FT S10 Liberté Call After Action Report (AAR) Advanced Squad Leader scenario
Strategic Considerations
The USMC/KMC wins at game end if they control the French Embassy (EE32) and can apply more FP/MG FP vs the City Wide Boulevard (that cuts diagonally across the top of the map ie “Uiju Boulevard”) than the KPA. For both sides, only Good Order units that are on/adjacent to the CWB hexes count. Double / Triple Pointblank doesn’t come into play. SMC’s count as 1 FP.
To Apply More FP than the KPA on the CWB
- Kill/ Break/Capture enough KPA units
- Get units to the CWB Good-Ordered in 6 Movement Phases
- Stop KPA from reaching the CWB Good-Ordered
To Capture the French Embassy
- Focus firepower on the French Embassy (stone building)
- Encircle defenders
It appeared that we need to take control of the Sunken Railroad as fast as we could. We would also need to capture GG30 which was the only 2 level (plus rooftop) building on the map, so as to interdict KPA troops crossing north. The left flank would have to do that as well as capture the French Embassy so they would have the majority of the force. The right side would try to push through to the Sunken Railroad if in case the KPA had less defenders deployed there because of its isolated position. The right side was also closer to the CWB. I would use the only range weapon I had (MMG) to isolate the right side. The USMC/ KMC would be on the watch out for Dense Urban Terrain (“DUT”) buildings so as to position optimally for massive fire groups where possible. We would also be using a lot of bypasses. SS2 gave us a NY Time correspondent, Richard Johnston, who knew the back alleys. The USMC would use him to navigate otherwise un-bypassable DUT hexsides, with the added bonus of a +1 TEM while breezing through.
After Action Report
We massed up on the left and went straight after the 2 Level GG30 building. The defenders routed towards the French Embassy and we stationed a squad up on Level 2 to cover a 6 hex perimeter. The team in the middle was thin but we would be fine as long as the KPA don’t call our bluff. They had 10 dummies, so they might well be thin as well. We didn’t want to move that MMG but we did because we didn’t want to be too far from the top of the map at game’s end. Things did not go well with the Korean Marines on the right. We kept getting jammed in by conscripts. We needed to be able to reach behind the KPA lines. No joy yet.
We hit Turn 3 (of 5.5) and the KPA were already crossing the Sunken Railroad! The Level 2 USMC squad couldn’t shoot everyone. Those walls to the north of the French Embassy gave the runners some cover as well. We knocked defenders inside the French Embassy a bit but they were still holding on. Meanwhile, our MMG’s going out of position allowed KPA troops on the right to slip out. The Korean Marines were still stuck. We couldn’t afford the time we were spending on the French Embassy! Four Movement Phases left.
Like mama always say: shooting don’t work no matter how high up you stand. The KPA reformed their lines to the North of the Sunken Rail Road. We were now looking at the prospect of crossing that gully under fire. We finally managed to put a USMC into the Sunken Railway to interdict the last of the stragglers. With 2 Movement Phases to go, the USMC’s started to shift their forces to the right. I wish I had the USMC in one big stack so that NY Times could take them through the back alleys like cash through my pockets. That was not to be. The (underperformed) overwatch would also need to get going soon. Meanwhile the Korean Marines on the right made little progress. However, they were at the Hedge, so the possibility of flanking the defenders loomed.
This was towards the end of USMC Turn 5. The overwatch team was out of the tower but were pinned before it could dive into the Sunken Rail Road. The Assault Engineer squad crested on the north side to harass the KPA some but got their heads shot off. The rest of the Marines gathered in one giant stack together with NY Times. The KPA defence on the right crumbled as well. The CWB was just within reach on the left. That’s of course if the very nice KPA would us slide gingerly by on Open Ground.
Fire teams after fire teams tried to run the gauntlet. You can see where most of them broke in one big stack (aside from a couple KIA’d). The KPA fired til their LMG barrel melted and a couple of them FPF broke in our slow motion awesomeness. One intrepid fire team broke through and even succeeded in doing an Infantry Overrun on a 8-1 that was standing on the road! The leader couldn’t be pushed into Open Ground so the 2 available choices were “straight ahead” where we would have to CC him or “to the side” with some brokies. If we CC him, we would have to win the CC ‘cause we need to be Good Order. The choice was even less attractive considering the KPA had two units adjacent to the CWB. So we pushed him to the KPA brokies, which led to other issues.
In the Rout Phase, the slightly ruffled 8-1 was able to move to the CWB with the routing brokies! Turned out one of the 2 KPA units already at the CWB were dummies, so the 7-0 yielded 1 VP. The KPA 8-1 scored another 1 VP. That came up 2:2 against our marauding fire team – which lost us the game (we had to have more VPs than the KPA).
Lost by One.
Link to the NY Times article from 1986 “Richard Johnston is Dead at Age 76″
From the left of the map, F Company immediately started to setup their MMG and got their fire teams to probe NK concealments. The E Company came up from behind and a bit more than half went for the right of the map. The AFVs rolled down the road but the higher level Burning Wreck that’s there on setup made it a little hazardous to roll up in front of a ROF3 AT gun. Plus it’s impossible to be on the boulevard without being in DI’able range. I thought the right of the map would be a more straightforward travel but it’s confining nature made it easier for the NK defenders and didn’t facilitate armour support. By Turn 4 it’s evident that the NK’s were very effective there. A large number of broken fireteams routed towards the rear. The BBQ tank and the tank dozer lend their support on the left and found they could safely sneak shots into the boulevard. The left side met some initial set backs but were able make better progress. The AFV’s were making Bounding Fire shots where possible but they couldn’t bring it up close in most cases because of the chance of meeting Suicide Heros in Street Fighting. The strategy was to try to flank the NK’s down both sides while putting AFV fire to defenders down along the boulevard. 
The Greeks need to clear two specific buildings of unbroken Italian MMC and make sure 2 (of 3) OB given Prisoner counters are not stacked with Italian Guards in 6.5 turns. There’s an interesting wrinkle in this scenario as well : when any of the Greek Evzone reaches level 3 terrain and have LOS to any building on Overlay 6 (that sits on board 42), Greek partisans appear in building hexes not in/adjacent to Italian units. The type of units that appear is random and while these partisan units can’t form multi location firegroups and cower like Green troops, they can self rally and declare Hand-to-Hand (“axes & pitchforks”, according to the Historical Result.)
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