[Crossing the Moro CG] T=0902 -- Rough start

The first turn of the CG was surprisingly lethal. The Germans are entering the map in plain sight. The infantry ran down the slopes to the cover of the wood, but were met with MMG and extremely accurate MTR fire (a 10-2 SMC directing is kind of helping). A squad of pioneer got wiped, and its 9-1 routed back up the hill. 

Where it hurt the most is by a stretch of lucky shots from the piddly *75 of the Shermans. Although the Pz IV kept moving, the difficult terrain got them to stick to the roads and paths where the meandering exposed their side armors. Three out of 4 Pz IV got eliminated in the first turn! Furthermore, the 10-2/60mm MTR broke the dm HMG positioned in a stone building at the edge of the map. 

The last Pz IVH eliminated one of the Sherman, at least. The Germans won't find true cover until they get into blind hexes. But this means that they'll have to run the gauntlet for 2 more turns, without armor support anymore.

North West approach: burning PZ IVH

North East Approach

ASL 147 - First-Person play - Going in blind

The scenario

The main challenge in ASL147 is to find and then clear the defenders from the road. In regular ASL, finding is trivial although it should have been the main command challenge. Finding can also be made easy by spreading thin, but then again this would leave the advancing forces vulnerable and too weak to actually do the clearing part.

In short, Japan has to sweep and clear the vicinity of the road without being infiltrated to its rear. The Gurkhas have to, one way or another, remain in position such that an ambush on the approaching main columns is possible. I modified the victory conditions to emphasize that this is a game of information as much as a game of elimination.

I hope that the scenario proved an exciting new experience for the players.

Here are some special rules on detection and command and control.

Special Thanks to Stefan Fiedler for playing the MMG crew on turn 7.

Summary of the battle

A detailed story for each player (with lots of screenshots) can be found below:

• 3 Tank Bn (det) [Japan]
• 2/1st Gurkha rifles [UK]

Japan opted for a larger SAN of 4 instead of a free recon roll. Unfortunately, the IJA a sniper didn't activate during the scenario. The Gurkhas opted for an extra spool of wire.

Lt. Samikawa was surprised by Lt. Corhay's choice to defend deeper in the jungle rather than at its edge. Contact was made late in the scenario as the IJA was cautiously advancing into the deep blue foliage. The IJA conducted a textbook combined operation and got to converge nearly its whole force where it expected the main defensive positions. It found little but a thin screen which melted in the jungle on contact.

Lt. Corhay is rallying his troops (U10) while all hell is
breaking loose  somewhere else! Flash are used for noise,
IR for tank MA fire.

By then, Lt. Corhay lost contact with half of its force for the rest of the scenario. He maneuvered his units that broke under MMG a but rallied fast enough to avert disaster. Some remnants to the south drew most of the IJA a squads, which allowed the, to sneak to the rear and in position to ambush the column of strategically moving IJA armor ( the objective ). This going was high in tense moments such as finding himself HIP ADJACENT to a MMG after all of the broken squads ran past his positions.

Across the road, a squad of Gurkhas sneaked through swamp and thicket and slipped into the rear while the rest of the Gurkhas entertained mutual annihilation with Lt. Samikawa's local forces. Samikawa, wounded before the hand to hand, shamefully didn't participated. The IJA, still cohesive under Samikawa, neutralized the remaining Gurkhas such that they cannot impede the progress of the main body. A last minute spread of the IJA ensured that the southern end of the Area of Operation was cleared.

In the very last turn, Lt. Corhay decided to remain HIP as the MMG crew stumbled over their positions. Stripped from HIP, they held fire in hope to go HtH while concealed. The japanese crew shot in the foliage and pinned Corhay himself and one of the squad, the Gurkhas charged but in the confusion the crew slipped out and got away from certain death (The gurkhas needed 11, rolled 12). 

Outcome

The victory conditions were adapted to make it more interesting in this context. 

The aide of the Colonel arrive with an escort details. The CO is pissed off by the delay. He demands a decision on your part: “Is it safe to proceed with a strategic march through this patch of jungle, or not?”

Lt. Samikawa declare the area clear and the Batallion moves forward. Reinforcements comes and help clearing the remaining known Gurkhas. Soon enough, the 3 Tank Bn is passed through and overrun the British defense a few miles down the road.

Lesson learned as referee

• The force commander for scenario larger than platoon-sized should be represented as a SMC in addition to the OOB SMCs.
• Minimize low-level orders to each units. Keep it high level.
• Expand in details where the players is personally in danger because it is exciting.
• Consider adjudicating some situation using GURPS WWII where ASL isn't handling as well at this scale (tracking, stealth, perception (noise)). 
• The jungle is a harsh place to learn to fight blind. This is kind of buying a $20 bottle of wine when you are 17.
• Triple check the VASL file before sending it out...

Playing in the 1st person

• Stay connected: 
• Minimize distance in MP to other Task forces
• Keep line of communication clear of interdictable hexes.
• Find, fix, flank and fight. It starts with a thin screen (find), followed by MG/fire base (fix), maneuver to better approaches [flank], then move on to CC [fight].
• Minimize issuing commands:
• Set objectives, phase lines, fire base so that out of contact units can still act predictably. 

AP45 - Reaping Rewards - T5 - Burning tanks!

Marvel at the chain of a burning KV-8, a burning T-34, an immobilized T-34, and another burning T-34. 

AP45 - T5
The Germans have taught a valuable lessons to the Russian tankers: don't assault in a built-up area without infantry support! This is particularly so if the enemies have MOL capabilities.

Both sides are 30%+ casualties. Lots of things went goofy dues to a crazy number of snake eyes. However, I learned the hard way that tanks aren't invincible against infantry. Not that I didn't know that at first, but I didn't had a feel for how easy it is to kill tanks in CCV/MOL.

What an awesome scenario.

Human Factors v0.2 Playtest 1 - ASL 102 - The point of the sword

I decided to try my Human Factors (HF) rules using a live scenario instead of playing small, context-less, setups. Here is a link to the rules to be playtested. Disclaimer: elite troops fighting in an open terrain are the least susceptible to these rules. I realized this quickly into turn 2. A better play test will be in a busier map and/or with lower quality troops.

Gist of the Human Factors rules

Units initiating movement or opening fire without the cue from a nearby friendly unit must pass a TC or be delayed. There is a bit more to it, but I want to keep it simple and add a level of unpredictability without altering gameplay too much. Passages relevant to the playtest are color coded in purple.

The Setup

The germans are going to use forward stone buildings to force the UK commando to bypass into an open area setup as a killing fields. The forward position is also strongly supported by many fields of fire. If the Brits/Canadians spend too much time on this, they remain exposed to dangerous fire. 

The UK is going to engage the Germans in an attempt to force their way into the village and discover the fortifications. They need to clear the way quickly so the Canadians can enter the board on turn 3, as pointed out by +Jackson Kwan  in his AAR.

Positions at Setup

The Czerniakow Bridgehead - T6.5 - Something snapped

The russians are handing a well measured but still contested defeat to the Germans. 

The Germans were about to pull a victory by a thin margin as they broke through the Polish/Russian defenses. However, a HIP LMG opened up on the HMG crew which assumed the open R10 to be safe. The result: 1KIA. This loss of the crew/HMG made victory impossible without bringing more troop from the rear.

The Russians counter-attacked and destroyed a MMC/SMC stack in R8. The thin line of Germans screen, including a guard unit, moved in for a counter-counter-attack on the next turn but the Russians didn't wait. The German defensive fire was fierce and broke the stack. Final fire from F9 broke them again. The russian MMC made the NMC, but the leader went berserk.

Here we are, S8 is such an entertaining hex right now. This is a euphemism for "I had to re-read a buncha rules to keep going".

Behold, the most colorful stack of counters on the board so far. 

The Czerniakow Bridgehead - T4 - The germans have hit a wall.

Private Kaminski's antics in the North have been for naught. The Russians have figured out that they could interdict the bridge without exposing themselves to the German's base of fire. Meanwhile inthe center and against the main effort, the stalwart Russians held strong positions keeping the Germans from moving around freely once passed the bridge. As a result, the forces from the North have been diverted to cut the flanking of the german bridgehead across the deep stream. 

Stalled in the North...

Early success in the south encouraged the germans to be bold over there too. They slipped into good positions, broke a bunch of russian squads and pinned in the open russian reinforcements. The missing piece of the puzzle was a pincer from the main force coming from the north.

In the south, the germans have carved a good position, but it is tenuous... The Russian LMG in K7 is broken and downgraded... it isn't going to rally in a long while. 

The russian counter attack was swift and effective. They came from down the street through buildings, weathered the german defensive fire like big boys and finished them off in close combat. Thus ends the half-hearted diversion on the southern approach. The germans have learned to rejoice when prep-fire works well and not blindly jump in everything that looks like a hole. Granted, the main force should have cleared the way already and this hasn't happen yet.

The tiny stack on H5 now has to make a tough choice.

What turn 5 has in store? I think that the germans will have to wheel in the MMG in the SPW 251/1 in order to support the retreat of the beleaguered MMC/LMG/8-0 stack: reinforcing defeat is generally a bad idea, but here we're talking about 3 CPV that could bloat to 6 CVP if the Russians capture them alive.

Oh, and yea, the main force as a side show has managed to clear the worst of the russian base of fire overlooking the bridge. We'll see where that takes them. Diverting the SPW 251/1 and the MMG to the south bridge may help in rescuing a bucket full of CVP still to lose, but there remains that it still is a diversion of the main effort which is in need of a boost.

The russians O10 and N9 gummed up the German advance for 4 turns! This was caused by a mixture of good dice and a lack of focus of the Germans. Lesson learned here too.

The Czerniakow Bridgehead - T2 - The Ballad of Pvt. Valery Kaminski

The scenario is "The Czerniakow Bridgehead", played solo. After consulting ROAR, I decided to give the White Russians (Germans) a SPW 251/1 halftrack. The story that follows is a sideshow to the main push. 

Private Kaminski was the only White Russian (Russians fighting for the Germans) excited about the assault on the bridgehead this morning. His company slipped North in order to fix a matching body of "Red" Russian troop from their 9th Infantry Regiment.

Lt. Schmoe explained that the objective was to fix the Russians while the main body down-canal pushed to the Vistul and hopefully flank the men across the canal. The base of fire was effective, maybe too effective because Lt. Schmoe decided to go for an early assault. The defending russians kept quiet until they got on the other side.

A flurry of fire coming from the building on both sides broke the assaulting squad and Schmoe. The white russians were falling like flies when the last straw was pulled: some Polish Home army peeps opened with a LMG from down the road.

Bridge Absolut and Smirnoff at 1000: A few seconds before the storm.

The white russians dropped their weapons and surrendered to the russians nearby while Private Kaminski decided to pick up the LMG and make a run for the bridge in a low crawl.

Private Kaminski split from his surrendering friends and made it to the bridge while dodging bullets coming from all sides.

The fire came from many sides, but the Polish LMG was noisier than dangerous. While his friends on the West bank called for him to pull back, Pvt. Kaminsky slipped from the bridge into the canal underneath. He thus fell out of sight: wet but safe for now. While struggling to keep from sliding into deeper waters, Pvt Kaminski witnessed his colleagues getting a bloody nose on their attempt to cross Bridge Absolut: The Russians on the far side were pinned, but obviously not pinned enough.

Pvt Kaminski has slipped under the bridge and into a deep canal. Everyone is holding their breath.

Red Packets (BV6) - Turn 4

Vehicular combat in ASL is abrupt and fast. I made the best use of platoon movement to concentrate return fire and with it the russians made short order of a scout halftrack and would have sent into a blaze a Pz-IIIF had it been not able to claim HD behind the hedge. It still strikes me as odd to claim HD behind a hedge, but I guess I should be looking at it as a depression behind the hedge which made this possible. Nonethless, the PzIIIF has a malfunctioning gun. Things are looking up for the russians.

The clash happened less than a turn ago, not looking good for the Germans.

Mila 18 - T8 - Holy ammo box! The ZON just flipped the table

I know that I pronounced the game over yesterday, and I predicted that I could be wrong (as usual). I was right about being wrong. The ZON bagged a huge loot in prisoners which brings their VP tally to 28, thus requiring the SS to get 56 VP. This is almost the full OOB of partisans. And the remaining partisans are either in a fortress or in a building that they didn't manage to get into for a bunch of turns. 

Things are very much up in the air... and I'm glad that I didn't abdicate yesterday as the ZON.

The row of SS off the map are the prisoners held in L9!

Mila 18 - T4.5 - The futile last stand

The ZON did not manage to do much damage. As expected (but not hoped for), the sewers seemed to be more a gimmick than a sound solution to mobility. The use of MOL was a welcome plus on the ZON's side. However, there are enough SS MMC and enough time to allow to do proper maneuvers: a good fire base strips the concealments and break the ZON and then the SS move in with a 2-to-1 or 3-to-1 CC. Ambushes happen but don't make a large difference when you roll at 1-to-4.

The scenario is a clear win for the SS by mainly eliminating the ZON. They can at this point take defensive positions and wait for the end of the scenario with little chance of losing enough VP to lose the game. However, why stop here? This isn't why I'm playing so the ZON will try. They have a fortress in W5, and have been spanking the SS from their strong position in O8. If they eliminate 1 6-5-8 or two HS with no further loss, the game is theirs. This is a gamble, but the only thing left to hold on to. Beside, most of my ASL games so far turned out to be nail biters a turn after I pronounced them "resolved".

Hey look, overzealous MOL caused a pretty pattern in column N.

Mila 18 - T3.5 - Burning gazoline

Cut off from a retreat, the ZON 7-0 SMC decided to join the pinned squads on Level 1. The ZON in O8 has a commanding view of the battle, and is stacked to capacity. Down in the sewer, another squad is lurking.

The impending wave of SS is first slowed by sniper fire, hurting the SS leader. The SS decide to group to saturate the ZON but the return fire, spiked with molotov cocktails, break the SS advance and set the wood on fire. This sets back the SS: they are broken with a fire in between and the ZON is as strong as ever.

The MOLotov cocktails are turning map 24 into a scout jamboree. If the wind picks up and the fire turn into blazes, this map will look a lot different.

Mila 18 - T3 - Clauwitzian's frictions of war

I'm not sure that the ZON can put up a very good fight. So far, they have focussed on slowing the SS and spreading them thin. The SS called for No Quarters as they can't afford the vagaries of POW management. ZON snipers have wounded 2 of the 4 SS SMC.

The outcome of this scenario is still way up in the air.

Chasing dummy stacks and an elusive ZON opponent.

Mila 18 - T1.5 - The frightened lady

The SonderCommando were given a cue of a few dozen buildings where the ZON was possibly hiding. They had some 40 minutes to secure the area before someone from higher up gets ideas about the company's readiness.

Everyone in the Ghetto scrambled to get out of the way. Unfortunately, an old lady fell and couldn't stand up anymore. Lt. Rakuna approached her as she meekly pointed to a nearby building in hope to save her life. The silhouettes from a group of ZON fighters were shuffling on the second floor.

Lt. Rakuna changed the plans and ordered the platoon to the North to form a base of fire. Little that they knew, the ZON force commander was in the line of fire, fell under a large pile of rubbish amid the bullets.

The return fire from the pinned ZON squad was ineffective, another squad slipped into the sewer underneath before the SS barged in. The squad that slipped down was then nowhere to be found, but the pinned squad above was quietly waiting to get pummelled.

Sgt. Rakuna is bleeding all over H6 from sniper fire while Lt. Pilsi has stormed up one level to engaged the previoulsy pinned and abandoned ZON squad.