ASL, LFT:281 - Pink Hill

 Another round of ASL with the LFT Desert boards.  Once again these are lovely boards but it could have used an image of the altered terrain from standard ASL maps.  We figured it out but a visual guide would have been helpful.  This one had a couple of oddities when it came to terrain SSR as well - the Orchards near town being Orchards instead of the altered style and tanks not being able to enter building hexes (if the tanks were every able to get anywhere near those buildings the game would have been lost a LONG time before).

Game start.  To win the Germans have to exit 11CVP (prisoners do not count, NQ in effect anyway) or have 12CVP more than the UK at game end.

First turn movement.  The UK had 9+ 2-2 or 4-2 shots and got a Pin and a single DM out of them.  Not a good start.

Game end.  The Germans had the CVP loss ratio they needed for a win so the UK charged with the tanks.  First one got a DM on one stack and the other Died.  The German aircraft was the MVP.  Darn thing destroyed my defenses.  If that first turn had gone differently it may have ended with a UK win.

ASL, LFT:286 The Last Fire Mission

 An interesting late ware scenario.  German stragglers are forced to use their Arty pieces for a last ditch defense.  They start with Low ammo, not entrenched, and not HIP or concealed.  The Russians win by having more CVP earned and at least one gun captured or destroyed.

The game setup.  Russians come in from offboard.

The only hit a 150 managed to get was against a German squad in rubble, and it only broke that squad which rallied quickly to boot.  The Russians played it safe with the armor since CVP counted.

The Germans had one chance with a faust fired by the leader in the south, and he just missed.  The guns never managed to hit a tank with their HEAT shells and otherwise the guns did not get the luck they needed.  Since they were not emplaced in any way the Russian infantry broke the crews with IFT shots leaving the open for the tanks.

A fun scenario which could have gone the other way with a bit better luck for the Germans.  

ASL scenario FT:293, Wild Men From Texas

 A fun scenario but perhaps unbalanced (especially if the Mortars run out of WP after just one shot).

The Americans have 8 turns to take 18 rubble locations.  They have to start on the bottom map on the right hand side.  The maps in this LFT product are beautiful but figuring out some terrain is a pain.  A complete listing of each terrain image and what it represents would have been handy.  (they have a listing for the unique stuff but not the retextured "normal" stuff) 

German half of turn 2 and both Mortars are out of WP.  Getting across the open ground without it is "tricky"

I sent my troops around the flanks and the Germans had their mines there, luckily they did not slow me up much but going round that way slowed me up enough (along with getting plastered when first entering the rubble) that by this time there was not enough movement phases left for the US to enter 18 rubble hexes, much less fight the Germans for it.  (this is the end of turn 4 too).

ASL FT212: For Hitler For Allah

 Played this today (and through till the 11th by email).  It is listed as pre-Partisan and I would agree with that (I played the Partisans).  The Germans start with a small force in the town and the partisans in the hills.  The partisans have to hold most of the village by game end while the Germans have a relief force that can come in from either board edge (chosen before the partisans setup).  One ooops on the part of the German player (moving an entire stack with a leader into open terrain and being fired on by a leader led MMG) sealed the result in this one.  Although it was not a sure thing for another turn and a half the Germans were on the back foot from that moment on.  

The situation at the end of the game (Turn 5 our of 6.5 possible turns).  The Germans would have had to retake and hold three buildings till the end of the next Partisan turn in order to win.