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.

ASLOK XXIX and the rest of the news

ASLOK XXIX is a done deal!

In the end, my attendance at ASLOK XXIX was going to be a very close run thing. With the ending of a relationship, the subsequent upheaval and stress and then the termination  of my existing residential lease, it was not looking good.

Thankfully, things turned out okay. Sure I might be living on ramen and instant coffee until the day of my departure so I can have some spending money for ASLOK, but I have paid for the plane fare, the hotel is booked and budgeted for, and I also have a new residence that I will be moving into over the next 14 days.

I'm treating this ASLOK as I should, a chance to recuperate mentally and spiritually after 6 months of chaos. Physically I'm still a bit of a wreck but having a 3 week holiday, most of which will be spent with good friends at ASLOK, will do wonders for my health.

I'm turning up in Cleveland at 10pm on October 1st, and will be ready to gun from the next morning/ afternoon, depending on whether I can get some shopping done (travelling to the US means I will be obtaining some items that are almost impossible to find in Australia anymore, such as US sized page protectors, perhaps some Duratool Raaco knockoffs, and some software/hardware for my PC) and how my discretionary funds are holding out.

My ASL shopping list for ASLOK is pretty much set:

• Decision at Elst (MMP)
• Special Ops 4 and 5 (MMP)
• ESG Dezign Paks that I am missing
• Lone Canuck Historical Modules
• Schwerpunkt 2011 onwards
• The Rat Charts from LFT
• The latest Friendly Fire (plus one for the Cleavinator)
• Battleschool Dice

 I may not be able to afford all of the above in one hit, but I will do my best.

2014: Malaya Madness -The plan

 

This is my primary goal for the first half of 2014: attending the inaugural Asia-Pacific ASL tourney in Singapore. Budget wise it is going to be very tight, but hopefully the OT due me will take care of that.

It will have been almost 40 years since I was last in Singapore for more than a stopover at the airport, so I'm effectively going there for the first time. As always, attending an ASL tourney is not so much about the results as it is meeting and playing other ASL aficionados.

I'm going to be bringing a travel kit of Brits, Japanese, Basic Soviets , Germans and US army along with core system counters. Thankfully most of the scenarios I've chosen are Infantry only so negating any requirement to bring along the British, Soviet and German AFVs.

The tourney list is already out and I've done a preliminary pick and choose, using the ranking choice 1,2,3 and X (discard):

Friday Morning, Round 1:

1. AP08 A Bloody Harvest -Board 43 - From the original Action pack, I've played this a few times over the years, so it's a solid and dependable choice. The errata exchanging the original two Polish LMGs for Assault Fire makes this scenario just that little bit tougher on the Polish player (eliminating 2 potential fire lanes), but it's a good scenario all the same.

2. G40 Will to Fight...Eradicated - Board 12 - You can never go wrong selecting one of the original WCW pack as your #3 pick. The only reason I'm not putting this at #1 is because I have played it several times previously and I don't want to involuntarily shark a lesser experienced player.
Edit: Who am I trying to kid? I have Buckley's Chance of winning Malaya Madness, even if I start approaching ASLOK XXV levels of Snakey Pete-itis. See my thoughts on Tettau's Attack as to why this got bumped to #2. The lesser experienced players will probably roll me anyway, given the quality of their analyses that I've seen so far. They grok ASL already. 

Downside to this scenario is the amount of SSR defined terrain changes and overlays. If i knew how to print out a decent copy from VASL I'd do it that way.

3. A33/107 Tettau's Attack - Board 17 - Originally part of the Market-Garden linked scenario series from the 1991 Annual, I've not played this one before in it's current form so it will be interesting to see how it plays out  with the revisions.
Edit: It would seem there are no revisions apart from a general tidying up of the wording. It's freaking 11 turns long! This scenario length is not so much about the VCs as it is a design decision predicated by the scenario being part of a linked mini-campaign where campaign VPs are awarded on the basis of how quickly the scenario VCs are accumulated. In a stand alone situation, the scenario length is overkill. Not a good one to start with after the plane flight.

Can we say Concealed Assault Move after Concealed Assault Move on the German's part along with a mass deployment for the HS blitz? I thought so. Three Exit VPs, even on board 17, is just laughable in 11 turns. There just aren't enough mid strength fire lane capable weapons to block a HS AM wave. So bidding for the Germans in this. This goes down to #3 as of right now and I would even contemplate G46 instead. 

Finally, it's Board 17. I only own the Map Bundle version and that has never been, nor will it ever be folded. Therefore it fails my Air-Transportable selection criteria, unless some nice perosn has a copy of board 17 at the venue.

X. G46 Triumph Atop Taraldsvikfjell - I seem to have lost my copy of this one, but IIRC it was one of those Alpine Hill, snow and drifts things that really is too much work in the first round of a tourney. In any case, I don't recall it as a must play as it has never featured on my to play list at any point. Secondly, it's one of the G series which apart from a few stellar examples are all too reflective of thye time period they were designed in and don't really fit the current ASL meta.

Friday Afternoon, Round 2:

1. A32 Zon with the Wind - Board 24 - The starting Market Garden series scenario from the 1991 Annual, this is another I either haven't played before or it's been 20+ years since I last played it. Board 24 is one of those boards you either hate or love. I hate it, but the scenario is worthwhile.

2. J103 Lenin's Sons - Board 42 - A personal favourite from Le Franc Tireur, republished in Journal Seven and a perennial default scenario. It's a Xavier Vitry Ost front design, what could possibly go wrong? Of course, that presumes that I am not one of the people playing said scenario.

3. RB3 Bread Factory #2 - I had to include this as I promised George I would bring a few copies of the mapsheet specifically for this scenario. It can be dicey, but it's a lot of fun.

X. A89 First Day at Diadem - Oh look a scenario featuring board 9 and from the 1995 ASL annual. Pass. 18 years of scenario design experience has left many of the scenarios from that era in the wake and I really can't be bothered checking whether this was one of the scenarios that needed errata, not when there are three solid alternates.

Friday Evening, Open Round

Here's where I bring out some of my favourite PTO scenarios that are excellent teaching scenarios for those just getting into Rising Sun or if Mark Humphries is agreeable, we may finally get BFP 99 Ivanovskii out of the overdue schedule pit:

SP 125 Nunshigum - Played this as a warm up to ASLOK in 2010 and rate it as one of the top 10 PTO scenarios I've played.

SP 65 Ayo Gurkhali, SP 80 Die Gurkha Die, SP 95 Burn Gurkha Burn and SP 127 Bleed Gurkha Bleed - along with Numshigum, these are some of the best and most intense short-form ASL PTO out there.

 Saturday Morning, Round 3:

1. J46 Strongpoint 11 - Never played this as I only obtained Journal 3 in the last 12 months and I'm yet to play through the scenarios. It looks rather cool to be fair.

2. 145 Shanghai in Flames - Boards 20 and 1 - Not played the revised version with the additional Japanese 447/LMG - It's worth a crack though

3. HC1 First Matanikau - another one I promised George I would bring the map.

X. 153 Totsugeki - If I never play Totsugeki again, I will be a happy ASLer. As formulaic and scripted through over-exposure as Gavin Take and with a very static role as the defender - no thanks.

Saturday Afternoon, Round 4:

1. J128 Opium Hill - I've played it three times in the last 6 weeks, losing once as the Japanese, winning both as Brits and Japanese. Tough on the Japanese, but a great scenario if the Japanese player is aggressive and maintains his composure. I'll be looking to play as the Japanese in this.

2. 147/J9 A Stiff Fight - When I first played this, I hated it but I'm a much better defender vs Japanese than I was back then after almost 100 games of PTO in the last 3 years. I will be interested to see what changes have been made. (hmm supposedly no changes made in the Rising Sun version - in which case I would rather chew my own arm off than play this three-legged canine again, unless someone is nice (read naive) enough to give me the Japanese.)

3. J71 TOMFORCE - I don't own Journal Four, the one Journal I never managed to get hold of, so this will be a completely new scenario to me as it pre-dates my PTO interest. Given that I am shocking at grokking a scenario at first sight, this could be a real curveball for me.

Edit: I just had a look at this and I pity any newbie who ends up taking the Brits in this. 
A) It's a Markuss/Carter design, which means it's all about knowing the UK vehicle Chapter H notes  backwards and it's fiddly and ,
B) it doesn't just involve Carriers, it involves the IP (India Pattern) wheeled carriers, an even more esoteric subset of a complex vehicle type as it is. Moved to last position because of this and because J11 is ruled out because of the Deluxe logistics issue.

X. J11 In The Old Tradition - This was a blast to play, but it is Deluxe, and given the expected number of newbies attending, I doubt they will have the necessary boards to play, while I am not going to be able to fit Deluxe boards in my luggage given how much I will already be taking with me.

Boy, what a tough round, the only one I want to play is Opium Hill. Nice if I get it but I am not looking forward to playing either of the alternatives.

Saturday Evening, Open Round:

This is where I will be looking to play someone I have not played online, via PBeM or face to face before. It may mean dealing with a Rising Sun scenario, but I'd prefer to try out something from Rally Point 8 (the PTO edition), WO13 or from the new Friendly Fire pack. Something short and vicious with a couple of Tin Cans may well do.

Sunday Morning, Round 5:

1. J116 Brigade Hill - Small, vicious and with counterattack opportunities for both sides. Yet to win a game of this, but if I was in the running for a placing, I'd be looking to play this, probably as the Brits.

2. AP68 Odd Angry Shot - not played, but has some interesting SSRs putting limits on Australian movement.

3. A111 Cattern's Position - not played, again some interesting SSRs affecting the Japanese ability to manoeuvre, the set-up looks to be all important for the Japanese player in this one.

X. 99 Probing Layforce - another redo of an early Annual scenario (A43 in this case) and set in Crete rather than the PTO. Not that interested, particularly with OBA featuring and the Matilda basically being impervious to anything other than Close Combat.

Games over the weekend

Played two games over the weekend, plus got another three turns done in my VASL league game.. The first game was FB12 The Black Ravens are flying (awesome scenario title) with me as the German/Hungarian vs Aaron C's Soviets. This is just a freaking cool situation and design. Definitely a keeper. Reminds me a little of MP11 Vulcan's Forge in the potential for melee shenanigans on turn 1. We ended up with a tank each trying to share the same orchard hex in setup, hilarious. Lost but who cares, this was my first game from FB and a bit of prep for Cancon.

The second game was J129 Mountain Hunters from Journal 9 versus John Knowles. Peter Struif one of the designers watched our game over a couple of sessions, and I hope we didn't stun him with the mediocrity of our play, particularly in the second session where we were at an impasse in terms of poor DRs. In the end, it came down to the Stug clearing the way while John's commissars did more damage to his troops than I did. The soviet guns up on the rearmost ridge were very frightening, especially after my 60mm Mtr permanently xed itself during repairs on turn 2. All in all, a very good scenario, belying its ROAR record. Sure I achieved all the VC options, but it was really tight between getting all three and only getting one.

Confusion Reigns is still going strong, I put a good turn's delay on the US 9-2 stack of doom, but that was only temporary as they are back now and making me keep my head down. In my PBeM games, J148 Last Minute War has been notable by the Slovakian ACs bogging every single turn. It's now getting into the real mid game and is pretty fraught as both sides are still very much intact. SP184 Cornered Beasts has been notable for the Panzer III marksmanship in the first two turns, but everything else has been a little lacklustre although Soviet inf fire has been effective. Finally J147 Into the Grinding Mill has been exactly that with the Japanese Banzaiing into the midst of the defenses but at some risk and I am expecting a significant riposte from Chinese fire now....

With 5 games at Cancon to look forward to I think it might be my fastest ASL playing start to a year in two decades.

ASLOK: 1 day to go...

Alrighty...RB mapsets are 75% done - waiting to print out the winterised RB7 board - as per usual new printer = trial and error. Played a teaching game of Nunshigum last night versus Aaron. Pleased with some of the options - I'm still a bit too free and easy on the approach - like the scenario though. Feeling much better about playing Schwerpunkt designs. Now to fit everything in the small suitcase...

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.