmg squads are currently broken; worrying signs for the Germans to be sure...)
In the first game (me as German, American balance in effect), I tried a point defense around x1, which looked (and so it was) extremely difficult to approach. Another good stongpoint is r1; its really difficult for the US to get into a position to take it out. However, 6.5 turns is a long time for 3 447s and 5 436s to hold out for, and the German defense started disintergrating around turns 5-6, and in the end, the Americans were easily able to grab enough building hexes. Mike's first win, and a very convincing one at that!!
The next game was vs David, with me as the Germans again, but this time, the Germans were forced out of the x1 building around turn 4. However, the Germans were able to kill off 3 of the 4 American leaders by the end of turn 5 (the 9-2 and an accompaning 666 perished in CC to a 436, demonstrating that while the odds weigh heavily in the American's favour, it can go bad from time to time). The shortage of leaders really came home to haunt the Americans, and in the end, they ended up with 23 of the needed 25 building hexes for a close German win.
I got to play S4 "Welcome Back" (vs David, him as German), and I was well pleased with my setup, which did a great job of keeping the Germans at bay for much of the game. The 10-2 never broke throughout the whole game, and in small scenarios that is usually enough to carry you home. But during the last turn, the 10-2 with his accompaning .50cal/667 squad was not able to stop the key stack (9-1, 447,447,447) from exiting the board. 12FP @-4 will usually get it done (the stack needed 7mf to get adjacent to the exit area, so I only had to pin the leader or 2 squads, whatwith 2 squads (4 VP) in other positions ready to exit off). The clutch DR was an 11 (1mc), and all 4 units managed to roll 6 or less and marched off the board for 8 VPs, with another 4VPs exiting off in the APh. Once again, David managing to win when the odds weren't looking at all good for him.
I also got to play S5 "Clearing Colleville" (vs David, myself as American), and was happy enough with my immediate objective of getting 3 teams of ldr, mmg/666,666 into position to balst the Germans out of the town. However, I couldn't seem to catch a break, with most of my key IFT DRs being 9 or higher, and in the end, one squad managed to hold out in i4 at the end of German 5 DFPh, meaning that it could advance into j3 for another German win (David's 3rd).
I also played S6 "Released from the East" (vs David), and defended as German, with the 9-2, mmg/468, lmg/468 ('buzzsaw') in m9. It turned out to be the key position, from which they broke quite a few Russians , who were quickly finished off in the RtPh of the following German turn. The Russians lost about 5 458 squads in the first 2 turns, and despite the 'buzsaw' breaking to a modest 4fp attack, there were enough other surviving German squads left to give them enough time to rally and protect the central m6 building. Meanwhile, the d3 building had become a backwater, but r2 was being overrun by weight of squads. In the last turn of the game, the Russian attack fizzed in front of m6, with even more Russian squads dying in the RtPh, and to add injury to insult, the last defenders of r2 (a 248 German hs) was even able to survive a 4:1 CC DR (thereby allowing the German to hold on to all 3 of the VC buildings throughout the game), ending the game with a convincing German win.
Lastly, I played S41 "Sink's Encouragement" (from "Beyond the Beaches" ASLSK Bonus Pack #1) a couple of times (both times vs David). This looked to be a really good scenario, but unfortunately, both of our games were well short of that. In the first game, David plotted hexes o6, r5, and y6, with 1 squad in the fire zone each time. However, the artillery strike did nothing, and the Americans tried approaching through the orchard area in rows t-x. This did not go well for them, whatwith my dice being as hot as David's were cold. It looked (and was) all over for the unfortunate Americans by turn 3.
We changed sides and set up again, this time with me as the Americans. I though it prudent to try and get the Americans into stone buildings ASAP; then maybe we can look at capturing all the building hexes around p6. Well, my artillery strike was not much better than David's, with sole pin result to show for my efforts. I tried my approach around h10 and j10, but was stopped in front of j7, and this holdup allowed the rest of the Germans to re-deploy into good defensive positions around the p6 crossroad. Well, with some smoke, and a little cunning, I finally managed to sneak an 8-1 and 2 747 into j5 by turn 3. But their 12+2 FP made no impression of the stout German defenders, leaving me well short of the VCs. This looks to be a very tough scenario for the Americans. I'll be needing a bit of 'encouragement' myself to want to play "Sink's Encouragement" again any time soon. Cool board, though (bd P).
John.
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custardpie
Elder Member
Great group of reports there. Nice to see you have a dedicated and by the looks good opponent
Cheers
Ian
Cheers
Ian
sunoftzu
Senior Member
Yep,
I'd say David is well up to playing ASL now, but to be honest, I kinda like the weekday night pace of SK scenarios. So I'm in no hurry to ditch the SK scenarios.
I like all the SK#1 scenarios, although it probably wouldn't have hurt to play S3 a bit later, as bd Z is a tough place to play. There are many 50/50 looking LOS, and its hard to know where you are safe, so as to be able to establish interior lines (an important aspect to learn)
When I started off with SL (back in '87), I thought it was a good system, but I found "Guard's Counterattack" to be a really dull scenario. My second SL game was "Weisenhoff Crossroads" from GI, and I still very much like the scenario. My first ASL scenario (early 1988) was "Silence That Gun" (ASL 14) from "Paratrooper", and I still think its a good one. But as for "Guard's Counterattack", I'm quite happy to never play it again.
John
custardpie
Elder Member
I used to love playing the SL city fights, then again I loved playing them all!!! Oh the easy days of playing as a 16 year old!!! Played through to GI but stopped there. Mostly through not liking to play the Yanks so much. Still my least favorite nation to play!
Back on topic. I found SK1 by far the best mod to play of the starter kits. Beyound the Beachhead I've played two of those and they shapped up fair in my mind. I have the expansion pack on pre-order and look forward to seeing what comes in that. I'm a board whore what can I say?
Ian
Back on topic. I found SK1 by far the best mod to play of the starter kits. Beyound the Beachhead I've played two of those and they shapped up fair in my mind. I have the expansion pack on pre-order and look forward to seeing what comes in that. I'm a board whore what can I say?
Ian
ChrisM
Senior Member
Thanks for the reports sunoftzu.
I got in a playing of Welcome Back last week as the Americans. its my fourth time playing the scenario, my first with the US. I took the win - shredding teh German thrust with the 10-2 and the .50 cal. I agree wiht your assessment - the 10-2 really dominates this match up. Sited in a stone building - it cna be really hard to get him to break, and as long as he is up and the HMG can see the exit areas - it s really, really tough for the Germans to get the VP off that they need.
I don't know which is the better approach for the Germans - to split the force and make the thin American defense stretch to cover two sectors or to mass all 14 plus squads at one point and overwhelm one position.
I got in a playing of Welcome Back last week as the Americans. its my fourth time playing the scenario, my first with the US. I took the win - shredding teh German thrust with the 10-2 and the .50 cal. I agree wiht your assessment - the 10-2 really dominates this match up. Sited in a stone building - it cna be really hard to get him to break, and as long as he is up and the HMG can see the exit areas - it s really, really tough for the Germans to get the VP off that they need.
I don't know which is the better approach for the Germans - to split the force and make the thin American defense stretch to cover two sectors or to mass all 14 plus squads at one point and overwhelm one position.
Perry
Forum Guru
I like a strong left hook and a weaker right hook. Every time I send someone up the middle I regret it.
ireland94
Starter Kit Teacher/Mento
I am making an effort to teach noobies and returnees, so at this point I have played S1 & S2 over 14 times each. Some of my noobies are now in full ASL. Once they complete SK3 and we play a scenario of two in full ASL, I let them swim in the deep end of the pool. My players are scattered across the US and world. With returnees, we usually play S1 , S2, S12, then what ever they like in SK3. We also play Rally Point scenarios. I once time I taught in graduate school and since I am retired, I now enjoy going back to that skill and bringing new blood and refreshing old blood into ASL. My training record is aroung 4-29. I usually take the tougher side and try to training them to use correct tactics to defeat me. I am definitely not in it for the victors!
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sunoftzu
Senior Member
Hi,
I got to play S-42 "One More Hedgerow" (me as Germans) last Tuesday vs David, and set up quite a foward defense (considering the timeframe and enemy squad parity). Its such a small scenario, its quite easy to remember your entire defense without having to refer to your written notes!!
Basically, a sturdy defense of the d-e northern hedgerow, and a 'speedbump' in e10 to prevent any quick moves south of the centreboard paved road (its slow going through the grainfield/hegerow combination).
Setup:
e2 8-1, hmg/247, mmg/247.
e4 lmg/467.
e10 237.
g5 237.
j5 247.
j7 8-0, lmg/247.
The Americans made a good start, finding my 'speedbump' with some recon by fire, broke my lmg squad, and although the main 9-1, mmg/666, 666 stack wandered adjacent to e2, the best I could manage was to pin it. I did a bit better in the PFPh of German turn 1, and eventually managed to break the units in the DFPh of American turn 2. The Americans were never realy able to recover from this setback, and the Germans remained resoloute in their strong positions. Although the game ended as a decisive German victory, this one might have easily gone either way. Next Tuesday, it'll be my turn with the Americans....
This evening, I finished off my 3rd game of S-03 "Simple Equation" (the half-finished scenario mentioned in post#92 of this thread). I really failed to get anything going during turns 4 and 5 (whatwith prep fire and smoke grenade opportunities proving unfriutful), but prudently didn't try to be too audacious.
Are most of you familiar with this situation?? You feel you are close to really putting the defender under the hammer, but none of your prep fire or smoke attempts work. You can try to get by on pure audaciousness (which is not really the American's best suit), knowing that the rewards for success will be great, but failiure will put you very much on the back foot. Also, by being conservative, you'll allow the Germans a good opportunity to recover. What to do???
Well, its turn 5 of a 6.5 turn game. I decided to be conservative, and I would say that's the right thing to do when time is on your side. The Germans recovered a little in that time, but got kicked fairly hard on turn 6. Overall, this does look to be a tough scenario for the Germans; the Americans have a good ability to recover from setbacks, the Germans clearly do not enjoy that privilege. In the end I got to return the favour to Mike of grinding down the almost-never rallying 436s.
I still think board Z is a tough place for the newbie to play, though. There are so many 50/50 looking LOS, that its quite hard to see where you are safe from fire/interdiction. It seems the safest way to get around is by moving close to the danger early to draw DFF, and moving everyone else beyond the SFF range. Whilst that is pretty much par-for-the-course in the open country, it does seeem rather odd in an urban environment!!!
Still, I like S3 purely on the grounds that its the most 'meaty' of the SK#1 scenarios.
John Knowles.
I got to play S-42 "One More Hedgerow" (me as Germans) last Tuesday vs David, and set up quite a foward defense (considering the timeframe and enemy squad parity). Its such a small scenario, its quite easy to remember your entire defense without having to refer to your written notes!!
Basically, a sturdy defense of the d-e northern hedgerow, and a 'speedbump' in e10 to prevent any quick moves south of the centreboard paved road (its slow going through the grainfield/hegerow combination).
Setup:
e2 8-1, hmg/247, mmg/247.
e4 lmg/467.
e10 237.
g5 237.
j5 247.
j7 8-0, lmg/247.
The Americans made a good start, finding my 'speedbump' with some recon by fire, broke my lmg squad, and although the main 9-1, mmg/666, 666 stack wandered adjacent to e2, the best I could manage was to pin it. I did a bit better in the PFPh of German turn 1, and eventually managed to break the units in the DFPh of American turn 2. The Americans were never realy able to recover from this setback, and the Germans remained resoloute in their strong positions. Although the game ended as a decisive German victory, this one might have easily gone either way. Next Tuesday, it'll be my turn with the Americans....
This evening, I finished off my 3rd game of S-03 "Simple Equation" (the half-finished scenario mentioned in post#92 of this thread). I really failed to get anything going during turns 4 and 5 (whatwith prep fire and smoke grenade opportunities proving unfriutful), but prudently didn't try to be too audacious.
Are most of you familiar with this situation?? You feel you are close to really putting the defender under the hammer, but none of your prep fire or smoke attempts work. You can try to get by on pure audaciousness (which is not really the American's best suit), knowing that the rewards for success will be great, but failiure will put you very much on the back foot. Also, by being conservative, you'll allow the Germans a good opportunity to recover. What to do???
Well, its turn 5 of a 6.5 turn game. I decided to be conservative, and I would say that's the right thing to do when time is on your side. The Germans recovered a little in that time, but got kicked fairly hard on turn 6. Overall, this does look to be a tough scenario for the Germans; the Americans have a good ability to recover from setbacks, the Germans clearly do not enjoy that privilege. In the end I got to return the favour to Mike of grinding down the almost-never rallying 436s.
I still think board Z is a tough place for the newbie to play, though. There are so many 50/50 looking LOS, that its quite hard to see where you are safe from fire/interdiction. It seems the safest way to get around is by moving close to the danger early to draw DFF, and moving everyone else beyond the SFF range. Whilst that is pretty much par-for-the-course in the open country, it does seeem rather odd in an urban environment!!!
Still, I like S3 purely on the grounds that its the most 'meaty' of the SK#1 scenarios.
John Knowles.
Last edited:
sunoftzu
Senior Member
Hi,
I got to play S-42 (as American) last Saturday, and attacked with all 7 squads going for the left flank. The intermediate goal was to get firegroups (perferably mmg/666, 666) into h3 and k4; all the VC buildings can be seen from these hexes, and the hedgerows give the Americans +2 cover, which their brittle morale so dearly needs.
I did well with my smoke drs, and there was plenty of cover, and I fould myself in good positions by the end of turn 3. From there, I always felt that I would be able to break the defenders and mop up, although it did take until the RPh of American turn 6 for me to claim the last buildng, by which stage all German units were broken. A good scenario for teaching a player about how (and how _not_) to use the Americans. On to Carentan now.....
John.
I got to play S-42 (as American) last Saturday, and attacked with all 7 squads going for the left flank. The intermediate goal was to get firegroups (perferably mmg/666, 666) into h3 and k4; all the VC buildings can be seen from these hexes, and the hedgerows give the Americans +2 cover, which their brittle morale so dearly needs.
I did well with my smoke drs, and there was plenty of cover, and I fould myself in good positions by the end of turn 3. From there, I always felt that I would be able to break the defenders and mop up, although it did take until the RPh of American turn 6 for me to claim the last buildng, by which stage all German units were broken. A good scenario for teaching a player about how (and how _not_) to use the Americans. On to Carentan now.....
John.