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Grumble Jones 2017 Scenario Pack Post

December 24, 2017, 2:27 pm
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As with previous years, here is the annual post with all of the 2017 Grumble Jones scenarios. Long ago, I promised a scenario each month. I intend to keep that promise as we move into 2018. I make no pretense that these scenarios are in any way comparable to the fantastic scenarios created by MMP, Lone Canuck, Kansas City ASL Club, St. Louis, ASL Club, View from the Trenches, Rally Point, Schwerpunkt, East Side Gamers, Le Franc Tireuer, Bounding Fire Productions, Heat of Battle and so many other excellent third party scenario publishers. Grumble Jones' scenarios are indeed straight from your "momma's basement" and intended to remind us all of the time, when we were new to SL and ASL and made our own scenarios at the drop of a hat. I hope these monthly scenarios add to your own ASL creative juices. 

And as always, I thank you, my readers for giving my creative impulses a canvas where I can share my ASL vision.

I look forward to blogging away in 2018. 














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, the PDF's for these scenarios can be downloaded from The ASL Scenario Archive 

(just search on Grumble Jones).

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The Cossacks are Coming - December 28th, 2017 -- A 3 Player Cardboard via SKYPE ASL EVENT!!!

December 27, 2017, 4:08 pm
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Excitement is building for the first Grumble Jones 3 - Player Cardboard via SKYPE Event! 

Dan Best, Dave Mareske and I will be playing the classic ASL Scenario 33 - The Cossacks are Coming!

AAR to follow as soon as the sabers are sheathed!





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Happy 2018!!!

December 31, 2017, 12:31 pm
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2017...what an amazing year for ASL. I've have never played so much ASL in one twelve month stretch...(well since I was a working adult!!!). I managed to log 54 games and a couple of play tests, which were not recorded.

Professor Rollwright breaks down the statistics for 2017.  I managed to win 38% of my games, which is pretty reflective of my life-time experiences in playing ASL. I tend to win 4 out of 10 games. So winning a tournament is clearly not in my future. I managed to attend two tournaments this year (Kansas City March Madness and the St. Louis Tournament). I struggled in both tournaments, but managed to get one win at each of them. 2017 was a great year for playing some new folks. I'd like to take a moment mention each of you and thank you all for the great game play this year!

Tom Abromatis = we got in one scenario over SKYPE. I hope to play again in 2018.
Scott Waites = my regular opponent since 1978  - 6 games in 2017
Dan Best = we met 37 times in 2017 and have changed for all time what Saturdays are all about!
Dave Mareske = we met 3 times in 2017 and I hope for more in 2018!!
Colman Quill = we met twice and had a blast each time - see you again in KC!
Francis Biss = we met once and it was a hard fought PTO scenario - see you again in KC!
Jeff Ital = we met once at March Madness and again in St. Louis - see you again in 2018!
Richard Burton = we met once at March Madness and you Sir are my favorite opponent to discuss the finer points of the American Civil War.
Rob Wirthlin = we played one PTO scenario in St. Louis. I never searched so long and hard for a machine gun in the jungle!!! see you again in 2018!
Rick Reinesch = I finally got sit across the table from my Texas Friend. And we even got in a few rounds of Blue Max! I tip my hat to you Sir for being one of the earliest supporters of my blog. So very much appreciated!






































When all is said and done and the last morale check has been rolled...it's the people who make up the ASL Community that make this game great!


Now for a look back at the notable scenarios of 2018!

My proudest win of the year - Belgian Blitzkrieg

My most devastating and humiliating defeat...Hill 621...




My doctor is helping me though....










And finally my favorite game of 2017 (my most favorite!) was Hart Attack against Dan Best. I finally had an AT Gun in the right place and my dice allowed me to stop Dan's Lee Tanks. It was a hard fought battle and one that I enjoyed from start to finish. 



So here's to the year that was and to the year to come! Happy 2018 Everyone!
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Our Saturday Game - ASL Scenario 33 - The Cossacks are Coming

January 1, 2018, 4:49 pm
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Our final Saturday game of 2017 was a doozy!!! The first 3 Player Scenario played by the Cardboard via SKYPE method. From the warmth of the Hollis Renewal Center in Kansas City, Dave Mareske and Dan Best took me on in this ASL Classic Scenario.  It would be prove to be one of the most enjoyable games of the year!!

ASL Scenario 33 - The Cossacks are Coming depicts the events in Palesnik, Croatia in the summer of 1944 as Partisans surrounded Croatian Militia units in the town. Receiving a request for assistance, the Germans sent in elements of the Don-Cossack Cavalry Regiment 1 to rescue the militia and eliminate the Partisans. The Scenario Victory Conditions require the Partisan Player to maintain a minimum of 18 Fire Power factors within normal range of the road traversing Boards 2 and 10.



One of the things about my AAR's is that I do spend considerable time prior to posting to search Google for as many relevant images to a given scenario as possible. Mainstream battles and campaigns are relatively easy to document with correct photos. Less common battles such as the Palesnik fight can be very difficult to document. This becomes doubly difficult when dealing with highly sensitive political issues related to a given scenario. Again, Battle of the Bulge scenarios...are no problem. A fight between the various factions of 1944 Yugoslavia...way more difficult. And this particular conflict continues to resonate in the nations involved. So, having said that, my intent with t his AAR is to simply document our playing of this ASL Scenario and nothing more.


With Dan and Dave in the same location, we all felt that it made sense for them to control the Don-Cossacks and the Croatia Militia. Dan would command elements of the Don-Cossack Regiment 1 consisting of 10 x 5-4-8's, led by a 9-2, 9-1, and 8-0 with 3 x LMG's and the entire force on horseback at game start.








Dave would command elements of the Croatian Garrison of Palesnik. He would field 1 x 3-4-7's, 7 x 3-3-6's led by an 8-0, 7-0, and 6+1 with an MMG, 3 x LMG's and a 50 MTR.

The Croatians would have an ELR of 2 which would definitely hamstring Dave's forces throughout the battle..

Dan's Cossacks would have an ELR of 4 to complement their 8 Morale. All together they would field 28 squads.


As the Partisans, I would command elements of the II Proletarian Brigade. My force would consist of 8 x 5-2-7's, 12 x 3-3-7's led by a 9-0, 8-1, 8-0, and 7-0 with an HMG, MMG, and 2 x LMG. I would also have an 82* Mortar for support. I would also begin the game with 3 x foxholes. The downsides for my Partisans would their limited firepower and range a well as the inability to fire group or dig any additional foxholes.


Let the game begin!

 Dave's Croatians would come at me from the south side of the game area. 


 Dan's Don-Cossacks would ride in from the north.


 I had elected to focus on the hill closest to the Croatians. I wanted to fight Dan's 5-4-8's as late in the game as possible. I tried to avoid putting too many folks in the woods, where Dave's Croatians could creep up on me in close combat. 



Dave and Dan's respective positions following Turn 1. Not much firing at this stage of the game.
My boys would sit quietly and watch the enemy advance towards their mountain.

Dave would initiate first combat and try to take down my mortar with his 50 MTR.

In the North, Dan was moving as fast as possible over some difficult terrain. And Dan's sniper would DM my only squad in that area.


On the southeast, Dave sent two squads. I didn't take these seriously and they would end up hurting me by eliminating some of my potential rout paths late in the game. 

Dave's mortar would be broken and then eliminated from play. 

By Turn 3, the battle was joined and I was feeling the heat from all sides. My dice for the most part were good to me, but the first time I fired my MMG and my HMG would both be boxcars. I didn't get the production needed from any of my heavy support. My MG's and my Mortar would not contribute. My lowly 3-3-7's would do the most work for me.

Yeah Mobile Infantry!!!

Turn 4 saw an interesting development. Two of my squads had gone berserk. Before they got the chance to move, Dave set up the killing ground to eliminate them. When the shooting was done, I still managed to get a 1-2-7 into Close Combat where they would give up the ghost. Well Done Dave...well done Sir.

So the rules say that my boys have to go through the open ground hex...that's just GREAT!!!

Dave had managed to break my Mortar Crew and then get into the foxhole. He quickly began firing my own mortar at me. I did manage to take it back in Close Combat. This position would trade hands one more time, before game end.

Turn 4 - I was being squeezed hard like a lemon...but my Sniper would do good service against Dave's Croatians.


Dan's Don-Cossacks had some big brass balls and swept forward unafraid of my boys. I would manage to DM a few of his squads as they rushed forward.

"Careful there cowboy...even the punter makes a tackle now and then!!!"

Meanwhile back on top of Hill 538....things were getting hairy. I was in trouble...


My Commissar had held things together against Dan's Don-Cossacks...but time was running out for me against Dave. We fought three Close Combats and unbelievably...I came out of them all in fairly good shape.

Dan's Don-Cossacks were finally in good positions and Dan would move right up into my grill.



My Alamo position was shaping up. I still had over 18 Fire Power hitting the victory location road, so I was still in the fight. Dave and Dan would have to come up and get me!!!

All we had to do was hold the line!!!



By Turn six, Dan and Dave were making big moves to take me down. Dan would jump into close combat with my Commissar and finish off the entire stack.


I fired in all directions...desperate to push back the enemy....but didn't do squat...



The end was near. Dan's 9-1 even managed to go Heroic on me... gee what fun!!!

Oh gee...that's just great!!!



A final look at my defenses. Dan had nuked me in the north and Dave had me on the ropes in the south.



Turn 7 and the final phase of the game! Dave and Dan  came at me full bore.


My boys prepared for the end.

At 11:00 PM after 6-12 turns and nearly 6 hours of game play, I gave Dan and Dave my concession. I no longer had the ability to put 18 fire power factors onto the victory location road. My forces had been overwhelmed. My congrats to Dan and Dave on a well played scenario. 9-1/2 turns is a long time to survive in this scenario. I was pretty happy to make it to Turn 7.

My thanks to Dan and Dave for a great night of ASL and for the completion of our first 3 player SKYPE game. I hope we can do it again soon!


So that's a wrap for 2017. Thanks for following "Our Saturday Game" Series. Dan and I will be back in the saddle in 2018 with more Saturday gaming!


Good night for now.
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Our Friday Game - BG Scenario PAD 1: Time is Tight

January 6, 2018, 1:00 pm
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Happy 2018 everyone! Hopefully your new ASL year has started off well. My long-time opponent from St. Louis and I were once more on SKYPE playing another great game of ASL. I always enjoy getting together with my buddy Scott in St. Louis. We have a lot of shared history since first meeting in 1978. From Jr. High to High School to Friday night D&D to Squad Leader, Midway, Bismark, and finally Advanced Squad Leader. In addition to gaming, we hiked miles and miles of the OzarkTrail from Taum Sauk to Bell Mountain and Trace Creek to Owl's Bend. And during the flood of 1993, I nearly lost my friend in a flash flood in the Moniteau Wilderness north of Columbia, MO. We both learned some hard lessons that June day and let's say I never start hiking when I hear thunder rumbling and I am never...even on the hottest day without my poncho.

Following behind Scott on one of our hikes in 1988 as we headed towards Proffit Mountain in Missouri's Johnson Shut-Ins. Missouri's Ozark Trail is one of those hidden gems in this country. Sadly, we are not the young men we were 30 years ago. But the great thing about ASL is age only makes you better....right!?!

Scott and I have decided to play through all four of the BG PAD scenarios. So we selected PAD 1: Time is Tight to kick it off. After rolling for sides, Scott would be the Germans and I would be the scenario attacker. I would be the Americans and the defensive posture. The scenario (designed by Pete Shelling) covers the events of December 26th, 1944 in Tri-le-Cheslaing, Belgium.

Ok..I searched and searched...books...maps...etc. and could not locate Tri-le-Cheslaing anywhere. But it is mentioned repeatedly in this 82nd Airborne webpage:

As the Americans, I would command elements of Company C, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment. Many classic pictures of this unit during the Bulge Battle exist. I would have 6 x 6-6-7's led by a 9-1 and 8-0 with an MMG, a Bazooka and 60 MTR. I would also be able to start the game with units entrenched if so desired. I chose not to entrench. The battle would be fought with ground snow and no wind.

Scott would command elements of the 4th SS Panzer Grenadiers - "Der Fuhrer" Regiment. These boys had a long combat history and the 82nd Airborne history would remark on their fighting quality during the Battle of the Bulge. Scott's force would consist of 9 x 6-5-8's led by a 9-1, 2 x 8-0's, with an MMG, 2 x LMG's and a Panzerschreck. For support he would also have a halftrack with 20L (12 INF Factor). A very tough force to say the least. 

The victory conditions required that the Germans control all 4 of the multi-hex buildings at game end. My plan was to hold the first line as long as possible and then have the second line fall back to the final stone building. I ended up putting my bazooka in the wrong place and it never fired. The German half-track would cause me no little grief as a result.



 Having played Scott for so many years, I have become accustomed to his more cautious style of play. I think I have mentioned this many times in other AAR's.  Scott's boys would move slowly into position. Prep Fire has always been my friend, Scott's favorite phase.


Now my first roll of Defensive fire as Scott's 8-0 moved into position with two squads...would be "Snake-Eyes". Is there a better way to begin the New ASL Year!?!

His 8-0 bought the farm and another squad would break. My boys would draw first blood...but unfortunately the 8-0 would be the only German unit to perish during this scenario.


 But Scott would also roll some snake eyes and create a fanatic 6-5-8 and a Hero.


 Snipers would be active on both sides and the German sniper would hit my 3-4-7 with the Bazooka twice...ultimately eliminating them and leaving my bazooka lying on the floor of a Belgian farm house.



 Scott put a lot of firepower down on my first line. My boys began to break under the pressure.



As my boys began to break...Scott's Grenadiers moved forward. 


 The sniper would finish off my 3-4-7 as mentioned earlier. OUCH!!

My 6-6-7 in the church did a good job of holding on for two turns.

In a short turn scenario...every turn you delay your opponent...all the better!

 The German half-track was a big problem. It's (12 INF FP) was causing me grief. I began making plans to pull my 9-1 and MMG back.



 Heading into the half-way mark, the Germans had one victory location and were making strong moves towards 2 more. My 9-1 and MMG had made it to the Alamo location and would set up shop for the last stand.

 My 8-0, despite breaking two or three times in the course of the scenario...kept rallying and kept my boys as a thorn in the German side.


 
 Scott's Panzergrenadiers surged ahead. They could sense my boys cracking.



 I still had boys resisting in the center. A lot depended on them slowing down the Germans.


 My final pockets of resistance. At this stage I had lost about 2 squads total. Scott's Germans had lost only the 8-0 from Turn 1. He still had his full order of battle coming at me.

But...their cautious and methodical advance had cost them valuable time.


 Turns 5 and the beginning of 6.  Scott's Grenadiers are out of time and storm forward.

But it would be too late. Time had run out.


A last look at the situation. My boys had held the Germans back long enough to create a final line at the last victory location building. I would finally have a victory...my 9 game losing streak was over...at least until I begin the next one!!!

Here's hoping...I can keep the win streak alive!!




Yes I am!!

See you next time!
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Our Saturday Game - Scenario FT 212 - From the Cellar Pack 8

January 7, 2018, 12:55 am
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To kickoff our 2018 series of "Our Saturday Game", Dan Best and I chose a scenario from the new Le Franc Tireur - From the Cellar Pack 8. It was Dan's turn to pick and he selected FT 212 (designed by Michael Koch). Now normally I would list the title, but in this case we'll just go with FT 212. With readers in Germany as well as all parts of the former Yugoslavia, I want to be sensitive to the respective feelings of my international readers. I am no fan of censorship...but where Nazism and other extremist ideologies may be at play...it's necessary to ensure that a simple ASL AAR does not contribute to anything but our great game.

Scenario FT 212 deals with the fighting around Sekovici, Bosnia. Elements of the SS Gebirgsjaeger Regiment 28 were surrounded by Partisan units. A relief group from the SS Gebirgsjaeger Regiment 28 was sent in to rescue them and scatter the Partisans during the German Operation Maibaum. 

The green-shaded area is the operational area of the 13th SS Handschar Division of which the 28th was a part. 

As normal, we rolled for sides and Dan would be the Partisans and I would be the SS Gebirgsjaeger. The victory conditions for the scenario required the Partisans to control at least 8 of the buildings on Board 5a between rows B-F. 

Dan would command elements of Tito's 17th East-Bosnian Division. He would have 15 x 4-4-7's, a 2-2-8, all led by a 9-1, 8-1 and 7-0 with 2 x MMG's, 3 x LMG's, a 50 MTR and a 76*ARTY Gun. By SSR, the Partisans had to set up on the various level 2-3 Hill hexes of boards 2, 15 and 5a.

As the scenario defender, I would command elements of the 28th SS Gebirgsjaeger Regiment. I would begin the game with the following forces in he village of Sekovici: 4 x 4-4-7's, a 2-3-7 led by an 8-1 with 2 x LMG's. Woohoo...not really a lot of force there.

On Turn 1, I would get 9 x 4-4-7's led by a 9-1 and 2 x 8-0's with 3 x LMG's, an MMG, a 50 MTR and an 81mm Mortar. Ok, this was a nice little force.

 After finally winning a game after a long losing streak, I entered our game with a positive state of mind. That would all change with the first Prep Fires from Dan's Partisans. Dan's 50 MTR opened the game and handily managed to KIA a concealed 2-3-7 at the end of the village.  Dan's dice were on fire and would cause me great harm for most of the game.

Dan's 50mm Mortar would be one of the outstanding assets in the game.


 So at the conclusion of the Partisan part of Turn 1, Dan had already placed 8 building locations under his zones of control. Dan had successfully executed his plan. He had intended to take the village by Turn 2, so that he could prepare to defend it from my reinforcements. 


In ASL...seeing your plan actually come together is a very cool thing. So kudos to Dan for great execution in this scenario.



 Despite having already failed my personal ELR...(it was still only turn 1...too early to concede!!) I sent my reinforcements into the fight. Perhaps I could salvage some of my dignity!!



 My sniper was a bright spot in the first turn and managed to DM a 4-4-7 on the south end of the village. 

 My attack plan was to send my 9-1 with the MG's  into the gully and come up from the south. Another group would hit the center along with both mortars. And lastly three squads would head north to take down the 76 ARTY. 

It seemed like a good plan...but so does Cow Tipping...right??


 Going into Turn 2, I was still in the game...I think...


Turn 2 would see Dan complete his conquest of the village.  Two of my 2-3-7's would succeed in DM'ing three of Dan's attacking squads. And one 4-4-7 would be KIA'd. It would be the high water mark for my Gebirgsjaegers.




 Dan's plan had succeeded. He had control of the village at the end of Turn 2.



 I had hoped to make it a bit harder to take the village. But that plan didn't quite work out.

"Don't say that Sam!!!"


 I continued moving towards the village.

 I tried hard...I mean hard to get at Dan's 76 ARTY. I even made some good moves..but he intensive fired and broke and scriptified me...



 Turn 3...I was still trying to make a game of it.


 Turn 4 -- I was finally in position to put down some fire. I focused on one of the houses on the south end of the village. My 81mm Mortar and 9-1 stack both fired, but did nothing.


It was gratifying to finally get at least one shot off with my 81mm Mortar after dragging it across cardboard creation.
As Turn 4 ended, I gave Dan my concession. We both agreed that my boys were not going to get it done tonight. Dan's hot dice and my cold dice were creating a perfect storm that I couldn't stand up to. I did tell Dan that it was a bit of a humiliating defeat. 


...but I should get over it ok...

Dan, well done my friend! I am looking forward to a great year of ASL!



Dan and I will be back next Saturday for a playing of AP 80 A Bloody Waste. See you then!

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Our Friday Game - BG's Scenario PAD 2: The Quick and the Dead

January 13, 2018, 2:31 pm
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In a nice rarity, my regular STL opponent and I were able to a Friday game again this week. We had both decided to play all of Broken Ground's Mouse Pad scenarios. So next up would be PAD2: The Quick and the Dead. The size of these scenarios is particularly appealing to my STL opponent as he prefers small scenarios that can be completed in 2-3 hours. That is of course a tough requirement as few ASL scenarios out there can be played in that short time-frame. But fortunately, these mouse pad scenarios play quite quickly.

Scenario PAD2: The Quick and the Dead (designed by Pete Shelling) follows the actions of Sovaks and Soviet forces during the fighting for Tuapse, Krasnodar in August of 1942. It is a 5-1/2 turn game. The Victory conditions are centered on two 76 ARTY pieces belonging to the Soviet forces. The Slovaks win with the capture or elimination of both ARTY pieces at game end.


Tuapse was one of the key ports during the German campaign to conquer the Caucasus region.

A large number of Axis Minor Forces would accompany the Germans during this campaign.








As the scenario defender, I would command the  Soviet 68th Marine Brigade. This force would consist of 2 x 4-4-7's, 2 x 2-2-8's, with a MMG, 12 Mine Factors, 4 x Trenches, 2 x 76 ARTY's led by a 7-0. On Turn 2 the Soviet player could choose between two reinforcement groups A) had 2 x 4-5-8's, 2 x 6-2-8's, with an 8-1, 8-0, a DC And Flamethrower or B) 5 x 4-5-8's with 9-1, 8-0, LMG and DC. The choice had to be made before play began. I selected B due the quantity of squads and longer range of the 4-5-8's. 

As the scenario attacker, my STL opponent would command the 1st Mobile Slovak Division. This force would consist of 3 x 4-4-7's, 6 x 3-4-7's led by a 9-1, 8-0, 7-0 with 2 x LMG's, and a 50 MTR for support.

While a large force in terms of squads, it's fire power would be challenged to take out my well protected forces.

With only 2 squads to defend my guns, I was genuinely perplexed on how best to defend. I thought about putting the guns on the two 2nd level hill hexes with the trench in front and just hold the high ground against all comers. But since my reinforcements had to come in along the NE edge, I felt like that would take them too long to get to me.  So I stuck the guns out sight and defended them from both sides. I would also have two Dummy Stacks.


I would have to hope for the best and that my boys didn't break before my Turn 2 reinforcements hit the board.
 Scott sent his boys in on a wide front. He had momentarily forgotten where my reinforcements entered from.



I went ahead and fired my MMG at the first opportunity. It would prove helpful.


 Scott continued to Prep Fire on my MMG position and then sent boys straight ahead and then diverted some squads to act as a welcome committee for my reinforcements.

 I moved my turn reinforcements right into Scott's boys and close combats ensued.

 I had a three to 1 against a Slovak 3-4-7 with a 9-1 officer and I couldn't get it done...this would have terrible consequences.


Scott's Slovaks would get the better of me during our Close Combats.


 MELEE was a really bad deal for me. I needed to get my boys down to support my guns. Being locked in Melee worked for the Slovaks.

 My mines contributed to my defense. A Slovak 3-4-7 would get clobbered to a 1/2 Squad in the mine filled woods.




 Now...a chain of events would begin that would hurt me in the ongoing Melee. The Slovak sniper would hit the hex and one of my 4-5-8's would be pinned. Not good...


 My MMG squad would break and fall back, as Scott's boys side-stepped to get out of the 76 ARTY line of sight. I also put pressure on the Slovak 9-1 squad location. But in the CC, I would lose my 9-1 and a 4-5-8 to my opponent's 3-4-7. Not the kind of trade-off I was hoping for...

The Slovaks Died Hard!

 With time getting late, the Slovaks had to start getting up to my guns. One intrepid 3-4-7 made the journey and was met with fire and fury from an adjacent 76 ARTY.

 I succeeded in breaking the Slovak 9-1 stack and sent them routing back.

Scott sent his last 3-4-7 on the NE portion of the field into CC with m boys.  He would once again stop them with a MELEE result.

 
 One of the bad aspects of the game play during our Friday game was the high number of "12's" my opponent rolled. He was averaging one a turn and during his rally phase he would roll back to back boxcars...which would KIA a half-squad and wound his broken 9-1 who shot himself while waving  his pistol to rally the boys.



 My 76 ARTY would successfully defend itself against the single Slovak squad. Scott continued to put fire down on me, but his low firepower coupled with my positive terrain modifiers was making his fire largely ineffectual. 

 As Scott's 3-4-7 Slovak squad broke and routed away from my guns, I could breath a sigh of relief. The Slovaks would not get any closer to my guns.

 At this point in the game, I had managed to eliminate the Slovaks in the northeast section of the battlefield and I had held in the center and along the left. A Slovak 1-3-7 made a dash, but didn't make it. My 4-4-7 had rallied and went back to their position with my MMG.

 As turn 5 concluded, I had my boys in the best positions I could have hoped for.



As we concluded the first half of Turn 6, my opponent offered the concession and my Russians would have the win.



Scott and I will back next Friday to face off in PAD3: Earning Face. I recently lost this one as the Chinese against Dan Best's Japanese. I will once again lead the Chinese and hopefully redeem my earlier performance.



And so we shall!
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Our Saturday Game - ASL Scenario AP80 - A Bloody Waste

January 14, 2018, 8:25 pm
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For our Saturday game, Dan Best and I selected Scenario AP80 - A Bloody Waste. After having just received Lone Canuck's Anzio-1944 Pack, I was excited to use my new 1st Special Service Force counters. AP80 includes the 1st Special Services Force, so it was a perfect choice for the evening's ASL.

This scenario is a Gary Fortenberry design and is a nice mid-sized combined arms action. There are lots of toys on both sides and fairly straight-forward objectives. The scenario takes place in June 1944 at Artena-Valmonte Gap, Italy.

The drive towards the Artena-Valmonte Gap was intended to cut off Highway 15, which represented the only escape route for Kesselring's forces as the momentum of the fighting in Anzio swung decisively in favor of the Allied drive towards Rome.

Standing in the way were the veterans of the Hermann Goering Panzer Division. But leading the effort to dislodge the Luftwaffe Grenadiers would be the Black Devils of Col. Robert T. Frederick's 1st Special Service Force.









Having rolled the defense, Dan Best would command the Grenadiers of the Hermann Goering Division. His force would consist of 6 x 4-6-7's, 4 x 2-2-8's, led by a 9-1, and 8-1 with 2 x Stug III's, 1 x Marder III, a Wirbelwind, and a Flakpanzer 38 with an 81mm MTR, a HMG, an MMG, 2 x LMG's, 12 Mine Factors, 2 x 20 L AA Guns, and an 88mm AA Gun. Dan would also have 4 x Trenches and 2 x Barb Wire to strengthen his defenses.

While infantry poor, this force would be well equipped to stand up to the tank assault coming at it.





As the scenario attacker, I would get the chance to command the Canadians and Americans of the 1st Special Service Force. I was stoked to command these guys. Dan and I discussed the Scenario SSR, which equated the 1st Special Service Force with the Marines and decided to forgo those and use George Kelln's 1st Special Service Force rules from Lone Canuck's Anzio-1944 Pack. 

My force would also be made up of men from the 3rd Infantry Division and armor from Task Force Howze. It has been a while since I had such a powerful force to command. My troops would consist of 6 x 6-6-8', 8 x 6-6-6's, led by a 9-2, 9-1, 8-1 and 8-0 with a .50 CAL HMG, 2 x MMG's, 4 x Bazookas and 2 x DC. My armor would include a 9-1 Armor Leader and 6 x Sherman M4A1's, and 4 x M10's. 

The only downside to the scenario would be having to move across a lot of open Italian landscape to get to the Germans in the hilltop fortified village. I was not looking forward to dealing with the German 88. My last experience with an 88 was in Bosq Barbecue against Big Kansas (Chris Brackney) and his 88 lit me up.  So, I was cautiously optimistic about this scenario.













But despite my fears about assaulting across ground exposed to some serious German fire, I was really looking forward to commanding some of Col. Frederick's Black Devils...and using my new Lone Canuck counters! Woohoo!!!


Like these fellas...I looked at the maps for this scenario every day after work...trying to work out the best attack approach.

Dan had been busy playing earlier in the day with the Kansas City ASL Club and put his defense together shortly after we began our SKYPE session. The central road running through Dan's position is actually a raised railroad embankment. Dan anchored his defense with a Stug III at either end. Unfortunately the wheat fields in the east and brush in the west messed with his lines of sight.

My attack plan hinged on placing three critical White Phosphorous smokes into play. I managed to get all three. And lo and behold one of my Willy Pete specials landed right on Dan's HIP 88mm Gun. This would of course be a good news bad news sort of thing...as once revealed the 88 cracked off a round and destroyed the offending Sherman tank. In other news, I would make it to my phase 1 objective line.

 Oh...how I hate to face these bad boys...

 By the end of turn 2, I had managed to break the crew of the 88 and forced them to rout away from their gun.

 One of the standouts for me in the game would be my 50 Cal HMG directed by the 9-2. They would offer the exact kind of fire support I needed thoughout the game.


 Turn 2, I moved ahead quickly to take shots at the 88mm Gun while its crew was on holiday!


 As my Shermans moved ahead, Dan's west edge Stug III opened up. He would destroy one tank before MALF'ing its gun.



 As my infantry attack began to hit the jump off line, Dan's 81mm MTR opened up from the factory roof. Now we both discussed this and decided it was ok (despite Roof use being by SSR only). Dan's mortar would struggle to get any hits, before I managed to break it's crew.


 Dan would fix the Stug's gun in the very next rally phase and begin popping off shots at my boys. Meanwhile, my 50 CAL would do great damage to the Germans hiding in the Tower.

The tower would become a death-trap for Dan's boys. Only the 9-1 would escape alive.


 One of my 6-6-8's decided to go Berserk. This would serve me well in launching my assault.



My Sherman would go after the 8-1 German stack and in the process create a Hero and battle harden a 4-6-7 to a 4-6-8...but my Rate of Fire would hit four times and ultimately break everyone and wound the hero twice.


 My Berserk squad would charge first and actually make it unharmed into the building. In the process, the German 20L AA would reveal and fire. It would hurt me badly shortly...



 In this image...you can see that I had marked the 20L AA Final Fired. Not sure now, why I failed to First Fire it...but the mistake had been made.


 A launched my tanks and infantry into the planned assault. I sent the 8-1 stack to deal with the 20L AA Gun, because I believe it could not fire again. I was mistaken...and predictably Dan's roll was snake eyes and everyone died. I was sick inside...such a stupid error on my part...and so costly.



As my boys surged forward and up into the village...my 9-1 was bent on revenge and went after the 20L AA gun crew.



 A look at the objective buildings as we concluded Turn 3.


 Despite having a 3 to 1 on Dan's 20L AA gun crew...I rolled "11" and Melee it was...the other Melee was my boys swarming over Dan's Marder III.

Melee!!!

 I knew that Dan's other Stug would eventually hit me from behind...but I ignored the threat and pushed into the village. 

Dan's Stug would destroy an M-10 in bounding fire.

 Dan's Hero would jump into Close Combat with another M-10 in the village. He would roll and get an Anti-Tank Mine...but fail to set it.

Despite the miss...the courage of Dan's thrice wounded hero was something to admire. A stout cardboard warrior to be sure!

 A look at the situation as we headed into Turn 4.

 I managed finally to immobilize the Stug in the west after having shocked it earlier. I sent a Sherman, an M-10 and my 9-1 after the Stug in the east. It would claim one more victim by destroying the M-10 with intensive fire. Meanwhile in the village, Dan's hero would be gunned down.  And I would lose two more tanks to Panzerfausts. For much of the game, Dan had failed either to get a Panzerfaust or to hit...but finally he got the fausts and got the hits.



 As the turn concluded, Dan was down to his last two squads and only held two of the objective buildings. My boys were in the village in force and would soon eliminate the eastern Stug and the remaining 20L to gain control of the village. At this point, Dan offered the concession and my 1st Special Service Force had the victory.


It had been a tough fight with heavy losses on both sides, but my boys had managed to get it done.


As always my thanks to my intrepid opponent for yet another great night of ASL.

Dan and I will be back next Saturday for another 3 Way SKYPE with our good friend Dave Mareske joining us for some more cardboard carnage!




See you next time!
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Grumble Jones January Scenario - GJ053 "Roll Jordan Roll"

January 15, 2018, 10:01 pm
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In honor of Martin Luther King Day, here is the January Grumble Jones Scenario GJ053 "Roll Jordan Roll" which is based on the actions of the African-American 333rd Field Artillery. This unit was originally raised and trained at Camp Gruber in Oklahoma and then later at Fort Sill to hone their artillery skills.

The unit faced the normal racism of that time both in the civilian and military communities. They would overcome this and other hurdles as they were deployed in Western Europe. During the Normandy campaign, they would prove their worth while providing critical fire support to the 82nd Airborne and other units. As an independent unit, their skills were in high demand. 

By the time of the Battle of the Bulge, the 333rd was a veteran and highly capable unit.






During the Battle of the Bulge, the 333rd was supporting the 106th Infantry Division in the Schnee Eifel. As the 106th crumbled, the 333rd would itself be overrun by units of the 18th Volksgrenadiier Division. 

Unable to stand up to the attack, the 333rd initially tried to escape, but when it was clear that there was no escape, the unit surrendered. During the march to the rear, 11 men of the 333rd Field Artillery escaped into the woods. They sought refuge with a Belgian Family. They were treated well and had food and a warm place to stay. Unfortunately, other villagers informed the SS Grenadiers in the area that Americans were in the village. Captured a second time, the African-Americans were marched away. But this time, their captors massacred them. All 11 men were brutally killed near Wereth, Belgium.

Today, the only WW2 monument to African-Amerians soldiers is the Wereth Memorial, which was paid for largely by the local Belgian inhabitants.

This month's scenario takes a hypothetical look at the events leading up to the demise of the 333rd Field Artillery and imagines what might have happened had they been supported long enough to limber the artillery guns and move them out of harm's way.

The 81st Engineer Battalion was in the same neighborhood as the 333rd. So the scenario asks what might have happened had the 81st Engineer Battalion linked up with the 333rd Field Artillery to hold the line.

Hopefully, this scenario will give some flavor of those dark winter days in 1944 Belgium.

The Grumble Jones January Scenario GJ053- "Roll Jordan Roll" is dedicated to the African-American veterans of the 333rd Field Artillery and their 11 brothers who lost their lives at Wereth, Belgium. May we never forget.



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, the PDF's for these scenarios can be downloaded from The ASL Scenario Archive (just search on Grumble Jones).
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Our Saturday Game - A 3 Player Bonanza!!! ASL Scenario J171 - Whom Gods Destroy

January 21, 2018, 9:44 pm
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Saturday...that magical day...when the world stands still and all is silent except for the clink of dice rolling in glass tumblers etched with past ASL Glories...Texas ASL...Audie Murphy Award...March Madness 2015...and then the crack of cardboard rifles...the staccato chatter of cardboard MG-42's cutting through the woods of board 5...and the boom of OBA that shatters the night air and convinces your unsuspecting neighbors that World War 3 has been unleased...

THAT'S RIGHT...IT'S ASL NIGHT IN AMERICA!!!


So put the children to bed...tell the neighbors to seek shelter...because ASL is being played and in this game...there will be fire and fury and HEROES will be born!!! 

And yes...in the end there can be only ONE!



For our Saturday game, Dan Best, Dave Mareske and I met once more in a 3 way Cardboard via SKYPE. But on this night...there would be no allies...no cooperation...it would be a fight to the death and only one of us would be the champion at the end of the night!


ASL Scenario J171 - Whom Gods Destroy is one of the only scenarios of which I am aware of that is actually a 3 Player free for all. This particular scenario (designed by Chris Olden) concerns the events surrounding the summer of 1944 in Greece.


The German forces there were sensing that the time to leave was fast approaching. Meanwhile various factions within Greece itself were preparing to war on themselves as soon as the Germans were out of the picture. In this scenario the three forces are as follows: The German 7th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment, SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier Division 4 / Elements of the British-backed EDES Guerrillas / and Elements of the Soviet-backed ELAS Guerrillas.



After rolling for sides, things shaped up like this:



Dave Mareske would command the 7th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment. He would field 8 x 6-5-8's, 2 x 3-4-8's, led by a 9-1, 2 x 8-1's, and 8-0 with 2 x MMG's and 3 x LMG's for support. Additionally, he would have a Half-track and 2 x PZ M15/42 Tanks. 


This force would field the smallest number of squads, but would have the best moral and armor support. As the scenario would prove, these guys would be the best equipped to prevail.



 I would draw the British-backed and trained EDES Guerrillas. My force would consist of 7 x 4-5-8's, 8 x 4-5-7's, led by a 9-2, 2 x 9-1's, and 8-1 with an HMG, MMG, 6 x LMG's, 2 x ATR's, and 2 x 51 MTR's. This would be a substantial and well-equipped force. The EDES force would also have the advantage of moving first. This would allow me a rare opportunity to move across an ASL board with no defenders. It was a novel experience. Unfortunately, my force would fail to meet expectations.


 Dan Best would draw the Communist - ELAS Guerrillas. This would be the largest force in the game. Dan would have 6 x 5-2-7's, 7 x 4-4-7's, and 9 x 3-3-7's lead by a 10-0, 10-2, 9-1, and 8-0 with an HMG, MMG, 3 x LMG's, 2 x ATR's and 2 x 45 MTR's. 

Dan is a big fan of Partisans and would play these guys very well. He would take huge risks and bring the battle to the Germans.











 The EDES entry zone.


The EDES forces (in green) move onto the board unmolested. My strategy was to accumulate CVP from both the ELAS and the Germans. My mortars were focused on the entry area on the hills where I knew the ELAS would come onto the board. My force in the center was going to push towards the H7 victory location area.


 Dave's German SS Grenadiers came in and moved quickly into two main positions. The first of these was the H7 Victory Hex location. Whichever side had the most squads within 3 hexes of H7 would win the scenario (or whoever had the most CVP at game end). Dave's next focus was to put a tank and squads in position to counter my EDES boys.

I would repeatedly hit Dave's tank with my ATR...but I needed Snakes to eliminate it and I ever even got close.



 Dan's ELAS would have the most difficult terrain to enter across. All of Dan's boys would enter the game CX.



 As planned, my mortars went to work on Dan's ELAS. I would accomplish next to nothing for 4 turns. Ultimately, I should have moved the mortars into my center position and used them to smoke the German armor. Lesson learned...and now you know too.



 The scenario card includes a three turn marker section, which shows how each phase is conducted. Each side has three rally phases per turn and two defensive fires. It worked very well, but we all three concluded that the turns were overly long as a result.

Another unanticipated difficulty occurred as a result of playing over SKYPE. As Dan and Dave engaged one another's forces face to face, they would often forget to call out the hexes, so that I could follow the action. I would hear Dan say..."and this little fella is moving here"...and I would be "Who...what little fella...what's happening??"





 Berserkers...they always add some excitement to the game!


My EDES boys were initially stymied. For whatever reason I was playing overly cautious and didn't move in Turn 2. Meanwhile, Dave's tank just kept scoring hits on my 9-2 in the house and 2 and 3 MC's were the rule of the day as he would get 2 critical hits on me. 



 Dave's Half-track would also keep a watchful eye on my forces as Dan's ELAS Guerrillas came charging down the mountain. Kudos to Dan for bringing some great entertainment to the night. He went for broke turn after turn. While I was paralyzed with inaction...Dan was charging into the SS machine guns with wild abandon!!




 Snipers abounded during our game. Dave's dice were hot and rolled a lot of threes, which activated Dan's and my Sniper. Unfortunately for me, the German and ELAS sniper would hit me, while my Sniper hit both Dan and Dave from time to time.

The ELAS sniper would prove troublesome for my boys.

 My EDES sniper would in the same turn, Stun the German Half-track and Pin Dan's boys on the hill with an ATR.

 My 9-1 would be wounded by a sniper and a squad broken by the same shot.  Meanwhile, my 9-2 stack would be DM'd by Dave's tank. My two biggest groups were down for the count.

 As Dan's boys surged into the village and went man to man with Dave's Germans...a wounded ELAS Hero would jump into Close Combat with a squad of SS. Dan would win the ambush and wipe them out...even the LMG. Good grief!!!



 A look at positions as we worked through Turn 3.








Dave's Grenadiers were weathering the storm!

 As we entered Turn 4, Dave decided to fall back and get some separation between his force and Dan's ELAS Guerrillas.


 Dan's ELAS Guerrillas made one final push and would hit Dave hard, but then fall back. 


Dan's boys had fought hard throughout the game.

As turn 4 ended...the clock struck 10:00 PM. Dan and I assessed the situation and both agreed that it was time to tip our hats to Dave and congratulate him on a great win. Both Dave and Dan had 7 units in the Victory Zone location. So the final decision came down to CVP. Dan had 4 CVP, I had 4 CVP and Dave had 14 CVP. So Dave had the win! It had been a very interesting game. Dave had done a masterful job of fending off both Dan and I. 

The SS Grenadiers would win the day and make good their escape from Greece.


Another great night of ASL and the completion of a very unique ASL Scenario. We all now knew Whom the Gods Destroyed!!!

As Gladiators we had faced off in the cardboard arena!





 Congrats Dave on a great win!




Dan and I will be back next Saturday for ASL Scenario 180 - The T-Patchers.


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Our Saturday Game - ASL Scenario 180 - The T-Patchers

January 28, 2018, 2:15 pm
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Back again to our regular Saturday game, Dan Best and I elected to journey to the rugged terrain of Italy in December 1943. Our selected scenario would be ASL Scenario 180 - The  T-Patchers.  This scenario covers the bloody fighting between the US 36th "Texas" Division and the Grenadiers of the German 29th Panzergrenadier Division as they fought for control of San Pietro, Italy at the end of 1943. 

Having grown up watching the TV Series - The Gallant Men, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gallant_Men) I became very interested in the Italian Campaign of World War II. All my early Marx soldiers battle of the 1970's involved Lincoln Log bunkers filled with Germans, set up on night stands that my US soldiers had to assault. For many years, my impressions of World War II were focused on the fighting in Italy. 

A great day back in 1970's Bristol, Tennessee would include watching an episode of the Gallent Men followed by a backyard reenactment with my WW2 canvas belt, canteen, Great-Uncle's WW2 helmet liner and my wooden Springfield rifle. After a couple hours of leading my boys in assaults on the backyard hill...I would take the action to the bedroom for a large scale battle of Marx Germans and Americans on the hardwood floor. These would last many days...which drove my mother crazy.




The Battle of San Pietro would be heavily covered by the news media of the day and included a documentary by John Huston. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OLJZvgIx5w ). As a result of the media coverage and the high losses sustained by US forces in repeated assaults, San Pietro remains a painful memory like Anzio or Tarawa. The Rapido River would be a name associated with severe loss of life and would memorialize the courage and sacrifices of the Gallant Men of the 36th T-Patchers Division.



Like much of Italy, San Pietro is located in a beautiful valley with high mountains on the horizons. Having traveled through this area in 2007, I can attest to both its natural beauty and height of the surrounding mountains. Driving past Monte Cassino on the way to and from Naples remains a highlight. Unfortunately, as I was working, I didn't have the time to make a proper visit to any of the battlefields.


My only shot of Monte Cassino as I headed back to Rome to catch my flight home.
Scenario 180 The T-Patchers was designed by Bill Sisler and is a great representation of the battle for San Pietro.

There is a tremendous amount of good source material for in depth study of the Battle of San Pietro. Let Google be your guide!


After rolling for sides, Dan Best would luck out and get to command the men of the 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division. Dan would get to field the boys of the T-Patchers Division.


Yeah, I was a little jealous. I'm a big fan of this division along with the 45th. So it would have been a kick to lead them in this scenario. Surprisingly, Dan was a little less excited. He expressed a history of missed morale checks when commanding US troops and having a hard time facing their firepower when defending against them. I have to concur wholeheartedly with Dan's assessment. I too have experienced the same issues, but ya gotta love US troops when it comes time to rally and any time you get adjacent or in CC with the enemy. Good times then as the American Player. 

Dan force would be the scenario attacker and field the following force of 14 x 6-6-7's, 2 x 3-4-7's, led by a 9-2, 9-1, and 2 x 8-0's with a 50 CAL, 2 x MMG's, 2 x BAZ 43's and 2 x 60 MTR's. ON Turn 1, he would also receive 4 x Sherman M4's. The only real weakness in Dan's force would be the lack of smoke making capability. But he would not miss this!



As the scenario defender, I would command the Grenadiers of the 29th Panzergrenadier Division. The boys of the Falcon Division were formed in1943 from the decimated 29th Motorized Division. 



The grenadiers of the Falcon Division would find themselves trying to fend off relentless US assaults with a limited amount of manpower, artillery and tanks. Unlike the American units, the Germans would not be able to replace their losses. But the terrain and German defensive tactics would make these men are formidable opponent.

My force would consist of 9 x 4-6-7's, 2 x 2-4-7's, led by 9-1, 8-1, and 8-0 with an HMG, MMG, 3 x LMG's and a 50 MTR with 12 Mine Factors and a Roadblock for good measure. My heavy support would be a Stug III and a 50L AT Gun. On Turn 3, I would also receive an additional Stug III.

The ROAR balance in the ASL Scenario Archive shows 18 American to 13 German wins. So it's a well put together scenario with ample opportunities for either side to gain the win.

I left this one setup all week and each night tweeked my defense a bit here and there. The stream is dry and I fixated on it a bit too much in my set up. It seemed like a ready made avenue of approach and I would place too many of high value assets in that sector as opposed to the east flank. This would prove to my undoing in the scenario.

As Sun Zu states "every battle is won before it is fought..." or lost as the case may be...eh?










As always, the Grumble Jones staff photographers would be on the ground to capture all the cardboard action.













 The victory conditions required Dan's Americans to have more VP north of the white line than the Germans did by game end and not have lost more than 39 CVP to the Germans. I went with an upfront defense with my HMG and MMG covering the center and the dry streambed. My 50L AT Gun was also watching this sector. My 8-1 anchored the far east edge in a double fortified building location. The 50 MTR and Stug III provided support on that flank.



I was confident that my 9-1 had put together a solid defense....yeah...I might be throwing an imaginary cardboard SMC under the bus for what's about to go down...









But...I'll also give Dan's 9-2 some credit for executing a great example of Schwerpunkting!!!

 Dan's Schwerpunkt set up with the Armor prepping to enter the game. I had guessed wrong. Dan was going to boot and scoot down the east board edge. 

Ok...I  had a 50/50 chance of covering the correct flank...

 Dan opened the game with his mortars showering some love on my 50 MTR. Fortunately, they would not have any impact (pun not intended!!!).



 Dan's first tank would draw a shot long-range shot from my 50L AT. A clean miss and I would not get another target the remainder of the game. But in other news, Dan's second Sherman would try to ESB and a boxcars immobilized it.






Fellas...I think we threw a tread...
 Dan's Schwerpunkt moved in and I fired what I could at him. I broke some squads, but nothing too serious.



 Dan's immobilized Sherman would quickly target my Stug III. I focused the Stug on hammering the oncoming infantry.

I should have focused on the Shermans due to their higher CVP value, but I went for the infantry instead.

 In my first Prep Fire, my Stug III would successfully place smoke in front of Dan's 9-2 KILL Stack. In the wind change DR I had rolled snakes, so we had a mild breeze. Suddenly my smoke would be drifting back on top of me...just great... oh and Dan's immobilized Sherman would get a lucky hit and knock out my Stug III. My primary asset on the east flank was gone.

My Stug life was not going to have a happy ending.


 I tried to readjust my forces to reposition myself in front of Dan's onrushing Schwerpunkt. I also sent two half-squads to come in behind the Sherman tank in the center road.


 The smoke would save my 8-1 I the fortified location from the devastating 31 factors coming from Dan's 9-2...oh good grief...a freakin' death star on the map.

"Ja...das stimmt!!!"

 Ok...my buddy Dan is a wily fox of a player. I myself am a bit of a chimp. But Dan also knows how to open up the book of ASL sleaze and use them to good effect. He would use one Sherman to put my 8-1 stack into VBM freeze (ground floor 4-6-7 only as he was buttoned up). I would fire my inherent to create some residual fire as the tank went into bypass. 

Dan's next successful use of sleaze tactics would be used to save the Sherman on the center road. I had a 2-4-7 adjacent...locked and loaded to fire a panzerfaust. I only had a range of 1 hex. So Dan pivoted the tank. I held my fire because of the hedge. I was waiting for his move into the next open road hex. But Dan decides to bypass the road...which put his Sherman on the imaginary hex spine...which apparently is greater than one hex away and out of range of my panzerfaust...drats!!!  This was the second time I had experienced this maneuver. I had an opponent utilize it against me at the 2016 March Madness Tournament. So take notes as it is a clever maneuver...even if I can't stand it...which I teasingly told Dan.


Yeah...but it was a legit move that faked me out of my panzerfaust decorated jock strap!!!

 On the east edge...apocalypse now was taking full effect. My D-Fire was completely useless. My 8-1 had managed to get a panzerfaust but missed the Sherman by 1. And before you knew it...I was completely surrounded.




"Hans...?""Ja Uwe...""I think we are in deep trouble..." 

 Dan blitzed through my defenses on the east flank. I was rushing grenadiers over there...but it would not be enough.

 Yes...I positioned two groups behind the building. This was to prevent VBM freeze and to allow me open shots with my panzerfausts.

 Dan swooped in for the kill. I would fail to get panzerfausts and miss with all but one. I finally got a hit and destroyed a Sherman (woohoo...my one and only kill of the day).



As the US phase of Turn 3 wrapped up...things were looking pretty bleak for my team. We were barely half-way through the scenario and I was already feeling some deep butt hurt.



 Dan would go into close combat with one of my pinned 4-6-7's (pinned when they rolled a 6 looking for a panzerfaust).



 Going into the bottom of the third, I was being relentlessly pushed back. I just could not stand up to the tanks and infantry fire power. 


I would also lose a 4-6-7 squad to captivity.

 But I refused to concede. I was still living the Stug life and sent my last Stug III on a death ride to glory.

This is how it looked like in my head!!!

 I was of course SHOCKED by the reality....as my Stug got hit by a Bazooka fired by the 9-2 stack.



 My shocked Stug would go on to unconfirmed kill and then at the end of turn 4...it would be dead.

 On Turn 4, Dan would get his boys set up to repel any last ditch German efforts. He had all the VP he needed across the line. It was the 2:00 minute warning and I was down 38 to 7. I could try for the onside kick maybe...

or...maybe not...probably better to just concede and pick out next week's scenario!!

A final look at the battle. Dan's Schwerpunkt had done its job. There was just no stopping it once it got rolling. So congrats to Dan on a great win! 


Yes it was!

My thanks to Dan for another great Saturday of ASL!!

Dan and I will be back next Saturday for ASL Scenario 126 Commando Schenke!

Until then...good night!
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Our Saturday Game - ASL Scenario 126 - Commando Schenke

February 4, 2018, 4:55 pm
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Now...I know you're probably watching the Super Bowl as this blog goes to print! Guess what...I am too...but you know...nothing tops a great game of ASL...not even the Super Bowl. So let's get into this week's AAR for ASL Scenario 126 Commando Schenke!!!

What...wait a minute...you mean the SUPER BOWL is on right now... and you have Jimmy John's and Tostidos with that great nacho dip!?!  BLOG...what blog...




Wait a minute...it's the Patriots and the Eagles...huh...no Vikings...no Cowboys...no Chiefs ??? Seriously...well dang...I think I'll grab that Jimmy Johns Vito to go and get back to the BLOG!!!


Looks like I'll be watching for the commercials again this year. It's tough being a life-long Cowboys fan. I grew up during the Cowboys glory years. But they haven't seen a Super Bowl since my kids were born in 1996...

I tell them...the Cowboys ruled in the day and they just look at me...like I'm a crazy old dude who plays board games...uh...what...

Then I show them my Roger Staubach autographed picture and they ask me...who dat!?!

Of course the worst part of all of this is my brother is an Eagles Fan...yes...that's right he sent me an Eagles shirt for my birthday last week.

Yep...somebody at Goodwill is now dancing with their new Super Bowl Shirt!!!!





This meme is dedicated to my brother in Jenkintown, PA. 















Oh yeah...I'm a Cowboys fan through thick and thin...of course, we may wallow in misery for a while longer...but one day...one day...the BOYS will be back...

















Ok...point taken...


You're absolutely right. Let's get back on point and start talking ASL!!!

But wait...how is that different? I win about as often as the COWBOYS!!!

No wonder I'm a fan!!!



For our Saturday game, Dan Best and I selected scenario, ASL Scenario 126 (designed by Jean-Luc Beschennec) Commando Schenke is one of those classic urban fights set on Board 1...the very grail of all ASL maps. ROAR shows 53 Russian Wins to 59 German Wins. So this is one of the more balanced scenarios out there. Although, I'll admit that as the Russians I really felt like the odds were against me. Dan and I briefly discussed the relative power of our force. Numerically, the Germans only have 1 more squad than the Russians. But when you do the firepower math, it's drastically different. The Russians have a total of 67 Firepower for all squads and support weapons. The Germans have 266. That's a lot of offensive capability to draw upon and it's all needed, especially as the victory location building is completely fortified on every floor.


 Leipaja, Latvia is located on the Baltic Sea and by all counts is a beautiful Latvian City. And appears to be a popular tourist destination.

On the eve of Operation Barbarossa it would already be occupied by Soviet Forces. These men would form the Leipaja garrison and find themselves in a tremendous battle against the German 291st Infantry Division and supporting Kriegsmarines.

My research for this AAR also revealed some darker history related to the Holocaust. Naturally, we should never gloss over such tragedies, and therefore acknowledge them here. A quick Google search will provide you with additional information about those tragic events.




I have always wanted to visit the Baltic States...but not sure if such an opportunity will ever arise. But, I'll keep it on my bucket list!!

After rolling sides, Dan Best would end up commanding the German forces and would be the scenario attacker. The men of the 291st Infantry Division "The Moose Division" would fight exclusively on the Eastern Front. Their early victories in the Baltic States would be replaced by years of static fighting on the Leningrad Front until their eventual annihilation by Soviet Forces in March of 1945.


Dan's force would consist of the following: 10 x 4-6-7's, 5 x 8-3-8's, led by a 10-2, 9-1, 8-1, 8-0 and 7-0 with an HMG, MMG, 2 x LMG's, 2 x Flamethrowers, 4 x DC's. As previously noted, this would be a very powerful force. They would also have 5 smoke making exponent, which would be put to good use throughout the battle.

Dan's ELR would be a 4 and his SAN would be a 2, which meant his sniper was not likely to ever be activated!!! I think I would only roll one snakes that resulted in an activation check and Dan would roll a 6. So in a rare occurrence, the sniper would not make an appearance for either side for the duration of the game.



As the scenario defender, I would command the Soviet elements of the Leipaja Garrison. Unfortunately, my Google searches returned very little information on this unit or its makeup. So I apologize to my Russian and Eastern European readers. It may seem at times that I over due my attention to German units in my AAR's. This is primarily the result of so little available source material on the net. So to you, I would ask for your assistance in identifying quality sources that are available online to better document the Soviet Red Army forces for my future AAR's. As always, I want this blog to be not just enjoyable but as informative as it can be. So thanks in advance for any direction you can provide.

My force would consist of 11 x 4-4-7's, 3 x 5-2-7's led by an 8-1 and 9-0 Commissar with a MMG, 2 x LMG's and 13 concealment counters to go along with a fully fortified victory location. One observation for this scenario is the relative lack of machine guns on both sides. One more LMG would have gone a long way for my Soviets. 

By SSR, the Soviets have to setup at least 6 squads south hex row U. I did so and added to Dummy Stacks to attract Dan's flamethrowers. They would do exactly what I hoped as Dan's boys eliminated them in Prep Fire.  I tried to establish my initial blocking line out of flamethrower with opportunities to interdict the various roads. My 8-1 with the MMG was prepared to lay down fire lines along either flank. I have heard of other strategies for defending in this scenario, where the Soviet player put everything into an upfront defense. I was worried that I would not be able to fall back with enough intact squads to utilize that strategy.


Lately, I have put considerable effort into my pregame. In the past, I usually just worked things up that day before and reacted as the game unfolded. And honestly, that's not a good way to prepare. So I worked through about five different setups before going with the one I used.
As expected, Dan hit me hard right off the bat and sent his half-squads running all over the place to be bullet magnets and force me to uncover my forces. My fire line with the MMG worked as I  had hoped, but Dan managed to use bypass movement and avoid my fire lane. So on turn 1, Dan managed to push his way forward up the middle.


After Dan's part of Turn 1, things were already looking bad for my boys in the center. I just didn't have enough firepower to evict his boys from the buildings. I did well enough in controlling the streets, but for the most part only broke Dan's units, and with their good leadership and morale they would keep coming back turn after turn.





One of the things that really bedeviled Dan during the game was the failure of his 8-3-8's to avoid breaking. They had a "glass jaw" as Dan called it for most of the game. So this allowed my forces to stay in the fight for a turn or two longer than would have happened otherwise.

But despite breaking, they would still be the primary force that would bring Dan victory at game end.



 Our first Close Combat would go to Melee, but in the end Dan's boys would prevail.





This scenario would be a rough one for both of us and a great many squads would be eliminated by game end.


Dan's 10-2 also had a bit of glass jaw and would break on two occasions, which again gave my boys much needed breathing room as Dan's  relentless attacks came on every turn. One of the key characteristics of Dan's play is that when he attacks, he is in your grill every phase of every turn. 




Dan's 9-1 and 8-1 prior to the battle...let's listen in..."Franz..""Ja Rudi""What do you think of our 10-2 that transferred from the zweite Kompanie?""Well..I heard he panics under fire sometimes...but always seems to get things done...so we'll see how it goes in this fight."



Having played against Dan for these past two years, I've tried to learn how to better use fire lanes. I'm not quite the master that he is, but I'm making them a staple of my ASL defensive tactics. I have also learned that residual fire can be your best friend. So the Wall of Resid would be the rallying cry of my Soviets as the Germans stormed at them from all sides.

Just keep throwing the lead boys!

 So...by the end of Turn 2, Dan's boys were through my blocking force. I had eliminated a couple of half-squads, but lost too many of my own boys as well as a desperately needed LMG. Dan would also get his first prisoners. Sadly they would all perish as I was forced to fire at the Germans escorting them. All for the Motherland was given.




A quick look at the German and Soviet pockets. Also note that one of Dan's snake eyes would create a Hero and make an 8-3-8 Fanatic. Awesome...just awesome...

This guy would go on to have quite a story arc during our game.










Dan would send the Hero to the rear to keep my 2 broken squads DM'd. And the rest of his grenadiers moved in to begin assaulting my fortified building. To win the game, Dan would have to make sure there was no good order Soviets in the building at game end.

Dan's 8-3-8's were ready.

Dan's 10-2 would break once again and be forced from the fortified building. But he would be back. At this stage of the game, my MMG was broken. I had few more 12's than I like to see. I would sorely miss it's additional firepower.

Germans knocking on the door. We haven't any Knockwurst...so go home!!!


 Dan was a bit luckier than I during the game in rolling snakes. Two of these would come with flamethrowers and on both occasions I would watch every man die. Flamethrowers...even in ASL...there isn't really a worse way go down...


Grumble Jones staff photographer on the ground as the flames erupted.
 No after flamethrower pyrotechnics...Dan's Hero would engage in some war crimes as he rejected the surrender of my two squads. 

Prisoner taking was over....

 Dan's kept the pressure on me and kept coming. I had hoped he might take one turn to regroup...but he just kept coming with that no huddle offense...

 Past the half-way mark and a look at the respective forces. I still held the building in force...but the winds of change were beginning to gust.


 Smoke and DC's would dominate the end as Dan's grenadiers stormed the building. They would get their first breach.



 Dan's boys would pour into the breach and right in the front door as Dan snaked his flamethrower roll on my 9-0 Commissar stack. Everyone would die. The heart and soul of my defense was gone in an instant. In better news...Dan's Hero would be KIA'd in the street as he rushed the building. His crimes had been punished.



 Dan's 10-2 was once again in the building and leading his grenadiers forward. His 9-1 and 8-1 had directed supporting fire, but would not enter the building until the end. I had 30 men left. They knew the end was near...but stayed at their posts and continued to fire away.



As the Germans stormed the lower level...my boys scrambled up the staircases to try and hold out on the upper level. "Resist Comrades...never surrender!!!"

"Dmitri...""Da Yuri"..."I think this is the end...""Too many 9;s, 10's, and 11's Dmitri..."


Dan's 10-2 finishes off  Dmitri, Yuri and their comrades. The end comes swiftly as my boys break under incredible firepower. No concession necessary as my boys were all eliminated. Dan had won a another solid victory. My Soviets held out for 5-1/2 turns, but once the Germans got into the building it was game over. 

Yeah...me too!!!

Dan's grenadiers had won the day. Congrats to Dan on the win and another great Saturday of ASL.


This scenario left us both mentally drained. It was a fight from turn 1 and a heck of a lot of fun! If you haven't played this one...definitely put on your list. It's a tough scenario, but great fun!


Dan and I will be back in the cockpit again next Saturday with ASL Scenario AP72 - Guns for St. Barbara


Ok...now you can go and enjoy the Super Bowl!!!


Congrats to you if your team won...and if your team lost...well it could be worse...you could be a long suffering Cowboys fan!!!
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Our Saturday Game - ASL Scenario AP72 - Guns for St. Barbara

February 11, 2018, 3:54 pm
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Once again, Dan Best and I met on the hexagonal grid iron of ASL for another fierce battle between cardboard platoons. Our Saturday games have come to define my weeks. I run all my errands Saturday morning...try to ignore work emails coming in on my smart phone and then rush home in time to turn on the Skype feed and start rolling dice. And of course my Sundays are spent writing the blog AAR's for our games. Truth be told, the blog takes longer than playing the actual game!! It is currently 1:30 PM as I begin writing, but I have been researching since 10:30 AM this morning. And I don't expect to finish this until nearly late afternoon...which is a bummer since I have some actual work related things to do before tomorrow. Oh well...ASL comes first!

On this occasion, it was my choice of scenarios. While Dan is an Eastern Front Fanatic, I tend to be more of a Western Front Fanatic. So my choice for our Saturday Games would be ASL Scenario AP72 Guns for St. Barbara (designed by Chris Olden). This particular scenario covers the advance of Patton's forces into the Lorraine region of France and across the Saar River into Germany. The fighting in this region would be some of the fiercest faced by Patton as he drove relentless into the heart of Nazi Germany. The fortress city of Metz would be the scene of the most difficult fighting. But once the city had been taken the Germans were quick to retreat to blocking positions in front of the Saar River, while their main elements crossed the river and set up defenses in depth.

Set on Board 60, this scenario would depict German blocking actions in the town of St. Barbara as the 95th moved towards the Saar River. 

After rolling sides, I would end up commanding the Americans of the 377th Infantry Regiment, 95th Infantry Division, "The Iron Men of Metz". For support, I would have some Sherman Tanks from the 718th Tank Battalion. 



 Some links to check out for more information on this battle and the exploits of the 95th Infantry Division.



The men of the 95th would see training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and Camp Swift, Texas. They would arrive in Europe in August 1944, and see their first action in the Moselle Bridgehead in October. They would then drive on to Metz and the Saar River bridgeheads. The Division would end the war in the Ruhr Pocket fighting. This division continues to exist today as a Training Division in the US Southwest.

For the St. Barbara fight, I would have the following forces: 5 x 6-6-7's, 7 x 6-6-6's, led by a 9-2, 9-1, 8-1 and 2 x 7-0's with 3 x MMG's, 3 x Bazookas, 4 x Sherman M4A3's, and two Half-tracks with 2 x 3-4-7's, 2 x 2-2-7's and 2 x 57L AT Guns. Pretty sweet force overall.


Facing my boys across Board 60 would be the Germans of the 21st Panzer Division. This veteran formation would find itself in many different theaters of the German war effort from North Africa to Normand to Lorraine to the Easter Front and ultimate destruction at Halbe. 


The Division would gain its first fame in North Africa, but would be lost with the fall of Tunisia.


The division would be reconstituted and situated in Normandy under Rommel's command once more to prepare for the expected Allied Invasion of France.

They would be primary unit to counter-attack on June 6th against the Allied landings.





As the Scenario Defender, Dan would command elements of Kampfgruppe Muehlen and the 21st Panzer Division. In order to win, Dan would have to ensure that there were not more than 2 unbroken squads or one MMC and a non-recalled Tank on a second level location or east of hex row N.

Kampgruppe Muehlen would consist of 4 x 4-4-7's, 2 x 2-4-7's, lead by an 8-1 and 7-0 with an MMG, LMG, and 2 x Panzerschrecks. The Panzerschreck half-squads would begin the scenario HIP.

The 21st Panzer Division force would enter on Turn 2 and consist of 7 x 4-6-7's, 5 x 4-4-7's led by a 9-2, 9-1, 8-1 and 8-0 with 2 x MMG's, 3 x LMG's, a Panzerschreck, 2 x MK IV's and a Panther Tank.

YIKES...Dan's relief force was a strong or stronger than my entire force. 

Despite the odds and facing off against a Panther Tank, I knew I was in good hands with the Iron Men of Metz!!!

 My attack plan would be to push hard to the south board edge and move towards Row N as rapidly as possible before the 21st Panzer Division boys came into the fight. I had no idea how best to use the 57L AT Guns.


 On Turn 1, I went ahead and deployed one of the 57L AT Guns to watch my rear in the event that Dan's panzers made a move to come from behind. (It was very unlikely, but you never know.) The rest of my boys swept forward and Dan held his fire.




"Ja...hier kommt die Ami...Sie haben vier Panzer and viele Soldaten."
 The white circles indicate where Dan's HIP Panzerknackers were. I would of course find them the hard way. Dan's first Panzerknacker would fire from inside of a building at my lead Sherman. He would hit and destroy it. Right out of the gates I was down a Sherman Tank. But Dan's boys would end up breaking from the back blast. This pattern would repeat throughout the battle as Dan's boys would pin, break or be eliminated on every shot he took in the game...every shot. By the end of the game I was feeling pretty bad for Dan's luck in this regard.

First burning wreck of the game.

On Turn 2, I made my big moves and sent my first Sherman into the victory location zone to hold the horseshoe shaped plaza which would become the American Alamo position in this game.



 An overview of positions following the end of the American phase of Turn 2. I was not quite in the victory zone, but very close.


Time to get ready for the hammer fist of the 21st Panzer Division.

 Dan elected to come in along the Northeast edge.


 My Sherman on the south fired away as the MKIV's roared up the hill and into the town. I missed with first shot and my intensive fire shot. Not good as the German Panther tank rolled right at me. Time was up for my second Sherman Tank.


 Dan's Panther was incredibly luck in getting hits in Advancing Fire Phase. He would knock out two of my Shermans in that phase.



 Undaunted by my armor losses, I pressed ahead and put tow Shermans and as many infantry as I could into the Horseshoe shaped Alamo. Both Shermans were in the narrow streets with guns trained towards the building on their right and left sides respectively and the main road to the Northeast. I was ready...or so I thought.

I was really pleased with my position. I needed more infantry in the location, but otherwise felt like I was in good shape.


I also deployed my second 57LAT Gun to cover the north flank. The half-track carried on to put pressure on Dan's broken boys to the north and promptly found the other Panzerknacker team. They would destroy the half-track, but then themselves be broken by the back blast. Dan's woes continued.


Unfortunately, the urban environment for this scenario forced Dan to fire from inside buildings.

 Dan's boys came on hard in their part of Turn 3. Both MKIV's would enter the Horseshoe Plaza and both would be destroyed by my waiting Sherman Tanks. I couldn't believe my good luck and started to feel a bit guilty. But...it was the luck that I had to have if I was going to have any chance of stopping Dan's oncoming Panzers and Grenadiers.


"Best luck I ever had!!"

 Turn 4...the fight raged on. I had to push more men into the victory location!



A look at the situation as my part of Turn 4 ended. I was strengthening my Alamo position and getting ready for Dan's next assault.




I knew Dan's next attack would be led by the Panther.










 
 Sure enough the Panther charge forward as Grenadiers swarmed the square. My first Sherman would miss on the first and then MALF the MA on the intensive fire shot. My second Sherman would have no better luck and would be destroyed by the Panther.


I would lose my third Sherman tank, but it would be a burning wreck and the smoke it created would ultimately save my 9-2 stack and help me win the game! (shh...did I give it away...)


 As we started Turn 5, my Sherman would be recalled and pull out of the battle. UGH!!! 

It was tough losing my last Sherman tank. I probably should not have tried to fix my MA...but I felt I needed that 75 Gun to shore up my flank as Dan's Grenadiers began moving in the adjacent buildings.

Turn 5, Dan's next big push comes. I managed to survive it.

Dan is a relentless attacker. He never stops storming your positons. By Turn 5, both of us had headaches and were becoming exhausted by this very challenging scenario. Even my normal good humor was challenged as I lost a bunch of DM'd boys to surrender after they had been encircled. Both of us knew that we had to keep our forces in the fight. Every lost opportunity jeopardized a win.

Turn 6...the final turn and my last chance to make anything happen. I sent my half-track to the east and had it come back into the town behind Dan's boys. Melees raged on as both Dan I failed to get the killing rolls we needed.



 Dan's sniper would activate on four occasions and the last time would DM a 6-6-6 squad with a bazooka at a time that I could ill afford to lose any squads. Meanwhile I had established my final positions. I could only wait see what Dan's final assault would achieve.


 My recalled Sherman had reached the edge of the map. His war was over.

 Bottom of Turn 6...the last phase of the game....Dan's Germans come at me with everything they have.




Dan would send everyone into Close Combat. I would have to survive this last onslaught or lose the game.

 My luck would hold out. Dan's 9-2would rush into the smoke filled hex where my 9-2 was still concealed with 2 squads. I would win the ambush roll and move out of the close combat and that it was it...game complete. I had had 4 squads in the victory zone and had the scenario victory.


Dan's Grenadiers had fought their hearts out...but came up short.

A final look at what ended up being a great scenario. It was exciting from start to finish and both sides were in it to the very end. Had Dan won or locked me in melee with those final Close Combats, his Germans would have had the victory. 

Another great night of ASL and a game that I won't soon forget. My thanks to Dan as always for bringing his A Game and making you earn any victory you get!









This AAR is dedicated to the veterans of the 95th Infantry Division..."The Iron Men of Metz".



























Dan and I will take a week off from "Our Saturday Game". I'm spending time with family and Dan will be busy playtesting with the fine ASL Grognards of the Kansas City ASL Club. We'll be back in two weeks to climb the hills of Korea in ASL Scenario 208 - The Grist Mill.


See you again in two weeks!

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Grumble Jones February Scenario - GJ054 - 4 Steeples for Lt. Greenwood

February 17, 2018, 10:29 pm
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It's that time of month where the latest Grumble Jones scenario is released. This month's scenario is purely hypothetical. It is based on the advance of the US 4th Armored Division as it drove into the region between Mainz and Mannheim. Scattered German resistance was made possible by the remnants of the German 352nd Volksgrenadier Division and other assorted Volkssturm and Hitler Youth units that were pressed into service to slow the Allied Advance.

 Inspiration for this month's scenario came from seeing my steeple counters in a bin and thinking...wow...what about scenario with multiple steeples. I had also just read an small account of the actions at Hersheim am Berg and put together a scenario utilizing 4 steeples. The success of my vision is of course subject to your assessment as to whether or not it actually works.


The 4th Armored had a stellar reputation during World War 2 and was one of Patton's leading Armor Divisions. It was the 4th Armored that broke through the German ring around Bastogne. 










This scenario also includes a Hero outfitted as a sniper. It's a bit of throwback to the days of Squad Leader where the sniper counters were actually on the board. In this case, the German player has his normal Sniper SAN#, but also a hero with a 6 range...so moving in the open could be a nice -3 shot for the patient German player....Fredrich Zoller anyone!?!





I will admit, that I really liked the old Squad Leader Sniper counters. The -4 Sniper counter was simply epic. Shooting at troops moving in the open with a -6...does it get any better!?!

So here now is the February 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, the PDF's for this scenario can be downloaded from The ASL Scenario Archive (just search on Grumble Jones).

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Our Saturday Game - ASL Scenario 208 - The Grist Mill

February 25, 2018, 3:41 pm
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After a week hiatus, Dan Best and I were once again in the saddle for some Saturday ASL. Our selection for this weekend's action would be ASL Scenario 208 - The Grist Mill (designed by Thomas Meier). This would be our first playing of a scenario from MMP's new Forgotten War. 

Like a few other players out there, I have always been a bit hesitant to wargame both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. I'm not sure why that is, but the Second World War always seemed to be more in the past to me, even as a kid. Growing up in the 60's and 70's I had a steady diet of the sitcom, MASH and the result was that I equated the Korean and Vietnam Wars as being part of the same overall conflict in Southeast Asia between the United States and Cold War Era-Communism. And sadly, most of us get very little actual history of these events in our primary and secondary educations in the US. As I recall, we barely even made it to the end of the Second World War. In my own opinion...far too much time is spent on the explorers who discovered the Americas over 400 years ago...rather than the events of the past 50 years. The importance of knowing something about the Korean War has never been more important than today. And just the knowledge that the Korean War is still an active war...should shake all of us out our collective funk with regards to the Korean Peninsula. The vast majority of Americans do not realize that we are only in a Cease-Fire...a Truce..that has been perhaps the longest such example in the history of mankind.  But therein lies the danger...an enemy undefeated...is an enemy yet to be completely reckoned with. Let us hope that any future fighting will be of the cardboard variety fought on ASL boards and no where else. I'll jump off my stump now and get into the AAR business.


While the invasion of South Korea by North Korea may have been anticipated, it's actuality was a serious shock to the global community and to a relatively young United Nations. The American forces in Korea were woefully prepared to stop an invasion. The North Koreans waged a no quarter war on the Americans and pushed them all to the way south to the port city of Pusan. A hastily thrown up perimeter around Pusan was all that remained of a free South Korea.




The stories of the fighting to slow down the advancing North Koreas is some very sobering stuff. Not since the Battle of the Bulge had American forces been faced with an enemy that committed war crimes as a matter of course. Surrender to the North Koreans was not a possibility. Those Americans who did were simply executed out of hand. The war in Korea would be brutal and unrelenting.





ASL Scenario 208 - The Grist Mill covers the action around Soesil, South Korean on August 6th, 1950. C Company of the US 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division would find itself holding a series of small hills with a large force of North Korean infantry attacking from all sides. 

The men of the 34th Regiment had been in country from the beginning of the invasion and suffered some of the first American losses of the Korean War.

By the time, they had reached the Pusan Perimeter they were hardened veterans of the Korean Conflict.





After rolling for sides, I would end up commanding the American forces and would be the scenario defender. I would have 6 x 6-6-6's , led by a 9-1 and 8-0 with a 50 CAL HMG, 60 Mortar and three Sangars for limited protection. By SSR I could only set up within 6 hexes of the stone building in R9. Beside the building was a burnt out Sherman tank. The 50 CAL was on the tank and could not be moved during the scenario.








Setting up a defense under the SSR limitations was a little daunting. I knew that Dan's North Koreans could set up within 8 hexes of the R9 Building. So I fully expected to be surrounded.

So how to defend against that situation and maintain any rout paths. 

I settled on holding a semi-circular perimeter with the hill as the base of my position. I hoped that the positive TEM of the hill along with the hedge splitting it would give the opportunity to rout if needed.









As the Scenario Attacker, Dan would command the men of the 3rd Battalion, 16th Regiment, 4th Guards Seoul Division of North Korea. These hardened fighters would consist of 14 x 4-4-7's, led by an 8-1 and 7-0 with 3 x LMG's for support. Not an overly intimidating force as far as firepower, but if they got in close, their numbers would surely carry the day.







As always, the Grumble Jones staff photographer would be on the ground to cover all the action.

Here we salute the outstanding Photo Journalism of David Douglas Duncan. His photographs of the Korean Conflict remain some of the most impressive combat photographs ever taken of Americans in battle. If you don't own a copy of his book, This is War, then I would highly recommend obtaining one.






A look at my defense and Dan's initial set up. Dan definitely surprised me. I had set up with the idea that I would surrounded from the start. But after seeing my defense, Dan decided to go for a massive Schwerpunkt assault from the South. I had set up strong to the north as I had expected Dan would avoid my 50 CAL. So I was initially week on the south side of my hill.




Here they come fellas!
 As Dan moved his first squad, I laid down a fire lane from the 50 CAL. Note that the Korean Woods can been seen through and we set out several fire lane counters to show the decreasing lethality of my fire lane.  Undaunted, Dan adjusted his movements to avoid the fire lane.







My 50 Caliber HMG would form the core of my defensive fire and would stay in action for the duration of the scenario.





 Dan's dice would be cold from the start. He would miss nearly every Pin and early Morale Check DR. This would sap strength from the crucial early turns of his assault.

 On my part of Turn 1, I quickly scampered my boys on the north side of the hill to the south side so that they could lend their support to the defense. The long range hurt Dan's ability to stop this movement, but he did get a snake-eyes that reduced one of my 6-6-6's to a half-squad.



 With my defense set, Turn 2 opened with Dan trying to advance his units within normal range.

 With his Prep Fires largely ineffectual, Dan sent his men into the gully in an effort to get them closer to my boys.


 Once in the gully, Dan would attempt to go to crest to trade fire. This allowed me to pour fire on any units which raised their heads.



 Despite his bad dice, which were leading to DM's and ELR's to conscripts for several units, Dan kept pipelining his boys forward through the gully.

 By the end of Turn 3, his boys were in place.



With Dan's troops beginning to near the R9 building, I decided to move my 9-1 into the wood adjacent to slow down the Koreans.


My 9-1 would have to hang on in the woods by himself and slow down Dan's attack.


 Turn 5 - my 9-1 went down in Close Combat with a squad of North Koreans...but in Prep Fire I managed to DM the squad and push back the North Koreans. I only had to worry about the ones in the gully.






My 8-0 had command now and would have to hang on.







During the course of the fighting, I managed to roll a snakes which created a hero and battle hardened a 6-6-6 to a 6-6-7. My luck in this fight was holding out! 

On his final movement phase - Dan launched his boys out of the Gully and into the street before my 50 CAL and the R9 building. 


Dan's boys ran into a hail of 50 CAL and rifle fire and were either pinned or broken. With that the game was over and the Americans had the victory.



This scenario played hard and fast. It was a enjoyable game, but Dan certainly was diced in this game. Dan rolled more boxcars tonight than I have seen in a many a game with back to back boxcars on at least once occasion. All in all we had another great night of ASL. 

This scenario AAR is dedicated to my good friend,  Don Boelhauf, who served in the Korean War and passed away in 2005. Always missed, never forgotten.


Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery: Section 1CC Site 653


Dan and I will be back next week for a playing of ASL Scenario OA20 The Revenge of the Greys!

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Our Saturday Game - ASL Scenario OA20 The Revenge of the Greys

March 4, 2018, 7:19 pm
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For our next Saturday matchup, it was my turn to choose scenarios. I selected OA20 The Revenge of the Greys (designed by Andrew Rogers). This is one of three scenarios covering the same action. The other two are  OA19 The Queen's Prequel and OA21 Gunter Strikes Back. I had played the other two and was eager to play the middle scenario. The scenario covers the fighting for Montecorvino, Italy on September 9, 1943. The primary objective of Montecorvino was the Luftwaffe forward airfield. Allied aircraft needed the strip in order to provide close support for the Allied push inland from Salerno.







The scenario special rules call for the placement of wrecked German aircraft beside the runway. These are rolled for and placed either as no wreck, a wreck, and a burning wreck. Smoke would definitely be in play for this scenario and particularly so after a snake eyes on th wind change. We would end up with a whole lot of smoke.

The Germans would not be able to check for Panzerfausts, which would be a major plus for the British.

On the downside for the British, the single German Stug III would get to set up HIP.





After rolling for sides, Dan would end up with the Germans and would be the scenario defender. He would have to hang on the buildings at the airfield. The building in 14H9 would be the primary objective. But...the British Player would need to also control two additional building adjacent to the runway. I mention this...well...because both Dan and I would miss that bit about the two extra buildings.



The Germans would be members of the Batallion II, Panzergrenadier-Regiment 10. Dan's force would consist of 1 x 5-4-8, 3 x 4-6-7's, 1 x 4-4-7's, 1 x 2-4-8, and 1x 2-2-8's led by a 9-1, 8-0 with an LMG, 50 MTR and 1 x20L AA Gun and 1 X 75L Stug III. Not a stellar force, but Dan would deploy them very well in the coming battle.

As the scenario attacker, I would be commanding the British 2nd/6th Queen's Royal Regiment, 169th Brigade and tanks of the Scots Greys. (these tanks are supposed to enter on Turn 1...as you will see...I had them set up on the map. Dan and I must both have been distracted last night...cause we messed this scenario up pretty good!!!). I may have to check m own glasses....not sure how I missed so many rules last night. As for the Queen's Royal Regiment...these fellas go back a long way. Initially raised in 1661. Wow...hard to believe the long history associated with some of the British formations.

My force would consist of 2 x 4-5-8's, 6 x4-5-7's, led by a 9-1, 8-1, with 2 x LMG's, a 51 MTR, and 2 x Piats. My tankers would consist of 2 x 75* Sherman Tanks with a 9-1 Armor Leader. A fairly strong force, but I would have liked a couple more squads just for good measure. By the end of the scenario, I would definitely have needed them.













 As noted earlier, you will see that I set up with my tanks already on the board. I still can't believe I messed that up. This would definitely cause the game to be played differently...so this AAR won't be accurate to the scenario setup requirements.


"I know that's right..."

 Ok..so here we go!  I went with an armored assault with my Shermans. I also had a squad of 4-5-7's on each of the Shermans as riders. Dan would reveal the location of the Stug III and roll snake eyes on the to hit roll. In an instant, my Sherman was burning, a 4-5-7 was KIA'd and my 9-1 Armor Leader was gone. UGH!!! First roll of the game...








Talk about an immediate 5 point drop in personal ELR!!!  I felt like the 1987 stock market and my stock was nose diving!!!!

But...I tried to think of nice things..unicorns, daffodils...pumpkins in the fall and


this....


I danced around a bit and regained my composure and kept my attack rolling!!!! I figured I still had a chance and why not...I wasn't even playing the scenario right to begin with!!!

 Despite my early loss, I did manage to get my boys into my first turn objective area.

 At the start of Turn 2, I would snake the wind change and a mild breeze would result. Now the smoke would really impact the game!


My plan from the start of the scenario, was to go for a trail break and go through the woods right at the H9 building hex. Keep in mind...at this point (and throughout the game) I only thought I had to take that building to win the game. The good news...so did Dan!!!

I rarely....rarely try to bull my way through the woods with a tank. Historically, I've been very unsuccessful in my attempts. But, with one tank gone and the Stug covering the right flank...I had to go big or go home. So I went right into the woods...rolled my bog check...SNAKE EYES!! YEAH BABY!!!





 My Sherman managed to DM the Germans in their front and this opened up the front door for my boys to go towards the H9 building. The Germans in the building were broken. But the Stug had other plans and fired away. Some of my boys broke, but my 9-1 went Berserk and took a squad with him.


This game was just going bananas as Dan and I continued to trade snake eyes...and yes...it was a wildly fun game!!!

 My berserk 9-1 would be wounded at least three times and do a fantastic job until his final demise.





ASL at its best.












 A look at the relative positions as we neared the end of Turn 3.

 Unbelievably, I had my first control of the victory building H9.

 I tried to pipeline more of my boys into position.

 The German counter-attack was vicious and quickly evicted me from the victory hex. Dan's boys were once again in charge.





Dan's 9-1 would rally the troops and keep his grenadiers in the fight!







 Despite the German counter-strike...I pushed ahead hard and fast. My Sherman moved up and found itself adjacent to the German 20L AA Gun. It peppered my Sherman in an attempt to immobilize it!


 My Sherman attempted an overrun on the 20L AA gun, but couldn't get it done. One of my 2-4-7's would ultimately lock the AA Gun in Melee, as the rest of my boys went full steam ahead.

 Both Dan and I were hurting each other pretty badly. We were both dying by the half-squad in a deadly brawl to the finish.



The end of Turn 3 and Dan's prepared to move his boys for the next counter-attack. And keep in mind...we both thought the H9 building was the only objective.




"I say chaps...take the building in Hex H9 and we bloody well win this game!"













"Die Englanders are trying to capture the building in Hex H9. It must be the victory location! We must not lose it. Hold it at all costs!"

 Dan's Stug III was not content to sit idly by and let my surviving Sherman have its way. So it came at me hard and tried to take me down. Thank goodness I was still in motion at the time!!!

Dan's mortar team also moved and went into CC with my 4-5-7 on the left flank. My 4-5-7 would prevail.

 Turn 4...I launched my next move to try and secure the H9 Building and the win. My Sherman gunned the engine and rolled right into the Stug's hex...the Stug fired and missed and I was gone baby gone!!!



 The scene as we headed into the bottom of Turn 4.

In his part of Turn 4 - Dan moved the Stug after my escaping Sherman. It caught up to it and destroyed it.


My final Sherman bit the dust.

In Turn 5, I Prep-Fired the German 9-1 and 5-4-8 in the H9 Building...and they both broke. Dan and I both sighed and called it game over and a British Victory. 

But wait a minute...as I was completing my research for the AAR I double-checked the map for the scenario on The ASL SCENARIO ARCHIVE (my favorite ASL site!). And lo and behold...I saw V's on all the buildings adjacent to the runway. OH NO!!...I did not win the scenario....Dan's boys had managed to keep me from taking any other buildings and therefore...Dan's Germans had the win!!!



I would too...but I don't think Steve Harvey plays ASL....does he...??





Yeah...in an alternate reality...I would have won the game...
but congrats to Dan on a great win. This scenario was a blast to play. Aggressive...risk-taking play by us both produced a an epically fun game. 






Dan and I will be back next week for a playing of Critical Hit Scenario CH11 Rite of Passage! Then we'll be on a break as we will both be attending the Kanas City ASL Club's March Madness Tournament on March 16th-18th.


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Grumble Jones March Scenario - GJ055 "Die gepanzerte Bestie"

March 10, 2018, 1:54 pm
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The March 2018 Grumble Jones scenario was inspired by an article in the #59 APR-MAY 2018 edition of World at War magazine. 

One of my guilty pleasures is going to the Quincy Mall bookstore to grab the latest copy of this outstanding magazine. Excellent writing, pictures, and especially maps make this an excellent source for scenario ideas. I highly recommend this magazine to the ASL community.


















Ahhh....the KV-2...a beast from the east. In 1941, there might have been a more terrifying tank for the German Wehrmacht to encounter. I have always been intrigued by this tank and particularly the difficulty the Germans found in combating them. The KV chassis was already ahead of most German designs at the time and would go on to support the Stalin series of tanks, which would be some of the most deadly tanks at the end of the war. 

You can only imagine the fear one of these behemoths would have instilled in a German Army more used to blowing up T-70's and BT-7's.  So while reading my latest copy of World at War, I cam across an article entitled, "Lone Tank-The KV-2 of Katauskiai. And lo and behold a scenario was born! The article is outstanding and goes into great detail regarding the stand of a single KV-2 against the 6th Panzer Division. By the time the 6th Panzer Division eliminated this KV-2 it had lost the following: 12 x trucks, a battery of 50L AT Guns, an 88mm AA Gun and dozens of troops.  Of course finding a way to duplicate these kinds of actions in ASL is never easy. The Michael Wittmann or Audie Murphy style heroics are not easily duplicated in ASL scenarios. They do happen in the course of many games, but they arise organically from the chaos of the dice rolls as opposed to be set up to occur by SSR. I have tried to mirror the historical action as much as possible and give the KV-2 as much chance to survive as possible, while also giving the Germans a 40% chance of winning. 

Of course ASL is subject to the vagaries of die rolls...so it could happen very easily that the 88mm rolls a snake eyes and it's farewell to the KV-2. But hopefully, the law of averages will prevail and this scenario will play out very closely to the historical outcome.  At any rate, I hope it catches the flavor of encountering one of these unique tanks in the heady days of June 1941.





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, the PDF's for this scenario can be downloaded from The ASL Scenario Archive (just search on Grumble Jones).
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Our Saturday Game - Critical Hit's CH11 - Rite of Passage

March 11, 2018, 12:50 pm
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For our Saturday game, Dan Best and I ventured into some new territory to try out an older Critical Hit scenario. The night's choice would be CH11 - Rite of Passage (designed by Rich Summers). Those of you familiar with Dan, know that he loves a good Partisan Scenario. I won't lie, I'm not a huge fan of Partisan scenarios, but I think they can be a great change of pace from the combined arms actions of many of the recent games, which Dan and I have played over the past few months.  And after playing this particular scenario, I would highly recommend it as a 3-Player scenario. I think it would play very well with three players.

This scenario is set in the summer of 1944 in the Ukraine. It takes place only days before the Soviets unleashed Operation Bagration. Prior to the great summer campaign, the Partisans began attacking isolated German garrisons behind the front. In this scenario, one such garrison is surrounded by Partisans and desperately awaiting rescue from other German units. In this case, the elite Panzer Grenadiers of the Grossdeutschland Division would be rushing to the rescue. But would they arrive in time!

The German Garrison would start the game in the village area of Board 3 with Building R5 fortified. The Partisans would set up all around the garrison. The Grossdeutschland relief would set up on Board 18 on the road in a column of trucks. The Partisans would also have a road block, an AT Gun and some extra boys HIP in along the road leading into the village. They would be a potentially nasty surprise for truckloads of unsuspecting grenadiers.

After rolling sides, Dan would be the Partisans and would be the scenario attacker. His force would consist of 16 x 3-3-7's led by a 9-1, 8-0, and 7-0 with 4 x LMG's in support. Dan's Partisans would outnumber the garrison nearly 4-1. He would have to strike hard and fast to eliminate the garrison and then vanish into the woods before the Grossdeutschland could arrive.

The scenario victory conditions required that the Germans have 10 or more CVP than the Russians at game end. The fortified building would give 3 points to whoever controlled it at the end of the game.  

As the scenario defender I would command the village Garrison and the Grossdeutschland relief column. And yes, I'll admit it...I'm a bit of fan boy of the Grossdeutschland. This units exploits throughout the war gave it a reputation for combat excellence as one of the Wehrmacht's premier units. 










It was not typical for divisions like the Grossdeutschland to be engaged in anti-partisan activities, but as the German front began to crumble and the Partisans became more active, such collisions between the Partisans and German front-line formations became an inevitability. 

My Garrison force would consist of 4 x 4-4-7's and a 2-3-7 led by an 8-1 and 7-0 with an LMG and HMG for support. It would not be enough.

My Grossdeutschlanders would arrive in 4 x Opel Blitz Trucks (scenario note...these don't have enough portage points to transport the German OOB here...just say'n). I also would have a Kubelwagen and a platoon of motorcycles for fun as well. My boys would consist of 4 x 4-6-8's, 4 x 4-6-7's, 2 x 2-4-8's led by a 10-2, 91-, and 8-1 with an MMG, 2 X LMG's, and 2 x 50 MTR's.

This force would certainly be strong enough to take down the Partisans, but in the course of the scenario, I would lose the motorcycle squad (4-6-8) to the HIP Partisans and inflict damage only on the Partisan blocking force. Maybe next time I'll get to see them do some real damage!



 My relief force set up in column and ready to make the journey to the village.

As noted earlier, the scenario calls for Opel Blitz trucks, but they lack the portage point capability to handle all the Germans. Dan and I did the math and 2 of the 2-4-8's simply could not fit. So we fudged the rules and placed in other trucks. Dan pointed out that a previous version of this scenario called for 29 portage point trucks. So looks like an error was made during the revision of the scenario.


 In the village, I was really at a loss of how best to set up. I knew that Dan would surround me and come at like a spider monkey on Mountain Dew!!!


Only problem...I was about to get the shake and bake treatment!!!


 And so it begins as Dan's Partisans come at me like aforementioned spider monkeys!!!

 I worked hard to build my wall of residual fire...but unfortunately my walls of Resid was not strong enough. And I would attempt final Protective Fire will all three of 2-3-7's. One would go good for me, but the other two would break my 2-3-7's. This was possibly one of the big early mistakes, which I made. I was afraid of close combat, but that would have slowed down the Partisans. So in retrospect I should have opted to fight it out.

 Dan was up in my grill in record time.


I knew the Russian AT gun was covering the road. I didn't want to give Dan any unnecessary CVP by watching him blow up my heavily loaded trucks. So I went off road, which would of course dramatically slow me down. Another potentially bad move on my part. The 37L AT Gun would not have been as effective against my trucks as I feared and an SSR allowed me to dismantle the roadblock much easier. So...again...while my force was able to move with relative protection...it would be slowed down too much.

Grossdeutschland field command...let's listen in.."What is your situation Village Garrison?""We are surrounded and the Partisans are nearly in total control of the village...we need immediate assistance!!!"

"Roger that Village Garrison...we are spending 4 MP per hex in attempt to reach your position as quickly as possible. Hang tight we are on the way!"

"Uhhh....can't you maybe take the road for 1/2 MP....please????"


 As the Partisans moved all around me, I tried to do as much damage in Prep Fire as possible. Unfortunately for me, Dan's boys made all of their morale checks. A whole lot of three's were spelling doom for my defense.

 Dan continued to press me hard in the village. My wall of resid was in place, but Dan's Partisans were not stopping for anything!



 My 8-1 and 4-4-7 with the MMG would break...UGH!!! 

 The Partisan Blocking force on the hill had KIA'd my 4-6-8 on the motorcycles, but would boxcar their next shot and a broken LMG would give my boys an opportunity to move ahead.



 So up the hill I went!

 Back in the Hotel California...things were going from bad to abysmal. I was losing the village.

Yep...with NO QUARTER in effect...my boys wouldn't be leaving...at least not in the physical sense.

 The Partisan 37L AT Gun revealed its location and my 10-2 managed to break the crew in response.




 Back in the village, my garrison was on it's last legs. Dan was in control. 

 Dan would manage to roll snake eyes during his Prep Fires on both of my last locations. I would miss the Morale Checks and that would be the end in the village. 


Snake Eyes..rendering defenses useless since 1985!!!


 Dan had the village and had accumulated 17 CVP. He did the math and even by giving up the 3 CVP for the fortified building, he could exit the board and I would not be able to get the CVP necessary to win.



 Back in relief land...my column was making progress...but events were going to negate their efforts.


My Grenadiers would clear the road block and sweep the Partisans off the hill and then watch Dan's Partisans exit the village with lots of shiny MG-42's and assorted ammunition. Dan would exit all but one 3-3-7 from the map. It was game over and a victory for Dan!


Looks like the village is empty...no Partisans....and no one left from the Garrison.
















The final CVP for Dan was 17 - 3 CVP for abandoning the fortified building to the Grossdeutschland would give him a final tally of 14 CVP. My boys would finish the game with 15, but I needed 24 for the win. So a great win for Dan. His attack on the village was sharp, fast and highly successful. 


Dan and I will be off next Saturday as we participate in the Kansas City ASL Club's 2018 March Madness Tournament. We will return in two weeks for a playing of Lone Canuck's DSL 1 La Petite Ferme from the new Drive for Saint Lo scenario pack. Can't wait to play it!


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Remembering Siegfried Rauch

March 12, 2018, 5:30 pm
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Today we said farewell to the German actor, Siegfried Rauch (on the far right). Many of us were first introduced to this versatile actor during his performance in the movie Patton. In Patton, Rauch played an OKW Staff Officer assigned to studying the American General Patton. Like Thomas Kretschmar today, Rauch was a go to actor to play various roles of German characters in the war movies of the 70's and 80's. 

 Rauch would also have a supporting role in the Eagle Has Landed as the veteran Fallschirmjaeger, Feldwebel Otto Brandt. 


 Brandt would lead the desperate defense of the English Church in order to buy time for Steiner to escape and continue the mission to kidnap Primer Minister Winston Churchill.





So farewell Siegfried Rauch. For many a young American movie goer you were the "good" German who either as a German Fallschirmjaeger or Formula One Racer, did credit to your nation.

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March Madness 2018 - Livin' the Stug Life in ol Kansas City!!!!

March 20, 2018, 9:08 pm
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March can only mean one thing...the Kansas City ASL Club's March Madness Tournament!!! Where Panzergrenadiers rule and every die roll is a game WINNER!! And yes...the Basterds were back together again to wage cardboard war!

Here now are the pictures from this year's EPIC 2018 March Madness Tournament!



 I had some issues with glare when taking pictures of the games...so you won't see too many of those shots. This will be blog lite tonight!!!

 My Round 2 opponent, Mr. Burnie Hegdahl. Burnie and I played a real thriller that came down to the last turn close combat. A great game and I hope we will get a chance to play again!


 Mr. Dave Mareske, who worked tirelessly to make this year's March Madness full of ASL awesomeness! Oh and yeah...Dave is Livin' the Stug Life!!!


 I actually advanced to play in the Third Round...WOOHOOO!!!



Jeff Ital and Dave Ginnard hard at war!



 Justin Williamson - my Round 1 opponent. We had a fast and furious game, with lots of combined armor and infantry action. Fun game!

 Jim Burris, my Round 3 opponent. Jim would end my Cinderella Story, but we had a great game, which was awesome fun from Turn 1 to Turn 8.

Dave hard at work. 

 Mike Bistodeau and I played a pick-up game to close out my March Madness festivities. A great way to end the tourney.

 Dan Best with his Starter Kit Trophy!

 Which Bistodeau is Best...??


 Scott Martin and Dan Plachta playing under the watchful gaze of Jim Burris. Dan and Jim would play for the championship with Dan coming out on top to win this year's March Madness title.


 Livin' the Stug Life!!










The boys will be back in 2019!!

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