1 week ago
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Steel Inferno
Well, it's been so long since we played this one, that I may have a hard time remembering what happened. Notes? HAHAHAHA. Ah. No. No notes. I DO have photographs to jog the memory.
Jim chose to use his rubbled building allotment to knock down some outlying buildings on the British approach. A logical move to eliminate some of the easier victory locations.
My pregame bombardment came down near the church. It rubbled the rear hex (both levels) and revealed the German AT gun in the forward hex.
Jim chose to use his rubbled building allotment to knock down some outlying buildings on the British approach. A logical move to eliminate some of the easier victory locations.
My pregame bombardment came down near the church. It rubbled the rear hex (both levels) and revealed the German AT gun in the forward hex.
There were basically two approaches I considered for the attack. The British left has the most cover. There are a lot of blind hexes created by the woods and bocage that deny LOS to even the steeple location. The down side is that it would be slow going.
I decided to forgo the cover, because I felt like by the time I got to the town via that path, it would likely be about turn 5, and German defense would have plenty of time to shift and meet me. So, I chose the faster, riskier up the middle route.
By the bottom of the second, things were not going well for the attackers.
Jim set up a skirmish line on my left to protect the covered approach. I saw an opportunity to cut those troops off and prevent their retreat. Jim saw an opportunity to burn two Shermans with panzerfausts.
Meanwhile my quick coup-de-main up the middle was being slowed down to a crawl by harassing fire called in by the German radio man. Though still concealed, he was obviously in the building in BFP C N8.
Top of third, things started to turn. A sniper took out the German 8-1. Then , the biggest shot of the game: an area fire Critical Hit on the radio man. The barrage lifted and the gates were open.
The bulk of my infantry moved through and around the now rubbled buildings in P2 and O3. Some more moved around now open German left. There was just too much infantry there for the Germans to check.
A Sherman with a malfed MA charged into the building in R3 and overran the German MG, breaking the crew. Then he slammed into the church, tying up the troops there.
The German reinforcements came on and put up a fight, but it was too late. The British just had too much bearing down on the Germans by that point. In the final turn, the multitude of British squads poured into the village capturing more than enough buildings for the win.
It should be said that I scored a few criticals in this game, and Jim had terrible luck with boxcars at all the wrong times. I feel like my strategy was pretty sound, and yet it was a dicing as well.
Because of the dice and the early exit of the German artillery, this didn;t feel as close as it might have. I think it is an interesting scenario and well worth playing.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Steel Inferno
Getting ready to take on Jim tomorrow in the Chas Smith neo-clasic BtB 8 Steel Inferno. Have only heard great things about this one, and am glad to finally be getting a chance to play it.
I'll have the large British force trying to capture the village of Fontenay from a small but very tough group of SS troops. Both sides have artillery and armor support. Looks like a great one.
One question we had was regarding the pre-game bombardment. HBR 2 states "The British player may place a Bombardment per KGP US RG Note b [EXC: Blast Radius is only 3 hexes].
The KGP rule is that everything within 7 hexes of the Pre-Registered hex undergoes Bombardment as per chapter C. The problem is that the term "Blast Radius" used in the SSR is not a term defined in ASL, so we're not entirely certain how many hexes get caught. We are assuing that we are just supposed to follow the KGP rule, substituing the number '3' for the number '7', but I wish it was more explicit.
My troops have to capture 8 buildings. Of course, rubbled buildings don't count, and the Germans get to rubble three of them by SSR. It's also possible more could get rubbled as a result of the bombardment, or even during during play.
Should be a quite the blast.
Friday, March 19, 2010
AAR BFP 29 Hueishan Docks, or Gone With the Wind.
GUSTS. Sonofa...
After a marathon ASL session with JRBrackin, I will never again think of the wind change DR as a perfunctory ritual.
Jim has been unable to play for the last several weeks, and like a starving man at a buffet, he wasn't in the mood for anything light. So he suggested BFP-29 Hueishan Docks and asked for the defending Japanese. I cleared my schedule.
The Chinese start out with 20 squads on map and get another 13 SE on/after turn one. They also have a whopping 13 AFVs and 3 trucks to haul men and equipment. The Japanese start with only about 17 SE on map, but get a very tough turn four reinforcement group of 10 1st line & elite troops with 3(!) flamethrowers and 6 tanks.
The Chinese have to control 6 of the 10 multi-hex buildings north of the river on board BFP G. My strategy was to attack mainly via the shortest route, on the Chinese left. I would push south and then turn west, and hopefully approach the last victory building before the Japanese wets edge reinforcements could get there.
The initial street crossing was a bit hairy as Jim set a little HIP trap in the DW-1a C5 building. A hip squad popped up and smacked an assault mover. Then another squad was turned back by fire. I was able to force the crossing by firing three Dare-Death squads (the Chinese get 6 by SSR). All three made it across and the C5 and F5 buildings would soon fall.
The Japanese INF piece in G-F9 flipped one of the lightly armored Chinese tanks, and kept some infantry pinned down for a turn and a half. In the bottom of the 2nd the Japanese right was going down, and the crew tried to push it out, thinking they were out of range of Chinese pouring through the C5 and H3 buildings. They were not. The crew was vaporized.
The Japanese start clearing out and crossing the I1-I8 street. Many did not make it. Through turns three and four the Chinese turned west and got firmly established across the I1-I8 road. Four victory buildings were in their hands and the fifth was close to falling. On the downside, the Chinese artillery had pulled two red cards without getting off even a single mission.
As the Japanese reinforcements entered, a bit of a stalemate had developed around the open ground between hexrows L and N. Feeling the urgency of the approaching combat engineers I pushed five tanks around the corner and start up the road along the river bank. I was aware that the big Japanese 75* ART gun was in a sanger in R8 staring straight up that road, but thought I might be able to give him more of these small targets than he could hit.
In defensive fire, he immob'd one tank. In the following prep fire he burned two more. Another had a malf''d MA, the fifth thought it best to stand off and try to shoot it out with all the traffic problems now arising from burning wrecks. It was costly, but the tank assault did dislodge the Japanese HMG in the J9 building, and give the Japanese infantry in the southern buildings and woods some trouble.
Meanwhile, I decided to try to break the infantry stalemate like any good Chinese commander, with the bold stroke of a human wave.
Eleven and a half squads started on their way, across largely open ground. Only 5 made it across in good order. To complicate matters more, the wave was slowed down by an accidental overstacking. ( I made this mistake at least two other times). In my defense, there were a huge number of squads in a very small area, and this was an easy mistake to make. With the counter density around the final victory building in P9, it was starting to look more like Pavlov's House.
Turn seven came and the Japanese reinforcements were firmly established in the P9 building and the buildings just north. I still had many squads and all my DCs left. The two burning wrecks on the river road had created overlapping drifting smoke in N9 and O10. It was one of those ASL situations where the smoke is so thick you can't see the next location. I was able to move a big stack into N9 unmolested. More troops were moving into the N10 woods without too much trouble. After 10+ hours, the stage was set for an epic last turn slugging match. And then.......
I didn't even watch as my opponent dropped the dice for the wind change die roll. It's just a rote exercise. Nearly meaningless in a daytime scenario. Why, there isn't even a chance of rain or snow. Not even civilian interrogation. I was intently surveying the destruction when Jim calmly declared “gusts.”
It took a minute for the meaning of this to truly sink in. I sat in abject horror as Jim began removing the smoke counters from the board. The previously blind massive Japanese kill stack in O10 was suddenly sitting with a clear field of vision. During prep fire, the two big Chinese stacks were systematically destroyed by flamethower and small arms fire. Game.
Perhaps I should have made it to the building sooner. I lost track of my Dare-Death squads after the initial crossing, an obvious blunder. I was never really able to get the Chinese heavy mortars into play, as the battle kept moving away from. The OBA problem was just an unlucky deck.
The sheer number of counters in play made for an at times tedious going, and with all their AFV's the Chinese really have to manage traffic flow.
But those are trivial criticisms of an otherwise terrific scenario. Though the ending was disappointing, the stage was set for a hugely entertaining final turn before “boxcars Jim” made that roll. Jim and I both gave it very high rating on ROAR. If you and your opponent have a dozen hours or so someday, I recommend.
After a marathon ASL session with JRBrackin, I will never again think of the wind change DR as a perfunctory ritual.
Jim has been unable to play for the last several weeks, and like a starving man at a buffet, he wasn't in the mood for anything light. So he suggested BFP-29 Hueishan Docks and asked for the defending Japanese. I cleared my schedule.
The Chinese start out with 20 squads on map and get another 13 SE on/after turn one. They also have a whopping 13 AFVs and 3 trucks to haul men and equipment. The Japanese start with only about 17 SE on map, but get a very tough turn four reinforcement group of 10 1st line & elite troops with 3(!) flamethrowers and 6 tanks.
The Chinese have to control 6 of the 10 multi-hex buildings north of the river on board BFP G. My strategy was to attack mainly via the shortest route, on the Chinese left. I would push south and then turn west, and hopefully approach the last victory building before the Japanese wets edge reinforcements could get there.
The initial street crossing was a bit hairy as Jim set a little HIP trap in the DW-1a C5 building. A hip squad popped up and smacked an assault mover. Then another squad was turned back by fire. I was able to force the crossing by firing three Dare-Death squads (the Chinese get 6 by SSR). All three made it across and the C5 and F5 buildings would soon fall.
The Japanese INF piece in G-F9 flipped one of the lightly armored Chinese tanks, and kept some infantry pinned down for a turn and a half. In the bottom of the 2nd the Japanese right was going down, and the crew tried to push it out, thinking they were out of range of Chinese pouring through the C5 and H3 buildings. They were not. The crew was vaporized.
The Japanese start clearing out and crossing the I1-I8 street. Many did not make it. Through turns three and four the Chinese turned west and got firmly established across the I1-I8 road. Four victory buildings were in their hands and the fifth was close to falling. On the downside, the Chinese artillery had pulled two red cards without getting off even a single mission.
As the Japanese reinforcements entered, a bit of a stalemate had developed around the open ground between hexrows L and N. Feeling the urgency of the approaching combat engineers I pushed five tanks around the corner and start up the road along the river bank. I was aware that the big Japanese 75* ART gun was in a sanger in R8 staring straight up that road, but thought I might be able to give him more of these small targets than he could hit.
In defensive fire, he immob'd one tank. In the following prep fire he burned two more. Another had a malf''d MA, the fifth thought it best to stand off and try to shoot it out with all the traffic problems now arising from burning wrecks. It was costly, but the tank assault did dislodge the Japanese HMG in the J9 building, and give the Japanese infantry in the southern buildings and woods some trouble.
Meanwhile, I decided to try to break the infantry stalemate like any good Chinese commander, with the bold stroke of a human wave.
Eleven and a half squads started on their way, across largely open ground. Only 5 made it across in good order. To complicate matters more, the wave was slowed down by an accidental overstacking. ( I made this mistake at least two other times). In my defense, there were a huge number of squads in a very small area, and this was an easy mistake to make. With the counter density around the final victory building in P9, it was starting to look more like Pavlov's House.
Turn seven came and the Japanese reinforcements were firmly established in the P9 building and the buildings just north. I still had many squads and all my DCs left. The two burning wrecks on the river road had created overlapping drifting smoke in N9 and O10. It was one of those ASL situations where the smoke is so thick you can't see the next location. I was able to move a big stack into N9 unmolested. More troops were moving into the N10 woods without too much trouble. After 10+ hours, the stage was set for an epic last turn slugging match. And then.......
I didn't even watch as my opponent dropped the dice for the wind change die roll. It's just a rote exercise. Nearly meaningless in a daytime scenario. Why, there isn't even a chance of rain or snow. Not even civilian interrogation. I was intently surveying the destruction when Jim calmly declared “gusts.”
It took a minute for the meaning of this to truly sink in. I sat in abject horror as Jim began removing the smoke counters from the board. The previously blind massive Japanese kill stack in O10 was suddenly sitting with a clear field of vision. During prep fire, the two big Chinese stacks were systematically destroyed by flamethower and small arms fire. Game.
Perhaps I should have made it to the building sooner. I lost track of my Dare-Death squads after the initial crossing, an obvious blunder. I was never really able to get the Chinese heavy mortars into play, as the battle kept moving away from. The OBA problem was just an unlucky deck.
The sheer number of counters in play made for an at times tedious going, and with all their AFV's the Chinese really have to manage traffic flow.
But those are trivial criticisms of an otherwise terrific scenario. Though the ending was disappointing, the stage was set for a hugely entertaining final turn before “boxcars Jim” made that roll. Jim and I both gave it very high rating on ROAR. If you and your opponent have a dozen hours or so someday, I recommend.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Time Off
Well, it's been a few months since a post here. Just haven't had a lot of ASL to blog about. I missed Winter Offensive this year for the first time in awhile. I have been playing some, but mostly TOP SECRET non-bloggable playtests.
With all the new releases, hopefully I'll have something to post soon.
In the meantime, here's a video of my old buddy Paul, doing his job at Sketchfest in San Francisco last week. His job, as it happens, is being one of the funniest people alive:
With all the new releases, hopefully I'll have something to post soon.
In the meantime, here's a video of my old buddy Paul, doing his job at Sketchfest in San Francisco last week. His job, as it happens, is being one of the funniest people alive:
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
ASLOK Saturday
My week wrapped up Saturday with the "Chinese Fire Drill" mini. I was matched up in round one with Sweden's Robert Maglica. We chose Schwerpunkt's "Seizing the Sittang" bridge. I had the attacking Japanese.
Robert dug in two stacks in foxoles at the foot of the bridge, and sent everyone else forward to slow down the Japanese advance. My main force and one of my armored cars moved up on or around the main road.
The other car went left over the open ground and kunai to try to find a way to cut off the fallback of some of the Chinese units. This was a mistake. Although it did manage to KIA a squad with a point blank shot, with it's "truck-type" movement it was essentially out of the fight afterward.
Robert did a good job of shooting and falling back. Eventually he took out an armored car with an MG kill shot. My desperation turn five banzai went poorly, and I conceded.
2-6
Since Robert made quick work of me, and my lack of sleep was starting to catch up, I decided to head down to my room for a quick hour long nap. That turned out to be a 4 hour nap, and thus ended my ASL for the week.
I just did some hanging out with a few beers and got the gear together on Saturday night. There just wasn't any more ASL in me. Although I was disappointed in my 2-6 record (worse than my first ASLOK last year), it was a great time once again. Already looking forward to next year.
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