One evening in February 2013, I chanced upon a copy of the ASLRB in a dingy little bookstore. That book opened to a new world of amazing friends and experiences. Ten years afterwards, it’s still the only game I play & you are still the best people I know! Thank YOU!
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!
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!
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.
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.
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. 
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!
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!
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!
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.
(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.)
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!
The Germans were making their way through the bocage. We couldn’t see them, given the height of the bocage. We did land a Harassing Fire OBA in the place where they needed to get out. We had a few front line units threatening bazooka shots. They would have little or no chance to escape back into the village. The majority of our armor is on our left flank. It threatened hits on German flanks but could also slip back into the middle or even to the right. The problem was that our frontmost M10 (with the armor leader) and the Sherman couldn’t hulldown on the hill at all for any sort of staying power. The Germans unloaded their infantry in the bocage corridor. They also moved their heavy weapons team up the hill to deal with the M10.
Meanwhile back at the village, we were digging foxholes at a few choice places and the cutters were busy opening up some bocages. We had our AT Gun in the bocage on our right, pointing straight down the road. A cutter’s opening up a path for the Meatchopper to join it as well.
The Germans were forced to go over bocages to avoid the OBA. Two Panthers went up a Level 1 hill which prompted most of our Shermans to exit the left flank into the middle. Our escaping M10 couldn’t escape a shot that came right through the side of a bocage and a building! Fireball! The dual Panthers then focused their attention on the church steeple.
The radio malfunctioned and our Harassing Fire was no more! Our valiant front line teams were still holding the Panthers back as they dare not show their sides. Shermans shot smoke rounds to help an M10 hop back down the central corridor. Meanwhile, a stack of Germans decided to jump the bocage on the right. Our deadeye M10 stationed there fired the first of its killer shots and broke everyone!
The dual Panthers on the hill kept the radio guy pinned while he desperately tried to fix his radio. Germans poured out of the bocage but then the first of our fighter bombers appeared and fired down a bocage corridor. It killed a Panther and immobilised another. German AA unfortunately damaged the plane and it was recalled. Our bazooka teams ran in desperation, the team on the right made it and the one of the left had less of a chance. A Panther sneaked up on our right! Our Shermans shot a few smoke rounds & backed away.
The German infantry was getting closer, and with them panzerfausts!
The dual Panthers kept up the pressure on the church steeple. Radio guy managed to lay OBA on a Panther in spite of that but didn’t do much damage. Our pair of spotted mortars worked to keep the Germans off the hill on the left flank so that our M7 howitzers could see them. Deadeye M10 on the right scored a critical hit on a Panther! Unfortunately the other fighter bomber had to leave after German AA shot it when it was trying to lay a Fire Lane. The hide and seek in the centre corridor intensified.
Three Panthers down, two Panthers shooting on the hill, that left five Panthers barrelling down the highway …
The Germans moved an AA tank up the right to deal with our open top M10 but our MVP burned it as well! (You should hear the cursing.) German soldiers were now picking their way through the woods in the middle of the map. They were definitely getting into panzerfaust range.
Urgh!! A Sherman was burned by a faust. That, however, allowed US armor to form a new line behind the bocage on the right, along with an escaping bazooka team. The M7 howitzers were feeling the stress. The two shooting Panthers on the hill moved forward, but a German spotting round landed in a curious place in front of the church steeple.
A smoke OBA landed in front of the church! The breeze proceeded to make it worse. The M7’s on the left are now feeling the presence of German combined arms although the spotted mortars still managed to break a stack of Germans on the hill. The American’s in the village braced for contact. The line of American armor on the right fired everything they got but they weren’t deterring these Germans anytime soon.
The Meatchopper covering the final approach to the village made its presence felt, bocage or not! The Germans shot and burned it, creating issues for the AT gun. One M7 on the right was lost to a Panther and a Sherman lost to a faust. Only one M7 survived and ran to the village. Meanwhile, the folks in the church steeple relocated to the right. A panzerfaust on the right burned a M10 but the rest hopped over another line of bocage, and so the game continued.
A Panther on the right got tired of these bocage hopping Americans and started driving over itself. Two AFV’s immediately went for my first career underbelly shot and one of them connected!! A Panther bulldozed into the first VC hex in the village and caught the M7 in the middle of the street. It couldn’t move away, it would have to fight it out.
A German AA AFVs got too close, trying to bust open a path through the American infantry. It was shot and burned. So was our M7, right in the middle of the street. On the right, the last of our M10s got burned by panzerfausts. The last of the American armored moved to their final positions (or out of the way). Our spotting round just landed somewhere random … (sigh)
The was a huge fight going on at the front of the village as the Germans tried to reduce the possibility of a last turn American counter attack. Our AT gun stopped some infantry but couldn’t do a thing about Panthers driving in and sitting on VC hexes. We stunned a Panther coming by on the left but the second got through. We did make a mistake on the right and let a Panther in on the deep right VC hex as well.
We had to take back 3 VC hexes!!! We tried to reposition our spotting round and it landed an immediate OBA squarely on the Panther in the deep right VC hex!! Unfortunately that didn’t even scratch the paint. We tended tried for shots on another VC hex Panther from our AT gun. That failed to deliver as well. The Americans conceded.
I looked up the rules on Vehicular Control afterwards. What I should have done with my remaining AFVs was to occupy the VC hexes with them. The Panthers would then have to get into the hex and to shoot them in hex to gain control.
I lost the game but it’s a frightful carnage of a scenario nonetheless – FUN!
The Marines started dispersed across the rice paddies and had to take at least 2 out of 3 HDP (“Hilltop Defensive Perimeters”) in 8.5 turns. In retrospect I might have thought about HDP’s wrongly. You don’t have to take all the HDP hexes to control a HDP. You only have to take most of a HDP’s hexes to take the whole thing down.
The Marines had a 81mm mortar and 2 HMGs (6-12) with a 9-2 posted on the hill on the top, giving 2 flat shots in most cases to the Korean positions. They also had a 60mm OBA which would be useful later in the game. The North Koreans had 2x82mm mortars, a 45L gun and a 76L gun. They also had 2 HMGs, 1 MMG and 6 LMGs covering their digs. The North Koreans win when they take 13 CVPs on KMC personnel or 40 CVP on UN personnel.
There was a group of South Korea Marines (1st Battalion, 1st Regiment) retreating at the start of the turn. The Marines were all deployed into fireteams and started moving towards the North Koreans. The going was brutal. Four fire teams and an 8-1 bought the farm early on. I should have the South Koreans withdraw slower and put their firepower in use a bit more. As it went, the North Koreans didn’t bother with the KMC at all.
The North Koreans malfunctioned both of their 82 mm mortars! The Marines kept their heads down and tried to move as quickly as possible through the rice paddies. Regrettably, they drew a red chit on their first call to Artillery, and then they broke their radio! Our 1-time OBA hit the 2nd HDF from the left but failed to do much.
During US Turn 3, the Marines on the right were almost at the village. You could almost hear a collective sigh of relief. That was of course, if you could ignore the bloody curling scream from one of the fireteam that went berserk! Folks on the left were in the open and running into 2 murderous HMGs. Good thing both guns were down and one of the 82mm mortars went dead. Not getting much cover from the HMGs, the fireteams spread out further to not be in the same CAs. Anyone carrying an MMG was hit particularly hard. Fireteams from both flanks were doing massive “amoeba” style Advance Fire groups as they move closer. The big old US mortar on the hill first went out of WP and then out of action.
US Turn 4 saw the pair of Pershings on. There being 5 antitank mine factors, the Pershings decided to go down the same path. The railroad takes 2 MP out of every hex, so the road got the vote. Marines in the village were bringing their firepower to bear. The Koreans tried to move forward to interdict them. Some of the Korean units were moving right, so we hoped we could get the tank machine guns in place to hinder the use of that road. The Marines on the left continued to get decimated in both our turn and the opponents. The good news was that they were in fireteams, but the bad news was that they were getting taken out at an alarming speed.
But hey, the 60mm OBA was back in play.
The 60mm OBA failed to suppress 1 of the 2 HMGs in US Turn 5. Fireteams on the left desperately tried to move to the houses on the far left corner, from which it might turn the Korean flank. One of the Pershings malfunctioned its gun on the first shot and was now trying to move as close as it dared to so as the other Pershing could get a better shot. The Marines on the right decided that it’s better to hit the HDP on the far right and shifted their people over. The Koreans moved back up their hills. The Korean mortar came to life and laid a smoke round on the path in front of the right most HDP to cover their retreat.
When we reached North Korean Turn 7, one of the Pershings is already gone because of a broken main gun. The remaining one popped off round after round and yet failed to make it’s 90L presence felt! It did, however, cut off the 2 HDPs on the right from the left. The 60mm OBA managed to bring down WP which helped a lot. The wind picked up and made things even better! The survivors on the left finally managed to get to the buildings on the far left and started to put up a more effective firefight. At least now the Korean HMG fire was halved as one of them was blocked. The Korean smoke round on the right that was now billowing down the road proved to be quite helpful. Marines pushed towards the right most HDP, just in time to greet the Korean reinforcements.
Two more US Movement phases to go. We might well be out of time.
Last US turn! The Koreans on the HDP on the left were broken but we didn’t have enough time to walk up. The Koreans on the rightmost HDP were taking a beating but put up a “human wall” that’s going to take a couple more turns to kill. The US conceded. My opponent revealed all his mine placements in this last picture.
The Marines needed more smoke rounds (than HE rounds) in order to be successful in this scenario. I did the right thing by moving everyone in fireteams. Some of the chaps on the right of course, recombined into squads when they reached the village. I was hoping the Pershings with the malfunctioned gun could navigate through the road (trail break through the AT mines) and get on the hill where we would promptly turn left and get around the back between the 2 HDPs on the right. That was not to be when the leading Pershing X’d out its repair. My opponent is a very tough one but I feel I am finally getting a glimpse into the proper way to play the Marines in this LFT Fight for Seoul package (we already played through all the Fight for Seoul scenarios, and are now doing the Smith’s Ridge ones.)
I notice there’s been quite a number of “new” players who are really “returnees” from Squad Leader or ASL decades ago. Invariably we talk about how they should join a tournament at least once, since tournaments are great places to learn and to meet the community that accelerates your learning and your enjoyment of the game exponentially. These folks do worry about their level of ASL knowledge and whether they will fit into an ASL community with characters who’s been around for decades. Before joining my first tournaments in 2014, I worried about putting up the expense only to suffer some form of hostility because I was (am) not up to par.
This is Von Marwitz’s perspective, carried with his permission:
Whether new or coming back to the hobby, I would not be worried about not being good enough.
Back in the days, before I attended my first tournament, I had played exactly one single, very small 4.5 Turn scenario of ASL against an opponent. Besides that, all I had done was playing solitaire and teaching the game to myself – with all that entails.
I believe that even very fast players acknowledge, that under such circumstances nothing else than slow play can be expected. My personal experience regarding my treatment back then and by observation later is, that almost all experienced guys (fast or slow) are willing and open to treat such a game more as a tutorial than a competitive game. Needless to say, I did not win a single scenario during my first tournament but yet I had so much fun, that I am still sticking to ASL 25 years later.
So, this goes out to any newbies out here, to those returning to the hobby, and to those who have never attended a tournament:
Don’t worry about not being good enough or not fast enough. Take the dive and give attending a tournament a try. Altogether, the vast majority of players (of all playing styles) I have met, are a jolly bunch and welcoming.
von Marwitz
(von Marwitz is associated with Grenadier 2023, which is going to be held in Gelsenkirchen Germany, 2 Nov-5 Nov)
Related Article: “Journey to a Tourney, Part 1: Decisions”
I am not sure why but it feels like it’s been a while since I last played a tournament sized scenario. This 4.5 turn scenario designed by Jeffrey D Myers is real nice one. The Americans win if there are no Good Order German MMC left below the red line on the map, unless the Germans amassed 8 CVPs.
The Germans setup in fox holes where they please along with 8 dummies. We started off in the middle of the field and decided to rush up to the hedge immediately. The potato field was strangely quiet. The plan was to hit the mass on the left, not let the Germans congregate and to not play house to house down the column of buildings on the right. Nothing moved. Surely there must be a real unit in the house in the middle, right? If there was one, they would find it hard to leave.
Turn 2 – we rushed his positions on the left, guns or no guns. The fact that most of his guys were at the dirt level behind hedges helped. Our hero stepped forth looking to start a fight and was promptly vaporised. Heros never get to grow old! In the middle we cleared the hedges for us to mount a final assault from. On the right, we came at the FH from its flank and sure enough, guys started shooting from it. There’s a concealed stack that was advancing down the side, it’s probably not real, we would ignore it for now.
On Turn 3 we were all over the left flank of the German position and were looking behind the group of FH’s on the right. I failed to shoot at a broken German stack who then managed to rally! A squad in the center popped over the hedge and got shot at by folks in FHs. I was hoping the Germans on the right would unconceal and play as well but no. The Baz team on the right fired off a lucky shot that vaporised a squad of Germans. The other para squad broke off and headed towards the graveyard in front of the right-side FH’s.
It’s Turn 4, this was the turn to setup up for the last MPh. Whichever squad could be deployed were deployed. We forced the German brokies on the left into the woods. In the middle, we put that MMG squad and the 9-1 to OpFire and bum rushed the FHs, forcing them to unconceal. Some of my HS broke and two of them would be taken prisoners, pushing my CVP to 7 at the end of this turn. On the far right, the Baz team took out the creeping concealed stack while the para squad ran off towards the FHs! 
There were only 2 Good Order German HS’s in those FHs but yet I was 1 CVP away from losing! We opened with some Prep Fire. We hoped to break the HS at the back and tie the other one in CC. That didn’t work unfortunately, the HS at the back was only pinned. Hope’s not lost though since we planned to run two units out from the Woods on the left and jump into CC (grey dotted lines). A HS advanced into the open to the other German HS. The Germans fired and KIA’d that para HS. The Germans got their 8 CVPs and the American paras lost!
This is a very fast paced scenario that offers multiple venues to both sides. I quite like the design (by Jeffrey D Meyers) and I suspect my opponent, someone’s who’s under 100 games enjoyed it too.
(Drawn Map By Alex79 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10843864)
It’s 14 September 1939. Guderian’s Panzers broke through the defensive lines at Wizna and Mlawa. The Blitzkrieg headed towards Brzesc-Litewski, the lost of the latter would mean the encirclement of the Polish forces in Warsaw. The Poles fielded some old FT-17’s to stop the tide.
The Polish 82nd Regiment fielded 4 squads onboard with an MMG and a 8-1 (plus 5 Concealment counters). They were supported by four FT17’s from the 113rd Light Tank Company, two with CMG’s, the other two with 37mm guns. They would have to hold the line before they were joined by four other FT17’s, 7 squads & a 8-0, an MMG and a pair of DCs.
The Germans had to run 8 squads, 2 9-1s, a 7-0 down the length of the board in 6 turns. They were supported by 7 tanks, two of which had to arrive in the magic (VC) circle with everything intact along with 3 squad equivalents . Turned out that was a bit of a challenge.
The German AFVs sped forth using their sD to lay smoke for the infantry where they could! They also looked to provoke the 37* wielding FT17C’s to shoot so they could tell which was which. The moving German AFVs made pretty bad targets in that the 1MT (1 man turret) Poles needed at least a +4 to score a hit. The troops then flooded forth ‘cause it was either losing by the squad or losing by the clock. An AFV shot a FT17M and ATR shot another. A Bounding Fire shot from behind killed a FT17C. The other one’s peeling off. The German lucked out in the Polish turn when one of their 75*s PzIVC scored a hit on the unconcealed MMG in the Board 4 double hex wooden building and they eventually encircled and overwhelmed the tenants there.
Polish reinforcements arrived. A stack got rather unlucky and was shot and broken by a low power shot (it’s always the low power shots that kill). A pair of FT17C’s appeared ominously BEHIND us.
Plus you know what? I already X’d one Gun and malf’d another one at this stage. That’s five left and I needed two.
The Poles blocked up my left flank! The pair of reinforcing FT17C scored a critical hit on one of my AFVs while a second German tank got recalled – four left. A PzIIA and the ATR HS went after a FT17C. That thing failed its non-platoon movement roll and had to stop! Down at the bottom of the map, a PzIB tried to speed away after FTR’ing the stack of broken Polish reinforcements. The Polish 8-0 had a DC and looked to exact revenge but yet failed his PAATC and was pinned and separated from the rest of his troops. (Note: I played this wrong because SMCs are exempted from PAATC’s. This would have been interesting in that it might have taken me down to three functioning AFVs. My apologies to my opponent.)
It was Polish Turn 4 and the Germans only had 2 MPh’s left to make it to the magic circle! From the looks of it we could BARELY make it especially with that bloody grain field there. I needed to do something about the 3 MGs (two FT17Ms and an MMG) on the bottom left. To that end, a PzIIA ran to the end zone to spook them a bit and the ATR team went up the hill. That ATR’s also there to cover the pair of AFVs that went up the other side of the hill to face off the FT17C(37*) closing the range behind us. The rest of the troops hurried across the board as fast as they could.
The pair of FT17C burned another one of my PzIVs on the hill – three left. The PzIIA in the end zone shot one of the FT17Ms and the ATR team shot the other, but wait, there’s more – the Polish MMG malf’d itself out. You really can’t do anything wrong when the stars line up! The other AFVs tried to laid down smoke but none of the sD’s worked. Nonetheless, it’s time to rush it or lose it. We made it to the other edge of the grain field, CX’d but otherwise intact. The Poles conceded.
BoF2 A Polish Requiem has long been a classic. It’s a whirling dervish of a battle!! Polish AFVs were slow but those 37* kills on a 7, pretty respectable considering most German AF’s 1. The German forces might seem overwhelming but these guys were tied to a timetable. If the player on the Polish side keeps his PMC (read: Personal Morale Check) he might win this scenario yet. The German AFVs might X themselves out or folks might get delayed just enough. Had the Polish MMG at the end zone not X’d out it would have been harder for the Germans. Scoring 37 (Poles) vs 27 on ROAR, I recommend this scenario unreservedly.
(Author: Jim Bishop)
In August 2021 I attended the ASL Scandinavian Open tournament in Copenhagen. The French have OBA in WO33 “One-Eyed Jacques.. Walking around the room twice I observed players incorrectly convert a Spotting Round to a Fire For Effect (FFE). The scenario is an ideal case study for this all-too common error.
For this article I have excerpted a section of the OBA flowchart I will be referring to throughout the article. Understanding this section of the flowchart is key to placing and converting a SR effectively. Conversely, knowing the nuances of this section will help you frustrate your opponent’s attempts to attack with OBA. To make our
discussion clearer I have labeled two of the bubbles, one called A and one called B. Also recall the errata posted in Journal 11 changing AR to SR in bubble B.
For our purposes, we will assume you have successfully navigated the flowchart to the point where you maintained Radio Contact, announced your intention to convert, rolled for accuracy, and corrected the SR if needed. You are now ready to convert it to a FFE.
It is not enough to simply announce your intention to convert a SR as some players presume. There are a couple of crucial conditions which must be met before a SR can be successfully converted to a FFE.
We will first consider bubble A. There are two possible conditions tested in this bubble to determine how we proceed:
Next, let’s look at converting the SR to an FFE covered in bubble B. To convert we need two things: a LOS to at least the Blast Height of the SR and an enemy unit. There is a case where an enemy unit is not required and we will examine that shortly.
Observer only has LOS to the Blast Height: When an Observer cannot see the Base Level we already know what happens if there are no KEU in or adjacent to the Blast Height; the SR remains unconverted and we never make it to this bubble. Since there must be one or more KEU and at least one of them must be known to get to bubble B, the SR is converted to a FFE and resolved (the “No” path from bubble B).
Observer has LOS to the Base Level: It gets more interesting when an Observer has LOS to the Base Level of the SR’s hex. Here we will be following the paths from bubble B. Again, we have to ask if there are enemy units in or adjacent to the SR hex. If the answer is no, the SR is converted and resolved using the “No” path. If the answer is yes, we must ask a second question: are all of them Unknown to the Observer. Note footnote “d” telling us Concealed Units in non-Concealment terrain are considered KEU for the purposes of conducting OBA actions. If the answer is no (i.e. at least one of the units is known to the observer) then the SR converts to a FFE using the “No” path. If the answer is yes (i.e. all enemy units in or adjacent to the SR hex are unknown to the Observer) then an extra chit draw must be made from the existing OBA pile. This is the “Yes” path. If the xdraw is black, the card is shuffled back into the draw pile and we follow the “Black” path converting the SR into a FFE. If the draw is instead Red, the card is again shuffled back into the deck and follow the “Red” path resulting in Access Lost and removal of the SR.
Keep in mind the special case of Harassing Fire. While all of the rules about enemy units in or adjacent to the SR remain in play, any units located in the “outer ring” of a Harassing Fire FFE mission do not force extra chit draws. If an Observer has an LOS to the base-level and there are no unknown enemy units in or adjacent to the SR’s hex, the SR will convert to an FFE regardless of how many unknown units there are in the “outer ring” of the affected blast area.
From this brief note, there are some lessons to be learned here:
As the Defender:
As the Attacker:
Examples: For this section please refer to the illustration. The Observer is in 13aI5 on level 2. Three SRs are on the labeled SR — A, SR — B, and SR — C. We will discuss each of these in turn.
SR — A: The Observer has LOS to the Base Level of the SR. As such, we flow from bubble A to bubble B. There are enemy units in or adjacent to the SR’s hex. The unit is un-Concealed and in the LOS of the Observer. As such, it is a KEU meaning we flow from bubble B via the “No” path and convert the SR to an FFE and resolve it.
Were the 4-6-7 Concealed the situation would be entirely different. In that case, there are units in or adjacent to the SR’s hex and they are unknown to the Observer. We would flow from bubble B via the “Yes” path and make an extra chit draw. If the draw is a black chit we follow the “Black” path and convert the SR to an FFE and resolve the attack. If instead a red chit is drawn we would follow the “Red” path, Lose Access, and remove the SR.
SR — B: The Observer does not have LOS to the Base Level of the SR’s hex but he does have LOS to the Blast Height. Looking in bubble A, when the Observer has LOS to the Blast Height, we need to determine if the Observer has LOS to KEUs in or adjacent to the SR’s hex. In this case, there are two units Adjacent to the SR, but both are out of LOS of the Observer and do not meet the requirements of bubble A to leave via the “Yes” path. As such, we leave bubble A via the “No” path and the SR remains in place unconverted.
SR — C: For this one, the Observer is trying to convert the SR to an FFE Harassing Fire. In this case the Observer has LOS to the Base Level of the SR. We leave bubble A via the “Yes” path. In bubble B, we ask if there are enemy units in or adjacent to the SR. There are none so we exit bubble B via the “No” path and convert the SR to an FFE Harassing Fire. Even though the two 4-4-7s will be attacked by the FFE AND they are out of LOS of the Observer, the SR will still be converted. These units are not in or adjacent to the SR’s hex so they do not affect the conversion to FFE process.
Clearly, there is more to attacking with, and defending against, OBA than offered in this brief note. If you would like to see more about this or some other topic let me know what interests you and I may take that on. I hope this brief article is useful and if you find any errors please let me know and I will correct them. — jim
(Carried with Jim Bishop’s permission)
Original posted here : https://jekl.com/2021/09/10/converting-a-spotting-round-to-fire-for-effect/
This is 26 September 1950. Lt Col. Taplett’s (gent in the pic below) 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines fought southeastwards down the slopes of An-San/ Hill 296 towards the city (see the red circle on the map below, credit “Battle of the Barricades” by Col Alexander). The North Korean 78th Independent Infantry Regiment and the 25th Infantry lead by Colonel Pak Han Lin put up a stout defence.
The KPA (North Koreans) started on Level 3 or above. The Marines entered from the left of the map at or above Level 2. In about 6 turns, the Marines should fight their way to Level 1, the KPA should fight to stay on Level 3 or above. The KPA started with 2×447, 4×426 (conscripts), an LMG and a 8+1 Commissar. The KPA counterattack force, comprising of 2.5×458, 2×527, 2×447, 3xLMG and 2 leaders enter from the right side of the map on Turn 3. The Marines started strong with 4×768 3×248, 2xMMG, 1xBaz and 2 leaders. They had a reserve platoon coming from the left on Level 5 on Turn 3 as well. All units counted “Exit Point” style (“Good Order”) toward the Victory Condition, prisoners excluded. USMC wins on ties.
So the KPA had 31 VP vs USMC 22 VP in their OB’s. The USMC would need to reduce the KPA force. Soon it would mean tough decisions between putting your squads on your level to score vs going to your opponent’s level to prevent them from scoring. The KPA had the last turn so we would have a chance to “Advance” back on Level 3.
The KPA was weak. They were also forced to spread out in their setup. The USMC could go anywhere and shoot anything. The KPA had their Concealments easily blown, broke up by Assault Fire and Captured in CC. Very quickly they pushed the KPA off Level 3 and took more than a few prisoners. The area on the bottom of the map offered more cover for the counterattack, so naturally the USMC focused their forces there.
The original KPA defenders were no longer coherent as a force. The way to Level 1 was wide open for the USMC on the top and the KPA had only scattered remnants on the bottom. However, the Marines weren’t on Level 1 on the bottom of the map yet. I decided to send the stronger of my Turn 3 reinforcements to the top of the map and the weaker (and more short ranged) to the bottom of the map, just to keep the Marines off Level 1. The boulevard’s gotta be where the Marines would make their stand with an additional -1, so we needed to cross before the Marines assemble in place. So hopped along the river edge we did, to a point by the boulevard where there were orchard cover. The KPA forces at the bottom of the map arrived in time to catch the defenders sent reeling by the USMC. That (bottom, vertical) road’s where we would make our stand.
At the top of the map, we made it across the boulevard okay when the lone American squad cowered. We decided to split into two groups and go around the USMC forces, to places where we could Advance up to Level 3. We simply couldn’t do close range firefights with the Marines on Level 1. The USMC would have to decide whether they would get off Level 1 where they needed to be to score in order to fight us. At the bottom of the map we got in a few lucky shots that set some Marines back. That probably got them more worried about the KPA making a rush for Level 3 rather than them trying to make Level 1. Nonetheless, we would keep the line at the street.
At the top of the map, the USMC decided to keep their forces and hence their gains on Level 1. No one’s coming after our eventual Advance onto Level 3. We made a critical PREP at the middle of the map and broke one of the defending Fire Teams in the Woods. That would allow at least 2 of our MMC’s to Advance up. At the bottom of the map, our line of KPA conscripts held and so my opponent conceded.
This scenario represents an interesting problem for both sides and it really highlights the terrain in Seoul. This is a multi-level fight amongst the Dense Urban Terrain. If a unit’s CX’d, it won’t Advance up a level, so you have to time it right. A KPA conscript unit has especially limited mobility in this terrain and you don’t want to be CX’d when you are Lax as a conscript (+2 Ambush). I think USMC Fire Teams would be very useful here. Fire Teams could block more venues up the hill and it’s not easy to break Morale 8 units in +2 TEM. Plus each Squad, when broken into Fire Teams is worth 3 VP when it’s worth only 2 VP as a unit. If every USMC squad’s deployed, the USMC OB is worth 28 VP (vs 22 VP undeployed) against the KPA’s 31. Both players have to find the balance between pushing through and scoring points versus fighting the opponent on a different level to stop him from scoring. While the KPA player has to fight uphill, there are more of them that can swamp up to Level 3. This is a tight little puzzle of a scenario!
(Credits: Wikipedia)
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