Tag Archives: VASL

RPT1 (Finale) Ferenc Jozef Barracks – A View of Advanced Squad Leader Scenarios

Painting depicting Greek soldiers on bayonet c...

Painting depicting Greek soldiers on bayonet charge. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We picked the game back up at the start of the Hungarian Turn 3.  For those readers who just picked this up: the Hungarians are the ones with the pretty blue rim and the Romanians are the ones without.  The Hungarians were doing a fighting retreat from the bottom right of the map to the upper left.  The Romanians were hot in pursuit, racing the Hungarians through the city blocks and tried to stop them from ever reaching the barracks.

Two of the pursuing Romanian squads were ambushed by the retreating Hungarians.  Luckily the Hungarians weren’t looking for a fight but took the chance to slip away instead.  One of the escaping Hungarian squad even ran through a semicircle of gunfire to pull off their Houdini like escape!

Towards the end of the Romanian Turn 4, the Romanians caught up with a few Hungarian squads again but the preference was to position themselves to cut off the Hungarians from crossing the street back into the barracks.  Two of the Romanian half squads managed to slip through the Hungarians and took up a position on the side of street.  The other Romanian squad locked a Hungarian squad in melee, stopping them from running back in time.

T5 Romanian RPh - Start of the last turn

This is the start of the last Romanian turn, the last chance for the Romanians to get into, to clear and to hold onto the barracks.  Some of the Hungarian troops were held back, but some managed to cross back into the barracks in spite of Romanian gunfire in the open streets.  There was some pretty vicious hand to hand combat going on towards the top right of the map (“Melee”), strangers joint by an encounter by Chance and locked in perpetuity by Fate.

Sketch 2013-07-01 11_24_12

The Romanian 9th Cavalry poured into the streets amidst a wave of bloodcurdling screams.   The heavy machine gun (under the “9-1” leader counter) was a primary concern.   Some men ran to draw fire, others raced towards the barracks from all sides.  A Romanian 9-2 leader and a pair of half squads managed to run six hexes through the open streets and gun fire, jumped into the barracks and killed the defenders!!

T5 Romanian - CC end moment when Romanians has possession

Unfortunately their sacrifices were for nought as too many of their brothers had fallen.  The Hungarians folded back into the barracks in the last turn and negated the Romanian victory conditions of having to clear the structure of good order Hungarian troops.  Below is the Hungarian endgame.

T5 Hungarian End Game

A couple of thoughts for the Romanian player:

  • Your FP (of 3) is useless in cities. If you don’t have support weapons (most of mine malfunctioned), engage the Hungarians in CC.
  • Manage your schedule, if you can’t hold the Hungarians before the barracks you need to run up there quick and have at least 2 turns to battle through the barracks. Take a count of the hexes and you will realize the Romanians truly does not have time.
  • I suppose there are two approaches to this –
    • Move fast and try to make the retreating Hungarian units run through streets of fire
    • Go full contact and engage the Hungarians before they can break off towards the barracks.

If you happen to play this scenario as well, I’d appreciate it if you drop me a note to let me know how it went for you, especially if you played Romanian and you won!!

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S1 (Part 1) Retaking Vierville

On June 7 1944, one day after the Normandy landings. the 101st Airborne (“Screaming Eagles”) was sorting themselves out from all over the Cotentin Peninsula and was tasked with securing the eastern approach to the American landing at Utah beach. Vierville-sur-Mer was a major traffic thoroughfare. Although the Americans secured it earlier they had to moved westwards towards the German strongpoint of St. Come du Mont (see Mission Albany).

There are three groups of symbols in this map of Normandy.  The one on the top left is Utah Beach, the one on the bottom left is St. Come du Mont which was a German stronghold.  The group to the right is Omaha beach and a bit inland from Omaha Beach is Vierville-Sur-Mer.

An assortment of German units took the opportunity to deliver a counterattack and among them, the elite 6th Fallschirmjäger Regiment. This day would see an all out brawl at Vierville-sur-Mer, paratroopers to paratroopers.

Erwin plays the Germans and I the Americans. We decided to play this Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit Scenario with full Advanced Squad Leader rules. The Americans win if there are no “good order” German units in the four buildings marked with “V”s on the map. By the same token, the Germans need to keep a “good order” unit in at least one of the four buildings at game end (notice the Americans have the last move).

Turn 1 German - MPh

Turn 1 German Movement Phase

Some elements of the 1st Battalion, 506th Regiment of the Screaming Eagles were making their way through the center of town when German units (1058th & 919th Grenadier Regiments) appeared from different directions.   (Right edge of the map is North.)

The Americans went straight to work.  Two full squads and the  8-1 leader went to the key buildings in the southwest, the other elements went to the northeast to meet up immediately with the 1058th Grenadiers.  The southwest element could potentially be isolated and might find itself fighting a much tougher battle until  reinforcements arrive.  Their mission was to play for time.  The northeast element was to clear the way for the reinforcements and were free to play to their strength in the attack.

Turn 1 American - Close Combat Phase

Turn 1 American Close Combat Phase

Other American elements started to arrive.  They used the grain field (which is in season) to make it across the open ground, using a building for cover.  A potential danger was that new German elements might appear behind them and cut them off from their rout paths.  So one squad stayed behind in the woods as the rear guard (circled in orange on the map above).

Sketch 2013-06-22 18_27_32

Turn 2 American Movement Phase

A broken American squad on the south west decided to step it up, rallied and went fanatic (battle hardened, marked by the asterick). In their desperation, a hero arose in their midst!  The reinforcing Screaming Eagles lost no time in closing with the 1058th Grenadiers on the northeast.  Hellbent on blasting their way through, they also drew fire away from their brothers who followed.  The German paratroopers arrived from the south east as well.  They carefully made their way through the woods towards the sounds of battle.  (Right edge of the map is North.)

Sketch 2013-06-22 18_40_09

Turn 3 German Advance Fire Phase

The 919th Grenadiers crossed the street in the south-west and pressured the squads on that corner of the intersection.  At the same time the 6th Fallshirmjäger moved to slice the battlefield in half, isolating the 8-1 and his little group.  To the north (right edge of the map), the Screaming Eagles couldn’t break through the 1058th Grenadiers.  They needed to clear a way to town fast ‘cause the key buildings are falling to the Fallshirmjäger soon, which also means they and their arriving brothers would all be standing outside the grain field with no protection if they couldn’t get into town.

Sketch 2013-06-22 18_45_21-1

Turn 4 German Rally Phase

The Screaming Eagles managed to get into close combat in the north.  A half squad was killed when they went in for hand to hand with a German squad and their 8-1 leader.  On the other side of the block an American half squad ambushed their German counterpart when they broke into their building.  The Americans slipped through to the other side and met up with the American paratroopers that were holding the Fallshirmjägers at bay.  However the American’s hold on the key junction was strained as they endured volleys after volleys of German fire.

So here we are at the start of Turn 4 in a 5 turn scenario.  Will the Germans succeed in capture at least one of the buildings at the intersection and hold off American attacks?

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How about coming home everyday to 30 mins of PBeM game over VASL?

Whether you are a fellow newbie who would like to learn together or an experienced ASLer who don’t mind helping me up the curve. I play to enjoy and to learn. Please message me at jackson-dot-kwan-at-gmail-dot-com!!

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RPT1 (Part 3) Ferenc Jozef Barracks – A View of Advanced Squad Leader Scenarios

Turn 2 Hungarian - PFPh

Turn 2 Hungarian – PFPh

We are back on RPT1 Ferenc Jozef Barracks.  Just so everyone remembers, the Romanian 9th Cavalry were the attackers and the Hungarian 1st Tank Division were the defenders.  This engagement was part of the horrendous 100 day siege of Budapest.  The Hungarians were fighting along Nazi Germany and the Romanians were Russian allies.  The goal of the scenario is for the Romanians to capture the barracks (marked with a yellow “V” by Don) seen on the top left of the map within a 5 turn (10 mins in real world) time frame .

Turn 2 Hungarian

The above was what it looked like at the start of the Hungarian Turn 2.  The Hungarians started moving back towards the barracks while keeping their guns pointed to areas where their Romanians pursuers would need to cross.

Turn 2 Hungarian DFPh

Turn 2 Hungarian DFPh

The Romanian 9-2 squad leader hiding all along together with a squad and a shiny new medium machine gun (in the middle on the bottom, circled in orange) decided it was the best time to come out of concealment and open fire at the Hungarians who came into sight.  Unfortunately the MMG went the way of the flamethrower and clonked out on the first volley!  Apart from making a mental note to launch a complaint against the armoury after the engagement there wasn’t a lot he could do.  The other chaps in the building to the bottom right heard the ruckus and joined in as well but they then realised they no longer had line of sight.

The Hungarian defenders did a beautiful job slipping away towards the barracks whilst staying in concealment.  (Note to self : watch & learn)

Turn 3 Romanian

Turn 3 Romanians DFPh

Turn 3 Romanians DFPh

The Romanians orchestrated a series of moves in the hopes of stopping the bulk of the Hungarians from reaching the barracks.  On the righthand side of the map, the Romanians successfully kept the 2 Hungarian squads (circled in yellow) distracted while they double-timed a number of squads up the boulevards to the west.  They also intended to engage and even kill a few of the Hungarian squads by hand to hand combat where they could.

On the bottom of the map, the fuming 9-2 squad leader and his squad (circled in blue) who were dragging their broken MMG across the street (Note to self: use “Dash” next time) got pinned under heavy fire.  So there they were, hugging the ground and cursing up a storm in the middle of the street.

The orange line through the street on top was where the Romanians planned to shoot at the Hungarians who would need to cross over to the next building on their way to the barracks.

Turn 3 Hungarian RPh

Turn 3 Hungarian RPh

The Romanians (circled in red) tried to grab a couple of the escaping Hungarians, but in both instances they were ambushed instead!  The Hungarians decided to withdraw and slipped away while the Romanian attackers were still hugging their guns in fright.

So here we are at the start of the Hungarian Turn 3.  The Romanians have only 2 turns left and the Hungarians has done an elegant job in slipping away intact as a force while mostly staying under concealment.

Will the Romanians catch up to the Hungarian masters of defence?  Keep an eye out for Part 4 of RPT Ferenc Jozef Barracks!

hu347Sax347S

 

How about coming home everyday to 30 mins of PBeM game over VASL?

Whether you are a fellow newbie who would like to learn together or an experienced ASLer who don’t mind helping me up the curve. I play to enjoy and to learn. Please message me at jackson-dot-kwan-at-gmail-dot-com!!

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RPT1 (Part 2) Ferenc Jozef Barracks – A View of Advanced Squad Leader Scenarios

Don and I waded a little into scenario RPT1 Ferenc Josef Barracks this week. The Romanians got on the board intact. Most of them manage to keep their concealment. I will need to rely on the buildings for cover going forward because I simply don’t have the time to retain concealment / to assault move. The only squad with smoke grenades is the one 4-4-7 holding the flamethrower and that’s only with a die roll of 1 (17% chance). As an attacker with a short schedule, I have to balance the urge to rip up the streets against taking stupid risks and losing the bulk the Romanian force before getting to the barracks. From the way Don was setup, the Hungarians are looking to do a fighting withdrawal back to the barracks. It’s therefore going to be a running street battle all the way back.

Guys with low firepower like the 3-4-7s are simply ineffective against defenders concealed in stone buildings. For my shooting to be effective, I need die rolls so low that will trigger the snipers in most cases. I only have 2 leaders in the pack so I need to avoid low probability shots.

Turn 1 Romanian

Turn 1 Romanian, end of MPh

What you are looking at here (blue marking) is two of the Hungarian squads who came out of concealment and took a shot at the Romanian 3-4-7 assaulting up into the road hex in Y10. I expected a good number of Hungarians to be staring at that road hex all day. They would open up and the residual fire would rip up anyone else coming after, pretty nasty on an open road hex! This Romanian squad got lucky though and no one else was going to come through.

On the other hand  the elite Romanian 4-4-7 squad in building F9 (orange marking – underneath the 1-3-7) was eager to unleash their flamethrower on the concealed Hungarians in DD8 they caught a glimpse of when they ran up. Unfortunately flamethrower FP is halved at 2 hexes and halved again versus concealed targets. FP 6 flat is still a good shot  though considering the alternative but the Hungarians escaped a fiery fate for now.

Turn 1 Hungarian

Turn 1 Hungarian MPh

Don executed the time-honored strategy of skulking. He assault-moved all of his squads from concealment territory to concealment territory and in most cases out of my line of sight.  (Note: this denied me the opportunity to fire at them in the Defensive Fire Phase and they would advance back into their original position at the end of this turn, ready to stop my next advance!)

The Romanians in EE10 decided to come out of concealment and took a FP4 +3 shot at the folks skulking off at DD7 (orange marking). The Romanians needed a die roll of 4 or below (17% chance) to have any effect but that was the one chance where they could disrupt the Hungarians in preparation for the coming Romanian Turn 2. Again, the Hungarians were well concealed and the stones protected them well – no effect.

Turn 2 Romanians

Turn 2 Romanians end of Defensive Fire Phase

It was time.

The Romanian management said it was time to go out there and do some business. The elite 4-4-7 squad decided to give their toy another try. They looked to roast the Hungarian squad that spotted them on the open ground coming over. Another FP6 flat shot across the street – and the big toy broke with a “clunk”. They carried their flamethrower all the way over and it spluttered on the second shot!

Anyway, it was time to reach out and touch someone. The Romanian squads and half squads assaulted out into the street, trying to spread out as much as they could. This is a picture of the Romanians in the street and getting fired on. The gods are with them as only 2 of the squads/half-squads were pinned and the rest were unscathed.

You can see also where the Romanians pushed two squads into GG7 and GG8 (orange markings on the right), running over open ground and risking -2 shots. They saw their compatriots before them being relatively unharmed and hence they took the chance to flank the Hungarians.

The Romanians piled into the concealed Hungarian positions in the buildings across the street (DD8, EE8, FF7) and on the left of the map, into V9 – the one concealed position that was blocking the way.

Turn 1 Romanian Close Combat Phase

SURPRISE!!!  All positions except DD8 (marked “CC”) came up empty. The good news was that the Romanians uncovered all the fake Hungarian positions. The bad news was that they failed to catch the bulk of the Hungarian forces.

The same Hungarian squad that survived two roasting attempts decided to hold their ground and fight. The Romanians weren’t going to let them get away this time either and so they went for a bloody hand to hand combat. It was over quickly with the Romanians taking some losses and the stubborn Hungarian squad finally eliminated.

Turn 2 opens for the Hungarians. Will they be able to retreat safely? Will they be able to delay the Romanian hordes?

hu347Sax347S

How about coming home everyday to 30 mins of PBeM game over VASL?

Whether you are a fellow newbie who would like to learn together or an experienced ASLer who don’t mind helping me up the curve. I play to enjoy and to learn. Please message me at jackson-dot-kwan-at-gmail-dot-com!!

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How To Play Advanced Squad Leader With Anyone Anytime Anywhere

Young Tibetan Buddhist monks smiling and happy...

Young Tibetan Buddhist monks smiling and happy, double dorje room, Sakya Lamdre, Tharlam Monastery, Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal (Photo credit: Wonderlane)

Unless you already know someone who plays Advanced Squad Leader and assuming that I perked your interest so far, one question must have crossed your mind or have even smothered that fledgling spark of interest already:

Who am I going to play with?

The good thing about Advanced Squad Leader is that the user base is very strong. It’s a niche market but the user base is enthusiastic, sociable and thanks to the Internet, connected. The Hong Kong Society of Wargamers for example, meets and plays regularly.

This might be where you realize that your issue is not one of people, but of time. We got careers. We got families. We got obligations. It’s not easy to get together regularly for games. For me who’s a novice (read: n00b) at Advance Squad Leader, I need LOTS of play time if I am ever going to be any good.

VASL is a platform developed by Rodney Kinney that provides virtual map boards, counters and mean of communication so that two players anywhere in the world can play each other in real-time or NOT in real-time.

Playing VASL “live” via VASL servers allows two players to be location independent. VASL by email allows two players to be TIME independent.

Using VASL to play ASL by email is known as “PBeM” or really “ASL PBeM”.  Let me explain.  An Advanced Squad Leader turn is broken down by phases, some phases are interactive, others are not.

  • Rally Phase (Non interactive)
  • Prep Fire Phase (Non interactive)
  • Movement Phase (Interactive)
  • Defensive Fire Phase (Non Interactive)
  • Advance Fire Phase (Non Interactive)
  • Rout phase (Non Interactive)
  • Advance Phase (Non Interactive)
  • Close Combat Phase (Interactive)

The interactive phases like the Movement Phase and the Close Combat Phase are phases where control needs to be passed back and forth a couple of times between the two players (and these are best parts of the game). This is where the game takes time. However, the non interactive phases can be sequential – one player can complete what he/she needs to do before passing “control” off to the other player – which makes these other phases quicker in execution.

As you move your counters around the VASL map, VASL records all your moves in detail to a log file. At appropriate points in a turn, you stop your actions and send that log file to your opponent. Your opponent opens your log file on his/her VASL program and playback YOUR MOVES step by step and he/she can stop the playback at any point to interject his/her actions when needed.  Your opponent will have his/her actions recorded on another log file and will send it back to you and you will then playback his/her moves.  The interactivity of the game is essentially time-shifted, along with any commentary (and taunts) that each player elect to insert between his/her actions.

So here we go : the question “Who am I going to play with?” should no longer stop you from diving into the Advanced Squad Leader world.  

You can:

  • Bribe your friends to play with you.
  • Join the good people at The Hong Kong Society of Wargamers who runs ASL games and tournaments regularly
  • Play anyone in the world “live” via VASL (and the VASL server)
  • Play anyone in the world at anytime via VASL PBeM

Questions?  Please let me know!

How about coming home everyday to 30 mins of PBeM game over VASL?

Whether you are a fellow newbie who would like to learn together or an experienced ASLer who don’t mind helping me up the curve. I play to enjoy and to learn. Please message me at hongkongwargamer-at-disroot-dot-org!!

Resources:

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Advanced Squad Leader Resources For You

2nd Cavalry Regiment counter-IED training

2nd Cavalry Regiment counter-IED training (Photo credit: U.S. Army Europe Images)

Happy weekend, folks!  Instead of putting out another post I figured I should build up the 2 resource pages on the site :

  • ASL Getting Started – where and how I got my Advanced Squad Leader modules and accessories together
  • ASL Resources – all the best Advanced Squad Leader related resources

This is certainly work in progress.  My wish is to put together something convenient and valuable for Advanced Squad Leader enthusiasts like myself!  Please let me know if there are sites that helped you in your development into a great Advanced Squad Leader player!

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Don’t Worry, You Can Always Find An Opponent For Advanced Squad Leader

pondering life

pondering life (Photo credit: Chimpr)

Let’s say you found this blog because you are looking for more information on Advanced Squad Leader.

Let’s also say instead of looking for rules forums or after action reports (“AARs”), you are trying to decide whether to take the plunge or not.

At some point you must wonder, with a game this sophisticated (and a rulebook this thick), who’s going to play with you?

If you are in Hong Kong, the first answer to that question is : the good people at the Hong Kong Society of Wargamers. They hold regular games and meetings on the weekends.

The second answer to that question is, and this one’s location independent, people around the world. You should know that there’s a (free) computer program that runs on Windows as well as Macs called VASSAL. VASSAL is a platform that allows people to play virtual adaptations of boardgames in real-time over the internet or “asynchronously” via email.  This is not a computer game per se.  It’s a computer hosted set of maps and counters (plus dice and charts) that facilitates the meeting of opponents around the world.

  • AdvancedSquadLeader.net has a section dedicated to VASL or Virtual Advanced Squad Leader.  This is where you download VASSAL and VASL, the module (“mod file”) for Advanced Squad Leader.
  • This is where you download the maps.  The number of maps available might be overwhelming but you will come to appreciate the comprehensiveness of it all.  You can really play most scenarios with this setup!
  • This is where you download the “extensions“. Extensions are useful widgets that helps with gameplay.

The Homefront Wargame Center gives you terrific instructions to the setup and the usage of VASL.  When you get around to trying an “asych” game of Advanced Squad Leader with someone in a different timezone, you should know there are certain protocols to follow – “The Joys of VASL PBEM” by Matt Romey.

So there is absolutely no reason to worry about finding opponents.  VASSAL and VASL open the world to you!

I hope this helps you and I look forward to any comments/questions.

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