A44 Blocking Action at Lipki AAR

I love PTO. However, jungles do not present decent tank country. Too much time spent in the PTO as a newbie can result in lopsided development that is short on armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) experience.

This scenario took place near Borisov (Russia), mid-1941 – the opening stages of Barbarossa. Elements of the 1st Moscow Motor Rifle Division was sent to block the spearhead that was Guderian’s 18th Panzer Divison.

North is on the right of the map. The Germans deployed on the top map (west) and the Russians came in from the bottom (east). The Russians win when they exit more than 15 victory points (VPs) off the top edge of the map between the road on the top middle to the road on the top right. The other way to win was to kill enough Germans. The KV2 was worth 7 VPs, the T-34 was also worth 7 points and each squad was worth 2 points. As you already know, the Russians had a KV2, a T34 M40 and a couple of BT7s. The Germans had a couple of PzIIIGs, a halftrack sporting a 37mm gun with a high rate of fire (I forgot about the ATR that it also carried) and a couple of halftracks with the usual machine guns. They were backed by a 28mm antitank gun and further reinforced by a pair of PzIVEs in Turn 4.

The above was the German Turn 2. You can see the two Panzers on the left lying in wait and hoping to get a first shot at the Russians. The antitank gun was towed to a clump of woods near the exit for a last-ditch defence. The half track with the 37mm gun was on the right and they could hear the speedy BT7s and a convoy of trucks rumbling towards them.

This was the Russian Turn 3. The T34 came up the left and the PzIIIG fired, looking to scoot behind the woods quickly afterwards.

I rolled a 1,1 .. and a 1. Critical Hit!!

The T34 exploded into a burning wreck, and the German tankers sat stunned as bits of Russian tank rained down. On the right, the 37mm gun pumped shot after shot into one of the BT7 and killed it.

This was the German Turn 3. I am very inexperienced in tank warfare so you won’t see an end to idiotic moves in the near term. This was one of them. I backed a PzIIIG up over the bridge on the left in the hope of being able to get away faster when the Russian tanks appear. Not only did I presented my rear facing to the Russians, I forgot to button up. The tank was immediately stunned by infantry fire and then killed by a Russian antitank rifle (ATR). Things worked out better on the right as my 37mm gun shocked the other BT7.

This was the German Turn 4. To the left you can see another one of my moments. The Germans were hoping to crash a halftrack through the woods on the left, get back on the road and circle around the back of the Russian trucks on the right. However, they realised that trail breaking took a little time and by the time the half track emerged from the woods, it was looking down the barrel of a KV2! So instead of breaking to the right of the map, they sped towards the left to escape. The KV2 fired but the halftrack speed and its size saved it. The surviving BT7 recovered from its shock and killed the gun-toting halftrack. Unfortunately the reinforcing PzIVEs arrived and got it bracketed from two directions.

This was Russian turn 5. Our escaping halftrack on the left had a Russian ATR squad on its tail. The KV2 on the other hand laughed and used the trail-break created by the charitable halftrack to get to the “inside line” of the Germans. The BT7 blew out its gun in a shootout with the PzIVe on its left (which also malf’d its gun) and was killed by the PzIVe on its right. The right PzIVe proceeded to shoot up the Russian trucks one by one.

During German turn 5, one of the German half squad had a berserk moment. They got tired of the shooting and concluded that the proper thing to do was to charge the Russian medium machine gun. So off they went. They ran through Defensive First Fire, then Subsequent First Fire … jumping into the MMG nest, they survived Final Protective Fire!! “.. and THIS is how it’s done!!” they yelled. Meanwhile, Katya, the peasant girl sniper rolled her eyes, spat and muttered “Men” before shooting up the marauding German half squad and ended the lunacy.

This was Russian Turn 6. During the last German turn, the only Panzer with a functioning gun sped into its final position while its colleague proceeded to kill all the Russian trucks with its MGs on the right of the map. However, the KV2 killed the halftrack that tried to escape from in front of the wooden house. The escaping halftrack to the left survived another shot from the Russian ATR and ran. The KV2 crew watch incredulously as the crazy halftrack ran across its covered arc. Then it realised that KV2 can’t intensive fire. The halftrack disappeared behind some woods. In this turn, the KV2 followed. I can only imagine the commotion on the halftrack as the KV2 reappeared on its “rear view mirrors”.

This was Russian Turn 7. The mighty KV2 lumbered towards the goal line. The PzIVE and the antitank gun bounced shot after shot off its front armour. The KV2 went to a “fork” position, threatening the German truck with its rear MGs while shooting back at the antitank gun with high explosives from its terrifying “bunker busting” 152mm gun. The antitank gun crew worked as fast as they could, dreading the massive fireball that the next moment must bring.

Then for a moment, there was silence – the 152mm gun malfunctioned.

HS8 Bailey’s Demise AAR – fighting the Marines in the jungle

Learning jungle terrain in ASL153 Totsugeki is one thing. Learning about Marine Raiders in the dense jungles of Guadalcanal is another matter entirely.

This is HS8 Bailey’s Demise, from MMP’s Operational Watchtower Historical Study. The date is September 26 1943. This scenario as with the whole History Study, is centered around Guadalcanal. The river depicted on the map represents the Matanikau river. The Marine Raiders were looking to cross the river to the west bank to complete an encirclement. Unbeknownst to the Marines, the IJA had crossed the river and was on the east bank when the engagement occurred.

The Marine Raiders came in from the top left into a wholly hidden (HIP) deployment of IJA troops. The Marine Raiders, like the IJA 1st-liners, were also stealthy. They were to cross at least 6 CVP (3 squads or other combinations) to the west bank of the river in 7.5 turns.

All interior jungle hexes are dense jungle. All jungle hexes next to non jungle hexes are light jungles. The difference being while light jungle are similar to woods, dense jungle has a terrain effect modifier (TEM) of 2, does not permit fire groups and allows a stacking limit of only two. This map’s marked with “crags” (4 point stone formations) merely to remind ourselves that the marked hexes were dense jungles.

The map above was my IJA setup, units unhidden for your perusal. The mortar team down on the bottom left was largely ineffectual against American counter-battery fire. I should have spread them out.

This was the Marine Turn 2. The Marine made contact with the defenders and withstood IJA fire rather well. Taking the risk to move in stacks (given the +2 cover of the dense jungle) their Advance Fire was devastating round after round for the IJA. The IJA looked to block the Marines as much as possible, rout back (squads breaking “automatically” into half squads in the process) when in doubt and take advantage of their leader’s “Commissar-like” ability to rally them without (DM) penalty.

As I expected, the Marines avoided the bamboo patches on the right and came in from the top down.

Please keep in mind that IJA counters in faded yellow were hidden units that the Marine player couldn’t see.

This is the IJA Turn 2. Some of the frontline IJA routed back. The IJA mortar team on the left was completely shot up.

American Turn 3. The rallied IJA put up a fight in face of the advancing Raiders.

IJA Turn 3. The IJA rallied and reconstructed a respectable line of defence. In retrospect this approach didn’t work well. The IJA, even concealed, could hardly withstand the withering Marine gunfire. Perhaps a better strategy is to pair up the half squads. One half squad would go aggressive, knocking off US concealment counters and drawing fire. The other concealed half squad will close and either hope for an ambush in close combat.

Talking about close combat, the Marines with their overwhelming firepower are deadly in normal CC (plus the IJA has no favorable modifiers). Here you have a HIP squad that sprung out in the hopes of assassinating the Marine 8-0, they were promptly killed in CC.

I should have avoided normal CC with Marines to start with. Hand to Hand (HtH) combat, when done with sufficiently lopsided odds (IJA half squad vs one or two Marines squads) offer a good trade for the IJA since the results of most are mutual annihilation! Other than that, I should have ran!

Marine Turn 4 : here you can see how the Marines were already crowding the last passage way towards the river. A Raider squad jumped a concealed IJA half squad and was ambushed and killed. That was unfortunately the only time when close combat went happily for the IJA in this game!

IJA Turn 4 : The situation doesn’t look good for the IJA but they were still fighting hard. Here you can see a Marine stack breaking voluntarily and routing away from possible IJA close combat. Here’s a thought : had I not used the hidden IJA units in close combat, they could have sprung up now and kill the whole stack!

Marine Turn 5: the Marines started to cross the river!! A repositioned IJA machine gun put the west end of the bridge squarely in its sights but it couldn’t stop the flow.

IJA Turn 6: This was how it ended for the IJA, decimated and encircled.

The next time I play as the IJA against Marines, I will try :

Using my HIP units largely for cutting rout paths.
Pair up units (half squads), keep one concealed and use one for knocking off enemy concealment, with the hope of trading half squads for bigger stacks of Marines in hand-to-hand combat.
Rush IJA squads through openings created by successful hand-to-hand combat and go for encirclement
I thought of stacking IJA units to give them heavier fire power since I can’t create fire groups in dense jungles but I think that will just create bigger targets for blistering Marine firepower.
While retreating and blocking as the IJA might be a good idea at times, I should keep at least a 1 hex distance from the Marines. That way the Marines would need to use advancing fire against my concealed units.
What happened to Banzai charges?

What’s your experience with fighting cardboard Marines in the jungles? What are your thoughts?

My First Foray into PTO terrain : ASL153 Totsugeki! AAR

I played ASL153 Totsugeki! a while ago with Brian Y. I played a few PTO (Pacific Theatre of Operations) scenarios before but this is my first foray into full-blown jungle terrain.

The usual Chinese vs Japanese (IJA) or Canadian vs Japanese scenarios occurred in China or Hong Kong, both of which are not in PTO terrain. ASL153 Totsugeki! however, took place in northern Burma. “Totsugeki” is Japanese for “Charge”. Chinese gunners, working with the Americans, were cut off in the jungle with fields of fire still uncleared. The IJA 55th Regiment pushed in and everyone in the 6th Field Artillery Battery found themselves fighting for their lives.

IJA pushed in from the top of the map. There are three Chinese guns in specified hexes. The Victory Conditions for the IJA is to eliminate or to capture all three Chinese guns and to occupy their hexes with good order crew/half squads/squads (“MMC” in ASL parlance) in 6.5 turns. The Chinese has 14 first liners vs the IJA’s 11 but they were understandably shaky (ELR 2).

This is Japanese turn 1. The IJA wasted no time in rushing both flanks. They showed that the IJA squad will almost always get to where it wants to go. The jungle hindrance of course helped a great deal.

End of Chinese Turn 1 : you can see the IJA was successful in turning both flanks. The Chinese 2 squads stack with the leader posed an issue though since it occupied a key position in the center of the map. Approaching IJA units invariably got shot up.

Japanese Turn 2: The IJA decide to get the party going with a DC Hero (“CANDYGRAM!!!”, a phrase favoured by one of my ASL mentors, Witchbottles). Unfortunately the Chinese weren’t ready to go wild yet and promptly shot the messenger.

Japanese Turn 2 still : IJA forces slid down the left flanks, ambushed and killed the Chinese medium machine gun (MMG) team. This flank looked shaky but the Chinese held firm in the middle. That double squad Chinese stack in the middle were still chuckling over their DC hero kill.

Japanese Turn 3 : The IJA was getting frustrated about not being to make much inroads in the centre and on the right flanks. On top of it, trotting through the jungle was a very slow going affair. So they decided to do a banzai attack!

This is my first banzai attack in jungle terrain and I started to appreciate how well banzai attacks go together with jungles. It is got to be terrifying to have IJA troopers crashing out of the trees and falling into the ranks with bayonets and swords waving! This charge allowed the IJA forces in the centre to link up with the right flank.

Japanese Turn 5 : The IJA spent turn 4 bringing the troops together for the final assault on the guns. The IJA mass assault moved through the jungle. The two guns on the flanks fired pointblank at the incoming IJA and they both malfunctioned!

Japanese Turn 6: The IJA came into contact with the Chinese troops around the gun and one last banzai ensured!

Sensing that the game was almost over, a DC hero decided to gave it another go. He too was shot before he could deliver the payload. On the other hand the last banzai piled a few IJAs into the last gun hex.

The IJA captured the last Chinese gun and surrounded the defenders.

Totsugeki is a great introduction for me to the PTO terrain. Going toward I’d very much like to explore the best ways for DC Heros to play together with Banzai’ers.

I’d also like to commend Brian Y as a terrific ASL player. Thanks for a great game Brian!

Please see also my friend Joss Attridge’s experience with Totsugeki : “Totsugeki (ASL 153)”

ASL 105 Going to Church AAR

French Canadians from Les Fusiliers Mount-Royal met up with German SS troopers at St. Martin-de-Fontenay on August 1 1944. The Canadians were to clear the SS from a church in the area. I played the Canadians and Robert Zinselmeyer, the SS . This was a 6 turn scenario and the Canadians win immediately when there were no unbroken SS in the church.

This was the Canadian Turn 1 : the Canadian death star contained a heavy machine gun (“HMG”) that went on a long rate tear, obliterating the east side of the church A team of Canadians rushed forward from the northeast. Another team moved around to the south-west of the church to catch Germans routing to that side.

This was the German Turn 2 : the Canadian death star continued to work on the east of the church. Canadians move closer from the northeast and the southwest.

This is the German Turn 3: a half squad attempted to approach the church with a demo pack earlier but was routed. This was the first attempt to retrieve it. The half squad (“HS”) was then KIA’d, as were a number of other Canadian units afterwards. The Canadians never got this demo pack back. The Canadian death star decided to relocate for lack of targets.

This was the Canadian Turn 4 : The Canadians didn’t do very well on the east side. The lone intruding HS crashed into the church but was immediately met with the SS in close combat!

German Turn 5 : Even though the odds of that mêlée was turning because of reinforcing Canadians from all sides. The Germans were still blocking one of the staircases while the rest raced upstairs.

Canadian Turn 6 : A valiant Canadian 8-0 made a desperate try for the dropped demo pack and was killed as well. The mêlée hadn’t ended. Scores of Canadians were held up by a wounded German 8-0 at one of the staircases! Someone suggested an infantry overrun on the wounded German but the Canadians failed to act. It was just too crowded and they were afraid that they might shoot their own. The Canadians rushed up the other staircase in frustration.

Last German Turn : the Canadians were able to dispatch the wounded German 8-0 at the end of the previous turn. All German upstairs were then immediately encircled!! The Canadian laid heavy firepower on the Germans inside the church. The HMG went on a rate tear as well! However when the smoke settled, one German HS remained.

The Canadians ran out of time.

Journey to a Tourney, Part 2: The Battles

Round 1: AP8 A Bloody Harvest

Maik Brinkmann

Maik Brinkmann is a methodological player with a great personality. He stores his counters in boxes of little white envelopes which hints at an equally efficient and practical mind. We decided on playing A Bloody Harvest through email correspondence before I arrived at Singapore.

Bloody Harvest – old VASL setup for illustration only.

Germans started from the top of the board and their goal was to clear the area I got marked at the bottom of the board clear of “good order” Poles.

I played the Poles. I decided to place my medium machine gun on the 1st level of the stone building that faced the grain field. From the Pole’s angle there were three possible approaches.

There was the right side that is heavily lined with trees where the German could very well approach. I placed 2 trenches within those woods to delay the Germans. I made sure that the two trenches upfront can support each other (and not be able to shoot at each other).

There was the grain field in the middle that my medium machine gun (MMG) covered from the first level of the stone building. I also had a squad in a trench that covered the road leading up to the grain field.

There’s also the left side that’s less wooded and was the longer way around. I had a trench with a squad on the immediate left of the village, plus another squad in a stone building on the left covering that approach. If needed, they could move back to the village to help.

Maik divided up the Germans and attacked down both flanks. He was bogged down on my right as the Poles withdrew into the village. He made better progress on my left but couldn’t converge onto the village in time.

The funny part was a stubborn Polish half squad that kept running retreating through the grain fields while harassing the Germans on the left. It absolutely refused to be broken.

It was a great game that introduced me to a new friend.

Round 2: J103 Lenin’s Sons

Mark Humphries

Mark Humphries need no introduction in Asia or globally in the ASL world. He runs the ASL Ladder from the Philippines. We decided on Lenin’s Sons and he gratefully allowed me to play the defending Russians.

Lenin’s Sons – old VASL setup for illustration only.

The Germans attacked down the length of the board looking to capture most the buildings on the bottom of the board. From the Russian point of view, the left side of the board is open ground. The German had a big wooden building at their jump off point. The Russians had a hedge and an orchard in front of the buildings they are to defend. On the right side were the woods.

From Mark I could see how ASL is really a game of movement. The Germans would always move forward in every turn. I failed to create a cross fire on the left and the SS was able to process across the open ground without breaking much until their rifles came into range.

In the woods on the right side Mark was constantly looking to encircle the retreating Russian troops. The Russian had a demolition squad hidden in the woods and were able to channel a leader and a squad towards them but my timing was wrong. The demolition squad sprung out, got shot, and the demolition pack went flying harmlessly through the air.

It was a slow game but Mark made progress in every turn. By mid game he was already in the orchards in front of my buildings.

Another great game! Mark showed me how it’s done : attacking in open ground and in the woods alike.

(PS : if I play this scenario again, the 10-0 commissar will go into the woods and the Russians will do a fighting retreat like IJA in the jungles.)

Round 3: ASL145 Shanghai in Flames

Jamie Lee

Jamie Lee is an experienced war gamer who is a newbie with ASL rules but is very well versed tactically. The Singapore ASL’rs warned me about him. On the other hand, he’s very unassuming and can easily disarm the unwary.

The scenario was Shanghai in Flames and I played the Chinese. I played this a while back with Erwin Langlois before and I enjoyed it immensely.

Shanghai in Flames – old VASL setup for illustration only.

The large building on the bottom left of the map was the Sihang Warehouse (factory). The IJA were to clear the factory of all “good order” Chinese squads. Squads in the factory were fanatic (a point I forgot at the tourney).

From the Chinese point of view, the likely angle of Japanese attack would be down the left side of the board along the line of buildings. The big stone building in the middle of the board was a good jump off point for the final attack as well.

The row house along the right of the factory was an important landmark. As long as it stayed in Chinese hands, it allowed them skulk and to rout safely. Once it fell into Japanese hands it became a beautiful fire base for the IJA

The Chinese got 3 fortified hexes and instead of fortifying the 3 top hexes of the factory to prevent the Japanese from charging directly in, I only fortified the middle hex the hex to it’s right. With the risk I took from not fortifying the left, I exchanged that for a tunnel that linked the building on the left to the row house on the right in front of the building.

My plan was to fight a delaying retreat down the left side while a leader and a squad start a fire on the building to the left in front of the factory. They could use the tunnel and go to the row house on the right and start fires there too, thereby denying the IJA of jump off points.

There was also a Chinese MMG team together with a protective squad and a 7-0 leader all the way down the street on the right side of the board. Given there were two long streets, I plan to cover the first with a long fire lane, and move to the street closer to the factory when the IJA broke through. Guess what? The 7-0 overseeing the operation was none other than “Corporal Kwan” recently designed by the talented Sava Toufexis.

Chinese GMT 7-0, “Cpl Kwan”

As it turned out Jamie was a lot faster than I expected in fighting through my retreating squads on left flank. A dare death half squad made its début by playing dead for a while and finally snapping off its concealment and delivering point-blank fire into a stack of passing IJA squads and a 10-0 leader. The shot wounded the 10-0 and decimated the IJA squads. Another volley from a squad between building killed the 10-0 and further amplified the misery. The Chinese managed to set fires to the building and woods on their left flank and routed to the row house on the right. By that time the IJA forces had already arrived to prevent further acts of vandalism.

By mid game the IJA was in the row house along the right of the factory. I lucked out in that the building to the left of the factory was on fire, denying its use to the IJA and making my unfortified left factory hex less of an issue. After a few turns the IJA broke through into the factory from the right but the Chinese squads had spread themselves out on the factory floor, promising another 2 to 3 turns of close combat. The IJA simply ran out of time.

Jamie is very strong tactically. He’s also very fluid in his thinking, making him a very tenacious opponent. This scenario went for 7 hours before we called it.

Round 4: J116 Brigade Hill

Vladimir See

Vlad has been ASL’r for a while. He was one of the first guys I came into contact with when I got into ASL. I remember one of my first chats with him was about how he felt about his Kampfgruppe Scherer purchase.

We agreed to Brigade Hill with me being the IJA.

I adopted Chris Doary’s setup. (Erwin: Spoiler Alert .. we still got a game going, if you look you will ruin our game! 🙂 )

There were four hill tops on the map. The Australians started the scenario owning the hill-top on the top left of the map (approached by concealed IJA at the time of the photo). They were to control, three or more hill tops out of the possible four.

Brigade Hill

Starting from the general direction from the foxhole on the top left of the map, the Australians probed both sides of the big hill before moving onto the first hill top. That might have burned more time than the Australians could afford. While I had the hill top bore sighted, I forgot to use the die roll modifier in the excitement. However when an Australian half squad, a squad, a leader and a machine gun moved into a nice clump of woods to set up a fire base on the hill-top, I remembered to spring forth a hidden IJA squad! The IJA initial triple point-blank fire on the stack didn’t have any effect but the Australian advance fire striped the IJA. They reduced the Australians in the mêlée and ultimately killed them all in the next close combat phase.

The Australians made a bit of headway chasing a mop of IJA half squad rabble through the woods on the right flank beyond the first big hill. They cornered and killed off a half squad and the 9-0 IJA leader and one of the Aussie half squads went fanatic. When the Aussie reinforcements appeared from the bottom right encircling the “bottom right hill” it looked bleak for the IJA. The Australians who killed the IJA leader jumped another IJA half squad in close combat and got ambushed instead. The Aussie half squad got slaughtered and I was going to infiltrate the victorious IJA half squad back closer to the “bottom right hill” but suddenly I had a thought.

I moved the IJA half squad behind the pursuing Australians.

That IJA half squad then eliminated a stack of routing Aussies!! When the leader and a squad among the incoming Australian reinforcement broke, I double-timed a squad of IJA through the orchard behind them as well, a lone surviving Aussie squad defensive fired through the orchards but IJA squads had ever been stopped from going wherever they wanted to go. The IJA squad was in a position to eliminate the routing Aussies against the board edge in the following turn.

The small IJA reinforcement found the Aussie foxhole on the top left guarded by a lonely squad. They advanced up the hill and did a one hex banzai charge into the foxhole. The “score” between the IJA and the Australians went back to 3 hill tops to 1. The Australians had two more turns left and decided to concede.

Vlad is a meticulous and a very fair player. Throughout the game he kept reminding me of repairs, missed negative die roll modifiers (on my shots) and (my) SAN etc. It is an honor to play him.

(PS Vlad reminded me that I can’t boresight if the attacker didn’t start offboard.)

Later at Singapore Changi’s Airport

I wrote Don Lazov and Witchbottles, my two ASL mentors from the airport. Don wrote back and said:

“I sincerely hope you not only had a lot of fun, learned a bunch of new things, ideas and concepts, but most important (beside/or next to having fun) made some new friends, and many memories. To me that is what ASL is really all about. Playing a great game but playing that game with great friends and making memories.”

I had seen a lot of new tactics. Whether I had truly internalized them remains to be seen:

Jamie Lee’s aggressive and effective use of half squads
Mark Humphries’s constantly flowing half squad amoeba attack through the woods
Vladimir See’s tactical planning and creative movements that made great use of available cover
Ian Percy’s comment I overheard about him not “doing things” to his opponents but “constantly presenting tough choices to the opponent” and “making HIM do all the work”. Given enough choices his opponent is bound to make the wrong choice and choke.
The power of IJA behind the enemy and the horrific efficiencies of eliminating the stacks of enemy squads for failure to route.

Quick Note to Fellow Newbies

“The Malaya Madmen” – Perry Cocke

I wasn’t going to pay for a plane ticket to go to Singapore for the Malaya Madness. The thought of putting up the time and the expense to go to Singapore to play ASL when I can play games with anyone over VASL was simply too crazy to consider. However, my two mentors : Don & Witchbottles both advised me to go see for myself. My family, surprisingly was easier to convince than I myself.

My initial thoughts were :

I don’t know anyone there but a lot of the ASL’rs must know each other already. They are just going to talk and to play with each other.
NEVER HAPPENED.
I am just a newbie. What’s the fun in losing all my games?
The Tourney Director matched players based on their skill levels. Besides, everyone I met are a total pleasure to play with or without the competition.
I played quite a few people around the world too on VASL. I can lose games equally well on VASL without having to travel, thankyou.
Face to Face games carries a dynamic that just doesn’t exist via other mediums. The chatter, the shrieks, the comments, the groans and screams of delight over die rolls, make FtF experiences second to none. Besides, it’s even more fun to play people over VASL (afterwards) when you know who they are.

There are a lot of ASL tourneys every year. If it’s within your realm of possibility to go, go. Go at least once.

And tell me how you feel. It might just change your ASL life too.

(Journal to a Tourney, Part 1 : Decisions)

A33 Tettau’s Attack AAR

http://www.defendingarnhem.com/commanders.htm

Lt General Hans von Tettau

A33 Tettau’s Attack puts us right back into Arnhem, 18 September 1944. The Red Devils had landed and various German units were on the counter attack. Lt General Hans von Tettau and his hastily gathered battle group was tasked with attacking the British drop zones.

The Germans got a mix of conscripts, a big lot of second line squads, a first line squad and 3 leaders. They were SS but was in reality a group of camp guards and depot troops(ELR:2). The Scots got only 4 elite squads, 3 leaders, a medium machine gun (“MMG”) and some LMGs.

The Germans win by exiting 3 victory points worth of units to the right of the map in 11 turns. A squad is 2 points, a half squad 1, a leader 1 and each leadership modifier exited is 1 (hence a 9-1 leader is 2 points).

I played the Germans against a gentlemen who’s recently coming back to Advanced Squad Leader (“ASL”). The superior troops and machines of the Scots were deadly over that much open ground. I split the Germans into two. The regulars were to make their way across the grain field to the left where the woods offer cover down most of the map. The MMG went into the wooden building to suppress the Scot MMG and to hinder the Scots from shifting their troops to the left. The conscripts were on the right and their goal was to draw fire as I was not optimistic about them moving down the right in time with their movement rate of 3.

This was the German Turn 1. The regulars dashed over to the far left of the field (top of the map). The Scot MMG went on a horrifying rate tear. The Germans kept their heads down and ran. When it’s all over, the Germans KIA’d 2 squads with another squad broken.

German Turn 2 : The survivors on the left flank (top of the map) pushed into the Scot LMG team. One German half squad got too close and was vaporised. The conscripts on the right (bottom) got a lucky break when the Scot 9-2 with the MMG team broke.

British Turn 3 : More lucky breaks for the Germans!! The fire group formed by the surviving Germans broke the Scot LMG team on the left! The conscripts rabble on the right made very little progress through grain field. However they served their purpose by drawing the Scot’s attention.

German Turn 3: The Germans were not going to let the Scots on rally on the left flank. They shot and they ran after the routing Scots on the left flank. The Scot 9-2 (MMG team) rallied and the grain field on the right was covered with German conscripts too scared to run. However, the Scots started to realise something was not quite right.

German Turn 4: the Germans on the left flank caught up with the routing Scots and killed them. A German 8-0 with a LMG decide to stay back, scrambled into the wooden house and lay fire lanes to hinder the pursuing Scots. The rest of the Scots started running back and the German on the right flank tried to slow them down with long-range shots. Meanwhile a pair German leaders on the right broke off and started running toward the right of the map for a few more Victory Points.

British Turn 5 : the German 8-0 with LMG was a rather effective rearguard. The running Germans focused on putting walls and hedges behind them as the Scots couldn’t see over unless they came right up against these structures.

German Turn 5 : the Germans need to get at least a squad and a half over the wall before the Scots recover. The German leaders on the right flank were also scrambling for the exit just to make sure.

The closest Scot units were broken up against the wall. All hopes were lost for the Scots as another two German units jumped over the wall after their friends.

Or was it?

British Turn 6: A Scot 9-1 leader rallied! He dusted himself off and clambered over the hedge after the Germans. His sights were on the LMG the German left behind. Yes, that German 8-0 with the LMG just made it over the far wall. May be he won’t turn around …

But he did. The German 8-0 turned around and slammed the LMG on the wall he just jumped over. He took a shot through the orchard hex which hindered his sight. He had to make this shot because otherwise the Scot leader would dive into the woods behind the building with the LMG.

He rolled snake eyes ..

And the valiant Scot leader failed his morale check and hit the dirt.

The Germans ran off.

AP54 800 Heroes AAR

AP54 800 Heroes is the second scenario I played that is designed around the Battle for the Sihang Warehouse in Shanghai. The first one I played was A110/ASL13 Shanghai in Flames. I believe there’s at least one more : BFP31 Chinese Alamo that covers the same battle. The subject matter’s the same but the scenario designer’s treatment is very different.

The date was 29 October 1937. The Imperial Japanese Army (“IJA”) had made successful incursions into Shanghai. Most Chinese units had retreated and the western powers were uninvolved at this stage. Chiang Kei Shek (the Generalissimo) was determined to keep the battle in world’s view and hence decided to keep the fighting in Shanghai which was already an international city at that time. Sihang Warehouse had the distinction of being right across a stretch of water from Shanghai’s International Concessions.

It was the place where Chiang wanted to bring China’s struggle to the world’s attention. A battalion from the 88th Division, a German trained élite unit was hence given the task and so the name “the lost battalion” as they were the last to leave.

Witchbottles played the Chinese defenders and I the IJA. This was a training game and the great tactics on both sides were his and the bad ones mine.

This was the setup. The IJA were free to setup certain units to the right of the map or enter via the North (top) or the East(right). IJA tankettes didn’t have radios and were therefore setup in platoon formations. The building to the lower left of the map was the warehouse (factory) and was fortified. The red ring denotes the area where Chinese units were fanatic.

This is a 5.5 turn game. The victory conditions for the IJA were either to control the warehouse or to control 3 or more hexes of the warehouse plus all other buildings in the Chinese setup area.

IJA Turn 1, the first thing the IJA needed to deal with was the heavy machine gun (“HMG“) sitting on the top of the warehouse. After laying down white phosphorus and smoke, two tankettes started coming in from the north. After bypassing some buildings, the world exploded around one of the tankettes. It was a set demolition charge! What both sides didn’t realize at the time was that set DCs don’t affect AFVs (armored fighting vehicle).

Suddenly, an IJA soldier in the woods to the right yelled :

BANZAAAAAAI!!!

The IJA worked out an Armour Assault together with a Banzai charge out of the woods. The IJA thought if they could cut off the line of trenches from the base they might get a chance to stop the Chinese squads from retreating back into the warehouse. An 8-0 IJA leader and his squad wandered out of the smoke cover and were the first to be met with a hail of bullets from HMG on the roof. The group disintegrated on open ground. The rest of the charge hug closer to the tankettes and kept on.

A tankette overran a Chinese trench, and a IJA squad piled in. The tankette bogged but the Chinese squad was pinned from the shock. Pinned as they were, they survived the overrun attack and shot at the rear of the attacking tankette. The LMG broke and so did the men, the Chinese squad broke and ran towards the warehouse.

This was the end of the Chinese Turn 2. The defenders took advantage of the IJA smoke. A Chinese squad ran across the warehouse floor and threw out a demolition charge. “CANDYGRAM!!” they yelled. The explosion striped the approaching IJA squad who caught a DC on their laps a moment ago.

Turn 3 IJA saw a half squad going berserk on the top left of the warehouse perimeter. It drew fire well but got blown promptly out of existence. An IJA tankette then smashed into the fortified warehouse on the left flank. It was greeted by a squad on the warehouse floor. An 8-1 leader stood a little way off. He waved at the IJA tank and smiled, pointed at the squad and said …

“Meet my Dare Death squad.”

The Dare Death squad went berserk (PAATC free), slammed a DC charge onto the IJA tankette and set it off with maniacal grins. BOOOMMM!! The Dare Death squad survived but so did the tank. The dust settled and the 8-1 leader was still there. He said

“I am happy you survived, because I also prepared this for you entertainment pleasure.”

A little way behind him was a medium machine gun squad, and they blazed away. On the third shot the IJA tankette exploded. Another IJA tankette slammed into the right of the warehouse as well, one tankette in the face of 3 machine guns. Please do not for a second mistook my blissful ignorance of tank rules for bravery though.

Nonetheless, two breaches were made in the fortified warehouse and close combat ensured on the right of the warehouse after the defenders immobilised the tankette.

The Chinese piled a hero and a berserker into the melee. Another squad tried to creep up on the IJA tankette sitting outside so that they can blow it up before it too slams into the building. Unfortunately the squad was shot in the rubble outside.

IJA Turn 4 got even more intense. The tankette on the right make another breach in the warehouse. The tankette to the north was shot and killed by an MMG before it could hit the warehouse walls.

IJA troops from the north finally made it to the perimeter. At Witchbottles’ suggestion, they decided that a Banzai charge was in order!!

This was the situation after the Close Combat phase. The IJA killed all defenders in 2 out of 3 hand to hand combats inside the warehouse.

Chinese Turn 4! The reserve unit that slipped outside earlier tried to make its way back into the warehouse. Unfortunately it broke under a hail of IJA gun fire and was pinned outside.

This is where the story ends as the Chinese didn’t have enough bodies to take the warehouse back.

In reality, the 423 Chinese defenders held out for another two days. They succeeded in winning international attention to the Sino Japanese war. The British allowed them to retreat across the New Lese Bridge into the International Concessions.

The Sihang Warehouse still stands today.

What thoughts do you have? What would you have done? What are your experiences playing this scenario?

Please comment!

Sihang Warehouse looking from the other side of the Suzhou River. October 2006 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

RPT72 Yangtze Doodle AAR

RPT72 Yangtze Doodle is a scenario from the latest Rally Point pack – “Sons of the Rising Sun”. It presents a rather interesting layout between the Imperial Japanese Army (“IJA”) and the Chinese. The date’s Oct 5 1937. The IJA had crossed the Wusong Creek (also known as the Suzhou Creek). Wusong Creek is a river that cuts across Shanghai from the west to east which, in 1937, divided Shanghai up into the Japanese concession and the International Concession (Americans and British). Tangbeizhai was one of the Chinese garrisons that stood between IJA and a new line the IJA wanted to establish from the river crossing.

North is to the left of the map. The Chinese squads in the little village in the middle were elements of the 3rd Battalion, 467th Regiment, 78th Division that were surrounded by the IJA. The Chinese squads on the far left were the 2nd Battalion sitting in reserve. The IJA would get reinforcements coming in from the far right. Chinese were 4-4-7s, IJA were 4-4-8s except for the two stacks you see on the right on the map. Both the Chinese and the IJA would have to fight in two directions. The IJA winning conditions were to control the bridge hex (which could be on the bridge or under the bridge, see A26.131) and to clear the village buildings in the middle of the map of any good order Chinese squads in 5 turns.

This was a “face to face” game, with me being the IJA and a visiting friend “John Doe” who wants to remain anonymous.

The IJA moved first and this was the end of the Chinese Turn 1. If you noticed the two hidden (“HIP”) IJA half squads deployed as speed bumps on the left of the map, you know I wasted an opportunity. The better use of HIP would have been to put the in the hamlet to the left of the stream and jump the Chinese while in concealment. Anyway, since the “hidden” IJA half squads were not in concealment terrain, they were spotted immediately and overran. The IJA LMG malfunctioned on the first shot (a common affliction for the IJA) but the IJA sniper broke a Chinese squad in the village to the right of the stream.

This was the Chinese Turn 2. In the preceding IJA turn, an IJA half squad tried to move to the bridge hex but was broken on the way. The Chinese rushed head-on to the hamlet from the left. I made the mistake of leaving an IJA 9-1 leader by himself with the enemy in close proximity. While two out of the three incoming Chinese squads were pinned on the left, the Chinese 8-0 slipped through and swung around to the IJA leader. See that smoke counter? The IJA mortar smoked out the Chinese medium machine gun (“MMG”) and the Chinese hero dropped the gun and rushed in to kill the IJA leader from the right. The striped squad you see would eventually ran off and dived under the bridge. In the ensuring close combat, the IJA 9-0 was wounded and killed by the 8-0 and hero tag team. However the half squad under the malfunctioned LMG would withdraw from close combat (Chinese rolled boxcars) and killed the Chinese 8-0 and hero in hand-to-hand during the following IJA turn!

This was a shot of the cleared hamlet in IJA Turn 3. The striped IJA squad mentioned in the earlier turn survived defensive fire and dove under the bridge. This IJA half squad just avenged their 9-1 leader with their bayonets. (Yes, all my counters have four healthy corners.)

This was the IJA Turn 4. The IJAs on the right had to break into the village before the Chinese on the left cross the bridge and link up with the surrounded garrison. Since the IJA sniper broke another Chinese squad in the village (he’s really earning his pay today), it’s time for a Banzai attack!

Three IJA squads got reduced into 2 half squads (they do a great podcast by the way) but where they pointed, they reached.

Hence in turn 4, the IJA sniper, a Banzai attack and a separate close combat took the Chinese garrison!

The Chinese to the left however, wiped out the avenging IJA and took the bridge hex. Hence in the last IJA turn, the situation called for another Banzai charge into the stream. All IJA personnel within running distance piled in. The other IJA squads and the MMG crew occupied key buildings in the village to prevent a Chinese counterattack in the last turn.

So one striped squad and one half squad made it through the enemy fire and piled in on 2 Chinese squads. And do you know what I rolled?

SNAKES!!

Two Chinese squads got wiped out in an automatic ambush. The bridge hex went back to IJA hands!

In the last Chinese turn, a Chinese squad piled in after some ineffective preparatory fire. They had to kill all Japanese units in the bridge hex to retake it.

So it all boiled down to the last Close Combat die roll.

When the chatter in the dice tower died, the IJA won!!

Looking back at this, we have a few thoughts:

the IJA sniper played a key role in breaking two squads in choice locations today.
as mentioned before, I wasted my HIP option via improper use. A better use would be to put them in the hamlet on the left of the stream and jump the incoming Chinese while concealed.
I should have CX’d the IJA reinforcement coming in from the far right. I was struggling to get enough IJA to rush the bridge at the end. Had the IJA reinforcement got on the scene earlier, I wouldn’t have this issue.
On the last IJA turn I could have run another Banzai attack on the other side of the village, making it two parallel Banzai attacks for the bridge. That would give me enough mileage to hit the bridge hex and a heightened morale level to do it with. However that could also open the village to counterattack.

Any thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Happy to hear from you as always!!

Suzhou Creek (Photo credit: Wolfgang Staudt)

BoF1 The Marco Polo Bridge Incident AAR

Manchuria

This was 1937. Since the first Sino Japanese war in 1894-1895 fought over the control of Korea, Japan had since shown astonishing successes in modernising their armed forces, cumulating in the defeat of the Russian navy in the Battle of Tsushima strait. By 1937 Japan was in control of the vast natural resources in Manchuria and sat at the gates of Beijing. Engagements between China and Japan so far had been isolated incidents.

Until the Marco Polo Bridge.

Marco Polo Bridge was “Lugouqiao” in Chinese. Since it happened on July 7 and opened China to eight years of hell that was the Second Sino-Japanese war, every Chinese kid learned of this incident as the “Seven Seven Lugouqiao Incident“.

There are two scenarios called “Marco Polo Bridge” according to ASL Scenario Archive one of which is BPF28 included in “Blood & Jungle”. The one I played with Takezo was BoF1 The Marco Polo Bridge Incident.

North is to the right of the map. This scenario started with the Imperial Japanese Army (“IJA”) setting up within a 2 hex radius of the east end (“bottom side”) of the bridge. The Chinese (“KMT” or “Nationalists”) got some token troops but reinforcements enter rapidly on Turn 1. The IJA got 2 tankettes and a couple of squads on Turn 3 coming down the bridge.

The IJA wins by taking at least 12 buildings within a 7 hex radius (thin red line) of the east end (“bottom” side) of the bridge. Every prisoner the IJA captured lessens the victory requirement by 1 building. Every tankette the Chinese destroyed increases the victory condition by 2 buildings.

Anyone who read Ramón Real Bernal’s “AAR Marco Polo Bridge Incident BoF1 vs Pakko Belmonte (IJA)“ will recognise my Chinese setup. The IJA would no doubt be grabbing as many buildings as possible on the first turn. The Chinese need to hold out until their reinforcements arrive, which was tough considering a third of the reinforcements were conscripts and they marched slow. The Chinese need to limit the IJA land grab and yet not get close enough to be captured. The above picture was the Chinese Turn 2. The Chinese got a medium machine gun (“MMG”) setup with a leader on the 2nd level in the big stone building on the left. The intention was to limit IJA movements. However as it turned out, it was too far from most of the action and there were too many blind hexes among the buildings. The Chinese armoured car sporting two coaxial machine gun turrets arrived at the bridge over the stream. The Chinese squad in the big “T” shaped wooden building was already captured by Turn 2. Chinese reinforcements attempted to rush a couple of the IJA buildings but were beaten back. On the far right you can see two stacks making their way to the river hoping to hook around the rear of the IJA positions.

This was IJA Turn 3. The IJA reinforcement came over the bridge. The MMG perched on the stone building to the left opened fire but to no avail. The IJA tankettes rolled into town, seeking to plug what my opponent saw as a crisis point : where my Chinese reinforcements threaten to hook around on the far right.

The lead IJA tankette rolled into view around the woods and the LMG squad at the end of the street threw off their concealment, opened fire, got a side shot and blew it up! (See “A Moment in ASL : LMG vs Tankette”)

In the next Chinese turn, the IJA continued to hold out well. Chinese squads kept breaking before they could be productive. My brains must have frozen because I should have conducted an armoured assault from the left with the armoured car to distract and to encircle the IJA. Meanwhile the squads to the far right were more successful in drawing IJA forces off the center. The armoured car had instead moved to stop the IJA reinforcements from joining the fight in the middle. I was hoping to risk bogging, run the armoured car across the stream and “freeze” some of the guns in the middle clump of buildings so that Chinese squads could cross the street. That never happened since the crew, lacking a radio, didn’t want to move again before the game ended.

The Chinese went all out in Turn 4. They finally started moving in cautiously from the left as well. They couldn’t make any inroads to the semi circular clump of buildings in the center but they managed to break into the “T” shaped wooden building. May be now the Chinese could cut into the woods, cut off the IJA on the top of the map and get to the prisoners held by the river? The Chinese squads on the far right ended the charade and turned left, looking to capture the little stone building to the right of the “T” shaped wooden house.

This was the last IJA turn. The IJA reinforcements, although harassed by the armoured car, managed to get into the wooden buildings to the left of the IJA perimeter. The IJA in the middle counterattacked, assisted by a “vehicular bypass freeze” of the occupying Chinese squads.

This was the last Chinese turn. The Chinese needed to either kill the tank or to take two more IJA buildings to win. The Chinese conscripts in the “T” shaped building hopped upstairs to avoid gunfire and to deny the IJA control of the building. The squads on the right used some conscripts and a leader to distract the IJA MMG while the rest rushed the little stone house again. They were unsuccessful, and their compatriots on the far left was broken crossing the street, not being able to capture the other building needed to snatch a Chinese win.

So here we were, truthful to the historical turn of events, the IJA gained a beachhead on the east side of the Marco Polo Bridge and marked the start of the Second Sino Japanese war.

If I were to play this scenario again I would move the MMG from the big stone building (building H4) on the left to the big stone building on the bottom of the map (building W8). Having it in “building H4” gives you opportunities to snapshot at the IJA as they go from building to building. However it was out of normal range to most of the buildings in the zone of contest. Putting the gun in “building W8” would put it in play for most of the game. I would also use the armoured car more along with a couple of squads from the left side of the map.

I am sure some of you must have played this before, or have thoughts about what you would have done.

Please leave me your thoughts!

1937 Battle of Shanghai, Japan’s Brutal Attack on China (warhistoryonline.com)

DB099 The Gin Drinker’s Line AAR

During the night of 9 Dec, Japanese troops mounted a massed attack on the western portion of the defensive line, and the Gin Drinkers’ Line collapsed by 10 Dec. On 11 Dec, as Japanese troops advanced southward along the Kowloon Peninsula, Maltby ordered the evacuation of all troops to Hong Kong Island.

– C. Peter Chan, Battle of Hong Kong, World War II Database

The Gin Drinker’s Line

This latest scenario is from Dispatches from the Bunker, dated Dec 10 1941 and centered around the breakthrough of the western part of the “Gin Drinker’s Line” which led to the siege of Hong Kong island. (Hong Kong surrendered on Christmas Day, 1941.)

Erwin played the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) and I the Rajputs of the British Indian Army. The above illustration is the British Turn 1. The IJA had already initiated their advance from the west. The IJA’s winning condition was to amass more “victory points” (ie kill more) than the British and to occupy 5 or more huts (“the village”) on the top right of the map. The two “TI” units you see are a mortar unit and a medium machine gun (‘MMG’) unit trying to dig foxholes in a grain field, looking to dominate the depression and to slow the IJA advance to the huts. You can see also where the mortar bore-sighted (the semi-transparent marker on the top left) and where the MMG bore-sighted (bottom right). The IJA could choose to have reinforcements coming in from the top left of the map in Turn 2 or from the bottom right of the map in Turn 3. In retrospect I should have weighted my defence more toward the top of the map where the approach to the huts was shorter.

This is IJA Turn 2. The IJA was already rushing the Rajput trenches. There was a Banzai attack on the top left of the map where 2 IJA squads and a leader ran through all defensive fire and into a trench with a solitary Rajput squad. These Rajputs fought valiantly and with their last gasp took ALL the offending IJAs with them in brutal hand to hand combat. (Note to self: never put too many squads into a HtH, kill odds for BOTH sides are good.)

The British Turn 2. The IJA had already crumbled the top side of the Rajput trench defence but now it was clear that the IJA reinforcements would not be coming from the top left but from the bottom right on Turn 3. The Rajput mortar squad fired off a smoke round to block the IJA mortar crew and the MMG crew on the opposite side of the depression. The Rajputs from the trench line were in full retreat, desperately running across the depression. The orchards in the depression provided a fair bit of cover. The MMG squad was still trying to dig their fox holes amidst all the action upfront. You should also see a British squad pinned on the bottom left before it could get into the depression. These guys won’t survive the engagement.

IJA Turn 3 : The IJA was going for blood! The IJA reinforcements appeared on the bottom right of the map. The orchards provided good hindrance for them. In the meantime, the mortar and the MMG squads were busy firing away, as did the retreating squads in the depression. The IJA arrived at the edge of the depression. They were also on the verge of overrunning the routing Rajputs in the woods on the top of the map.

IJA Turn 4 : the Rajput mortars took out an IJA 9-1 leader and a crew in the preceding British turn from across the depression with an airburst and so the IJA decided that it was time to lay a smoke round on them. The MMG squad finally got their foxholes in the preceding turn. You can see the IJA reinforcements coming to the woods line immediately south of the village (on the right of the map) where the IJA sniper broke the LMG crew in the hut on the south-eastern tip.

British Turn 4 : this was the last chance for the Rajputs to prepare for the inevitable IJA onslaught. The game teetered on a balance at this point. In the middle of the village, the IJA smoke round actually protected the Rajput mortar as it relocated to prepare for a last turn IJA rush. The MMG in the foxhole kept the 3-hut cluster relatively clean (it would kill the injured IJA leader). You can also see the IJA already moved into the Rajput LMG position on the south end of the village.

Final IJA Turn : The good news from the last British turn was that the IJA fired at the broken stack in the hut on the north-west tip of the village and granted the Rajputs a battle hardened élite squad! In this last IJA turn you can see all the residual fire on that corner of the village, evidence of the élite Rajputs (and the mortar squad) fighting hard. The IJA broke into the south side of the village unfortunately. Even though the Rajputs routed some broken squads forward in the last turn as speed bumps, they weren’t much good in the IJA Advance Phase (having routed off already). The IJA won this scenario when the dust settled with a 1 point lead in VP and five huts secured.

To be honest, I didn’t read and understand the Victory Conditions properly. I thought the IJA had to get more than 5 huts so I biased my defence towards the northwest of the village. I was going to let the IJA have five huts but deny him the rest. I succeed at that but unfortunately all they needed was 5.

If I play this scenario again, I will bias my trench line defence to the top of the map. It’s also important that the trench line Rajputs retreat as fast possible to help with the village defence.

This was a tight scenario all the way to the end. The action was brutal, the fight was desperate and the body count high. For those who wants to experience PTO without the PTO terrain, this is a top notched scenario.

By 13 December, the 5/7 Rajputs of the British Indian Army commanded by Lieutenant Colonel R. Cadogan-Rawlinson, the last Commonwealth troops on the mainland, had retreated to Hong Kong Island.

– “Battle of Hong Kong“, Wikipedia

English: Entry of the galleries from Shing Mun Redoubt, part of the Gin Drinkers Line in Hong Kong Français : Entrée de l’une des galeries souterraines de la Shing Mun Redoubt qui faisait partie de la ligne fortifiée Gin Drinkers de Hong Kong (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rajput Regiment (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Moment in ASL: Imperial Japanese Army in Hand-to-Hand Combat (hongkongwargamer.com)

Advanced Squad Leader AAR Blog / Advanced Squad Leader After Action Reports

Blogging Advanced Squad Leader AAR After Action Reports since 2013

Tag Archives: AAR

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Journey to a Tourney, Part 2: The Battles

Round 1: AP8 A Bloody Harvest

Maik Brinkmann

Round 2: J103 Lenin’s Sons

Mark Humphries

Round 3: ASL145 Shanghai in Flames

Jamie Lee

Round 4: J116 Brigade Hill

Vladimir See

Later at Singapore Changi’s Airport

Quick Note to Fellow Newbies

A33 Tettau’s Attack AAR

AP54 800 Heroes AAR

RPT72 Yangtze Doodle AAR

BoF1 The Marco Polo Bridge Incident AAR

DB099 The Gin Drinker’s Line AAR

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Round 1: AP8 A Bloody Harvest

Maik Brinkmann

Round 2: J103 Lenin’s Sons

Mark Humphries

Round 3: ASL145 Shanghai in Flames

Jamie Lee

Round 4: J116 Brigade Hill

Vladimir See

Later at Singapore Changi’s Airport

Quick Note to Fellow Newbies

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