TCASL 12/10/22-- OTHER WARS

[Uncle_Duke]

Greetings all,

I can't believe we're already bringing 2022 to a close. What better way to wrap it up than to spend a day playing ASL? I really liked what I saw of the Board Room at the Roseville Library (thanks to all who suggested looking at libraries last month!), and this time I was able to reserve it for the entire day.

To find the Board Room, go up the stairs to the second floor, take a left, and then go as far as you can go. The Board Room will be on the right, near the periodicals section.

Parking is free and excellent.

Details:
Day: 12/10/22
Time: 10:00am - 4:30pm
Location: Ramsey County Library Roseville-- 2180 Hamline Ave N, Roseville, MN 55113
Masks: Highly recommended [ASL isn't worth giving someone covid over]


ASL is an incredibly flexible system. To show just how flexible it can be, here's a sampling of scenarios that take place in conflicts other than WWII proper:

Number  Title                          Side1             Side2              #Hrs  S1Win%  S2Win%  Publication                     Notes
ASL137  Italian Brothers               Republican        Italian            5.2   64.29%  35.71%  Doomed Battalions               Spanish Civil War
ASL208  The Grist Mill                 North Korean      American           2.3   47.17%  52.83%  Forgotten War                   Korean War
ASL253  Our Place in the Sun           Ethiopian         Italian            5.8   40.00%  60.00%  Hollow Legions                  Second Italo-Ethiopian War
AP54    800 Heroes                     Chinese           Japanese           4.1   52.16%  46.84%  Action Pack 6                   Second Sino-Japanese War
AP183   Patton's Ghost                 American          North Korean       5.5   50.00%  50.00%  Action Pack 17                  Korean War
G45     Halha River Bridge             Japanese          Soviet             2.2   46.55%  53.45%  The General Vol 32 No 2         Soviet-Japanese Border War
J148    Last Minute War                Hungarian         Slovak             5.7   62.90%  37.10%  Journal 10                      Slovak–Hungarian War
WO35    Heroes' Day                    British           Indonesian         11.2  71.43%  28.57%  WO Bonus Pack 11                Indonesian National Revolution

December 1942 also provides its fair share of scenario options for the anniversary inclined:

A70     Wintergewitter                 German            Soviet             3.9   55.44%  44.56%  Annual '95                      12/13/1942
RO6     The Playing Field              German            Soviet             4.6   56.41%  43.59%  Red Factories                   12/15/1942
U2      Sweep For Bordj Toum Bridge    German            American           16    31.25%  68.75%  GI's Dozen                      12/10/1942

 

[Cult.44]

I plan on being there.

 

[Uncle_Duke]

Yesterday, four of us assembled at the Roseville Library to play some ASL. Here's how things went:

Byron and I played DB099 "The Gin Drinker's Line." Based on previous experience, Byron thought this would be tough on the Japanese. I disagreed, happily took the Japanese, and we got down to business. Here's how things looked at setup. North is to the left throughout.

Not wanting to tangle with the wire, liking the look of the cover on east side, and knowing that I'd was going to have a second force entering from the west on Turn 3, I shifted my attack to the eastern edge of the board. Meanwhile, the British began a withdrawal back towards the victory locations.
Position at the end of Game Turn 1:

As I pushed forward, things began to go wrong. The theme here was Japanese move, British shoot, score a 1MC, Japanese blow the check, "here Byron, have another CVP."
I was in a pretty bad CVP hole all game, in large part thanks to excellent British shooting.
Position at the end of Game Turn 2:

Turn 3 rolled around, and my reinforcements arrived. My hope was to set up a Turn 4 banzai that would crash into the British flank, score a bunch of CVP, and start grabbing huts. Of course that never happened. British fire managed to break up the group before it really assembled.
Position at the end of Game Turn 3:

By the end of Turn 4, it was all over. I got off three banzais, and managed to grab a few huts after a round of typically vicious Japanese HtH Melee, but the casualties were far too high. At this point in the game, I needed to actually win a few, not just trade CVP 1 for 1. After watching the surviving British form themselves into an uncrackable hedgehog, I finally conceded.
Final Position:

Despite getting my butt thoroughly kicked, I had a great time. "The Gin Drinker's Line" is an excellent scenario (thank you, @62nd Army !), and Byron played a great fallback defense.


Meanwhile, @Cult.44 and @WAYCOOL played HazMo 16 "L'inferno Fascista." It certainly looked like they were having a good time, but I only got a picture of their final position. One of them will have to tell the tale.

 

[Cult.44]

@WAYCOOL is a young man and has only been at ASL for a couple of years but proved to be a capable opponent. HIs Russian tank coming in on T3 was poised to obliterate all of my tin-cans but a lucky MG shot on my part took it out. My Italian flame-thrower tank was able to break two key squads before succumbing to STUN/Recall. WAYCOOL launched a a counter attack, retaking a couple of buildings but that left an opening for me to take others. So I won as the Italians. Fun game though. Balance probably favors the Republicans as far as I can tell.