He who hesitates.....

....pays full price. Registered for Winter Offensive today. After hemming and hawing for several weeks, finally just decided to get off the fence and do it.

Apparently it's too late to get the group rate at the hotel. For that you had to book by December 20th. So, instead of $125 /night, the price is $140 /night. Even $125 / night is pretty high considering that the VASTLY superior ASLOK hotel was only $75. AND the restuarant next door had "All You Can Eat Perch"! Perch!!!

Still, if you want to mingle with us east coast elites, you've got to get out the wallet.

(*sigh*) I am such an ASL whore.

ABTF CG II. Sept. 19th - Afternoon, Part 1

We got through the 3rd turn of the 2nd CG date a weeks back. So far, the Brits are holding their own.

The British ammo shortage worsened to level three in the refit phase. However, the Brit ELR held at 3, while the German ELR dropped to 2.

The German panzer forces continue to sustain big losses. So far, just in this scenario, we've taken out two StuGs (one in CC, the other to a Piat CH), and a King Tiger with a 10-2 armor leader! The Tiger went down to a side piat shot. We also immob'd another StuG with a piat.

Joe bought no new armor for this scenario. The only mobile vehicle the Germans have in the fight right now is an armored car with a busted CMG. They also have just one PzIV and a halftrack parked out of the way in the quiet north.

The feared German artillery has not appeared. Becasue of the British movement withdrawing from Block L back through block J to block I, Joe decided that his offboard observers were not well placed and he has packed up both modules to save them for the next scenario.

All the while the German infantry moved through from the east attacking the withdrawing British troops. Joe's idea was to have the eastern hammer squeeze the Brits against the western anvil. The eastern attack has caused some casualties. The problem he's having is that the anvil is not holding up so well.

The Germans had a 10-2 MG kill stack in block G. Joe fortified the building they were in, hoping to use it as a springboard for attacks throughout the CG. However, he left the buildings at the eastern edge of the block unoccupied, and gave my Brits a chance to counter-attack. He allowed me to get some concealed squads up close, believing that they were too brave not to be dummies. They. Were. Not. Dummies.



The flamethrower broke the whole stack and sent them scurrying out the back door.

Sending those squads across the street was a big gamble in a campaign like this where they can not be replaced. But, with the German troops in the west falling back, it seems to have paid off. If the 10-2 and his buds do not rally back soon, there's a chance that the Brits will be able to become the aggressor in that area. Taking out a 10-2 is always a big deal in a CG.

There's another leader and broken squads just to the south in block I. It would be nice to take a run at eliminating them, but the good guys down there may have their hands full keeping the Germans in the east from crossing the block I/J street.

I'm really torn here. The best overall British strategy is surely to stay concealed as much as possible, stay low and try to survive. However, these targets of opportunity are very hard to ignore.

Meanwhile in the North......nothing is happening. Joe is content to wait it out up there, and running the clock is fine by me.

The ammo shortage has caused me to be much more careful about which shots to choose. A few squads have already been ELR replaced by on rolls of '11'. When the elite squads replace, they fall all the way to 2nd line. That hurts. A few MG's have been broken on 11's, while one MMG was destroyed by 12.


More to come soon.........

Warning: Non-ASL

Just because it's that time of year.....

Aimee Mann: Calling on Mary

...and we're back

Been a while. Joe and I have had some scheduling problems, but finished the first CG date of ABTF CG II a few weeks ago. (We actually finished the first 3 turns of the second day this past weekend, more on that in a near future post).


Joe and his Germans took several blocks on the morning of the 19th. Most of them expected, one not expected. Here's the block control situation at the end of the day.

The Germans moved through the Eastern part of block R with no real opposition, but took some shots from squads in the foxhole line at the western edge. Several of those squads were wiped out by artillery while trying to get back to block L. They hung in one turn too long (a common mistake for troops under my command).

the Germans eliminated all opposition remaining in block K. I was able to get a few walking wounded squads out, along with a flamethrower toting half squad.

I expected to lose a few squads doing damage in and around the schoolhouse (we did take out a Pz IV and a Tiger(!), but was disappointed to lose two quality leaders in there. Should have gotten at least one out.




The Germans attacking from the West were hitting block I hard. The Brits mostly fell back before the onslaught into the SE corner of the block, huddling in the ground floor and cellar locations to protect from the 120+ artillery that was pounding away.

The arty is a double edged sword. The elite troops in the buildings mostly shrugged it off, and even got a few HOB results creating heroes and fanatic squads. At the same time, the falling shells actually helped protect them, with German troops unable to get too close.

Realizing that the block I attack was bogged down, Joe saw a target of opportunity in the lightly defended block G. He turned his 10-2 stack to the north and wiped out the two British squads who thought they were going to have to wait for the afternoon to see action. The Brits certainly did not want to lose block G. Ouch.

In the end, the Germans lost quite bit in the way of armor, but did their job in causing casualties.

The Germans won the casualty count by a slight margin 83-81. The Brits lost 21 -1/2 elite squads (7 coming back as walking wounded. Another 7 1/2 walking wounded squads were lost. The worst of it though, were the losses among the Brit leadership. We lost 3(!) 9-2s, 3 9-1s, and 4 8-1s.

When the afternoon comes, we'll have a smaller force, but less ground to defend. Just starting to get interesting.