Acts of Defiance - ASL A68 (Also check out the Tactical Discussion in the Tactical Analysis Page)
Well, I tried to clear Breslau of the Red Menace last night, and failed - but just barely. This scenario lived up to everything I had heard about it, packing a whole lot of ASL into six turns. I was somewhat nervous as my opponent had the three half-boards for the scenario color-photocopied a bit larger, and laminated. I asked, 'how many boards have you done like this?', and he replied, 'just these'. Yikes.

As the Germans I went for a broad front attack with the main force, supported by a 9-2/mmg/3x467 killstack in Z8/level one. With the engineers I attempted the patented Repetti Goliath bridge demolition process, and rolled a '9', one of the few non-results using two Goliaths - bummer. Still, I pressed on, moving much more than firing, and managed to get my hands on a couple Russkie squads in CC, but getting a lot of my own guys broken from all the FFMO and FNAM. By midgame I had penetrated well into the eastern part of the Sov enclave, taking the 20Z4 building despite thundering OBA and pushing adjacent to the 'ring' of buildings in the southeast corner of the road net. In the west end, I was regrouping with five broken squads being minded by a single 8-0, and my pionieres had been shot out of the bridge approaches by the reinforcements. Overall I felt okay, since the east section looks tougher to crack and that's where I'd made the most progress.

We alternated hot streaks, usually by phase - I'd have hellacious PrepFire rolls, he'd kick my butt in the CCPh, and I'd rally up a storm in the next RPh. As his assault guns pushed across the bridge, I braved backblast and flamed one, forcing the other to make a roundabout journey to the roadnet. By this time I'd killed two T-44s, but the third simply would not die, as 'faust after 'faust whooshed past it, and two streetfighting attempts came up empty despite the participation of both a hero and ATMMs. On a hunch I took a 2+2 shot at an empty second level building hex and found the observer - this brave fellow then brought the OBA down on his own head, converting an adjusted SR. The OBA basically wiped the eastern section for me - the Russians either routed or moved out from under it, concentrating in a single hex that I couldn't get an LOS to. On the next RPh, a broken Sov 9-1 came up boxcars on its rally attempt, and everyone in the hex (three squads and a 8-1) failed the LLMC - ouch!

Sensing a momentum shift, I pressed forward. I ran my PzJg IV up to pointblank range in a blind hex of the remaining SU-122, but blew my BFF shot. The Brumbarr crept out and tried a HEAT shot, which bounced. Another hero (I got two in the game) moved forward with a DC and was vaporized by the HMG firelane bisecting the board... Yes, the momentum was shifting, but not the way I wanted it to. Finally the assault gun turned and fired in its DFPh, and CH'd my JgPz IV - not good! By this time a heavy rain was falling, and it would come down to the last turn. The Russians had three GO MMC, two in the southwesternmost rowhouse inside the 'net (one in each level) and one in the rubble hex just north of that, with a MA-disabled T-44 parked on top for company (great move - forces a PAATC if I want to engage in CC). I had about eight squad equivalents left plus four leaders, but the assault gun was between four of them and the remaining Russians.

I took care of the 'easy' stuff first, setting up to attack the rubble hex and getting behind the rowhouse hex to prevent shenanigans and inflict encirclement, suffering a broken squad in the process. Then I attempted to deal with the assault gun. First a squad ran over and scooped up the DC in the road and attempted his PAATC - fail, pinned. Next a HS danced by right under its nose, but the gunner had nerves of steel. He held his fire until all had passed and were in position to assault the last enclave; however, to ensure an advance into the last hex, two squads and two 9-1s were in one hex, two away from the SU-122. In the DFPh, the SU spun *two* hexsides, and took his shot - snakes. Subsequent dr was 1, so a critical... Heavy Payload time. A 9-1 and a squad shared the CH, departing this world, the second 9-1 ate a 'K' result, and the remaining 548 rolled... snakeeyes! HOB! Just what I need, fanaticism, a hero, or both. What do I get? Boxcars.... Berserk (-1 on HOB for Elite) -- and thus, no Advance into CC. I failed to affect the defenders in the AFPh, and though I tied up the folks in the rubble in melee, I couldn't get a glove on the other two MMCs. My feeble fire attempts were for nought in the bottom of the sixth, so that was ballgame.

In all, a blast - as much fun as I've had in ASL. We had SMC overrun, buildings rubbled, loads of HOB, leader creation, critical hits (two consecutive by that damned assault gun), plus the already-plenty-cool stuff on the scenario card. My Hitler Youth? Well, I think they heard their mothers calling as they departed around turn two. The rest of my boys performed admirably, though I wished that one squad hadn't lost its head at that particular moment. I hate it when TAHGC puts 'old' scenarios in the Annual, but if any deserve it, this one does. Highly recommended. Take care,

(the other) JR

Acts of Defiance

Watching Todd Hively and Mike Seningen have such a good time with this scenario, and noting its close balance in the record, I thought it would be a good one to use for Jack and me to renew our rivalry. The Germans get lots of neat toys with which to completely eliminate good order Russian MMC from within a road perimeter, but are pressed for time and must also hold off the Russian relief force, which must cross bridges to get to the fight.

We both bid G0, and Jack won the dice roll and got them. I went to work on my defense. I decided to defend my left side lightly because it looked like the Germans had the most cover there and could quickly maul my forces. In a forward stone building on that side I put a 527 in each hex, concealed. Back in the rowhouse I put the 8-1, LMG, 458. I put the 7-0 with the radio HIP upstairs from the 527s. From there he could see most of the initial German attacking points. The rest of the guys went on the right side, with just a couple of squads up front under concealment, the others out of LOS in order to gain concealment. The tanks set up out of LOS, protected by my infantry.

The German attack was strong on his right (my left) where I just had a thin covering force. He pushed forward and I held my fire. In the bridge area his engineers maneuvered to get the goliaths onto the bridge hexes. The 7-0, seeing the attack starting, tried to call battalion for that artillery they promised, but couldn't reach them. The initial German shots did little damage, and the Russians did some serious slinking during their half of the turn. The 7-0 managed to get a spotting round on the board, but it landed a good 250 meters away from his targets. The Hitler youth got lost in the sewers for two turns, and when they finally emerged they decided to head for the bridges to try to knock out the Russian armor there.

On turn 2 the Germans pushed a little harder, and even moved their StuPz IV in closer to reduce some pesky Russians. Defensive fire from the infantry was not very effective, but the artillery came through, hitting the German right flank. It only managed to pin a couple of squads and break a 9-1 however. The Russians continued slinking on turn 2, and their reinforcements were stuck at the bridges, but they did manage to eliminate both goliaths with small arms fire. The artillery was adjusted again, slightly, and the 120mm shells pounded the Germans hard. The 9-1, who had self-rallied, broke again, along with a few squads. A couple of other squads were pinned.

Turn 3 saw the Germans push even harder. The Russian left had been pushed back to their final positions. The large building in the Russian center right was attacked by several squads. The Russians layed down quite a bit of residual, but failed to achieve any result. Luckily, on the left side, a couple of German squads broke and ELRed while trying to move in on the last couple of defenders there near the rowhouse. That plentiful ammo for the OBA came in handy, as it continued to fall, this time corrected to pound the center. Some Russians were stuck in the OBA, but they survived it. Most of the Germans faired well also, except for the 9-2, LMG, 548, MMG, 467, 467 upstairs. They all broke. After the Germans routed, the 7-0 was revealed, in order to eliminate 2.5 broken German squads downstairs in his hex. I figured that he was almost completely bypassed by this point, and the OBA was coming down in a decent place, so if he were eliminated it wouldn't be a bad trade for 2.5 squads. A 9-1 and 467 advanced in to finish him off in CC, but failed, so he held them in melee. The two 628s that had been holding the large building on the center right broke and ran to avoid CC, one of them risking interdiction (and surviving!) to do so. Across the orchard from this building, a 527 still held fast. But now the last Russians were almost completely surrounded, as Jack had maneuvered a 9-1, LMG, DC, 838 from the bridge demo detachment, plus a 338, toward the Russian backside. The Russian tanks, which had earlier bugged out and hid again, would not be able to hide much longer. I thought about abandoning them before they got flamed, in order to get 3 more good order MMC into the perimeter.

At this point, the Russians had an 8-1, LMG, 458, and broken 527 in the upper level of the rowhouse, encircled of course. The JgPz IV/70 was parked outside facing them down at point blank range, with the StuPz just behind him. The bulk of the Russian defenses were in the last ditch positions, which consisted of a 3-hex wooden building in front, with a roughly horseshoe shaped 4-hex stone bulding behind it. The T-44s were all basically hiding. One was in the open ground area between the wooden and stone building. Another was behind the stone building while the third was hiding behind the stone building but closer to the right flank board edge. One ISU 122 had gotten across a bridge, but the rest of the reinforcements were still stuck on the other side, and the Hitler Youth were nearby with their panzerschreck.

It seemed like the pivotal moment of the fight, so the Russians decided to go for it. Both ISUs fired smoke. One went right on top of the LMG, 838 guarding the right bridge, the other on the Hitler Youth. Four reinforcing 628s then scurried CX over the bridge and survived all fire against them. Three headed to the right flank to try to reach the last ditch positions while the fourth headed for the 838's building to delay them. In the middle, the right flank T-44 started up and circled all the way around to the rear of the German positions, behind the wall, with a nice clear line of sight to the StuPz and the JgPz. The T-44 behind the stone building started up and moved in bypass of one of those stone building hexes and stopped. It turned out he had a line of sight to the JgPz, and since it didn't fire on him, the T-44 tried to take him out with an APCR shot. It was a hit in the rear and the end of the JgPz. The rest of the Russian infantry did some serious slinking. All in all it was not a good half turn for the Germans. On turn 4 the Germans stepped up their assault. The StuPz put smoke down on the T-44 in the German rear. We actually had a wind change roll earlier in the scenario, so by now there was plenty of drifting smoke. The 9-2 had rallied his kill stack and the Russian OBA observer died in the previous HTH CC, so there was no more artillery for the Germans to worry about. They fired on and broke the last Russian holdouts in the upper level of the rowhouse, and then stormed the last Russian defenses, making ample use of infantry smoke from assault engineers and 548s. Defensive fire was largely ineffective in this area, except for one squad which entered the wooden building only to be hit by the T-44 hiding behind it. That squad broke. A 548 that had rallied in the German rear rushed the hull down T-44, but a snake eyes roll from the tank's MA put an end to the squad. The German attack looked promising, although their advancing fire did little damage. One of the 458s broke and routed back to the 9-1 in the stone building. Another 458 in the wooden building had to endure HTH CC with a German 447. Near the bridges the assault engineer squad ambushed the CX 628 that was adjacent and eliminated it. But the other melee went my way, as the German squad was killed with no loss to my own.

On the Russian half of turn four, with nowhere else to hide, everyone in the perimeter opened fire, and it was devestating. Many Germans broke. The ISUs, which had last turn succeeded in breaking the Hitler Youth in defensive fire, now moved with haste to the left side of the original perimeter, hoping to eventually take back ground lost earlier. The hull down T-44 had the same idea, but boxcarred on his start up roll and was immobilized. The three 628s in the right rear moved up, and one was KIA'd in defensive fire by the German 338. The other two, however, got up close and broke him in advancing fire. Now they were just across the road from the victory area. When the turn was over there were more good order Russian squads in the perimeter than there were Germans to take them out, and there was the additional threat of the ISU crews abandoning their vehicles and retaking ground to the left. It was over, and the Germans resigned.

Overall this was a very good scenario. It was gripping. There were several tense moments, which made things exciting. In addition, there are quite a few neat toys to play with on both sides. I think this was the first scenario that I have played in which OBA played a big role (excluding an RB campaign). I think the philosophy of the Russian defense was sound: defend one side weakly with a delaying force, while defending the other side strongly. Pound the weak side with the OBA. Hide the tanks so they can't be taken out cheaply by the enemy infantry, and try to use your imagination to find ways to make them annoying to the Germans. The reinforcements need to get some serious smoke from their armor and then do the best they can. If they get to the victory area, they can tip the scales. I felt good about the win, but I must point out that I got very lucky in several respects in this game. One was that the OBA actually came down, and more or less where I wanted it. Another was that I got smoke from the ISUs when I needed it, and I was also fortunate on the IFT. Then there was the good fortune of being able to take out 2.5 enemy squads by revealing a HIP SMC. It seemed that all the important things went my way. In general my dice were hotter than I am used to seeing. Still, I'd play this scenario again, with either side. I recommend giving it a try.

Matt Shostak