Sparafucil3
Forum Legend
ASL 102 Point of the Sword, FkaC
First something about me. I am just getting into ASL so this is 3rd or 4th scenario. I have played a couple of other scenarios vs some pretty good and patient teachers via VASL. I have learned a lot and try to make sure that I take something away from every turn.
I played this scenario over several days with TheSQLGuru via VASL. After reviewing the scenario, TheSQLGuru agreed to take the German side if I gave him the balance. I wanted to try attacking for once so I accepted. What follows is my AAR of the game.
Turns 1 -3: The Germans initial setup had their forces a bit forward. His set up issues left him somewhat vulnerable down the middle due to some blind spots created by orchards. There was probably not a much beter way to do it though as headges and walls do not provide a lot of opprotunity for long range shots. Using Smoke9 from the initial on board mortar (and some breaks and suggestions provided to me by TheSQLGuru) I covered the advance with SMOKE and the majority of the Brits pushed up the center and Western edge of the board. I wanted to dislodge the German defenders from that edge to clear the way for my turn 4 re-enforcements. Things progressed well and I was able to get a FG consisting of two 6-4-8's, a 3-3-8, a hero, a 9-2, and an LMG into the buildings at R6 and R7. A lucky sniper shot against a 4-6-7 with MMG in U5 also worked in my favor. Faced with this FG, the Germans decided to fall back on his turn 3 with some of his forces to create a second line of defense. This opened the way for my reinforcements on turn 4.
LESSONS:
1.Use smoke when you can.
2.Read the SSRs. I missed some smoke checks for the 4-6-8's that I should have made. By SSR, they are Assault Engineers with a +2 on their existing smoke number of 2. This over sight cost me some broken squads.
3.Eight morale units are tough as hell to break. And ELR of 5 is also pretty killer. I got some good dice on my MC's so all the credit is not theirs but it was still not lost on me that they can take a pounding.
4.Place a leader with high ROF SW (preferably one with at least the same morale number as the units manning the gun). It is no good to have a high ROF if you roll doubles and cower. A leader, even a 7-0, makes those snakes count.
5.I did not place my leaders very well to cover all of my breaking units. In the early turns I got away with this but in the future I may not be so lucky.
6.Planning for routs is crucial. I got lucky here too. Do not forget this when on the advance or you will fail.
Turn 4: This was the most critical turn to date for me as I needed to get my re-enforcements on and in place. I delayed the entry of the forces as long as possible to try and force his MG's into firing early. I moved some existing HS along the western edge into positions that I thought would be hard for him to allow me to be in and he bit. That tied up some LMG's that could have raised hell for me. Some added movement attracted the fire of his HMG which lost it's ROF. A second lucky sniper shot broke a 4-6-7 with an LMG further opening the way for me. I dashed along the western edge under CX with every unit I could. I needed to get past the road running from X5 to Q9. A MMG in Y5 threated a fire lane and getting passed that road would have been hell. I managed to get five 4-5-8's, 2 HMG's, 1 LMG, a 9-1, and an 8-0 leader passed that road. The rest of the on coming forces spread out among the wheat fields and open ground of center for the future assault.
LESSONS:
1.Snipers are unpredictable but they can crumble your whole position with a single roll. I can not decide how to minimize their risk anymore than say they are a risk you have to deal with.
2.Take your most important shots first. If you are going to suffer a sniper shot, might just as well make sure it is after that 1,1 which crumbles his position and not after that 1+1 shot to DM an already broken unit.
3.Try to delay your important moves until the right time.
4.This is the most units and SW that I have ever dealt with. It was almost over whelming. I am still not sure what I would have done with everything had we not taken a break. That break allowed me to review the board and make some rough decisions on how to get every one into a position that will support my continued attack.
5.Look for and exploit local conditions that allow you create a “highway of safety” when on the attack.
6.Did I mention that 8 morale units are tough as hell to break?
LESSON: Perhaps the biggest lesson is to have a paper and pen handy as I play to keep notes on things I do not understand. After we finish play for the day, I am researching the rules I did not understand. I am finding that “doing” is the best teacher. Nothing like getting pummeled to push a lesson into your brain.
Thats where we currently are in this game. I will follow up with more later as the game goes on. I am not sure if TheSQLGuru reads the posts here but I do not want to give away my strategy ahead.
I also want to thank TheSQLGuru as he has been pretty patient teaching as he goes along. He has offered suggestions that have later haunted him as the results work in my favor. He has also been gracious in dealing with some bad dice for him and good dice for me. I think the combination of those might have put me to a PMC which I would have broken under. Thanks Guru! -- jim
First something about me. I am just getting into ASL so this is 3rd or 4th scenario. I have played a couple of other scenarios vs some pretty good and patient teachers via VASL. I have learned a lot and try to make sure that I take something away from every turn.
I played this scenario over several days with TheSQLGuru via VASL. After reviewing the scenario, TheSQLGuru agreed to take the German side if I gave him the balance. I wanted to try attacking for once so I accepted. What follows is my AAR of the game.
Turns 1 -3: The Germans initial setup had their forces a bit forward. His set up issues left him somewhat vulnerable down the middle due to some blind spots created by orchards. There was probably not a much beter way to do it though as headges and walls do not provide a lot of opprotunity for long range shots. Using Smoke9 from the initial on board mortar (and some breaks and suggestions provided to me by TheSQLGuru) I covered the advance with SMOKE and the majority of the Brits pushed up the center and Western edge of the board. I wanted to dislodge the German defenders from that edge to clear the way for my turn 4 re-enforcements. Things progressed well and I was able to get a FG consisting of two 6-4-8's, a 3-3-8, a hero, a 9-2, and an LMG into the buildings at R6 and R7. A lucky sniper shot against a 4-6-7 with MMG in U5 also worked in my favor. Faced with this FG, the Germans decided to fall back on his turn 3 with some of his forces to create a second line of defense. This opened the way for my reinforcements on turn 4.
LESSONS:
1.Use smoke when you can.
2.Read the SSRs. I missed some smoke checks for the 4-6-8's that I should have made. By SSR, they are Assault Engineers with a +2 on their existing smoke number of 2. This over sight cost me some broken squads.
3.Eight morale units are tough as hell to break. And ELR of 5 is also pretty killer. I got some good dice on my MC's so all the credit is not theirs but it was still not lost on me that they can take a pounding.
4.Place a leader with high ROF SW (preferably one with at least the same morale number as the units manning the gun). It is no good to have a high ROF if you roll doubles and cower. A leader, even a 7-0, makes those snakes count.
5.I did not place my leaders very well to cover all of my breaking units. In the early turns I got away with this but in the future I may not be so lucky.
6.Planning for routs is crucial. I got lucky here too. Do not forget this when on the advance or you will fail.
Turn 4: This was the most critical turn to date for me as I needed to get my re-enforcements on and in place. I delayed the entry of the forces as long as possible to try and force his MG's into firing early. I moved some existing HS along the western edge into positions that I thought would be hard for him to allow me to be in and he bit. That tied up some LMG's that could have raised hell for me. Some added movement attracted the fire of his HMG which lost it's ROF. A second lucky sniper shot broke a 4-6-7 with an LMG further opening the way for me. I dashed along the western edge under CX with every unit I could. I needed to get past the road running from X5 to Q9. A MMG in Y5 threated a fire lane and getting passed that road would have been hell. I managed to get five 4-5-8's, 2 HMG's, 1 LMG, a 9-1, and an 8-0 leader passed that road. The rest of the on coming forces spread out among the wheat fields and open ground of center for the future assault.
LESSONS:
1.Snipers are unpredictable but they can crumble your whole position with a single roll. I can not decide how to minimize their risk anymore than say they are a risk you have to deal with.
2.Take your most important shots first. If you are going to suffer a sniper shot, might just as well make sure it is after that 1,1 which crumbles his position and not after that 1+1 shot to DM an already broken unit.
3.Try to delay your important moves until the right time.
4.This is the most units and SW that I have ever dealt with. It was almost over whelming. I am still not sure what I would have done with everything had we not taken a break. That break allowed me to review the board and make some rough decisions on how to get every one into a position that will support my continued attack.
5.Look for and exploit local conditions that allow you create a “highway of safety” when on the attack.
6.Did I mention that 8 morale units are tough as hell to break?
LESSON: Perhaps the biggest lesson is to have a paper and pen handy as I play to keep notes on things I do not understand. After we finish play for the day, I am researching the rules I did not understand. I am finding that “doing” is the best teacher. Nothing like getting pummeled to push a lesson into your brain.
Thats where we currently are in this game. I will follow up with more later as the game goes on. I am not sure if TheSQLGuru reads the posts here but I do not want to give away my strategy ahead.
I also want to thank TheSQLGuru as he has been pretty patient teaching as he goes along. He has offered suggestions that have later haunted him as the results work in my favor. He has also been gracious in dealing with some bad dice for him and good dice for me. I think the combination of those might have put me to a PMC which I would have broken under. Thanks Guru! -- jim
