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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?

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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 1) Ferenc Jozef Barracks – A View of Advanced Squad Leader Scenarios

Siege of Budapest

Historical Background

This battle is part of what’s considered one of the bloodiest city fight ever – the 102 day siege of Budapest between December 1944 to February 1945. Soviet & Romanian troops laid seige to Budapest in their drive towards Berlin. Hitler declared the city “Festung Budapest” (“Fortress Budapest”) and so it was to be defended to the last man by German and Hungarian troops. This battle was particularly vicious in that its inhabitants were never evacuated and their suffering continued long after the city’s surrender on February 13 1945.

Scenario “RPT1 Ferenc Jozef Barracks” took place on Jan 12 1945 at the Ferenc József Barracks which is located between Kerepesi Road, Hungária Boulevard and Pongrác Road. I tried to locate the area on Google Map. To those of you who are more adept in the subject: I’ll be very appreciative if you will correct me on the matter.

Initial Setup

Initial Setup

The Setup

Romanian 9th Cavalry enter the board from the north-eastern side (botton right) of the map. Their goal is to clear the barracks (marked with a “V”) on the south-western side (upper left) of the map of any good order Hungarian units within five turns. Considering the 2 mins turns in Advanced Squad Leader, this exchange allows the Romanians 10 mins to meet their objectives. Each hex in Advanced Squad Leader represents about 40 meters. The Romanians need to go about 10 hexes (400 meters) straight up the street from middle of the map up towards the left just to get into a position where the they can attack the barracks. That’s 2 turns of out of 5. Considering the first turn is for entry and for trying not to get killed over open ground (off-board is open ground), the Romanians has only two turns left for fighting. This will have to be a maneuver war.

The Hungarian 1st Tanks Division start the scenario concealed in concrete buildings. Somewhere among the open windows there is a heavy machine gun pointing at the open ground below.

In real life the battle was so savage that all the officers and the NCOs of the attacking Romanian companies were killed but they did capture the barracks.

I hope I can do the same.

This is my first ASL game with an opponent (“PBeM” – Play by Email).  I am really appreciative of the tutorage of my good friend Don “Zovs” Lazov. Zovs’s a terrific teacher who’s  bringing the ASL rules to life for me. As you can see, he opts for a forward defense. This allows him to take out some of the Romanians right at the start.  As I am on a tight schedule, Zovs doesn’t have to kill me, he only need to delay my advance while he backs off into the barracks itself.

How do I beat this defense and clear the barracks in 5 turns?

How do I even engage the Hungarians without getting mauled over the open ground?

More on this later.

ax347Shu347S

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!!

Source used 

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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!!

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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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Key to the Advanced Squad Leader Modules Before You Buy Any

Advanced Squad Leader is also referred to as “ASL”.  You’ll notice a lot of different Advanced Squad Leader modules out there and it can get pretty confusing. It helps to know there are a few large categories:

  • Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit “ASLSK” : these are complete modules that provide low cost venues for new players to try and to learn the Advanced Squad Leader system.  
  • Advanced Squad Leader Core modules : these are modules, each containing all the counters (“orders of battle” or “OB”) for specific nationalities.  The modules are not complete games by themselves.  There are “dependencies” between modules which we will cover in another post and they require the purchase of the Advance Squad Leader Rulebook “ASLRB” (latest being 2nd edition 2nd print) to play.
  • Historical Advanced Squad Leader module “HASL” : these are modules that takes a deeper look at specific historical events.   Note that they too are not complete games and are dependent on ownership of specific Orders of Battle plus the Advanced Squad Leader Rulebook.
  • Advanced Squad Leader Action Packs “ASL Action Pack” : these are expansions to the ASL system that contains additional maps and scenarios that allow players to get right into the action.
  • Advanced Squad Leader Compatible “ASLCOMP” : these are Advanced Squad Leader variants and expansions published by companies other than Avalon Hill Game Company or Multi-Man Publishing.

I hope this provides a good framework from which you can plan your acquisitions.  Any thoughts, ideas or questions please feel free to comment!

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