[ASLML] 2004 WO AAR

[J. R. Tracy]

Apologies in advance for the choppy nature of this - it's written with two
kids and a sick wife demanding my attention - 

Dan Dolan and I slogged six hours through the traditional Winter Offensive
snow storm, with a few wrong turns and some exciting spins livening up an
otherwise boring drive.  We didn't have Dr. Rob to kick around this year (he
had to work for a change) so Mother Nature had to provide the entertainment.
We arrived to a very crowded event space dominated by Perry, the honor keg,
and a Schilling jersey in unfamiliar colors.

"Whaddaya mean I can't lay a Firelane?" - Shortly after arrival on Thursday
I ran into Ken Dunn, who said, "I'm here mostly to playtest the ASL Starter
Kit."  That sounded good to me so we picked out an American/German scenario
set behind Omaha Beach on D-Day.  My Germans had to hold onto a little town
while Ken's 666s stormed in with reinforcements variable by SSR.  The
mechanics of the Starter Kit are stripped down ASL - no firelanes, dashing,
bypass, ELR, etc.  The game plays quickly and still retains much of the
charm of ASL.  Though I just had a taste it looks like a sound concept and I
think it has a good chance of setting the hook in prospective new players.


"That's a terrible spot for a tank" - Friday morning I sat down with Phil
Pomerantz for a game of Schwerepunkt's Ils Ne Passeront Pas, which features
a Canadian combined arms attack (five Shermans, bunch of squaddies with a
heroic 10-2) assaulting boards 13 and 24.  The German defenders have a PzIVH
and a PzIIIN, plus a couple 'schrecks and an 81mm mortar.  The British have
to get to the middle of the Bd 24 town and hold out against a German
counterattack with includes two more PzIVHs and several elite squads.  The
catch is the Germans must set up pretty close to the entry edge and conduct
a fighting withdrawal.  I looked at Phil's German setup and decided I could
get most of my infantry and tanks into the Bd 24 valley on the right, and
based on my judicious assessment of his 5/8" dummy counters, decided I could
get two tanks and infantry up the left side.  Of course the stack in 24J2
was the IVH, while the IIIN with the stubby 75* was in 13Z3.  The ?x2 in
13U4 had to be a dummy.  Wellll, after losing a Sherman in the 13CC5, the
boresighted hex of the 13CC5 'dummy', I eased up on the gas a bit.  My cause
was helped immensely as Phil's mortar was absolutely useless despite a
decent location in 24G10.  I was able to sit on it with a Sherman and take
it out in CC, and Phil had one shot left.  I assumed he HIPed a PSK squad,
but instead he used his HIP allotment for an lmg/468 combo in 24J6,
discovered by my 10-2 and a 458 as they moved into I7.  Phil's 12(-1) shot
netted only a Fanatic 458, and that was the beginning of the end.  The
10-2/459 combo was devastating, and I was soon established in the buildings
in the center, with all my infantry and three Shermans intact.  At that
point Phil felt his reinforcements would not be able to get it done and
threw in the towel.  With a better performance from his mortar or his
HIPster, it would have been a different story.  As always, Phil was a blast
to play.  1-0
 

"One down one - how bad could it be?" -  Next up I finally got a chance to
play Mark Pitcavage.  Mark had a nice set of scenarios picked out and a
preference for PTO, so we went with The Warlord's Estate, a Critical Hit
offering.  My Chinese had to have at least one unbroken MMC in a Level 2 hex
or in the infamous 3M2 building.  Mark's IJA were assaulting across Bd 44
supported by a couple of pretty crappy tanks.  I had a mix of 337s and 337s
with only two leaders, plus an HMG, an 81mm MTR, a 70* ART piece (with no
ROF and no Acq capability per Chap. H) and a little Italian 45mm meatball
thrower.  I also got a 336, a Carrier and the Warlord himself, an 8-1 who by
SSR was Fanatic in the 3M2  building.  I put my HMG upstairs in the building
with a collection of squads covering the approach, my mortars on the 3F3
hill, and my ART piece in 3J7 with two squads on either side digging
foxholes.  I don't normally like to be so spread out but I figured this
would really eat up the clock and the ART piece would hopefully prove a nice
surprise for Mark as he crested the front hill.  

This was a terrific, tight game, largely determined by two events.  I had a
point of residual on one of Mark's entry hexes, and as his last act of the
first MPh, he assault moved an 9-1, HMG/228 and MMG/228 into the hex, versus
a 1(-1) resid shot.  Naturally I rolled snakes for a K/2, compounded by a
Yahtzee on the random selection DR. Oof, two dead crews and a wounded 9-1
who would soon die.  Later, approaching the 3M2 compound, Mark non-assault
moved his 10-1 and a couple squads next to a 337 - I managed a 2MC or
something close to it and the 10-1 died with the squads striping.  That,
along with a third leader wounded on the initial turn, left Mark with only
one leader for the final assault.  Still, he made the most of some powerful
tools - his tanks cleared the first hilltop and put a hurt on the second,
while his fighterbomber really ripped the snot out of my HMG and the hapless
7-0s trying to direct it (he failed, however, to make the mandatory airplane
noises while strafing).  Mark's wounded leader manned his HMG and was
pinging away with 2(+3) shots that had me terrified as he kept rate about a
dozen times.  Luckily, I was able to get my Carrier atop the first hill
where it knocked out a Japanese tank on the other side of the valley.  Also,
much to Mark's disgust I dug a foxhole under a Motion tank, prolonging my
hold on the back hill.  The second tank soon died to CC, but my Carrier was
recalled by a Sniper and my last resistance was failing on the hilltops.
All that remained for Mark was to take the building.  He was lined up for a
Banzai charge and had a knee mortar in range for a willie pete shot.  He
said, "If ever I needed some luck, it's now!" - he got it, in the form of
boxcars.  Ouch - that did in his final effort and he found himself about one
fire phase short of victory.  Mark and I find ourselves on opposite sides of
just about every esthetic issue of ASL, but we hit it off across the gaming
table and had a blast.  Mark stormed back from some terrible luck to make a
good game of it.  2-0


"Snake-eyes!  That should be a hit, right?" - Neil Stanhagen looked me up
next for a game of Smashing the 3rd.  My Soviets had to hold off Neil's
Hermann Goering Division.  I had an initial force of five T34 M43s, a 76L
ART piece, and some infantry and support weapons.  Neil received ten PzIVHs
and a mess of infantry including a 9-2.  Neil had to score 100 points
between exited Germans and dead Russians, as he attacked the long way across
boards 17 and 44.  I had to hold him off for four turns before receiving
reinforcements of five T34 M41s - no great shakes with red MPs and no ROF,
but better than nothing.  I decided defending forward was a deathtrap, so I
focused on concentrating my resources.  Two T34s went in 44S7 and S8,
another in 17S6, and two more behind the wall at 17P5 and P6.  My infantry
was concentrated on Bd 17, with a knot of ATRs and my 50mm MTR around U9,
the HMG upstairs in 17Q4 with the 9-1, and a couple squads over on Bd 44
masquerading as the 9-1/HMG combo.  Finally, I put my 76L in 44P7, where it
could cover a German sweep down my left flank or turn and fire onto Bd 17. 

Neil came on heavy on Bd 17, with just two tanks facing me on Bd 44.
Nevertheless, he swiftly dispatched my S7 and S8 tanks.  On my right, an
unfortunate Sniper killed my 9-1 and sent the manning squad off to the woods
to cry itself to sleep.  An inauspicious start.  Things improved when Neil
advanced a couple tanks down Bd 17 in a fit of overconfidence, soon losing
both the the 76L.  Now things began to swing my way as the 76L found yet
another PzIV in the Bd 44 wheat field and a Bd 44 T34 claimed another.  My
T34 in 17S6 broke the MA on its first shot and sixed the repair roll, but on
its way off the board Neil missed seven PF shots and an 8-1 directed
Streetfight attack (with ATMMs!), broke an MA shooting at it, lost a half
squad to its machine guns, and finally killed it with an intensive fire
shot!  Things were definitely looking rosy for Uncle Joe.  Sadly, this all
changed when a single tank of Neil's wasted *both* of my hulldown T34s in
one turn, the first with a moving BFF shot  (snakes) and the other on the
ensuing AFPh shot.  My reinforcing T34s arrived in the nick of time.

I set up three T34s in 17G8, G9 and H9, another in 44C4, and the last made
it up to 44Q7.  My Bd 44 position did well for itself, claiming three PzIVs
for the loss of two T34s.  On the left, Neil assaulted my 17Q7 position,
finally shooting the crew off my 76L.  By the last turn, Neil was at 94
points, needing to either kill a T34 or exit a PzIV.  He only had one mobile
tank remaining with a chance of exit.  It came down to a confrontation
between my T34 in 44H9 and Neil's 9-2/238/127.  Unfortunately for Neil, his
crew, HS and 9-2, while surviving all my fire, *all* failed to find a
panzerfaust and he finished just shy of victory.  It was an exhausting ten
hour game, but well worth it and one for the ages.  3-0


"I think your AT gun is riiight.here" - For my last game of the weekend I
once again found myself paired up with Ken.  A brutal round of
rock/paper/scissors revealed 3rd RTR in the Rain as our choice.  I had the
assaulting Brits.  I correctly guessed N0 as the site of Ken's 37L and
carefully avoided it.  Less carefully, I forgot I set up on board and
assumed some of Ken's troops were dummies.  Fortunately he gacked the 4(-1)
shot I handed him against a full platoon.  This was another tight game - I
had the upper hand in the armor battle despite losing a tank to an MG, but
Ken managed to keep all his infantry alive.  One of his squads was a
veritable CC woodchipper, shredding two squads and a leader in the woods on
the right flank before falling back into the buildings.  I managed to clear
O6, P2 and P4 without much trouble but Ken had all his infantry still alive,
plus a tank.  One of my crews snuck into the backfield to claim W3, and so I
was left with three even-odds CCs to take two buildings.  Two consecutive
close combat phases saw only the death of a single halfsquad between us, so
Ken claimed victory.  Preserving his squads was the key to the win.  Another
tight game, and a very fun opponent.  Ken was dazed by game end, missing a
move that would have granted him an outright win, but lady luck rewarded his
earlier sound play.  3-1 and out of the tournament.


Four games plus a playtest wasn't much of an ASL experience numbers-wise,
but all my games were fun and three were nailbiters going down the wire.  I
also managed a bit of Villa Paletti and some Royal Turf, and a couple real
meals, a rare event for a tournament.  I am impressed by the ASLSK effort -
this could really work.  No sign of AoO but all signs point to imminent
release.  Popular scenarios over the weekend include Flames of Unrest and
Frontal Assault from the new Journal, plus several playings of Pete
Shelling's new desert stuff.  Lots of fun, lots of laughs, and lots of snow.
Once again, if you have a chance to attend an ASL event near you, please
check it out - chances are you'll have a great time.

JR