It's good to be back: AP17 Valley of Death

It's already looking like I have a taker for the XV series playthrough, just waiting for schedule confirmation. But not only have  I started two more games, I'm able to restart a game with Joern Helms: AP 17 The Valley of Death.

We managed to get through the first Italian turn initially before real-life difficulties caused us both to drop out of sight for a while, but here's the situation as it stands:

Some chances taken in light of increased opportunities. I had forgotten how this scenario opened up on the first turn.

2012 in Review Part 2: Scenarios

So today I reached the magic number of 30 scenarios played for the year.  Of those 30 games, I managed to scrape out 7 victories, which looks pretty harsh in the cold light of day. It has been a very good year when you take into account I did not play any ASL from January to March and from July to October.

The Breakdown

There was a bit of a theme to many of my games as I played through the scenarios from several products in series.

6 scenarios were from Friendly Fire

5 scenarios were from SOCALASL's Mèlée Pack III
5 scenarios were from Journal 8
3 scenarios were from the Winter Offensive 2011 and 2012 packs
2 scenarios were from Journal 7
2 scenarios were from an upcoming Action Pack
2 scenarios were from Paratrooper

2 scenarios were from BFP
2 scenarios were from Schwerpunkt
1 scenario was from Doomed Battalions

So 50% of the games I played were published by MMP with the majority of the remainder coming from the usual recommended suspects in Third Party publishing, with a significant sample from a more esoteric publisher. The absence of LFT from this is purely because I am yet to arrange a theme opponent for a playthrough, plus I am tempted to wait until i can arrange some KGS Cholm play. Other publishers just didn't feature because I haven't looked at them this year.

Opponents

An axiom of ASL is that you learn more from playing a wide variety of opponents than you do from playing within a small playing circle. If that's the case, then I have learned a lot this year.

Apart from  John Knowles (8 games) and the Cleavinator (6), I played some 14 different opponents, 11 of whom were first time opponents.

So since ASLOK 2010 , I have pretty much quadrupled the number of people I have played in three short years.

 My 2012 shortlist

FRF 30 Biderman's Escape
SP    87 Fangs of the Tiger
BFP 30 Mèlée near the Coast
ASL 12 Confusion Reigns
MP   17 Bagging Burcorps (the only scenario I played twice in 2012)

So all in all, a much better year for actual play than I've managed in quite some time, and I will probably get two more games in by the end.

next up...what ASL crack did I get this year...and why Festung Budapest did not make the cut.

Theory and Practice: Those two imposters

"Theory is when you know everything but nothing works.
Practice is when everything works but no one knows why.
In my games of ASL, theory and practice are combined:
nothing works, and I have no f%&$ing idea why."

The job hunting continues, which has had an impact on my motivation to post AARs to the blog as supposed to succinct posts on Gamesquad. Things look to be improving though, more of that as matters coalesce.

I've been playing a fair bit of ASL lately via PBeM and especially live on VASL. Since the beginning of April, I've completed 8 games of Live VASL and have two PBeM games in varying stages of completion.

With John Knowles, we've completed our run through of the Winter Offensive 2011 pack scenarios but i haven't won any of them despite being in contention for at least 2 two of them right to the end. Aaron Cleavin and I are almost finished with our playing of the Melee Pack III scenarios, the last of which will probably be started and finished this coming weekend. Again, no wins from the 4 scenarios played so far as could be expected but some close games.

Of these seven scenarios, there are a few that stand out, in fact I would say that MP17 "Bagging Burcorps" is probably the highlight so far, It's a scenario that I have played before as both attacker and defender and enjoyed thoroughly despite losing both times. Suffice it to say, Aaron thought well enough of it to include it in the scenario list for the JunoBear tournament.

Of the other standouts, none features from the Winter Offensive pack sadly, mainly from the point of view of being enjoyable and interesting situations with a perception of balance. Facing three HIP 88LLs with good LOS to expected AFV movement channels is not something I expect to find that interesting given the Hit = KO equation, let alone facing 16 flat HE with 7 morale troops.

Some of this may be coloured by my failure to win a game, but given that the outcomes were close, the enjoyment factor during the games was paramount and I can remember feeling I was just going through the ASL motions in some games, not in terms of my tactics,, but purely because I could not see a way of avoiding expected outcomes.

They say bad ASL is better than no ASL. I now think that is a false equation. If the game is not enjoyable for me, I am at a loss on how my opponent might be enjoying it. For me, part of the intrinsic attraction of ASL as a game is that both players participate in a mutually enjoyable pastime/hobby. 

The other game I played was in Gary Fortenberry's AP9 Playtest Tourney where I faced Randy Shurtz in AP83 Take Two, a good little infantry only PTO design with some small but interesting tweaks on regular ASL fare. A little Pro-Japanese as it stands before fine-tuning after the first round of results, but with minor polishing and some clarifications, this looks to be a very solid tourney playing.

Now Randy is a very strong player, having beaten the Plevanator in a toruney himself, so I was very pleased to pull off the win. the disparity in our skill levels evened out nicely with the scenario, but I am pleased that it was not my dice that dominated the game (although my last turn Defensive First Fire was as usual, rather good) but rather my initial setup and patience in the opening turns. A significant factor was a misdirect involving a HIP squad and leader that did real damage to one of Randy's stronger probes.

So 1 and 7 so far, with one PBeM likely to be decided in the next week or so. I have kept reasonable records of the games so far via VASL so when I have the intellectual energy, I will try and provide some detailed AARs here.

P.S. You know you've been out of the loop ASL wise, when you forgot that you had bought Crucible Of Steel and declined a game on VASL because of this.

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

AP42 Frontiers & Pioneers (AAR) The Mid Game Part 2

As I mentioned last time, this game is still very much in the balance at the start of Joe's Soviet turn 4. Throughout the game, our fire attacks have been either boom or bust, with either KIAs, KOs or Malfed weapons. Nothing subtle about either the dice or the IF attempts on either side.

Soviet Turn 4: The Situation post-Preps

Turn 4b Soviet preps: Joe's Prep Fire caused me some major hurt this turn. The half-platoon with the ATR in 57O1 took some vengeance with a 1KIA on my 8-1 and broke the 468/LMG with him. I was now down to 1 leader and the brokies would be out for some time. I was a bit preoccupied on the here and now so I didn't consider the effect that shot would have on Joe's movement choices either.

Soviet Turn 4: After the Movement Phase

Soviet Turn 4b movement: Joe followed up his successful Prep by overrunning the broken 468/LMG, something i hadn't even realised I was somewhat vulnerable to, as I was still focused on the potential threat that 76mm could be if/when it repaired. I had a couple of good shots at the KV, but a mniss and a bounce were all I had to show for it. The Panzer III were starting to wonder if they had dud ammo by this stage. Joe's movement of the KV did leave him in a vulnerable position for my FT toting squad however abnd the Panzer III could still get to him, as long as he didn't repair his gun. At this stage I was hoping to use the FT squad as the KV killer in my turn. The rest of the movement was SOP for Joe, redeploying to maintain a workable force on the VC area and threatening the motorcycle flanking party via the 9-2 for next turn. Very few shots taken by me in Def First fire.

Soviet Turn 4: After all Defensive Fire

Soviet Turn 4b German Defensive Fire: the Panzer IV came to the party with breaking the two units in 57s1. Not a critical Hit but the effects DR was nasty enough. Other than that I managed to wreck the MA on the 38T who'd just got it back, the ready round rack  must have been loaded with older ammo again. i was thinking I was now in a position to go hard at the KV with two tanks and the FT squad while the other three tanks concentrated on bothering the main Soviet defensive group before I let loose the other FT squad.

I was now pretty confident that I had the upper hand by quite a margin as long as I could get the Western VC area sorted during my next two turns. We'll just have to see what develops in the Rally Phase as to whether I can let the tanks run free and shoot in the FT and infantry onto the other VC area.

Pete

AP42 Frontiers & Pioneers (AAR) The Mid Game

Joe and I are munching through the logs on a daily basis, and it's getting tight.

When I last updated , it was the end of German Turn 3 Prep Fire and I was going to try and get that verdammte KW1. Things have gone back and forth since then...

End Of German Turn 3: I'm feeling pretty good here, I have a PzIII behind the KV with a good shot  even if Joe starts up to get out of Dodge, although missing out on APCR hurt and the subsequent PB AP shot hurt. My infantry are now starting to pressure Joe's Main line of infantry and he's had to redeploy the 9-2/MMG sqd. The PzIII is out on a limb though and I probably won't survive past the Prep phase.

End Of Soviet Turn 3: Joe started his turn with a hiss and a roar as the KV snaked his PB pre shot and vapourised the Pz III. Unfortunately for Joe, he went one shot too many and malfed the MA trying to get the Pz IV as well.  The 9-2 trundled down the road into the buildings after drawing some ineffective but threatening fire from the PzIV but other  than that it was force preservation on Joe's part. The threat of the FTs is starting to make itself known I think.

End Of German Turn 4: Advancing Fire Phase: I'm looking a little brittle now, 2 of my AFVs have malfed their MAs, another is under a permanent +1 stun, and the remaining Pz III missed out on APCR, and then scored a PB hit on the freaking superior turret (exacerbated by the subsequent TK roll of 4 being low enough for a Mission Killing Immobilisation on the Hull). Joe's central positionn is proving to be a tough cookie, with 2 sqauds and an ATR holding me up, however there is a FT lurking and the 8-1 does have a beadv on the stack, although without a working LMG. I'm almost temopted to use the prisoners and guards to go fetch the 25LL AA and bring it up for some IFE goodness for sheer style points. Thankfully I've been able to make use of two good rallied hs and get them on their Zundapps to threaten the now somewhat unguarded North western Victory locations.

Start of Soviet Turn 4: Well this is where it may have turned in my favour. I managed to repair both MAs and the LMG with three consecutive drs. If Joe does the same however I'm in a world of hurt again. I have a suspicion actually i'm almost 100% certain the concealed stack is the last of Joe's dummies and his double squad aATR position is now under threat of encirclement attacks. This is going to be a very interesting turn...

 Hope you've enjoyed the game so far, I know I'm hanging out for Joe's next VASL log.

Pete

Being greedy will come back to bite you...

I sent off my latest movement log for AP42 Frontiers and Pioneers, and in my greed to get a point blank rear shot at Joe's KV behemoth, I needed that extra MP to stop , sure enough the ESB roll at +3 (+1 for the extra MP, +2 for pre-Vorsprung Durch Technik German automotive excellence) ended up a 5,6 : Immobilised! Well at leats i'm in the location I wanted to be, sadly the Panzer III will be out of the firing line for the rest of the scenario. Considering I've already ESBed without consequences 4 times in the game, I was due for a fall.

Oh well.

No major updates to report, but the weekend's close so the live VASL game may well finish this time around.

Pete

AP42 Frontiers & Pioneers (AAR) The story so far...

This is my one current PBeM game at the moment: AP42 from Action Pack 5, East Front. Joe Moro is the Soviet Commander attempting to make do with a polyglot mix of slow but beastly and fast but tinny tanks hampered or aided by the Land Battleship T-35. I on the other hand have some mobile light forces with a mix of up-armoured 38Ts and the early Mark III with 50mm. There's even the ubiquitous Pz IVe who is not much chop against armour but is there to provide support (yeah right).

AP42 is a fiddly scenario to play on VASL initially and especially via PBeM. The German opening move involves so many mounted units on motorcycles and really only a couple of legitimate entry routes.

The Soviet set up area and Victory locations:

Two distinct yet adjacent Victory Location areas, with some real manoeuvring required in the mid to late game to even threaten the North-westernmost victory locations.

The Soviet setup as I saw it:

I was at a bit of a loss to see where my main effort would be on turn 1 and 2, as the paucity of German boots on the ground means that it's imperative I minimised risk in the opening turns to allow me to put pressure on the Soviet infantry. I could see that the central route was just a complete no go zone unless I could guarantee SMOKE, but the PZ IV isn't that good. I decided to have the Pz IIIs go through the forest rod in the centre to station themselves at or on 7 hex range to the east of the central 5/8" concealment stacks. The Pz 38Ts would try and get through the Eastern gap by the marsh in 37DD4 with a view to hooking around the wheatfields area on board 57 East.

Here's how the situation looked at the end of German Turn 1:

The initial turn went okay, I confused myself several times and changed my mind about where I wanted to maintain some Infantry, but that was taken care of early on with the first Zundapp riding half squad not getting very far at all. The Panzer IIIs were in a good position, while the 38Ts had gotten away with only a single stunned tank from IFT fire but they had drawn the AA gun out of hiding with no consequences, and had smoked it nicely.

By the end of Joe's Soviet Turn 1 response, I was feeling a little better:

My sniper had been killed saving a CE tanker, but I'd KIAed the gun crew of the unsuccessful AA gun for failure to rout and both Panzer IIIs were now in position to protect the infantry from the KV and also provide some additional MG firepower to any infantry advances. With the Gun now MIA, I felt I could use my positioning on the flank to properly sweep around and force relocation of 1 or 2 concealed tanks while getting into the optimum 7-12 hex range band.

Turn 2 was where the infantry cleared the flank completely and the Panzer 38s did their backyard blitz to the north:

The 38s scooted around, an opportune snakes and one of my better LOS picks paved the way for a take down of the T35 well ahead of schedule, even with a MA malf on one 38T. The infantry were angling their way to the North West but it was slow going, I needed to develop some kind of threat on the western flank, but the KV was protecting units covering the axis of redeployment  so I couldn't go that route as perhaps I should have earlier.

Joe's Turn 2 response was interesting, I think he felt the KV was unsupported and out on a limb, especially as I hadn't brought the FTs into play at all yet:

Here we see the KV lumbering up to scare the 38T in the north, while the remaining gun armed 38T did me proud and took out a pesky BT, again with a good LOS pick and showing the 7012 hex range band working to my advantage. The Pz IV was doing his damnedest to keep the Soviet infantry honest and forced a minor adjustment, something I hoped to take advantage of in turn 4, if not earlier.

We're now into turn 3, and I'm trying to KO the Soviet armour once and for all:

The situation at the end of the prep fire phase, no success with the DI, but the last BT is toast courtesy of an IF shot, the infantry can redeploy from east to the centre, and the Panzer IIIs are now in a position to go KV hunting with APCR if possible. I'm yet to lose a single unit (except for a Sniper that takes out the concealed 8-0 on the forest road , something that hurts me a lot more than Joe may think, as changing the axis of attack is going to be a real issue now with only two leaders.)

Nowhere close to being in the bag, but I'm hoping to get some real momentum out of this turn's movement and advancing fire phases, particularly if the KV1 fails to take out the 38T before I get my next defensive fire.

ohgawdohgawdohgawdohgawd,,,,

I got home today from work to be greeted by the 9 year old monkey saying,

"Your parcel with stuff for that game is here."

And sure enough, I spent the next 15-20 minutes unwrapping and checking out Crucible of Steel (CoS). Thankfully only a few counter blemishes but nothing that actually impacts the printing, just extra care needed when clipping.

Immediately I went online, only to see several blogs had broken the news that Festung Budapest (FB) was available for pre-order. Now I'm not one for duplicate orders of HASLs but maybe this time I might just do so, after missing out on A Bridge Too Far and regretting the temporary poverty ever since.

Other blogs have already posted the PR blurbs and review pics of both CoS and FB so I'll not duplicate their industry. Suffice it to say that my BFP stack of items is starting to scare me and I definitely have to get my act together re the Hozan, Raaco and Box Box storage systems.

The down side is that currently I have to pass on the MMP pre-order blitz of releases that look to be coming out/released at Winter Offensive 2012. I have spousal approval to pre-order but as we live on my salary alone, it's an imperative that i mind the dollars and cents right now to make sure I can cover the probable 6 week gap in between my last pay-cheque at the multi-national bank and the first one at the new position (yet to be confirmed).

So a bittersweet ASL day, but I'm still playing, although no PBeM logs today which is also a mixed blessing.

2012 was ment to be my quiet year for ASL expenditure but Journal 10, AP8, WO3 and Festung Budapest in January/February alone are going to kill that pipedream stone dead. Oh well if the new job pans out, I will have regained 4 hours a day of my life due to the lessened commute which means i could get back to generating hobby income through painting again.

There's always an upside.

A Good Weekend...

This weekend was pretty impresive ASL wise: I went through approximately 6 PBeM logs, including 4 for AP42 which is a fairly involved PBeM experience early on as the German player develops his attack through probing recce and manoeuvre.

John Knowles and I took advantage of simultaneous VASL time to get cracking on AP13, to the point we finished the game, and it finished really close, as John still had both Factories but ran out of troops to take and hold enough victory locations. If I hadn't held up his backfield squad in Melee, he would have grabbed that last location he needed, as I had almost nothing left myself.

AP13 Shielding Moscow at Game End, German Turn 6

Then this morning I finshed off a playtest with Adam Lunney of a design he's submitting to MMP. The scemnario is set during the Italain Camapign, features Board 60 and has enough meat to offer the attacker several options but the defender can arrange things to put a world of hurt on the advancing Brits. Board 60 has a bit of a bad rep already, but it's so different from the usual hill terrain that it may take some time for people to learn how to meet the cahllenge of assualting urban heights terrain.The game came down to the last CC phase where I had an even chance of grabbing enough VC locations to eke out a win but it was not to be.

So moving forward, this next week I'll be satring a  PbeM/live VASl game of WO2 Failure to Communicate vs John K,  I will shortly be looking at helping Ian Percy with some more playtesting, this time of another 6 turner tourney type scenario set in Crete, again for submission to MMP, and I've got ASL set up for Friday evening at Aaron's and Saturday at the Paddington Bearz.

I still have to go tghrough and sort out all my ASL gear as the last clean up in the study has resulted in me not being able to find a lot of the more recent ASL purchases I made at ASLOK last year. This becomes importantv as CrUcible of Steel is probably arriving sometime this week so I want to make sure all my BFP stuff is in the same place and not scattered to the four winds *.

(I don't think I'll ever get over the loss of almost all of my KE/ToT, early HOB and CH  scenarios from the late 90s to someone who never returned it and droppped out of the NZ ASL community shortly afterwards)

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.

Getting old and forgetful

Somehow I seem to have ended up with two copies of Action Pack 4 - I know how I obtained the most recent one - through the MMP sale. I must have ordered the earlier one in 2008 from Gamer's Armory when I was trying to catch up on recent ASL stuff.

A little annoying as I didn't grab Action Pack 3 from the sale due to budgetary limitations. Time to do a comprehensive audit I think, as the study is a bomb site and I've got ASL gear strewn everywhere.

In other news, Brian Youse has posted a schedule update for the ASL stuff on pre-order. I'll post it here so I don't forget, but I see my credit card is going to take a hammering in late January:

February:
ASL Action Pack #6
ASL Journal #8
Doomed Battalions - arrived February
ASL Journal #2 reprint

It'd be nice if all of these were shipped in the one box but that might be just a tad optimistic - (Edit - shipping separately - man that postage hurts for things like scenario packs and Journals)

Back to the Hellish Hedgerows

It's very seldom I get to obtain two recent ASL products in a timely fashion. Admittedly Valor of the Guards was a tad late in arriving (heh) but Action Pack 4: Normandy 1944 is very much going to see my tabletop within a few days of it's official retail release by MMP. Milsims again to the fore - less than AU$40 landed as opposed to something like US$45.

As I mentioned on VASL last night in a discussion with Commissar Piotr, I've not been overly impressed by MMP's more recent offerings (AoO and VotG excepted because they're modules and I've nothing but praise for the physical components) as I do think that their production holdups and necessary and justified focus on ASLSK have influenced the usual hands-on aspect of ASL production.

It seemed to me that the recent Journals and the last AP (Few Returned) have lacked that imprimateur, and in some cases have been more codifications of TPP designs (Le Franc Tireur and On Top in Journal 7 for instance). Because my personal take on ASL play and indeed  focus of ASL design philosophy differs diametrically from some of the principals of MMP, I've always felt that MMP have done some designers a disservice in the way they run roughshod over the original design in their subsequent revisions.

It's now at the point where I tend to look at the original provenance of a scenario and prefer to play it as originally designed: again Le Franc Tireur comes to mind. Sometimes I feel that there is a definite shift in play style paradigms outside of the North American continent which doesn't always translate well when undergoing MMP transformations.

But back to Action Pack 4. Normandy is one of my major interest areas in both miniatures and boardgames. It's an area of history that I'm reasonably well read in at the small unit level, and so I'm very appreciative of the focus of the new action pack.

Now when I initially heard of AP4, I admit that I was dubious, not wishing to see an action pack that consisted only of an American perspective. This proved to be unfounded thankfully as Chas Argent has taken the role of AP development to a new level of efficiency and I'm going to be seeing a selection of actions and terrain configurations that should keep me going for some time.

The new boards just look very nice indeed:

Board 53

Board 54

Board 55

There's nothing really to criticise on these boards in terms of the ASL depiction of Bocage, although I'd have preferred perhaps a couple more boards along the lines of board 54 without the village or hills of the other boards. I also would have liked to see perhaps a more naturalistic depiction of the Normandy farm holdings which should  really be multihex stone buildings with possibly rowhouse bars separating the individual buildings rather than actual separate constructions. All minor quibbles really though and something to ponder creating an overlay sheet for or SSRing anyway.

The scenarios are the gravy on this pack though with the boards a sine qua non and the revised Bocage rules a serious step forward in clarity. The preliminary reports I've read from ASLers whose views on play balance and excitement level have all been very upbeat and positive which is a good sign.

As for the breakdown in subject matter, well here's a brief look at the featured actions:

•     A Lesson for Lehr: US vs Germans
•     Raff’s Dilemma: US vs Germans
•     The Head of the Mace: Poles vs Germans
•     Old Hickory: US versus Germans
•     Infiltrators: British vs Germans
•     Bocage Blockage: US vs Germans
•     First Cristot: British vs Germans
•     Second Cristot: British vs Germans
•     Second Crack at Caumont: US vs Germans

I've missed one scenario I think. However it's still a little mystifying to see no Canadian actions featured, but at least we're spared an over-representation of US paras this time around.

The new bocage rules may well get me to look at getting out the old Hedgerow Hell scenarios again (but using the McGrath/Chaney modifications as a starting point) and it'll certainly mean revisiting some of the classic tourney/VASL scenarios that originally kept me going with the Bocage rules as they once were (Hornet of Cloville comes to mind for some reason).

Really though, AP4 is going to satisfy my requirement for geo-map scenarios for the foreseeable future, with VotG and more RB taking care of the HASL map side of things. With a return to regular face to face play via the Paddington Bears, a resurgent PbeM schedule and now a willingness to play live on VASL (as soon as I can get Skype up and running in a manner condusive to resources on the PC), I shouldn't have many problems getting a lot more games under my belt in the next couple of months.