ITR15 To the Last Bullet After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

Victory Conditions

This is the summer of 1942 and the Germans are on the march! They’re looking to clear the NKVD headquarters at Rostov.  They’ll win in 8 turns, if they control both buildings K8 and L12.  You can see the two buildings marked with big yellow ‘V’s on the map.

The Russians have eleven 8 morale squads, mostly 628’s, so they’re ready for the fight! These are supported by a 10-0 commissar and a 9-1 plus an 8-0. They come with four Fortified Locations, twenty Mine Factors, an ATR, a MMG and a Flamethrower. The Germans have sixteen squads, four of them 548 with 3 smoke. They have 5 leaders with a total of -4 modifiers amongst them, four MMGs and 4 tanks. I knew these buildings would take forever to clear, but I was excited to see how quickly my squads could work together to overcome the challenge.

After Action Report

The Germans were situated directly across the street. We spotted a rout trap protecting the top (west) building and so we decided to focus our forces on the bottom (east) building. We wanted to get behind these two buildings as well because if the Russians get to rotate concealed units out, we would never win this battle. For the time being, we would ignore but isolate the three Russian stacks in that building on the top of the Russian deployment. We had four MMGs distributed between the 9-1 and the 9-2 stacks as deathstars to support the assault troops moving across the street. The 548’s would provide smoke (& close up assault fire) and the 467’s would deploy where possible. We would have to note the hexes the Russians step into if we want to avoid the mines. They would undoubtedly withdraw into the top victory building (west), so we’ll have to be quick!

In a stunning turn of events, the Russian flank guard melted away in an unexpected blaze of glory (a break and then Fate). The Deathstars tried to stop the Russians from moving up to the middle and the top building. We were moving troops to the left (south) side of the buildings, and it was going great! The four tanks arrived on the scene, ready to provide smoke and armour cover to those crossing the streets. We made it through the first of the Russian fortified positions! There were three more to go!

The Russian 10-0 commissar kept putting brokies back in circulation, which was a great move! We had to move the AFVs to put a stop to the unacceptable situation. One of the AFVs moved too close and got destroyed (fine, I wasn’t paying attention), though it became a nice crossing point. The Germans blew through the second Fortified location, yeah! The deathstars started moving to support the attack on the top (west) building, although I have to admit, I wasn’t covering them from Russian sniper well.  At this point in the game, both the Russian ATR and the flamethrower malfunctioned, which was a real shame.

We had no choice but to stack ourselves up to the often 12+3 or more firepower from Russian 628’s.  We had to keep up the pressure!!  The 9-2 broke trying to organise his men at the new deathstar position.  An 8-1 dived through his own lines and tried to deliver a DC to the Russians, he got killed for his efforts.  I had to move a wounded 7-0 to that center building to keep the attack going.  There’s a Russian 9-1 nursing a broken MMG on the corner of the last VC building.  We had to move the AFVs in to mess with that rout as well.  

We got the Russian hemmed into a corner of the top VC building! The two Russian leaders are in the hex with the last Fortified Location, and they’ve got all the brokies! The tank I dispatched to keep the brokies away from the Russian 9-1 was killed by a LMG from the 8-0 stack we tried to isolate in the building at the top of the Russian layout. But that just made the rest of us more determined to get the job done! In a bold move, they then tried to dash across the street to join the fight! Unfortunately, they got pinned in the street, and I sent a tank through and overran the stack! My 9-2 was shot by the Russian sniper, but that allowed his machinegunners run across the street to help! It was after the German AFPh that the Russians finally gave in in disgust.

I think the one thing this scenario taught me is to target one bit of the puzzle at a time and focus all your firepower, assault troops and AFVs on it.  It’s basic tactics but it’s one that I failed to get my head around in execution till now!  On the otherhand, this seems to be a scenario that’s tilted to the German side.  Perhaps those of you who played this will share your thoughts?