Germantown game 2

Played the first three turns of Germantown and what a difference from the first game.  The Brits managed to score a hit with Arty that caused an attack to go awry for the continentals and a Hessian attack on Militia has caused a problem for the continentals as well.  Finally the Brits won the initiative after that fight allowing them to follow up.  This point into the first game the Brits were down 7vp and on the ropes, now it is an open contest with both sides near full strength but the next few combat rolls will determine the flow for the next couple turns at least.

The two Stars are where the main fights happened so far.  The British cannon near the one star made a morale check to keep from being eliminated - it will run some more to hopefully cause other losses.  The Star at the bottom is where the Hessians attacked a stack of Militia forcing most of them to retreat and the front unit was Disrupted.

ASL 244: Château De Quesnoy (Session 2)

 The second session of this scenario.  In a total of just under 6 hours we have 4.5 turns done.   This one is a monster.  But ONLY (!?) 11.5 turns to go...  

My actual shooting has been pathetically ineffective.  Though a 75* gun took out a tank when it found it had AP and a 50mm MTR crew was taken out.  Through bad deployment I lost a bunch of troops due to FTR as well.  On the plus side my Sniper is doing overtime.  So far it has killed a 9-2, a 9-1, and a squad or so.  Next game day is Christmas or New Years day.  

Great Battles of the American Revolution: Germantown second game day

 Played turns 4 and half of turn 5 (lots going on) in 3 hours today.  The Redcoats are on the backfoot.

The Rebels manage to capture a BUNCH of Redcoats by bad play on my part.  With a need to get 7vp just to get a draw (and not let the Rebels get any more VP even for that) I concede the game.  We made a few mistakes along the way rules wise but my tactical mistakes are what cost the game.  Tried to fight too far forward and that allowed units to get cut off and captured.  Asked for a restart and with more attention to detail (Run Away! Run Away!) in the early game it should be a more interesting contest.

ASL 244: Château De Quesnoy

 Just a quick note that I played this today.  Tycho is most likely going to kick my can.  This is the start of Allied turn 3 and the Germans have ONLY(!?) 12 turns left to take the big building.  They can only take 59CVP as well but I think they are well on their way to a win.  If you want to play a big honking scenario this is the one.

Germantown

 First three turns of Germantown from GMT's Battles of the American Revolution series.  Since I was rusty I asked for the Brits in this one since they react the first few turns.  Considering the number of decisions to be made by either side it would really not have made much difference.

Game start.

Start of turn2.  A lot of US reinforcements on the way this turn but Stephens is drunk so his move by random DR each turn.

Start of turn 4.  I probably had placed my guys badly on turn 3.  Only time will tell.  They did manage to get out in one piece and the lines is starting to form.  The fog will lift over the next three turns (heavy on the first 3, random on the next 3, clear after that).  Statistics wise, Rifle/Arty has been crap while CC has been excellent for the attackers in most cases.

ASL scenario To Battle By Air 5: Bob's Farm

 Got in a short round of ASL today (one hour game time, not much more setup time).

The setup.  UK comes in on turn 1 and have to hold the circled building at the end of the game.

The exchange of fire on the first half of turn 1 goes nearly completely to the UK.  Couldn't ask for better.  We both agreed it would have been better for the HMG to setup in the building.

The situation at the midpoint of turn 2.  The German reinforcements come on next.  The 9-1 had been pinned and the squad above it went into CC with a CX half squad and eliminated it in Ambush.

The Germans pushed in, managed to get another CC in CC5 going but the UK reinforced with the leader and another squad killing the German squad.  Another German squad in BB4 was DMd and forced to rout.  German player called it here.  We "rolled" some dice the squads in 8-1 were pinned but return fire still DMd the squad with the German 8-1.  

A good tiny scenario.  If the Half Squad and 8-1 had not died in the first turn it would have gone differently, hard to say though.  Both sides had spurts of good and bad luck.  A heroic 9-1 UK leader followed by both squads with him breaking while that same turn Germans were passing MCs left and right.  Very next turn the Germans could not pass an MC for nothing.

ASL Scenario To Battle by Air 4.

 Played this one and it took a bit longer than expected.  Two hours instead of one and a half or so.  A good little scenario.

The Germans win if they have 5fp they can hit the red circled hex with at game end.

Not a good opening.  DMd only a couple and had my Leader and Squad DMd in return.

Should have had that guy skulk away.  Instead I tried firing and go zippo.  Return fire broke him and he surrenders.  Not a good situation.

My big surprise (opponent thought it was a dummy, so did I) turns into a dud.  Only got a pin out of it.

The 8-1 and the squad with him do not manage to hold off the US long and end up in CC.  With the US having 3 squads around to my single squad things are not looking good.  I didn't notice it at the time but my luck was crappy.  The US 7ML troops made a whole LOT of morale checks and my rolls were generally high.  There were enough low rolls mixed in to not make it seem so but the US always made the MCs those rolls caused.   WHINE!

And then it happens.  The US rolls boxcars on a CC roll at the end of a US turn.  The Germans take the chance to scoot.  German prep is snakes and all of a sudden it is up in the air.

Final US movement phase.  They HAVE to get both of the German squads near the VC hex broken or stuck in CC.  The tanks makes an overrun attempt.  The Shrek I was hoarding up to this point misses but the Squad finds a faust and flames the tank.  US attempts to read the Germans for CC (or point blank return fire) don't work out and it ends with a German win.

A good short scenario.  The Germans can't make the stand fast mistake I made but the US HAS to move fast to break or eliminate the Germans - taking ground is not enough in itself the US has to keep the Germans from having 5FP able to reach the VC hex at the end.

The Dark Sands comes to an end

 The game of The Dark Sands, that started with a lot of promise ends with a sour note.

The map after the last Commonwealth attack of turn 15.  At best the Commonwealth can attack 8 more times if the Chits always work out.  Since there is no overrun mechanic in the game I setup the Axis Defense like so.

If all the combats on turn 16 end up with the defender eliminated that still leaves roughly 1 combat unit per defensive "line".  Axis Reinforcements consist of two units on the next turn and 3 on the last turn.  Just enough to plug all the lines enough to hold off the Commonwealth just long enough.  End result would be 3 Axis VP for holding the VP spots to 0 Commonwealth VP.  Even if the Commonwealth took a VP in the first turn (more than that is not really possible without insane luck) it would still be an Axis victory.  The lack of an overrun mechanic along with Commonwealth tanks serving very little purpose (they are faster and stronger and the advantage ends there) makes the end game very WW1 like.  Sadly the search for "the" game on the desert war continues on.

Next up, a Great Battles of the American Revolution game.

The Dark Sands continues

 Played Turns 13 and 14 today.  Two turns done in three hours.

Start of turn 13.  The Germans have the initiative and attack to the push the Allies back.

End of turn 13.  The Germans manage to push the Allies off of the center map and get a foot hold on the East map.  

End of turn 14.  Due to the auto Defender Retreat result for a map edge the Germans manage to keep the Allies at the map edge for the turn.  The Allies attacked the Axis units on the edge, which either died or retreated and then the Axis used a chit to attack forcing the Allies back again.  With only 11 more attacks possible (11 attack chits in Allied hands last three turns) the Allies have to go 14 hexes to reach the first VP space (Sollum) and a few more hexes to reach the space further up.  If the Axis can keep a line of units in the way the Allies will only gain one hex per attack - and depending on losses keeping that line is very possible.

The game started out very promising, handling the early part of the campaign well.  Then the impossibility of taking Tobruk combined with there being no chance for the Axis to gain VP without it make the 1941 portion of the game almost meaningless.  Rommel has no real incentive to push on to take the Allied base since there is no real chance of doing so.  The best to hope for is by making the Allies fight for it they lose units.  The instant 1942 comes along Tobruk is an instant death trap for the defenders (needing to retreat 4 hexes means losing two steps at least if defending the forts and losing more if overstacked).  The map edge, auto DR sounds good in theory but in practice it makes it a slugging match if utilized as a defense point.  Finally there is no incentive for Rommel to try and move off the center map, extra VP would be nice but even if the Allies managed to have a VP by now (they can get one if things work out well in the early game) the Allies would HAVE to retake Sollum to get a draw.

ASL, Lone Canuck, To Battle By Air Scenario 6. Flames on the Borders.

 Played this one with Tycho.  Got whipped.  Could have been worse, the Tropical Storm that was off the coast could have hit this area...

The setup.  The Germans had 5 turns to get 15+ CVP off the far edge.  FT tanks are nice but they are slow and red MPs.  At least FTs can be deadly in motion.

End of German turn 4 and I conceeded.  The Piat at the top of the board broke when firing the first time so I did not fire on it and took out a nearby squad instead.  Of course the thing was repaired and smoked my in motion FT tank.  Not a good start.  WORSE is the trail of the pesky 8-1 leader I show.  He managed to stay concealed when jumped by CC, manage to survive the CC, broke when leaving the CC hex, routed, self rallied first chance, broken again leading a squad, routed to the wood building, rallied right away (I think), survived a 30 flat FT attack, picked up the PIAT the DM HS in his hex was carrying and picked off the other FT tank.  I tried a few more IFT shots to try and clear the last enemy defenses but they all came up bad and I conceded the game.  

I probably should have kept some guys on the tanks and did an end run off the map using the other squads to pin down the defenders.  At any rate I played poorly and Tycho played well.  A fun scenario that we manage to play in 90 minutes (not including setup time).

The Dark Sands Game 2 Turn 12

 Got in the last chit of turn 11 and all of turn 12 today.  That took 3 hours to complete.

The starting point.  The Germans just started a combat chit when power went out last time.  

The results of the attacks (forgot to show one - the Italian in the center got an A1 result).  The Allies are forced to retreat in all but one battle.  Putting a large number of their forced in jeopardy of being OOS.

At the end of turn 12.  One allied stack is eliminated for being OOS, another was eliminated by a retreat it could not make (surrounded and escarpment).  A final stack was eliminated in an exchange.  The Germans took a good bit of tank losses in the exchange but certainly made out the winner.  Good luck and good luck with the chits are helping the Germans right now.  Later the Commonwealth get better chits but will it be enough to force the Afrika Corps back far enough to get 2 or the VP spaces?

The Dark Sands continues

 Continued The Dark Sands turns 10 and part of 11.  Near the end of the last chit the power went out (and I'm getting too lazy to post images).  Tobruk fell easily after the Panzers came back.  The front is a long line for both sides with neither having a huge advantage in chits (but the Germans having an advantage for a couple of turns).  Holding onto gains is the name of the game now.  Perhaps taking the Mersa Matruh for VP as well.

ASL GJ009: Polar Bear

 Getting lazy, and whiny, and tired.  So no pictures.  Played this one and got smacked for bad play.  Interesting scenario and I recommend for either side.  My Germans took the north flank through the orchards but then I turned south too quickly and ran into the very guns I was trying to avoid.  Then I pushed to far forward with Infantry and Vehicles and lost too many of each.  

Festung Budapest campaign game 01, Day 2

 Played the second campaign game day of Festung Budapest campaign 1.  The Russians did not make headway on the first day due to heavy wind clearing away the needed smoke screen at the worst possible time (Russians were in the street adjacent to Germans in buildings and trenches and went from +5 smoke to none...).  This day starts with overcast and rain possible with a 10+ on the WCDR.

The situation at game start.  Wish I had noticed that sweet AT gun setup spot near the bottom right of the picture on the first day.

End of Russian turn 1.  The FIRST shot with the AT gun on the hill comes up boxcars.  On the other hand the Russians get the worst of it over on the left flank and don't do very well elsewhere either.

End of German turn 1.  My shots went crappy as I recall but it has been a couple weeks since I wrote this up.  I know my PMC was about to crack but then the Russian player rolled a 10 for the weather and conceeded the campaign.

I would still like to give this another play through sometime but it is intense gaming.  A Red Barricades style city fight with better tanks, Fausts, and host of special rules for Ammo shortage and Hungarian unit types.

The Dark Sands

 It is taking me nearly a month to get this in so I don't remember much and got lazy on the pictures.  The Axis forces decide to pull back with the Commonwealth getting reinforced and better chits the next few turns.

The start of turn 6.  The Germans would fall back to Tobruk and hold a line near Halfya.  The Commonwealth would give chase.  In the back and forth both sides took losses but I think the Commonwealth took more.

The situation at the end of turn 9.  The Axis will start getting better chits soon and in 42 the no retreat rule for Tobruk goes away making it an easier target to take.

Lock N Load Tactical Start Kit

 Played the Lock N Load Tactical Starter Kit scenario with my son.  He learned quickly and we will be giving it another shot in to weeks.

Jordan took the Germans and so I defended with the US.  The goal is to control 4 of the 7 circled buildings by the end of turn 6.

First Blood to the US Sniper - which is pretty much a given.  I gave him a slight hint to not move the leaders by themselves.

The shot that ended the game on turn 6.  The US had a +7 shot versus a 0 defense modified shot.  It ended up shaking the German leader and eliminating the German squad.

ASL scenario Yankee ASL 007: Making a Break for it

 Taking a break from Festung Budapest (really didn't have time to finish purchases and setup) Tycho and I played this ASL scenario.  

The UK has 6 turns to get 15 CVP (UK MMCs only count).  That is not a lot of time to get that much CVP across the board.  ? counters removed, everyone was concealed at start.

End of turn 1 and the UK is making good time.  The +1 low vision DRM at all ranges helps a lot.

Turn 6 - the guys in the road were just shot at by the 447 beneath the DM guy and they rolled snakes - that is when I conceeded (and whined).  Tycho says this one is tough on the UK and I agree but it is pretty close.  The UK really needs to MOVE and take major risks to get off the edge in 6 turns.  Purposely moving adjacent with a normal move multiple times type risk.

Whine mode off (for now).  On the 26th it is back to Budapest.

The Dark Sands continues

 We finished up three turns bringing us up to the start of turn 6.  The Commonwealth is pushed back to El Alamein but the Axis is running on shoestring supplies.  On turn 8 the Commonwealth gets a healthy dose of supply (lots of action chits) which could allow them to breakout of Tobruk and cutoff Axis supply if the Axis (me) is not careful.  So far Axis losses have been extremely light with all of them being restored by replacements while Commonwealth losses have been heavy.  Now does the Axis go for the knockout in two (just barely possible) or get a bit more conservative.

The West has not seen much action.  Some reinforcements are stuck due to lack of supply.  An oddity of the chit driven nature of the game. I had no Move chits and only those for Rommel and Afrika Corps and those were more important to use at the front.

In the Center the Commonwealth has been penned up in Tobruk since turn 3.  

In the East the Commonwealth make a stand at El Alamein.  The chits allowed them to make a hasty retreat from Mersa Matrah.

Festung Budapest Campaign 1 Day 01 end

 

The Heavy Winds clearing the smoke and the ROF streak of the German mortar bring campaign day 1 to a standstill.  Another turn and the Russian arty may have done more damage to the defenders and cleared an opening since it never drew a red chit and ended up being very effective after a couple of dud fire phases.  Towards the bottom of the map the berserk Romanian died in a hail of bullets but not till after exposing a dummy stack.  The Mortar (near the FFE C) had one more good roll killing a Russian in the building a couple hexes below it).

Next week is a standalone scenario - not enough time to get purchases and setup done - before starting up day 2.

The Dark Sands Game 2 turns 1 and 2

 Actually entered this nearly a week later - so much to do lately.

We restarted The Dark Sands after I messed up the first game, badly, and the Axis had no chance.  In this one bad combat results and chit draws leave the Commonwealth in a bad starting position for Rommel to come on.  On the plus side they are far away...

The setup.  Doesn't change from game to game but I still post it...

First blood to the UK!  (to be expected) the unit is eliminated with no Commonwealth losses.  The Commonwealth rolls after this would not be good.

End of turn 1.  The Commonwealth is not nearly as far along as the first game.  Partly that is due to my playing better but largely due to bad chit draw order and dice rolls for the Commonwealth.

At the end of turn 2 the Commonwealth is not even on the leftmost map (East, West?   Can't remember).  More sub-optimal chit draws and combat rolls for the UK.  They have taken a LOT of step losses from combat that they can not really afford this early.  Last game the Italians were down to a single unit left and Benghazi had been taken.  Rommel comes on next turn so we see how it will go from here.

ASL: Festung Budapest Campaign game day 1

Finally got round to starting up the Festung Budapest campaign game Tycho and I have been planning on.  Only about a month later then planned.

The setup.  The Russians also need to capture a building or two on the first day.  

End of Russian turn 1.  The smoke made it hard to slow them down but the minefields managed to break a squad.

End of German turn 1.  Smoke is really getting to be a pain.  A 75L gets the first significant kill of the game taking out a T34.

End of German turn 2.  A weather roll of 2 followed by 5 and smoke is even worse.  Stopping the Russians is going to be VERY painful now.

Start of German turn 3 and ANOTHER weather roll of snakes followed by a 5.  All the smoke magically goes away with Russians in exposed positions.  Some hot dice could make this a very bad turn for the Russians.  

After a massive number of rules lookups for 3.5 game turns (ran into something new nearly every player turn) we finished up there for the day.  This is a LOT of counters in a small area...