ASL Action Pack 36: Second Crack at Caumont

 Played this one today FTF with Mike McGrath.  I did pretty good (even with a bunch of crappy rolls - Mike would verify that) till I got very sloppy with the tanks.  Going to have to slow things down a bit next game.  It was nice to get in a FTF game after roughly a decade of online only ASL.

Game setup.  My Amis would take all of the main building complex and had plenty of time to take the needed remainder till I got sloppy and lost due to CVP cap with the tanks.  A fun scenario that I would play again - strangely enough this was the same scenario I last played FTF roughly a decade ago and I did not choose it.

A House Divided end of game

 The end of the game in March 62.  The CSA never really stood a chance.  An attack to retake Richmond ended the game with a massive loss for the CSA.  Perhaps the best bet is only to entrench a bunch later in the game and make the USA bleed for every area taken.

Next up is Victory in the Pacific.

A House Divided

 At the start of September 1861 the USA has taken Richmond and gone south but have over-extended.  The CSA has a large force ready to pounce in the eastern theater while the USA has much more force in the western theater for now.  

We are going to be picking up the game again Tuesday the 16th.

ASL Quick 6 scenario 22. French Spirit by Lone Canuck Publishing

 Game two for today.  An interesting situation but I don't see how the Germans can win outside of extreme good luck (I had decent luck).  I'm not saying it is unbalanced, just that *I* can't see a German win in this one.

Situation at game end.  The Germans start with a platoon in the red area.  To win the German's have to have a good order MMC in the Red Lined area.  The French had troops on the level two hills to start and reinforcements came in on turn one at the roundel to the left.  At the bottom a platoon of FT-17s came on turn 2 as well.  An equal size German force entered from the top of the map on turn 1 as well.  Perhaps I should have taken my time and advanced in slowly while having the initial guys retreat away to come back later.  May have to try it again someday since it is an interesting situation and I love a scenario with FT-17s in it.

ASL The Steelworks Scenario 3: Tiger Attack (Finish)

 Finished up this game today.  The Brits got all the smoke they needed and managed to kill a tiger from the side when it was in +3 smoke.  When another Tiger was recalled for MA malfunction I conceded.

At this point the last Tiger had to destroy 4 Shermans in two turns for a win.  

Midway!

Today's game is AH's classic of Midway.  I took the USN and Dan took the IJN.

My USN had the IJN in it's sites right up till the turn we get in range for air strikes...

First strike goes after the Enterprise.

Second strike goes after the Hornet.

The Hornet managed to avoid being sunk but Enterprise and a lot of support ships are out.

The USN follows up with a strike on Akagi.

Taking out Akagi and a couple of other vessels.  The Japanese made a mistake by having different task forces instead of one big blob.  Due to the wonky AA rules in the game having all the carriers and support ships in one square is often better then having them seperated.

The USN finds the Japanese first early on the second day of battle and what little is left strikes.

Two more Japanese carriers down.

The IJN strikes back a couple hours later (one turn) and finishes off the USN carriers.

The final tally at game end.  A lot of the IJN losses can be attributed to very lucky Die Rolls for the USN.  My average roll had to be near a 5 and the IJN average closer to a 2.

The positions of the ships (from the USN search) at game end.

A fun game but a mess when it comes to being a simulation.  If the Japanese hold off on bring their forces forward till the second group comes on it gets nearly impossible for the USN to win.  The Coral Sea variant plays a good bit better since the forces are more even but even that has the problem with soak off attacks versus a fleet - which is something that was not done on purpose.

ASL The Steelworks Scenario 3: Tiger Attack

 One more try for The Steelworks scenario pack from Lone Canuck.  The map looks great and the situation interesting but this one is not rating high on my favorites list.

the setup.  The Germans have to clear the map below the paved road by the end of German turn 6.

The German Rocket OBA drifts to the worst spot possible, it DMs a single HS but is more of a hindrance to the German advance then any kind of help.

German Tiger tanks come on turn 2 followed by the UK Firefly group on the same turn (a dr <3 needed to come on this turn).

The Firefly gets in position to fire on the Tiger, still a risk since the Tiger will get off a couple shots but that smoke from the small mortar is a decided pain in the arse.

The Tiger made it through the turn by the Germans bringing up a few squads (lots of Fausts!) to take on the Firefly.  The Tiger managed to Malf it's MA trying an IF shot at the Firefly however.  A Faust took out the Firefly in return.  Another Tiger went up near the map top to take on the regular shermans and so far managed to take one out even though it tried to cover itself with smoke.  So at the end of German turn 4 this could still go either way.  The main problem is that the best bet for the UK to win is play hide the Shermans from the Tigers, just silly and not a lot of fun.