FT114 Yellow Extract After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

Victory Conditions

Every once in a while, you encounter a scenario so cinematic that both players collaborate to see the ‘movie’ unfold. This is one such scenario. No. 3 Commando was onshore in support of the Dieppe attack. They were discovered and had to evacuate.

I hope scenarios like this expand what the average ASL player thinks a scenario can be. The Allies had 8 VPs worth of personnel in the Grain Field on the left and 11 VPs of personnel on the right. The Allies win by gaining more VPs than the Germans. The Allies on the left gain points every player turn they remain in the Grain Field. They also earn EVP for infantry units exited or within 5 hexes of the upper edge. The Germans win VP by capturing or killing Allied infantry units.

The scenario features 11 German squads with 2 mortars and 3 LMGs against 5 Allied squads (with low ammunition), 4 damaged Higgins boats, 1 MGB, and 1 additional Higgins boat coming in. My plan was for the left group to stay and for the right group to run. The 4 damaged Higgins boats had 3 facing landside and 1 facing seaward for a quick getaway. We needed to eliminate the 2 German mortars as they posed the biggest threat to the boats.

After Action Report

FT114 Yellow Extract After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

(… chirp, chirp, chirp ….)

FT114 Yellow Extract After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

The Germans appeared! The Germans on the left advanced into the Grain Field. Two conscript squads and two mortars ran straight past us towards the shore. Our mortar was boresighted to where we expected them to bypass the Woods, but we missed that shot anyway! It’s rare that I could square up this opponent of mine in my sights, but the dice is the ultimate boss.

On the right side, the Germans got the entrance hex to the gully lined up. The Allied troops fought all temptations to run and edged carefully towards the Gully entrance. Note that we couldn’t possibly get into a crest position in the Gully because of an SSR specifying “Cliff sides.” We scored 7 VPs by staying vertical in the Grain Field on the left.

FT114 Yellow Extract After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

The MGB swept in! The waiting Germans opened fire and scored 2 DP (out of 5) on the MGB, almost setting it on fire! The troops in the Grain Field were skulking where possible but shot back when they couldn’t. We reaped 10 VPs at the end of the last turn. The troops on the right continued to edge towards the gully entrance. The teams already at the Wire tried to remove it but to no avail.

FT114 Yellow Extract After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

The troops on the left moved off the Grain Field towards the middle clump of trees. We needed to keep a portion of the Germans tied down, even if we couldn’t stay in the Grain Field for more VPs. The German conscripts on the left were digging foxholes for the mortars but kept getting shot up by the MGB. A commando 9-1 and a half-squad rallied and dove back into the Grain Field, but it was not to be!

Over on the right, the big German 9-1 stack broke cover and ran for the shore after the escapees. The 338 rearguard had one shot, and it connected! The 9-1 was killed, and everyone was broken! One of the German conscripts went berserk and started charging the woods in the middle of the board since they couldn’t see the fellows slipping off in the gullies. We were now at 16 VP, which was the VPs the Germans would get if they captured everyone on the left.

FT114 Yellow Extract After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

Our 8-1 and a half-squad in the (middle) Woods rallied and started waving the berserker over. We planned to lead them into the melee so that the Germans couldn’t go for a capture and earn double VP. The commando half-squad kept the fight going as the Germans piled in! The MGB kept the pair of mortars suppressed on the left. The DM’d German stack at the bottom of the map would rally and make a desperate last move. Meanwhile, the units on the left were about to board a Higgins boat, the one with the bow facing seawards.

FT114 Yellow Extract After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

A German team with a last-minute hero, a 447, an LMG, and a leader ran towards the shore for a final hit on the departing Allies. The MGB took them out as well, leaving the troops on the right to board and depart Fortress Europa.

Thoughts

There are a good number of issues to consider when playing this scenario

* When to go slow and when to run – it took a while to go through the Gully and into the boats and about 2 turns for the boats to get past the VC line. You really need to get your timing straight as the British. We figured boats don’t have to Beach with their bow. I had 3 beached with their bows, so that their armoured sides faced the continent and the other one with its stern so it could make a quick getaway.

* The pair of German mortars were the most serious threats to the boats.

* Should we run the Grain Field forces off? Should they go into the Woods in the middle and help out the right? Should they fight to the last man so as to get as many points as possible? We got lucky, we got the full 16 VPs to breakeven with the Germans should the whole Grain field team’s captured.

* How much troops should you allocate each side as the Germans?

* The Commandos could climb. Should we entertain that notion? The Hinterland stops with a 4 level Cliff side to the beach. That’s 4 turns of Hazardous Movement to get down. We only have 7 turns in the game.

* We got lucky in that the 338 rearguard on the right was able to shoot up most of the pursuing Germans. We were also lucky in that the pair of German mortars was only able to take 2 DPs off the MGB’s 5 and didn’t set it on fire.

* The Melee’ing HS (in the Woods) was magnificent turn after turn. The Germans were hindered by their desire to capture and not to kill.

ITR19 The Narrow Front After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

Victory Conditions

The Americans had to take all 3 VC buildings in 8 turns (those marked with a ‘V’). They had 2 Shermans, 4 Stuarts and one module of 100mm OBA. They had a 10-2 armor leader who could pop out and turn into a Hero radio guy and Gyros in every tank. The Germans had a Dug-In Panther which started HIP, 2 Pz IV that came in on Turn 4, a 75L AT and a 80mm OBA.

Let me state up front that I made a mistake in my setup. The 10-2 armor leader could only be placed in a Stuart, which, had I noticed, made for a deadly combination with its gyro & 17 MP. Unfortunately I didn’t notice. I had the 10-2 in a Sherman and when we realised the error, allocated the 10-2 to a dead Stuart.

It’s HORRIBLE. Which other scenario gives you a zippy gyro Stuart with a 10-2 that can stick his head out most of the time?

After Action Report

ITR19 The Narrow Front After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

We smoked the streets like there’s no tomorrow. We also made some bold moves that teased out the Dug In Panther. We moved across the street largely intact. The Stuarts kept beyond the 2 hex PF range but stayed with in 3 to threaten Cannister shots. We wanted to provoke some German reaction so our OBA had targets to zero in on. The 75L AT Gun hadn’t made it on board yet, but we expected it down the aisle on the left. Our Sniper helped out by taking out the MMG squad who ruled a diagonal street. We would have to smoke the Panther, who ruled the other diagonal.

ITR19 The Narrow Front After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

The German OBA landed on our right flank! Not much damage apart from a slew of broken American units which would come back quick. We continued to push down our right edge (screen left), which didn’t offer much response. We wanted to hit the left VC building from the flank and not having to push down slowly from the top. Plus we wanted to see that 75L AT.

We repositioned some units towards a push to the middle VC building though. Meanwhile the Germans on our left flank had retreated to the second line. Similarly, we would have to find a flank to hit the right VC building with.

ITR19 The Narrow Front After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

A major disaster came upon the Americans in the form of a Mild Breeze blowing from the bottom of the map to the top! We could no longer use our smoke (or WP) grenades forward. Our guys had to risk units Assault Moving into open streets. A 747 Assault Engineer got K/ on our left when doing that. German OBA came crashing down on the guys in the middle. A Stuart ended up in flames and a stack of Leader+Hero+Squad got killed & broken. A FT HS nonetheless pushed to the flank of the middle VC building to keep them engaged. Our push up our right flank was more successful, along with a Stuart. We still expect an AT down Column EE, we just want to get our infantry close to it. The shreck’s probably somewhere around here …

ITR19 The Narrow Front After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

The guys on our left flank (picture right) is now trying hard to get a toehold into the second line of German defensive buildings! We crept forward into the Debris on the flank of the right VC building in the hopes of not having to push slowly through piles of rubble. We finally got our SR down on the middle VC building. This was after that radio malf’d and got fixed! There were a ton of concealed units in that building but we had the Black chits to risk the extra draw. The troops in the meantime was trying to rally into some sort of fighting force again. Our right flank (picture left) was doing the best. There’s the full frontal slow push towards the left VC building. We were also good headway down our extreme right. The Shreck team decided to run back into the left VC building good thing we got them pinned on the street.

ITR19 The Narrow Front After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

We decided it’s time to hit the left VC building! The 10-2 DeathStar in FF13 broke the German MMG team. Our squads rushed the left VC building! Our intrepid Stuart crossed the street and sure enough, the 75L AT appeared where we expected it to be. We managed to duck in behind the VC building but the darned German squad managed to fish out a PF and burned it! We would have to rely on a bazooka to keep our right flank Panzer-free. We broke the Shreck team in the street though. We got a Sherman between the left and the middle VC building, just to keep that lane Panzer-free as well.A 9-1 MMG team managed to ripped us up badly as well. We finally got a grip on the second line of defensive buildings on our left (picture right). It seemed like our tanks would have to brave the Debris to help people move down the flank of that right VC building. American OBA came down on our own folks as we struggled to bring to play.

ITR19 The Narrow Front After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

The truth is, the OBA had little ‘real’ effect on the Germans as they get +3 or +4 cover in those stone buildings. Perhaps I should smoke the Dug-in Panther instead but I hope that the OBA would at least unconceal some of the defenders in the middle VC building. I was about to make a BAD mistake on screen right through. Instead of moving the 9-1 Death Star sideways for better shooting angles (and continue to melt away the defenders). I rushed them forward into enemy gun range and those guys got seriously shot up! In the meantime, the Pz IVs arrived on scene. The AT gun crew Advanced out and recovered the Shreck. We pushed those Germans down the map. We would have to keep these folks occupied. We were now flanking the middle VC building.

See those drifting smoke? The Mild Breeze was still on, preventing us from using Smoke Grenades forward and generally making a mess of things.

ITR19 The Narrow Front After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

Yup, the bad mistake was made on screen right. We lost the power to melt the defenders away. The survivors routed back while a squad rushed to recover the HMG. We had to send some management types towards that side of the map. Those AFVs now risk bogging in the Debris to help flank the right VC building. A WP round in the middle building still didn’t do much damage. We rushed guys towards it. On screen left, the Germans routed across the street, we had to keep enough squads nearby to keep them there. Those PSK guys were firing off rockets from the street! Meanwhile our guys on the extreme left struggled to pull themselves together.

ITR19 The Narrow Front After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

On of the Pz IVs appeared from behind the middle VC building! Our Stuart went into motion immediately. That WP OBA didn’t do much apart from keeping all the defenders covered (and give them a Hero). We would have to crowd the middle VC building quickly and get rid of that nonsense. The German OBA was done a little while back and we could see the artillery observer leader rushing from the bottom right to the left to rally defenders around the AT Gun. Meanwhile a 8-0 was busy giving motivational talks on screen right to get that attack going again!

ITR19 The Narrow Front After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

Things got especially busy on screen right as the lone 8-0 was frantically turning broken units back into the fight. The tanks were helping some, a WP CH killed a 548, a clear case of smoking being hazardous to your health. We were squeezing the Germans towards the back of the house but not quick enough. Germans were stacking higher and higher into less hexes in the middle VC building but they were still holding on, even as more Americans crossed from the left VC building. We tried shooting at the German 8-0 trying to cross into the left but nobody could hit the little bugger. On screen left, we tried to allocate just enough troops to top a German counterattack. It’s getting worrying as the crew who retrieved the PSK tried to fix the AT Gun. Meanwhile a smoke round from the PzIV stopped us from being able to re-DM the broken Germans behind the AT Gun.

ITR19 The Narrow Front After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

We were now rounding the back of the middle VC building. One of the Pz IV drove itself INTO it to give us more to deal with. Germans on the left are rallying on screen left but thank God they hadn’t fix that AT Gun yet. The Sherman kept shooting at the middle VC building when it should just rammed itself into the last hexes where Germans were crowding. We were failing to increase our contact area with the enemy! On screen right, we continued to eat away at the defenders. A smoke mortar round from the Sherman and a smoke grenade from the Stuart helped it back off from another Pz IV. Though, trying to put a Cannister round into the middle VC, it malfunctioned its gun.

ITR19 The Narrow Front After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

A Stuart finally woke up to doing what a Stuart does! It ran from the right, around the middle VC building and send a shot to the back of that Pz IV in the building while on the move (light grey arrows). It missed by ONE! That sure made me miss that 10-2 armor leader. That is what I should have done with Stuarts (and the 10-2 armor leader and Gyro) from the start. Meanwhile that building seemed to be catching fire rapidly. A sapper tried to place their DC to one of the German stacks and was shot. An 8-0 came by, grabbed the DC from the quivering troops and tried to place it, and even he got pinned! No more help was coming from the Artillery since they seemed to have hung up. There would be no German counter attack from the left.

The other Pz IV crashed into the right VC and promptly crashed into the cellar. The US AFVs tried their luck too often and were stuck in the Debris, though they were in good positions.

ITR19 The Narrow Front After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

On the right, we made it to the back of the VC building!! Hellish firepower poured towards the remaining Germans. We couldn’t kill them all at the end and we didn’t put a unit on Level 1 to prevent their rout (another lesson here). In the middle, the Pz IV burned the marauding Stuart. That Pz IV was in turn killed by an MMG at Point Blank range. The 10-2 stack wiped out the Pz IV hex but we couldn’t get to the W12 hex and hence we couldn’t fulfil the VC requirement.

The mild breeze kept blowing.

ITR14 Between Rockets and a Hard Place After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

Victory Conditions

I played this scenario wrong.

I misread the victory conditions and played this scenario incorrectly as a defender. However, it’s still an epic scenario. Just note that I essentially defended while short one tank and two guns. This is Stalingrad around the Tractor Works. The Germans win by capturing all the (Russian) buildings on the right half of the map AND have 24 “Exit VP” of Good Order Germans on the left half of the map. The Germans also get double EVP’s for leaving the left edge. I was thrown off by the use of the term “Exit VP”, as I thought the Germans HAD to exit. They didn’t. All the Germans had to do was be in Good Order on the left half of the map. The railway in the middle of the map (horizontal) is an Embanked Railway (half height), we put in the ‘funky’ overlay to make it more visible.

Both sides can declare Hand to Hand. The Russians are Fanatic in Factories and Rooftop are in effect for Factories. The Germans have a Stuka and the Russians have 120mm Rocket OBA with error DR halved.

After Action Report

ITR14 Between Rockets and a Hard Place After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

The Germans led with an abundance of Half Squads. They did a lot of searching for HIP’d guns and dug-in tanks, and threatened Hand to Hand with full Russian squads. On the German left, they hit us with a larger-than-expected force (I expected them to have to exit, but they didn’t), and were channeled by the placement of two 8-factor AP mines (which don’t go boom if you come through another building hex). On the German right, the Russian MMG & mortars were laying down long range fire on the attackers, but soon one of the squads in the factory went berserk! We really couldn’t afford to have our manpower running off. A particularly good tactic the Germans used was to have Half Squads on the roofs, which stopped most of our concealment. This of course worked well with the Stuka circling overhead.

ITR14 Between Rockets and a Hard Place After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

As more German tanks approached, the Russian HMG stack on the Embanked Railway retreated, but was pinned by the Stuka and later broken by a tank. This left the Russians free to move around the rest of the map in an attempt earlier to draw them away. In an effort to NOT get into HtH with German Half Squads, we kept Vol Breaking and routing away on the Russian right. The Commissar ELR’d half the squads we had him work on, but rallied the rest to keep the fight going. The HIP’d ATR team on the Russian right thought they caught a marauding German HS in the open, but failed to fish out a Molotov! The HIP’d ATR team in the middle had the right idea, but only saw their round bounce off the side of a German tank on the Embanked Railway. If only I had read the VC rules correctly and got my AFVs and guns in front! The MMG in the back field also came into play to protect the Russian right flank.

ITR14 Between Rockets and a Hard Place After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

The Russian MMG on the left broke for a while, but was fixed. Then position was smoked and the MMG Squad went berserk! The mortar crew had to drop their toys and move over, as did one of the squads on the Russian left. All the while, the Russians moved back to cause the Germans more delay. The Vol Breaking with your “friendly” Commissar tactic somehow worked on the Russian left, but we had to feed the Stuka tempting targets before the rest of the team could move freely. My HIP’d (and Dug-In) tank forgo’d some infantry targets (and I shouldn’t have) – see green dotted arrow. Meanwhile, the Germans were in no hurry, trundling slowly towards the left half of the board. The Russians held back their famously inaccurate rocket OBA until they had less to lose than the Germans (and kept the Germans honest).

ITR14 Between Rockets and a Hard Place After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

Since our HIP’d Dug-In tank forgo’d a couple of juicy infantry targets, a German tank came down the road on the Russian right to FTR our guys. “AH HA!” the Russian tank crew went, looking at the side shot and the Russian tank promptly malf’d its gun. The ATR a Russian 7-0 held onto did nothing with the Point Blank shot either. Seeing that, the Russians threw their DC at the German 8-1 stack but succeeded in breaking itself instead. (Story of my life.) The Russian right still had a line but was obviously letting too many Germans on the left half of the board (once again, read the VC wrong). We spotted a big German 9-2 stack in the open and we decided to chuck in the Rocket OBA. It didn’t land on us but it didn’t land on too many Germans on the left half of the map either. We broke the 9-2 stack and killed a tank (the other Bogged a while back).

ITR14 Between Rockets and a Hard Place After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

We couldn’t fix that tank gun whilst the German tank still had its side to us! We went into CC, now that we realised our VC mistake and that we had less to lose in HtH. The concealed Russians on the Russian left advanced into a big German stack happily and got Ambushed and killed instead! The folks on the Russian right fared better but didn’t kill enough Germans to make a difference.

ITR14 Between Rockets and a Hard Place After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

As we look at the start of the last German turn, there were too many Good Order Germans sitting on the left half of the map for the Russians to make a difference. We conceded. This picture is just to show the other HIP’d Russian units we took out of the game because we read the VC wrong. I bet Germans would be in more of a rush and won’t search concealed terrain so thoroughly as they exit towards that latter part of game. Of course, they didn’t need to exit. Anyway, will read VCs better going forward.

FT109 Hitler’s Lost Iron After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

Victory Conditions

This is the first of a series of thrilling Motor Gun (Torpedo) Boat scenarios that are part of LFT St Nazaire, reflecting action around the world. The ocean’s at level 0, so a beached MGB, bristling with weapons, poses an exciting situation for garrison units with a taste for adventure. All houses are wooden and ground level only apart from the building at the top left that’s highlighted in orange. These MGBs have 14PP rubber rafts to ferry tourists to shore, but if MGBs are willing to risk going aground in the shallows, they can unload directly onshore.

This was Norway 1943, and the Norwegians were conducting a Commando Raid at Strød Island. As such, their 8 morale was fanatic on Ocean-Hinterland hexes. They win in 6.5 turns if they can successfully exit two DCs toting 338s via the space marked on the top of the map with the British roundels. There’s a +1 LV and Moderate Mist to help those on the move.

The Strød Island Garrison, who must have thought they pulled a nice assignment on the island in 1943, were 8 2nd-line half squads with 2 LMGs. Plus they had a pair of 105mm ART guns on the stone pier that the Norwegians already knew about!

After Action Report

FT109 Hitler's Lost Iron After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

I pointed my 105mm guns each to a side. The +1 LV hindrance and the Moderate Mist will at least a +2 to all shots. However, if they hit, the Norwegians run the risk of drowning half their OB. So I didn’t think they would come up the middle where the gun(s) need to make a +3 turn to shoot (a flat shot in reality since the boats were -3 targets). My weak OB and the the MGB’s awesome firepower convinced most of the German Garrison to stay away from LOS to the waterline.

Act of Valor movie

I had most of my garrison on the left of the map. I figured the right of the map wasn’t as easy to get through, plus it was more of an Open Ground for commandos to cross from there to the exit space. I had both of my LMGs and a 7-0 in the middle of the map as a backstop. They had a stone wall that shield them from those MGBs but turned out the hindrances from Moderate Mist kept them well protected anyways.

FT109 Hitler's Lost Iron After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

As I suspected, the pair of MGB crashed into shore right away and offloaded their commandos! My 105mm fired but missed (LOS blocked and Gun malf’d). One of the MGBs went aground (loud expletives) with a Gun tagging on Acquisitions, a gunfight ensured. We got a hit but couldn’t get an effect apart from claiming one HS. Since the commandos went ashore, the Germans wasted no time running backwards from the shore.

FT109 Hitler's Lost Iron After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

Whilst the right 105mm and the stuck MGB traded shots, the left MGB went for the stone pier since the Germans couldn’t fix the right 105mm. At 4 hexes, a torpedo splashed into the water and scored a direct hit on the pier!! Both guns disappeared in a shower of rocks.

FT109 Hitler's Lost Iron After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

With half the MPh’s left, the Norwegian on the left made it to the top of the map. The Germans fought to stay in front of them, with the LV & the Mist helping both sides. One of the LMGs in the middle thought they would go to the big wooden building to help but quickly realised that the battle would move too fast for that. One HS and three dummies on the right would keep the other half of the Norwegian OB delayed. Meanwhile the two MGBs tried to find useful purchases. The hindrances made it impractical to shoot at that distance. They were there largely to strip German concealment.

FT109 Hitler's Lost Iron After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

The ‘VC’ stack on the left, with a leader and two DCs toting 338s, was almost at the end zone! The Germans made a dash for it too, with their LMG’s moving into place. The Norwegians on the right moved freely as well, since it was clear that most of the German garrison were on the left. We had to keep any DC toting 338’s at bay for two MPh!!

FT109 Hitler's Lost Iron After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

The left VC stack was 2 hexes from the exit. The German garrison crowded up that space. However in the meantime, the right VC stack arrived at the scene.

FT109 Hitler's Lost Iron After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

There was a lot of movement and loud bangs, but when the action subsided, the Norwegians were still on board! An attempt on the left was thwarted for now, but the Norwegians were still in the thick of it! The right VC stack got closer to the exit, and things were really heating up!

FT109 Hitler's Lost Iron After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

The Germans made a valiant effort to stack up their two LMGs, but it was for nought. The Norwegians on the left were stopped, but they got the right VC stack off the board! What an incredible game!

Tenor

ITR9 Asia’s Stalingrad After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

Victory Conditions

Thirty two squads of Imperial Japanese Army soldiers needed to pick their way through debris & rubble and clear three buildings of thirty squads of good ordered Chinese folks in eight turns. The Chinese had six fortified locations plus a 10-2 jedi knight. You can see the four target buildings marked off with a “V” in the maps.

To be honest, I had just finished reading Col Joseph H Alexander’s “Edson’s Raiders”. I hadn’t played PTO in a while and was determined to play the IJA like the IJA : bypass & flow behind your enemies: infiltrate, infiltrate, infiltrate!

After Action Report

ITR9 Asia's Stalingrad After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

I thought the Chinese were going to setup as close as possible to the IJA lines and hence lessen the possibility of them being hit by the initial IJA bombardment. Turns out the Chinese set themselves up very smartly in rubble so as to not get caught in a building collapse. My PreReg caught them quite well, but the Chinese survived the hit with only 1 broken unit. Our MMG & HMG teams climbed up two Level 2 buildings to provide overwatch. The IJA troop rushed on board where possible, with a focus on passing by Chinese flanks. The idea was to be audacious enough to compel Chinese units to unconceal and to fire (and for dummy units to look suspect). The IJA deployed where possible. It’s a HS rush with the backing of their “commissar” leaders!

3X ITR9 Asia's Stalingrad After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

The overwatch teams were now put on Opportunity Fire. The troops were then to get as much of the defenders to unconceal as possible, especially the Chinese overwatch teams that were now in place. The Chinese kept us away from Open Ground were possible so as to burn up our time. We kept flowing around defenders who are clearly outnumbered. A HIP IJA unit leaped up and ran down the left flank when the coast seemed clear. The troops in the middle met more of the opposition in the rubble. Assault Engineer’s ability to dump WP was useful in unconcealing (and even breaking) the defenders. Chinese reinforcements were coming in. They were largely conscripts so the demand on leadership was huge. Unfortunately I wasn’t in a position to interdict them, this would hurt me at the end game I was sure. The troops on the right was on their way around the right most target building.

ITR9 Asia's Stalingrad After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

IJA reinforcement entered from both flanks! The challenge would then be to put them in play as soon as possible. We rushed the left most target building, running into, rounding and therefore encircling the defenders. The troops in the middle made good progress as well as they cleared the middle target building. Troops rushed up the right flank with DC’s & FT’s. That’s the target building housing the dual HMG overwatch! The Chinese reinforcement arrived on that flank as well. The overwatch team on both sides were fully engaged with their B11 heavy weapons. We luckily caught their 10-2 and broke him! The shooting got more intense all over the streets! One target building cleared.

ITR9 Asia's Stalingrad After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

A Chinese counterattack pushed us back out of the target building at the lower half of the map (right flank). We needed to consolidate and keep the flanks going where possible! To that end, the reinforcements reached the rest of the team on the top of the map. They would need it as they ran into a pair of fortified hex in the target building on the top of the map. As it turns out, the defenders advanced upstairs to avoid IJA fire, got pinned and couldn’t get back into their fortified hexes again. The middle saw 1-3-7’s pushing through the rubble. A team of IJA reached the other end of Chinese deployments. Too slow to interdict Chinese reinforcements but good enough to mess with their routing. ITR9 Asia's Stalingrad After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

In our efforts to clear the target building on the top part of the map, a HS went Berserk and proceeded to run upstairs after a Chinese squad. We were ready to go after the third building. Prep Fire depressed the Chinese HMG nest, so I pushed harder in the center and on the right flank. Unfortunately, when prepping the right flank target building, both our flamethrowers went out of fuel! At least we pinned the rival flamethrower in the fortified hex. Time to get in there!

ITR9 Asia's Stalingrad After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

We rolled a “1″ on our secret banzai die roll, so now’s indeed the time, especially when his 10-2 hadn’t recovered. First, the left flank. We drew off some fire by threatening to bump scout, and we succeeded in getting real close. The gents in the middle continued towards the back so as to mess with Chinese routing. Over on the left, we opened with an assault engineering squad threatening WP grenades on the pinned flamethrower. Then a DC Hero gets generated to show others the good news (BOOM!)! While fire’s being drawn, an IJA leader stood up on the other side of the right flank target building, drew his sword and screamed “BAAAANNZZZAAAAAAAI!!!!”

Oh did we trampled through that building. Mixed results in CC but we were in the building and some of the brokies would never recover. The berserk squad on our left unfortunately walked into a Dare Death squad (“Those guys got broadswords!”). Things went medieval and our guys got thrown out the windows in chopped pieces. Urgh, Turn 6 and only one building cleared!

ITR9 Asia's Stalingrad After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

We broke and halved the Dare Death guy on our left flank (sooo thankful that we didn’t have to go HtH them!). Progress, but not enough! This scenario SSR declared “No Quarter”, so Mop Up was not an option here. The drama, however was on the right flank. A Dare Death squad went berserk, charged downstairs, killed my guys and freed a stairwell. A Chinese leader then stepped over, dropped a DC from up high on my folks (BOOM!) and snatched a flamethrower off a brokie!

ITR9 Asia's Stalingrad After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

We rolled a “5” on our secret banzai die roll, so we were limited to three. Since my opponent didn’t know how many banzai’s would take place, I did one on my left flank to push into that building and to draw fire off my right. Unfortunately, the boys quickly ran into two Fortified locations (where the staircases were). I then spend my subsequent banzai MFs crashing up the fortified hex to build up bodies for firepower (+flamethrower “crispy”) and to avoid having to run outside under a pair of HMGs.

Banzai’s on the right flank started with a one man Banzai executed by a wounded 7+1 leader. He tried to make as much noise as he could and both the defending squad and the MMG squad upstairs cowered! The third Banzai came from the other side of the building. My opponent’s horrible DRs worked hand in hand with my excellent ones. We passed MCs like nobody’s business. IJA were upstairs and allover the corridors.

My opponent conceded.

BFP25 From Villebaudon to Valhalla After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario

(Sorry about the small images – the map’s wide! Please Right-Click on an image to open it in a new tab to make it bigger.)

Victory Conditions

The Germans, with 10 Panthers (and four AA AFVs plus a slew of assets), had to break out into the left mapboard, killed enough Americans (10 CVPs per pt) and/or occupy enough of 4 VC hexes (2 pt per hex) to get 9pts in 9 turns. To be honest, I didn’t think the Americans had a chance at all. Those Panthers had front armors that none of us could touch (18 AF vs the three TDs with APCR of 20TK). They could just drive over, occupy all four VC hexes, kill two US AFVs and win the game. However we did have two tank busting fighter bombers and an 100mm OBA that could keep the infantry at bay.

My opponent advised that the Panthers couldn’t ignore American armor (or bazooka teams). They couldn’t allow to them to get in close and (God forbid) get a side shot. The Americans had to use their gyros and their fast turrets (on most) to keep the threat alive. We had to keep the German armor chasing after us. It’s a strategy I stuck to on one flank but not the other during this game.

Before we begin, if you look for combined arms and bocage action, this scenario delivered nine turns of nonstop carnage for both sides. It’s a glorious mess!