Grumble Jones - An ASL Blog

For our Saturday game - Dan Best and I returned to ASL Scenario 15 - Trapped. It was time to play Part II and see which of us would prevail in this tense scenario. Both Dan and I spent the week since Part I trying to evaluate our strategies for the 2nd Part. Dan would ponder where to have his Schwerpunkt hit me this time around. For my part, I fretted over defending my original line or one farther back. I truly doubted my ability to stop Dan's 19 squads a second time.

Well...let's just say that my self-doubts got a kick in the butt from a well-meaning source!!!

So after staring at the board for a week, I put my 101st Airborne boys back in their same foxholes and prepared to hold the same line that had stopped Dan's Grenadiers in Part I.

I had not suffered badly in Part I and so still had nearly my whole force to try and stem the German tide.

Now Dan's Grenadiers got some pretty solid advice as well.

And now for Dan's Part I and Part II Pre-Game Comments:
"I am terrible at playing Americans in ASL. I cannot attack or defend with them and their low morale. I also cannot attack or defend against them with their high firepower. Playing Americans does not fit my ASL playing style. In 2019 I am trying to play more American scenarios to improve my skill. I am starting with trying to play all the scenarios from Paratrooper. In this scenario, the Germans must cross 16 hexes of open Normandy countryside to exit 10 squads and have a double scenario format to make it happen. This is an early attempt by ASL designers to have a campaign game like design to try and conserve your forces and play multiple scenarios with the same force. The Germans have 19 squads attacking the American 12 and a half squads. In the second part the Germans losses are replaced with second line troops and the American losses are not replaced. My plan in the first part is to attack on board 2 with a Schwerpunkt and establish a firefight with the Americans to inflict casualties. Then in part two, attack with a board edge creep along the edge of board 4 where the open terrain will allow German numbers to break the American line. Hopefully the Germans can get at the Americans without taking too many losses. If the Germans have less than 9 unbroken squads at the end of any turn, the scenario ends immediately in both parts. "

The burden for action in this scenario would fall squarely on Dan's Germans.

As I stated earlier, I placed my paras back in their old defense line. My 9-2 with the MMG went back to the house, from which he had controlled the battlefield in Part I. It would prove to be the best position on the field.

My boys were a little apprehensive about trying to maintain the same line as on Part I. Part of this was due to the massive German firepower that had begun smashing into my positions when Part I ended.

I was definitely worried that Dan's kill stacks would turn the tide.

Dan's Fallschirmjaegers would not repeat the route from Part I. Instead they hit me hard on the east edge with a full-on Schwerpunkt. I had two 7-4-7's and a 7-0 holding the point of contact. 19 to 2 would be terrible odds. My 9-2 would lay down a fire lane, which would strand some of Dan's boys as they advanced forward, but did not cross the fire lane. My two squads with support from the west positions would manage to break a few of Dan's boys.

Both Dan and I would put our mortars to work. I would have poor luck as Dan would break one of the mortar crews and his sniper would break the one to the west. My western mortar would be heard from later.

Dan had pushed forward but had not reached my MLR by the end of Turn 1.

The bad news for Dan would be the number of Fallschirmjaegers who went to ground under the hot American fire.

Dan's Turn 1 Defensive Fire would hammer me a little bit. My Prep Fire had been weak as I tossed 10's...11's, and other assorted worthless die rolls. I will admit that I was getting truly frustrated with bad die rolls. I had Dan's boys sitting in the open and couldn't do squat to them. Dan's D-Fire would do just enough to start the Jenga tumble down of my line.

"I hate my DICE!!!"

But even as I was moaning about my die rolls...Dan kept activating my sniper and I would roll a "1" result almost 4 or 5 times in a row. This would eliminate Dan's Sniper and then begin hitting his 9-1 kill stack on the north board edge. My sniper would be hugely successful in hurting Dan's attack.

Dan's Turn 2 assault would carry him into my positions on the east edge and close enough to put pressure on my center.

Dan would roll a few snake eyes at key moments and create a Hero. This Hero would go into CC with a pinned 7-4-7. I would manage to eliminate him, but it was proof positive that Dan's boys were coming hard.

"The AMI's are over here...I'm going into CC with them!!!"

By Turn 3, I was in trouble on the east edge. My boys were trying to stop a massive German wave. And in the west, my boys were hustling towards the south edge to try and get into position to interdict Dan's exit route.

As my boys began to collapse on the east edge, my remaining paras had managed to shift over just enough to try and cover the exit route.

Dan's kill stacks on the north edge led by the 9-1 and 8-0 were putting the hurt on me, which allowed his boys to clear the east edge and grab control of the center woods. Dan was within striking distance of the exit.

I would continue to try and shift my boys to close the exit route, but Dan's MMG's would definitely hurt me in the process.

Dan's 9-1 was making his presence felt.

On the east edge, I was falling back...Dan's Fallschirmjaeger were advancing. But the clock was ticking...tick tock...tick tock...

Turn 5 - Dan's boys had moved closer to the exit route. I was still trying to get shifted over to prevent the escape.

Dan's boys knew it was almost time to make a rush for the south board edge.

End of Turn 5 - Dan had pushed within two hexes of the south board edge. His 6+1 officer (ELR'd 7-0) was actually the leading German unit! I had two broken 7-4-7's ready to be lost.

Dan's boys had one final debrief before making the final charge for freedom...

Dan's boys would rush from their positions and head for the exit. My boys would open up and take them down. As the smoke cleared Dan would fall below the cap for good order squads on the board and it would be game over and an American win.

History would be repeated as Dan's Fallschirmjaeger were cut down in the open. To add insult to injury Dan would roll a "12" for his 9-1's NMC.

Trapped proved to be a tough scenario for both Dan and I. 50% of my force was dead on the field and Dan very nearly made it off the board. In our post game wrap session, we both groused about our miserable die rolls and just generally poor luck at critical moments in the game. Even with the win, I wasn't feeling any elation. This scenario would be one of the very few that both of us were just glad it was over...and neither of us will be looking for a redux. That of course is not a reflection on the scenario...just on how Dan and I were feeling when we finished it. As always, my thanks to Dan for a great night of ASL...playing ASL is always great...no matter how the game ends or how badly the dice grind on you.

And now for Dan's Part I and Part II Post Game Comments:

"The plan did not work. The American firepower was too great and the scenario ended on turn 4 when the Germans had less than 9 unbroken squads. Worse the Americans had only lost one and a half squads. They had lost a MMG but also created a 7-0 leader. The Germans lost 6 squads ELR reduced or replaced, including one to conscript level. They also had the 8-1 wounded and replaced by an 8-0. The second game faired much better with effective German fire eliminating more Americans. However, the American 9-2 still dominated the battlefield with the last remaining MMG. The American sniper was excellent, eliminating the German sniper of 4 and breaking several squads in the 9-1 kill stack. In the end with the door to exit open the Germans could not move across the open ground against the American long range fire and went below 9 unbroken squads on turn 6. Congrats to Grumble Jones for the win!"

Dan and I will be off next Saturday as we attend the 2019 Street Fighting Tournament in Sioux City, Iowa. And with any luck, I'll get a chance to see the Sgt. Floyd Monument.

Dan and I will return on Saturday, September 7th for a playing of Scenario HOB LM1 Recruiting Tactics from Heat of Battle's Long March Scenario Pack. We'll see you then!

After a couple years of prodding by my good friend Dan Best, I finally made the journey to Sioux City for the annual Street Fighting ASL Tourney. I was a little hesitant to attend this tournament due to the long drive. It would take me about 7 hours from Quincy, Illinois to Sergeant Bluff, Iowa where the tournament was actually held at the local Community Center. Burnie Hegdahl puts this tourney together and does a great job from what I experienced.

Now I won't lie, the drive was much longer than I preferred. 7 hours is just a bit long for a one day tournament. But, there were some great perks to Sioux City and Sergeant Bluff that made me glad I made the trip.

Number one of these was the chance to meet some of the great players from South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota that I don't run into in St. Louis or Kansas City. I really enjoyed the opportunity to meet and play against these great guys. I even got to meet Russ Gifford, who has been a Facebook friend for years. We didn't get the chance to play one another, but there will be a next time!

I arrived on Friday evening (the tourney officially began on Saturday). My good KC friends, Dan Best and Paul Works were already playing a pick up game, which wrapped up in time for the three of us to head over to the Sgt. Floyd Monument. Sgt. Floyd was the single member of the Corps of Discovery to die during Lewis and Clark's epic journey up the Missouri River and to the Pacific Ocean. I have studied the Lewis and Clark journey for years and had the chance to see first hand many of their artifacts and journals, which are housed in the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis. So needless to say I was very excited to finally see the monument.

Sgt. Floyd suffered an appendicitis during the journey and this proved fatal. Lewis and Clark chose the bluffs of what would become Sergeant Bluff, Iowa as an appropriate burial spot for their fallen comrade.

They would stop and visit the site once more during their return journey. It's pretty amazing that only one member of the Corps of Discovery was lost given the epic challenges that they faced during their two year expedition.

Should you find yourself in the Sioux City area, I highly recommend taking a moment to visit the spot.

Thanks Paul and Dan for taking the time to see this important part of American History. It was truly one of the highlights of my visit to Sioux City.

The ASL Tourney takes place at the Tricon Gaming Convention, which seemed very well attended with several hundred people playing everything from Bolt Action to D&D and multiple Euro style board games. The ASL folks were in their own room, which allowed us to spread out and focus on the games. The main room was a bit loud and would have been pretty distracting for trying to play ASL.

It was great to see lots of young gamers attending this event.

This pair of German armored trains was way cool!

It was nice to walk around and observe the miniature gamers while I waited for my opponent's to set up their defences. This convention has a great, friendly vibe to it. It's nice to see so many people engaged in the gaming hobby.

OK...time to talk about ASL! The Street Fighting in Sioux City Tourney is a one day tournament with three rounds played on Saturday. A 4th Round is tentatively scheduled if a clear pair of winners does not emerge at the end of two rounds. I never confirmed the actual attendance, but it felt like 10 people were actively playing. As I mentioned earlier, the room was really great. Lots of space for kit and for folks to spread out and play. round tables are always a bit difficult to work with, but they also had a lot of space for kit, which you don't always have with the more narrow, rectangular tables.

ROUND ONE:

My first round opponent would be Paul Lauger. We would select Scenario RPT 139 Mauled at Merdorp. Paul would be the defending French, while I would take on the role of German attacker. We took the German Balance, but I don't think that it really helps at all in this scenario. ROAR has it with 6 German Wins and 9 French Wins.

Paul would prove to be a very challenging player. His defense was well put together. Many of his tanks were in buildings and his infantry were well spread out and in various levels in the village area. This allowed him to put down a lot of fire as my Grenadiers struggled across the open ground.

Paul's second roll would be snakes (his third roll would also be snakes). This roll would result in wounding my 9-2 and staggering my most important stack as they armored assaulted with one of the two half-tracks. I won't lie...getting hit with back to back snake eyes in the first two minutes of any game can be disheartening.

The German armor enters on Turn 1, but minus 9 movement points, which severely slowed them down. My armor would not even reach the fight until Turn 3 and by then my infantry had been handled very roughly. Honestly, I don't understand slowing down the German armor. The game is not very long and the German Armor is definitely needed to help the German attack.

I managed to make some progress on the left flank, but never got into any of the victory locations. It was a very frustrating game for me. Paul's excellent defense allowed him to skulk and avoid most if not all of my defensive fire. Paul would not lose any of his infantry, while my grenadiers would cover the fields and village streets.

I tip my hat to Paul as he played a great game and would take a well-earned victory. Paul would go on to play for the Championship, but at Press Time, I hadn't heard who won the final match. It was great meeting Paul and I look forward to another opportunity to play him.

At the end of one round, I would be 0-1.

ROUND TWO:

My round two opponent would be Mark Harms. Mark and I would select Scenario FT264 Hands Off the Loot. I would be the defending French Partisans against Mark's attacking Germans. This would prove to be a tight game, but in the end the German numbers would prevail and Mark would manage to exit the board with one squad of Prisoners for the immediate win. Good game, but I wouldn't want to play this scenario a second time. But I do hope to play Mark again in the future.

At the end of two rounds I would be 0-2.

ROUND 3:

My Round 3 opponent would be Jeff Kouba. Jeff had just come off a game against Dan Best and his dice had not been kind to him. They would not serve him well in our game either. It's tough to play both your opponent and your dice. Jeff and I would select Scenario WO 29 Pynda Avenged. I would be the attacking Greeks against Jeff's defending Italians. Jeff would have to do his best with 3-3-6 Italians, which is never easy.

Jeff had a spread out defense, which covered a lot of approaches. I would hit him on the Northwest edge and try to run along the board edge and into the back of the village. The first couple of turns would be frustrating for my attack as Jeff's defenders gave me a few bloody noses. But Italian 3-3-6's will eventually break and break they did. Then a berserk Greek Squad managed to take down his lone defender on the left and from there the flood gates were open. My Greeks stormed into the village and by Turn 5 had taken control of enough victory locations. Jeff offered the concession and I had my first and only win of the tourney.

Jeff and I had a fun game, but I could sympathize with Jeff's frustrations with his die rolls. I've been there many times myself. I hope Jeff and I will also have the opportunity to play again in the future.

So at the end of Round 3 I was 1-2 and that was all she wrote. I said my goodbyes and headed back to the hotel to rest up.

A few shots of other action during the tourney.

Dan guards the swag table. One of the nice things about this tourney is every so often you roll to see who wins something off the table. I left with two Lone Canuck modules and one Recon by Fire courtesy of Mr. Dan Best.

All in all a pretty awesome day of ASL.

On Sunday AM, Dan Best and Paul Works invited me to walk along the Missouri River on the Nebraska side as we waited for Kahills to open up. Apparently Kahills Brunch is quite the experience.

Pretty impressive views of the river for sure.

Well...Kahills was definitely an awesome Brunch. I'm glad I spent an extra hour in Sioux City to experience Kahills and some quality time with my fellow ASL'rs. So that's a wrap on Sioux City. It was a great time and I'm glad I made the trip. My thanks to Burnie Hegdahl for all the work he puts into this tourney! And my thanks to Paul Lauger, Mark Harms and Jeff Kouba for three great games!

For our Saturday game...we would go EPIC! We could combine a Classic ASL Scenario with a 4 Player Cardboard via SKYPE Game. The Hollis Center in Kansas City would be hopping with ASL excitement as we set sail in unchartered waters!!! Now there aren't many if any real four player scenarios out there. Many can be played with four players and so that was part of our approach. We looked for a scenario that had four distinct elements. ASL Scenario 141 Action at Balberkamp fit the bill. It had all the elements needed to create a good four player game. The German force has two distinct groups that operate on different parts of the batlefield and the Allies were made up of British and Norwegians, who also would operate on different parts of the battlefield.

Action at Balberkamp is a classic scenario and first showed up in the Crescendo of Doom Gamette for the original Squad Leader. At the time, Crescendo of Doom opened a entirely new world for Squad Leader. For the first time, we would have British, Minor Allies and the French. Oh what fun we had with this gamette. Additionally, the rules were updated and in my opinion, were the best of the Squad Leader iterations. Even after Anvil of Victory came out, I would continue to use the CoD charts and rules.

Scenario 24 would be Action at Balberkamp and it was an immediate favorite with my St. Louis group of players. We were so into big scenarios and lots of maps. And this scenario uses 5 maps with lots of squads. We just loved it!

The scenario would hit ASL as Scenario A63. ROAR has this version with 31 German wins and 29 Allied wins. ROAR has 141 with 6 German wins and 4 Allied wins. Based on this, I would certainly considers this to be a well-balanced scenario. Either side has a solid chance of winning this game.

The ASL versions of the scenario do differ greatly from the original SL scenario. Both sides have fewer squads, leader and machine guns. The Norwegians also do not have an AT-Gun in the ASL version. All sides would certainly benefit from more leaders and the addition of a second MMG for the British would certainly have been welcome in our game!!

The scenario covers the efforts of the Norwegian forces to stop the German advance from Oslo towards Trondheim. The Norwegians set up various blocking forces in the valleys leading to Trondheim and one of these actions would take place at Balkberkamp. Lacking effective anti-tank capabilities, the Norwegians were relying on the British to provide some defensive backbone.

At Balberkamp, the Norwegians would be flanked by a shrewd tactical move by the Germans, who successfully seized the high ground behind the Norwegians and allowed them to hit the British hard as they arrived into the battle zone. The Germans would prove themselves to be the tactical masters throughout the Norwegian Campaign.

Norway...an amazing beautiful country.

Now a four player Cardboard via SKYPE game can be a bit complicated. Three of our 4 players would be in one location at the Hollis Renewal Center (https://www.holliscenter.org/). Dan Best, Dave Mareske and Paul Works would all be together, while I would be by myself in Quincy, IL. Dave Mareske would command the Norwegians. I would command the British. Dan Best would command the main German force and Paul Works would command the German flanking force.

Dave Mareske's Norwegians would have arguably the toughest job. Dave would have to hold back the main German effort for as long as possible. Dave would command Group Ruge, which would consist of 6 x 4-5-7's, and 6 x 4-3-7's commanded by an 8-1 and 7-0 with an HMG and MMG. Dave would also have 18 concealment counters to play with. Dave would make good use of these throughout the game and continually challenge Dan Best to figure out what was real. Some of the best comedic moments of the game would be the heroic moves of Dave's ? counters and the banter between Dan and Paul as they debated which ones were real and which were dummys. Fun stuff!

Dave and I would ask Dan and Paul to leave the room at one point to have a brief discussion of strategy. After that 5 minute discussion, we did not coordinate again. This was to better represent the historical lack of communication between the Norwegians and the British.

Sitting by myself in Quincy also helped to simulate that tactical isolation that would have gripped the Allied commanders.

As the British force, I would command elements of the 1/5 Leicesters, 148th Infantry Brigade. My force would only enter the game on the north board edge on any friendly Rally phase with a DR less than or equal to the current turn. So Turn 2 would be the earliest that I could arrive and it was possible that I would not enter the game for quite some time, if I rolled like I normally do with a few 10's and 11's. It would be critical for my boys to enter as early as possible to reach the best possible defensive positions and dig in.

My force would consist of 12 x 4-5-7's lead by a 9-1, 8-1, and 8-0 with an MMG, 2 x LMG's, and 2 x ATR's. A nice solid force.

Dan Best would command the largest force in the game. He would command the advance elements of the 340th Infantry Division and enter on turn 1 from the south board edge. Dan's force would consist of 17 x 4-6-7's, and 2 x 2-4-7's led by a 9-1, 2 x 8-1's, and 2 x 8-0's with an MMG, 3 x LMG's and 2 x 50 MTR's. For support Dan would have a half-track, a Panzer 1 and a truck hauling a 75* INF Gun.

And finally, Paul Works would command the flanking elements of the 340th Infantry Division. Like the British, Paul would roll during each friendly Rally Phase to see if his boys would enter the game. Prior to setup, Paul and Dan secretly recorded which board and board edge Paul's force would enter from. Additionally, Paul would receive an additional 4-6-7 for each turn that his force did not enter the game. Paul would enter on any DR less than the current turn.

His force would consist of 9 (would become 12) x4-6-7's led by a 9-2, 8-1, and 7-0 with 3 x LMG's. This strong, well led force would be difficult to stop.

And now for Dan Best's Pre-Game Comments:

"The Germans outnumber the Allies by over 9 squads. They also have two AFVs and gun. My objective is to attack the board 5 woods and have the AFVs try to get behind the Norwegian lines to stop them from falling back to board 3. Then use the infantry advantage to destroy the Norwegians in place on Board 5. The truck towing the gun will try to get past the busy Norwegians on the west side of board 5 and set up on a hill on board 3 to dominate the village. I will take prisoners as much as possible. Working with Paul who will control the German flanking force they will enter on the east side of board 2 and try to clear the pass. Then our forces can recombine to clear a road on board 6. Hopefully the German reinforcements arrive before turn 6 and get an early start."

And now for Dave Marekse's Pre-Game Comments:

And now for Paul Works' Pre-Game Comments:

At the start of the game, both Paul and I would be observers as Dave's Norwegians would set out to stop Dan's main German advance.

In order to win the scenario, the Germans must have a continuous road from board 4 to board 6 that is free of good order Allied squads either on it or adjacent to itt. A tall order, but with nearly 14 turns...it is certainly doable.

Dan would concentrate his Schwerpunkt to the east board edge, with a flanking force on the west with the 75* INF Gun. The Panzer 1 would move along the east edge as well.

Dan moved aggressively forward and his half-track would lead the effort. As his squad exited the half-track, Dave would inform Dan that his MMG had boresighted he hex. A hail of machine gun bullets followed and Dan's boys would break.Dave would have first blood.

Dan's 1st Turn move would be largely unchallenged. Only the MMG had fired. Unfortunately for Dave, Dan's return fire would break the 7-0 directing the MMG.

Dan's initial penetration had nearly cleared board 4. One board down...4 more to go!!!

On Turn 1 - Dave sent some boys towards the rear and presumably the next possible life of defense.

Turn 2 - Dan's grenadiers made the next leap ahead and onto Board 5. The Battle for the forest road would now take center stage for th next six turns.

The white line indicates the road that would need to be controlled by the Germans. The blue line indicates the extent of the German penetration after two turns.

Now for ASL MAGIC!!! My first opportunity to roll for entry was on Turn 2. I would need snake eyes for that occur. So I rolled the dice....SNAKE EYES!!! Are you kidding me!?! It was beautfiul. The best possible outcome for Dave and I.

The white circles are the locations, where I would set up my defenses. The Germans would have to take the road through the hills on Board 2. I would also hang back some boys in the event that German flanking force was coming from the west edge. I was expecting them to come from the east board edge, so would concentrate in that area.

A look at the positions of the British and Norwegians. Life was good at the end of Turn 2.

Turn 3 - Dan makes some big moves. Dave's defense reacts but Dan has the momentum.

Dave did the best he could to keep a force in front of Dan's Germans and deny them control of the forest road.

Dan would keep up the pressure and in spite of losses, just keep hammering ahead.

By Turn 3 I was getting my British into position. Paul's flanking force could arrive at any moment...so I had to get in place and start digging in.

The blue line advances steadily across Board 5.

Dave was still holding on.

Turn 4 - Dan increases the pressure. The Germans were starting to knock the Norwegians back from the road.

Turn 5 - Dan's boys start to make the move towards Board 3 on the west edge, while fighitng rages in the forest. Dave's HMG would manage to immobilize the truck towing the 75* INF Gun. Dan would be forced to manhandle it for the remainder of the game.

Back in the British zone, I was busy entrenching my boys in as many foxholes as I could dig!!!

Paul's flanking force arrived on Turn 6. I was still trying to entrench some units...but the time for digging was over. Paul was sending 12 squads at me in four groups of 3.

A look at the situation around Turn 6. The Germans were nearly in control of all the road from Board 4 to Board 2. Dave's Norwegians were falling fast.

I would succeed in giving Paul's Germans a bloody nose as they first came on. Several squads would break.

The circled position housed a 4-5-7 with an LMG. They would do good service delaying Paul's attack until I made a critical mistake.

Back in the woods...Dave's boys kept fighting hard.

In the British sector, I would catch Paul's 9-2 stack for the second time in the game as they advanced on the hill. My boys in a level 1 hill position managed to spot them. But the range limited my firepower and a single broken squad would be the only result. The remainder of Pauls boys moved towards the road between the hills. Dan's Half-track would also show up carrying aa 50 MTR.

The end was finally coming for Dave's boys.

Now for my big mistake. My 4-5-7 with the light in front of Paul's boys had decided to move. I would pop smoke and jump out of my holes. Paul would light me up and reduce me to a broken half-squad. In retrospect, I should have fired and then attempted to advance behind the hill. Oh well...live and learn...live and learn.

Paul would move forward without too much difficulty. He would use the shell holes in the road to assault move into and retain concealment. This caught me off guard and would effectively eliminate my defense in that area.

Dan continued to advance to try and link up with Paul's forces. A single broken Norwegian squad had made it the hill on board 2...but Dave's boys were nearly kaputt.

At 11:00 PM..we all looked at the clock...we had been playing hard for 7 hours. At this point in the game, the Norwegians were gone, and the Germans were linking up. It was the start of Turn 8. There were still about 6 movement phases left for the Germans. We all conferred and agreed that the Germans were going to win this battle. So, Dave and I gave the concession and congratulated Dan and Paul on a great win.

Congrats to Dan and Paul on a great win. Dave...we'll get 'em next time buddy!

My thanks to Dan, Dave and Paul for an exceptionally fun night of ASL. I think we did Action at Balberkamp justice and look forward to our next get together!

And now for Dan Best's Post-Game Comments:

"The plan worked. The Norwegians were split in two by the attack and the west group fell first. They were cleared on turn 6 as the flanking force entered. The east group held tough until turn 8. The truck was immobilized by long range fire and half track was stunned. The tank broke the single Norwegian squad in the village and broke its MGs chasing down the broken squad. The flanking force was able to engage the Brits and was slowly clearing them from the west side of Board 2 and the road pass between the hills. They were helped by having 4 extra squads because of the difference in entering times. With the Norwegians done on turn 8 it looks like the Germans could wrap up the fight in the remaining 6 turns. The game is great fun with multiple players and the four person game was fun. My thanks to Paul for the assist on the win. Also to Dave and Grumble Jones for a classic ASL game!"

And now for Dave Mareske's Post-Game Comments:

And now for Paul Works Post-Game Comments:

So that's a wrap on our epic 4 player game. We had a blast and with any luck and time, we'll do this again in the future. Dan and I will be back next week for our Regular Saturday Game.

See you then!

Wow...2019 is flying by...and it's already time for the September Grumble Jones Scenario. This month's scenario is set in Arnhem and is perfect for the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem, which is only days a way as I type this. As with many of my scenarios these days, my source of inspiration would be another of the Osprey Combat Series books. In this case, I would turn to Arnhem 1944 British Airborne Soldier versus Waffen SS Soldier. by David Greentree.

I know I say this often, but this series of books is well worth the money and a great addition to your library. The unit actions depicted are well suited to ASL scenario designs as well as any platoon level miniatures game.

I was drawn to the fighting around the Ginkel Heath Landing Zone. The British were trying hard to defend their landing zones as the follow-on Lifts came in to support the airborne assault. Controlling the landing zones was critical. The Germans also understood this and worked hard to put pressure on the British landing zone perimeters.

This month's scenario depicts the fighting around the Wolfheze Hotel, which was a perimeter objective of the 7th KOSB. The British would succeed in reaching the hotel, but could not hold it against the sustained assaults of SS Battalion Eberwein. Ultimately, the British would fall back from the hotel and suffer heavy losses.

The scenario takes the action from the time that both the Germans and the British began moving towards the hotel and the subsequent fight for control. I added SSR's negating No Quarter and the possibility of Massacre. The Germans took a great many prisoners throughout the fight at Arnhem and I felt this should be reflected in the scenario as well. Additionally, the grenadiers of SS Battalion Eberwein were not the hard-bitten veterans of the Eastern Front and presumably not used to the vicious no quarter battles fought there. As is always the case, I hope this scenario captures the essence of the fighting 75 years ago in Holland.

This month's scenario is dedicated to the men and women who gave their lives at Arnhem 75 years ago. Theirs is truly the Glory.

As always these monthly "Basement Quality" Scenarios are offered for fun only and as a thank you to the readers of this blog.

Remember to open pictures in a new window in order to maximize the size.

And as always, these scenarios can be downloaded from The ASL Scenario Archive

(just search on Grumble Jones).

For our Saturday game - Dan Best and I went to a time and theater, which I had never played before in ASL. We went to 1931 China during the time of the Long March. Last year, Dan had gotten me a copy of Heat of Battle's - The Long March. After going through the pack's many scenarios, I decided it would be a good idea to play one of them and give this scenario pack some love. There are a lot of good scenario choices in the pack, but after last Saturday's marathon playing of Balberkamp, I was looking for a Saturday of ASL lite. But much to my surprise...this game would be every bit as gut-wrenching and intense as any scenario I have played.

When it comes to the Long March, I was aware of it and had read some small excerpts about it, but I was not well versed on the actual fighting that occurred between Mao's Red Army and the Nationalist Kuomintang Army (KMT).

There are a lot of good resources available via a Google Search to learn more about the Long March. It's definitely a unique historical event and would of course contribute greatly to Mao's eventual success in China.

For our scenario, Dan and I would select LMT 1 - Recruiting Tactics (designed by Jay Long). This scenario depicts actions between the Red Army and the KMT in Jiangxi Province in July of 1931.

The battles in Jiangxi Province would consist of meeting engagements between the two armies as the KMT was drawn deeper into Mao controlled areas. For the most part, the KMT would find itself encircled and then annihilated in the Red Army controlled areas. In many cases, the Red Army would attempt to take prisoners in order to bring former KMT soldiers into the Red Army. This would be well reflected in our playing of Recruiting Tactics.

This scenario uses Boards 43 and 35. Interestingly, I have noticed Board 43 popping up in a number of scenarios played lately.

The Victory Conditions are very straight forward. The player with the greatest number of CVP wins the game. The KMT Player can also receive an additional point if any units crosses south of the 35 A5/P5 Road.

ROAR has this scenario with 8 KMT wins and 8 Red Army wins. The ASL Archive has it with 3 KMT wins and 2 Red Army wins. Both sides have a good opportunity to win the game.

The Red Army starts the scenario with all units HIP. Then on Turn 1, they get a force referred to as the "Bait Force", which enters on the north edge before the KMT enter on Turn 1 along that same board edge.

So the idea is that the KMT player will attack what he can see which will be the Bait Force and then be lured into a trap where the HIP units are patiently waiting. And yes, our game would go exactly as the scenario designer intended!!

After rolling for sides, Dan would be the defending Red Army. His HIP force would consist of 4 x 3-3-3-7's, and 2 x 2-2-8's, led by a 9-1 and 8-0 with 2 x MMG's. Dan's Bait Force which entered on Turn 1 would consist of 6 x 3-3-7's led by an 8-1 and 8-0.

By the way...I hate playing against HIP forces....just saying...not my favorite thing to face in any game.

As the KMT Army, I would have the burden of leading my boys into a trap expertly crafted by the always wily Dan Best. My force would consist of 10 x 3-3-7's, 4 x 3-3-6's, and a 2-2-7 led by an 8-0 and 7-0 with an MMG.

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

"The Red Army in this scenario must inflict greater than or equal to the number of CVP as they lose. They must also prevent the KMT from getting past the road on board 35. I will build a good ambush along the roads on board 43. Starting with the 9-1 and MMG located in R1. To set up a fire lane along the road. This unit is without cover, so turn 1 they will go for a foxhole. I will exchange the 8-0 for a commissar and place them in the woods in FF2 with the other MMG. The extra morale boost will help this position which is most vulnerable due to the covered approach of the hedge and field. Each position will get two squads to protect it and both will cover their roads to take out those attempting to get past the MG fire lanes. The Bait Force will ender along hex row GG with the 8-1 and get to the woods in GG4 to cover the flank. The other group with the 8-0 will move along the roads to the field around Z4 and deploy. Hope fully these forces will cover the attack that is sure to come through the hedge field."

Ok...it's game on and Dan's Bait Force prepares to move on to the battle space. Dan's HIP units await their comrades...

The Bait Force moves forward. It was hard for me to know Dan's intentions as I had no idea where his HIP dudes were hiding.

In an unusual move...Dan would reveal his 9-1 and one of his MMG's. They would attempt to entrench and would be successful. So I now knew where one of the two MMG's was hiding. R1 is probably the single best location on the battlefield.

Dan's boys were in position in the center and on both flanks. This confused me...because it looked like Dan was covering the entire battlefield rather than trying to lure me into an seemingly undefended area. It was just another part of his devious plan to wipe me out!!!

On my part of Turn 1, I positioned my units to move forward. Knowing where one of the machine guns was located would affect my planning. I would not cross the road covered by it for the durations of the game.

I moved forward to engage the Bait Force. I needed to get CVP and so I would have to initiate contact in order to get some points.

I was able to get into position without any difficulty. The tough turns were coming soon though.

Dan shuffled his forces. Again his intentions were unknown to me and I initially thought he was falling back to lure me deeper into the interior.

With the known MMG on the right side, I opted to move on the left side. Ooops...Dan's first HIP unit would appear with a 9-0 Commissar and MMG. Ok...both MMG's were naturally covering the open road hexes. Should have been pretty obvious...but I don't play ASL with any tactical acumen...sometimes I'm just moving cardboard pieces around a board!!!

Maybe I should try RISK...maybe not...

Despite a few breaks, I was still in pretty good shape.

The grain was playing havoc on both Dan and I as we just couldn't get good shots at one another.

Now bad die rolls would really plague both Dan and I throughout the game. We would both break our MMG's (Dan would break his twice) and we would both kill our own boys with MC Boxcars. Super fun!!! Nothing better than just giving your opponent CVP. I would also end up with a disrupted squad that just begged to be taken prisoner...

BOXCARS BABY!!!

Speaking of boxcars...Oh look...I MALF'd my MMG...

I love this game!!! Really I do!!!

I wasn't the only one rolling Boxcars. Dan would roll plenty as well and end up killing the crew manning his MMG with the Commissar on the left.

It was around the end of Turn 2, that I realized I was already in Dan's trap. I had two MMG's stopping any forward progress and Dan was creeping up the left board edge with the intent to capture my Disrupted boys and any other dudes that might be inclined to surrender. Oh...and I still didn't know where his other HIP boys were hiding.

"Ya think..."

I shifted more of my force towards the left. I wanted to at least get force superiority on that side and see if I could take down some of Dan's boys.

Dan and I would also roll a few snake eyes. In this case, a 3-3-7 would go berserk.

I took a big risk and moved my 8-0 Kill Stack and MMG into position to take down the Berserk squad and then put down some fire on the 9-0 with the MMG. I was about to find out where Dan's HIP squads were...

Oh look...they are right beside me and here I am just standing in the open...

Dan's ambush would not be as bad as I had feared. One squad would break, one would pin, my 8-0 officer would be wounded, but my last squad would create a Hero. A HERO that would change the game!

Dan's ambush would keep me from using all of my strength to stop the charge of the Berserk squad. That squad would be a bullet magnet and survive all of my shots and then jump into the target hex. This allowed his 1-2-7 with a squad of prisoners to move up and grab my disrupted squad. Just l like that Dan had taken two squads captive. This game was quickly getting out of control for me.

Now, at this point in the game Dan had roughly 14 points to my 8. I was even considering giving the concession as I didn't see a path to victory. My entire left flank had been turned and I was broken across the field. But then Dan went full out into attack mode and came at me like a Spider Monkey on Mountain Dew!!!

I think Dan realized that I was at my most vulnerable and he was determined to put me down for good.

As the turn ended, I had managed to stop a couple of Dan's assaulting squads, but the Berserker squad was in melee on the left and his intrepid 1-2-7 with prisoners was preparing to go all Jeb Stuart on me and ride around my army!!!

But then things would get a little funky! One of my 3-3-6's would rally and just in time to meet the threat of Dan's Jeb Stuart 1-2-7. My wounded 8-0 would even be on hand to help out!

In the ensuing close combat, I would go for capture attempt (first time in 30 years of playing this game that I ever tried that!!!) And it worked!!! I managed to free my boys and capture Dan's. And just like the tables were turned.

The next big set back for Dan's boys would happen to the 9-0 Commissar stack on the left. I would manage to break the entire stack except for the Commissar himself. My Hero led the assault to force Dan's boys to rout. They would rout, face interdiction and the brave Red Army Commissar would be killed along with a squad.

The KMT had regained the initiative and had the lead in CVP for the first time in the game.

At this point, the CVP were now 15 for the KMT and 10 for the Red Army. We played the last few moves of Turn 6.

A final look at what had been an wild and woolly game of ASL...good grief...at the end of Turn 3...I was all but defeated....and by the end of Turn 6, I had the most improbable of victories. My thanks to Dan for what was one of the most frustrating and fun games we have yet played.

It had been quite a battle. Neither Dan or I had expected this simple scenario to turn into such a great battle between us. We both cursed our bad dice and generally rued our fates, but in the end, we both had to agree that Recruiting Tactics had been a blast and one of the more fun games we have played against one another. And that my friends is the true magic of ASL.

And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:

"The plan did not work. I was undone by my own aggressiveness. The ambush worked well and broke up his attack. So much so I captured one disrupted squad. The HS that took the prisoners then went into the backfield to get another disrupted squad and it worked. The unit also fended off a counter attack and killed a7-0 leader. Then in order to escape with their prize, they tried to go around the hedge field. They got caught by a self rallied squad and killed in CC. This freed the prisoners and I lost those CVP. There was also a hero created when he attacked across the road and this unit was able to break the ambush and kill the commissar as he routed with his MG units. This led to the KMT winning 15 CVP to 10. Well played by Grumble Jones! Both of us had terrible dice with most of mine on morale checks and most of his on attacks. It is better to roll bad on attacks. Congrats to Grumble Jones on a great win."

Ain't it so...

Dan and I will be back next Saturday for a playing of ASL Scenario 20 Taking the Left Tit.

By 1942, the US Army had established multiple training facilities in the desert southwest. Within months the army would land in North Africa and it would be critical for the armored units to have real desert experience. A series of these training camps would dot the Mojave Desert through much of the eastern California. One of the more active camps would be Camp IBIS. Camp IBIS would host a variety of armored units associated with the 11th Armored Division.

In the late Summer and Fall of 1942, it was not unusual for squadrons of Lee-Grant and Stuart tanks to criss-cross the desert area around Camp IBIS. Many a US tanker would recall their training when they finally found themselves in Tunisia facing the veterans of the Afrika Korps.

Camps like IBIS would continue to train future tankers until the end of the war.

Camp IBIS was located in one of the more remote regions of the Mojave Desert and was adjacent to the Dead Mountain Wilderness. An area with a long history of unusual occurrences.

The Mojave Indians had been in the area for a century or more and the Dead Mountain Wilderness was a place of ancient burial grounds. It was considered sacred land and only tribal Shamans would journey there to seek wisdom from their ancestors.

For the average Mojave, the area was a source of dread. Tales of strange creatures akin to the Navajo Skin Walkers were attributed to the area and it was said among the Mojave that the dead walked the desert floor at night.

The Mojave had warned US Army Contractors that the Dead Mountain Wilderness was sacred to them and should be avoided if at all possible. With so much desert to work with, the US Army agreed and performed its various exercises to the south of the Dead Mountain Wilderness.

Over time, with so many young men in the camp, it was inevitable that some would venture into the off-limits area to see what Indian relics they could find. MP's did their best to keep the young recruits out of the area, but a few intrepid souls ventured out at night to explore. Without fail, they would return frightened out of their minds by encounters with creatures and "dead Indians". At first, these stories would be laughed at as the men were assigned KP duties for having gone into off-limit areas. But eventually, the frequency of the same stories would lead the camp commander to enforce a very serious ban into the area. Transgressors were not only punished but transferred out of the camps with some actually being imprisoned at Ft. Leavenworth.

As more stringent measures were employed, the unauthorized visits into the Dead Mountain Wilderness ceased. And for a time, the ghosty stories began to fade as the recruits came and went from Camp IBIS.

But despite the best intentions...it would prove impossible to prevent an accidental excursion into the Dead Mountain Wilderness. On August 13th, 1943- a squadron of Stuart Tanks accompanied by a Lee-Grant Tank and three half-tracks of armored infantry had gone out on a long range patrol exercise. Poor map reading skills would cause the group to become disoriented and instead of heading south, they had headed north and as they did so, the sun began to set. As it set, they realized their error and made for the hills directly to the west. Behind these hills was Camp IBIS and home.

But as they headed for the west, it became pitch black in the desert and the vehicles were all low on fuel. Then in the darkness...strange sights and sounds began to occur around the small column. Weird Indian chants and guttural growls filled the desert night. What happened next would be classified to this very day. What is known is that something terrifying occurred and as the sun came up the next morning...only a single tank with terrified men clinging to it arrived back at the camp. The remaining men estimated at over 50 would never be seen or accounted for again.

Here below is the only publicly released document pertaining to the incident. All other possible documents relating to Mojave Madness are still classified Top Secret with no future expiration date for that status.

Camp IBIS is deserted today and the approaches to the Dead Mountain Wilderness are closed to the public..ostensibly to protect sacred Indian Land and archaeology.

Only the Mojave Indians know what truly lives in the Dead Mountain Wilderness and they are keeping the story to themselves.

This Grumble Jones Halloween Scenario GJ075 - Mojave Madness will be available in October.

Will you survive the desert night?

After last Saturday's epic infantry fight in China...Dan Best and I would take our infantry fighting up a notch to add night!!! Oh yeah...night fight baby...you know it terrifies you as you thumb through the E. Section rules and shake your head. But kind reader...you don't have to be afraid of the dark...embrace your inner darkness...fire those star shells and revel in the ability to conceal in your opponent's face! So join me as I recount an AAR so dramatic...so intense...that ABC is declaring more dramatic than any previous Bachelor Rose Ceremony (not sure if that's good or bad...but whatever)..this is ASL at its fiercest and most difficult...er exciting...yeah exciting!!!

At night...you just have to ask yourself..."Do I feel lucky?"..."Well do ya ?"

Yeah..sometimes I'm lucky...and maybe this scenario would be one of those times!!!

Dan is currently attempting to play the remaining Yanks scenarios that he has not played. So he selected ASL Scenario 20 - Taking the Left Tit. We would play the revised version from Yanks 2.

As stated earlier, this would be a night scenario and Dan and I had not played one for a few months now. This one would have a lot going on and the first few turns would involve a bit of rules looks up as we shook off the rust and relearned some of the nuances of night fighting. So if you notice mistakes...we're guilty.

ROAR has the following for the Yanks 1 version with 36 German wins and 55 American wins. The Yanks 2 version has 3 German and 3 American wins. The ASL Archive shows the Yanks 1 version with 6 German and 7 American wins. And the Yanks 2 version with 1 German and 2 American wins. On the basis of the data it would appear that the revised version is a bit more evenly balanced than it previous version.

The Germans are the scenario defender and must hold the level 2 hexes of Hill 538. The German player get 24 factors of AP Mines, plenty of foxholes and 5 wires. And keep in mind that in night fighting I was able to HIP two squads. Additionally, the wire would not be visible until the hex containing it was entered. This would be one of those times, where my wire was pretty effective. My mines would also be very effective as Dan would wander into all 4 minefield hexes. So, when playing this scenario don't take your fortifications for granted. They made all the difference in this game.

Prior to playing, I spent Saturday morning working on image searches for this AAR. There are not a lot of night fighting photos...but I found a movie that most of you will recognize and that maybe currently available on Netflix or Amazon Prime (I forget which one).

Most of the middle of this great movie is focused on a night fight between German and American patrols complete with minefields, star shells and intense combat.

There is a particularly horrific scene where a young James Coburn is crawling across no mans land with a flamethrower on his back when his arm sweeps a mine and is blown off. In agony he rolls away and onto yet another mine. And as I said...it's a horrific scene.

This very scene would play out for Dan's Americans as they entered my minefields. By game end, I believe Dan had lost a full squad killed, an 9-2 officer wounded and an MMG lost in the field for the duration of the scenario.

As for the movie, it's absolutely worth your time.

Ok...just a quick note about today's AAR. There will be a lot of pictures like this depicting night fighting. In the scene above the white dot is a German machine gun with the remnants of a star shell streaking across the center. I try hard to make sure the accompanying pictures for the AAR match the action and the forces fighting it as much as possible. The Americans in the pictures have patches from the 35th and 95th Infantry Divisions...the men in the scenario are actually from the 88th Infantry Division...so please forgive this...those dang white 35th Infantry Division patches just can be hidden!!!

This scenario covers actions near Santa Maria Infante, Italy in May of 1944. This is a beautiful part of Italy and I had the good fortune to pass through this area on my way from Rome to Naples. Unfortunately, I was working and did not have the free time to visit this site or nearby Monte Cassino. But to see them from a distance was pretty cool nonetheless.

As you guessed from the scenario title, the focus of this fight would be for the Left Tit.

The scenario also describes the actions of Sgt. Eddy's efforts during this fight. This map shows more specifically the area of his actions in the battle.

As the attacking Americans, Dan Best would command the men of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 351st Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division. The Blue Devils would be one of the first all-draftee divisions to see action. They would fight exclusively in Italy and see 344 days of combat in a very difficult theater of operations.

Dan's force would consist of 15 x 6-6-6's, led by a 9-1, 8-0, and 7-0 with an HMG, 2 x MMG's, 3 x Bazookas and 2 x 60 MTR's. This would be a tough force, but morale would definitely be an issue for Dan during the course of the scenario.

As the defending Germans, I would command the men of the Fusilier Battalion 94 of the 94th Infantry Division. This division had been all but annihilated in the Stalingrad pocket. It was reconstituted and sent to the Mediterranean Theater. Much like the American 88th, it would spend the remainder of the war fighting defensive battles in Italy.

My force would consist of 8 x 4-6-7's, led by a 9-1, 8-1, and 7-0 with an HMG, MMG and 3 x LMG's. I would also receive 24 factors of AP mines and 5 x Wires.

Additionally, all of my boys could entrench in suitable terrain. I would deploy one squad to try and stretch my line. I was pretty well outnumbered and with Dan's boys using Cloaking, I knew it was not going to be an easy fight.

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

"The Americans must exit 4 squads and have more good order squads equivalents on level 2 hills than the Germans at game end. They have almost a two to one advantage in squads. The plan is to use the advantage of cloaking to attack on a broad front and close with the Germans. Then break the squads with firepower or in close combat. Stacking in cloaking will allow for 4 dummy cloaking counters to be used to find fortifications and draw fire from the Germans by moving up the middle of the board. The 9-1 with all MGs will move into position on the east flank to sweep any defenders with fire. The 8-0 will attack the west flank and the 7-0 will go up the middle. Leaders have to move to broken troops to rally them and keep them in the fight. I will deploy two squads to have more infiltration units and two HS will take the MTRs. The MTRs may use IR to light up the battle field during German movement. Hopefully we can keep concealment and close with the enemy to take the hill and exit enough for the win."

The battle begins. The Night Vision Range (NVR) would be 3 hexes and remain that until Turn 7 when Dan's wind change DR changed it to 2. There is an error on the picture. The HIP HMG at the top of the picture is actually an MMG. Dan's troops are entering under cloaking, which means 6 MP's for all question mark counters and I have no idea what is contained under any of them. My minefields covered the flanks and the wire by SSR is placed on the hill. Thought not marked, all of the Germans are under NO MOVE.

Here they come. I do not do anything in Defensive Fire and patiently wait.

Dan's boys approached in the dark.

Then disaster as Dan's boys walk into the first of my 4 mine fields.

The mine explosions would create gun flashes and give me the opportunity to fire my first star shells.

On the far east edge, Dan's biggest kill stack with the 9-1, 3 x squads and the HMG and both MMG's also walked into a mine field. The 9-1 would battle harden to a 9-2, but one squad would break and become a half-squad and the others would break.

As they left the minefield, they would be attacked again and machine gun fire would also hit the position. By the end, Dan's battle hardened 9-1 would be wounded and an MMG would spend the rest of the battle unpossessed in the mine field.

On the west flank, a half-squad with a mortar would be eliminated. At this point, Dan made a comment that it was pretty unlucky to be carrying a support weapon. I couldn't argue!

Now this scenario would be filled with wild rolls. Dan would roll a string of 3's, a couple of 2's and then 11's and 12's would pop up. I would roll a couple 2's as well and create a Heroic Leader and a Hero and Dan would get 2 Heroes of his own. This would be one wild and wooly battle.

After 1 turn - Dan had reached the foot of the hill, but was still unaware of 2 mine fields and all of the wire that he was yet to meet.

Dan's boys had taken some losses, but were still in good shape to continue the assault.

Turn 2 - here they come!!! I built a huge wall of residual fire that stretched the width of the board. My machine guns laid down fire lanes as they could. Dan's boys would all get hung up on the wire. It was a big shock to hit the wire right in front of the German positions. My boys poured on the fire.

But miraculously, Dan would get one squad under the wire and that squad would go on to break my HMG stack. I had broken the HMG during Defensive Fire, which of course led to my demise. Dan had taken his first Level 2 Hex. I was also driven back on the east board edge. The weight of American fire was just too much Advancing Fire. Americans are tough up close.

Going into Turn 3 - My flanks were compromised, but I was holding out in the center. I had defense in depth, so I still had a secondary line designed to prevent Dan from just walking towards the exit.

As Turn 3 ended, I would catch another group of Dan's boys in the far western minefield and another group in the east center would rout into my final mine field. My mines had done their job. I would also send my boys into CC with Dan's pinned boys on the west edge of the hill.

Melee would be a great result for me as I wanted to tie up as many of Dan's good order squads as possible.

We would have a lot of close combat action before this game was over.

Dan would also get off a shot from one of his mortars!!

Around Turn5 - Dan's boys were finally making some progress around both flanks. I was holding in the center, but the Americans were on the hill and pushing me hard.

On the hill, I would try and conserve what force I had left and still hold my positions.

Dan had finally cleared all my mine fields and wire obstacles and would soon send some boys for the exit.

On the east board edge, my boys had been eliminated. All that was left was my ELR'd 7-0 and he was completely surrounded. But then the sniper spotted him and would wound him. He would be eliminated shortly.

As Dan's boys made for the exit on the east road, his boys on the west moved onto the hill.

Close combat would be the name of the game as Dan's boys leapt into my foxholes. Talk about a FUN Game...good grief...this was ASL at its best. Dan and I were having a blast. We were both sweating the outcome...but enjoying the fight!

I tried to keep my boys in the fight and would send them into CC including my wounded hero, who had strayed towards the west and would leap into a fox hole full of Americans with an MMG.

Dan's boys had made a lot of progress, but losses had been heavy.

Turn 7 - Dan exits 3 full squads. He needed 4...so one more squad would have to exit. And then he would have to have more good order squads on level 2 hills than I did.

Dan had a wounded officer on the east road working hard to rally a broken 5-4-6. Dan would need this squad to exit. They would rally, but then be broken again and they would not exit the board.

Dan would send a squad into CC with my forward edge position. At this time, I had broken and eliminated two of my LMG's. Third LMG was unpossessed on the east edge and my MMG was unpossessed above my foxhole and the HMG was sitting on the hill waiting for my boys to run up to it. I was hanging on by my teeth!!!

Game end...as we fought it out in the bottom of the 7th, Dan and I would finish one of the melees by killing each other. That would seal the deal. Dan didn't have enough squads exited and he didn't have enough to overcome me in squads on the level 2 hill hexes. It was finally over and my surviving grenadiers had the victory. What a fight...from start to finish this was an absolutely intense game. Dan had taken heavy losses in the early turns that contributed to the German victory. Minefields and wire did their job and my grenadiers managed to hang on. Dan had come within an inch of crossing the goal line.

My grenadiers would ultimately fall back from and reflect on the hard fight against the American 88th Infantry Division which would continue for another year.

My thanks to Dan for yet another great Saturday of ASL. This game will go down as one of my favorites that we have played.

And for those of you out there, who have passed on playing this gem because of Night Rules...please don't let that stop you from playing this. This scenario is worth squeeze!

And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:

"The plan did not work. All elements did their part, except the MTRs were of little use. However, the Americans took too many breaks and were too slow to rally. Especially to minefields. Mines wounded the battle hardened 9-2 leader and killed two squads from his kill stack. Losing one MMG. Generally close combat did not favor the Americans and too few troops were left to exit and dominate the hill. The scenario highlighted my ineffectiveness in playing Americans, their low morale cannot complete the assaults I plan. The Americans inflicted more damage by shooting at a distance. A better tactic would be for the Americans to get within NVR of the Germans make the Germans fire at cloaking counters and then use the MTR to illuminate the Germans and destroy them with opportunity fire. The defense was well played by Grumble Jones with my Americans finding every fortification the hard way, especially the minefields. Congrats to Grumble Jones on the win! Thanks for a great game."

That's all for now! I'll be off next week to celebrate my daughter's birthday in St. Louis. Dan and I will return on October 5th for a playing of ASL Scenario J175 Bedburg Bite.

See you then!!!

Just a little teaser trailer to get into the Halloween Scenario mood!!! Yes, it's silly, but it's all part of the Grumble Jones Halloween experience.

And Eric Garrard...these are for you man!! Thanks for always supporting the Halloween Fun!

Well...here we are Sports Fans!!! It's Halloween Time at Grumble Jones. Just when you think...you've seen the worst I can throw at your ASL sensibilities with deranged Nazi Zombies...time traveling monsters...bloody thirsty dinosaurs...here come the desert baddies in the form of Skin Walkers and Indian Zombies!!! Woohoooo!!!

I'll be honest...I absolutely love doing the annual Halloween Scenario. I love the story telling aspect of it all. Half the fun is just doing the research and putting something together that has some real history to it.

The year's scenario is based on Camp IBIS, which is located in the Mojave Desert near the California-Arizona border.

The Camp was used as a training site during the Second World War and the 11th Armored Division actually did some of their training in or near Camp IBIS.

Naturally, the rest of the backstory for this scenario is completely made up.

I wanted to try and do something without Nazi Zombies, and hope this one will add a little different flavor to the whole ASL Zombie thing. I think the Zombie Player is going to love using the Skin Walker staffs to destroy tanks and armored cars!!!! Good paranormal times for sure!

For the American Player...my condolences to you...you're going to probably not make it...just say'n!!!

My thanks to my readers for putting up with all my crazy ideas. I hope you enjoy this scenario for what its worth and have some fun with it.

Here now is the 2019 Halloween Scenario.

As always these monthly "Basement Quality" Scenarios are offered for fun only and as a thank you to the readers of this blog.

Remember to open pictures in a new window in order to maximize the size.

And as always, these scenarios can be downloaded from The ASL Scenario Archive

(just search on Grumble Jones).

After a week off from ASL, I was back in the fight for my Saturday Game with Dan Best. This week's game was my choice and I selected ASL Scenario J175 Bedburg Bite. Bedburg Bite is from the ASL Journal 11.

This was one of the first Journals to include the Scenario Cards as separate inserts. No more copying or carefully removing the scenarios from the magazine. Thank you MMP for figuring that out!

Bedburg Bite (designed by Pete Shelling!!!) takes place in 1945 Germany as the Canadians move forward in Operation Veritiable. This particular scenario covers the fighting in Louisendorf, Germany. 1945 scenarios can be a lot of fun due to the availability of all kinds of special goodies. Lots of Panzerfausts, WP, and ATMM's make for some fun games. And our game would be no exception!

ROAR has this scenario with 31 Canadian wins and 41 Germans wins. The ASL Archive has it with 7 Canadian wins and 11 German wins.

Louisendorf, Germany

Operation Veritable would be the Allied Campaign to secure the Rhineland. Canadians would figure largely in the fighting to clear out determined German resistance. It would not be an easy fight by any measure.

After rolling for sides, (for the record, high roll DR gets the attacker in any scenario we choose). Dan would get the Canadians and be the scenario attacker. He would command elements of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and Scots Guards.

The Royal Winnipeg Rifles would earn a very distinguished record of military achievement over the course of two world wars.

Dan's force would consist of 12 x 4-5-8's, led by a 9-1, 8-1 and 8-0 with an MMMG, LMG, 51 MTR and 2 x Piats. Supporting the infantry would be 3 x Churchill VII's, a Badger flame-throwing tank and 3 x Ram Kangaroos. A solid force, but light on machine guns in my opinion.

As the scenario defender, I would command the grenadiers of the 60th Panzergrenadier Regiment of the 116th Panzer "Windhund" Division. The 116th would rack up an impressive combat history during the fighting in NW Europe 1944-45. My force would consist of 5 x 4-6-8's, and 4 x 4-6-7's led by a 9-1, 8-1 and 8-0 with 2 x MMG's, 2 x LMG's, and a Panzerschreck. I would also get an 81mm MTR and 24 factors of mines. I would create 4 x 6 factor AP minefields.

On Turn 3, I would also get a single Jagdpanther and 251 Halftrack. A Jagdpanther is also a welcome addition to any OOB.

The victory conditions are detailed. The Canadians win by amassing 17 or more VP. They get 1 VP per stone building on board 67 that is controlled per Game Turn - important!

They get 5 VP at game end for control of Building 645L5. Additionally, they get 3 VP for having more non-crew infantry north of the 64A6-M8-P7 road at game end. And it doesn't end there. They also get 1 VP for each destroyed German AFV. On the negative side, they lose 1 VP for each of their tanks which are destroyed. The Kangaroos do not count...so losing these is no big deal for the Canadians.

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

"The Canadians have to capture the three stone buildings on board 67 as early as possible then move on to capture building L5 on board 64 and get north of the road on board 64 with as many units as possible. I will attack with a strong force up the middle of board 67. The 9-1 three squads and the MMG will armored assault with the flame tank. The 8-1 three squads with the LMG and both PIATs will armored assault with a Churchill. The 8-0 and two squads (one deployed) will use the Kangaroos to get around the German line to the back stone building. The other two Churchills will attack on the right flank with a squad and a HS to try to keep the Germans on that flank out of the village fight and cut rout paths. The last HS will have the MTR and try to support with smoke. The Canadian troops have great morale and are the same firepower as the Germans so should be able to have equal chances in CC. The PIATs will have good chances of hitting in the narrow streets. Hopefully we can capture the victory buildings, cut the German rout and destroy most of the Germans before they can retreat to board 64."

In setting up my defense, I would with a wide front to try and prevent Dan from flanking me right away. I also wanted as many of my boys in woods or brush locations, so that they could use their Panzerfausts without any backblast concerns. I had no idea where to put the 81mm MTR. I got lucky with where I placed it, but utltimately it wouldn't hit anything. However, the crew would take down a Kangaroo with a Panzerfaust before they would be wiped out in CC.

By now...all of you readers are aware that Dan Best is very aggressive when on the attack. He came straight at me. I would manage to break his 9-1 Kill Stack and KIA one squad right off the bat. But...Dan's aggressiveness would put me in a world of hurt despite the losses inflicted on him.

With my upfront defense, I had not given myself much of a buffer to withdraw and Dan's aggressive moves eliminated almost any chance I had to pull back. I had miscalculated...

My fear of Dan attempting to flank me was realized on the left as his Kangaroos bounced right through me. In the center, I would take down my first Churchill VII with a Panzerfaust.

Dan would make good use of these and put squads in my rear on the very first turn. Really a great move. I would ultimately destroy all three of them, but once they had delivered the squads, it didn't really matter what happened to them.

In the center, I had dealt Dan's Canadians some body blows...but the Badger would unleash burning hell on me and snake eyes would eliminat the first of my 4-6-8's....the Badger would be Dan's standout performer in the scenario.

I hate flame throwing tanks...I really do...24 factors flat...give me a break...or a KIA...haahhahahahaa

Now Dan's dice would get hot with 2's and 3's that would really hurt me. I would roll two snake eyes and in both cases create a berserk squad....YAH...guess...hero creation...battle hardening was too much to ask for...

Did I say Dan was aggressive...Turn 1 Close Combat was EPIC!!! Man what a blast we had. This round of CC would go mostly the German, but two would be locked in Melees that would eventually benefit the Canadians.

My boys knew we were in for a hard fight.

So as the Canadian part of Turn 1 ended, I had knocked out a Kangaroo and a Churchill and bloodied the Canadian infantry. But Dan was behind me and already in a victory location. He had me on the ropes after a half-turn.

In my part of Turn 1, I too would go after Dan's boys in CC. ATMM's are AWESOME! I would take down another of the Kangaroos

Turn 2 --- the death turn for my boys. Dan's Badger would burn out another location and his attacks would rock me back on my heels as I was pushed out of the village center and the victory locations.

Turn 2 would be the critical turn. Dan's aggressive attack had broken my defense.

I had managed to take down another Churchill Tank, but my grip on the village was fading...

Going into Turn 3 - I was down for the count. I only two unbroken stacks. The Badger was in firm control of the village center.

In Turn 3 - Dan's MMG would fire on my last big stack. I would shrug it off...but then his dang Piat would break me...

Dan would make good use of Turn 3 to consolidate his power in the village and send some boys to the 5 VP building on Board 64.

Honestly, at this point in the game, I could have given the concession....but the night was still young and so I consulted with my boys...

My boys said..."keep fighting....after all...we get a Jagdpanther!!!"

Ok...Turn 3 German Phase - my Jagdpanther and halftrack came on with the intention to eliminate Dan's boys before they took control of the 5 VP board 65 buidling. The white circle indicates where I should have placed my halftrack...

Jagdpanther...GOOD....

Back in the village, I send a squad to eliminate Dan's broken 4-5-8 on the south board edge. I would get them...but die later...so...not the best outcome.

Turn 4 - Dan's Badger burned some more of my boys as I finally relinquished control of the village. His remaining Churchill moved up to confront my Jagdpanther and his boys in the north took control of the 5 VP building on Board 64. Prety much game over for me at this point.

In my part of Turn 4 - I charged my Jagdpanther directly at the Churchill. Neither of us would get a hit.

As we began Turn 5 - and totaled Dan's points for the previous turn it was clear that the Germans were beaten. So I gave the concession and congratulated Dan on a great win. His aggressive attack on Turn 1 worked. Once we were engaged, I had no way to disengage and reset my defense. His Kangaroos did a great job of getting behind me and his Badger burned the way to victory!

The Royal Winnipeg Rifles had won the day!

And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:

"The plan worked. It was a sharp hard fight but by the end of turn 2, the Canadians had eliminated six German squads and the crew. They had captured two victory buildings. However, they had lost 6 squads, two Churchill tanks and the three Kangaroos. In turn three the 8-0 led a squad to building L5 on board 64, the last victory building was taken and two more German squads were eliminated. Turn 4 and 5 were spent maneuvering vehicles and the last German squad avoiding the Canadians. The Germans conceded at the end of turn 5 when calculation of points showed the Germans could not gain enough to prevent the Canadians from winning. The tank battle was likely going to benefit the Germans but it would still not turn the number in their favor. Early capture of the victory building (one each turn for the first three turns) gave the Canadians the win. That and the elimination of most of the German infantry on turn two. The Canadian flame tank eliminated two squads and the PAITs got two hits and one critical hit. Even exchange in CC did the rest of the work. This scenario is great fun with different options for both sides and has a lot of replay value. My thanks to Grumble Jones for a great game!"

Well...that's the wrap on yet another "Our Saturday Game". I'll be taking next week off to spend time with family. Dan and I'll be back again on the 19th for a playing of ASL Scenario 21 Among the Ruins. I haven't played this one since David Longstreet crushed me at the 2013 Texas Tournament. I think I'm ok to try it again....

See you then!

After a week off, Dan Best and I were once again waging war on the ASL front. Dan had the pick for this week's scenario and he would select one of the classics...ASL Scenario 21 Among the Ruins (designed by Rex Martin). This would be my 4th of 5th time playing this scenario since I first played it from the first version of Yanks. And I can't say that I have ever won it. In recent years, I have lost it twice as the attacking Americans. My most recent defeat was at the 2013 Texas Tournament in a great game against David Longstreet. I learned some hard lessons playing against David and I recall that the German sniper just tore me up. I can't remember rolling so many 6's. It was an awesome game and the beginning of a valued friendship with Mr. Longstreet.

David also utilized rubble, half-squads and his machine guns to great effect. My Americans broke early and often during our game. Even my tanks really struggled as I recall.

So, I'll admit it, I wasn't eagerly looking forward to playing Among the Ruins yet again. And with my typical luck...I rolled and got the Americans again.

So here I would be on my third attempt to master this scenario as the attacking Americans. We'll see how it went down!!

Ok...now for a bit of travel log as I talk about Aachen...one of my favorite cities in the world. Charlemagne's capital is a beautiful city and the Aachen Dom is a remarkable Cathedral. It's very different from other cathedrals I visited during my various times in Europe. The stain glass is beyond description. Suffice to say that I have not seen its equal since.

I've only had the good fortune to visit Aachen one time. In November 1985 during my fall break from classes, I made a bee-line for Cologne and from there a brief night stop at Aaachen. My real destination was Bastogne via rail from Aachen to Liege-Namur-Dinant-Libramont-Bastogne.

The picture at left is the only one I snapped of Aachen on my little Kodak 110 camera. I had to save film for Bastogne. Money was tight as I was a student then and had to conserve my pics.

I took this picture while leaning out of my pension window in downtown Aachen. That evening, I had the chance to see inside the Aachen Dom and was treated to a concert of classic violinists as we toured the awesome structure. Great memories to say the least. So, if you are in that part of Germany, make a point to visit Aachen.

Of course, Among the Ruins does not concern itself with the beauty of an ancient German city, but instead covers the severe fighting that occurred as the Americans entered German territory for the fist time in the Second World War. Aachen would be ruined as the Americans and Germans grappled for control of the first city to fall to Allied forces. Rex Martin's design really captures the intensity of the fighting and crawling over the rubble brings the ruins title to life.

ROAR has the Yanks 1 version of the scenario with 93 German wins and 96 Americans wins. The ASL Archive has this version with 14 German wins and 13 American wins.

ROAR has the Yanks 2 version of the scenario with 1 German win and 3 American wins. The ASL Archive has the Yanks 2 version of the scenario with 2 German wins and 2 American wins.

This scenario is definitely a good one that gives both sides an opportunity to win.

Now, ASL is not the only great source for fighting in the ruins of Aachen. Call of Duty World War 2 has a great Aachen Campaign game and the map for the online games is also a lot of fun.

I don't like urban battles...they are almost always bloody...bloody...and usually my blood!!!

After rolling for sides, Dan would be channeling his inner Walter Model as he lead the German defense. Dan would command elements of the 48th Grenadier Regiment of the 12th Volksgrenadier Division. The 12th VGD was formed in 1944 from the ashes of the 12th Division, which had seen service in Poland, the Low Countries, and Russian Front where it was eventually crushed during Operation Bagration. As the 12th VGD it would finish the war on the Western Front and would finally surrender during the Ruhr encirclement.

Dan's force would consist of 12 x 5-4-8's, led by a 9-2, 8-1, 8-0, and 7-0 with 2 x HMG's, 2 x MMG's, 3 x LMG's and 2 x Panzerschrecks with a 20L AT gun for good measure!

Now personally, I've always questioned 5-4-8's for Volksgrenadiers, which I would think are more likely in the 4-4-7 mold. I can say with experience that this force is tough to take on in a rubbled, urban environment. This is especially problematic for 6 moral US troops.

Dan and I discussed this in our post game wrap regarding the need for a German 1st Line 5-4-7 with 1 smoke exponent to better represent late war Volksgrenadier units which would ELR to a 4-4-7 and then a 4-3-6. Just seems to us that a 7 morale is more representative of Volksgrenadiers.

As the attacking Americans I would command elements of the 26th Infantry Regiment of the 1st "Big Red 1" Infantry Division. The Big Red One has been in continuous service to the American people since 1917 and has fought in every war since. Their battlefield honors are too numerous to name. Suffice to say that the 1st Infantry Division has and currently stands as one of our finest fighting formations. My force would consist of 23 x 6-6-6's, led by a 9-1, 8-1, 2 x 8-0's, and 7-0 with 4 x MMG's, 4 x 44BAZ and 3 x Sherman Tanks. A capable force, but going against 5-4-8's with a ton of machine guns will be no easy task.

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

"The Germans have 12 squads and a gun to stop 23 squads and three tanks in a city board fight. This sounds like a classic east front scenario...but it is not. The American fire power makes this a very different street fight. The terrain has two level 3 buildings and allows the Germans to place 10 rubble counters, some of which can be used to block roads. The Germans get two squads to set up HIP. First I will use 6 rubble to block board edge attacks and four rubble to set up firing positions for the main line of resistance (MLR). The MLR will be centered around building 21J4 which defends the cemetery. Also building 20U3 and 20Z3. Each building will have fire lanes along approach roads. First, I will use the rubble in Building 21S8 and S9 to eliminate the second level 3 building which the Americans can capture quickly and with the woods close the board edge. This will also link with building 21R6 and R7 also being rubble. On Board 20 rubble in 20S9 and S10 will close that board edge and in combo with the gully make movement restrictive. The rubble in 21I5 and H5 will allow a firing position along the road west of the cemetery. The 20mm AA will be positioned in H5. Rubble in 20Z2 and Y2 will make another firing position. The 9-2 with a squad and HMG will set up in Y2, allowing a fire lane for 16 hexes along board 20. The 8-1 with a squad and MMG will set up in 21K4 and have a good fire lane east of the cemetery. The 8-0 and a HS with the HMG will be HIP in level 3 of building 20Z7 to make American movement difficult. The 7-0 and a HS with the MMG will set up HIP in 20V0/21L0 for a fire lane. The first HS PSK HIP will be next to them in 21L1 and the other behind in 20Z0/21H0. Squads will form the rest of the MLR with LMGs in building 20U3 and on each flank. The 14 concealment counters will be dummy units in front of the MLR to keep the Americans guessing where the main defense is. Hopefully the American attack will be constricted by the fire lanes and the Germans can laterally reinforce where the main attack falls. "

Time to move into Aachen and see if we can make something happen!

In my previous game against David, he put HIP half-squads right up front. These took a terrible toll on my initial advance...so I was very cautious in moving forward. Dan's entire first line was dummys and I would of course waste time and bullets finding that out.

"Boys...let's move forward, but be careful...there are bound to be HIP German units waiting for you to move in the open!"

Dan had positioned an HMG high in one of the 3rd Level Locations. It would take a fearful toll on my squads throughout the game. It would ultimately be the source of much agony.

My plan was to move towards and through the cemetery and make for the exit along that path. My forces in the east were intended to keep Dan from reinforcing.

I managed to get my one and only WP shot on Dan's Level 3 HMG. This would help silence it for about 2 turns. But I had no more WP...and I would need it...so badly...

My line of advance after 2 Turns.

Turn 3 I was making good progress towards my objective of the cemetery. I was still taking body blows from Dan's machine guns, but otherwise was intact. My return fire was complete ineffectual. I would not do anything to Dan until midway through the game. My dice were very unkind to me...to the point that my personal ELR was failing fast.

Despite the failure of my dice to allow me to hit, not break, not pin and rally, I was still moving ahead. After all...ASL is a game of movement...or so I hear often enough...

Dan's 20L AA Gun was about to reveal itself and rock my world.

20 factors of 20L AA fire is devastating...it would shock me as I had not expected it to be there. I had pegged it for the center of the battlefield. It was now perfectly placed to mess up my entire advance. Meanwhile, Dan's other boys were moving steadily to the west to help their brothers hold the line.

My boys began to enter the cemetery and the place where my doom would be sealed...

"We have the Amis now...the cemetery will be their final resting place!"

I had managed to make it to my initial objective, but the German MLR was still just out of my grasp.

Into the cemetery I went with a strong line. I felt good about things...I had a real chance...or so I had convinced myself.

Ahhh...but then total disaster...Dan's HMG in the level 3 location began to fire and didn't stop...10 Rate of Fires in a row would absolutely knock the stuffing out of my attack and me personally. I cannot describe the feeling of watching your opponent roll 10 ROF's in a row with 7 factors. It was one of the worst moments I have experienced in playing this game. When Dan stopped firing I had 7 squads broken...I was gutted.

I tried to keep my poise and not sink into despair...so I kept moving my boys forward.

Dan's HMG in the tower of power continued to rain devastation down on me. I tried to hit it with my Sherman...but missed every shot. The white circles indicated the locations of broken squads.

Remarkably, I was still moving ahead.

I tried desperately to dash across the street...but Dan's quad 20 would take me down and he would intensive fire successfully. I would succeed in capturing a broken 5-4-8.

I would also go into close combat with Dan's 8-1. This would remain locked in melee for the remaining game time. I would also lose my first Sherman to a HIP Half-Squad with a Panzerschreck. My caution had been for naught.

Dan's quad 20 would continue to take me down. I would succeed in crossing some boys...but my dashes were not successful for the majority of my boys. I was reinforcing failure...

As we concluded Turn 5...I gave the concession. I was down to one Sherman and less than 6 unbroken squads (one of which was locked in melee). Dan's boys were gathering around my projected exit path and would be waiting for me if I even got near the board edge. I congratulated Dan on a great win. He would lose only two squads and inflict a devastating defeat on me.

Dan's boys could well celebrate a total victory. German machine guns had prevailed and ruled the streets of Aachen.

I'll be honest, this game was a real bummer for me. The night before I had played a game with my buddy in St. Louis. I lost that one as well as my dice failed to produce any meaningful results and my opponent's hot dice just blitzed me. So here I was the very next night being wiped out...literally in one Rate of Fire tear that would be followed by more ROF tears. I know we hate to complain about dice...but there are times when I actually decided not to even fire or roll the dice. That would happen a couple time in this contest. Dan would point out that I had this or that shot...and I would just shrug and declare my fires over. I had zero confidence in my dice. I changed dice and still continued to roll the 9's, 10's, 11's, which would break, ELR my squads and fail to produce any meaningful IFT results on my opponent. That's not to say that I didn't have some good outcomes. I would create two Heroes and Dan would break both of his MMG's with his own bad rolls (He would also fix both of them.). But there is also no denying that dice rolls matter.

Thanks for letting me vent...

As I finish writing this blog...I'm still feeling raw. This was one of those games, that I felt a little broken at the end. I mean to the point that I felt like maybe I needed to take a break from ASL. This feeling will of course pass. By next week, Dan and I will be playing another great game of ASL and the bitterness of tonight's effort will be water under the bridge.

And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:

“The plan worked. Mainly due to a 10-shot rate tear by the HMG at level 3 breaking 7 squads on turn 4. The Americans broke and surprisingly with an ELR or 4...ELR reduced with two leaders (including the 8-1) and 6 squads. While the American leaders kept the troops rallied and moving forward, they could not form large fire bases to get good firepower on German positions. The Germans were able to laterally reinforce the 21J4 building and keep the Americans from getting around the defenses. The tanks ran out of smoke and could not get past the MLR. By the half way point two tanks were burning, six squads were eliminated and the Americans were not past the cemetery. The Germans were still moving reinforcements into the area. With no good American fire base and an indepth German defense area to move through the Americans conceded. My thanks to Grumble Jones for another great game! This scenario is a great street fight action, with the victory going to who can get good movement and use their firepower to good effect. Thanks for a great game and looking forward to some Russian front action next week!”

Dan definitely channeled his inner Walter Model very effectively. This machine gun team earned their Iron Crosses for sure!

Dan and I will be back next week for a playing of Crucible of Steel Scenario

BFP-94 To the Last Shell.

See you then!!!

Well...you might have been expecting some good old Russian Front Action and to be honest so was I, but then while I'm sitting at work deep in Excel spreadsheets, my buddy Dan emails me. Our good friend Dave Mareske was available to play Saturday. So we quickly switched out scenarios and selected ASL Scenario 25 Gavin's Gamble to be played as a 3-Player Game. It's always great to have the opportunity to add Dave to the game night. Gavin's Gamble (designed by George Bates and David Olie) is not necessarily designed to be a 3-Player game, but decided to give the Germans to Dan, the Americans to Dave and the British Armor to me. So in this way, I think were able to make the scenario a decent 3-Player experience.

Gavin's Gamble would first appear in the first edition of YANKS.

The scenario would be changed for the second edition of YANKS. The most noticeable change would be switch from 3 boards to 2 boards. The updated version of the scenario would eliminate Board 22. I can't say that I have ever played either version of the scenario. So I don't have a good sense of whether or not that changes would fundamentally alter the scenario. I suspect not, given the fact that Boards 7 and 16 are where the action occurs.

I've never played this scenario for the more or less obvious reason that it involves a river and boats. Back in the early days, we just didn't play this kind of scenario. And I would suspect many of you reading this maybe encountered the same hurdles when considering a scenario with boats, river crossings, etc. so instead of Gavin's Gamble you might end up playing Gavin's Take. And I'm 100% guilty of that myself.

So that said, I was definitely looking forward to tackling this scenario with help from Dan and Dave.

The scenario itself concerns itself with the efforts of the 82nd Airborne "All-American" Division to secure the Nijmegen Bridge. As most of us will recall, the US Airborne Divisions were to secure bridges at Einhoven, Son and Nijmegen to clear a path for British 30th Corps to reach in Arnhem in the nick of time to rescue the embattled British Airborne forces. Ultimately, the 82nd Airborne would be successful in crossing the Waal River under intense German fire and seize the bridge. It would prove to be the final bridge taken by the Allies in Operation Market Garden. Having taken the bridge, 30th Corps would not proceed much beyond it as the surrounded Red Devils were eliminated in Arnhem.

A look at the battlefield. The Germans would be situated on the raised road/dyke on Board 16, while the Americans attempted their river crossing on Board 7. ROAR shows the following: for Yanks 1 version = 24 German and 22 US wins and for the Yanks 2 version = 0 German and 3 US wins. The ASL Archive shows the Yanks 1 version = 3 German and 4 US wins and the Yanks 2 version = 1 German and 3 US wins with 1 Draw.

As stated earlier, Dave Mareske and I would be the Allied forces and the scenario attacker. I would command three British Tanks: 2 x Sherman 75* V(a)'s and 1 x Sherman Firefly. With my small force, I would have the easy job...sit back and shell Dan's grenadiers to my heart's content!!!

Dave on the other hand...he would bear the Allied burden of crossing the river under fire. He would command the men of the 82nd Airborne "All-American" Division. He would have 26 x 7-4-7's and 4 x 3-4-7's led by a 9-2, 9-1, 2 x 8-1's, 2 x 8-0's, and 1 x 7-0 with 2 x 50 CAL's, 5 x MMG's, 6 x BAZ 44's and 2 x 60 MTR's. 26 x 7-4-7's...HOLY COW!!!

As the defending Germans, Dan would command elements of Kampgruppe Henke, Fallschirmjaeger - Lehr-Regiment 1 and Kampfgruppe Reinhold of the 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg". His force would consist of 6 x 5-4-8's, 5 x 4-4-7's, 6 x 4-3-6's and 3 x 2-2-8's led by 9-1, 8-1, and 6+1 with 1 x HMG, 2 x MMG's, 4 x LMG's and a phone with 100mm OBA.

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

“The Germans must prevent the Americans from exiting 20 EVP off the north edge or the east edge between 16 GG1 and 16 GG5 (behind the levee). East edge exit is worth 1.5 EVP per unit. The best way to do this is get some good kills on the boats. The Germans will use a combination of up-front defense and reverse slope behind the levee. The best troops including all the MGs will set up on the river edge. With the 9-1 squad HMG in 7N10 and 8-1 squad MMG in 7U10 HIP. The 8-0 squad MMG will be in 7Z8. The other 5 squads that must set up south of the levee will be on board 7 spaced out. The two AA guns will be south of the levee on in 16GG7 and the other in 16C8. Hopefully both will get some shots on the Americans as they exit the boats. The MTR will set up north of the levee in woods to get shots on the levee as the Americans pass over to exit. Finally, the 6+1 OBA observer will set up in 16B5 with good views of the battlefield. The rest of the Germans will set up immediately behind the levee in reverse slope. To keep the Americans from crossing easily. Hopefully the Americans will take too many casualties and move too slow across the river.”

And now for Dave's Pre-Game Comments:

"Depending on the German set up, I will focus the boats on the eastern to central portions of the board. Splitting up my boat forces is not attractive and having my boys paddle inconsistently will be an issue that I will have to leave to fate, trusting in the machine guns, mortars and tanks we will leave behind to lay fire on bank and dike. Once landed, hopefully there will few Germans remaining to make a dash for the dike and exit on the north east corner. My hope will be to establish a position on the dike so that lateral movement by the Germans will be restricted."

OK the game begins! Dan would of course command the Germans waiting on the north bank of the Waal River. Dave would command all the Americans in the 26 boats preparing to cross the river. And I would command the three British tanks as well as 6 x 3-3-7's with 2 x HMG's, 2 x MMG's and 2 x 60 MTRs with the 9-2 and an 8-1 to direct fire on the entrenched Germans.

General Gavin would be observing the action!

SS-Standartenfuehrer Heinz Harmel would be observing from the German side.

I would mark all my boys and tanks with Opportunity Fires for the first Prep Fire. In retrospect....I probably should have fires some smoke. Dave prepared to do his part.

The US OBA consisted of 80mm Mortars. Dave and I would get solid production from our OBA during this scenario!

Dave's boats hit the water and in Advancing Fire, I let loose on Dan's entrenched Germans. I would succeed in breaking the Germans on the far eastern board edge.

Dan's boys on the east edge routed away from the river's edge. My boys were trying to knock Dan's grenadiers back so Dave could cross the river safely.

Dave would struggle with a of 6 die rolls which would cause a boat not to move. 6's are great for RISK, but for boats...not so good...

And then disaster...Dan's 100mm OBA would start raining down death and would dog our movements for nearly the entire game. I don't think Dan's ever since a RED Card...

As Dave's boys rowed for the opposite shore, my boys fired the first smoke. I would be hugely successful in laying smoke on Dan's primary positions. I would successfully fire 6 smokes without ever losing my smoke. Pretty amazing!!!

Dave was making slow progress and the heavy current drift rolls in each Advance Phase would drag his boats down river or even back to the south shore. It was often maddening to watch...

But despite all the difficulties...Dave would get the first Paratroopers across the river!!!

Dan's 100mm OBA would briefly rain down on my 9-2 with an HMG and MMG. My squad with a 60 MTR would break, but I otherwide be unharmed. As you can see...the OBA had already taken out the boats in the middle of the board. Dan's OBA would be the hero of the game. By game end, Dan would sink 12 of Dave's boats...12 squads, an 8-1 and 7-0 along with an HMG would all be lost trying to cross the river.

While the German OBA hammered us, my support teams were hammering Dan's entrenched grenadiers to good effect. With any luck, Dan would beach on the opposite bank without taking any fire from Dan's boys.

My 50 Cal's would do a great job in reducing Dan's positions. I do love me some 50 CAL!!!

Dave's boys continued to take some losses, particularly from the OBA, but he was beginning to get boys onto the opposite bank and into the fight!!

Dan's HIP units began to pop up. His HMG and one MMG began barking and my armor was quick to smoke them...but then on either flank...20mm AA guns opened up!!! Dave's boys were in trouble!!!

I would quickly switch my fire to suppress or knock out Dan's 20mm AA guns. I would succeed in breaking the crew on the eastern board edge and Dave's Paratroopers would take them down. The East Flank was open!

"We're in business!!!"

Dan's Grenadiers continued to resist, but American firepower was slowing overwhelming them.

Red circles show 82nd Airborne positions as Dave began making his way towards the dike, which is the east to west road on Board 16 - basically a one level hill. Dan's remaining forces were entrenched on the reverse slope to avoid OBA and direct fire from my Shermans.

The German OBA continued to hammer Dan's boats and our losses were becoming a concern. We had to find and kill the German 6+1 observer with the field phone. With no targets left for me to shoot, Dave began requesting that I fire at positions on the dike. Eventually we might actually hit the OBA observer before it was too late!!!

Dave's All-Americans would climb up the dike and go into Close Combat with Dan's 4-3-6's on the reverse slope.

Unbelievably Dan would roll snakes and win the Close Combat.

A look at Dave's penetration towards the dike and exit location on the northeast corner.

And then it happened!!! Unbelievably we found the hex where the German arty observer was hiding and broke him.

With OBA lifted and no other German threats on the south side of the dike, the way was clear for Dave's Paras to move forward.

With nothing to lose, Dan's 4-3-6's would jump into melee with Dave's Paras.

While Dave found for control of the dike...my boys sent a firestorm into the broken 6+1 German artillery observer ...and oh yeah...we killed the dude. And yes...I was very happy about it!!!

Dave was slowly taking control of the battlefield and moving steadily towards the victory exit location. On the dike itself, a German 4-3-6 was slugging it out with 2 x 7-4-7's.

Yep...Dan rolled his second snake eyes...killing a 7-4-7, creating a 7-0 and then infiltrating back to his original fox hole.

Dan's grenadiers had taken down two 7-4-7's in close combat. They were not going down easily!

Despite his close combat successes, Dan would take serious losses in the exit location. Dave's hard fighting Paras had managed to secure the area and his boys would begin existing for the win. With little chance to stop it and in light of the late hour...Dan gave the concession and Dave and I had the win.

The Germans could only watch as the Allies secured the Nijmegen Bridge.

But the cost...eerily similar to the actual event. Barely half of Dave's boats made the river crossing successfully. We began the scenario with 26 x 7-4-7 squads. 12 of these were killed crossing the river. Two more died upon reaching the shore and two more were lost in close combat at the dike. Only 10 squads survived to head for the exit.

Wow...what a great night of ASL...waaaay better than last week's butt-whipping that I endured. All three of us played hard, competent ASL. My boys did their job and opened the door for Dan's paras to cross the river and win the game, which Dave did in great style! And Dan just took it to us with an intense defense that very nearly won him the game. No one had to feel bad about his night's ASL.

And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:

“The plan did not work. The over watch fire teams were too powerful. Even in the smoke the American 50cal HMGs were able to break the river edge units. The British tanks also never ran out of smoke and were able to smoke both HIP units quickly. Then moving them was futile. With both eliminated quickly. The AA guns were also eliminated and finally the OBA observer was found and eliminated. The Americans moved across and were able to get past the reverse slope defenses, although they did lose two squads to close combat. Good shooting by Grumble Jones and steady movement forward by Dave won the day. This game was more fun than I thought with the Yanks 2 changes really adding to the Americans ability to take losses and still be in play. The Germans should put the MTR in 16B5 and the observer along the levee in another location. The reverse slope defense worked well but needs to be concentrated along the eastern half of board 16, from the building east. Excellent scenario I recommend everyone try it. My thanks to both Dave and Grumble Joes for a fun game!”

And now for Dave's Post-Game Comments:

“I lost half of my boats due to fire and OBA in the water. About 10-15% of my boats did not even move due to the inexperience of my boat assaulters. Scott did a great job softening the Germans and eliminating them. He had some great smoke production from his tanks. After landing most of my troops on turns 4-5 they made a mad dash for the dike and was able to establish enough of a presence by turn seven that the Germans could not reinforce to the north east. Even though I still had four boats out in the water at the start of turn seven…I think one boat might not have ever made it…I was still able to exit off the east past the dike with the bonus CVP. There were a couple of disheartening moments when Dan finished a couple of CCs with snakes, eliminating full paratrooper squads. This is a fun scenario and plays pretty fast considering its size.”

Well that's a wrap on a great 3 player game. My thanks to Dave and Dan for another great night's ASL. Dan and I will be back next Saturday for the playing of BFP-94 To the Last Shell. Can't wait!

For the November scenario, I turned to a somewhat famous YouTube clip which shows the surrender of the 512th Panzerjaeger Battalion at Iserlohn. The 512th had bedeviled US forces in the build up to a potential fight at Iserlohn. But then...the Germans decided to throw in the towel rather than incur the potential devastation to Iserlohn that any fight would bring to the German city. The film clip has always amazed me. As an ASL player there is just something awful about watching perfectly good Jagdtigers just casually surrendering. Of course, in real life, this surrender is one of the great humanitarian gestures of any Germany unit during the war. This surrender saved a great many lives both military and civilian.

Here is a link to the clip, if you have not had the opportunity to see it previously.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukiHmF0qcNE

It's fascinating to see the quality of the surrendering troops and equipment at Iserlohn. So often the surrendering troops of almost any side look bedgraggled and worn out. Not the men of the 512th. These guys are in high quality uniforms with plentiful Panzerfausts, MG-42's, etc., etc. It definitely appears to be a high quality formation.

So having seen the video and the various available pictures, I wondered to myself...what if the 512th had decided to fight and defend Iserlohn against the US 99th Infantry and 3rd Armored Divisions. In the weeks before it arrived at Iserlohn, the 512th inflicted serious losses on the US armored formations it fought against. So it's not too much of a stretch to imagine that this force would be very tough to overcome in an urban environment. With limited approaches, one would imagine that under-armored US tanks would not be successful in a head to head fight with a platoon of Jagdtigers. And here is a scenario to see if my thoughts had any validity.

Now, I also wanted to use the ASL Deluxe boards...which with Jadgtigers reduces the engagement distance more in favor of the US forces, who can bring bazookas and DC's into play more easily. Certainly, the reduction in range does take a way a key German advantage of their 128mm guns and heavy armor. But it also limits even more the opportunity to flank these German beasts. So I definitely found the DASL boards to add a fun element to this scenario.

As always, I hope this scenario gives an idea of how this fight might have gone down.

As always these monthly "Basement Quality" Scenarios are offered for fun only and as a thank you to the readers of this blog.

Remember to open pictures in a new window in order to maximize the size.

And as always, these scenarios can be downloaded from The ASL Scenario Archive

(just search on Grumble Jones).

After my crushing defeat two weeks ago in Aachen, I was looking forward to a change in environments. I've never really enjoyed heavy urban fighting and I don't feel that I am particularly good at them. So the chance to get some fresh air on the Russian Steppes really appealed to me! My choice for our Saturday game this week would be from Bounding Fire's epic Crucible of Steel Module. Scenario BFP-94 To the Last Shell (designed by Chas Smith) would be choice to play.

BFP's Crucible of Steel pack is a true gem. It's absolutely stuffed with great maps, counters and a ton of scenarios all focused on Kursk. This would be my fourth scenario to play from the pack. My first was the epic Flying Turrets, which I personally believe has no equal for a non-CG scenario. The maps are outstanding and really put you on the Kursk battlefield.

To the Last Shell covers the actions of July 8th, 1943 near Gresnoe, Russia. In this scenario, the German 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" is advancing and eliminating Soviet strongpoints in the axis advance of the SS Panzerkorps. The Russian forces represent these isolated strongpoints, which hindered the German advance in the early days of Operation Citadel.

ROAR has this scenario with 2 German wins, 2 Russian wins and 2 Draws. Not sure how these ended in a draw, but presumably, one side of the other wasn't able to continue and so a draw was attributed to the incomplete playing of the scenario. The ASL Archive has it with 3 German wins and 1 Russian win.

After the customary rolling for sides, I would get the Russians and the role of defender. I was ok with being the defender, but I have a terrible track record when playing the Russian side, so my expectations for great things are definitely tempered. I would command elements of the Soviet 237th Tank Brigade of the 31st Tank Corps. My force would consist of 16 x 4-4-7's, 2 x 4-2-8 AM's, 7 x 2-2-8's, 2 x 1-2-8 AT's, 2 x1-2-7's, led by a 9-1, 8-0 and 7-0 with 3 x MMG's, 3 x LMG's, 2 x ATR's and a 60 MTR. My support would consist of 1 x 82 MTR, 2 x 57LL AT Guns, 4 x 76L ARTY's, 3 x T-34/76's and 2 x T-70's. Eh...I was kind of neutral about my force. I was going to just wait and see how this group performed.

As the scenario attacker, Dan would field elements of the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf". This storied and infamous division would do hard fighting at Kursk and following the battle, remain behind while the 1st and 2nd SS left their SS Panzerkorps and went to take care of business in Italy and then later in Normandy. Totenkopf would finish the war on the Eastern Front.

Dan's force would consist of 18 x 6-5-8's, 2 x 2-2-8's, led by a 9-2, 9-1, 8-1, and 3 x 8-0's with 3 x MMG's, 6 x LMG's, 2 x DC's and 2 x 81 MTR's. For support Dan would have 3 x Tiger I's, 2 x PZKW IV H's, 1 x PZKW IV E, 4 x PZKW III L's, and 3 x Stug III G's with 2 x 9-1's, and 1 x 8-1 Armor Leaders. Nice...this is the kind of force anyone would love to have!

A nice look at the BFP maps. They are really beautiful maps and there are some extra terrain types such as slopes (think Pegasus Bridge), Sparse Woods/Orchards and Hillocks (think West of Alamein). Dan and I often email each other while we are work to talk ASL...when we should be working, and we exchanged several emails regarding the terrain features to make sure we were both understanding them the same way. As the defender with so many HIP guns, I wanted to make sure my setup was consistent with the rules.

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

"The Germans must attack and get a combination of 100 VP between CVP inflicted on the Russians, captured buildings and EVP off the north edge. They have a very strong force including 13 AFV and 18 squads. The terrain has all but one building on the right flank with a woods and grain field in the center right (leading into the village) and open rolling terrain on the left flank. With the Germans having enough EVP to win (if they suffer minimal casualties), the Russian must defend the entire area. This is a great opportunity for a Schwerpunkt. Concentrate the Germans on a single point and break through the Russian line to exit or capture buildings or both. My plan is to attack on the right flank with all forces and go into the village. The 9-2 with three squads and three MMG will armor assault with a tiger tank on the right flank. The 9-1 with two squads, two LMG and two crews with MTRs and a tiger tank will attack into the woods. The 8-1 with three squads will and the third tiger will attack into the village. The rest of the infantry will also armored assault forward with the 4 Pz III tanks each having a HS rider. The Pz III tanks will be used aggressively and be willing to move close to Russian units to risk CC, the rest of the tanks will stay back and provide fire support or engage enemy armor. After breaking the Russian line, infantry will capture buildings and the AFVs will exit. Hopefully the combination of VP will ensure victory. "

The Grumble Jones Staff photographer would be embedded with the Germans for today's action.

Here's an overview of my defense. I knew that Dan would probably do a Schwerpunkt, but where?? I feared that if I put too much in the village, then Dan would push by me on the right side and then attack the village from behind, where the open ground would give his armor good fields of fire. I placed all 4 of the 76L ARTY's up front with two on the extreme flanks (hoping for side/rear shots) and two in the village and woods. I placed the 57LL AT Guns to guard the rear and the gaps where I expected Dan's armor to penetrate.

My infantry were focused in the village and the woods. I thought for sure Dan would use the woods as his avenue of approach to the village. I set up another line supported by the 50MTR in the center. They were to guard against Dan flanking the woods. I had good fields of fire for my guns, but would make a critical error with my tanks. I decided to dig all of them in, which would make them hull down and harder to hit. On the down side, they couldn't move. And this would become a real problem for me.

I put all three MMG's in the village, with two on the level one locations of the two hex building at the front of the village. I was hoping to use them to stop any approach through the grain or in the open.

As my boys looked to the south....they could see the huge dust cloud that announced the arrival of Dan's Schwerpunkt.

Dan would mass on the left and drive straight for the village. I was screwed...like totally. My expectation that Dan would do some flanking was thrown right out of the window. Dan was going to hit me hard and I had maybe four AT assets in the vicinity. Fortunately, I had all of my MMG's in the area.

"Here they come Comrades...make every bullet count...Comrade Stalin is watching!"

My available AT assets would be hard pressed to halt the Germans...especially with my bad habit of never getting rate of fire. It's an affliction actually...I may even need to see a doctor about this...

Hmmm...maybe ASL needs a saving throw!!!

Dan's Schwerpunkt came in hard and fast. I held fire from my AT guns, but my dug in tanks fired...and did nothing. But Dan would Bounding Fire at my dug in T-34..."SNAKES"...T-34 is gone and did nothing...oh well...at least my mortar was lobbing some somewhat worthwhile rounds at Dan's grenadiers.

Just like in the NFL where they celebrate every down these days...the crew of the MK III...quickly jumped out of their tank to do an End Zone Pose!!! You know...personally I was looking for a flag!!!

Turn 1 went great for Dan's SS Grenadiers. He wasn't quite in the village yet, but he was pressing me in the woods and in the grain.

In my part of Turn 1, I continued to hammer away with my mortar and gets some breaks, but no kills. My T-70 on the far left would roll a critical hit on one of the MK III's and create a burning wreck. My two 76L ARTY's would open up and immobilize two more MK III's. I guess I don't like MK III's.

My infantry on the far right began making the run towards the village. I had to try and get my boys to the scene of the fighting before the village fell.

Unfortunately...my dug in tanks couldn't help. So remember...if you play this scenario...think long and hard about whether or not to dig in your tanks.

In his Turn 1 Defensive Fire, Dan would pound me. My MMG's in the 1st level locations would be broken and/or killed. Dan would kill the crew of the far right 76L ARTY and outright destroy the other 76L ARTY in the village. Only my T-70 remained.

Dan's Panzer Leaders were chalking up good kills!

Well...my T-70 would MALF it's MA and fall shortly thereafter. Dan's boys entered the village. I was resisting well in the woods, but the village was rapidly falling.

Dan had secured a large part of the village, but he was still trying to wrinkle out my boys int he woods.

My boys would give a good account of themselves in the woods and eliminate a German 6-5-8 in Close Combat.

My line was steadily being pushed back. I just didn't have enough force to meet Dan on equal terms anywhere in the fight. Only the woods had given me the opportunity to concentrate against him.

A look at my defenses. I could only kick myself for digging in my tanks. I had two T-34's and a T-70 basically mission killed...which could have helped me to hold the village.

Dan's boys were making good progress through the grain and beginning to take victory locations in the village. Dan was uop to roughly 31 points at this stage.

My T-70 on the far left finally went down. It was my only unit to destroy a German tank. I hated to see them fall.

Turn 3 - Dan's boys make solid progress.

"Hans...what do you see?""Victory...I see Victory!!!"

At around 10:30 PM (5-1/2 hours into the game), Dan and I had completed 3 full turns. I knew I was beaten, but wanted to see if I could do anything with my remaining AT Guns. My Prep Fire was a complete waste as I rolled high and of course got no Rate of Fire...a 3 Rate of Fire and I couldn't get rate. After that, my personal ELR went to -5 and I gave the concession. It just felt pointless to keep fighting and watching my bad rolls continue to do nothing. I'll admit that I was envious of Dan's dice rolling on this night. He was able to get the results he needed when he needed them.

Dan and his SS Grenadiers had won a really decisive victory at small cost. His Germans would only lose four tanks and maybe two squads. In contrast, my forces had been dealt a costly defeat. So my congrats to Dan on a great win. He proved once again the power of the Schwerpunkt is not to be underestimated.

And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:

"The plan worked. It was helped greatly by early destruction of the Russian tanks and guns. One tank to a critical hit bounding fire shot and one gun to a direct hit. I lost the four Pz III tanks one destroyed, two immobilized and one recalled because of a malfunctioned MA. The Pz III destroyed had the 8-1 AL. However, the rest of the tanks broke through and had a path to exit. The infantry were doing well in the village. The battle for the woods was going much slower and was where all the infantry losses were occurring. However, the woods force was blocking the counterattacking Russian infantry. Overall the attack was helped by good die rolls and poor die rolls by the Russians. This scenario is fun but a good Schwerpunkt is hard to beat with the Russians being spread out. My thanks the Grumble Jones for a great game!"

Dan and I will be off next week as Dan rides to the North Texas Shootout Tournament...and look out Texas...the Kansas Schwerpunkt is headed your way!!! Good luck Dan!!!

Dan and I will return to the Saturday ASL Contest on November 16th for a playing of March Madness Scenario MM51 - Firefight on Weinbourg Ridge.

We will see you then!

Yeah...look at this...a bonus scenario for 2019...you're either doing a happy dance or going...oh good grief not another scenario from Grumble Jones...hopefully most of you are happy about it!! I was super inspired this past October to work on scenarios and so after finishing GJ076...I plunged right into GJ077 which as you might have guessed is based on the Battle of Midway.

In 1976, I was 11 years old and fascinated by all things WW2. So suffice to say, I was super excited to head to the theater and see Midway. And I'll admit that I'm very partial to this version of the movie. Hopefully the 2019 version will be super awesome as well.

Midway is one of those amazing battles where planning, luck and courage paid off and gave the US Navy one of its most amazing victories. It was certainly not without great sacrifice. The first US squadrons to attack the Japanese carriers were practically wiped out with large loss of life. Over 300 Americans were killed in the fighting. I can't imagine the courage it took to attack the Japanese fleet against such long odds. Something for us all to consider this Veteran's Day.

After ASL, Midway is the Avalon Hill Game that I have played the most. I absolutely love this game. It was my go to game in college with many...many playing's. I've won it as the Japanese with a sneak move of getting the Kaga and the Akagi on the east side of Midway and successfully pounding the island into submission with a single massive wave. I landed the troops on the next turn and had the win. During another playing, my battleship Task Force ended up in the exact same square as the American carrier Task Force. Nothing like blasting away at Carriers with battleships....I highly recommend it!!!

A quick look in my Midway box reveals a history of playing's on the old record keeping sheets. One dated 1984 recalls a college era game played in Alumni Hall at Valparaiso University. Great times!!!

So...if you find yourself unable to play ASL...then definitely find yourself a copy of Midway and may your Strawberry 5 find the enemy fleet!

So as I thought about the Battle of Midway, I wondered how to integrate that into ASL. Then it hit me, what about a hypothetical scenario depicting a Japanese landing on the atoll. So with that in mind, I bounced the scenario off the mind of my regular Saturday opponent...Dan Best. Dan helped me figure out what Japanese force might have participated in a landing.

The map of the Midway Atoll above clued me in as to how to write up the scenario. I had originally envisioned a Japanese submarine landing a Marine strike force on the airfield island...but a quick look at the map quickly reveals that a submarine probably couldn't approach the island. It's also barren of any concealment terrain to hide a strike force. But the smaller island...Sand Island shows both a potential approach route for a submarine and available cover to shelter that same strike force. So a scenario was born!!!

This scenario imagines that two companies of Japanese Marines are landed in the early morning hours prior to the scheduled air assault. They silently approach the opposite end of the island where Shore Batteries are controlled by a garrison of US Marines. Then as the sun rises, they assault the shore battery under the cover of the ongoing Japanese Air Assault.

So here now is the bonus November scenario.

As always these monthly "Basement Quality" Scenarios are offered for fun only and as a thank you to the readers of this blog.

Remember to open pictures in a new window in order to maximize the size.

And as always, these scenarios can be downloaded from The ASL Scenario Archive

(just search on Grumble Jones).

This scenario is dedicated to the memory of the courageous US Naval Airmen of Torpedo Squadron 8.

After a week off, Dan Best and I were at it once more for some Saturday ASL. Dan was coming back from a great weekend of ASL at the North Texas Shootout where he went 4-3 over the course of the tournament. I on the other hand, took a nice break from ASL and leveled up on Battlefield V. The new Pacific Theater maps are simply awesome and I've been having a lot of fun fighting up and down Mt. Suribachi. But it was great to be back to playing some ASL. The last couple games have been tough for me. Bad setups and poor dice left me feeling more than a little depressed about ASL. I always want to play my best game, but that isn't always possible. Going into this night's game, I was trying to stay as positive as possible.

It was Dan's turn to pick the scenario and he selected MM51 Firefight on Weinbourg Ridge from the March Madness 2018 Players Pack. Designed by Paul Works, the scenario covers a night action during Operation Nordwind. In this scenario, the men of the 45th Infantry Division - the famed Thunderbirds go head to head with the 6th SS Mountain Division Nord. These two veteran formations would fight hard against one another throughout the campaign and earn each other's respect by the end.

There are currently no recorded playing's in ROAR or on the ASL Archive. So Dan and I would be the pathfinders for this particular scenario. A third party publication and night scenario probably combine to keep it from getting a lot of playing's. Hopefully, Dan and I can show how good the scenario is and how easy it is to play night scenarios. It's really not to rough once you get the hang of it. You just got to dive right in and play. Making mistakes is no big deal and there's never been a perfect game of ASL played.

My personal library is well-stocked on books relating details of the fight on Weinbourg Ridge. The Rock of Anzio by Flint Whitlock gives a brief excerpt on it and is otherwise a fantastic book covering the entire history of the 45th Infantry Division during World War II.

Operation Nordwind 1945 is another of Osprey's excellent campaign series books. It's a really great reference for maps and overall look at the campaign.

Seven Days in January is the view from the 6th SS Mountain Division. I picked this up in Tulsa right before moving to Quincy, IL and have yet to read it. But it's moving up on the to read list. I am finishing up Gordon Rhea's Drive to Petersburg and once that is finished I can que up Seven Days.

The last book is The Liberator by Alex Kershaw which covers the career of Felix Sparks, who spent the war with the 45th Infantry Division. I highly recommend this book and found it to be extremely informative about both Spark's life and the experiences of the 45th. The details around the Anzio fight are particularly interesting and I came away with a new found respect for the suffering endured by the Americans at Anzio.

In 1985, I drove through this region on the way to Paris from Stuttgart. We didn't stop and see anything World War II related during the drive to Paris and on the way back, we stopped at Verdun, but again nothing specific to World War II. Alsace is a beautiful region and I would love the opportunity to visit again some day.

The scenario covers the actions of two companies of the 6th SS Mountain Division that were moving to interdict US lines of supply and communication. As they moved through the snow covered woods, they bumped into dug-in troops of the 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. The Germans would ultimately force the Americans to fall back.

After rolling for sides, I would get to command the men of the 179th Infantry Regiment. The famed Thunderbirds would see action from Sicily to Anzio to Operation Dragoon to Alsace and finally to liberating Dachau. They would be one of Patton's favored divisions in Sicily and had well-earned reputation for performing well under fire. The Division would carry on into the Korean War and it's patch can still be seen on active US personnel today. In World War II, it's men came predominantly from Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado. The Museum of the 45th Infantry Division is located in Oklahoma City and is well worth a visit.

The 45th would suffer over 20,000 casualties by the end of World War II. Only the 3rd, 4th and 9th Infantry Divisions would suffer greater casualties.

My force for the evening would consist of 5 x 6-6-7's and 5 x 6-6-6's led by a 9-1, 8-1 and 7-0 with 2 x MMG's for support. I would be dug in with foxholes to await the German assault. On Turn 3, I would receive 4 x 6-6-7's, and 2 x 6-6-6's led by a 9-1 and 8-0 with an MMG for good measure. Pretty decent force to ambush some SS in the dark, snowy woods.

As the scenario Attacker, Dan would command the men of the 6th SS Mountain Division "NORD". This division would see initial action in the Artic Circle fighting in the Karelian Isthmus with Germany's Finnish Allies. In September 1944, the unit would leave Finland and find itself committed to Alsace-Lorraine. The men of the Black Eidelweiss would fight tenaciously in the Vosges and would receive high praise from the men of the 45th as the toughest German unit they faced.

Dan's force would consist of 7 x 6-5-8's led by a 9-2, 9-1, and 8-1 with an LMG. On Turn 2, another 7 x 6-5-8's led by a 10-2 and 8-1 with an LMG and DC would reinforce the Germans. A very well lead force to go head to head with the Thunderbirds.

I could only hope that they would stray early and often in the dark woods!!!

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

“In this night action the Germans must get 14 of 40 EVP off the west board edge. They enter in two groups one from the south and one from the east. My plan is to do a board edge creep on the southern board edge. Using the empty cloaking counters to keep the Americans guessing as to where the Germans are. The first group will engage the American line and close for CC on the Americans. The second group will break through and exit. The 9-2 will stack with three squads and the LMG. Each other leader will stack with two squads. In the second group the 10-2 will stack with three squads with the LMG and DC. The 9-1 will have two squads and two will stay in cloaking and try to infiltrate through the Americans lines using the 6 movement factors you get with cloaking. The empty cloaking counters will move to the center and north side of the board and try to move around the Americans. Hopefully the empty cloaking counters will draw off some of the reinforcements.”

Dan's Germans would enter from the south and east boards east of Row J. My defense could extend to Row F. I anticipate that Dan would hit me hard with a Schwerpunkt and gambled that it would come from the south edge. The fanatic counters indicated squads which were HIP. Both my MMG's were set up to hold the south edge. My Turn 3 reinforcements were slated to go to the north is necessary. It would all depend on where Dan's grenadiers moved in the first three turns.

A couple notes about this AAR. I didn't put down Gun Flashes, so you won't see those. I simply used the Prep and First Fire markers as the indicators of gun flashes. Also, I probably won't mention every time Dan or myself rolled for Straying. We did it for every movement except for those squads on a path or trail. I would stay twice during the game and Dan would stray 3-4 times. But no unit strayed far or much out of the action.

Dan's Grenadiers lined up on the south edge. I had guessed correctly. Now I would have to trust to luck as Dan's boys crept towards my line in the dark.

The NORD Grenadiers were confident of success. I'd be confident too if I was 6-5-8 badass!

Dan moved aggressively and hit my line right away. I revealed the HIP 6-6-6 as Dan's 9-2 with 3 squads moved adjacent. I would break one unit. My other 6-6-6 also would fire, but without much affect. At this point in the game we had a NVR of 2. So I could dimly make out the shadowy forms of Dan's advancing Grenadiers.

My first 6-6-6 to DM would also ELR to a 5-4-6. And here would begin the odyssey of the best unit in my force. Trust me...they do some stuff before this AAR is over!!!

They would begin falling back and escape the onrushing Germans. Tough to do with only 1 hex routs. Would they make it..?

Turn 2 - the German reinforcements arrive on the East Board Edge. They would be led by a 10-2. UGH!!!!

Yeah...this dude would be all kinds of trouble for me...

While the NVR was still 2... I would place one fire lane, but with the light woods (grain is light woods by SSR) in the way, it was a futile effort.

I had managed to throw Dan back, but his boys would rally pretty quickly. Although, his 9-2 in the center would KIA a full squad during a later Rally Phase as Dan rolled back to back "12"'s. Dan would roll an usually high number of "12"'s.

"I tried to motivate them...but my Walther kept going off...it was a terrible accident..."

My one and only Starshell.

Turn 3 - the NVR was now Zero...UGH... Dan and I couldn't see jack in the pitch black. My Turn 3 reinforcements would come on to support in the north and in the south. I didn't yet know that all of Dan's boys in the north were dummy stacks.

With an NVR of zero...Dan's SS Grenadiers were running right up on top of me. I couldn't shoot until they were in my hex. Dan's 10-2 was following up behind after one of Dan's 6-5-8's had jumped into combat with my 9-1, a 6-6-7 and MMG. And then he did the unthinkable (exept for Dan!!!). He sent a squad into 8 resid to place a DC. Oh yeah...he did it...

"But Herr Hauptmann...our men are in that hex with the Amis!!"

"Do as you are ordered!! Place the DC...JETZT!!!!"

The DC would kill everyone in the hex. Problem solved...Germans advanced forward...

Following the massive blast to the south, Dan's Grenadiers moved into close combat all along my line. This would include my intrepid 5-4-6 squad that had miraculously escaped and self-rallied...only to find themselves in Close Combat with SS dudes!!!

Dan was betting on success in Close Combat. This Close Combat could break my entire forward line.

Now...a couple of awful events would happen after the close combat. Dan would generally prevail in the previous CC except against my 5-4-6, which managed to hang on in Melee.

Now beginning on Turn 2, the Americans by SSR get to place two 80mm Spotting Rounds, which are checked for error and then resolved. I would use this three times. The first time, both rounds landed on my boys and would pin my squads (Turn 2). Then on Turn 3, both would miss and land in empty hexes. But then in Turn 4 - total and complete disaster. I would land on my reinforcing 9-1 with two squads and an MMG. I roll for effect...SNAKE EYES...of course I would roll snake eyes on my own boys...(I hate this game!!!). Everybody died and a piece of my ASL heart died with them!!

"Cease fire...cease fire...you're killing Americans!!!"

This event would put in me in a bit of a funk...

After that disaster, Dan's 10-2 would fire a star shell, which would illuminate my boys on the far south board edge. One squad would be broken.

The exit zone was now in sight. The NVR had returned to 1 and then right away went back to zero.

The men of NORD were still in position to win the game. Despite the heavy losses both sides had suffered, Dan still had enough to win.

Dan had opened the door on the south. I sent squads down that way, but Dan's heavy fire would wipe them out. I ran my boys into the fight. I had to stop Dan's grenadiers.

My Turn 6 run would set me up to make a last ditch stand. But wait a minute...I bet you missed that my intrepid 5-4-6 had won its Melee finally and even now were racing into Close Combat with a German 9-1 and two 3-4-8's. Crazy Talk...but had to do it.

The deciding moment of the game had arrived!!

My 5-4-6 would get the ambush and win the close combat. With the deaths of the German officer and another full squad, the math would now go against Dan's chance to win. His remaining units did not have enough points to win the game. With that Dan offered the concession and our exhausting night fight was over.

I was mentally drained and hadn't been enjoying myself through most of the game. I hadn't recovered from blowing up my own boys and the bloody in your face fight for 6 turns had just worn me down. I was not my jovial self. I was super surprised to emerge with the win in this game. Dan's SS Grenadiers had fought hard and rocked me back on my heels for 6 turns. It was simply the luck of some Close Combat dice rolls that ultimately decided this game.

For his part, Dan was as aggressive as ever and kept taking the fight right to me. He never gave me a moment's rest in this game. The only move he made that he might have played differently would be the decision to use the DC. With his 10-2 next door, Dan probably could have just eliminated me in close combat...although nothing is a given...especially when you are rolling dice. So hindsight is always 20/20. Dan had me on the ropes at the end and except for the miracle close combat win of my 5-4-6 would probably have won the game. It was just that close.

So if you are looking for good night battle...this is the scenario. It plays fast and gives both players enough resources to overcome any early errors or if you happen to blow up your own squads...which of course I do not recommend!! My thanks to Dan for a great night of ASL. This scenario was just classic ASL...with in your face combat and unpredictable results, which is what ASL is all about!

The sun would rise to reveal that the Thunderbirds had held the line!

And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:

“The plan did not work. Grumble Jones correctly guessed my Schwerpunkt on the south side and had HIP units with MMGs waiting. The Germans could not withstand the point blank fire and did not completely break through. Even when the NVR decreased to 0, the Americans made good use of illumination and kept the Germans from moving fast. Several key CCs caused too many German casualties and in the end the Americans were able to prevent enough Germans from exiting. Excellent game by Grumble Jones! The scenario was fast playing and very bloody with both sides losing over half their forces. This is a great night action. My thanks to Grumble Jones for a fun game and congrats on a well-played win!”

Dan and I post game..."Dan I can't believe you killed everyone with that DC.", "What about you...dropping a snake eyes mortar shot on one of your own stacks!!!"

Dan and I will be back next Saturday for a playing of ASL Scenario AP142 The Closer.

We will see you then!!!

Well...here at Grumble Jones...it's time to jump out of the tank and have a little discussion. Yesterday, after putting in about 10 hours to complete the AAR for our Saturday playing of AP142 - The Closer, I saw a post from Steve Pleva pointing out that my Canadian setup was in error. I argued that I had in fact set up properly with one Canadian Tank in separate Lettered Hex Rows. I was certain that I had done it right. But behold...Steve pointed out that it was the 1/2" MMC counters that were supposed to be one per Lettered Hex Row. I had goofed the entire Canadian setup and of course ruined an otherwise great game.

Yup..I methed up big time. I took a minute to think about what to do to correct the situation. Replaying the game was out...so I thought...well I can add a disclaimer to the Blog Post pointing out the setup error.

But then I thought...no...gotta delete it all. So I deleted the FB links to the blog post and then deleted the blog post itself.

I felt like it would be a disservice to Pete's scenario to leave a misplayed ARR out there, which could lead to other folks misplaying it as well, if they failed to notice the disclaimer. It's never easy to just delete 10 hours of work...but I felt like it was the best thing to do. So my apologies to my readers who were looking forward to their Monday AAR read.

In the background, Dan and I also updated both ROAR and the ASL Archive to show a Tie/Draw instead of a Canadian win. I was bummed big time as it had been a great game for my Canadians and my Sherman Firefly had managed to take down the German Puma, Panther and Tiger I all by itself before a Panzerfaust sent it to eternity. I'll just have to savor that memory separate from this misplayed scenario.

As much fun as I like to have with my AAR's, I do take them seriously and want them to have some useful content for people who are interested in playing that same scenario. So, again my apologies for the gaff and we'll hopefully post a correctly played ASL 26 Tanks in the Streets on December 9th.

As always, thanks for spending your time at Grumble Jones!

And just like that it was December and the final Grumble Jones Scenario of 2019 is in the can and will give my readers a Baker's Dozen of scenarios this year. Years ago, I set a goal for myself to create a scenario each month as a tangible thank you for the readers of this blog. It's a commitment that I intend to keep in 2020 as well. It's been a labor of love for me to work on these scenarios throughout the year. As I say often, these scenarios are truly for fun only as they do not benefit from the craftsmanship and playtesting that are the hallmarks of the outstanding scenarios produced by MMP, BFP, Lone Canuck, HOB, LFT, Rally Point, etc. We are all of us indebted to the quality scenarios that so many great Publishers have made available to the ASL Community. I hope that the Grumble Jones scenarios add to the community in some small way.

The December scenario is GJ078 - "A Day at the Museum". I decided to end the year with a DASL Scenario and on the exact night that the DASL Board Reprint hit its reorder number at MMP. The stars seemed to align! This month's scenario depicts an action borrowed from Osprey's excellent book, COMBAT Arnhem 1944 British Airborne Soldier versus Waffen-SS Soldier. You may recall an earlier scenario also created from this excellent book. My primary inspiration was the color plate on pages 54-55, which depicts actions on the Utrechtsweg Road in Arnhem on September 19th, 1944.

There are a great many pictures of the Utrechtsweg fighting. Most of these are from German sources and would presumably come from Waffen-SS Kriegsberichters.

Any google search on Utrechstweg - Arnhem 1944 will yield a treasure trove of great photographs.

I particularly like this shot as it appears to depict the German 20mm AA Gun, which had been abandoned on the Utrechtsweg and looks like it became the victim of a Stug overrun.

As always these monthly "Basement Quality" Scenarios are offered for fun only and as a thank you to the readers of this blog.

Remember to open pictures in a new window in order to maximize the size.

And as always, these scenarios can be downloaded from The ASL Scenario Archive

(just search on Grumble Jones).

Wow...can't believe it's already December and the final game month of 2019. So much awesome ASL this year. Of course we have had our stumbles this year. Last week's AAR for AP 142-The Closer went into the delete folder after discovering that my Canadian defense had been setup incorrectly. Such a bummer. But I had a nice week off over Thanksgiving to recharge and prepare for this week's game of ASL 26 - Tanks in the Street.

Designed by Rex Martin, this scenario in Yanks has been revised from its initial version released with the original version of Yanks. It's definitely a classic ASL scenario, but interestingly, neither Dan or I had ever played it. So, we were both looking forward to giving this scenario a playing.

Now most of you know that Dan is partial to the Eastern Front and can be vocal about his struggles playing scenarios involving Americans. I really enjoy playing the Americans.

ROAR has the following stats: Yanks 1 Version has it with 35 German and 17 Americans wins. The Yanks 2 version shows 3 German and 1 American win.

ASL Archive has the Yanks1 version with 2 German and 0 American wins. The Yanks 2 version shows 2 German and 2 American wins. At first glance, I'd have to say the Germans have the edge in this scenario.

Tanks in the Streets returns us once more to the fighting around Aachen. My luck in scenarios involving Aachen is nil. I have yet to prevail in any Aachen fight. But what the heck...luck has to turn eventually. The events of this scenario occur on October 11, 1944. On this day, the men of the US 120th Infantry Regiment found themselves in Bardenberg. A day earlier they had taken the city unopposed. But now...they found themselves in the midst of a the German 108 Panzer Brigade. Panzer Brigade 108 would have multiple MKIV's and halftracks supporting a company of Panzer Grenadiers. With only bazookas, the Americans would find themselves in a wild melee for control of Bardenberg.

This scenario has some specific SSR's regarding setup. Prior to US Setup, the German Player secretly records the first and last hex of a string of 15 contiguous road hexes. The German Player then sets up his units in the Cloaking Box Display A to O to represent their order in the convoy.

The American Player then sets up normally. Additionally, each American support weapon may be kept off board to be revealed when fired, etc.

The victory conditions require the German Player to control 8 or more multi-hex buildings. The American Player begins the game with 3 Bazookas, but may take up to 6. The German VC goes down a building for each additional Bazooka taken by the Americans over the original 3. So if all 6 are taken, the Germans will only need 5 or more buildings.

The American Player also receives air support, but may decline to bring it on and if it does not appear, then the German Player must control all 18 multi-hex buildings.

After rolling for sides, I would once again be the defender and command the men of the 120th Infantry Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division. The 120th would see action in both World War 1 and II. It would see a lapse of 60 years before once more seeing action in 2004 as part of the 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team in Iraq.

My force would consist of 15 x 6-6-6's led by a 8-2, 8-1, 8-0 and 7-0 with 2 x MMG's and 3-6 Bazooka 44's. Additionally, I would have the potential of air support in the form of three '44 Fighter Bombers with bombs.

I would elect to take the 6 Bazookas, which would reduce the German VP requirement to 5 or more multi-hex buildings, but I also planned to forgo the air support and force Dan's Germans to take all 18 multi-hex buildings.

Of course, I would have no illusions about my chances for success. If ROAR is any guide, the Germans have a more than passing chance of dominating this scenario.

As the German attacker, Dan Best would command the Panzergrenadiers of the Panzer Brigade 108. His force would consist of 9 x 5-4-8's, and a 2-3-8 led by a 9-1, 2 x 8-0's, and a 7-0 with an MMG and 3 x LMG's. The armor support would consist of 6 x Panzer MKIV (J's), and 9 assorted Half-Tracks. This is a very substantial force, but the Americans would have the edge in number of squads, but the German MKIV's and half-tracks are certainly game changing. With the machine guns alone, I imagine that Dan will be able to control nearly every road.

Panzer Brigade 108 was one of several Panzer Brigades that were formed in the summer of 1944 in response to the staggering losses inflicted on the Wehrmacht Panzer Forces following Bagration in the East and Falaise in the West. For more detailed information, I highly recommend the "Panzer Brigade 1944" article by Ruud Bruyns in LFT's From the Cellar Pack 8.

The article goes into unit organization as well as the history of the individual Panzer Brigades. Very informative and an excellent read overall.

And now for Dan's Pre-Game Comments:

"The Germans must be prepared to clear the Americans from all 18 multi-hex buildings in this scenario. The key is how their column starts the scenario. All 15 vehicles must start in motion on road hexes with all infantry as passengers/riders. There are three ways the Germans can set up this vehicle column, safe, conservative or bold. Safe is on board 17 away from buildings were Americans must set up. But also, far from any victory buildings. Conservative is on board 17 and 22 away from multi-hex building where Americans are likely but close enough for immediate attacks especially BAZ attacks. Bold is right in the center of board 22 near the maximum of multi-hex buildings and on both sides of the stream. Readers of this blog know my choice is to go bold! I set up between 22H7 and 22Q2 to be as close as possible to the most multi-hex buildings and have immediate heavy combat. In addition, I chose to put the maximum number of squads on the tanks as riders. Avoiding the thin-skinned half-tracks which would be auto killed if hit by a BAZ and likely have no survivors from a burning wreck. The German 9-1 with a squad and MMG and two squads will go for building 22F4. This building will provide a rally point in the chaotic battle that is this scenario. Plus, the MMG can get into second level to keep American movement to a minimum. The 7-0 and two squads will go for capturing multi-hex buildings 22K7, 22J7, 22H9 and 22K10. One 8-0 will be tasked with capturing buildings 22M2 and 22O3. The other will move on to board 17 to capture the two multi-hex buildings. Mostly the vehicles will immediately stop and unload. The halftracks will be used to cut route paths and tanks will move to get adjacent to Americans to bring the MG firepower. Hopefully the low American morale will result in many broken squads that can be eliminated in route by the half-tracks."

Ok...time to get the game rolling. By SSR, Dan had secretly placed his force on 15 continuous road hexes with all MMC's as riders/passengers and all vehicles in motion. Also by SSR I had to place my troops one squad per building. Awesome way to guarantee that the Americans are scattered. I placed my guys in upper levels whereever possible. If it helped me...I really could not say. This is the best picture of what would be a total American train wreck. so hop aboard....

Dan went with an aggressive strategy. He would set up right in my face and ready to knock me around!!

Now the trouble with me is sometimes...I'm not really prepared for what's coming...this would be one of those games!!!

My defensive strategy (calling it a strategy is generous) was to take all 6 Bazookas, which reduced Dan's building requirement from 8 to 5...but then I decided to forgo the Air Support which would then require Dan to take all 18 Buildings...right Lt. Dan!?!

Tonight's AAR will be mercifully short and full of movement. I honestly wasn't sure how to blog this one, because the action was so fast and furious on Turn 1. I mean...good grief...Dan's 6 tanks and 9 half-tracks just went everywhere and his panzergrenadiers were in my face almost immediately. I fired at everything that I could and managed to break some squads...which was good...

I wasn't too unhappy with some of my defensive fire. A few good breaks and I managed to destroy the 37L Flak Wagon. So not too shabby to kick things off.

Despite the few breaks, Dan had done a great job of spreading out and making sure that I could not group my boys into a cohesive defense. This was really great execution on Dan's part. the half-tracks were all CE and after unloading their passengers went around the battlefield to help encircle my isolated squads. With my bazookas all in buildings to start the battle, I would end up breaking or pinning some of my boys as they took the backblast results. I would even break 2 of my 6 bazookas on the first D-Fire. Honestly, the 11's, 10's, and 9's that I rolled tonight just really hammered me hard.

I thought Dan played his half-tracks as well as any game I can remember since maybe our playing of Wiener Waltzer where his half-tracks waltzed all over me.

If you're wondering...this is still Turn 1....yeah Turn 1 took about an hour, because there was so much action.

Well....yeah....I think it's a PANZER STORM!!!

One of the other great things about Dan's choice of road hexes is that he immediately has his force on both sides of the stream. What I had hoped would be important to slowing down Dan, instead hindered me from supporting my center positions. Dan's in my face set up was paying huge dividends.

"It's all in the planning Kamerad!"

The fighting in this scenario was in my face as Dan's armor just came up point blank and blasted away.

The German Sniper was hurting me in my backfield, which would free up yet another building for Dan's grenadiers.

The black circles show my broken units. I had plenty of them. And both Dan and I would ELR two squads a piece in the course of the battle. The white circles show my successes against Dan's armor. I would knock out the 75* Half-track, small stun two more and immoblize one of the MKIV's. The Crew would bail out and rout away. But success agaimst the armor was not as important as success against Dan's troops. My 9-2 had several 20 factor shots and rolled high on all of them and never got rate of fire. You can't be successful in ASL if your primary assets do nothing...

Turns 2 and 3 - saw Dan's boys moving to cut off rout paths and secure as many buildings as possible.

Towards the west, I would send a 6-6-6 into close combat with a stunned Half-Track and fail to knock it out. I was locked in Melee and would fall the next turn.

Dan's half-tracks would be the masters of the battlefield.

As we hit the half-way mark of Turn3, we had been playing over 4 hours, which is a long time for so few turns, but again as I pointed out earlier, there is a lot going on in the early turns of this game. My 9-2 in the large northern building had been encircled and Dan sent two groups upstairs to confront him. My 20 factor shot...I rolled high...no rate...the Germans shrug off my fire. Then a MKIV pulls up adjacent and let's rip with MG's and rolls snakes. A 1 check...I roll an 8 resulting in a 9....but since I was encircled, my 9-1's morale is an 8....so I break. Then my 6-6-6 squad breaks. With that...I called it quits. Dan had already taken 9 buildings with two more ready to fall and I was down to 5 squads and no bazookas. Honestly, I had enough of just taking a beating...so gave the concession and congratulated Dan on a great win. His force did just about everything right and never let up on me. It's tough to concede with only a third of the turns completed....but it was game over. Dann had all the buildings he needed and if I brought in the airpower, he would have nearly double the 5 he would need and there would be little chance of my 5 squads managing to take away enough buildings to get the win. So giviging the concession just seemed to make sense.

Dan's panzer men could celebrate a good victory!

And now for Dan's Post-Game Comments:

"The plan worked. The Germans being outnumbered 15 squads to 9 and 1/2 made it a close issue. But the American morale of 6 made the Americans squads break and the halftracks were able to cut the route paths. The American 9-2 was upper level encircled in 22F4 and eliminated on turn 3. The Germans were careful to take prisoners when required even though the deployment made the German squads lose firepower. The multi-hex buildings fell quickly and by turn 2 all six BAZ were out of the game with two captured and destroyed, three destroyed shooting and one lost on the field. The Germans had lost only three vehicles with two more immobilized. Only one was a tank. By the end of turn 3 the Americans had only 5 squads left. The scenario is interesting with much replay value due to multiple ways both sides can set up. But it is very hard on the Americans with their low morale and the ability for mobile vehicles to cut route paths. My thanks to Grumble Jones for another fun night of ASL!"

Dan and I will be back next Saturday for a playing of BFP-102 Tolstoy Woods. We'll finish the year with an Eastern Front Scenario!

See you then!

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