ASL BtB:16 finale. Battlegroup Nor-Mons

 Today we finished up this scenario. We only ended up playing till the end of German turn 3 before the German player conceded.   With the UK 120mm arty coming on in addition to the already existing 80mm that had been doing a good job so far, a Tiger malfing and recalling after one show, and two other Panzers burning after getting hit by regular Shermans it was going to be a tough slog.

Game situation at the end.  The Berserk squad had not had a chance to fire off the Shrek yet and the FB had not made an appearance but things were looking rough for the Axis.

ASL BFP scenar BtB16: Battlegroup Nor-Mons

 Played this one for the second time today.  The last game ended with a German win after the UK Arty did not make an appearance.

This time I had the UK and I stayed off the 2nd level hill knowing it would be a prime target for the rocket OBA.  I guessed correctly.

Barkman's Corner done in Arc of Fire

John hosted a game of Arc of Fire for my son and I today.  Fun game.  My son took the Germans and I got the Americans.  

The setup.  The US enters at the bottom and need to exit off the top.  The Germans setup somewhere near the top.  The first group I encountered were at the middle hedgerow and I am fairly certain the Panther was at the crossroads.

The Panther makes itself known by knocking out two tanks.  The rest of the US forces get bunched up on the table entry.  3rd platoon makes the fastest headway going off toe the right.

3rd platoon moves up and just about now an over-eager Jerry fires off a faust and misses due to being just out of range.  2nd platoon gets bogged and fails morale check after morale check.

3rd platoon pasted the German squad that fired on it and then moved into the hedgerow, only to be nailed with a faust (this time taking out a sherman) from the next hedgerow.  Return fire from the remaining two shermans kills off the second German squad.  Then another unit kills another sherman and the remaining one made a run for it.  On the right the 76mm armed platoon also take a bunch of time getting through the bocage and the mud on the right.

The action moved to the right flank.  The Germans got tired of waiting and moved the Panther up.  The US fired on smoke shell which did just about nothing since everyone made spotting rolls through it and fired like crazy.  The Panther hit the US tank in the front but did not manage to kill it outright - merely making the crew bail out.

The US get the next few activations and manage to roll a 10 (out of 10) three times in a for three solid hits on the Panther, knocking it out.  At that the game is called for the US, they still had not run into the Pak-40 but could have skirted around it when it was found.

A close up shot of the knocked out panther and the losses from the us 3rd platoon.

Fireball Forward: Darkness Before the Dawn

 Got in a Face to Face game of Fireball Forward at the Dragon's Lair game store in Fort Myers.  An old standby scenario my son and I have played a few times before.  It is good one so almost certainly will play again.

The setup.  The German Panthers come on at the road at the bottom.  The German infantry within 6" of the road.  Points are scored for controlling the buildings, destroying Panthers, or getting Panthers off the board.

End of turn 1 (of 5).  The Germans come on with Infantry to scout ahead.  A few Americans are spotted.  Nobody is harmed in the first batch of fire.  

End of Turn 2.  Germans move up into position, still nobody is hurt even with many more units opening fire.

End of Turn 3.  The Americans get crushed by fire this turn and the Germans hardly hurt.  The first building is cleared out and a rampaging Panther finishes off some routed US squads by overrun (top right just beyond the building).  Further to the right a Panther is destroyed by an M10.  To the left of the building two M10s are destroyed with no loss to the Germans in a shootout over there.

End of turn 4 and the game.  The remaining US infantry on the left break and run.  A Panther is shocked by a hit from an M10 while the other Panthers move up on the US infantry to clear out the building.
On the Right 3 M10s and 2 Panthers trade a bunch of shots.  The Panthers miss and the M10 rounds bounce off the front armor of the panthers even at close range.  The one M10 that probably could have killed a Panther (since it was at point blank) missed it's shot.

Ending result was a German win.  A lot of lucky results on firing in the third turn along with almost all the M10 shots being no effect sealed the game.  Could easily have gone the other way.

ASL: The Steelworks 2 - Hunt the Hun

 Got in a game of ASL.  Tycho was busy with an online tourney so we kept it small.   The Steelworks Scenario 2.  A fight for a small industrial area in France.  With mist and stone buildings this is a tough one when the Germans start with four squad equivalents onboard and the UK has 10 SE coming on turn one.  The Germans roll for a further three squads starting on turn 2 but...

The setup.  The UK wins if there are no Good Order Germans in the buildings inside the red lined area at the end of the game.

First turn coming on for the brits.  The only units that were broken were either moving in non-building terrain or the one stepped into mines.  The +1 for mist up to 6 hexes (and going up every 6 from there) along with stone buildings makes defensive fire (or offensive) somewhat meaningless.

I left a guy in the road to try and get a kill, hoping he would only be possibly DM in response if things went badly.  Nope, multiple shots killed him outright.  The UK troops stream on and CC my other units after 1 hex shots at them in buildings (8+4) does nothing.  To be fair Advancing fire did nothing as well but self breaking and routing was not an option or there would be no one left to hold the line at all.

Germans get reinforcements as early as possible on turn 2.  They run up the road on the left.  Blast the units in the building adjacent and move in for CC.  Still did not manage to kill everyone even with an ambush so they jump out the hex to see if they can shoot them with firepower and move back in.  They did manage to break everyone but also get pinned by return fire so can not jump back in later.  I conceded on that note.

Maybe using snap shots is a better idea.  A 4+1 shot being better then an 8+4.  Hard to find good snap shot angles but worth keeping in mind for next time.  OK - won't be a next time for this one, too many better scenarios to play at least once first.

ASL, Lone Canuck, The Steelwork, Knock Them Down!

 Started the big scenario from Lone Canuck's The Steelworks scenario pack.  Instead of a campaign game this pack includes a large scenario as the main draw for the pack.  A 12 turn slugfest with a lot of tanks and toys.

The UK have 12 turns to demolish the two smoke stacks shown on the map.  We finished up two complete turns in two hours and stopped for the UK to put some thought into reinforcement placement for turn 3.  German reinforcements (on the left) come in if they roll less then or equal to the reinforcement number starting on turn 4.
So far the UK have rolled a bunch of boxcars disabling the MA on a number of tanks while the Germans managed to Malf (and lose) an 81mm mortar.  The German sniper has also been going gangbusters, activating a whole BUNCH of times (lost track but at least 5 times in two turns).

Fireball Forward: Stiffening Resistance (Game two)

 Started a second round of Stiffening Resistance on Tabletop Simulator.  We finished up to the end of turn 3 in 2.5 hours.  Not bad since it includes setup and rules reading time.

The situation at the end of turn 3.  The Germans are taking lumps.  Blind fire into the buildings by the UK resulted in a lot more Morale Checks for the Germans then averages would allow.  One tank rolled double red sixes when fast moving for instance.  One UK halftrack is down and the Germans have lost a squad and 3 Halftracks.  The one with the 75mm is still in the game though.

First Blood!  The Germans got the first kill in the game - which was quickly followed by the Germans losing their unit as well.

Lock N Load Tactical: Rejoining the Regiment

Played this one today with my son.  Germans came very close to pulling off a win.  The US managed to rally just in time to block the road off the map.  The Germans jumped into melee and took those US units out but that blocked the hex from being moved through.  The remaining US units went to the exit hex so the Germans would have to stop and melee instead of getting off the map.  The other US option would have been to go into melee with the Germans who would have had to fire or accept the melee and they only had just enough to get off the board for a win if they moved everyone.

ASL 244: Château De Quesnoy (Session 3)

Our New Years game day continues!  Today with the completion of ASL 244: Château De Quesnoy.  As often happens with ASL the winner comes down to the luck of the draw.  In this case it is drawing 2 red cards for OBA that does it.  Without smoke the Germans will be very hard pressed to get a foothold in the Château - much less getting control of it.

So MVP for the French goes to the German Arty.  The Germans did not have any weapon really stand out but the potato masher was a pain.

 

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.  

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.

ASL scenario Battlegroup Nor Mons (Beyond the Beachhead pack from Bounding Fire Productions 16) (conclusion)

 Tycho and I finished up our Beyond the Beachhead game today.  We played out a half turn of it by email (was planning on more but life and rules lookups got in the way).

Last report left off with the German turn 2 done.  We finished the UK turn 2 and then I rolled for wind and got snakes followed by a 5 (or whatever causes the wind to increase).  This had the effect of getting rid of all the smoke.  I was shaking with that one, at least I had a turn to scatter my troops so they did not all get nailed by arty.  Tycho then managed to draw two red chits.  The Germans were off to the races to boot.  One Sherman (top right ) backed up one hex and was hit and turned into a burning wreck by the Stug on the road (lucky shot with the CE being just enough to make a hit).  Another Sherman bogged backing up from the PZIV (middle) and his fire was ineffective.  At this point the game was called.

Probably a good scenario but the luck at the worst times struck the UK player combined with some bad placement.  If the UK arty had come down when the smoke cleared the Germans would not have had a clear shot to the VP buildings but also by that time the UK troops were mostly broken or out of position.  I would play this one again sometime but with so many scenarios...

ASL scenario Battlegroup Nor Mons (Beyond the Beachhead pack from Bounding Fire Productions 16)

 Started this scenario today.  The Germans have 7 turns to take the buildings indicated.  They also must clear the UK off of the 2nd level locations in the big circle.  The UK gets VP for each good order unit on a hill hex at game end.

The Germans get a 150mm Rocket attack at game start, all it did was DM a single unit on the hill.  The UK got two Arty types,  One was 80mm and the other 120mm.  The Germans got another OBA as well, also 80mm with smoke and HE.

Time was short and we had a couple of rules lookups so we only made it through the end of the German turn two.  The German (me) is more afraid of UK arty then offensive use so I smoke the field to keep the UK from getting a LOS to my guys.  Worked out quite well since the UK arty request was blocked by smoke.

Normandy 44 game 2 over

 Turn 6 and game over.  

4 attacks with rolls of 1,5,2 and 1.  The two 1 rolls were 4 to 1 attacks that would only fail on a 1.  Had all I could stand and quit.  If it makes me a big baby I don't give a shit.

Normandy 44 (second playing) end of turn 5

 Playing this one over VASSAL (lovely program) and have finished up turn 5.  Things are looking bad for my UK troops and good for the US.  If the UK can hold on and push the Germans back from the beaches it will be slog.  If not it will be over soon.  Lots of mistakes with the UK and a couple of bad DR (compensated by good DR on the US side) caused the mess there.

ASL Action Pack 108: Yes Sir!

 Just played this one with Tycho and there is something funny with the Random.org dice roller too!

The US has six turns to capture 3 of the buildings in the red lined area.  Germans get 2 Squad Eqvuialents HIP.  I choose Half Squads and a squad with an LMG and another with a Shreck.  One more hanging out in the grain to be a nuisance too.

Second shot and first blood.  The US armor leader's tank is CE and promptly gets stunned for it.  Adding insult to injury the LMG got rate.

Next is a 2-2 shot and I roll a 1,2 while laying down a Firelane.  The SSR for the US having 10ML on turn 1 is not helping them since they just die.

End of US turn 1.  By the end a SNiper popped the US leader and two squads were KIA.  The scond one was from a 2-2 shot where I rolled snakes ending up a 0 on the 1 table.  The US return fire only resulted in a MC for the Germans that got one leader pinned and also caused the Sniper Check that killed the 9-1 leader.

End of German turn 1.  The German MMG and leader wounded the US 9-1 leader and fire from the gun (or the MMG again) broke the squad under the one tank.  The 238 shot at a US squad and leader and broke both of them too.  When they routed I revealed 238 in the grain, maybe should have waited and got them in CC but with the dice roller shining on me today it didn't matter.

First shot of German Defensive Fire Phase in US turn 2 and game over.  First shot is another 4fp shot where I rolled a 1,2 breaking another US squad.  At this point they were down to 2 unbroken squads and 5 total versus an unharmed German side (8 squads).  The tanks never got smoke and the Germans only suffered a single Pin result (maybe a second when it didn't matter, during a US Advancing fire phase).  

 

The VASL die roller gets slammed a lot (I'm one of the slammers) for odd streaks - this is the third game in a row where Random.orgs results have been consistently high for one side and consistently low for the other.  In this case low (very low) for me and high (very high) for Tycho.  Perhaps it is time to use a camera focused on a dice glass...

OMG! I played another game today. ASL scenario AP105

Played ASL scenario AP105 with Tycho today.  We both knew this one would be decided by the first Prep Fire.

The setup.  The US has to get 12VP including a leader off any edge.  It starts with German prep.

So I decided to show my actual prep fire rolls.  The first two were the MG shots that could have gotten rate.  Even the 1,3 result Tycho rolled a snake eyes for an MC and battle hardened.

US return fire broke one of my leader stacks leaving the way open clear.  I jumped into CC (the only way to block an exit) and none of them cleared out anything.  The DM leader did not manage to rally so it was pretty much game over.

If you decide to play this one be prepared to play something else - this one can't take very long to play and I can't see it being anything but a blowout one was or the other.

ASL Action Pack 104: Linkup

Tycho and I continued our ongoing 29Let's Go! Action Pack games with the 4th scenario in the pack.  We are going to play through all of the scenarios in the pack keeping sides the same throughout. 

The scenario at start.  The US has 7 turns to get 10 exit VP off the bottom edge on or adjacent to a road.  There can also not be a German MMC in any building hex in the outlined area AND a 24 CVP cap.

And the first MC of the game creates a berserk conscript...

End of first turn prep.  Things did not go as well as the US wanted them to go.  A conscript is unharmed in the middle building (regular squad with LMG on first floor broke).

Start of US rout phase.  The WPd in 426 manage to break a US squad in the stream adjacent.  The dice are rolling LOW.  US fire at the conscript at the bottom left only pins him.

End of US rout phase.  The German HS (K result from earlier attack) is killed by OBA.  The other squad failed an MC while routing and becomes a HS.

End of German turn 1 prep.  Most of the shots do diddly but the Conscript off to the left DMs a US 666 squad that went adjacent.  Those guys deserve medals.

Start of German Rout phase.  The Zerkers charge and are instantly vaporized by Snakes from the OBA.  I was very bummed.  The two Conscript squads directly in the front line manage to pass every MC they are forced to make but the one in the building is pinned.

The end of US Turn 3 and the game.  The Germans broke an MG and the Conscripts both failed their MCs this turn but holding on for 3 turns totally screwed the US time table.  In four turns they still had to get 10cp off the bottom edge of the board (only personnel, ACs count and at least one leader had to be in the mix) and they had to clear out the remaining Germans so they could not get into the buildings  I had my two guns near the bottom building to allow them to help defend or pull a sleazy building bum rush.  Woohoo!  I won I won I won!  (after 3 shellacking I'll crow a little - and I do mean SHELLACKINGS!)

In two weeks we play scenarios 105 and 106.  The first one is very small and likely to be decided on the first Prep Fire phase.  The second one is a smallish one so it looks like we can get both of them done in a day.

Fireball Forward: Darkness Before the Dawn continues

We continued the Fireball Forward game on Tabletop Simulator and managed to finish up one and a half turns (turn 2 and half of turn 3).  All pictures are from the end of the game session.

Overview of the action.   The smoke markers are killed tanks.  

A close up view of the end of session carnage.  The US used an initiative chit to do a double activation of their M10s.  They go lucky and killed a Panther and the rest of the Panther platoon failed Morale Checks caused by the loss of the one.  So the US is in great shape right now, though a lot will rest on who wins initiative next turn though the US has the shifting initiative chit next turn.

From the other end of the table.  The other M10 platoon took out another Panther.  Off to the left is a dead M10 from turn 1.