First up was CH43, Opening Blow, an interesting free-for-all from CH4 featuring mines, OBA, 88's, FT-toting Carriers, Ram Kangaroos, and plenty of infantry and armor. I had read the article on it (aptly titled "Taking Your Canadian Lumps in Opening Blow"), so I knew what to expect. The early game features the Canadian Kangaroos and Shermans crossing bd 33 in two groups; the Germans get two 88's on bd 24 that will absolutely FEAST on you. The article gave good advice - the initial Canuck force will be decimated, but they have to push on relentlessly toward the bd 24 village and get as much infantry into the town as possible before the German reinforcements come on and have to pry them out.
The article listed 24i10 and 24R9 as good places for the 88's. 24i10 is right since it has great LOS to the Canadians entering around 33BB0, but 24R9 absolutely SUCKS compared to 24W10. I'm amazed that W10 didn't get mentioned; it's perfectly positioned to waste the Canadians coming in between 33G1 and K1. Who wrote that article?
If the 88's do even slightly well, this game can end very early. Each flank has an 88 shooting up 3 Kangaroos and 3 Shermans; the AFV's can't move real fast because an SSR forces an extra MP per non-road hexside. The Roos have to spend 1/2 MP to unload instead of 1/4, so don't expect the infantry to pressure the 88's. The terrain is completely open and the range is great enough that it's impossible to get out of the 88's Covered Arc. It's a turkey shoot.
Tim's luck was average and he still flamed nearly all of the Shermans while letting most of the Roos slip by. One Roo made it to bd 24 and unloaded its infantry which promptly got shot to little bits by an adjacent HIP HMG. Oh, and the rain started on turn 1 (and increased two levels during the game), so all of the Canadian's hefty smoke-making ability (OBA, AFV smoke mortars, sD's, 51mm MTRs, infantry smoke) was null AND void.
And yet, the Canadians still won the game; little dribs and drabs of infantry got into the town and took the VC building while the few surviving AFV's got lucky and held off the German armor reinforcements. The "Taking Your Lumps" suggestion of sending a Sherman or Roo out to bd 11 for interdiction duties was laughable; no way can they get there in time, nor should they try if the town hasn't been taken yet. Every surviving Roo (and there won't be many) must dump its infantry off in the town before worrying about interdicting the German reinforcements.
Tim thought it was an OK (maybe even good?) scenario; he'd seen this kind of "take heavy casualties driving hard to the objective and then hold off enemy reinforcements" scenario before (Trap at Targul Frumos), but I found it to be the most UNsatisfying game (win OR lose) of my ASL career. Not a lot of skill involved in driving blindly toward an objective; not a lot of fun getting the crap kicked out of my forces along the way. The strong possibility of rain takes away the MUCH needed Canadian smoke, and the extra 1MP cost along non-road hexsides makes the Roos and Shermans sitting ducks. Fun if you like to beat up kids on Halloween Night and take their bags of candy, but not for me. Balanced? I dunno. Masochists take the Canadians, sadists get the Germans.
Tom Repetti