ASL Annual Scenario 69: Broich Bash

Played ASL Annual scenario 69 Broich Bash back in September - actually played a scenario by this name the month before but did not notice the errata for it stating North, South, East, and West being messed up - made for a short game that way...

This is a quick report with just the highlights, or lowlights...

The setup.  The US forces could enter from the Top or left or right on the top map.  Perhaps also possible on the lower map left and right edges.  Don't remember.  To win the US has to control 3 of the five stone buildings in the area outlined in red.

End of first US turn (they go second in this one even though they are the attacker).  The M5s have great smoke making ability and I put it to use for once.  I would be the recipient of good luck in the first couple of turns and also did not give the Jerries anything but three hex range Faust shots at moving tanks whenever possible - or 2 hexes if the target is smoked in and firing through brush to boot...

And the end game.  I had one last building left to take occupied by a broken leader in one location (left side beneath tank) and a squad and leader in another (under the ? counter).  I SHOULD have used the tank to lock the defenders in place but shot with it instead...

It was a fun scenario however and went down to the very last DR - though with a very low chance of success in that DR.

ASL Action Pack 96, Food Fight!

Played the ASL Action Pack scenario 96 titled "Food Fight" last August.  This was my last win at ASL in a long time - and it is all due to the VASL dice roller.  (I blame on my coming losses on the Dice Roller too so...)

The scenario pits two Partisan forces in a fight for supplies, a half map infantry and cavalry battle.  It sounded really interesting and perhaps it would have been if the dice were not out of whack.

The setup, Allied partisans on the right, Axis on the left.  points for CVP, searching for food, and controlling buildings

The allies come on at the bottom of the map and the first shot of the game causes the cavalry to break and horse to die.

Second shot of the game and a partisan squad goes poof - probably should not have gone that way however...

Third shot of turn 1, cavalry entered the 1fp firelane and was killed.

5th shot of turn 1.  Another dead Cavalry unit.

Another shot of turn 1.  Caption says it all...

Last deadly shot of turn 1.  After this the allied partisans would move to N9, fire at M9 and break the squad there.

Skipping by the Axis turn (skulk, skulk, skulk).  We come to the first move of Allied turn 2.  The Zerkers do make it into the hex with the Axis squad suffering the loss of another leader from another low IFT roll.  The Allies then fired into the CC breaking the Axis squad who slinks away.  At the bottom of the map the other broken Axis squad managed to slink away as well.  

End of the game.  Start of Axis turn 2 we called it.  The axis reinforcements would be able to move into the VC buildings and had twice as many troops (or more) as the remaining Allies.  I think the CVP was such at this point that the Axis would have had to roll boxcars from here out and the Allies snakes in order to turn it around.

It might be worth trying this one again but the slaughter was horrible - quite a bit due to incredibly bad luck (and remember, I won this one and am saying that).

East Front Columbia Games

Lawrence and I finished up our game of East Front back in August - yup behind the times again on blogging.  This would be our next to last Face to Face game before he moves away and I'm going to miss a good friend.

Start of October 41 and CLEAR.  The Germans get lucky on this first activation.

Germans make a lunge for Leningrad!  The bombardment unit would go there as well to help things along.

Near Sevastopol the Germans are moving to cut off the city.

Another shot of the board at the end of the Russian Activation.

November Starts with mud.  Don't remember if second impulse was snow or not.

Situation at end of turn, Russians went first each time since it was snow or Mud.  Leningrad still holding out since getting reinforcements there is a real bear.

December 41.  Russians go first again.  Slow going now since the Germans are hoarding activations and the Russians are tending their wounds.

Slow movement does not matter near Leningrad since the swamp would limit movement to one hex anyway.  The reinforcements for the siege have arrived.

January 42. 

Leningrad Falls!  The winter slows down operations due to high costs of replacing HQ steps and the slightly slower movement.  Due to this only the Leningrad operation is pushed, other HQs are rested for the month - sparing Sevastopol for now.

February 42

The attack on Sevastopol begins and the German siege unit is sent there by train.  Another move order is spent to move the forces at Leningrad forward.  The Moscow front is static due to lack of supplies.

March 42, Spring (and mud) is in the air - but first more snow...

The front is pretty static this turn.  Both sides are low on supply.

April 42 and General Mud is out in full force.

Mud forces the line to stay static, except for Sevastopol where the railed in Siege unit along with the other units that were adjacent move their one allowed space and attack in each impulse.  Sevastopol folds up like a wet book freeing up a LOT of combat power in that sector.  Just in time for Summer of 42.

Second impulse of May 42 is clear - don't remember if first was mud or not.  Next game I'll use two dice to mark this.

The troops in Leningrad sector move forward, Moscow troops plug a whole in the line and the Sevastopol troops clear up the line to allow making a defensive spot at the straight.  The Russians can only move one unit across an impulse and it could be repulsed so now the Germans can send the bulk of their force the other way.

End of June 42.

The Leningrad front is now combined with the Moscow front and as can be seen the Russians are being folded back on themselves.  Another turn would have seen the Germans bagging Moscow or rampaging the Russian rear and we called it a game.  

The Russians are hard pressed in this game.  The winter was not much of a reprieve though the Russians did miss a chance to put some Germans Out of Supply which would have forced a German response and thus the use of an activation.  The Russians may not have had an activation to spare without facing their own disaster though.  The need to use HQ activations to get troops to move or fight with support (you can fight without support but not nearly as well) and the ability to only replace one HQ step a month means that offensives can lurch, so can retreats for that matter.  It is possible to use up four steps of an HQ in a turn (and thus eliminate from the board) if doing two blitz actions.  That would be a desperation move.  More normal is two activations a turn for a couple turns in a row followed by a pause.

Looking forward to playing this one again via vassal or if I find a new FTF opponent.  It is a reasonably quick playing game, Lawrence and I managed a year a day after learning it, and has enough depth to be interesting.  So my list of Russian Campaign games that I like is now Russian Campaign, No Retreat: The Russian Front, and East Front.  I've also purchase West Front to go along with it and may pick up Eurofront someday to try the whole war in block form, well, vassal block form...

ASL Journal 32: Panzer Graveyard

Panzer Graveyard, HA!  Killed a couple and the rest ran roughshod over me.

An old school style scenario where the opponents start in LOS of each other, practically across the street from each other no less.

Germans have to take 20 buildings, sounds REALLY hard.

AT Gun surprised my opponent but it did not get ROF and missed on it's Intensive Fire shot.  The crew would be taken out in CC.  The Germans also made excellent use of smoke, making my tank up front useless.

Five turns later and it is all over.  The Germans got snakes on that tank up at the top left.  Other tank got it in CC, don't think it ever had a clear shot at anything.  Two Piats managed a total of three shots, before malfing off the board, managing to kill only the PZIIIN at the bottom.  It was depressing getting pounded on by two 20FP kill stacks and not doing much back to them.

East Front (Block Game)

Started a second game of East Front, the Columbia block game, last Saturday.  We got through all of the summer with a couple of rules oops that were cleaned up.  The one I remember is that HQs could move two spaces if they did not get used for combat support - I thought it was just one, this allowed the Russians to run away more quickly.  Another one I noticed later (not really a goof, just did not think of the implications till later) is that a unit can only disengage to a friendly hex, that could make a very big difference in my opening moves for the next time.

Opening Setup - Hey that looks familiar...

End of German June 41, A Blitz in the middle threatens to encircle a large Russian force.  Should have done two blitz moves!  Another one in the North would have bagged them!  Last game the first battles did not go as well...

End of Russian turn June 41, The forces that can retreat do so, others stay in place since leaving would allow parting shots by the Germans and this way the Germans forces are slowed up a little bit.

July 41

End of German first Impulse.  Pushing further on.   A number of Russians die from lack of supply.

End of Russian first impulse.

End of German second Impulse.  No big breakthroughs since the Russians are trading space for time.  It is using up German supply too.

Russian second impulse.

August 41

German first impulse, pushing forward and trying to hoard supply.  Odessa is in trouble.

Russian first impulse.  Odessa is left a token defender (can only supply one unit when hex is contested - which it soon will be).  The rest of the line pulls back where it can.

German second impulse, the advance continues  and Odessa falls.

Russian second impulse, trading more space for more time.

September 41

German first impulse, a blitz attack to get near Lenningrad (leaving that HQ only 0 supply).  Elsewhere the Germans move out from Odessa and on to Moscow!  (still two hexes away).

Hardly any changes in the Russian impulse, supplies are minimal and space is gone.

German second impulse, supplies for them are minimal as well. 

End of Russian second impulse.  The Germans are just within striking distance of both Moscow and Leningrad but supplies are minimal and a couple drops of rain fell in the last couple days, and the temperature has started to fall...