Mustangs!

 Got in two games of this today.  Good to get in some FTF gaming and hopefully a bunch more coming up.

It was a good day for the Allied Air Forces.  Downing 4 FW-190s to 1 P51 in two dogfights.  Second dogfight was very close and could have made it 2 each instead.
I've not played this game since sometime in the mid-nineties.  Still a lot of quick playing fun.

ASL AP 21: Red Don

 Go slaughtered in this one today as the Russians, a little more patience, and shooting instead of moving, may well have won it instead.

The Russians had to have five squads (good order) on any hill at game end to win.  Off to the left the Italian Half squad that DMd the adjacent Russians was DM at the start of the turn.  Rolled snakes (only roll that would rally) and then rolled snakes firing at the Russians in the building...
Over on the right, well I should not have moved those units forward.  I had two more turns to get onto the hill and my shots would have done better this turn - well maybe.  The turn before nobody for either side could hit anything and all I managed to do was Malf an MMG.  On the plus side the Italians malfed their two Mortars.  Italian arty never even got radio contact either...

ASL FE74.1: Fruitless Fighing. Game end

 FINALLY got round to gaming again.  Last game was July 29 and was too busy to get anything done since then.  Prepping a house for sale (and getting rid of the accumulated stuff in it) can do that for you.  Getting Covid and being knocked out for two weeks didn't help either.

The scenario is slanted towards the Germans (and I was the German player) so the German win didn't feel like one.

The Germans had FOUR Tiger tanks enter on turn 4.  The Russians most likely have to capture all the multi-hex buildings before that but the Russian player this time waited till after the German reinforcements came on to go for the final building down near the bottom center of the map.  By this time Germans troops were there in force with Tigers to take out the enemy tanks.
Due to some misses with the Tigers and attempts at IF shots, one of which was boxcars and the other an 11, the Germans were down to two functional tanks.  I really did not need to bother since the Russians could not kill a Tiger to save their lives (literally).   One Tiger was taken out by the Russians but in exchange two Russian tanks were as well.  Then the remaining German tank with functional MA killed two Russians (yup, the IF worked that time).  This left it at one Tiger with MA and another with MA malfed but not gone yet versus two Russian tanks, one of which was stuck in Melee with a German squad due to being immobilized in CC.  Infantry wise the Germans had more troops and better leadership and did not have to move to get the win.  So the Russians conceeded.

ASL FE74.1: Fruitless Fighting

Starting playing this one today.  I was a whiny little twerp (no excuses, I was a whiny little twerp).  Too busy prepping house for sale to do a writeup with pictures (I'll save that for the finish).  Played the first four turns where the Soviets run rampant.  They did not manage to take all the VC buildings and now pretty much even forces are coming on for the Germans and they get 4 Tiger tanks to boot.

 

BP-03: Prussian Panic (ASL) session 3

 The final (short) session of Prussian Panic.

The Russian luck holds out for one final turn.  

A Freeze Sleaze and a run finishes off the game.  During the German turn the squad in the first victory building was taken out when it tried to shoot, got no result, and in return was broken.  Russians declared NQ and it was eliminated.  The German tank next to it obliterated the 8-2 and squad it was in melee with by firing in the Prep fire phase with MGs.  
In the Russian turn the Russian tank moved into the hex with the German Kill Stack (more like Fire Lane of death stack) and with only one faust shot they were unable to destroy the tank allowing the 9-2 leader and a squad to make an end run for another victory location.  The Germans conceded with that move.  

The Russians got VERY lucky with the OT HT.  It took out the Jagdpanzer and another Panzer, braved a couple rounds from the 50L, a bunch of Faust shots, and finally lived through two turns of CC without a gun and being OT...

Fireball Forward, Operation Crusader: Counter Reconnaissance Encounter

 My first FTF game in year (Thanks Danny!).  Also my first time getting the miniatures out in an even longer time.  The Counter Recon Encounter scenario from the Operation Crusader scenario book.  A good clean intro to the Desert and back into Fireball Forward.

First turn of the game.  The UK rushes onto the board.  The Germans did not fire so no losses were taken.  The UK spots the Germans in the depression to the left.  They fired upon them but due to range they miss with all shots.

End of turn 4.  The German PzJgr 1 AT vehicles were taken out by Arty when I used the initiative to call in back to back arty.  That plus forgetting the +1 to the morale check for an open top vehicle.  Though I think one of them still would have been eliminated and the other broken.  This left the table pretty much open for the Crusaders.
The red markers are destroyed vehicles and the black are those out of ammo.

End of turn 5 and game called. Due to the Arty wiping out the PzJgr vehicles the Crusaders cleaned up.  The Germans were down to 1 operational vehicle at the end of the turn and 1 with no ammo.

BP-03: Prussian Panic (ASL) session 2

 Continuing on with the Prussian Panic scenario.  Things have gotten interesting.

I move my only T34 with functional MA and the 67LL HT to engage a JagdPanzer and a PZIV.  Bad idea.

With an overabundance of luck my Russians come out on top.  The T34 was "only" shocked (and so were we when we looked at the TK numbers of the 75L versus the T34 armor and saw it was a better then even chance a hit would have no effect).  It was finished off by a faust.  The HT was missed entirely.  In return fire I went for Deliberate Immob till I found it had very little chance (a crit) so I switched to APCR and then we were shocked again at how high the chance of hurting the beast was - one shot one kill).  The HT then fired at the PZIV and Immobilized it, later the crew of the PZIV Intensive fired back and ruined their gun.  The HT switched to firing on the adjacent Germans with their faust and managed to DM them.
Darn lucky dice!  Now I can't whine about them and have to play on.  (really, that bonehead move should have cost me the game right there).

The situation at the end of Russian turn 6.  Two turns left to go.  The PZIV is in CC with a leader and 628 squad and the Germans are down to a couple of stacks.  The Russians have more troops but we will see how the engagement down at the bottom edge goes.