ASLOK XXIX October 1-12 Loot

 The final list of loot. I didn't think I would have much difficulty getting it back weight-wise, but space was at a premium. I need to work on my luggage system still. I have the weight allowance but not the room.

• 3 x Dice towers from Jack Daniels
• Schwerpunkt 20 x 3 (Aaron C, Jackson Kw)
• Friendly Fire 9 x 4 (Aaron C, Jackson Kw, Ivan K)
• Rally Point 9 x 2 (Jackson Kw)
• ESG Dezign Pak 10 
• Panzerknacker, Molotov, Dust Devils, Sniper, and ROF dice
• East vs West 12mm 5 dice set (Ivan K)
• Tweezers x 2
• 300 x US sized page protectors
• Overlay Binder and Inserts
• Travel Board Binder
• 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm deluxe counter cutters
• Festung Budapest, Decision at Elst, Rising Sun
• ASLOK XXIX Tees x 5 (Aaron C, Jackson Kw)
• ASL Open Tees x 2 (Jackson Kw)
• Plano 3601 low-profiles x 5
• Longstreet: A Biography by Jeffrey Werts
• Guadalcanal by Richard Franks
• Gettysburg: the Second Day by Harry Pfanz
• AVRES in Normandy by Richard C Anderson Jr 
• Pleva HIP Trays x 3
• Ops Spec Ed vol 4 and Vol 5
• Board 68 x 3  (Aaron C, Vlad S) 
• Miscellaneous Critical Hit modules (mainly desert and winter)

I gave away one of the Pleva trays to an ASLer who has been doing it tough, and one set of tweezers was passed on to another ASLer.

Sadly I managed to lose a pair of Battleschool dice (green and white 14mm plain) as well as the little counter picker, but they are easily replaced.

The Upside to Moving

There are many upsides to the new place, but something that meshes with my previous post and encapsulates the change in my personal attitude is that I'm now far more comfortable about hosting games and even having a mini-asl event as the Cleavinator does over the New Year's break. Being able to prepare decent food ahead of time will make it far more of a pleasdant event than having to traipse out to buy food etc.

There are at least 4 ASlers up on the Central Coast, three of whom are currently active (counting myself that is) and I'm sure I can inveigle The Cleavinator up this way if I offer scotch or beer during summer. Definitely a late summer/early autumn or late spring/early summer timeframe. Plus if Neil of NeilBabble is available, I might shanghai him to fill out the ASL quartet and leave me free to act as Mein Host. Which also means I will not be alone in caffeine addiction.

Having enough room to play games in a convivial environment, and sufficient wall space to access all my books and games simply and easily is going to make a huge difference.

Speaking of coffee, I am splurging on a new machine...influenced by Mark Humphries, an ASL aficionado I met for the first time at Malaya Madness:

J126 Ugly Faces: An Ugly Dicing

John Knowles and I sat down this afternoon to play J126 Ugly Faces from Journal Nine, a Chas Argent design that initially seemed to get some bad press and some fairly rough treatment for the Germans.

The omens were not propitious as I knocked over my best coffee mug onto the tiled floor before the game even started. Cacophonix may even have struck up a dirge about Toutatis and the sky falling around that time. 

John took the Germans with balance (and that additional 20mm FP is damn useful) and we started to play:

Now I will claim that 8 months away from playing ASL stultified my normal defensive brilliance, but we all know that to be an outright falsehood. I set up the 37* INF far too far forward and had nothing really to stop an end run by the Sdkfz 222s on the right.

And so it proved..because I did absolutely nothing on German Turn 1, apart from stunning the Bathtub. I lost the two squads in U9 because I let them get caught in CC rather than leaving one concealed and/or vol breaking the other and john ambushed me. The only shots I was taking were either decent TH shots or 8+ FP DF or 4FP resids, all the DRs tending to match my MCs and PTCs which were averaging 7.5+ already. Not good when you are French.

So after Turn 1 I was in a power of trouble. Turn two was just annoyingly vicious as I was flanked, broken and routed as well as dead from FTR. The 222s were already in the backfield up by the stone wall on the Y hexrow crossroads.

Turn Three was just bad, and I had a chance to rectify it , but I ended up with 14/60 non-wind change DRs being 9+ versus John's 14/50 of 4 or less. There was an opportunity to cause some havoc as Johnhad not safeguarded the ongoing Melee in W1 which if I had surviuved would have allowed me to threaten the three multi-hex buildings in the south. Alas it was not to be, and the final straw was the last possible 4 up 1 snakes vs one of my 18pdrs that took out the truck, the crew, the gun and a 237 hs that was to assist in bringing the gun into action.

An Ugly game of Ugly Faces , but the scenario deserves a lot more respect than it gets. I won't be counting this game as truly representative as the dice were extreme on both sides.

So it didn't even get past the CC phase of Allied Turn 3. Says it all really. Still want to play this again though as either side.

My latest project on Gamesquad

Themed VASL + Skype scenario series with a difference .

The theme is not so much Eastern Front, or indeed by publisher but is based on playing through
the designs of a single individual, in this case, Xavier Vitry of Le Franc Tireur.

The idea:

• Commit to one VASL + Skype session per weekend with an option of adding one PBeM log through the week but only if you are into PBeM. 
• Each player plays the same side throughout the series of 10 scenarios, in this case my opponent will be playing Germans. 
• All games count towards the ASL Ladder games and will be entered into ROAR.
• Using VASL 5.9.3 with VASSAL 3.1.20

The scenarios (with Balance if both players are evenly matched) :

1. J093 (LFT 29) The Porechye Bridgehead with Soviet Balance 
2. J102 (LFT 31) The Yelnya Bridge with Soviet Balance
3. J103 (LFT 32) Lenin's Sons
4. J104 (LFT 33) Flanking Flamethrowers with Soviet Balance
5. J105 (LFT 34) Borodino Train Station with Soviet Balance    
6. J115 (LFT 35) Last Push to Mozhaisk with German Balance
7. FTC5 153 Nailed to the Ground
8. FTC5 155 Once Upon A Time...In The East 
9. FTC6 165 Shopino Struggle with Soviet Balance
10. LFT 196 Spittelmarkt

Of these 10 scenarios, I have played all those published in the Journal except J093. I am currently about to start a game of FTC 196 as the Germans vs Blind Sniper.

The Old ASLML

Years ago, on the old ASLML, I wrote some posts regarding fixing a few of the more notorious ASL Dogs. Unfortunately several computers and one lost box of CD Archives later, I cannot find my notes or the original posts. Shame really as I'm really keen on playing those scenarios again.

The scenarios were:

• A8 Agony of Doom
• A21 CounterAttack on the Vistula
• N Soldiers of Destruction

And yes I know there have been official MMP revisions for one or two of them, but the revisions didn't go far enough or missed the actual cause of the imbalance.

ASL Crack

Two additions to the ASL library arrived today: the original edition of Genesis 48 from CH and also the El Alamein Afrika Korps core pack. TBH, the Genesis Jerusalem map is something I want to look at in detail, but the counters need to be redone, so definitely thinking about making up my own set with decent and standard graphics and iconography.

Interestingly, the El Alamein pack I have features overlays that aren't too much lighter than the large desert map sheet. I'm not sure I will leave the overlays in the shape they are, preferring to cut them as per the older WOA overlays.

I have some ideas for 1940 Western Desert armour/ infantry battles as well as some early 1941 actions, but will need to do more research as the focus will be on the use of A9 - A13 tanks.

In my current PBeM games, I'm doing okay in FrF45 Totensonntag as the Poles while my US paras are whittling away at the defending Germans in ASL 12 Confusion Reigns from Paratrooper module. I think the title refers to my efforts to come up with a coherent attack plan though.

Exciting pace on both games, even with me doing late shift during the week., and I think my play is going okay, despite some silly omissions and mis-steps.

Pete

AP42 Frontiers & Pioneers (AAR) The End Game

Joe and I finished this beastie off yesterday morning. I'll make most of my comments after the turn by turn breakdown. I had hoped to be playing ASL today but domestic duties and the imperative to get all my ducks in a row regarding future employment options are combining to make playing ASL an unlikely option today.

In other news, I've volunteeered my services to Chas Smith as a playtester if required. I'm pretty sure I've got some playtesting work lined up with the Cleavinator for Journal 10 as I enjoyed doing the Suicide Creek stuff, and have been enjoying working on some other stuff with Adam Lunney on one of his designs. Plus I have something from Ian Percy I think I am meant to be arranging a PT session to play soonish.

So as of my last AAR post it was effectively the end of Game Turn 4, and I was looking at driving home the advantage I had with the KV having no functioning AT capability. And so the game went on:

German Turn 5: At Start

German Turn 5 Situation after Rally Phase: Well my worst fear was realised, as Joe repaired the MA on the KV and now it was imperative I used this opportunity to take it out once and for all. My plan was hopefully to draw the Kv's fire at anything other than the FT squad which would have to do an AF phase shot, but the TK odds would be good. I was also concerned that Joe might go for a Motion Attempt to minimise the chances of the PzIII getting a decent BFF shot into his rear, as that PB modifier would be key and the free VCA change would make life difficult for the PzIII. Joe's 9-2 was less successful in rallying his platoon, only bringing back one squad. I would have to take the odds on getting the KV and let the Pz IV and the two other 38Ts in the West do the real donkey work in wearing down his 9-2's redoubt.

German Turn 5: After Preps

German Turn 5 Preps: The Pz IV did a modicum of damage with its 75mm HE, breaking the freshly rallied 447. But the CMG did the real damage with a nasty 2MC that broke everything in the hex and effectively spelled death for the 9-2 and his platoon. At this point I was confident I had the game in hand but if the KV survived I'd still have to be mindful of the CVP cap as two more killed AFVs would make it very interesting and three would be too close for comfort. But this is where I think my instinve gut-driven play style actually is a strength, as I backed myself to do the job. The rest of the Preps were ineffective.

German Turn 5: Movement and Defensive Fire

German Turn 5 Movement and Defensive fire: The start of the end...

With the 9-2 out of the picture, I had the platoon to his south advance in steps to draw the fire of the 447 in the 37O1 building and if they survived, the 9-2 would die Due to FTR. This would also allow me to bring up the FT in relative safety through baiting the D1F with the sqd and LMG. Meanwhile the flanking motorcyclists squeaked past a NMC and started taking control of the North West Village area, a requirement of the VC if I wanted to really force the issue.

The killer blow I think was the when Pz38T B fired his mgs with a point blank 8 up 2, and rolled snakes for a 2mc which broke and elred the 447 in 57T1. That sealed the fate of an entire platoon and allowed me to minimise further AFV exposure.

I drew the Kv into a first fire shot by driving Pz38T A down from the north and although the BFF shots were not successful, I had at least prepared the way. The Panzer II then skipped around the rear, forcing the KV to change TCA and IF. Result! MA malfed again. The initail BFF shot needed to be a HH, which it was, but I needed a 5 to immobilise, 4 to KO. I rolled and dice bot gave me a 6, damn! Possible shock. I duly rolled the NTC and Bam! Shock!  The FT could now take the safer rioute to get into position for that all important AF TK roll.

Joe's Defensive Fire ATR shot bounced and that was pretty much it.  Now all that mattered was the Advancing Fire and the upcoming CCs to clearout the last of the infantry from the 9-2's redoubt.

German Turn 5: Coup de Grace

German Advancing fire through CC: The FT did it's job but only just, with the bare minimum for a KO. the other FT Xed out but still managed an all important PTC which was failed and so it went into CC, after the death of the rest of the soviet defenders for failure to rout. The CC was inclsuive but I did manage to reduce Joe to a hs before it went into Melee. Joe conceeded in his return mail as I expected so the Germans prevailed. A good game I thought, some hot dice in parts but generally I felt I played well and took the right options when necessary.

Conclusion: A good scenario and a good solid game. I found a lot to like about the scenario although it is fiddly in PBeM because of the vehicle numbers. The initial entry for the Germans is pretty scripted as far as i can see, too much risk associated with entering on the central road as one firelane will stop any thought of the motorcyclists traversing to the west.

I feel I played a solid, patient game, particularly on Turns 3 and 4 which helped me set up for turn 5 nicely. I took some calculated risks in Turn 4 and 5, as opposed to a couple of airy fairy decisons on Turn 1 and 2. My timing and sequencing of actions improved, but I still got it wrong on occasions, leaving Joe some opportunities to cause damage which thankfully were not as severe. I completely misread the MOL usage rules and could have suffered accordingly.

I gather the scenario is seen as somewhat pro-German (which is interesting as ROAR has it as 28 to 39 in favour of the Soviets before this game. I wonder if the German players haven't kept discipline and stayed at 7+ hexes to maximise their TH advantage or used hidnrances as a good way of reducing the TH chances equally. Plus the Germans need to use their mobility as a form of defence.) but i feel it's pretty close  to balanced.

It's a good contrast in armour usage and also a good training tool for armour as it's not about a Hit = Kill type AFV slugfest. Make sure the Soviet player knows how the T35 CAs work though as the T35 needs to be in the mid game and can scare the bejeesus out of the German landsers. The 9-2 and KV are the determinans in a Soviet defence so maximising their potential to do harm in the early and mid game (for the KV) is vital.

Recommended.

Pete

An appreciation of the French way of ASL part 2

Volume 7 of Le Franc Tireur was the harbinger of the LFT new wave, the first issue to get more than minimal exposure outside the EC. Reaching back into my memory, 2003 was really a lean year for TPP: CH were only just starting to come out of their self induced dormant period; Heat of Battle were not doing much; and of the scenario producers, only Schwerpunkt was being its usual productive annual self, with George Kellnand Paul Kenny just starting or not raising their heads much above the horizon of ASL consciousness at that stage.

But returning to LFT #7; an entire issue devoted to the East Front, with a Borodino theme for 5 scenarios, all 5 of which saw subsequent wider exposure in the opages of Journal 7 and 8. It's these scenarios that I'm going to have a brief look at, purely because I really enjoyed them when I first played them and I reckon it's actually worth looking at the differences between the two iterations.

The scenarios are: 

• The Yelnya Bridge (FT31, J102)

•  Lenin's Sons (FT32, J103)

•  Flanking Flamethrowers (FT33, J104)

•  Borodino Train Station (FT34, J105)

•  Last push to Mozhaisk (FT35, J115)

Before we go any further, note that there are three Borodino SSRs that apply to all five FT scenarios :

1. All Buildings are wooden (except for FT34 Borodino Train Station)
2. German 838/338, 548/238s and Soviet 628/328 are Assault Engineers
3. Vehicular crews may not voluntarily abandon their vehicles.

Pretty much standard type SSRs and dutifully included as required by MMP

Let's look at the differences in each scenario:

•  The Yelnya Bridge: MMP did some minor mods of the SSRs, using non SS illos for the SS OB and therefore needing to specify SS capability in the SSRs. Actual OB changes were made to the Soviet Ob, with MMP dropping 1 447 squad but adding a 426  instead, plus adding an ATR. For the Germans, MMP added a 548 and an lmg. That's pretty much it.

• Lenin's Sons: As above, MMp just tided up the SSR wording, and added a single lmg to the post errata German OB  (NB LFT 1st ed errata: add 1 lmg and one DC to the German OB so they have two of each). The only real major change is MMP increased the game length to 6.5 turns and raised the German CVP cap from ≤14 to ≤16 or less. [NB: LFT errata: Map : instead of only hexrows D-U are playable, read hexrows D-Z]

• Flanking FTs: SSRs tidied and clarified as before. German OB changes are fairly major: upgrade 4 x 457 to 468, add a 247 hs, upgrade 1 x 8-0 ldr to 8-1 and the armour enters on Turn 1 as opposed to turn 2. Soviet OB change drops one of the Turn 4 Soviet 628s

•  Borodino Train Station: (The Compass Rose is incorrect in the FT version, North should be at the bottom). SSRs tidied but no other changes at all.

• Last Push to Mozhaisk: The only real change si a subtle one, decreasing the German CVP cap from 24 to 23.

Balance: (ROAR stats as of 21/11/2011) 

• The Yelnya Bridge: [FT31] German 17 vs Russian 19 [J102] German 38 Russian 29
• Lenin's Sons:   [FT32] German 5 vs Russian 11 [J103] German 57 vs Russian 69
• Flanking FTs:  [FT33] German 4 vs Russian 10 [J104] German 37 vs Russian 21    
• Borodino Train Station: [FT34] German 5 vs Russian 0 [J105] German 61 vs Russian 33    
• Last Push to Mozhaisk: [FT35] German 4 vs Russian 9 [J115] German 23 vs Russian 35

My thoughts, I've played all but Mozhaisk, but I'd play them all again. Brodino needs the most help and I'd disallow Boresighting based on the historical blurb or drop the AFV entry to turn 2 as a default with the balance being to incorporate both. Flanking Fts I think needs the German Armour also to enter on Turn 2 and add back the dropped 628. Yelnya, the Germans should lose 1 lmg and that's about it. Mozhaisk could probably do with increasing the German CVP up to around 26 or 27.

Jorunal 7 was a very good set of scenarios as far as I was concerned, quite a few don't like these five scenarios but as a linked set and theme, I like them. Plus they are really excellent fast play scenarios that only need a little tweaking, don't use a huge amount of outlandish SSRs and still force both sides to think slightly oustide the box and use all the various national characteristics. (okay so I'm biased and still reckon you can use a HW in Borodino successfully on turn 1).

Pete.
 
Currently listening to: Betty Blue soundtrack

So What Am I Playing?

Land Battleship ahoy!

Now that the World Cup is over, I can devote the time to my nascent PBeM games.  I'm on a bit of a T35 kick at the moment, with two PBeM games on VASL (AP13 and AP42) and looking forward to the arrival of Schwerpunkt 17 so I can play SP194.

AP42 Frontiers and Pioneers

I'm playing AP13 Shielding Moscow versus John Knowles and AP42 Frontiers and Pioneers versus Joe Moro, an Aussie in Victoria who I've never played before. I'll see whether the Cleavinator is up for a game of SP194 Requiem for a Dreadnaught. Of these three scenarios, I've only played AP13 before, and that was almost 13 years ago, and I lost as the Soviets against John, with no memory of what happened during the agme so this will count as if it were a totally new scenario.

AP13 Shielding Moscow

In AP13, I'm playing as the German against John's two T-35 behemoths, while in AP42, I am again the Germans vs Joe's Soviets, only this time I actually have some decent Anti Tank weapons. As these are PbeM, I shouldn't have any problems drafting up AARs.

Making the most of what you have

Ian of Wall Advantage posted an excellent overview of the new Friendly Fire scenario pack on his blog today.

One point he raised about the use of counters from Blood and Jungle along with board FrFA got me thinking.  MMP obviously cannot really utilise TPP boards and counters in their scenario offerings, and so it really is up to the TPP scenario publishers to take advantage of the wider array of ASL resources at their immediate disposal. Sure some will grumble, as Ian points out, however in my experience BFP would be one of the more widely known and obtained of TPPs these days, particularly for those who are aware of Friendly Fire in the first place.

There are some excellent TPP boards and overlays out there that could be helpful in avoiding new mapboard overkill, as happened with board 10, Croix de Guerre and to a lesser extent Doomed Battalions and Armies of Oblivion. Now admittedly the pace of release of official boards from MMP has been quite astounding, and Action Packs looks to be continuing that ray of sunshine, but even Critical Hit has produced some excellent SK style boards in products such as Total Axis pack 1, Finland at War, 1st Ed/Boxed Ed Dien Bien Phu.

Personally I think it's been well overdue for at least one or two scenarios in a pack to go somewhat off the heavily trodden path of official mapboards and countermixes. Sure some won't have access to the products but in todays smaller active ASL community, the print runs are such that for the most part you're working with an audience and userbase who can now utilise more of their collection.

When I was last looking at some scenario designs, I tried to make use of the various Time On Target counters and rules, particularly those from ToT2 and ToT3. Maybe it's time to revisit this concept in the form of a ASL Grognards pack, targeted firmly at those who have access to most TPP materials. All I know is that for some TPPs, their strength of scenarios is derived from  the freshness of the designs rather than the actual tactical situation.

ASLOK Pre-planning The Minis - Friday and Saturday

It's going to be interesting coming back and viewing how I managed and whether I got my preferences. No doubt I'll get trampled à la Lomu on Mike Catt but it could be really amusing if I get absurd dice against one of the big names.

Friday - Samurai of the Rising Sun

It's going to be just me and Murray McCloskey representing Team ANZAC this mini - but there will be some familiar faces (by now) in Stan Jackson from Wednesday and Nelson Harris from Thursday. Not one of the scenarios on offer has featured in my ASL playlist before so it's all frighteningly new.

Round 1 - Oh gawd, a completely schwerpunkt round. Cursed, I am! Ayo Gurkhali would be on my shortlist except my copy has disappeared somewhere between The Shaky Isles and Convictland. Which leaves Malignant Mahrattas which i do have and Last Full Measure which is so new it's not listed on ROAR.
1st Preference - SP126 Malignant Mahrattas - very much by default.

Round 2 - another Schwerpunkt duo to taunt me and the alternate is the reappearance of 800 Heroes from Thursday. I'll go with the non-Schwerpunkt scenario cause it's the afternoon session and I'm probably not going to get past the first round anyway. The scond choice defaults to a scenario I have.
1st Preference - AP54 800 Heroes - ticks all the boxes for me. Second choice is Chiang's Finest.

Round 3 - By now I'm sick of the sight of Schwerpunkt (really it's all in good fun , I actually think Evan and the guys do a great job - the particular design ethos post SP issues 1-4 just doesn't suit me and I'm shallow enough to not enjoy the text format of the scenario OBs. ) so I'm going to choose the Action Pack offering as it's the last round of the day which means I'll be mellowing out with a few beers and using the new boards.
1st Preference - AP55 The Generalissimo's Own - by default

Saturday - Rumble in the Jungle

This mini sees the return of Neil Andrews and Rich Domovic from the Wednesday PTO mini, Kevin Meyer, Stan Jackson and Murray McCloskey repeat from yesterday (plus Stan and Murray are by now old friends after seeing them in Wednesday as well. Linton makes his appearance with the big boys in the PTO after bottom feeding in the Heinz Baked Beans and DIce Lucks minis so another dominant showing for Team Anzac is on the cards. By this time, I'm hoping to have bought Op Spec Ed 3, Bunker issue 31 and Out of the Attic 2 so more options will make themselves available. There's even more 'ooh new shiny" to be picked up but those are the relevant ones.

Round 1 - Seizing the Sittang Bridge is disqualified due to possible earlier playing of Round 2 on Wednesday (you really think I'd choose to play the same scenario twice at ASLOK, let alone playing the same Schwerpunkt one? Come over here, there's this bridge I'd like to show you...) and Block to Bataan is already in a default second choice earlier in the week. Bailey's Demise looks to be it, with the Hell's Corner map being the drawcard (plus I liked playing several of the Operation Watchtower scenarios).
1st Preference: HC2 Bailey's Demise - It's easy to choose this one today and it gives me even more imper\tus to help out with the Suicide Creek playtests - I'll never reach the level of a Cleavinator in the PTO but it'll certainly help me give him a stronger game.

Round 2 - Default choice again, but not because of Schwerpunkt - this time I may have already played one alternates earlier in the week, although Brigade Hill will get top billing if I can get past round 1 as I cannot see myself getting to Round 3 on Thursday where it would have been my only choice. Whaling Good Time will be too new for me to digest (I prefer to look over a scenario for a bit before playing it and I'd not want to delay starting the second round) and similarly so Taking heads.
1st Preference: J116 Brigade Hill followed by Whaling Good Time (due to being part of Hell's Corner).

Round 3 - two choices here really, neither one of which I have played. The third choice is a no go as I want to finish the Minis with a bang not a whimper at having to play a Schwerpunkt scenario as my final game before starting on the new From The Cellar, Friendly Fire and Out of the Attic stuff. So it';s a toss up between Raider Ridge and Philippine Fireman, East Side Design gets the nod 'cause it's a non-East Front scenario which is a departure for them to my albeit limited exposure to their designs.
1st Preference: ESG55 Philippine Fireman - if I get this far, I may need the benefit of a perception that East Side Designs don't get as much play compared to mainstream releases such as OotA. I'll take every edge I can get. I hope it's got some vehicles.

So there we have it, my initial preview of the minis I've entered. I've probably gone overboard in the faux-disdain for Schwerpunkt stuff so sorry if anyone's views got dissed. Frankly I'd rather play ASL than no ASL - and I have enjoyed a lot of Schwerpunkt scenarios - they just don't suit my playstyle as much as other design philosophies and styles seem to do - Ola Nygards I'm looking at you. I was surprised to see no Chicago or SoCal designs featured - but then Stand and Die and Bagging Burcorps are some of my favourite PTO scenarios out there.I'll probably see whether i can get a game of them earlier in the week as prep for the minis.

ASLOK Pre-planning The Minis - Wednesday and Thursday

The Cleavinator and I chatted last night re the Minis Lists and taking into account my thoughts on some scenarios and to maximise my chances of providing some form of reasonable challenge (unlikely versus Fort, Trezza and Linton if I'm unlucky to face them first up - second round games are very much a non-certainty anyway) here're my thoughts on the choices (I intend to try and play the Allies versus Japanese whereever possible as I'm not good enough to do the Japanese justice or play to their strengths)

Wednesday Mini - The Emperor's Finest

4 Anzac team members in this round, but I've only played Murray McCloskey via VASL and Adam Lunney is one of the few people I've played Face to Face over the years. At least he doesn't do the whole Paddo bears roling 4 dice thing either. Getting Trezza or Ronnblom first up could be daunting and short-lived.

Round 1 - pretty easy choice for me here as I've only played one of the three scenarios before and that was when Journal 1 first came out.
1st Preference: A Stiff Fight J9 - I want something familiar to start off with and FrF37 Crossing Swords at Kyauske looks a bit too hard on the Chinese for my liking. I've not seen SP177 Tic Tac Toe as yet and I'm not really a fan of the Schwerpunkt designs anyway, at least not until I've seen whether they're too balls to the wall Tampa-style. Plus I want to make sure I'm playing at a comfortable clip - J9 shouldn't be a problem to finish well before 2pm. Second Choice will be Kyauske if required.

Round 2 - I doubt I'll make it this far but it's a very easy determination - Totsugeki can burn in hell as a choice for me - I've played it twice now and that's twice too many times - plus most people at ASLOK will have played it umpteen times so I'd be getting buzzsawed straight away. Tangled up in Blue is a Nphum Ga scenario - not a scenario setting I like at all so that leaves SP118 Seizing the Sittang Bridge, a Schwerpunkt scenario - ugh an ugly round for me if I get there.
1st Preference: SP118 Seizing the Sittang Bridge - at least it has funky armoured cars and the Chinese.

Round 3 - why am I even thinking about getting this far? J9 is out because I expect to have played it in Round 1, Burn Gurkha Burn looks too cool to pass by and AP59 Taking Heads I own but have no idea how it plays or what the board setup looks like. An easy one and two choice here though.
1st Preference: SP95 Burn Gurkha Burn - cripes, two out of three of my first choices are Schwerpunkt scenarios? I must be slipping.

Overall, I reckon I'll be a speed bump at best, but almost certainly so in Round 2 should I get that far. Hopefully I put up some kind of fight in round 1.

Thursday Mini - Pacific

This is the mini where I've not seen hardly any of the scenarios at all and the lineup of ASL talent is scary (Trezza, Fort et al) - A quick exit is pretty much guaranteed here. Just the two Anzacs in this mini - Me and Lunney again - I'd whine a bit louder about the prospect of facing Fort and Trezza but I've seen the Cleavinator's draw for one of his minis and it's the stuff of nightmares.

Round 1 - I own Nunshigum and 800 Heroes and I'm hoping to pick up the latest Dispatches from the Bunker issue at ASLOK . 800 heroes looks a tad large for the first round otherwise it'd be a certainty. Looks like Schwerpunkt will get my time again - is this some kind of karmic revenge for my views on Piano Lupo and the "Tampa style"?
1st Preference: SP125 Nunshigum - with AP54 800 Heroes if I get a fast player, second choice will be DftB083 Block to Bataan just cause I've only ever played one Bunker scenario and that was early war French versus Germans vs McCloskey.

Round 2 - Generally I've found I prefer the Euro-school of scenario design of late so my first choice is from Friendly Fire with Bailey's Demise losing out to Broken Bamboo because of availability - personally if I owned Op Spec Ed 3 by the time this round took place I'd have it as my second choice. Yay, no Schwepunkt to be seen! Of course, I'd have to actually win my first game.
1st Preference: FrF17 Marco Polo Bridge Incident - It'll be interesting to see how this compares to the BFP and Tactiques takes on the same action.

Round 3 - Damn the best round of choices for me and the odds on me winning two games in this field up to this point are like those for Ireland or Scotland beating the ABs any time soon. (Yes! the obligatory kiwi reference to Rugby surfaces, about bloody time!) Oh well, I would have chosen Brigade Hill as my first choice having won against the Cleavinator playing the Brits with Die Gurkha Die shading Melee near the Coast purely down to situational interest. Plus Gurkhas, the Finns of the PTO!
1st Preference: J116 Brigade Hill

So there we have it, my thought on the first two ASLOK minis I'm entering - I'll crash and burn no doubt, but it's going to be fun. Now if only Jungle Fighters from Journal 1 was an option - that's the scenario that helped me rediscover the joys of PTO/facing the Japanese.

ASL: After Action Report - MP17 "Bagging Burcorps" Part 2

The situation after the initial Japanese Turn:

End of Japanese Player turn 1

It's already looking a tad like I've invited the Japanese through an open gate right up the middle.

After regrouping:

End of British Player Turn 1

More to come once I retreive the VASL logs.

After Action Report - MP17 "Bagging Burcorps" Part 1

I've played one scenario from the SoCal ASL guys before and really enjoyed that (MP12 "Vulcan's Forge" - Stalingrad) so when Pierce Mason suggested MP17 as a Pacific Theatre scenario, I was fine. It's not a complex scenario on the face of it, with only Light Jungle and standrd PTO rules in effect, but it is a fighting withdrawal over 7 turns over effectively 1.75 board-depths.

The British are not your everyday plucky tommies, but second line troops, reasonably well equipped but not as cool under fire as their regular brethren. With that in mind I set up as follows:

 

 

And here's an expanded look:

 

 

 

The Japanese enters from the bottom of the picture and so they're going to be in my face pretty quickly. I should have time to redeploy from my reserve as necessary to react to the main thrust. I've looked to cover the Left flank with a picket line of one and a half sections - if the main thrust comes that way, I'll be very surprised as it's the long way around to the Japanese objective (a small ville far to the North). The right flank is protected by a reduced strength platoon with a senior subaltern and a Bren. This should prevent an attempt to use the easy approach down the right.

The centre is guarded by again a trip wire defence of a section and a bit, while the centre is very much where I expect to develop my reserve and a blocking position around the chokepoint in BB6 where a small watering hole constricts the path to the North. One part of my reserves are going to be sent to the north early on to develop a prepared position for the end game, and watch out for infiltrating Japanese recce troops.

Unfortunately in my initial setup I've effectively tried to defend everywhere and left some inviting gaps for infiltration. I didn't fully take note that British 2nd Line still cower and that the paucity of spray fire weapons makes for major defensive fire weaknesses. However if I can fall back in good order without losing too many casualties to Japanese close quarters attacks and fire I'll be happy.

Playing again with a vengeance

I think I've rediscovered the fun element in ASL. For years it was almost a chore to play ASL, the effort required in keeping up with clarifications, Q&As, errata, even accessing the latest and greatest new scenarios seemed beyond me. In a way this mirrored my experience with miniatures. Too much effort required in the process compared to the enjoyment attained from the outcome.

But in the last few weeks I've got back on VASL, played in an online ASL tourney (lost in the 1st round even), and found that I don't need to be totally au fait with all the minutiae to play a competent game. Results are immaterial at this point (I'm on a fairly long losing streak) but with each game my interest is growing as I find it interesting to analyse the past games and look to improve.

I've found my comfort level in terms of ongoing games - 4 PBeM VASL and a live VASL game seem to work nicely in terms of scheduling and pacing. It will certainly fill the gap between face to face gaming as well. The main thing is that I've broadened my pool of opponents and look to be involved in regular games from now on.

I'm currently playing scenarios from a wide variety of publishers, designers and theaters of war:

• Melee Pack III: MP17 Bagging Burcorps (Japanese vs British);
• Windy City Wargamers' ASL Open'96 pack: WCW07 Eye of The Tiger (Germans vs Soviets); 
• ASL Journal 3: J41 By Ourselves (Norwegian vs Germans); 
• AH General: T09 Niscemi-Biscari Highway (American Paras vs Germans)
• Friendly Fire Pack: FrF09 The Abbeville Bridgehead (Germans vs French).

Action Pack 4 is due any day now (I had hoped it would arrive this morning but no luck there) so that will probably dominate my ASL thoughts apart from the PbeM stuff until John arrives from Taiwan in the next couple of weeks. Valor of the Guards is still sitting on my desk, waiting for an opportunity to get on the table, but for now I'm happy to take my time bfore diving in.

Some ASL was played...

The end of the working week and things are just percolating along nicely...I'll probably start planning a much more focused attempt at getting some painting done in the evenings for the next few weeks as I get ready to end my current contract. I bought an el cheapo table for gaming with John which is pretty well perfect to use as a painting table in the evenings and is basically low maintenance. Played another scenario tonight with John: Monty's Mess from the Out of The Attic set. It must be just my familiarity with the subject matter and terrain that makes me view everyday type ASL scenarios set in Arnhem - Oosterbeek on geomorphic boards with a degree of scepticism and even a bit of a yawn.

John's last day before he headed off back to Taiwan and we managed to get two scenarios done in the day, a nice way to round out John's visit. Helps that I won a game or two towards the end which brought my win loss record for the week to 4 and 5. I can live with that, John's still a very good player, so anything better than a 33% win ratio is good as far as I'm concerned.

The Games:

• The Yelnya Bridge J102: Russian - Lost
• Marders Not Martyrs J106: Russian - Won
• Lenin's Sons J103: German - Lost
• Flanking Flamethrowers J104: Russian - Lost
• The Prelude to Spring J110: Russian - Won
• Borodino Train Station J105: Russian - Lost
• Jungle Fighters J012: British - Won
• Monty's Mess OA10: British - Lost
• On to Florence J099: New Zealand - Won

The Bells of Hell Go Ting a Ling Ling

So work's been busy as all getout lately. That hasn't stopped the deliveries of goodies from parts elsewhere thankfully, I'm now at the point where I've got 95% of my boardgame collection stable with very few more purchases needed. I finally got hold of the Stalingrad maps I referenced a while ago, and sure enough there's a significant difference in area covered betweren the large hex and the smaller hex versions, the latter actually reaching to the Volga.How did I pick these up? Through the auspices of Warchest in Melbourne, Australia. Must say I'm every impressed with the service from him. Fair prices to boot.

I bought the second edition of Critical Hit's Valor of the 37th Guards, which included not only the large hex map of the Dzerhezinsky Tractor Works but the original map from the 1997 DTW module and the original Grain Elevator minimap from the 1997 Critical Hit Special Edition. So I've almost completed the necessary accumulation of product.

I'm going to end up with some duplication of mapsheets but that's no hardship as I'm sure I can find a use for them. So basically all I'm after now is the original DTW module with its 2 Campaign games  and four scenarios and the 97SE with the Grain Elevator scenarios/CG. The latter is on order already from The Sentry Box in Canada, and I may have scoped out a copy of DTW although I'm paying the OOP premium :(

I also picked up one of the lesser items on my want list - a copy of the old Area-Impulse ACW game, They Met at Gettysburg which has a poor reputation but surely can be salvaged.

I even started playing some ASL again, Stalingrad natürlich, with my old adversary Jay White. We're now on Turn 3 of our game that was interrupted by me getting sidetracked by real life, and so far it's been one crazy rollercoaster ride once again, with the highlight for me being the critical hit I scored with a Molotov-Projector on one of the two StuIG33Bs Jay is fielding. One flank is almost completely secure through the blazes that have started up.

Anyway I really need to take some pics again (I've been slack - no change there) and posting again

In The Mail

Back from a revitalising holiday to find that Mark Pitcavage's Scenario Designer's Guide was part of the accumulated mail waiting for me. First glance - nicely done. Lots of reading to do and a few notes to make before a fuller report is on the cards. Not sure that it'll be as useful as might have been suggested for non-ASL scenario designers but more later on that.  So much to do today and I haven't even typed up the updates.

Advanced Squad Leader Schedule

Now that I've settled in here and have a modicum of connectivity, it's time to get back into some game playing. ASL still manages to feature on my playlists because I find it easy to arrange games via the VASL online utility and PBeM suits me. When I last was involved in PBeM/Live games via VASL, I was playing the following:

• CH15 No Farther: vs Jay White - Set on the Red Barricades map, this is the fourth mini scenario of its type Jay and I have played. The others have all been exceptional games with wacky events and some outrageous swings of fortune. It helps that we get along so well. It will be a lot easier for us both once I have ADSL and Skype operating again. [CH issue 2]

• J88 Escape to Wiltz: vs Chris Wendel - A small yet vicious scenario set during the Battle of the Bulge, it started out okay for the US, but from what I remember I've run into real time/space issues in terms of clearing away the German blocking detachments. Losing one of my two light armoured vehicles really hurt. [ASL Journal 5]

• DASL6 Draconian Measures: vs Vic Behar - We only managed to get as far as Turn 2 before real life interrupted the game, but thi scenario is one of those tooth and claw fights where the advanattges of the Tigers are offset by the urban terrain and the Soviet firepower that can effectively wipe away the escorting infantry. [Streets of Fire]

• U8 Weissenhof Crossroads: vs John Knowles - John and I have been playing ASL against each other for almost 20 years now, and we're currently working our way through the GI's Dozen scenario pack, a collection of SL system scenarios updated to ASL format. This is one of our mutual favourites from GI, and is a winter Bulge scenario that works better in VASL with all the terrain changes than it does in hardcopy. This one is starting to run John's way as attrition begins to bite hard and the threat of the big 15cm Self-propelled Infantry cannons is lessening as I take the Ammunition restrictions into account. [GI's Dozen]

I'm about to head off for an 18 day break in Aussie so I'll be getting these games back up and running when I return, and maybe even with the benefit of Skype/ADSL.