Finished up ASLSK’s Scenario S2, War of the Rats.

I thought it would be an easy mopping up after the early punishments meted out by the Germans.  But, the Soviets were surprisingly resilient.  It all came down to a climatic melee in the last German turn, in the last hex, of the last building.

Given the weapon mix (demolition charges and flamethrowers), unit types (conscripts and elite) and urban terrain, the scenario is a great introduction/review of the system’s first infantry-oriented iteration.  As I’ve posted  before, ordnance and especially armored fighting vehicles slow things down.

Well, why not another play?  I’m curious if my “overload tactics” will work again.  And, if so, can I finish off the Soviets quickly?  As a teaching colleague used to say “Repetition is the key to knowledge.”  Then, perhaps, something with ordnance…..

Continuing to work on my ASLSK skills with a reset on Scenario S2, this time using my own German dispositions, with a rough approximation of the Soviet dispositions used in the Basic Training magazine’s replay discussed in an earlier post.

I loaded up the west side of the board with German units.  It seemed to work.  The Soviet Conscript units melted away due to some really bad morale die rolls.  Aggressive German advances kept the broken units under Desperation Morale with the very tough -4 modifier to any rally dice rolls.    Here’s an impaired pic taken at the end of Turn 2.

In theory, the DM units have little or no chance to rally and should be destroyed, or at least suffer Casualty Reduction, by German Prep Fires at the beginning of Turn 3.  But, this is ASLSK and anything can happen.

As usual, lots of plans to game at the Sunfish Capital Of The World, but little accomplished.

Back home digging out from a prolonged absence, but I have had time to get ASLSK back on the small table (as well as my 1938 Europa Scenario on the large table).

Impetus is my receipt of the “Basic Training” publication from MMP.  Mark Pitcavage provides his usual excellent coverage over at Desperation Morale.

I’m working my way through the War Of The Rats scenario replay.  This replay provides an opportunity to review the rules as well as see how experts play the game.  I’ve never played face-to-face, so this type of replay is very welcome despite, as Mark points out, the number of pages devoted to it.  A bit of a slog, but worthwhile.

For extras, “Basic” comes with handy charts, and a counter sheet with German and Minor units, plus a few tanks and guns.

Still having my on-going conflicted thoughts about ASL/ASLSK.  I really like the system, but after ordnance, the increased level of complexity for tanks and the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO-ASLSK #4) gives me The Willies.

I’m now in the Belly Of The Beast.

Had my first “real” armor encounter since really (yes, really) reading the rules.  Painful.  All the new acronyms, modifiers (24!), with counter clutter beyond belief.  Yes, the counters do contain a lot of information, but how to remember/decipher it all?  That will take time, and time, and time, and time.  I now truly understand why some Gamers (See Grumble Jones) play literally nothing but ASL/ASLK.  It’s self preservation.  Too many rulesets at once melt the brain.

Going to wrap up “Monty’s Gamble” (S23).  Made it to last turn for each side, and the Germans can’t win.  The Scenario Archive indicates it’s a tough go for them regardless of who’s playing.

One German AFV has exited the board, with another having a fair chance to do so.  However, that represents only 14 of the 17 VPs necessary for a victory.  There’s no way two squads can make get off-board since they can’t go CX (Exhausted) for consecutive turns.

Here’s a shot at the end of Turn 3.

Oh….why not?  Play it out to gain more experience with armor/ordnance.

In Turn 4, the German AFV at top of the board successfully exits after surviving both Defensive First Fire and Intensive Fire from the anti-tank gun located in the woods at the board’s edge.  The AFV at the bottom of the screen  maneuvers to avoid the British PIAT to be in position for a run to the board’s edge.  One German squad attempts to exit the board, with the British making countermoves.

Here’s a shot at the end of Turn 4

Turn 5 is for the Germans only.  The remaining AFV uses the hill as cover until just before exiting the board.  It survives both Defensive First Fire and Reaction Fire, and exits.  The infantry  squad attempts to exit, but is routed during its move.

Try it again, or a new scenario?

Finally summoned up the courage to play a scenario with armor.  Getting into ASLSK Starter Kit #3 was one of my goals for my Fall/Winter gaming.

As always, Jay Richardson’s tutorials are a tremendous resource.

“Monty’s Gamble” (ASL Scenario S23) is a good place to start.  It’s a one-half mapper with British paratroopers, supported by two (2) 57mm anti-tank guns, trying to stop three (3) German assault guns and troops from advancing through Oosterbeek towards the end of the fighting around Arnhem.  It’s manageable in terms of size and with a length of only four and one-half turns.  The German objective is to exit a mix of vehicles  and squads off the boardm moving from East to West.

The action became intense during Turn 2.  An assault gun eliminated the crew of one of the British guns and was, in turn, ambushed by a para squad in an adjacent building.  It was an excellent opportunity to muddle my way through the Close Combat sequence involving vehicles.

I think I got it right.  The British rolled badly and, as a result, were eliminated by the assault gun.  If not exactly correct, I was close and achieved what I believe was the intent of the sequence.  Good enough for me on a first try.

Here’s shot of the game at the start (German) of Turn 3.  North is to the top of the frame.  In the South, the lead assault gun is standing-off at maximum PIAT range in attempt to destroy the squad blocking their advance.  So far, two shots have failed to effect the British (squad and PIAT now under the -2 Acquired counter).

The second assault gun – with infantry – may attempt to flank the British position, or advance West in an attempt to get off the board.  That will involve dealing with the second British anti-tank gun positioned in the woods half-hex on the extreme West edge of the battlefield.

Set up another scenario.  Need to keep hammering the rules into my brain.

This one is S16, Legio Nostra Patria.  It’s a one-mapper, with Free French Legionnaires assaulting a German held town.

Here’s my initial set-up.  Top of the photo is East.

And here’s my plan.

The French need to occupy three of the multi- hex building highlighted in yellow.  They already occupy the building at bottom center  of the photo.

The red-circled German units will be suppressed, and with that accomplished, the squads will move towards the occupied multi-hex building and, from there move Northeast.

As I worked with my cheap photo markup app, I realized this is not a good initial deployment or  plan.  However, I’ll give it a try.  My own little “Defense of Duffer’s Drift”.

Really enjoying my latest dive into ASLSK.

Set up another scenario and had quite the time.

“Over Open Sights” (S12) uses the same board and orientation as my previous game, but what a difference!

German avenues of approach have more cover and concealment, and the US has fewer units to cover these approaches.  However, the US artillery is lethal in a direct fire mode….if the gun can score a hit.

I’m loathe to put together detailed session reports as they will pale in comparison to others out there.  Grumble Jones is my favorite.  But, this game was so exciting I had to take a few photos.

This first one involves my initial attempt to use a cheap graphics app along with a cheap iPad pencil to mark up a photo.  It attempts to convey the initial positions of the Germans and their assaults, since I was already well into the game.  The initial US positions can be inferred by the MG counter on the right (east) , and routed unit on the left (left).

The German advance from the southeast stalled due to effective artillery fire, but the advance from the east ( really a sprint across the open ground – the scenario takes place in December so the fields are barren) was made possible by some remarkable shooting from the 50mm mortar.  Usually derided, this light mortar eliminated the machine gun crew as well as routed one artillery crew, thanks to low rolls which maintained its rate of fire, as well as abysmal morale check rolls for the US.

It was all but over by Turn 3…..or was it Turn 4?  I  started to pick the game up but then  remembered the US received reinforcements in Turn 4.  Unfortunately, I had grabbed the turn marker and couldn’t recall the turn.  So, I brought in the reinforcements anyway.  Things got interesting quick, because this plucky band checked the German advance.  This  change in fortunes was short-lived because, once again, good German shooting routed the newcomers.  The following shot shows the climatic assault on the artillery (used Melee marker to emphasize).

When the smoke had cleared, the Germans had attained their objective of capturing all three artillery positions.

Fun game.  Still struggling with some rules.  Need to remember ELRs and that casualty reduction is to half-squads, not reduced strength squads.